The Restoration of the monarchy

Queen Elizabeth left England without heirs as she never got married so in order to make sure
other countries had not any impact on her reign.
After Charles I, England was ruled by Charles II however he was exiled quite immediately as
aristocrats could not accept the fact that he established French ceremonies and conventions
also in England (Luis XIV, The Sun King).
Charles II:
 Court devoted to pleasure, anthropocentrism and hedonism
 Religious debate was replaced by gossip and fashion
 Rejection of strict morality
 Rational interest in real world
 Patronisation of the Royal Society (association of scientists and intellectuals)
 Motto: Nullius in verba (contrast the dependence of authorities by the old
philosophy)
 Home policy:
o Resumption of the leadership of landowners;
o Cavalier Parliament, new parliament which decided the exhumation and the hanging
of the body of regicides.
o Corporation Act: exclusion of dissenters by public office (non-anglican people)
o Reintroduction of the book of the prayer and test act (Religio Imperii), conformation
to the church of England.
 Great Plague (1665)
 Great Fire (1666): 5 days of fires; Christopher Wren, called by Charles II, re-build
London (wide streets and squares) following the neoclassical style, eminent example is
St Pauls’ Cathedral
 All funded by French
 1670: signed the Treaty of Dover in preparation for a war against Holland (secret
agreement to re-establish catholic influence in Britain thanks to a military intervention
by France.
 He died, James II, catholic, his son, succeeded to him.

James II
 1685: started to establish catholic authorities in the army and universities.
 He was widower
 Only two protestant heirs/daughters: Mary (rulers of Holland) and Anne (Denmark)
 He then married Mary of Modena: he had a new son
 Whigs and Tories were alarmed by the imminent civil war
 They began to negotiate with Mary’s husband (William of Orange)
 He marched across southern England¦ James left England to fleeing to France (son/wife)
1689: Mary and William became joint monarchs chosen for the first time by the parliament
(Bloodless/Glorious revolution)
 Toleration Act (religious tolerance, were excluded Catholics)
 Bills of rights (magna Charta, rights to bourgeoisie), petition of Right; levying taxes,
raising an army, suspending laws were now accordable only with the agreement of the
Parliament.
 Parliament had to be re-elected every 3 years