CHARLES II 1660-1685
| Charles II was the son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, was born in 1630. As Prince of Wales during the Civil War Charles was placed in charge of the west of England and took part in the Battle of Edgehill in 1642. After the defeat of the Royalist forces Charles went into exile to the Isles of Scilly. Later he lived in Jersey and France. In 1649 Charles was proclaimed king of Scotland. He arrived in Edinburgh but after military defeats by Oliver Cromwell at Dunbar and Worcester, he was forced to flee back to France. On 3 September 1658, Oliver Cromwell died. Cromwell had announced that he wanted his son, Richard Cromwell, to replace him as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, however the English army was unhappy with this decision. They didn't feel Richard was the man to lead the country so the generals forced Richard to retire from government. The army led by General George Monk, invited Charles II back to Britain to become king and rule the country as long as he agreed to pardon all members of the parliamentary army and would continue with the Commonwealth's policy of religious toleration. Charles also accepted that he would share power with Parliament and would not rule as an 'absolute' monarch as his father had tried to do. Charles and his wife Catherine of Braganza did not have any children so upon his death on the 2nd of February 1685 aged 54, his brother James II replaced him as king. |
Silver 1-4 Pence
Half Crown
Two Guinea
Five Guinea
Half Guinea
Guinea
