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CHARLES II. RESTORATION, ‘FELICITAS BRITANNIAE'
ROETTIERS, John: England, 1660, Silver, 63 mm
Obv: Bust of Charles II AVGVSTISS. CAROLO SECVNDO
P.P. (To the Most August
Charles the Second, Father of His Country).
Rev: Hercules, Minerva, Peace and Mercury around alter; Prudence behind;
Plenty reclining NVLLVM NVMEN ABEST (No Deity Is Wanting).
Exergue: BRITANNIAE
Signed: R (in monogram)
Ref: M.I. i, 460/54; Van Loon II 464; Eimer 48/214; Fearon 31/111.5; Med.
Hist. 79/3: Farquhar 1909/243;
Clain-Stefanelli,1974, p. 236 (obv); Weiss BW190
Charles II (1630-1685), king of England, Scotland, and
Ireland (1660-1685) was the second, but eldest surviving, son of King
Charles I. He held a nominal military command in the early campaigns of the
first civil war of the English Revolution but later fled from England and
went into exile at The Hague, the Netherlands. On the execution of Charles I
in 1649, Charles II assumed the title of king. Soon thereafter he invaded
England but his army was routed by
Oliver Cromwell and Charles fled to
France.
In 1658, following the death of Cromwell, the demand for the restoration of
royalty increased. In 1660, his army invaded London and forced the
Parliament to dissolve. In the Declaration of Breda, Charles announced his
intention to accept a parliamentary government and to grant amnesty to his
political opponents. A new Parliament requested Charles to return and
proclaimed him king on May 8, 1660.
Charles' reign marked a period of relative stability after the upheaval of
the English Revolution. Nevertheless, the chronic mismanagement of the
English finances forced him into a secret alliance with
Louis XIV of France
in a war against the Netherlands. This, together with his efforts to become
an absolute ruler, brought Charles into conflict with Parliament. The
struggle was heightened by enactment of the anti-Catholic Test Acts and by
the so-called Popish Plot fabricated by Titus Oates. Charles died on
February 6, 1685. He was succeeded by his brother James
II. (Microsoft
Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2002).
LINK to Restoration of the Stuart Dynasty
(from wikipedia)
LINK to
Declaration
of Breda (from Wikipedia)
LINK to
Popish
Plot (from Wikipedia)
LINK to book
Charles II by Jacob Abbott (from Google Books)
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