Charles II

1630 – 1685

Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. He suspended Parliament for periods of his reign in pursuit of a more absolutist Crown, accepted secret subsidies from the Catholic Louis XIV of France through the 1670 Treaty of Dover, and presided over the brutal repression of religious dissent that filled English jails with Quakers, Presbyterians, and Catholics. He died with at least 14 acknowledged illegitimate children but no legitimate heir, leaving the throne to his openly Catholic brother James II and precipitating a fresh constitutional crisis.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM