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The Death of Charles II
For the final two years of his reign Charles lived peacefully at home. The gentry were restored as the social leaders of the nation. Gentry and parish responsibilities merged providing the social structure of the English Church and often the whole community which was to survive as a parochial pecking order into the 20th Century.
February 1685 saw the end of the reign that restored the monarchy. Nothing would induce the King to betray the succession. The Protestants voted against James, Duke of York becoming King. The clergy tried to induce James to return to the English Church. He refused.
James II |
JAMES II (1633-1701)- King of England, Ireland and Scotland 1685-1688
- Charles II's brother
- During Civil War, captured in 1646
- escaped to Holland in 1648
- Married Anne Hyde in 1660, their daughters Mary and Anne were brought up as Protestants
- Became a Catholic in 1660s
- In 1673 Anne Hyde died and he married Mary Beatrice of Modena, a Catholic
- As King, he was committed to reviving Catholicism and promoted Catholics to important posts
- In 1688 the birth of a male heir (James Edward Stuart) was announced
- Conspirators believed this was to continue the Catholic line and offered to help James's protestant son-in-law William of Orange, to invade England
- Made some concessions but William invaded in November 1688 and with his wife Mary took the throne
- In 1690 James and his forces including French troops, were defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and returned to France
The Exclusion Bill was drafted by the Country Party, later the Whigs and denied James II the succession.
BREAKDOWN OF THE POPULATION PROVIDED BY FIGURES PRODUCED BY TAXES IN 1685
The population was more than five million: - 7000 lords, temporal and spiritual;
- 7,800 knights
- 70,000 lawyers
- 52,000 clergymen
- 250,000 shopkeepers
- 750,000 farmers
- 2.5 million labourers, outservants, cottagers and paupers
- 30,000 vagrants, gypsies, thieves and beggars.
 
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| 1645 | New Model Army is established
Laud is executed
Use of the prayer book is forbidden
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| 1646 | Charles I surrenders to the Scots
Receives propositions of Newcastle
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| 1647 | Scots hand Charles I over to the English
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| 1649 | Charles I is tried and executed
The monarchy and the House of Lords are abolished
The Commonwealth is declared.
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| 1658 | Oliver Cromwell dies
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| 1660 | Charles II signs the Declaration of Breda
Charles II is restored to the throne
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| 1662 | Charles II marries Catherine of Braganza
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| 1665 | The Great Plague
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| 1666 | The Fire of London
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| 1672 | Charles II issues the Declaration of Indulgence
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| 1677 | Princess Mary marries William of Orange
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| 1685 | Charles II dies
James II becomes king of England
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