查理二世
September 24th, 2022

The king of England, Scotland and Ireland, who was loved by most English people during his lifetime, is known as the "Merry Monarch".

In his early years, his father Charles I was executed by Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector, and the British monarchy was abolished as the Republic of England. Charles II was forced into exile. Cromwell died in 1658, and his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him as Lord Protector. Richard was unable to suppress the rebellious nobles and officers, and the British political arena was in chaos. The Parliament declared that the monarchy would be restored, so Charles II was able to return to Britain.

In 1660, Charles II landed in Dover and returned to London to take the throne. In April 1661, it was officially crowned. At the beginning of his accession, he compromised with the powerful parliament and cautiously exercised his limited royal power. In 1665 and 1672, he launched two Anglo Dutch wars. As a result, because of the unfavorable situation in the war, he had both gains and losses; On the contrary, the domestic political situation was involved in the struggle of foreign forces and was deeply controlled and interfered by France and the Netherlands. In 1678, the anti Catholic radical parliament took advantage of the political storm caused by the "Catholic conspiracy" to launch a strong persecution of Catholics and tried to completely empty the royal power. In 1679, Charles II signed the "Law on the Protection of Human Rights" formulated by the Congress. After that, even in the storm, political figures still have certain human rights guarantees. After 1681, Charles II took the initiative, defeated the political enemies and greatly promoted the monarchy, and rebuilt the absolute monarchy (autocracy) of his father, King Charles I of England.

Charles II died in 1685. In order to conform to the popular sentiment, he kept the faith of the Anglican Church for a long time; However, he always sympathized with Catholicism and converted to Catholicism before he died. After his death, his brother James II succeeded him.

Charles II is known as the "happy monarch", with vigorous personality and pursuing hedonism; Because of his firm will, timely change, shrewdness and resourcefulness, he was able to manipulate the overall situation and save the hearts of the people in a crisis full of sectarian conflicts. However, he did not achieve much in war diplomacy. After 1670, Britain became a virtual vassal of France (his favorite French mistress led the Anglo French alliance), and its international status declined to a second-class country; His greatest achievement is to make Britain's sea power expand significantly, and enhance the strength of Britain's future hegemony (see "the Second Hundred Years War between Britain and France"). After his death, he did not leave a legitimate heir, but had at least 14 illegitimate children with his mistress.

Historians have been unable to distinguish the true intentions of Charles II so far, so they cannot judge whether his good and bad actions are motivated by selfishness or good intentions that benefit the country and the people; He looks noble and humorous, but his heart is mysterious and unpredictable. He is a legend who is not easy to make a conclusion.

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