CARL II

(1630-1685)
Charles was born in St James's Palace in London on May 29, 1630. He was the second son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, but the elder brother died in early childhood. Charles was still a boy, when civil war broke out England. He was present at the battle of Edgehill 23 October 1642, and in 1645 was sent to take command of the Royalist army, which tried to keep the south-west England in the fight against the troops of General Thomas Fairfax. In April 1646, Charles was forced to flee the country, finding refuge first in the islands of Scilly, then to the island of Jersey in La Manche, and subsequently in France and the Netherlands.
Following the execution of his father in 1649, Karl has reached an agreement with the Scots-Presbyterians, who accepted in 1638 a so-called. National covenants to protect their religion. Scots persuaded him to land in Scotland. Although September 3, 1650 Cromwell defeated them at Dunbar (east of Edinburgh), Carl still crowned in Skц?ne January 1, 1651 - as Charles II. During the same year he invaded England, but on September 3 suffered from Cromwell's defeat at Worcester. After the adventure travels in disguise to England, Charles, when he was repeatedly saved by exposing only a fluke, he still managed to safely reach the French.

Karl was in Brussels in March 1660, when the remnants of the Long Parliament in England have found a clear tendency to the revival of the monarchy. On the advice of General George Monck, a former supporter of Cromwell, now desire to restore the monarchy, Charles moved to Breda in the Netherlands. There, he released a so-called. Treaty of Breda Declaration, which proclaimed its extremely generous intentions when he offered the crown, and declared its readiness to give Parliament the final say in determining the state system. Then Conciliation parliament elected specifically to negotiate with the king, called on Charles to return to the country, and May 26, 1660 he landed at Dover. The coronation took place on April 23, 1661.

The following year, Charles married Catherine Bragansskoy, Portuguese princess Catholic confession. Their marriage was childless.

The problems of domestic policy. During the first few years of the reign of Charles was his chief minister, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, mentor Charles in exile. But by 1667 the king had enough of the old Chancellor's tutelage, and he made no effort to support him in the fight against the machinations of the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Arlington. After the Clarendon lost the favor of the King, Buckingham and Arlington, and with them, Lord Ashley, Lord Clifford and the Duke of Lauderdale, were his principal advisers. They called the Government 'Cabal', ie. 'Intrigue' (the Cabal) - the first letters of their names.

Carl has always suffered from financial difficulties. Parliaments, which convened the king, very jealous of his authority and kept him on a starvation diet, wanting to retain control of the crown. Charles was outraged by such a trust and began looking for funds in other places, receiving subsidies from Louis XIV. For this reason, relations with Parliament, Charles was extremely uneven. 'Intrigue' was not able to receive money from Parliament, but when the king agreed to the appointment of his chief advisor, Lord Danby, improved relations with Parliament (1674-1678). Nevertheless, in 1681-1685, Karl rules, without having to convene parliament.

The foreign policy of Charles II. In accordance with the secret agreement of Dover (1670), Charles had promised to assist Louis XIV in the war with Holland, as well as in the restoration of Catholicism in England. This policy, although it was unpopular among the majority of Englishmen, in line with the inclinations of Charles. Its continuing lifelong love of the sea helped him realize the paramount importance of naval power of England. He quickly realized that the main external threat to Britain - a naval and commercial rivalry of the Dutch. In addition, he was probably the only one who realized that the alternative to the Anglo-French alliance was not an Anglo-Dutch alliance, but directed against England, the Franco-Dutch alliance.

Throughout his reign Charles resisted own religious inclinations, and only converted to Catholicism on his deathbed at Whitehall Palace in London on February 6, 1685.