English Restoration
|
King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. |
The
English Restoration or simply
Restoration was an episode in the history of
England beginning in
1660 when the
English monarchy was restored under
King Charles II after the
English Civil War. The name
Restoration may apply both to the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and to the period immediately following the accession of Charles II.
The Protectorate, which had preceded the Restoration and followed the
Commonwealth, might have continued a little longer if
Oliver Cromwell's son,
Richard Cromwell, who was made
Lord Protector on his father's death, had been capable of carrying on his father's policies. Richard Cromwell's main weakness was that he did not have the confidence of the army. After seven months the Army removed him and on
May 6 1659 it reinstalled the
Rump Parliament.
Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the
Committee of Safety and of the
Council of State, and one of the seven commissioners for the army. On
June 9 1659 he was nominated lord-general (commander-in-chief) of the Army. However, his power was undermined in parliament, which chose to disregard the army's authority in a similar fashion to the pre Civil War parliament. The Commons on
October 12,
1659, cashiered
John Lambert and other officers, and installed Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the
speaker. The next day Lambert ordered that the doors of the House be shut and the members kept out. On
October 26, a "Committee of Safety" was appointed, of which Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, Fleetwood being general. Lambert was now sent, by the Committee of Safety, with a large force to meet
George Monck, who was in command of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or force him to come to terms.
It was into this atmosphere that Monck, governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, marched south with his army from
Scotland. Lambert's army began to melt away, and he returned to London almost alone. Monck marched to London unopposed. The Presbyterian members, excluded in
Pride's Purge of
1648, were recalled and on
December 24 the Army restored the
Long Parliament. Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before parliament to answer for his conduct. Lambert was sent to the Tower on
March 3,
1660, from which he escaped a month later. Lambert tried to rekindle the civil war in favour of the
Commonwealth by issuing a proclamation calling on all supporters of the "
Good Old Cause" to rally on the battlefield of Edgehill. But he was recaptured by Colonel
Richard Ingoldsby, a
regicide who hoped to win a pardon by handing Lambert over to the new regime.
On
April 4 1660 in the
Declaration of Breda Charles II made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England. Monck organised the
Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on
April 25. On
May 8 it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of
Charles I in January
1649[House of Commons Journal Volume 8, 8 May 1660]. Charles returned from exile on
May 23[Pepys Diary 23 April 1661.]. He entered
London on
May 29, his birthday. To celebrate "his Majesty's Return to his Parliament"
May 29 was made a public holiday, popularly known as
Oak Apple Day[House of Commons Journal Volume 8, 30 May 1660]. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on
23 April 1661.
The
Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time on
May 8,
1661, and it would endure for over 17 years until its dissolution on
January 24,
1679. Like its predecessor parliament, it was overwhelmingly
Royalist and is also known as the Pensionary Parliament for the many pensions it granted to adherents of the King.
The
Indemnity and Oblivion Act, which became law on
29 August,
1660, while pardoning all past treasons against the crown, specifically excluded those involved in the trial and execution of Charles I. Thirty one of the fifty nine Commissioners who had signed the death warrant were living. In the ensuing trials nine of those found guilty were
hanged, drawn and quartered, the full penalty for treason. The leading prosecutor at the trial of King Charles I, John Cooke, was executed in a similar manner. The bodies of the regicides Cromwell,
Bradshaw and
Ireton which had been buried in
Westminster Abbey were disinterred and hanged.
On
October 14,
1660 Major-General
Thomas Harrison a leader of the
Fifth Monarchists was the first person to be found guilty of the regicide of Charles I as
the seventeenth of fifty nine commissioners (Judges) to sign the death warrant in
1649. He was the first regicide to be hanged, drawn and quartered because he was considered by the new government to still represent a real threat to the re-established order. This threat was realised when on
January 6,
1661, 50 Fifth Monarchists, headed by a wine-cooper named
Thomas Venner, made an effort to attain possession of London in the name of "King Jesus." Most of the fifty were either killed or taken prisoner, and on
January 19 and
21, Venner and ten others were hanged, drawn and quartered for high
treason.
In general, however, Charles gained a reputation as an easy-going, fun-loving king, and represented a complete contrast to the restrictive rule of Cromwell. He enjoyed horse-racing and was a great patron of the arts and sciences.
Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of
Oliver Cromwell,
Puritanism lost its momentum, and the bawdy '
Restoration comedy' became a recognisable genre.
The Commonwealth's written constitutions gave to the Lord Protector the King's power to grant titles of honour. Cromwell created over thirty new
knights. These were all declared invalid at the Restoration of Charles II. Many were regranted by the restored King, but being non-hereditary, these titles have long since become extinct.
Of the twelve Cromwellian
baronetcies, Charles II regranted half of them. Only two now continue: Sir George Howland Francis Beaumont, 12th baronet, and Sir Richard Thomas Williams-Bulkeley, 14th baronet, are the direct successors of Sir Thomas Beaumont and Sir Griffith Williams.
Edmund Dunch was created
Baron Burnell of East Wittenham in April
1658, but it was not regranted. The male line failed in
1719, so no one can lay claim to the title.
The one hereditary
viscountcy Cromwell created (making Charles Howard Viscount Howard of Morpeth and Baron Gilsland) continues to this day. In April
1661 Howard was created
Earl of Carlisle, Viscount Howard of Morpeth, and Baron Dacre of Gillesland. The present Earl is a direct descendant of this Cromwellian creation and Restoration recreation.
*
Royal Society*
Restoration style*
Restoration comedy*
Restoration spectacularRestoration, the film of
Rose Tremain's novel
*
Samuel Pepys, whose diary is one of the primary historical sources for this period
* http://www.debretts.co.uk/royal_connections/sovereigns_england_17_century.html
*
Review of 'Revolution and Counter-Revolution in England, Ireland and Scotland 1658-60', by Brian Manning*
Chapter V. The Stewart Restoration By Sir
Charles Harding Firth
