Charles II

Leading Ladies

The French tradition of the royal mistress gave new opportunities for women at the court of Charles II.

A Touch of Charles II

The belief that a king’s laying on of hands could cure the disfiguring disease of scrofula gained new heights of popularity during the Restoration, as Stephen Brogan explains.

Bishop Ken and the Non-Jurors

In the precarious years that followed the Restoration of Charles II, the senior clergy of the Church of England navigated the country’s shifting politics at their peril. But high principles still had their place, as John Jolliffe explains.

Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion

Clarendon’s great ‘History’ was composed largely in exile and published after his death. Hugh Trevor-Roper discusses how the historian had originally intended this great work to be private political advice to the King.

The Death of Nell Gwynne

The preeminent Restoration actress and infamous Royal mistress died in 1687 at the age of 37. Jane Hoare describes how Charles II had left her well provided.

Natural Philosophy in James Howell

Meyrick Carre introduces James Howell; an enquiring disciple of the new astronomers who enlivened the British seventeenth-century scene, and ended his life as historiographer-royal to Charles II.

The Exclusion Crisis, Part II

J.P. Kenyon describes how the Exclusion movement of 1679-81 revealed a widespread frustration among the Parliamentary classes, their distrust of Charles II, and their hatred of Popery. You can find the first part of this article here.