This Day in History: 29 May 2020
29 May 1660
360 years ago, today, Charles II, the exiled king of England, arrived in London on his 30th birthday, to take the throne and end the nation's military rule. When the English Civil War broke out, Charles fled to France after his father, Charles I, and his Royalists were defeated by Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians in 1646. The king was executed by Cromwell three years later. Charles was proclaimed the king of England by the Scots and travelled there to raise an army but was subsequently defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester. He again escaped to France, and later lived in exile in Germany and the Spanish Netherlands.
After Cromwell's eventual death in 1658, the Puritan rule was faltering. Cromwell's son, Richard, proved to be ineffective, causing the public to resent the strict regime of the English military rule. General George Monck met with Charles in 1660 and arranged to restore him to the English throne, in exchange for a promise of amnesty and religious tolerance for his former enemies. Charles later entered London in triumph, with the city rejoicing at his arrival, sparking the English Restoration. In the era's first year, Oliver Cromwell was posthumously convicted of treason. His body was taken from its tomb in Westminster Abbey and was hanged from the gallows at Tyburn.
Want to find out more about Charles II? Click here for more information on his life, or here for a video with more on the English Restoration.
No comments:
Post a Comment