Facts

Charles II

Born in 1630 
Ascended in 1660 
Died in 1685, aged 55 
Reigned for 25 years
Married to Catherine of Braganza 

After Cromwell, parliament invited the exiled King of England, Charles II, to return to the throne at the age of 29. This was known as the Restoration and Charles promoted the arts and science. He also allowed there to be some religious tolerance in England where, at the time, there was much intolerance between the Catholics and the Protestants. Charles had problems with the new Whig government which did not want his devoutly Catholic brother, James, to become King (previously the Tory government had been Catholic but the Whigs were not). 

Charles was a very careful, diplomatic king who was quiet about his religious leanings and had secret dealings with the King of France. This suggested that he was a Catholic supporter. However, this diplomacy did not hold out and France declared war on England in 1666. It was said of Charles, that he never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one.

As well as France declaring war on England, Charles had problems with the Dutch: a disagreement over America resulted in a number of financially damaging wars. His reign was also beset with the plague (the Black Death) and this forced the Royal family to move to Oxford to avoid it. The great fire of London, which raged over 440 acres and destroyed more than 13000 buildings, also occurred during his reign. 

Sir Christopher Wren took the opportunity to rebuild more than fifty churches, including St Paul's Cathedral. Charles was renowned for his love the theatre and also for his love of women. He was married to Catherine of Braganza in 1662, but had a string of mistresses - notably the actress Nell Gwyne. Of the 26 dukes in England today, five are direct descendants of Charles II's illegitimate children.