Charles II, second son of King Charles I was born in 1630 and died in 1885. When his father wasbeheaded in 1649 he was in exile in France, and England became a Commonwealth (that is arepublic); with Cromwell as lord protector.

The Royalists of Scotland at once proclaimed young Charles their King so he went to Scotlandand in 1651 was crowned King of the Scots at Scone. That year the Puritan leader, OliverCromwell, defeated King Charles' army. For six weeks Charles wandered about, a fugitive with aprice of 1000 pounds set on his head, but he managed to escape to France.

The English people became dissatisfied with the government that Cromwell had established, andin 1660 Parliament invited Charles to return and declared him King.

King Charles of England saw the advantages of settlements in Newfoundland but restricted itbecause of pressure from the English merchants who feared it would hinder their profits from thefishery.

Charles' apparent purpose during his reign was to make himself an absolute monarch like hiscontemporary Louis XIV of France. This led him to try to raise a standing army, to restoreCatholicism, and to secure a close alliance with Louis XIV, from whom he sought money andtroops. Resolved "never to set forth on his wanderings again", he followed a crooked course,bribing, flattering, and yielding to Parliament whenever opposition was strong.

During the last five years of his reign, Charles attained a great degree of success in all his policies. The money he received from Louis XIV made it possible for him to rule after 1680 withoutcalling Parliament, and thus prevented it from excluding his Catholic James from succession to thethrone. On his deathbed he himself became a member of the Roman Catholic Church.