Editing Charles II of England (section)

== Early life, civil war and exile ==
[[File:Charles II Prince of Wales Egmont.jpg|right|upright=0.8|thumb|Charles as an infant in 1630, painting attributed to [[Justus van Egmont]]|alt=Baby in white christening robe]]

Charles was born at [[St James's Palace]] on 29 May 1630, eldest surviving son of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], king of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], and his wife [[Henrietta Maria]], sister of [[Louis XIII of France]]. Charles was their second child (the first being a son born about a year before, who had died within a day).{{sfn|Weir|1996| pp=255–257}} He was baptised on 27 June in the [[Chapel Royal]] by [[William Laud]], a future [[archbishop of Canterbury]], and during his infancy was supervised by the Protestant [[Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset#Family|Countess of Dorset]]. His godparents included his maternal uncle Louis XIII and maternal grandmother, [[Marie de' Medici]], the Dowager Queen of France, both of whom were Catholics.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|p=13}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|pp= 1–4}}.</ref> At birth, Charles automatically became [[Duke of Cornwall]] and [[Duke of Rothesay]], and the possessor of several other associated titles. At or around his eighth birthday, he was designated [[Prince of Wales]], though he was never formally invested.{{sfn|Weir|1996| pp=255–257}}

In August 1642, the long-running dispute between Charles I and [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] culminated in the outbreak of the [[First English Civil War]]. In October, Prince Charles and his younger brother [[James II of England|James]] were present at the [[Battle of Edgehill]] and spent the next two years based in the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] capital of [[Oxford]]. In January 1645, Charles was given his own Council and made titular head of Royalist forces in the [[West Country]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|pp=6–7}}.</ref> By spring 1646, most of the region had been occupied by [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces and Charles went into exile to avoid capture. From [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]], he went first to the [[Isles of Scilly]], then to [[Jersey]], and finally to France, where his mother was already living under the protection of his first cousin, the eight-year-old [[Louis XIV]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|pp=38–45}}; {{harvnb|Miller|1991|p=6}}.</ref> Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646.

During the [[Second English Civil War]] in 1648, Charles moved to [[The Hague]], where his sister [[Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange|Mary]] and his brother-in-law [[William II, Prince of Orange]], seemed more likely to provide substantial aid to the Royalist cause than his mother's French relations.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|pp=55–56}} Although part of the Parliamentarian fleet defected, it did not reach Scotland in time to join up with the Royalist [[Engager]] army led by the [[James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]] before it was defeated at [[Battle of Preston (1648)|Preston]] by the [[New Model Army]].{{sfn|Fraser|1979|pp=57–60}}

[[File:William Dobson - Charles II, 1630 - 1685. King of Scots 1649 - 1685. King of England and Ireland 1660 - 1685 (When Prince of Wales, with a page) - Google Art Project.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|left|Portrait by [[William Dobson]], {{Circa}}&nbsp;1642 or 1643|alt=Charles as a boy with shoulder-length black hair and standing in a martial pose]]

At The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with [[Lucy Walter]], who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|pp=65–66, 155}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|p=26}}; {{harvnb|Miller|1991|p=5}}.</ref> Her son, [[James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth|James Crofts]] (afterwards [[Duke of Monmouth]] and [[Duke of Buccleuch]]), was one of Charles's many illegitimate children who became prominent in British society.{{sfn|Weir|1996|pp=255–257}} Despite his son's diplomatic efforts to save him, the [[execution of Charles I]] took place in January 1649, and England became a [[Commonwealth of England|republic]]. On 5 February, the [[Covenanter]] [[Parliament of Scotland]] proclaimed Charles II as "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland" at the [[Mercat Cross, Edinburgh]],{{sfn|RPS|loc=1649/1/71}} but refused to allow him to enter Scotland unless he agreed to establish [[Presbyterianism]] as the [[state religion]] in all three of his kingdoms.

When negotiations with the Scots stalled, Charles authorised [[James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose|Lord Montrose]] to land in the [[Orkney Islands]] with a small army to threaten the Scots with invasion, in the hope of forcing an agreement more to his liking. Montrose feared that Charles would accept a compromise, and so chose to invade mainland Scotland anyway. He was captured and executed. Charles reluctantly promised that he would abide by the terms of a [[Treaty of Breda (1650)|treaty agreed between him and the Scots Parliament]] at [[Breda]], and support the [[Solemn League and Covenant]], which authorised [[Presbyterian church governance]] across Britain. Upon his arrival in Scotland on 23 June 1650, he formally agreed to the Covenant; his abandonment of [[Episcopy|Episcopal]] church governance, although winning him support in Scotland, left him unpopular in England. Charles himself soon came to despise the "villainy" and "hypocrisy" of the Covenanters.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|p=53}}.</ref> Charles was provided with a Scottish court, and the record of his [[Food and the Scottish royal household|food and household expenses]] at [[Falkland Palace]] and [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] survives.<ref>David Stevenson, 'Minute Book of the Board of Green Cloth', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XV'' (Edinburgh, 2013), pp. 55–132.</ref>

[[File:Cast gold medal of Charles II Stuart.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Cast gold coronation medal of Charles II, dated 1651]]

Charles's alliance with the Scots led to the [[Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652)|Anglo-Scottish War]] of 1650 to 1652. On 3 September 1650, the Covenanters were defeated at [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Dunbar]] by a much smaller force commanded by [[Oliver Cromwell]]. The Scots were divided between moderate Engagers and the more radical [[Kirk Party]], who even fought each other. Disillusioned by these divisions, Charles rode north to join an Engager force in October, an event which became known as "the Start", but within two days members of the Kirk Party had recovered him.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|pp=96–97}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|pp=56–57}}.</ref> Nevertheless, the Scots remained Charles's best hope of restoration, and he was [[Scottish coronation of Charles II|crowned King of Scotland]] at [[Scone Abbey]] on 1 January 1651. With Cromwell's forces threatening Charles's position in Scotland, it was decided to mount an attack on England, but many of their most experienced soldiers had been excluded on religious grounds by the Kirk Party, whose leaders also refused to participate, among them [[Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll|Lord Argyll]]. Opposition to what was primarily a Scottish army meant few English Royalists joined as it moved south, and the invasion ended in defeat at the [[Battle of Worcester]] on 3 September 1651. [[Escape of Charles II|Charles managed to escape]] and landed in [[Normandy]] six weeks later on 16 October, even though there was a reward of £1,000 on his head, anyone caught helping him was at risk of being put to death, and he was difficult to disguise, being over {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}}, which was unusually tall for the time.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|pp=98–128}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|pp=53–69}}.</ref>{{efn|One thousand pounds was a vast sum at the time, greater than an average workman's lifetime earnings.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|p=117}} }}

[[File:Charles II (de Champaigne).jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Charles in exile, painted by [[Philippe de Champaigne]], {{Circa|1653}}]]

Under the [[Instrument of Government]] passed by Parliament, Cromwell was appointed [[Lord Protector#Cromwellian Commonwealth|Lord Protector]] of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1653, effectively placing the [[British Isles]] under military rule. Charles lived a life of leisure at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] near Paris,{{sfn|Falkus|1972|p=54}} living on a grant from Louis XIV of 600 [[French livre|livres]] a month.<ref>[http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/charles2.htm Charles II of England]. Excerpted from: Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed. Vol XV. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910. 142.</ref> Charles could not obtain sufficient finance or support to mount a serious challenge to Cromwell's government. Despite the [[Stuart family]] connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the [[Dutch Republic]] allied themselves with Cromwell's government from 1654, forcing Charles to leave France and turn to Spain for aid, which at that time ruled the [[Southern Netherlands]].{{sfn|Hutton|1989|pp=74–112}}

Charles made the [[Treaty of Brussels (1656)|Treaty of Brussels]] with Spain in 1656. This gathered Spanish support for a restoration in return for Charles's contribution to the war against France. Charles raised a ragtag army from his exiled subjects; this small, underpaid, poorly-equipped and ill-disciplined force formed the nucleus of the post-Restoration army.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|pp=156–157}} The Commonwealth made the [[Treaty of Paris (1657)|Treaty of Paris]] with France in 1657 to join them in war against Spain in the Netherlands. Royalist supporters in the Spanish force were led by Charles's younger brother [[James, Duke of York]].<ref>Childs, John. ''Army of Charles II''. Routledge, 2013 p. 2</ref> At the [[Battle of the Dunes (1658)|Battle of the Dunes]] in 1658, as part of the larger Spanish force, Charles's army of around 2,000 clashed with Commonwealth troops fighting with the French. By the end of the battle Charles's force was about 1,000 and with Dunkirk given to the English the prospect of a Royalist expedition to England was dashed.<ref>Tucker, S ''Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict'' p. 212</ref>