Restoration to Revolution 1660-88

• Following the expulsion of Richard Cromwell and the end of the Protectorate, relations between army leaders and civilian Members of Parliament continued unabated
• Parliament attempted to dismiss several senior army officers, but General Lambert responded by marching his army on Parliament and expelling the Rump
• Lambert appointed a Committee of Safety to act as the government of the country, but this new government had little support due to weariness caused by the endless change of regime
• Those who opposed Lambert made contact with General Monck in Scotland, who began the march to London with an army
• Lambert marched north to face Monck, but his army suffered great numbers of desertions because their pay had still not been settled
• Monck's army was loyal to him and he ended up marching into London unopposed as Lambert's army had fallen apart
• Monck supported the call for the reinstatement of the MPs removed in Pride's Purge, and the Long Parliament was reinstated
• George Monck


  Originally fought on the side of the Royalists, but after the death of the king he joined Parliament's army and fought alongside Cromwell in Scotland. Cromwell left him in charge when he returned to London, and Monck was able to carry the favour of the troops under his command as he was able to pay them.
• While in exile in the Netherlands, at the behest of his advisors and supporters, Charles issued a statement which outlined what was to happen were he to return to the throne
• The statement was well constructed and managed to appeal to all parties by promising a general pardon, calming the army by promising to give them the pay they were owed, and avoiding contention on how the new government would function
• Monck had also been in contact with Charles II, who was in exile in the Netherlands at the time, and Monck now believed that to maintain any semblance of order and stability, the monarchy had to be restored
• The Long Parliament made arrangements for new elections, dissolved itself, and was replaced by the new Parliament, called the Convention, which invited Charles II to return as king
• In 1660, Charles II arrived in London to cheering crowds and celebrations, as many now came to believe that the monarchy was the only institution that could guarantee stability in the realm
• The Convention finally sorted out the issue of army pay and was then able to peaceably disband the New Model Army
• In 1661, Charles dissolved the Convention and called for a new election to create a new Parliament for a new reign, which had a much heavier Royalist influence
• Key elements of the Restoration Settlement

  • The Militia Act of 1661 confirmed the monarch as the head of the country's military
  • The king's right to choose his own advisors was not challenged
  • The king was granted an annual income equivalent to £1.2 million to be paid mostly through duties and taxes on trade
  • The Corporation Act of 1661 removed those who were not loyal to the crown from a variety of offices, filling the vacancies with staunch Royalists
• Parliament, while having all the advantage, did not try to impose any restrictions on the king's return and allowed him to come back unconditionally
• The Cavalier Parliament declared void all legislation passed under the Commonwealth
• The king still had to ask Parliament for income, and all other ways of gaining income were barred to the king
• The king's courts, which had allowed Charles I to rule alone, were not reinstated
• Parliament passed a law against large crowds accompanying petitions, as these had been used in the recent past to influence the Houses of Parliament
• Charles II


  A fairly pragmatic man who valued order in his kingdoms, and tried to work together with the dominant parties, giving more regard to those he considered of use in the present rather than those who had been loyal to him in the past
• Charles faced similar points of contention with Parliament as his father before him, with key advisors repeatedly picked off by Parliament, and him trying to protect them by dissolving Parliament
• Parliament reintroduced a Triennial Act in 1664, stipulating that Parliaments were to be called at least every three years, though no method of enforcing this was put into place
• The fall of the republic also spelled the end of much religious toleration as the new Parliament sought to establish the dominance of Anglicanism in England
• The Clarendon Code


  • The Corporation Act 1661 required all office holders to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown and the Anglican Church
  • The Act of Uniformity 1662 required all members of the clergy to accept the Anglican Church and removed all those who didn't from their posts
  • The Conventicle Act 1664 imposed fines and imprisonment on religious dissenters who created or attended non-conformist congregations
  • The Five Mile Act 1665 prevented dissenters from teaching and attempted to remove them from places they had lived when they had preached or taught
• Charles was a lot more sympathetic towards Catholics and other non-conformists and often spoke against the acts being introduced by Parliament
• Charles passed the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, suspending penal laws against dissenters, but this was outraged by Parliament who felt he had no right to suspend laws they had passed
• The Test Act of 1673 required all civil and military office holders to take sacrament in the Anglican Church
• When Clarendon fell from influence, the Cabal, a group of five ministers, rose to prominence as the King's closest advisors, some of whom harboured more sympathy for Catholics and were Catholics themselves
• This development alarmed Parliament who saw this as another Catholic plot, combined with the increase of relations with Catholic France
• The next big crisis came about over the succession, as Charles's heir was his younger brother James, who was openly Catholic
• Parliament tried to pass the Exclusion Bill, which would prevent James from being heir, but Charles dissolved Parliament in reaction
• The years 1681-85 saw Charles rule without Parliament, made possible by his gradually improving financial situation and a secret pact with Louis XIV of France
• The Rye House Plot changed this and saw a quieting of political opposition, and little was said when the Triennial Act was ignored
• Charles ruled without Parliament until his death in 1685 and converted to Catholicism on his deathbed
• Charles II seemingly follow in the footsteps of his father and rule without Parliament
• Charles II's revenue was based on customs duties, which were granting more and more money as time went on
• Charles II had a secret pact with Louis XIV of France, which stipulated that Charles would not recall Parliament in return for a grant
• Parliament's very existence was still in the hands of the king, though political debate still continued outside of Parliament as most still expected another to be called