Charles II of England
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 King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland.
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The exact date at which Charles became King is vague thanks to the uncertain political situation of the time. His father was executed on 30th January 1649, making him in theory King Charles II from that moment. Of all British territory, he was immediately proclaimed King in Scotland on 5th and Jersey on 16th February 1649. In Scotland Charles was for some time king in title only. It took two years of negotiation with the Presbyterians before he was finally crowned King of Scots in Scone on 1st January 1651. His coronation in England would not be until after the Restoration in May 1660, spending most of the intervening time exiled in France.
Unlike his father Charles I, Charles II was skilled at managing the Parliament of England, so much so that Charles is still considered by some as one of England's greatest kings. It was during his reign that the Whig and Tory political parties developed. He famously fathered numerous illegitimate children, of whom he acknowledged fourteen; but no legitimate children that lived. Charles was also a patron of the arts and less restrictive than many of his predecessors. Some historians, such as Maurice Ashley, believe that Charles was secretly a Roman Catholic for much of his life while others, such as Antonia Fraser, disagree. All that is known for certain is that he converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed, and in doing so became the first Roman Catholic to reign over England since the death of Mary I of England in 1558 and over Scotland since the deposition of Mary I of Scotland in 1567. The Catholic part of his reign lasted no more than a few moments, but he had firmly supported the succession of his brother (James II), who was Catholic.
Early life
Charles, the eldest surviving son of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, was born in St. James's Palace on 29 May 1630. At birth, he automatically became (as the eldest surviving son of the Sovereign) Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay; shortly after his birth, he was created Prince of Wales. Due to the disruption caused by the English Civil War, he was never formally invested with the Honours of the Principality of Wales.During the 1640s, when the Prince of Wales was still young, Charles I fought parliamentary and Puritan forces in the English Civil War. The Prince accompanied his father during the Battle of Edgehill and, at the age of fifteen, participated in the campaigns of 1645, when he was made titular commander of the English forces in the West Country. In 1646, due to fears for his safety, he left England, going first to the Isles of Scilly, then to Jersey, and finally to France, where his mother was already living in exile. In 1648, during the Second Civil War, Charles moved to The Hague, where his sister Mary and brother-in-law the Prince of Orange seemed more likely to provide substantial aid to the Royalist cause than the Queen's French relations. However Charles was neither able to use the royalist fleet that came under his control to any advantage, nor to reach Scotland in time to join up with the royalist "Engagers" army of the Duke of Hamilton, before it was defeated at the Battle of Preston.
At the Hague, Charles II had an affair with Lucy Walter (who, some alleged, secretly married him); their son, James Crofts (afterwards Duke of Monmouth and Duke of Buccleuch), was to become the most prominent of Charles's many illegitimate sons in English political life.
Charles I was captured by the rebels in 1647, escaped, and was recaptured in 1648. Despite his son's efforts to save him, Charles I was executed in 1649, and England was proclaimed a republic.
At the same time, however, Scotland recognized Charles as his father's successor—even the Covenanters (led by the Marquess of Argyll), the most extreme Presbyterian group in Scotland, proved unwilling to allow the English to decide the fate of their monarchy. On 5 February 1649, Charles II was proclaimed King of Scots in Edinburgh. He would not be allowed to enjoy the powers that followed from his title until such time as he signed the Solemn League and Covenant (an agreement between England and Scotland that the Church of Scotland should not be remodelled on Anglican lines but should remain Presbyterian – the form of church governance preferred by most in Scotland – and that the Church of England and the Church of Ireland should be reformed along the same lines) (see also Treaty of Breda (1650). Upon his arrival in Scotland on 23 June 1650, he formally agreed to the Covenant; his abandonment of Anglicanism, although winning him support in Scotland, left him unpopular in England. Charles himself soon came to hate his Scottish hosts (or jailers, as he came to see the dour Covenanters), and supposedly celebrated at the news of the Covenanters' defeat at Dunbar in September 1650. Nevertheless, the Scots remained Charles's best hope of restoration, and he was crowned King of Scots at Scone on 1 January 1651. With Cromwell's forces threatening Charles's position in Scotland, it was decided to mount an attack on England. With many of the Scots (including Argyll and other leading Covenanters) refusing to participate, and with few English royalists joining the force as it moved south into England, the invasion ended in defeat at the Battle of Worcester on September 3 1651, following which Charles is said to have hidden in the Royal Oak at Boscobel House, subsequently escaping to France in disguise. Parliament put a reward of £1,000 on the king's head, and the penalty of death for anyone caught helping him. Through six weeks of narrow escapes Charles managed to flee England. (See also Escape of Charles II.)Impoverished, Charles could not obtain sufficient support to mount a serious challenge to Cromwell's government. Despite the Stuart familial connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the United Provinces allied themselves with Cromwell's government, forcing Charles to turn to Spain for aid. He attempted to raise an army, but failed due to his financial shortcomings.