Restoration England, 1660–85
What's covered
Key facts
Crown, Parliament, plots and court life
Charles II managed Parliament more successfully than his father: he generally avoided open confrontation, but secretly relied on French subsidies (notably from the 1670 Secret Treaty of Dover) so he could rule without Parliament when he wished.
Land, trade and war
The Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-54, 1665-67, 1672-74) were fought largely because Dutch and English merchants competed for the same trade routes and colonial markets; the third war also stemmed from Charles II's alliance with Louis XIV.
Life in Restoration England
Coffeehouses became key Restoration London venues: cheap coffee, newspapers, and political/scientific/trade debate between men of different ranks, earning the nickname "penny universities".
Location and function
St Paul's was, and is, an Anglican cathedral of the Church of England, with the monarch as its head; the clergy did not want a new cathedral that looked Puritan or one decorated like a Catholic church.
Location and landscape
Ships laid up "in Ordinary" at Chatham were unrigged and unarmed and manned only by standing officers and shipkeepers; in 1667 most big ships were put in Ordinary to save money.
People and events
Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter commanded the Dutch fleet; Willem Joseph van Ghent commanded the attack up the Medway under him; Cornelis de Witt, brother of the Dutch leader Johan de Witt, sailed with the fleet to supervise the admirals on behalf of the States.
People, events and change
The rebuilding was paid for mainly by a tax on coal brought into the Port of London; in 1702 Queen Anne's first Parliament agreed a large increase in this coal-tax funding.
Significance and legacy
Blame for the humiliation fell on the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon: on 30 August 1667 the King had the Great Seal taken from him, and he was later impeached by the Commons and fled into exile.
Structure and design
The dome belongs to the years after 1685: Wren revised its design in 1685-86, building of its drum began in 1696, the brick cone was added about 1702, and the last stone was laid on the lantern in 1708.
Crown, Parliament, plots and court life
The Clarendon Code (1661–65) was a series of four Acts that re-established the Church of England's supremacy and excluded Nonconformists (dissenting Protestants) from local government office.
Practice questions with answers
A taste of the 63 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
How successfully did Charles II manage the relationship between Crown and Parliament?
- •Charles and Parliament worked in perfect harmony throughout the Restoration
- •Charles failed completely: Parliament was more powerful at his death than when he came
- •Charles was so successful that Parliament simply approved all his decisions
- ✓More successfully than his father: he avoided confrontation but used secret French subsidies
What were the Navigation Acts of the 1660s designed to do?
- •They banned all colonial exports of sugar and tobacco except to ports inside the Mediterranean and the Baltic
- •They handed English shipping rights in the Caribbean to the Dutch East India Company under a treaty with The Hague
- •They opened all English colonial ports to ships of any nation in return for a small customs duty paid at landing
- ✓They required goods imported into English colonies to travel in English ships, aiming to lock the Dutch out of England's growing colonial trade
Why did coffeehouses become so important in Restoration London?
- •They acted as branches of the Bank of England where ordinary Londoners could deposit savings and exchange foreign coin
- ✓They offered cheap coffee, newspapers and a space where men of different ranks debated politics, trade and science, earning the nickname "penny universities"
- •They served as official meeting places of the Royal Society, replacing Gresham College as its main venue throughout the 1660s
- •They were the only legal venues in which Dissenting Protestants could worship after the 1664 Conventicle Act came into force
Which description best fits Old St Paul's in the years just before the Great Fire of 1666?
- •A Gothic cathedral with a tall spire, fully restored by Parliament during the Interregnum.
- ✓A huge medieval cathedral that had lost its spire in 1561 and was decaying, with repairs halted by the Civil War.
- •A new classical cathedral by Inigo Jones, with a great dome that the Fire left standing.
- •A small timber church, rebuilt after the Civil War as a Puritan meeting house for the City.
Why had the navy made the River Medway near Chatham the main anchorage for its great ships?
- •It lay closest to the Dutch coast, so the fleet could sail out quickly to blockade Dutch ports.
- ✓It was close to London's suppliers, less crowded than the Thames, and its mud banks and big tides let hulls be cleaned.
- •It was hidden from the sea by high cliffs, so enemy ships could not see the fleet at anchor.
- •It was the deepest river in England, so the largest warships could float there at any state of tide.
What part did Cornelis de Witt play in the Dutch raid on the Medway?
- •He led the boarding party that captured the Royal Charles and sailed her back to Holland.
- •He negotiated the peace at Breda while the fleet attacked, so he never saw the river.
- •He piloted the Dutch ships through the Medway's mud banks, having served in the English navy.
- ✓He sailed with the fleet on behalf of the Dutch States, supervising the admirals for the government.
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