Restoration, in English history: Politics under Charles II and James II

Control of policy fell to Charles's inner circle of old Cavalier supporters, notably to Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon, who was eventually superseded by a group known as the Cabal. The last remnants of military republicanism, as exemplified in the Fifth Monarchy Men, were violently suppressed, and persecution spread to include the Quakers. The Cavalier Parliament, which assembled in 1661, restored a militant Anglicanism (see Clarendon Code), and Charles attempted, although cautiously, to reassert the old absolutist position of the earlier Stuarts.

The crown, however, was still dependent upon Parliament for its finances. The unwillingness of Charles and his successor, James II, to accept the implications of this dependency had some part in bringing about the deposition (1688) of James II, who was hated as a Roman Catholic as well as a suspected absolutist. The Glorious Revolution gave the throne to William III and Mary II.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• England during the Restoration
• Politics under Charles II and James II
• Restoration of Charles II
• Bibliography

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