CHRISTIPHER FALKUS - CHARLES 2CD Introduction by Antonia Fraser. 1975 Cardinal Press.
A slim nicely illustrated
biography of the King known as The Merry Monarch. Charles had an idyllic childhood until the Civil War tore England apart around his father. Charles now had to grow up quickly. Even as a teenager he was given delicate diplomatic missions such as the abortive messages he carried in a vain attempt to save Stafford from the gallows. Charles actually fought in some Civil War battles and accompanied his father and younger brother James (later James 2cd) to Oxford. As the tide of war turned against the King, the heir to the throne was sent off to the Scillies for protection, and from there, via Jersey to France where he resided with his mother, Queen Henrietta Marie. With his father’s execution in England, Charles became King in 1649. In 1650 he attempted to recapture the British Throne from Cromwell’s Republican forces, but he was beaten at Worcester on September 3rd, and after spending much time on the run (famously even hiding in an Oak tree) Charles returned to France in exile. As the Republican Commonwealth collapsed after Cromwell’s death, Charles was freely invited back to rule Britain. The Restoration was a lavish affair with fountains flowing with wine instead of water. The King’s court was a bawdy one. All seemed well until the plague of 1665 and fire of 1666, which are not covered in great detail in the book, but afterwards, the political mood robbed Charles of his merriment. Charles sired many illegitimate sons, and the oldest, Monmouth, was to try to overthrow the throne in contempt and jealousy of the Catholic James – a conflict which would spill over into James’s own reign. Charles engaged in a disastrous war against the Dutch. Charles had several affairs, gaining the nickname Old Rowley, after a stud racehorse he owned. Charles was very fond of racing. His most famous lover, Nell Guinne, an actress and orange selling prostitute gets relatively little mention as don’t many other who were involved in the story, such as Rochester and Pepys. Charles held off a succession crisis in the Parliament, gaining the right for his brother to succeed him. It was not a popular decision due to James’s beliefs, and on Charles’s deathbed the old King was also to convert to Catholicism. It’s a thoughtful basic introduction to one of the most impressive reigns in British history – Charles is a lovable rogue faced with bias and bigotry who kept the peace in difficult times. The mistakes of his father would also bring down James 2cd, but Charles 2cd was able to largely weather the storm to become of our the best kings we ever had.