Why Did the Restoration Happen?

In 1650 England did something unprecedented – they killed a King and set themselves up as a commonwealth.

However, ten years later they decided to invite Charles I’s 30-year old son – also called Charles – back to England and reinstate the monarchy. So why did they go to all the trouble of deposing a King only to invite him back?

Bringing back the King

England’s problem was that a significant majority never wanted to get rid of the monarchy completely. There were radical voices calling for the introduction of new freedoms and democracy, but these were very much on the fringes.

For most people, the news that England had been turned into a Republic was shocking and a desire to return to the traditional English constitution – a stable country with a king who would behave himself within reason – remained.

The problem lay with King Charles I and his refusal to compromise even when he had little other choices. After his capture at the end of the first Civil War, negotiations proceeded to place him back on the throne.

He did have to make a number of concessions if the Parliamentarians were to reinstate him, however – promising that he would not target Parliament’s leaders and that he would devolve power. Charles’ belief in the Divine Right of Kings ensured he was particularly averse to the latter demand.

Rather than accepting the concessions, Charles escaped his captors, fled north, and tried to forge an alliance with the Scots.

The plan backfired. The Scottish Presbyterian army entered negotiations with Parliament for the handing over of the suppliant king and pretty soon Charles found himself in the custody of the Parliamentarians again.

By this time attitudes had hardened. Charles’ intransigence seemed to make peace impossible. As long as he remained on the throne, it seemed, the war would continue. The only choice was to kill the King.

Life without kings

With Charles gone England was now a commonwealth led by the powerful hand of Oliver Cromwell, but pretty soon he found governing the country was not as easy as he might have liked. First, there was a kingdom to secure. Charles-I might be gone, but his son was still at large.

The young man who would later be Charles II raised his own army to challenge Parliament. He met with little more success than his father and was defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Legend has it that he hid in a tree to evade Parliament’s forces.

Furthermore, Cromwell soon had his own problems with Parliament. In 1648 Parliament had been purged of all those who were not supportive of the New Model Army and the Independents. Even so, the remaining Rump Parliament was in no mood to simply do Cromwell’s bidding and in 1653 Cromwell dismissed it and set up a protectorate instead.

Although Cromwell refused the Crown, he was King in all but name and soon started to show royal tendencies. He governed in much the same way Charles had, only recalling parliament when he had to raise money.

Strict religious order

Cromwell’s regime soon became unpopular. Strict observance of Protestantism was enforced, theatres were shut down and alehouses across the country closed.

Naturally, the English took against this and it is perhaps only Cromwell’s iron grip on power that kept things together.

When he died in 1658 rule passed to his son Richard. Richard soon proved to be not as proficient as his father had been. This soon paved the way for the return of Charles I’s exiled, namesake son; an opening for the return of a monarch had appeared.

Parliament began negotiations with the young Charles to bring him back to the throne on condition that he agree to certain concessions. Charles – who was a little more flexible than his father – agreed and was crowned in 1660.

Charles had his coronation a year later and England had a King once more.