Charles II (1649 - 1685)

Charles came to power in a very different manner to his father, Charles I. England was a republic and Ireland had also fallen to Cromwell therefore he, after some delay, landed in Scotland on 23rd June 1650. He signed the Covenants of 1638 and 1643 but he probably did this unwillingly and he also found the sermonising and interference of the Presbyterians irritating. Cromwell moved into Scotland in July 1650 and he met the Covenanters at Dunbar. The Covenanters allowed Cromwell to fight on his own terms and were heavily defeated. Charles went to Scone where he was crowned king on 1st January 1651, he was the last monarch to be crowned with the ancient Scottish Regalia. Meanwhile, the New Model Army moved north and took Edinburgh Castle before moving on to Perth, missing Charles as he had gone to the west before slipping into England with a Scottish army. In England few came to join him and on 3rd September Cromwell's forces defeated the Royalist army at Worcester. Again he evaded capture and went to France. While he was in exile he kept in close touch with the Highlanders who rose in an unsuccessful revolt on his behalf in 1654. In the years that he was in exile Scotland was ruled by Cromwell, and although it was a foreign rule it was, in general, efficient and tolerant. By 1652 Scotland was all but conquered with the Highlands holding out longest. The forces of General Monck were irresistible, however, with an army of 10,000 to 18,000 occupying four large forts. Union with England was given sanction by parliament in 1657 and Scotland was given the miserable representation of 30 MP's.

Charles II portrait by Pieter van der Banck

Charles was restored in 1661 by the Declaration of Breda, where he offered all things to all men. In the event he ruled Scotland from London and in the words of one commentator 'never was a king so absolute as in poor old Scotland'. The effective power in Scotland was the Secretary of State who passed messages from Scotland to London and the governments wishes were passed in the opposite direction.

In 1665 the Anglo-Dutch war broke out and there was sympathy in Scotland for the Presbyterian Dutch, this provoked the Covenanters' Pentland Rising which was ruthlessly put down, despite the king's wishes for clemency. From then until 1673 conciliation was the main wish of the king , with two Declarations of Indulgence which relaxed the laws against conventicles and allowed an easier life for Presbyterian ministers. Unfortunately this led to a new wave of proselytising and persection inevitably followed. The death sentence was given for preaching at a conventicle and this resulted in the murder of the Archbishop Sharp of St Andrews. The murder started a small scale civil war in which the Covenanters defeated government troops at Drumclog in Lanarkshire. They then proceeded to Glasgow where they began to fight among themsleves and were defeated by John Scott, Duke of Monmouth at Bothwell Brig. Again Charles promoted clemency with the Act of Indemnity and another Declaration of Indulgence.

By 1680 the king's Roman Catholic brother, James, Duke of Albany, was in charge in Scotland and repression restarted. The Cameronians kept up the struggle and despite a defeat at Airds Moss they kept fighting, this led to atrocities. The Royalist leaders, especially Claverhouse ('Bluidy Clavers') and Sir George Mackenzie ('Bluidy Mackenzie') were the worst in what became known as the 'Killing Time'.

Charles lived until 1685, in England. He had never cared for Scotland and was happy to spend his last years in the south.

History Books on this time period:

Author	Title	Published	Price	Order Now From: From:
Dow, Frances	Cromwellian Scotland	1999	£15.99 or $31.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
During the Cromwellian period the relationship between Scotland and England changed a great deal. From being an ally of the English Parliament, Scotland effectively became a conquered province under military occupation. Frances Dow looks at the causes and effects of this state of affairs and the policies that were put into action during it.
Grainger, John D.	Cromwell Against the Scots: The Last Anglo-Scottish War, 1650-1652	1997	£14.99	Amazon.co.uk
Following Charles II's landing in Scotland, Cromwell invaded the country and for two years a curious war ensued with the King invading England with a somewhat reluctant Scottish army while the Republicans invaded Scotland with an English army. Grainger looks at both the political and the military evenst of this period.
History Books about this time period:
Donaldson, G.	Scotland: James V - VII	1965	£16.99 or $27.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
The four-volume Edinburgh History of Scotland is the most important project in Scottish historical writing for more than half a century; each volume is written by an expert on the period who brings to his work the direct acquaintance with original sources on which authoritative historical writing can alone be based. This, the third volume, deals with the time when many of the most significant and familiar episodes in Scottish history took place. The period was one in which Scotland was transformed, partly as a result of conspicuous events but largely because of more subtle and less perceptible changes in the constitutional, ecclesiastical and economic structure, the end result of which was an emergence of life more akin to that we know today. Since the early years of the 20th century much research has been done into this period. Its results form the foundation of this major work, which makes available information hitherto only found scattered throughout numerous books and periodicals.
Mitchison, R.	Lordship to Patronage: Scotland 1603-1745	1990	£9.95 or $20.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Drawing on political, constitutional, religious, economic and social studies, Professor Mitchison outlines the growing bonds between England and Scotland, beginning with James VI's succession and culminating in the Act of Union in 1707. She argues that the union of the two states has had a distorting effect on Scottish history, constantly prompting comparisons of the constitutions and achievements of the two countries, rather than placing Scotland in a European context. This book attempts to redress the balance. First published as part of the New History of Scotland series this is a highly readable and straightforward introduction to early modern Scotland.