Charles II Stuart King of Britain [16538] ²⁴

   Cause of his death was Died of a stroke.

  General Notes:

In exile from 1649-50 and 1651-60.
http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=royal?royal00743


http://www.thepeerage.com/p10139.htm#i101388

Charles II Stuart, King of Great Britain was born on 29 May 1630 at St. James's Palace, St. James's, London, England <pd166.htm>.² He was the son of Charles I Stuart, King of Great Britain <p10138.htm> and Henriette Marie de Bourbon, Princesse de France. He married Catarina Henriqueta de Bragança, Princeza de Portugal <p10140.htm>, daughter of João IV de Bragança, Rei de Portugal <p10140.htm> and Luiza Maria de Guzman <p10140.htm>, on 21 May 1662 at St. Thomas à Becket Church, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England <pd111.htm>.² He was also reported to have been married on 3 May 1662 at Winchester, Hampshire, England <pd113.htm>. He died on 6 February 1685 at age 54 at Whitehall Palace, Whitehall, London, England <pd171.htm>, from a stroke.³ He was buried on 14 February 1685 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England <pd168.htm>.³
Charles II Stuart, King of Great Britain and Elizabeth Jones, Lady Kildare <p32392.htm> were associated.¹ He was created 1st Duke of Rothesay [England] on 29 May 1630.² He was created 1st Duke of Cornwall [England] on 29 May 1630.² He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) on 21 May 1638.² He and Elizabeth Killigrew <p10503.htm> were associated circa 1649.⁴ He and Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland <p10503.htm> were associated between 1659 and 1668.^5,6 He gained the title of King Charles II of Great Britain on 8 May 1660.⁷ Charles II Stuart, King of Great Britain also went by the nick-name of 'Old Rowley'. Charles II Stuart, King of Great Britain also went by the nick-name of 'the Merry Monarch'. He was crowned King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith on 23 April 1661 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England <pd168.htm>.⁷ He and Catherine Pegge <p10503.htm> were associated. He and Lucy Walter <p10503.htm> were associated. He and Eleanor Gywnne <p10504.htm> were associated. He and Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth <p10504.htm> were associated. He and Mary Davies <p10504.htm> were associated circa 1672. He and Jane Middleton <p32440.htm> were associated in 1678.⁸
When his father's cause was lost in 1646 he went to the Isles of Scilly then Jersey and on to France. In 1650 he was crowned King of the Scots at Scone. He invaded England in 1651 and was beaten by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester and after the battle hid in an oak tree. With difficulty he escaped to France. Returning to England in 1660 he was welcomed as King. Plague struck the country in 1665 killing over 60,000 in London alone and in the next year the Great Fire made 200,000 homeless. That was not all, the Dutch Fleet sailed up the Medway and England had to sue for peace. After the Great Fire, Sir Christopher Wren built a new and better London. Charles had St James Park re-created and built Chelsea Hospital for old soldiers. He supported the sciences, founding Greenwich Observatory and the Royal Society. Boyle Halley and Newton are illustrious names of his reign and Nell Gwynn will be remembered for other reasons. His Chief Minister was Clarendon who freed the Church of its Cromwellian past. Titus Oates raised the alarm of a Popish plot and many Catholics were executed. Charles himself was a Catholic, certainly just before his death and probably before. He had many mistresses and the future Duke of Monmouth was his illegitimate son. Of twenty-six dukes in England today, five are descendants on the wrong side of the blanket of Charles II. His neice was married to William of Orange, as a diplomatic measure. He brought much needed elegance to the land. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.⁹
1. Unknown Maubois, "re: Penancoet Family," e-mail message from unknown author e-mail (France) to Darryl Roger Lundy, 2 December 2008. Hereinafter cited as "re: Penancoet Family".
2. Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 253. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Family.
3. Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family, page 257
4. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XI, page 655. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
5. Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, page 91.
6. Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, page 280.
7. C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year (London, U.K.: Odhams Press, 1949), page 21. Hereinafter cited as DeBretts Peerage, 1949.
8. G. Steinman, A Memoir of Mrs. Middleton: great beauty of the time of Charles II (n.n.: n.n., 1864). Hereinafter cited as A Memoir of Mrs. Middleton.
9. Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995), reference "Charles II, 1630-1685". Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.
19. Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family, page 256.
11. Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume II, page 366.
12. Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, page 282.
13. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 1616. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
14. Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family, page 255.
15. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 3, page 3335.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Acceded, 23 Apr 1661, Westminster Abbey, London, England.

Charles married Catherine Henriqueta de Bragança [48676] [MRIN: 551612083], daughter of John IV the Fortunate de Bragança King of Portugal [48668] and Luiza Maria de Guzman [48669], on 21 May 1662 in St Thomas à Becket Church, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. (Catherine Henriqueta de Bragança [48676] was born on 25 Nov 1638 in Vila Viçosa, Lisbon, Portugal, died on 1 Dec 1705 in Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal and was buried in Belém Monastry, Lisbon, Portugal.)

Charles next married Lucy Walter [48677] [MRIN: 551612084], daughter of Richard of Haverfordwest Walter [48678] and Unknown. (Lucy Walter [48677] was born about 1630 and died in 1658.)

Charles next married Barbara Villiers Duchess of Cleveland [16539] [MRIN: 7874], daughter of William Villiers 2nd Viscount Grandison [48904] and Mary Bayning [48905]. (Barbara Villiers Duchess of Cleveland [16539] was born in 1641 and died on 9 Oct 1709.)

Charles next married Louise Renée de Penancoët, de Kérouaille Duchess of Portsmouth [57125] [MRIN: 551615214]. (Louise Renée de Penancoët, de Kérouaille Duchess of Portsmouth [57125] was born in Sep 1649 in Kérouaille and died on 14 Nov 1734 in Paris, France.)