This definitions covers Key Terms within Charles II's Legacy for GCSE History. Revise Charles II's Legacy in Restoration England 1660-1685 for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 4 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 13 of 18 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
Topic position
Section 13 of 18
Practice
8 questions
Recall
4 flashcards
📖 Key Terms
- Personal Rule (1681-85)
- Charles governed without calling Parliament for the last four years of his reign, using French subsidies from Louis XIV to fund government. He had finally achieved what he and his father had always wanted — rule without parliamentary interference — but only by depending on a foreign Catholic king.
- Glorious Revolution (1688)
- The overthrow of James II by William of Orange, invited by Protestant nobles alarmed by James's Catholic policies. "Glorious" because it happened without large-scale bloodshed in England. The Bill of Rights (1689) that followed permanently limited royal power and barred Catholics from the throne.
- Bill of Rights (1689)
- Parliamentary legislation passed after the Glorious Revolution that permanently limited royal power — the monarch could not suspend laws, keep a standing army without Parliament's consent, or interfere with parliamentary elections. Also barred Catholics from the crown.
- Deathbed conversion
- Charles II was received into the Catholic Church on 6 February 1685, the day he died. He had kept his Catholic sympathies secret throughout his reign. The conversion was administered by Father John Huddleston, who had helped Charles escape after the Battle of Worcester (1651).
- Monmouth Rebellion (1685)
- Attempt by Charles's illegitimate Protestant son, the Duke of Monmouth, to seize the throne from James II. Defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor; Monmouth executed. Showed James's position was initially secure.
- Legacy
- The long-term impact of a person's actions. Charles's legacy is contested: he preserved the monarchy through crisis, but left unsolved problems (Catholic succession, Parliament's ultimate power) that his brother's reign was unable to contain.