Charles II (1630-1685) became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1660. He was born on May 29, 1630, in London. He had lived in exile after the execution of his father, King Charles I, in 1649. That year, the Scots proclaimed Charles king of Scotland. But the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell defeated his army in 1651, and Charles fled to France. After Cromwell died in 1658, the English people became increasingly dissatisfied with the government that Cromwell had established. In 1660, Parliament invited Charles to return and declared him king. The important events of his reign included two wars with the Dutch, the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, and an assassination attempt called the Rye House Plot. Charles was a member of the House of Stuart. He died on Feb. 6, 1685.
