Changes

He disbanded Cromwell's army of 42,000 men because it was heavily Puritan. In the years around 1680, rumors of a popish plot led to strife between Whigs and Tories, but war was averted, and the Tories proved victorious before Charles's death in 1685. Charles retained his throne to the end, but three years later his incompetent brother, King [[James II]], lost it and went back into exile.

He disbanded Cromwell's army of 42,000 men because it was heavily Puritan. In the years around 1680, rumors of a popish plot led to strife between Whigs and Tories, but war was averted, and the Tories proved victorious before Charles's death in 1685. Charles retained his throne to the end, but three years later his incompetent brother, King [[James II]], lost it and went back into exile.

==Debate==

==Debate==

Historians debate how bad he was. One school argues that the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 was needed to reverse the continuation by James II of frcing on britain a royal absolutism, which had begun in the final years of Charles II's reign. Only the intervention of William of Orange in the autumn of 1688 brought about a change of direction, perhaps at the last possible moment, say these historians.  Others (such as Miller (1991)) say Charles was too cautions to be very dangerous; he profound insecurity, arising from England's recent past of civil war and republican rule, meant that his priority was personal survival--the preservation of existing royal powers rather than their systematic extension.  His borther James II was less pragmatic and more driven by his passionate commitment to Roman Catholicism. James did not seek power for its own sake, but aimed to place Catholics on an equal footing with Protestants by securing for them religious toleration and access to public office, which alarmed Protestants.<ref> See Goodland (2007)</ref>

Historians debate how bad he was. One school argues that the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 was needed to reverse the continuation by James II of frcing on Britain a royal absolutism, which had begun in the final years of Charles II's reign. Only the intervention of [[William III|William of Orange]] in 1688 brought about a change of direction, perhaps at the last possible moment, say these historians.  Others (such as Miller (1991)) say Charles was too cautions to be very dangerous; he profound insecurity, arising from England's recent past of civil war and republican rule, meant that his priority was personal survival--the preservation of existing royal powers rather than their systematic extension.  His borther James II was less pragmatic and more driven by his passionate commitment to Roman Catholicism. James did not seek power for its own sake, but aimed to place Catholics on an equal footing with Protestants by securing for them religious toleration and access to public office, which alarmed Protestants.<ref> See Goodland (2007)</ref>

 

==Dutch wars==

==Dutch wars==

Charles fought very expensive naval wars with the Dutch, almost bankrupting the Crown; his fleet managed to seize New Netherlands, soon renamed after his brother as New York.

Charles fought very expensive naval wars with the Dutch, almost bankrupting the Crown; his fleet managed to seize New Netherlands, soon renamed after his brother as New York.