29 May 1660: Charles II restored to the throne

While Charles II was formally proclaimed King by parliament in April, he only reached London on this day in 1660.

Dr Matthew Partridge
By
published
in Features

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The debts continued to mount during Charles II's reign

During the 1640s, England and Wales were plunged into a bitter civil war, ending in 1649 with the execution of King Charles Iandthe establishment of a Commonwealth. However, the rule of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell (paid the equivalent of £1.5m a year), proved unpopular.

After he died in 1658, his son Richard briefly took over, but was forced to resign a year later.The stage was set for the restoration of the monarchy and the return of the late king's oldest son.

Charles II was formally proclaimed King by parliament in April 1660 (and had considered himself monarch from 1649 onwards), but he only reached London on 29 May. In return for the end of feudal dues, parliament nominally agreed to give the crown £1.2m (£150m in today's money) a year.

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However, the cost of various wars (including several against the Dutch) pushed spending well above that amount, while the projected revenues from customs and excise duties never appeared.

This led to soaring borrowing, and a clash between the King and parliament over control of taxation. Indeed, the English government was so cash-strapped that Charles II ended up selling Dunkirk to the French for £375,000 (£46.6m) in 1662. He also leased Bombay to the East India company for £10 a year from 1668, to save money on the costs of defending the region.

Even so, the government was forced to suspend debt payments several times, starting in 1672. Debt accumulated during Charles II's reign (which ended on his death in 1685), along with the fiscal impact of the Dutch invasion of 1688/1689, would later result in the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694.

Dr Matthew Partridge
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri

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