Charles

Charles, Stuart kings of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles I (1600–49), a Catholic, came to the throne in 1625. His reign is most notable for his continual conflicts with the mainly Puritan Parliament. From 1629 to 1640 he ruled without a parliament, having dissolved it. Civil and religious liberties were eroded, leading to widespread emigration to America and finally, in the 1640s, to a civil war. In 1646–48 the king's supporters were defeated. Charles I was executed. His son, Charles II (1630–85) took refuge in France in 1646. In 1651 he returned to Scotland and was crowned king. He attempted to retake England, but was defeated by Oliver Cromwell and fled to France again. In 1660, 2 years after the death of Cromwell, Charles II took the throne again in the Stuart Restoration. Despite his dissolution of Parliament in 1681, that institution's power increased during his reign. Political parties were born, and colonization flourished.