Cine s-a întâlnit cu Charles II of England?

Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. After Charles I's execution at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649. However, England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth with a republican government eventually led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis after Cromwell's death in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim.

Charles's English Parliament enacted the Clarendon Code, to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to these new laws even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin, King Louis XIV of France. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oates's fabrication of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, had become a Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories and, after the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile. Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685.

A patron of the arts and sciences, Charles became known for his affability and friendliness, and for allowing his subjects easy access to his person. But he also showed an almost impenetrable reserve, especially concerning his political agendas. His court gained a reputation for moral laxity. Charles's marriage to Catherine of Braganza produced no surviving children, but the king acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James.

Hortense Mancini, ducesă Mazarin (6 iunie 1646, Roma – 9 noiembrie 1699), a fost nepoata favorită a Cardinalului Mazarin, prim-ministru al Franței; a fost metresa regelui Carol al II-lea al Angliei, Scoției și Irlandei. A fost a patra din cele cinci surori Mancini, care împreună cu verișoarele lor din familia Martinozzi au devenit cunoscute la curtea regelui Ludovic al XIV-lea drept Mazarinettes.

Catherine Pegge (1635 circa – ...) fu per lunghi anni amante del re d'Inghilterra Carlo II.

Dal sovrano ebbe due figli, Charles FitzCharles, I conte di Plymouth e Catherine FitzCharles.

Figlia di esponenti di classi sociali elevate, seguì la famiglia nell'esilio presso la città belga di Bruges e fu proprio in questa città che iniziò la sua relazione con il sovrano.

Mary "Moll" Davis (c. 1648 – 1708), also spelt Davies or Davys, was a courtesan and mistress of King Charles II of England. She was an actress and entertainer before and during her role as royal mistress.

Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (8 July 1647 – 15 October 1702) was a prominent member of the Court of the Restoration and famous for refusing to become a mistress of Charles II of England. For her great beauty she was known as La Belle Stuart and served as the model for an idealised, female Britannia. She is one of the Windsor Beauties painted by Sir Peter Lely.

Winifred Wells was a courtier at the Stuart Restoration court as a Maid of Honour to Queen consort Catherine of Braganza. She was also one of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England. Samuel Pepys refers to her as the King's mistress in his diary, and she also features in Philibert de Gramont's famous Mémoirs.

Eleanor Gwyn (also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne, Gwin; 2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687) was an English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stage, she became best known for being a longtime mistress of King Charles II of England.

Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England, and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726) and James Beauclerk (1671–1680). Charles Beauclerk was created Earl of Burford and Duke of St Albans; Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans is her descendant, and the current holder of the title.

Elizabeth Boyle, Viscountess Shannon (born Elizabeth Killigrew; baptised 16 May 1622 – December 1680), was an English courtier and mistress of King Charles II.

Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Ducesă de Portsmouth (septembrie 1649 – 14 noiembrie 1734) a fost amanta regelui Carol al II-lea al Angliei timp de cincisprezece ani, dar a fost de asemenea și agentul secret a lui Ludovic al XIV-lea al Franței. Saint-Evrement spunea: "panglica de mătase din jurul taliei domnișoarei Kerouaille, unește Franța și Anglia". În Anglia era numită și Carwell sau Carewell, aluzie ironică la faptul că se socotea că cheltuia mult din visteriile statului.

A fost rudă cu renumitul filozof francez Marchizul de Sade.

Prin fiul ei cu Carol al II-lea, Charles Lennox, Duce de Richmond, ea este strămoașa ambelor soții ale Prințului Charles: Diana, Prințesă de Wales și Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Lucy Walter (c. 1630 – 1658), also known as Lucy Barlow, was the first mistress of King Charles II of England and mother of James, Duke of Monmouth. During the Exclusion Crisis, a Protestant faction wanted to make her son heir to the throne, fuelled by the rumour that the king might have married Lucy, a claim which he denied.

Barbara Palmer, Ducesă de Cleveland, Contesă de Castlemaine, cunoscută ca Lady Castlemaine (27 noiembrie 1640 – 9 octombrie 1709), a fost o curtezană engleză și poate cea mai faimoasă din multele metrese ale regelui Carol al II-lea al Angliei, cu care a avut cinci copii. Influența ei a fost atât de mare, încât se făcea referire la ea ca la "regina neîncoronată".

Barbara a fost subiectul multor portrete, în special cele ale pictorului de curte Sir Peter Lely. Extravaganța, temperamentul și promiscuitatea ei l-au provocat pe jurnalistul John Evelyn, s-o descrie ca "blestemul națiunii".

S-a convertit la romano-catolicism de la anglicanism în 1663.

Printre descendenții ei se include și Diana, Prințesă de Wales.