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5. Restoration of monarchy

en years later, in 1661,monarchy was restored, and the throne went to Charles II, the son of Charles I. Although he shared his father’s belief in the divine origin of royal power, Charles II managed his return with skill and wisdom. Unlike his father, he made peace with parliament. Many MPs were given high positions. The King punished only those who were directly responsible for his father’s death.

Charles was knowledgeable and witty, as well as pleasure-seeking. He patronized trade, arts and science.

An interesting legend is connected with Charles II’s return to London. On his return to London, Charles II stayed in the Tower, one of the royal residences. There, looking out of the window, he saw a flock of ravens on the lawn and ordered them to be shooed away. The soldiers started shooting them when the royal astrologist rushed into the king’s chamber exclaiming, “Your Majesty! Don’t you know that when the last raven leaves the Tower, great misfortunes will befall England?” Charles knew that the greatest misfortune that could befall England and him, personally, could be a loss of his head – and ordered the ravens to be left in peace. Ever since that time special provisions have been made for the ravens: they are fed and looked after by the Ravensmaster.

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6. Trade in the 17th century

n the 17^th century, different regions of England became more economically integrated. No place in the country was more than 75 miles from the sea, and by the end of the century, few places were more than 20 miles from a river or a canal. These waterways became the most important means of transport which made it possible for different regions to produce and sell various kinds of goods. For example, Kent, which was called “the garden of England”, grew more vegetables and fruit to export to other regions.

Improved trade resulted in new forms of buying and selling. Besides market places and fairs, which had been the sole way of selling goods, there appeared the first shops which promoted the growth of towns. London remained far larger than any other town; its population grew up to 500,000 people by the middle of the century. London controlled almost all the sea trade with other countries. Other large cities, Norwich, Newcastle and Bristol, had only 25,000 each. The great plague of 1655 killed 68,000 people in half a year which was almost equal to the population of three large towns of the time.

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7. Political parties

n the 1670s, the most active sections of the population were the commercial classes. They took the lead in England’s home and, especially, foreign policy. Members of Parliament formed the first political parties. One party promoted foreign trade and supported the interests of merchants and the bourgeoisies. They were also supported by the Dissenters – a religious sect which had separated from the official Anglican Church. The other party, which consisted mostly of landowners, supported the interests of the gentry and the clergy.

The two parties hated each other so much that they gave their opponents abusive nicknames. Thus, the merchants were called ‘the Whigs’ and the landowners – ‘the Tories’. The word ‘Whig’ comes from the Scottish exclamation ‘Whiggam’ which was used in driving horses. And ‘Tory’ was the name given to Irish highway robbers. Later, these names came to be used by the parties themselves in their speeches and in cartoons satirizing the other party.