Charles II of England has been portrayed many times.
Charles II of England has been portrayed many times.
Sir Robert Vyner (1631–1688) supplied the regalia for the restoration of Charles II, and was appointed as the King's goldsmith in 1661. He was as much a banker as a goldsmith, and was knighted for his services in 1661 and was Lord Mayor of London in 1674. To show his devotion to the king, Vyner purchased a statue made in Italy for the Polish ambassador in London. It depicted the general, later King John Sobieski on a horse trampling a Turk.
The ambassador could not afford to pay for it and Vyner bought it and had it altered to show Charles II trampling Cromwell. How much was altered is uncertain. Cromwell's image, barely altered from the original Turk, appears to be wearing a turban. The statue reflects the Restoration perception of Cromwell. It was unveiled on 29 October 1672 at Stocks Market, Cornhill, and was removed in 1736 to make way for the construction of the Mansion House. It now stands in the grounds of Newby Hall, North Yorkshire. [1]
The statue was the subject of two satires, attributed [2] to Andrew Marvell: A poem of the statue in Stocks-Market and A dialogue between two horses.
Other statues include those in London's Soho Square, [3] St Mary's Square in Gloucester, [4] Edinburgh's Parliament Square, at the Central Criminal Court in London, at Newmarket Racecourse and near the south portal of Lichfield Cathedral.
Charles has been portrayed on screen by:
On television, Charles has been portrayed by:
Charles II 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.
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell defeated a largely Scottish Royalist force of 16,000 led by Charles II of England.
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be known as the Interregnum (1649–1660).
Eleanor Gwyn 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 long-time mistress of King Charles II of England.
An Evening's Love, or The Mock Astrologer is a comedy in prose by John Dryden. It was first performed before Charles II and Queen Catherine by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal on Bridges Street, London, on Friday, 12 June 1668. Samuel Pepys saw the play on 20 June of that year, but didn't like it; in his Diary he called it "very smutty."
Mary "Moll" Davis, 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.
Margaret Hughes, also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, was an English actress who is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage, as a result of her appearance on 8 December 1660. Hughes was the mistress of the English Civil War general Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, 11th Earl of Waterford, was an English peer who was a Royalist officer in the English Civil War. He survived the war only to be mortally wounded in a duel with the Duke of Buckingham who was having an affair with his wife.
Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, the theatre was called Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse, also known as The Duke's Playhouse, The New Theatre or The Opera. The building was rebuilt in 1714, and used again as a theatre for a third period, 1714–1732. The tennis court theatre was the first public playhouse in London to feature the moveable scenery that would become a standard feature of Restoration theatres.
Sir Thomas Honywood was an English soldier during the English Civil War and later a Member of Parliament and also called to Parliament as Thomas, Lord Honywood. He was seated at Marks Hall, Essex.
Charles I of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.
James II of England is a character in the novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo. James appears in Geoffrey Trease's 1947 novel, Trumpets in the West, which depicts him as a villain. He was portrayed by Josef Moser in the 1921 Austrian silent film The Grinning Face and by Sam De Grasse in the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs.
There are several extant statues of the king: in Golden Square, Soho, London; at Royal Square, St. Helier, Jersey; and at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London.
Secret Love, or The Maiden Queen is a 1667 tragicomedy written by John Dryden. The play, commonly known by its more distinctive subtitle, was acted by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The premiere occurred on 2 March, and was a popular success. King Charles II, his brother the Duke of York and future King James II, and Samuel Pepys were all in the audience on opening night.
Katherine Corey was an English actress of the Restoration era, one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage in Britain. Corey played with the King's Company and the United Company, and had one of the longest careers of any actress in her generation. In "The humble petition of Katherine Corey", she stated that she "was the first and is the last of all the actresses that were constituted by King Charles the Second at His Restauration."
Nell Gwyn is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke, Jeanne de Casalis, Miles Malleson and Moore Marriott. The film portrays the historical romance between Charles II of England and the actress Nell Gwyn. In the opening credits, the dialogue is credited to "King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwyn" with additional dialogue by Miles Malleson. It was also released as Mistress Nell Gwyn.
Nell Gwyn is a 1926 British silent romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton and Juliette Compton. It was based on the 1926 novel Mistress Nell Gwyn by Marjorie Bowen and follows the life of Nell Gwynne, the mistress of Charles II. Wilcox later made a second version of the film in 1934, Nell Gwynn which starred Anna Neagle.
Nell Gwyn (1650–1687) was an actress and long-time mistress of King Charles II of England.
Mistress Nell Gwyn is the title of the New York edition of an historical novel by the British writer Marjorie Bowen. The book was also published in London with the title Nell Gwyn: A Decoration. The book was first published in 1926.
An equestrian statue of Charles II trampling Cromwell stands near Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. It was previously sited at Gautby Hall in Lincolnshire, and was originally installed at the Stocks Market in the City of London. It is a Grade II listed building.