I carry on with reading Life in the UK Test Handbook.
Even if I am very busy at work, I try to raed at least three paragraphs at least twice.
During Christmas season, when I have nice log holiday, I will be able to make revisions and practice tests which can be found on line.
Before that, I will go through the Restoration.The Restoration
English Parliament invited Charles II to come back from his exile in May 1660.
Charles stayed in Netherlands then.
He was crowned the King of England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland but unlike his father, Charles I, he knew that he must stay on good terms with Parliament.
And Parliament in general agreed with king’s policies.
The Church of England was again the official state Church and Catholics and Puritans were kept out of power.
In 1665 there was an outbreak of plague in London and thousands of people died.
In 1666 – there was a great fire of London which destroyed vast area of town including St Paul’s Cathedral.
London was rebuilt including the cathedral which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, famous English architect.
All these events were described in memoirs of Samuel Pepys, famous diarist.
The new important law, the Habeas Corpus Act, came in 1679.
Habeas Corpus means in Latin “you must present person at court” and it was act which guaranteed no one will be held a prisoner without a trial.
Kind Charles II was a patron or arts and science.
The Royal Society, which was established in his time to promote so called “natural science”, is the oldest scientific society in the world.
The most famous members of this Society in Charles II times were Sir Edmund Halley (Halley comet is named after him) & Sir Isaak Newton (1643-1727).
He was a famous naturalist and his best known work was “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”.
He explained there how gravity is a universal power in whole universe.
Newton discovered also that white light consists of colours of the rainbow.
A Catholic King
Charles II died in 1685.
He didn’t have any legitimate children so his brother, a Roman Catholic, became a new king – James II in England, Wales & Ireland and James VII of Scotland.
He allowed his fellow Catholics to became army officers what was forbidden by Parliament.
James II did not keep good relations with Parliament and Church of England.
His subjects worried he wants to make England Catholic again.
Both his daughters were Protestant so there was a chance that when one of them inherits the crown, Protestant religion will be preserved.
But when king’s son was born, there was an unrest again.
The Glorious Revolution
Mary, the eldest daughter of James II, was married to William of Orange, the Protestant prince who ruled in Netherlands.
In 1688 William was asked by English to come to England and proclaim himself king and he did so.
James II escaped to France & William became William III (William II in Scotland) and ruled together with his wife Mary.
This event was called a “Glorious Revolution”, without a bloodshed and with Parliament established firmly as a power which king must take into consideration.
With help of French army, James II tried to get back his throne by invading Ireland but he was defeated in battle of Boyne in 1690 & come back to France.
Since then there were restrictions on Catholic Church in Ireland and Irish Catholics could not be present in Parliament.
Scotland also supported James but his supporters were defeated (Killiecrankie battle) and all clans were asked to take an oath as proof of accepting king William.
One clan was late with this duty and in consequence his members were killed (MacDonalds of Glencoe).
Some Scottish people still see James as a rightful king and his secret supporters were called “Jacobites”.
Important to remember: kings had different titles in Scotland and England like James I of England was James VI of Scotland (confusing – better to memorise just in case); also Handbook suggests to pay attention to: changes in religion, importance of drama & poetry in Elizabethan period, British involvement in Ireland, changes in Parliament, why Restoration and how the Glorious Revolution happened
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