Restoration and Revolution

By the time Cromwell died, he, his system of government, and the puritan ethics that went with it (theatres and other forms of amusement had been banned) had become so unpopular that the executed king´s son was asked to return and become King Charles II.

However, the conflict between monarch and Parliament soon re-emerged in the reign of Charles II´s brother, James II. Again, religion was its focus. James tried to give full rights to Catholics, and to promote them in his government. The ´Glorious Revolution (1688)´ (glorious because it was bloodless) followed, in which Prince William of Orange, ruler of the Netherlands, and his Stuart wife Mary accepted Parliament´s invitation to become king and queen. Parliament immediately drew up a Petition of Rights, which limited some of the monarch´s powers.