Charles II of England - Reign 1660-1685
Charles had no legitimate children, he was suceeded by James II (his bother). His eldest son was James Scott, Duke of Monmouth
(according to Wikipedia).
If Charles had not asked his brother to "take charge" and eventually become King there could have been a different King James II.
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth was Dutch and therefore the "William and Mary" type rule wold have occurred earlier. Whether
this would have changed English history in regards to the Civil War.
However, to become King - James Scott, Duke of Monmouth would have to prove that Charles has secretly married
his mistress, Lucy Walter.
Top
James II
On his deathbed Charles asked his brother, James, to look after his mistresses: "be well to Portsmouth, and let not poor Nelly
starve". He told his courtiers, "I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying",
and expressed regret at
his treatment of his wife. On the last evening of his life he was received into the Catholic Church
in the presence of
Father John Huddleston, though the extent to which he was fully conscious or committed, and with whom
the idea originated,
is unclear.
He was buried in Westminster Abbey "without any manner of pomp" on 14 February 1685.
Charles's eldest son, the Duke of Monmouth, led a rebellion against James II, but was defeated at the
Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, captured and executed.
James was eventually dethroned in 1688, in the course of the
Glorious Revolution.
Sinking of HMS Gloucester 1682
Below is a quote from the ITV website:
The wreck of a royal warship which sank more than 340 years ago while carrying the future king James Stuart has
been discovered off the east coast, in a find experts say is the most significant for a generation.
The HMS Gloucester ran aground off the Norfolk coast on 6 May 1682, drowning up to 250 crew and passengers
as it sank within an hour of hitting a sandbank.
Since the 17th century the wreck has lain undiscovered - until it was found by two diving brothers from Norfolk
after a four-year search over 5,000 nautical miles.
They found the site - which lies 28 miles off Great Yarmouth - in 2007 but due to the time taken to confirm the
identity of the ship and the need to protect an ‘at risk’ site, which lies in international waters, it is only
now that its discovery can be made public.
It has been described by a historian as the most important maritime discovery since the Mary Rose,
the warship from the Tudor navy of King Henry VIII.
Mary Rose sank 1545. The future King James was Charles II's, his brother, and became James II of England.
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685) was a
Dutch-born English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in
Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of
Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland with his mistress Lucy Walter.
Glorious Revolution
Wikipedia says:
In the Glorious Revolution of November 1688 James II and VII, king of England, Scotland and Ireland
was deposed and replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband, stadtholder William III of Orange,
the de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic.
The term was first used by John Hampden in late 1689. Historian Jeremy Black suggests
it can be seen as both the last successful invasion of England and also an internal coup.
HMS London
HMS London was a three-deck Second Rate warship built in Chatham in 1654. She is known to have
participated in the First Dutch War (1652-4) and later formed part of an English Squadron sent
to collect Charles II from the Netherlands and restore him to his throne in an effort to end
the anarchy which followed the death of Cromwell in 1658.
The London blew-up on passage from Chatham in 1665 with the loss of over 300 lives,
an event recorded by Samuel Pepys in his diary entry for March 8th 1665.