Was the Restoration Settlement of 1660-64 the main reason for Charles II’s difficult relations with his parliament in the years 1665-81?
In 1660 negotiations for the Restoration Settlement began as Charles II returned to England for the first time since his father’s execution in 1649. However, due to the Declaration of Breda, the settlement was open to royal manipulation and public opinion in the following 4 years when it was being decided upon. There was also the factor that, quite soon after, the initial Convention Parliament was replaced by what became known as the ‘Cavalier Parliament’ in 1661. This Parliament held a large royalist majority. This royalist influence actually meant that the settlement didn’t really resolve any of the previous problems which occurred during the reign of Charles I. This left many grey areas as the Cavalier Parliament was more focused revenge. It was really in the years that followed that tensions started to build. There was growing suspicions about the king being a secret catholic and parliament really did everything in its power to prevent this catholic suasion from having any effect on the country. This caused tension in the relationship between the King and Parliament. So it seems clear that the real main reason behind any difficult relations is due to the King having catholic beliefs such as divine right.
There is no doubt that there were problems within the Restoration Settlement years 1660-64 that caused relations between parliament and the king to become strained. One example of this was the abolition of feudal tenures meaning feudal taxes were replaced by a regular income to the King of £1.2 million per annum. This income wasn’t adequate and parliament tried to please the king by introducing the Hearth Tax. Yet the tax proved to be a disappointment to the monarchy as it only collected a third of its expected £250,000 revenue. This lack of revenue actually pleased many MPs as they retained financial control over the king...