King Charles III: Previous British monarchs named Charles had turbulent reigns

Charles, now the king of the United Kingdom after Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday, had several options for taking a name as the new monarch. He chose his first name, and Charles III is certainly hoping that his reign will be less turbulent than the two previous kings with that name.

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Born Nov. 14, 1948, the new king’s given name is Charles Philip Arthur George. No British monarch has been named Charles since 1685, when Charles II died.

Here is a look at the first two kings named Charles.

Charles I

Charles I is the only British monarch to be executed, as he was beheaded at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London, on July 30, 1649.

Charles I became king of Great Britain upon the death of his father, King James I, in 1625, according to the Royal Family website. He was the son of James (also known as James VI of Scotland) and Anne of Denmark.

Wars and disputes dogged the king throughout his reign. There were civil wars in Scotland beginning in 1637 and in Ireland four years later. Civil wars were waged in England from 1642 to 1646 and again in 1648.

Charles also put the crown in debt, spending a lot of money to commission artists and buying a collection of paintings by Raphael and Titian.

Tensions between the king and Parliament centered around finances, made worse by the costs of wars abroad and religious turmoil at home.

Charles dismissed his fourth Parliament in March 1629 and called it back into session briefly in April 1640, a session known as the Short Parliament. It was dissolved within weeks.

The king called Parliament back into session in November 1640 for the “Long Parliament,” agreeing that the legislative body could not be dissolved without its consent.

In November 1641, tensions that began with the Irish civil war expanded when the king and Parliament disagreed over who should command an army to suppress the rebellion. Charles attempted to have five members of Parliament arrested, which led to civil war.

Charles lost the civil war that began in England in 1645 and was captured. He refused to grant demands for a constitutional monarchy, and was tried and convicted of high treason in 1649. He was beheaded with one stroke from the executioner’s ax.

Charles II

After the death of Charles I, a law was passed on the day of the king’s execution forbidding the proclamation of another monarch. The office of King was formally abolished on Feb. 7, 1649.

The man who would become Charles II was 18 when his father was executed and was in exile in the Netherlands.

The Scots, horrified by the death of Charles I, proclaimed his son king and invited him to come to Scotland. He was crowned Charles II at Scone, Scotland, on Jan. 1, 1851, but defeats at the hands of the English forced Charles back into exile for nine years.

Charles II spent the next nine years in exile until he was invited back to London in 1660 and restored to his father’s throne.

His reign was marred by the Black Death plague in 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666, which led to the rebuilding of London.

The king was at war with the Dutch from 1665 and 1667.

On the positive side, Britain became a colonial power during Charles’ reign, with the country establishing trade in India and the East Indies. The British also captured New York City (then known as New Amsterdam) from the Dutch in 1664.

Although Charles had illegitimate children with several mistresses, he had none with his wife, Catherine of Braganza.

In 1677, Charles married his niece Mary to William of Orange. Although Charles had several illegitimate children, he had none with his wife, Catherine of Braganza.

Charles died of a stroke on Feb. 6, 1685.

The BBC, the Royal Family website and information from online archives were used in compiling this report.

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