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Restoration — Description

King Charles I of England was not a popular man. He had a Catholic wife in a mostly Protestant nation, he often refused to abide by the rules of Parliament and thus overstep his power, and he often had anyone who spoke against the views of him and his supporters jailed. Parliament was sick of being ignored, and the English people were sick of being stepped on. Rebellions and protests against the king broke out throughout Britain in the 1640s. Tensions reached a peak in January of 1642, when the King had tried to arrest some of his political enemies in Parliament. When this failed, Charles fled the country to rally military support for his cause. Parliament’s rallied support as well, and it wasn't long before violence ensued. The Civil War had officially begun.

The local Templars generally backed the king, using the royalty as puppets in order to gain power. The local Assassins while having a tendency to lean towards Parliament, truly only supported the common people of the land, wishing to grant them the liberty they deserved. By 1646, Parliamentary forces had all but crushed the king's army and effectively won the fight. King Charles was handed over to Parliament by his Scottish allies, and he was arrested.

However, war began again in 1648 when Royalist uprisings sprang up across the country. Parliament, now led by famous military and political leader Oliver Cromwell, did their best to put down these uprisings and secure their power, growing more violent as time went on. Even though some in Parliament still believed in restoring the crown, all hopes of such action were dashed when King Charles was tried for treason and beheaded on January 30, 1649. Charles eldest son, Charles II, soon fled into exile in the Dutch Republic. While in exile, the would-be king received secret advice on how a kingdom should be run from Parliamentary soldier, George Monck.

A third civil war broke out between 1649 and 1651, and yet again Cromwell’s army crushed the Royalist rebels. For a while, it seemed England would officially remain a Commonwealth, which Cromwell ruled over until his death in 1658. His son, Richard, succeeded him, but he proved to be a bloody terrible leader and chaos ensued. George Monck used the turmoil to take control of London and in 1660 wrote to Charles II, telling him his crown would be restored on the condition he granted amnesty to his father's enemies. Charles agreed, and the monarchy was restored.

Parliament still ran the show for the most part, but the King remained. Charles II also got a hint that there were deeper, darker forces involved with his ascension. During his coronation, he noticed Monck speaking with a mysterious man holding a glowing orb, an Apple of Eden. Charles was forced to look away to receive his crown, however, and thus never got a chance to fully know what or who was truly deciding his country's future.