Charles II of England was a king.
Charles II ( 29 May 1630 -- 6 February 1685 ) was king of England , Scotland and Ireland . He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651 , and king of England , Scotland and Ireland from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 until his death . Although the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649 , England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth , and the country was a de facto republic , led by Oliver Cromwell . After 1660 , all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649 . The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War .