Hidden by loyal subjects at the risk of their lives, crouching in the branches of an oak tree while Cromwell's soldiers passed below, the young Charles was disguised and smuggled out of England through one of the earliest “underground” movements. The early life of Charles II has generally been regarded as a romance. In fact, she pursues her theme with so much ardor that one is sometimes reminded of the ecclesiastically inclined men who hovered around the king's deathbed in the hope of a last‐minute conversion.
In “Royal Charles,” Lady Antonia Fraser seems determined to defend her subject against the charges of having enjoyed himself. John Evelyn and Bishop Burnet, two other contemporary observers, both had a professional commitment to piety, which conceivably interfered with their objectivity. No Cavalier Attitude Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, was a rather sensual man and may have commented disproportionately on the king's ladies. He allowed his pet Rochester, for example, to describe him as a king “who never said a foolish thing/nor ever did a wise one.” Rochester also wrote: “And how e'er so weak and slender be the string/bait it with Whore, and it will hold a King.” Buckingham, an old childhood friend of the king's and a notorious rake, also seems to have elevated his own tastes by ascribing them to the king as well. Some of the responsibility for his reputation can be traced to Charles himself, who included tolerance among his vices. His reign is often characterized as a revenge for his earlier exile under Cromwell.
Surrounded himself with wits, who are the natural enemies of good government. Condescended to as “The Merry Monarch,” Charles was usually represented as a man who loved only the women among his subjects, who could not govern even his passions. UNTIL Lady Antonia Fraser's book, Charles II had a bad press.
0 kommentar(er)
