Restoration, The

The reinstatement in 1660 of the English monarchy under Charles II of the House of Stuart after the interregnum of the Commonwealth and Protectorate. On May 8, 1660, Charles II was proclaimed king by Parliament. He returned to England from the continent on May 25. With his return, the Church of England was restored, and the Clarendon Code was passed. The Clarendon Code placed severe restrictions on those who did not subscribe to the doctrines of the Church of England and to the 1662 BCP. In the colony of Massachusetts, where the Congregational Church was established and the Anglicans were repressed, the Restoration revived an Anglican desire for freedom of worship. A number of Bostonians petitioned the king “That a Church might be allowed in that City, for the Exercise of Religion according to the Church of England.” Although King Charles II moved slowly, King's Chapel, Boston, was founded in 1686.