Charles II's political career was shaped by civil war, exile, and the restoration of monarchy. After his father's execution in 1649, he sought support in Scotland, accepted conditions imposed by the Covenanters, and was crowned at Scone in January 1651. His invasion of England ended in defeat by Oliver Cromwell at Worcester that September. He escaped and spent years abroad, seeking allies and resources while the Commonwealth and Protectorate governed his former kingdoms.

The collapse of the Protectorate and George Monck's intervention made restoration possible. Charles's Declaration of Breda offered assurances concerning pardon, property, and religious settlement, subject to parliamentary decisions. He returned in May 1660 and was crowned in England in 1661. The monarchy and episcopal churches were restored, while legislation restricted religious dissent and selected regicides were punished. The settlement recovered royal institutions without removing Parliament's role in taxation and law. Governing Scotland through ministers such as Lauderdale brought coercion and conflict with Covenanters.

Charles's reign included the plague of 1665 and the great fire of London in 1666, followed by extensive rebuilding. His patronage encouraged court culture and scientific activity, including royal charters for the Royal Society. War with the Dutch Republic exposed financial and naval weaknesses, particularly the Dutch raid on the Medway in 1667. Relations with France offered another source of support. The secret Treaty of Dover in 1670 linked him to Louis XIV and included a promise of Catholic conversion; its religious provisions were concealed from the wider political nation.

Attempts to ease restrictions on Catholics and Protestant dissenters produced disputes over the king's power to suspend laws. The Declaration of Indulgence was withdrawn, and the Test Act of 1673 reinforced Protestant qualifications for office. Anti-Catholic panic surrounding the fabricated Popish Plot intensified the succession crisis. Charles and Catherine of Braganza had no surviving legitimate children, making his Catholic brother James heir. Charles resisted efforts to exclude James, dissolved hostile Parliaments, and governed without another Parliament after 1681. Royal authority recovered in his final years through action against opponents and tighter control of borough institutions. He died in 1685 after receiving Catholic rites, and James succeeded him.