Northwest Europe (1660–1671 CE): Restoration, Consolidation, and Colonial Ambitions

England: Restoration of the Monarchy

Following a period of republican rule, the monarchy was restored in 1660 with the coronation of Charles II, son of the executed Charles I. This event, known as the Restoration, marked a profound shift back to traditional monarchical governance. Charles II sought reconciliation, issuing the Declaration of Breda promising leniency and liberty of conscience. However, tensions persisted between royal authority and parliamentary power, foreshadowing future conflicts. Overall, the Restoration led to an overall reduction in the power of the crown.

Ireland: Continued English Dominance

In Ireland, the Restoration reinforced English dominance established during the Cromwellian Conquest. Land confiscations from Catholic proprietors were largely upheld, maintaining Protestant ascendancy. The Act of Settlement (1662) confirmed land redistribution, significantly impacting the Irish Catholic population. Resentments continued, fueling sectarian tensions.

Scotland: Restoration and Religious Conflict

The monarchy's restoration in Scotland under Charles II saw renewed religious tensions, as the king sought to enforce episcopal governance over a largely Presbyterian populace. The period saw significant religious persecution, notably through the imposition of the Clarendon Code and Covenanter suppression, heightening internal discord and resistance.

Maritime and Colonial Expansion

The English East India Company strengthened its trade and territorial control in Asia, notably gaining Bombay from Portugal as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza upon her marriage to Charles II in 1662. This acquisition significantly enhanced England’s strategic maritime position. The Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667) further challenged Dutch commercial supremacy. Despite mixed military success, England secured crucial territorial gains, notably New Amsterdam(renamed New York), fundamentally reshaping colonial dynamics in North America. The East India Company's strength was bolstered by King Charles II's grant of autonomy around 1670, including rights to territorial acquisitions, minting money, commanding fortresses and troops, and exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction.

Scandinavia: Territorial and Political Adjustments

Denmark-Norway under Frederick III continued to consolidate authority following losses to Sweden. The period was characterized by absolutist reforms, notably through the introduction of hereditary and absolute monarchy in 1660, stabilizing internal governance and strengthening royal control. Territorial tensions with Sweden persisted, though temporarily subdued.

Scientific and Intellectual Flourishing

The Royal Society in England, formally chartered in 1662, accelerated scientific and intellectual developments. Notable figures such as Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke emerged, contributing groundbreaking insights into mathematics, physics, and biology. This vibrant scientific community laid essential groundwork for the Age of Enlightenment.

Cultural and Literary Renaissance

This period marked a literary and cultural renaissance. Playwrights like John Dryden flourished under royal patronage, crafting satirical and politically charged dramas reflective of the Restoration’s social dynamics. Additionally, literary activity burgeoned, notably with John Milton completing his epic masterpiece Paradise Lost in 1667, profoundly influencing English literature.

Religious and Social Dynamics

Religious tolerance fluctuated during this era. The return of the monarchy initially seemed to promise greater tolerance, yet punitive measures like the Clarendon Code limited religious freedoms significantly for non-Anglicans. Social dynamics remained complex, particularly regarding religious minorities such as Catholics and Jews, who continued to engage actively in international trade and commerce.

Crisis and Catastrophe

London suffered a visitation of the plague in 1665, followed by the Great Fire of 1666, which raged for five days, destroying approximately fifteen thousand buildings.

Legacy of the Era

By 1671, Northwest Europe had stabilized significantly compared to the turmoil of previous decades, yet underlying tensions remained unresolved. The Restoration's political settlement set precedents for later constitutional developments, while continued colonial expansion firmly positioned England for future imperial dominance. Scientific and cultural advances laid crucial intellectual foundations, and the era’s complexities foreshadowed ongoing struggles around governance, religion, and social order.

Tea had first appeared publicly in England, where it was introduced during the 1650s through coffee houses.

From here it has been introduced to British colonies in America and elsewhere.

The importing of tea into Britain begins in 1660 with the marriage of King Charles II to the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, who has brought to the court the habit of drinking tea.

Samuel Pepys, having secured the position of Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board on July 13, had begun his diary on January 1 of this year, and is thus known to posterity as the chronicler of the Restoration.

Pepys has his first cup of tea in September, an event recorded in his diary.

It is probable that early imports came via Amsterdam or through sailors on eastern boats.

The Muslim rulers of Gujarat had in 1348 annexed the seven islands of Bombay, which were later governed by the Gujarat Sultanate from 1391 to 1534.

The Mughal Empire, founded in 1526 and based in the north, became the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent during the mid-sixteenth century.

Gujarati Sultan Bahadur Shah, growing apprehensive of the power of the Mughal emperor Humayun, had been obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with Portuguese settlers on December 23, 1534.

According to the treaty, Bombay’s seven islands, the nearby strategic town of Bassein and its dependencies were offered to the Portuguese and surrendered on October 25, of the following year.

The Portuguese were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their Roman Catholic religious orders in Bombay, building such churches in the city such as the St. Michael's Church at Mahim (1534), St. John the Baptist Church at Andheri (1579), St. Andrew's Church at Bandra (1580), and Gloria Church at Byculla (1632), On May 11, 1661, the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, places the islands in possession of the British Empire, as part of Catherine's dowry to Charles.

However, Salsette, Bassein, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli, Sion, Dharavi, and Wadala still remain under Portuguese possession.

Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese Infanta, had been married by proxy on April 23, 1662, in Lisbon.

After arriving in Portsmouth on May 14, 1662, she and Charles are married in two more ceremonies—a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed on May 21 by a public Anglican service.

Catherine at twenty-three has married late for a woman of this time.

Her large dowry brings the port cities of Tangier and Bombay to British control.

The former is to have only a transitory significance, but the latter will have a major lasting influence on the development of the British Empire and the history of India, as the British will develop Bombay—which has only ten thousand inhabitants under the Portuguese—into a major center of commerce.

Catherine, being Roman Catholic, is not a particularly popular choice of queen.

As Roman Catholics are forbidden to take part in Anglican services, her religion prevents her from being crowned.

Parliament meanwhile introduces, on May 19, 1662, a tax on hearths.

Householders are required to pay a charge of two shillings per annum for each hearth, with half the payment due at Michaelmas and half at Lady Day.

Exemptions to the tax are granted, to those in receipt of poor relief, those whose houses are worth less than twenty shillings a year and those who pay neither church nor poor rates.

Also exempt are charitable institutions such as schools and almshouses, and industrial hearths with the exception of smiths' forges and bakers' ovens.

The prosperity of Surat, at this time the primary port of India and a key Mughal power center, had received a fatal blow with the cession of Bombay to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza.

The city had been made the seat of a presidency under the British East India Company after the success of the embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the court of emperor Jehangir.

The Dutch had also founded a factory.

Now at its zenith, Surat, generating a million rupees in annual tax revenues, is popularly viewed as the city of Kubera, the God of Wealth.

The Maratha King Shivaji in 1664, draws up before the the wealthy port town, demanding tribute from the Mughal commander of the army stationed for port security.

The tribute is refused by the commander, who then fails in an attempt to have Shivaji assassinated.

Shivaji conquers the city and his forces sack Surat for nearly three weeks, looting both the Mughal and Portuguese trading centers.

The poor are spared, however, and no men or women molested or taken as slaves.

The severe frost in Britain, which had begun the previous December, ends in March, having caused great loss of beast and of wildlife, especially birds.

Similar reports come from across Northern Europe.

The importing of tea into Britain had begun in the 1660s with the marriage of King Charles II with the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza where she had introduced the court to the habit of drinking tea.

In the same year, Samuel Pepys recorded drinking "a china drink of which I had never drunk before".

Early imports had come from Canton via Amsterdam or through sailors on eastern boats.

Tea sells in Europe for less than a shilling a pound, but the import duty of five shillings makes it too expensive for most English people to afford.

Smuggled tea is drunk much more than legally imported tea.

The island-city of Bombay on India’s west coast, ceded to the Portuguese in 1534, had in 1661 come under British control as part of the marriage settlement between Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, sister of the king of Portugal; the Crown had in turn ceded it to the East India Company in 1668.

Richard Keigwin, who in 1673 had, as a lieutenant aboard HMS Assistance, led the English assault on the Dutch-held island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, had come to Bombay in 1676 as a free merchant but soon entered the East India Company's service.

Becoming a commandant and distinguishing himself in battle against the Maratha navy in 1679, his refusal to reduce the Bombay regiment and disband the cavalry, despite orders from the company's headquarters in London, led to his recall.

He had returned to Bombay as a captain lieutenant and a member of the East India Company's governing council, but continuing bad relations with the company had resulted in his eventual exclusion from the council, and in December 1683 he had headed a revolt against company rule.

He has ruled Bombay vigorously in the king's name for nearly a year,  but finally, in November 1684, after obtaining a free pardon for himself and his followers, he surrenders the island-city to the company on the king's orders.

(Today the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra, Bombay, or Mumbai, with an estimated population of thirteen million, is the most populous city in India and the most populous city in the world.)