CHARLES II. As a result of the Declaration of Breda and Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, abolition of rights of knight service, worship, and purveyance in consideration of a yearly income of £1.2 million. Restoration of the bishops to their sees and to the House of Lords. Acts of indemnity for all political offenses committed between Jan. 1, 1637, and June 24, 1660. All acts of Long Parliament assented to by Charles I declared in force. Army disbanded except 5,000 men. Cromwellian settlement of Ireland reaffirmed.
Cavalier Parliament, overwhelmingly royalist. Revival of games and more luxurious fashions and enactment of the Clarendon Code included the Corporation Act, Act of Uniformity, Conventicle Act, and Five-Mile Act.
Corporation Act obligated magistrates to take the sacrament according to the Church of England, abjure the covenant, and take an oath declaring it illegal to bear arms against the king.
Under Vasasor Powell and Thomas Venner, the Fifth Monarchists led a series of risings against the government in anticipation of the arrival of Jesus Christ to claim the throne.
Licensing Acts censored many works of religion, science, and government by requiring prior approval for publication from the appropriate authority (secretary of state, archbishop of Canterbury, and so on). These acts were temporarily lifted in 1679, resulting in an increase in the number of publications before the acts resumed.
Act of Settlement passed in wake of demobilization partially to help local authorities cope with numerous disbanded soldiers throughout the country. It empowered justices to return any person who might become a recipient of poor relief to his or her place of settlement—determined by birthplace, apprenticeship, property ownership, or, for women, husband's place of settlement.
