--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The irony about Charles II is not that he…" description: "\"The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the throne because England needed a successor to Charles I, but because England needed a successor to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png" --- # The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the… ![“The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the throne because England needed a successor to Charles I, but because England needed a successor to Oliver Cromwell.” quote by Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png) > “The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the throne because England needed a successor to Charles I, but because England needed a successor to Oliver Cromwell.” [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. England's monarchy shifted from a republic to a restored monarchy, highlighting the political need for continuity after upheaval. **In simple terms:** England needed a new king after the republic. Key Takeaway Recognize how political needs drive leadership changes. Themes politics history leadership continuity Mood reflective analytical Type historical political When to use this quote - government transitions - historical analysis - political strategy Key Concepts monarchy republic succession Questions to Reflect On - How do societies choose leaders after crisis? - What other factors influence succession? A Different Perspective The quote may oversimplify complex power dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-history/) [Charles i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charles-i/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) ## Related quotes > [Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) moved from a legitimate to a charismatic role, reversing the course followed by Washington. Yet therewere surface similarities in their careers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/oliver-cromwell-1599-1658-moved-from-a-legitimate-to-a-charismatic/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [“To put it crassly, Charles II was most interested in his new bride’s money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-shorland/to-put-it-crassly-charles-ii-was-most-interested-in-his-new-bride-s/) Sophie Shorland > [ He \[Charles II\] was utterly without ambition. He detested business, and would sooner have abdicated his crown than have undergone the trouble of really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-charles-ii-was-utterly-without-ambition-he-detested-business-and/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [“During the 1660’s King Charles II married Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza. The princess introduced the habit of tea drinking to the U.K. which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsmere-gracey/during-the-1660-s-king-charles-ii-married-portuguese-princess/) Elsmere Gracey > [King Charles II liked women's company and well as making love to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/king-charles-ii-liked-women-s-company-and-well-as-making-love-to-them/) [Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [“Though Charles II both craved and enjoyed female companionship till the end of his life, there is no question that by the cold, rainy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/though-charles-ii-both-craved-and-enjoyed-female-companionship-till/) [Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/) > [When I was able to go to school in my early years, my third grade teacher, Ms. Harris, convinced me that one day I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/when-i-was-able-to-go-to-school-in-my-early-years-my-third-grade/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [In return for financial support will advocate admission of Jews to England; This however impossible while Charles living. Charles cannot be executed without trial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-cromwell/in-return-for-financial-support-will-advocate-admission-of-jews-to/) [Oliver Cromwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-cromwell/) > [Dearest Charles-- I found a box of this paper at the back of a bureau so I must write to you as I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/dearest-charles-i-found-a-box-of-this-paper-at-the-back-of-a-bureau/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [I'm not a star. I'll never be a Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley or a Ray Charles. I'm just an imitator, man. I'm doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaco-pastorius/i-m-not-a-star-i-ll-never-be-a-frank-sinatra-or-elvis-presley-or-a/) [Jaco Pastorius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaco-pastorius/) > [The fate of Charles I has only made kings more subtle, not more just.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-fate-of-charles-i-has-only-made-kings-more-subtle-not-more-just/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [I thought Indians built fires with fiction." … "I can do that, but I'd like to eat sometime in the next day or so.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/i-thought-indians-built-fires-with-fiction-i-can-do-that-but-i-d-like/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Anna: “I thought Indians built fires with fiction.” Charles: “I can do that, but I'd like to eat sometime in the next day or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/anna-i-thought-indians-built-fires-with-fiction-charles-i-can-do-that/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [I never ever would have thought initially it would have been someone like Pierce playing Charles. I think he has an innate likeability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/i-never-ever-would-have-thought-initially-it-would-have-been-someone/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) ## More by Simon Schama > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The difficulty with poetry is that it doesn't have the life that Shakespeare or Jane Austen have beyond the page. You can't make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-difficulty-with-poetry-is-that-it-doesn-t-have-the-life-that/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Taxation, the very thing that had triggered the British civil wars, would do so again, this time in America. The taxes may have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/taxation-the-very-thing-that-had-triggered-the-british-civil-wars/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Anyone can write an academic piece directed at other academics. To write something that delivers an argument and a gripping storyline to someone's granny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/anyone-can-write-an-academic-piece-directed-at-other-academics-to/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [In its Greek origins, historia meant inquiry, and from Thucydides onwards, the past has been studied to understand its connections with the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/in-its-greek-origins-historia-meant-inquiry-and-from-thucydides/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Jewish history turns out not to be an either/or story - as in, either pure Judaism detached from its surroundings or else assimilation -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/jewish-history-turns-out-not-to-be-an-either-or-story-as-in-either/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Growing up in Britain as a rather loose Jew, the two things that didn't belong together were freedom and religious intensity. In America, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/growing-up-in-britain-as-a-rather-loose-jew-the-two-things-that-didn/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [In the end, history, especially British history with its succession of thrilling illuminations, should be, as all her most accomplished narrators have promised, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/in-the-end-history-especially-british-history-with-its-succession-of/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [From 1789, perhaps even before that, it had been the willingness of politicians to exploit either the threat or the fact of violence that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/from-1789-perhaps-even-before-that-it-had-been-the-willingness-of/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The default mode of modern writing about art is to despise any notion of singularity as so much overheated genius-fetishism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-default-mode-of-modern-writing-about-art-is-to-despise-any-notion/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The synagogues of late antiquity and the early medieval period were built around imagery: imagery of remembering the Temple, but also of the celestial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-synagogues-of-late-antiquity-and-the-early-medieval-period-were/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [At 11, 12, I thought I was clumsy, ugly, a mess, an unappealing person, but I did have the gift of the gab. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/at-11-12-i-thought-i-was-clumsy-ugly-a-mess-an-unappealing-person-but/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [We seem wired to grieve with greenery. Allowing the dead to dissolve into the earth, to become part of the cycle of the seasons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/we-seem-wired-to-grieve-with-greenery-allowing-the-dead-to-dissolve/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The older I get, the more I want to do. It beats death, decay or golf in unfortunate trousers. Peace and quiet depress me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-older-i-get-the-more-i-want-to-do-it-beats-death-decay-or-golf-in/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [The Elephantine papyri - written as some of the books of the Bible are being written - is true social and legal documentation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-elephantine-papyri-written-as-some-of-the-books-of-the-bible-are/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) [Explore all 109 Simon Schama quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) ## More British history quotes > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [Taxation, the very thing that had triggered the British civil wars, would do so again, this time in America. The taxes may have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/taxation-the-very-thing-that-had-triggered-the-british-civil-wars/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [In Great Britain, woman was subordinate and confined. But at least she was also safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/in-great-britain-woman-was-subordinate-and-confined-but-at-least-she/) [Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/) > [Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/compare-the-scale-and-magnifcence-of-versailles-with-st-james-s-the/) [David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/) > [Virtually every war fought since the Act of Union had gone badly at some stage, but before 1783 none had ended in defeat. Nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/virtually-every-war-fought-since-the-act-of-union-had-gone-badly-at/) [Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/) > [“The period of which I write was an overshadowed one in British history, and especially in the history of the northern provinces. War was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/the-period-of-which-i-write-was-an-overshadowed-one-in-british/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [If there is a single trait in our character that has historically set us apart from other nations, it is our determination to limit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/if-there-is-a-single-trait-in-our-character-that-has-historically-set/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [Lord Beaverbrook was fundamentally a lonely man, with a low sense of his own self-worth, who was incapable of forming a stable, loving relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/lord-beaverbrook-was-fundamentally-a-lonely-man-with-a-low-sense-of/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [In the end, history, especially British history with its succession of thrilling illuminations, should be, as all her most accomplished narrators have promised, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/in-the-end-history-especially-british-history-with-its-succession-of/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [When a Man is tried of London, he is tired of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/when-a-man-is-tried-of-london-he-is-tired-of-life/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Gower is the first English writer to use "history" as an English word. He regularly rhymes the term with "memory," for to his way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-a-peck/gower-is-the-first-english-writer-to-use-history-as-an-english-word/) Russell A. Peck > [No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/no-medieval-monarch-in-the-whole-of-british-history-ever-had-such/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [Armed Soldier, terrible as Death, relentless as Doom; doing God's judgement on the Enemies of God. It is a phenomenon not of joyful nature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/armed-soldier-terrible-as-death-relentless-as-doom-doing-god-s/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Yes, making mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep... For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that an' Chuck him out, the brute!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/yes-making-mock-o-uniforms-that-guard-you-while-you-sleep-for-it-s/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) [Browse all 119 British history quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the throne because England needed a successor to Charles I, but because England needed a successor to Oliver Cromwell.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Simon Schama" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-he-came-to-the-throne-because/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "British history" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-he-came-to-the-throne-because/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/simon-schama-4492_british-history_the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-h_2481469.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The irony about Charles II is not that he came to the throne because England needed a successor to Charles…” — Simon Schama", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Simon Schama", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The irony about Charles II is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-he-came-to-the-throne-because/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-irony-about-charles-ii-is-not-that-he-came-to-the-throne-because/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```