Novel
Blog

Tag: charles-ii

  • John Bunyan, Quakers, and the King in a Tight Spot

    John Bunyan, Quakers, and the King in a Tight Spot

    As my time with Charles II stretches on toward a month together, I feel as though God is staying my hand from finishing the scene where he calls down fury upon the Quakers. And rightly so, because every day some new fact arises that educates me further on this pivotal moment in history. Especially on the point of who was to blame for making life intolerable for our Spirit-filled Friends.

    Recently, while Eddie and I were fishing around YouTube for something interesting to watch (Time Team is a favorite and has informed a surprising amount of this work), we stumbled across a video about John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Even if you’ve never read it, you may be aware of the book as I am from its use in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The book is not just mentioned, but was used by Alcott as a framework for the entire story.

    Well as it happens, Bunyan was arrested in November 1660—the exact date of my scene. Now he needs a mention.

    Bunyan, Whitehead, and Charles II

    Thanks to the wit of our Quaker George Whitehead (and the King’s appreciation of wit), he met several times with Charles II even though he was considered by many to be a troublemaker. Meanwhile the Baptist John Bunyan, who would go on to write his international best seller from prison, was distinctly disliked by the King. Why is that, if both Dissenters were religious malefactors?

    Perhaps Bunyan was a poor conversationalist or worse yet, too free with his judgement of Charlie’s lascivious lifestyle. Though I’m sure George arched a disapproving eyebrow as well. Who can explain why we vibe with one person and not another?

    The Case for Tolerance

    The fact is, the King was a closet Catholic and could have used some religious tolerance for himself and his soon-to-be bride from heavily Catholic Portugal. Moreover, the Lord Chancellor and Charles’ closest advisor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, was a staunch Anglican/Episcopalian. While he was free to be Anglican again at this point, he had been forced to keep a low profile during Charles’ exile in Scotland. Both men had every reason to lobby for at least some level of religious tolerance as the country moved forward.

    The Clarendon Code and Its Reach

    This brought me to Clarendon’s proposed “Quaker laws.” At first intended to keep order, they became crueler when Parliament took them up and shaped them into what would be called the Clarendon Code, parts of which remained in effect for more than 150 years.

    One part banned religious meetings of more than five people. In practice, that meant a pair of plain-dressed Friends speaking quietly in the street could be seen as conspirators. Enforcement relied on constables and informers—paid for turning in offenders. This created an atmosphere some historians liken to a police state.

    The Presbyterians were also swept up in this. As a result of the Code, ministers who had served in parishes in the past century since the Reformation were suddenly required to take communion from the Church of England. More than 2,000 ministers refused, losing their pulpits and their livelihoods. No wonder so many Presbyterians, alongside Quakers, later found their way to Pennsylvania.

    My Writing Crossroads

    So, back to Charles II and Clarendon. Did they simply say, “Send all the Quakers to jail!”? No. They actually tried to shield Presbyterians from the worst of the laws, even though their patience with radical dissent was thin. Charles still disliked Bunyan. Clarendon still wanted order.

    Oh and lest I forget, there is also Lady Margaret Fell’s petition to account for—she was bold enough to proselytize across the peerage and lobby for women’s rights, which became intrinsic to the Quaker movement. So you have the Crown caught between Fell’s influence from above, Bunyan’s in the streets, and the restless clergy in their pulpits. It’s no wonder the King and his advisor felt pressed to act.

    My task now is to imagine how Charles and Clarendon could sit together, weighing these voices, and convince themselves that laws restricting worship were not persecution but peacekeeping. To prevent mob violence, to steady a kingdom still raw from civil war, and another unfortunate necessity—to continue the flow of tithes to the Church of England, which supported not just churches but libraries, universities, and hospitals.

    That’s where my pen hovers today. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below.

    Our story from the beginning: Prologue

  • Charles in Charge

    Charles in Charge

    This past week has been all about Charles II as we delve deeper into the royal negotiations that will set Tom and 500 other Quakers free. It is a significant move toward our Bill of Rights and the man in charge requires a maze of research topics.

    I have written much of what happens when Charles steps into the arena–at first to make life incredibly more difficult for dissenters and other dissidents with a Cold War type of lockdown that makes Putin seem friendly. These folks couldn’t even talk in the streets without being whipped and beaten by the locals who had been stirred into a frenzy by their clergy. Not unlike the frenzies stirred by our own media today, except theirs were far more vicious in terms of physicality. They watched bear-baiting for fun, remember.

    The question is, what will it take to bring this king to the point where he makes a concession to the Quakers? Well I happened to see something interesting on a History Hit video last night. I have to tell you, it’s like God shows me things on this journey right when I need them.

    So there is this oak that all British people know about but Americans do not, and that is the Royal Oak. It’s where young Charles–he would have been about 21 at the time–was being chased down by the “round heads” which were the Parliamentarian soldiers with their round helmets. He was running here and there, being hidden in this place and that, and finally he met William Careless (later called Carlos, the Spanish for Charles), a ranking officer who had escaped the routing of the Royalist army.

    The story is that William gathered some food and told Charles to climb up a large oak tree. Together they spent the day up there watching as the Parliamentarians and their dogs hunted for them. When Charles napped, William supported him so he wouldn’t fall. At one point, according to Charles, a soldier passed directly beneath them.

    Fast forward to the royal Restoration, and Careless/Carlos was made one of the Privy Council, the closest advisers to the king. He was also made a knight of the new Order of the Royal Oak and was given monies and favor and what-not. Which is to say, if Charles liked you, you were set. I will use this character trait to show how the very person who began by despising Quakers came to be a great help in whatever capacity he could muster.

    On a separate note, Charles evidently loved telling everybody about hiding in the tree and being that close to detection, calling it a miracle and even having the narrative printed and distributed throughout the land. Evidently many pubs changed their name to The Royal Oak after that and even today it is the third most popular pub name in all of England. So now I have these new threads to weave into my story. I hope GPT5 will have some good suggestions.

    Also…it goes without saying, we need another scene at the Green Fox, after it is renamed The Royal Oak.