INTRODUCTION

The continuation of the troubles into the restoration period requires us to address two subjects. One is the continuation, or reappearance, beyond 1660 of the circumstances and fears by which they were sustained. The other is the initial failure of the restoration process to end them. This second matter is the subject of chapters 16–17. In relation to the first, two contexts will be identified. That in space, again, was the European situation. That in time was restoration memory. These were links to the troubles over which restoration governments had little power. Thus it was that only eighteen years after the return of the monarchy Charles II found himself facing a crisis universally considered similar to that which had destroyed his father.

The claim that the troubles did return, and that we must consequently see the period 1660–89 as one of continuing instability, has recently received significant attention. Restoration used to be taken as a given. Subsequent crises and the thought associated with them were considered to be superficial.