On 29 May 1660, King Charles II arrived in London to a sense of euphoria and great fanfare. The monarch, recently arrived from exile on the European continent, seemed to give the sense that the problems of the past were now behind England, and that the nation was ready to enter a new period with a Stuart monarch at the helm. Unfortunately, the newly arrived king produced no legitimate heirs during his reign, and upon his death the monarchy passed to his younger brother. After the death of King Charles II, King James II ascended the throne of England. Although James II was the rightful heir to the throne, his personality differences between himself and King Charles II and his political differences forced England to endure another period of political upheaval. In truth, the restoration experienced by King Charles II collapsed twenty-eight years later, in 1688, forcing King James II to lose his crown and seek asylum on the European continent. Although this collapse of the Restoration has many causes, probably the Restoration of King James II's personality played one of the most important reasons. During the reign of King Charles, the “Merry Monarch” had created a royal court full of scandalous behavior and endless avarice. In contrast, King James II had been a soldier all his life, and as his life progressed, his Catholic piety increased commensurately. Thus, when King James II ascended the throne he had no desire to continue the lifestyle experienced at his brother's court. James, above all else, valued order, hierarchy, piety, and discipline. As a result, he removed from the royal court "all men and women of pleasure, including his own mistress, Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester". This had the effect of making the royal court much more...... half of the paper. .....ul alienation of prominent politicians. In contrast, King Charles II produced no legitimate descendants, and even if he did produce a legitimate heir, King Charles II was a Protestant, at least until his deathbed when he converted to Catholicism. That said, his brother was everything that Charles was not, and after a reign of just three years England once again faced a political crisis and an exiled monarch, the often irascible King James II. Bibliography Bucholz, Robert and Newton Key. Early modern England 1485-1714 a narrative history. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009.Cook, Harold. "Orange Revolution". Nature 452, n. 7190 (2008): 937-8.The royal house. The official website of the British monarchy. 2009. http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/JamesII.aspx (accessed December 15, 2013).