King Charles Stuart II: The Black Boy King of England 1630 – 1685 – by – Oguejiofo Annu

Merry King Charles Stuart II: The Black King of England – Oguejiofo Annu

The word Stuart comes from the old nordish root Svart which means black. Stuart is the same word as Swarthy, which means black in old English.

There was once a Stuart line of Kings in England. The name of the founding ancestor was Stuart which means Black man.

In this post, we feature the original painting of one of the Stuart Kings of England and Scotland, King Charles II, also lovingly known as the “black boy” of England by his subjects.

He is commemorated in the celebrated name of the Black Boy Inn, found all over the British Isle.

King Charles II was a black man. Many of his surviving paintings falsely depict him as a so-called white man in clear contradiction to the famous description of the jolly King.

However, in the picture posted immediately below, one can see one of the contemporary paintings of King Charles Stuart II, Merry Black Boy of England. This picture invites all to decide why King Charles Stuart II, would have been called the black boy.

King Charles Stuart II 1630 – 1685

The eldest surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of Henry IV of France, the future Charles II was born on 29th May, 1630, at St. James Palace, London, the second child of the marriage, he replaced an elder brother, Charles James, who had died shortly after birth.

It was said that when Charles was born in 1630 he was nicknamed the Black Boy by his mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, because of his dark and swarthy appearance

In 1646, following political crisis, his father Charles I was overthrown by Oliver Cromwell and beheaded. Charles II had to flee for his life through Scotland and on to France after making a weak and symbolic attempt at regaining the Stuart title. Fate and reality had soon dawned on him. He settled into a life of penury in France.

Upon the death of Oliver Cromwell, Charles was recalled back to England by Cromwell’s legatee and son who had no interest in ruling England. Charles was restored back to the throne and his coronation took place at the traditional venue of Westminster Abbey on 23rd April, 1661.

The Merry Monarch as he was later to become known, is famous for his many mistresses. Although he had numerous children by his mistresses, the Queen, to her great sadness, remained barren.

Charles popularity with the people was solid. Despite the ravages of last great outbreak of the Bubonic Plague struck London in 1665, which claimed thousands of lives; and the great fire of London 1666 which completely destroyed the city, he was highly favoured by the people.

He died without an official heir on 6 February, 1685 after a brief illness and was succeeded by his brother, King James II. He was the most beloved of all the Kings in the line of the Stuarts.

Black King of England

According to the annals of the english monarch:

Charles’ appearance was anything but English, with his sensuous curling mouth, dark complexion, black hair and dark brown eyes, he much resembled his Italian maternal grandmother, Marie de Medici’s side of the family. During his escape after the Battle of Worcester, he was referred to as ‘a tall, black man’ in parliamentary wanted posters.

One of the nick-names he acquired was the black boy His height, at six feet two inches, probably inherited from his Danish paternal grandmother, Anne of Denmark, also set him apart from his contemporaries in a time when the average Englishman was far smaller than today.

English Pubs

All English pubs named the Black boy are named after Charles II due to the swarthy and dark colour of his complexion.

Modern European painters try to hide the racial identity of this jolly King by depicting such fantasy as is posted below: