King Charles II, Fundator et Patronus (1630-1685)

Abstract

Charles II ranks as founder of the Royal Society because he granted to it the charter which incorporated it and gave it its name. Its arms declare their origin; if not devised or proposed by him, at least they were consciously granted by him. The mace, which is placed before the President of the Society at all meetings of the Society and of Council, was also given to the Society by Charles as its founder. These (and other) benefactions were due not so much to any profound interest in science on Charles’s part as to his general character and to the tendencies of his time, and more especially to his friendship with some of the royalists among the founding members of the Society. He was born on 29 May 1630, the son of Charles I, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, and of his French queen, Henrietta Maria; his grandparents were James I, ‘the wisest fool in Christendom’, Anne of Denmark, who was almost a nonentity, Henri IV, one of the most genial of men and the ablest of kings, and Marie de Medicis, at all times a source of trouble.