Charles II entered London in May 1660 after Parliament invited him to assume the throne. The monarchy, House of Lords and established Church were restored following the collapse of republican government. Regicides were punished, while many former Parliamentarians adjusted to the new political order.

The Restoration transformed literary patronage, reopened the theatres and encouraged writing that celebrated or questioned the recovered court. Civil War memory remained central to Milton, Marvell, Dryden, Butler and numerous Royalist memoirists.