ABSTRACT
The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 meant the restoration also of the House of Lords, the bishops and the Church of England, and a union of clergy and gentry in defence of the establishment against a resurgence of militant puritanism and republicanism. The gentry who composed the Cavalier Parliament elected in 1661 were inspired after their deprivations by feelings of revenge and self-preservation, and the series of Acts known as the Clarendon Code was intended to purge church and government of all puritan dissidents.
