Charles II's court has often been portrayed as devoted to pleasure and debauchery. While this is true to an extent, Charles was also an astute political operator who understood the importance of court etiquette - in which architecture was very important. He introduced new fashions and forms into English palaces but, under the surface, many of his innovations were backward-looking and reactionary, reinforcing traditions and practices that had been established before the Civil War.

This lecture untangles architectural innovation and reaction in the Restoration years.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/restoration-and-reaction-palaces-of-the-restoration

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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