{"id":"england.c-24","content":"Painting of seated male figure, with long black hair wearing a white cape and breeches.\nThe English Restoration restored the monarchy under King Charles II and peace after the English Civil War.\nIn 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the city of London, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren.[63] By the mid-to-late 17th century, two political factions had emerged – the Tories and Whigs. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, during the Revolution of 1688 invited the Dutch Prince William of Orange to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. Under the Stuart dynasty England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet.[64] After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed,[65] the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.[57] To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate.[66]\n\nLate modern and contemporary periods","order_int":24,"metadata":{"splitter_name":"RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter","length":241,"section_id":"england","section":{}}}