Chronology: Restoration/18th century theatre

1625	Charles I (House of Stuart) ascends to throne; conflicts with Parliament
1642	Civil Wars begin; Ordinance to close the playhouses
1649	Charles I beheaded; An Act for abolishing the kingly office in England; Commonwealth proclaimed
1649-1660	Interregnum
1653	Protectorate established; Oliver Cromwell named Lord Protector of England
1658	Death of Cromwell; collapse of Protectorate the following year
1660	Restoration of the Monarchy: Charles II, son of Charles I, offered crown by Parliament Charles I offers warrants to Davenant and Killigrew; first appearance of women on the stage as professional actors
1660-1843	Monopoly on theatres in effect
1661	Duke’s company opens Lincoln’s Inn Fields playhouse, London: the first characteristic Restoration theatre
1665	Great Plague
1666	Great Fire of London
1671	Duke’s company opens Dorset Garden playhouse, London
1672	Declaration of Indulgence proffering religious freedoms
1673	Test Act excludes Catholics from office
1674	King’s company opens Drury Lane playhouse, London
1675	Première of William Wycherley’s The Country Wife at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
1677	Première of Aphra Behn’s The Rover
1678	Evidence of Popish Plot to kill Charles II
1681	Uniting of the Duke’s Company and the King’s Company
1685	James II, brother of Charles II, crowned. Supports Catholics.
1688	Expulsion of James II. “Glorious Revolution” of William III and Mary II. William of Orange asked by Bishop of London to come to England. Offered crown jointly after signing a Declaration of Rights to establish a constitutional monarchy
1692	Foundation of the Society for the Reformation of Manners
1694	Mary II dies of smallpox
1695	Première of Thomas Southerne’s Oroonoko
1698	Jeremy Collier publishes A Short View of the Immorality and the Profaneness of the English Stage together with the Sense of Antiquity upon this Argument
1700	Première of William Congreve’s The Way of the World Première of Catherine Trotter’s Love at a Loss; or, Most Votes Carry It at Drury Lane
1701	Act of Settlement ensures a Protestant succession
1702	William III dies; Anne succeeds
1714	Anne dies; George I from Hanover succeeds
1715	Jacobite rebellion
1718	Première of Susannah Centlivre’s A Bold Stroke for a Wife at Lincoln’s Inn Fields
1720	South Sea Bubble: thousands loose money Richard Steele edits first theatre journal in England, Theatre
1721-1742	Walpole’s ministry
1727	George I dies, succeeded by George II
1728	Première of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera in Lincoln’s Inn Fields
1737	Licensing Act reduces number of London theatres to two and sharpens censorship
1760	George II dies, succeeded by George III
1777	Première of Richard Sheridan’s The School for Scandal at Drury Lane