Old Photograph The Gyles Pittenweem East Neuk Of Fife Scotland

Old photograph of The Gyles houses by the harbour in Pittenweem, East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. James Cook, who commissioned the building of Gyles Houses, carried King Charles II of England to exile in France after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He spent nearly a decade in exile, forced to move from one country to another due to the reach of Oliver Cromwell. The English republican government collapsed following Cromwell’s death in 1658, and Charles was reinstated to the throne in 1661. In 1670, Charles signed a treaty with French King Louis XIV in which he agreed to convert to Catholicism and support France’s war against the Dutch in return for subsidies. On his death bed, Charles finally went through with his promise to convert to Catholicism, angering many of his subjects. He passed away in London’s Whitehall Palace on February 6, 1685.



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