GCSE History
The Puritan Commonwealth closed the theatres and banned dancing. Charles II's return unleashed a reaction: the theatres reopened with women on stage for the first time; coffee houses became the nerve centres of London's intellectual and commercial life; and the Royal Society - founded in 1660 with the motto 'Take nobody's word for it' - produced Boyle, Hooke, and Newton. The Restoration was licentious and scientifically brilliant in equal measure.