Charles II supplied ships for service with the Ottomans against Venice. At the same time, the king promised his wife that he would find a way to support the Venetians against the Ottomans. The example illustrates the pragmatic, sometimes contradictory diplomacy associated with Charles II. Royal family obligations, naval arrangements, and foreign policy could pull in different directions at once.
Notable Point · 57:50-58:05
Charles II's two-sided Mediterranean diplomacy
A compact example of Restoration pragmatism places Charles II on both sides of an Ottoman-Venetian naval conflict.