Which English king converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed?

mctavish99

Charles II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England Mar 10 09, 7:38 AM

Tiula

I think you mean Charles II ... but technically he didn't convert on his deathbed - he only confessed to being a Catholic on his deathbed. I think. Mar 10 09, 1:08 PM

Midget40

I admit there is some controversy over this Tiula. Although certain facts are known. He was not born or raised as a Catholic. In 1670, Charles entered into the secret treaty of Dover, an alliance with his first cousin King Louis XIV of France under the terms of which Louis agreed to aid Charles in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay Charles a pension, and Charles promised to convert to Roman Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Though he tried to be more leniant towards the Catholics this was not accepted and he renegged on this promise. It is known he died a Catholic. The priests were seen leaving his house. Wether he converted at this point or was a secret Catholic and just made a final confession on his deathbed is the matter of controversy. Though this is really a rather moot point. If he WAS a secret Catholic, he did not practise or take communion and denied his religion to keep a crown which means he wouldn't have really 'been a Catholic' in the true sense of the word. It's generally agreed that if he asked for a confession and the Last Rites of the Catholic church on his deathbed he was still considered to be 'converting' to Catholicism after a lifetime of not practising. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England Mar 10 09, 2:27 PM