'Carolean' era: Understanding the label for King Charles III's reign

King Charles III outlines Royal title changes In his first televised address, King Charles III outlines his wife and children's Royal title changes.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, all 15 countries with King Charles III as head of state have entered a new age, which the Royal Family has referred to as the “Carolean era” on its website.

This will actually be the second Carolean era. Just as the first and second Elizabethan eras refer to the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth II, and the Victorian era refers to the reign of Queen Victoria, the Carolean era refers to the reign of the new monarch, King Charles III.

“Typically, you'll borrow from often a Latin name, so Carolus is called Carolean not after the female named Caroline but after the Latin word for Charles, which is Carolus,” Daniel Woolf, professor of history at Queen’s University, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

“Similarly, when James the First was on the throne, 1603-25, that's called the Jacobean era because the Latin for James is Jacobus.”

The first Carolean era is actually associated with Charles II, who ruled from 1660 to 1685. The reign of Charles I is instead referred to as the Caroline Age by historians, based on the feminine form of the same name. According to Justin Vovk, a PhD candidate in early modern history at McMaster University, officials made the decision to switch from “Caroline” to “Carolean” to better distinguish between the reigns of Charles I and Charles II.

According to Vovk, Charles I had “one of the most disastrous reigns of any British monarch in the past 400 years,” attempting to rule without parliament. He would go on to become the only monarch to be publicly executed for crimes against the nation. After his execution in 1649, the monarchy was abolished for more than a decade until his son, Charles II, was restored to the throne in 1660.

“It was therefore important to differentiate these two reigns from one another,” Vovk wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca. “The first being one of infamy, unrest and civil war, and the second almost like a mini-Renaissance for 20 years.

“The name that is given to a reign makes a mark on people's memory, and if they had referred to Charles II's as a second Caroline era, it would have brought to mind unpleasant, negative concepts.”

By referring to King Charles III’s reign as the second Carolean era, Vovk says this is meant to “associate the current reign with the legacy of progress and development under his predecessor.”

According to Woolf, the practice by historians of labelling time periods after rulers makes it easier to contextualize those periods.

“‘Victorian’ will come up with images of you know, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy and industrialization and Dickens and all that,” he said.

“If I say ‘Elizabethan’ – meaning the first Elizabeth – you’ll think of things like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare and all that.”

Vovk agrees. He said it’s typical to define an era by a few key traits linked to a certain ruler.

“Historians like giving those names,” he said. “They like tying up those loose ends and it lets people have a microscope to look at her reign and pull out some key traits we can use to define this era.”

As for how the second Carolean era will be defined compared to the second Elizabethan era, Vovk said it’s still too early to tell, but he has some ideas.

First, he believes the period that ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth II could be defined by rapid technological development, globalization, the rise of mass and social media and the monarchy’s efforts to navigate those things, all while trying to remain relevant.

“I think (King Charles III’s) will be a period in which we really see the monarchy enter the 21st century. I think we’ll see the first major eco-friendly and sustainable initiatives within the monarchy, and I think this is the period that will mark the streamlining of the Royal Family,” he said.

Amid this change in the face of the monarchy, some Canadians may be wondering when they will start to see the new sovereign appear on items such as coins and bills. Although it has been months since King Charles III stepped into his new role as monarch, Canada has not yet updated its currency to include images of the new sovereign.

A timeline for replacing images of Queen Elizabeth II on coins and bills remains unclear. However, according to CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen, King Charles’ coronation on May 6 serves as a “natural occasion” for the Canadian government to announce plans for new currency designs.

The Canadian government announced the unveiling of a new stamp that will feature an image of King Charles. Issued by Canada Post, the stamp will be revealed on May 6 in Ottawa as part of Canada’s coronation celebrations.

“This continues a long-standing tradition of issuing definitive stamps depicting the Canadian sovereign, dating back more than 170 years,” said Jo-Anne Polak, Canada Post’s senior vice-president of corporate and employee communications, in a press release issued April 24.

With files from Solarina Ho and CTVNews.ca Producer Jennifer Ferreira