Why was England fighting the Dutch – and what does Pepys say about it?
These were mainly trade disputes, though a free-spending Charles II also needed money and saw the prosperous Dutch as an opportunity to swell his coffers. In the process Edward Montagu lost his life at the battle of Solebay, The Dutch invaded the river Medway and for a while England was fighting a man who would become their king – William III of Orange. Read The Anglo-Dutch Wars.
