Back to the Stuarts calendar
By this year James had been on the throne for three years but that was as long as he got. He didn’t die, he wasn’t even beheaded
like his father; parliament simply asked someone else to come and have a go at ruling Great Britain. Straight after Monmouth’s rebellion many people were tried and
executed. These trials were known as the Bloody Assizes and the Lord Chief Justice, George Jeffreys, sentenced more than 300 people to death and had another 800
forcibly sold into slavery.
Everyone was getting a bit worried about having a Catholic king and James didn't help the situation much when he insisted on giving lots of government
positions to his Catholic friends. People began to look around and see who else could rule England.
Now, do you remember that in 1677 James’ daughter, Mary, had
married a Dutch Prince called William? Mary was the granddaughter of Charles I, niece of Charles II and pretty suitable. Parliament sent a message across to
Holland and asked Mary if she would like to come and rule England and she said she would if William could too, which was nice of her. William thought that a
great idea, after all he was only a prince in Holland, and landed at Torbay with his Dutch army. It wasn’t needed. No battles were fought. Nearly everyone
stopped supporting James and it was all over. James fled abroad with his wife and baby son. In fact it was the birth of this son, meaning there was now the
possibility of a Catholic succession, that prompted Parliament’s move. Everything looked good and historians call this the glorious revolution, presumably being
glorious as no one was killed and it was over just like that.
It wasn’t actually all over because, in 1689, James, with support from Louis XIV of France, landed in Ireland with 20,000 French troops and soon had
most of Ireland under control. However the following year he was off again having lost to William at the Battle of the Boyne and fled back to France. He lived in
France until his death in 1701. Of his son, also called James, we will hear a lot more. Out of interest as James, the son, was born while his father was still
king, he took the title of Prince of Wales, which he seems to have kept after his father ran away.
William and Mary were crowned on 11 April 1689 but before that they had to agree to something called the Bill of Rights. This was drawn up to try to
stop any more squabbling between King and Parliament. It laid down exactly what powers Parliament had. It is a statement of rights of the subject as represented
by parliament (whereas Magna Carta was broadly a statement of the rights of the individual). It remains a basic document of English law and has been used as a
base for other countries around the world.
So, in return for the throne, William and Mary had to swear an oath that they would defend Protestantism in England. They also had to agree to some
strict limitations on their power. Parliament was now in charge, and the monarchs agreed to let this governing body control legislation and taxation. They also
had to promise not to interfere with the elections or free speech, and they could not raise an army without Parliament's consent or hold their own courts. This
1689 Bill of Rights guaranteed that Parliament would be permanent and powerful.
The Glorious Revolution ended any chance of Catholicism becoming re-established in England. Catholics were not allowed to vote or become MP’s. They
could not be officers in the army and the monarch could not be Catholic (obviously) but nor could he/she marry a Catholic. This last law was only ended in 2015
as part of a law that changed who could succeed to the throne. Never again would a monarch hold absolute power in Great Britain.
Funnily enough these new monarchs were always called William and Mary but they were really William III and Mary II and this could make a big difference
in your lifetime as you will probably have a William as your King one day.
In 1694 Mary died at the age of 32 and William ruled on his own until his death in 1702 at the age of 52. They had no children, oh not again. Wait and
see.
During William and Mary's reign, England fought the Nine Years War with France which lasted from 1689 until 1697 which by my calculations means it was
well named. During this time, while Mary was alive at least, William would leave the country each spring for a spot of fighting in Europe and return in the autumn.
Mary would govern alone while he was away.
Forward to 1694AD
