All Topics  
James II of England

 
James II of England

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

James II of England



 
 
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland
King of Ireland

The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during three periods of History of Ireland....
 from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England
Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a state in North-West Europe. The Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and a number of smaller outlying islands?what is today the legal unit of England and Wales....
, Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a Anglo-Scottish border to the south with the Kingdom of England, with which it was united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, in 170...
, and Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland was the name given to the Irish state from 1541, by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 of the Parliament of Ireland. It was based on the contested legitimacy of the right of conquest....
. Some of James's subjects were unhappy with James' belief in absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchy form of government where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an absolute monarchy there is no constitution or legal...
 and opposed his religious policies, leading a group of them to depose him in the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of British monarchy James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliament of England with an invading army led by the Dutch Republic stadtholder William III of England , who as a result ascended the English throne as William III of England....
. The Parliament of England
Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
 deemed James to have abdicated on 11 December 1688.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'James II of England'
Start a new discussion about 'James II of England'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum






Timeline

1633   Born

1665   James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England) defeats the Dutch Fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

1685   James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland.

1685   Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland declares himself King and heir to his father's Kingdoms as James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland, after already forming his own army and campaigning against his uncle.

1685   Monmouth Rebellion: The Battle of Sedgemoor between the armies of King James II of England and rebel forces under Monmouth. Monmouth's army is defeated and the Duke himself is captured shortly after the battle.

1687   King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists.

1688   A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the "Immortal Seven", invite William and Mary to depose James II of England.

1688   King James II of England fires minister Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland

1688   Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Brixham but James II of England is prevented from meeting him in battle because many of his officers and men desert to the other side.

1688   After a series of defeats King James II of England flees England for France.







Encyclopedia


James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland
King of Ireland

The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during three periods of History of Ireland....
 from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England
Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a state in North-West Europe. The Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and a number of smaller outlying islands?what is today the legal unit of England and Wales....
, Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in North-West Europe which existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a Anglo-Scottish border to the south with the Kingdom of England, with which it was united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, in 170...
, and Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland was the name given to the Irish state from 1541, by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 of the Parliament of Ireland. It was based on the contested legitimacy of the right of conquest....
. Some of James's subjects were unhappy with James' belief in absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchy form of government where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an absolute monarchy there is no constitution or legal...
 and opposed his religious policies, leading a group of them to depose him in the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of British monarchy James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliament of England with an invading army led by the Dutch Republic stadtholder William III of England , who as a result ascended the English throne as William III of England....
. The Parliament of England
Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
 deemed James to have abdicated on 11 December 1688. The Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
 on 11 April 1689 declared him to have forfeited the throne. He was replaced not by his Catholic son, James Francis Edward
James Francis Edward Stuart

Prince James, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones from the death of his father in 1701, when he was proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by his cousin Louis XIV of France....
, but by his Protestant daughter, Mary II
Mary II of England

Mary II reigned as List of English monarchs, List of Scottish monarchs, and King of Ireland from 1689 until her death. Mary, a Protestantism, came to the thrones following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of her Roman Catholic father, James II of England....
, and his son-in-law, William III
William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
. William and Mary
William and Mary

The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the joint sovereignty over the Kingdom of England, as well as the Kingdom of Scotland, of William III of England and his wife Mary II of England, a daughter of James II....
 became joint rulers in 1689. James II made one serious attempt to recover his crowns, when he landed in Ireland in 1689 but, after the defeat of the Jacobite forces
Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
 by the Williamite forces
Williamite

Williamite refers to the followers of King William III of England who deposed King James II of England in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English British Whig Party, to ensure England's entry into his League of Augsburg against France in the Nine Years War....
 at the Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thrones - the Catholic James II of England and the Protestant William III of England, who had Glorious revolution....
 in the summer of 1690, James returned to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. He lived out the rest of his life under the protection of his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV ruled as List of French monarchs and of King of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister , the Italians Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661....
.

James is best known for his belief in absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchy form of government where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an absolute monarchy there is no constitution or legal...
 and his attempts to create religious liberty
Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in religious education, practice, worship, and observance....
 for his subjects. Both of these went against the wishes of the English Parliament
Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
 and of most of his subjects. Parliament, opposed to the growth of absolutism that was occurring in other European countries, as well as to the loss of legal supremacy for the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
, saw their opposition as a way to preserve what they regarded as traditional English liberties. This tension made James's three-year reign a struggle for supremacy between the English Parliament and the Crown, resulting in his ouster, the passage of the English Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights 1689

The Bill of Rights is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England, whose long title is An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown....
, and the Hanoverian succession
Act of Settlement 1701

The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England, originally filed in 1700, and passed in 1701, to settle the Order of succession to the List of English monarchs on the Electress Sophia of Hanover a granddaughter of James I of England and her Protestantism heirs....
.

Birth and early life


James, the second surviving son of Charles I
Charles I of England

Charles I was List of English monarchs, List of monarchs of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his capital punishment on 30 January 1649....
 and Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France

Henrietta Maria , was Princess of France and Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland through her marriage to Charles I of England. She was the mother of two kings, Charles II of England and James II of England, and was grandmother to Mary II of Great Britain, William III of England, and Anne of Great Britain....
, was born at St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated on Pall Mall, London in London, just north of St. James's Park....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 on 14 October 1633. Later that same year, James was baptized by William Laud
William Laud

Archbishop William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. He pursued a High Church course and opposed Radical Reformation of Puritanism....
, the Anglican
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
 Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
. James was educated by tutors, along with his brother, the future King Charles II
Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England and one of the most rewarded royal courtiers in all history....
, George
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Knight of the Garter, Privy Council of England, Fellow of the Royal Society , was an England statesman and poet....
 and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral
Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty....
; the position was initially honorary, but would become a substantive office after the Restoration, when James was an adult.

Civil War

James was invested with the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom....
 in 1642, and created Duke of York
Duke of York

The title Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch....
 on 22 January 1644. As the King's disputes with the English Parliament grew into the English Civil War
English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
 James stayed in Oxford
Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, a Royalist stronghold. When the city surrendered after the siege of Oxford
Siege of Oxford

The Siege of Oxford was a Parliament of England victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three individual engagements....
 in 1646, Parliamentary leaders ordered the Duke of York to be confined in St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated on Pall Mall, London in London, just north of St. James's Park....
. In 1648, he escaped from the Palace and from there he went to The Hague
The Hague

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,904 and an area of approximately 100 km?....
 in disguise. When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed James's older brother, Charles
Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
, as King Charles II. Charles II was recognized by the Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
 and the Parliament of Ireland
Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. It comprised two chambers: the Irish House of Commons and the Irish House of Lords....
, and was crowned King of Scots at Scone, in Scotland in 1651. Although he was proclaimed King at Jersey
Jersey

The Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, ?cr?hous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs....
, Charles was unable to secure the crown of England, and consequently fled to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 and exile.

Exile in France

Like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne

Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family....
 against the Fronde
Fronde

The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War , which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling , with which the windows of supporters of Jules Cardinal Mazarin were broken with stones by Parisian Crowds....
, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army, James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he "ventures himself and chargeth gallantly where anything is to be done". In 1656, when his brother, Charles, entered into an alliance with Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
—an enemy of France—James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turenne's army. James quarrelled with his brother over the diplomatic choice of Spain over France. Exiled and poor, there was little that either Charles or James could do about the larger diplomatic situation, and James ultimately travelled to Bruges
Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
 and (along with his younger brother, Henry
Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester

Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester was the third adult son of Charles I of England and his queen consort, Henrietta Maria of France. He is also known as Henry of Oatland....
) joined the Spanish army under Louis, Prince of Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Cond? was a France general and the most famous representative of the Prince of Cond? branch of the House of Bourbon....
, fighting against his former French comrades at the Battle of the Dunes
Battle of the Dunes (1658)

The Battle of the Dunes, fought on 14 June , 1658, is also known as the Battle of Dunkirk. It was a victory of the France army, under Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, against the Spain army, led by John of Austria the Younger and Louis II de Cond?....
. During his term of service in the Spanish army, James became friendly with two Irish Catholic brothers in the Royalist entourage, Peter
Archbishop Peter Talbot

Peter Talbot, , was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin from 1669 to his death.Talbot was born at Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland in 1620....
 and Richard Talbot, and began to be somewhat estranged from his brother's Anglican advisers. In 1659, the French and Spanish made peace
Treaty of the Pyrenees

The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries....
. James, doubtful of his brother's chances of regaining the throne, considered taking a Spanish offer to be an admiral in their navy. Ultimately, he declined the position; by the next year the situation in England had sufficiently changed, and Charles II was proclaimed King.

Restoration


Marriage

After Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English people Military history of the United Kingdom and Politics of England leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's death in 1658 and the subsequent collapse of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first Kingdom of England and Wales, and then Kingdom of Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland from 1649 to 1660....
 in 1660, Charles II was restored to the English throne. Although James was the heir-presumptive, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit the crown, as Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children. Upon his brother's restoration, James was created Duke of Albany
Duke of Albany

Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scotland, and later the British, royal family, particularly in the Houses of House of Stuart and House of Hanover....
 in Scotland, to go along with his English title, Duke of York
Duke of York

The title Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch....
. Upon his return to England, James produced an immediate controversy by announcing his engagement to Anne Hyde
Anne Hyde

Lady Anne Hyde was the first wife of James, Duke of York , and the mother of two monarchs, Mary II of England and Anne of Great Britain....
, the daughter of Charles' chief minister, Edward Hyde
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an England historian and statesman, and grandfather of two British monarchs, Mary II of England and Anne of Great Britain....
. In 1659, while attempting to seduce her, James promised he would marry Anne. Anne became pregnant in 1660, but following the Restoration
English Restoration

The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored under Charles II of England after the Interregnum that followed the English Civil War....
 and James' return to power, no one at the royal court expected a prince to marry a commoner, no matter what he had pledged beforehand. Although nearly everyone, including Anne's father, urged the two not to marry, they did so. The couple was married secretly, then went through an official marriage ceremony on 3 September 1660, in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. Their first child, Charles, was born less than two months later, but died in infancy, as did five further sons and daughters. Only two daughters survived: Mary
Mary II of England

Mary II reigned as List of English monarchs, List of Scottish monarchs, and King of Ireland from 1689 until her death. Mary, a Protestantism, came to the thrones following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of her Roman Catholic father, James II of England....
 (born 30 April 1662) and Anne
Anne of Great Britain

Anne became Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Kingdom of Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England. Her Roman Catholic father, James II of England, was Glorious Revolution in 1688/9; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs as William III & II and Mary II of England, the only such c...
 (born 6 February 1665). Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys, Fellow of the Royal Society was an English people Navy Board and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration, to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under James II of England....
 wrote that James was fond of his children and his role as a father, writing that he played with them "like an ordinary father", a contrast to the distant parenting common to royals at the time. James' wife was devoted to him and influenced many of his decisions. Even so, he kept a variety of mistresses, including Arabella Churchill
Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)

Arabella Churchill was the mistress of James II of England, and the mother of four of his children . Arabella was the child of Winston Churchill and Elizabeth Drake....
 and Catherine Sedley, and was reputed to be "the most unguarded ogler of his time." Anne Hyde died in 1671.

Military and political offices

After the Restoration, James was confirmed as Lord High Admiral
Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty....
, an office that carried with it the subsidiary appointments of Governor of Portsmouth
Portsmouth

Portsmouth city status in the United Kingdom located in the Counties of England of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the UK's only island city and is located on Portsea Island....
 and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older....
. James commanded the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 during the Second
Second Anglo-Dutch War

The Second Anglo-Dutch War was fought between England and the Dutch Republic from 4 March, 1665 until 31 July, 1667. England tried to end the Dutch domination of world trade....
 (1665–67) and Third Anglo-Dutch War
Third Anglo-Dutch War

The Third Anglo-Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands lasting from 1672 to 1674....
s (1672–74). Following the raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway

The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of Medway or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch Republic attack on the largest England naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, Kent, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War....
 in 1667, James oversaw the survey and re-fortification of the southern coast. The office of Lord High Admiral, combined with his revenue from post office and wine tariffs (granted him by Charles upon his restoration) gave James a sufficient salary to keep a sizeable court household.

Following its capture by the English in 1664, the Dutch territory of New Netherland
New Netherland

File:Seal of new netherland.jpgNew Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the Eastern Seaboard of North America....
 was named the Province of New York
Province of New York

The Province of New York resulted from the capture of the Dutch Republic colony of Provincie New Netherland by the Kingdom of England, and included all of the present U.S....
 in James's honour. After the founding, the duke gave the colony to proprieters, George Carteret and John Lord Berkeley. Fort Orange
Fort Orange

Fort Orange was the first permanent Dutch colonization of the Americas in New Netherland and was on the site of the present-day city of Albany, New York....
, 240 kilometres (150 miles) north on the Hudson River
Hudson River

The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk , the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami, Muhheakantuck, is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York....
, was renamed Albany
Albany, New York

Albany is the Capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County, New York. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York City, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk River and Hudson Rivers....
 after James's Scottish title. In 1683, he became the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. The company was incorporated by British royal charter in 1670 as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay; it is now domiciled in Canada and has adopted the mo...
, but did not take an active role in its governance. James also headed the Royal African Company
Royal African Company

The Royal African Company was a slavery company set up by the House of Stuart family and City of London merchants once the former retook the England throne in the English Restoration of 1660....
, a slave trading company.

Conversion to Catholicism

Mary of Modena Lg
James's time in France had exposed him to the beliefs and ceremonies of Catholicism
Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its Theology and doctrines, its Catholic liturgy, Ethics, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
; he and his wife, Anne, became drawn to that faith. James took Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
 in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 in 1668 or 1669, although his conversion was kept secret for some time and he continued to attend Anglican services until 1676. In spite of his conversion, James continued to associate primarily with Anglicans, including John Churchill
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough Order of the Garter was an England soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries....
 and George Legge
George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth

Admiral George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth Privy Council of England was a Royal Navy who gave distinguished service to both Charles II of England and James II of England....
, as well as French Protestants
Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestantism Reformed Church of France of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries....
, such as Louis de Duras
Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham

Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham, Order of the Garter, , was a French nobleman who became Earl of Feversham in House of Stuart England.Born in France, he was marquis de Blanquefort and sixth son of Guy Aldonce , marquis de Duras and comte de Rozan, from the noble Durfort ....
, the Earl of Feversham.

Growing fears of Catholic influence at court led the English Parliament to introduce a new Test Act
Test Act

The Test Acts were a series of England penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists....
 in 1673. Under this Act, all civil and military officials were required to take an oath (in which they were required not only to disavow the doctrine of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation is the change of the Substance theory of Host and Sacramental wine into the Body of Christ and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist while all that is accessible to the senses remain as before....
, but also denounce certain practices of the Catholic Church as "superstitious and idolatrous") and to receive the Eucharist under the auspices of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
. James refused to perform both actions, instead choosing to relinquish the post of Lord High Admiral. His conversion to Catholicism was thereby made public.

Charles II opposed the conversion, ordering that James's daughters, Mary and Anne, be raised as Protestants. Nevertheless, he allowed James to marry the Catholic Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena was queen consort to James II of England....
, a fifteen-year-old Italian princess. James and Mary were married by proxy
Proxy marriage

A proxy marriage is marriage in which either the bride or the groom is not physically present for the wedding. During the solemnization of the marriage, based upon a power of attorney, a stand-in, or proxy, acts on behalf of one of the parties....
 in a Catholic ceremony on 20 September 1673. On 21 November, Mary arrived in England and Nathaniel Crew
Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew

Nathanial Crew, 3rd Baron Crew was Bishop of Oxford from 1671 to 1674, then Bishop of Durham from 1674 to 1721. As such he was one of the longest serving Bishops of the Church of England....
, Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford

The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford....
, performed a brief Anglican service that did little more than recognise the Catholic marriage. Many of the English, distrustful of Catholicism, regarded the new Duchess of York as an agent of the Pope
Pope Clement X

Pope Clement X , born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was Pope from April 29, 1670 to July 22, 1676....
.

Exclusion Crisis

In 1677, James reluctantly consented to his daughter Mary's marriage to the Protestant William of Orange
William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
 (who was also James' nephew). James acquiesced after his brother Charles and William had agreed upon the marriage. Despite the Protestant marriage, fears of a potential Catholic monarch persisted, intensified by the failure of Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza was a Portugal Infanta and the queen consort of Charles II of England of England, Scotland and Ireland....
, to produce any children. A defrocked Anglican clergyman, Titus Oates
Titus Oates

Titus Oates was a 17th-century perjury who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholicism conspiracy to kill Charles II of England....
, spoke of a "Popish Plot
Popish Plot

The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates which gripped England in anti-Catholic hysteria from 1678 until 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England....
" to kill Charles and put the Duke of York on the throne. The fabricated plot caused a wave of anti-Catholic hysteria to sweep across the nation.

James Scott
In England, the Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury Privy Council of England , known as Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Baronet, from 1631 to 1661 and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1672, was a prominent England politician of the Commonwealth of England and during the reign of Charles II of England....
, a former government minister and now a leading opponent of Catholicism, attempted to have James excluded from the line of succession. Some members of Parliament even proposed that the crown go to Charles' illegitimate son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Crofts, later James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch Privy Council of England , was an English nobleman. He was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his Mistress , Lucy Walter, who had followed him into continental exile after the execution of Charles II's fat...
. In 1679, with the Exclusion Bill
Exclusion Bill

The Exclusion Bill Crisis ran from 1678 through 1681 in the reign of Charles II of England. The Exclusion Bill sought to exclude the king's brother and heir presumptive, James II of England, from the throne of England because he was Roman Catholic....
 in danger of passing, Charles II dissolved Parliament. Two further Parliaments
List of Parliaments of England

List of Parliaments of England is a list of the Parliament of England, from the reign of King Henry III of England to the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707....
 were elected in 1680 and 1681, but were dissolved for the same reason. The Exclusion Crisis contributed to the development of the English two-party system: the Whigs
British Whig Party

The Whigs are often described as one of two political party in Kingdom of England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries....
 were those who supported the Bill, while the Tories
Tory

In the political tradition of some List of countries where English is an official language, the term Tory may refer to a variety of Political party and creeds since it was originally used in the late 17th century to describe opponents to the Whig Party ....
 were those who opposed it. Ultimately, the succession was not altered, but James was convinced to withdraw from all policy-making bodies and to accept a lesser role in his brother's government.

On the orders of the King, James left England for Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
. In 1680, he was appointed Lord High Commissioner of Scotland and took up residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Holyrood Palace

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, or informally Holyrood Palace, founded as a monastery by David I of Scotland in 1128, has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scotland since the fifteenth century....
 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 in order to suppress an uprising and oversee royal government. James returned to England for a time when Charles was stricken ill and appeared to be near death. The hysteria of the accusations eventually faded, but James's relations with many in the English Parliament, including the Earl of Danby
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds , English statesman, commonly known also by his earlier title of Earl of Danby, served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II of England and William III of England of England....
, a former ally, were forever strained and a solid segment turned against him.

Return to favour

In 1683, a plot was uncovered to assassinate Charles and James and spark a republican
Republicanism

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by other means than hereditary, often elections....
 revolution to re-establish a government of the Cromwellian style
Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first Kingdom of England and Wales, and then Kingdom of Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland from 1649 to 1660....
. This conspiracy, known as the Rye House Plot
Rye House Plot

The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother James II of England. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalized....
, backfired upon its conspirators and provoked a wave of sympathy for the King and James. Several notable Whigs
British Whig Party

The Whigs are often described as one of two political party in Kingdom of England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries....
, including the Earl of Essex
Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex Privy Council of England , whose surname is sometimes spelled Capel, was an England statesman....
 and the King's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Crofts, later James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch Privy Council of England , was an English nobleman. He was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his Mistress , Lucy Walter, who had followed him into continental exile after the execution of Charles II's fat...
, were implicated. Monmouth initially confessed to complicity in the plot, implicating fellow-plotters, but later recanted. Essex committed suicide and Monmouth, along with several others, was obliged to flee into Continental exile. Charles reacted to the plot by increasing repression of Whigs and dissenters. Taking advantage of James's rebounding popularity, Charles invited him back onto the privy council in 1684. While some in English Parliament remained wary of the possibility of a Catholic king, the threat of excluding James from the throne had passed.

Reign


Ascension to the throne

James Ii Statue 1
Charles died in 1685 after converting to Catholicism on his deathbed. Having no legitimate children, Charles was succeeded by his brother James, who reigned in England and Ireland as James II, and in Scotland as James VII. There was no initial opposition to his succession, and there were widespread reports of public rejoicing at the orderly succession. James wanted to proceed quickly to the coronation, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic architecture Church , in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster....
 on 23 April 1685. The new Parliament
List of Parliaments of England

List of Parliaments of England is a list of the Parliament of England, from the reign of King Henry III of England to the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707....
 that assembled in May 1685 was initially favourable to James, and the new King sent word that even most of the former exclusionists would be forgiven if they acquiesced to his rule. Most of Charles's officers continued in office, the exceptions being the promotion of James's brothers-in-law, the Earls of Clarendon
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon

Henry Hyde 2nd Earl of Clarendon Privy Council of England , was the eldest son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his wife, Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon....
 and Rochester
Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester

Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of England , was an English statesman and writer.The second son of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and his wife, Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon, Hyde was a near contemporary of King Charles II of England....
, and the demotion of Halifax
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax Privy Council of England was an English statesman, writer, and politician....
. Parliament granted James a generous life income, including all of the proceeds of tonnage and poundage
Tonnage and Poundage

Tonnage and Poundage were certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II of England's reign on every tun of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or imported....
 and the customs
Customs

Customs is an authority or Government agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding Duty and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country....
 duties. James worked harder as king than his brother had, but was less willing to compromise when his advisers disagreed.

Two rebellions

Soon after becoming king, James faced a rebellion
Monmouth Rebellion

The Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, was an attempt to overthrow James II of England, who had become King of England at the death of his elder brother Charles II of England on 6 February 1685....
 in southern England led by his nephew, the Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Crofts, later James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch Privy Council of England , was an English nobleman. He was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his Mistress , Lucy Walter, who had followed him into continental exile after the execution of Charles II's fat...
, and another rebellion in Scotland led by Archibald Campbell
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was Earl from 1663 following the restoration of the title two years after his father, the Marquess of Argyll, was executed for treason....
, the Earl of Argyll. Argyll and Monmouth both began their expeditions from Holland
Dutch Republic

The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was a European republic between 1581 and 1795, in about the same location as the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is the successor state....
, where James' nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange
William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
, had neglected to detain them or put a stop to their recruitment efforts. Argyll sailed to Scotland and, on arriving there, raised recruits mainly from amongst his own clan, the Campbells
Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Scottish Highlands Scottish clans....
. The rebellion was quickly crushed, and Argyll himself was captured at Inchinnan
Inchinnan

Inchinnan is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew, Scotland and Greenock, just southeast of the town of Erskine....
 on 18 June 1685. Having arrived with fewer than 300 men and unable to convince many more to flock to his standard, Argyll never posed a credible threat to James. He was executed on 30 June in Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
.

Argyll's rebellion was coordinated with Monmouth's, but the latter was more dangerous to James. Monmouth proclaimed himself King at Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester, Dorset and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border....
 on 11 June. He attempted to raise recruits but was unable to gather enough rebels to defeat even James's small standing army. Monmouth's rebellion attacked the King's forces at night, in an attempt at surprise, but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor
Battle of Sedgemoor

The Battle of Sedgemoor was fought on 6 July 1685 and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England....
. The King's forces, led by Feversham and Churchill, quickly dispersed the ill-prepared rebels. Monmouth himself was captured and executed at the Tower of London
Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames....
 on 15 July. The King's judges—most notably, George Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys

George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, Privy Council of England , also known as "The Hanging Judge", became notable during the reign of King James II of England, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor ....
—condemned many of the rebels to transportation
Penal transportation

Transportation or penal transportation refers to the deportation of convicted criminals to a penal colony, for example by France to Devil's Island and by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and Australia between 1788 and 1868....
 and indentured servitude
Indentured servant

An indentured servant is a form of debt bondage worker. The laborer is under contract of an employer for usually three to seven years, in exchange for their transportation, food, drink, clothing, lodging and other necessities....
 in the West Indies in a series of trials that came to be known as the Bloody Assizes
Bloody Assizes

The Bloody Assizes were a series of trial started at Winchester on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England....
. Some 250 of the rebels were executed. While both rebellions were defeated easily enough, the effect on James was to harden his resolve against his enemies and to increase his suspicion of the Dutch.

Absolutism and religious liberty

To protect himself from further rebellions, James sought safety in an enlarged standing army
Standing army

A standing army is an army composed of full-time career soldiers who 'stand over', in other words, who do not disband during times of peace. They differ from army reserves who are activated only during such times as war or natural disasters....
. This alarmed his subjects, not only because of the trouble soldiers caused in the towns, but because it was against the English tradition to keep a professional army in peacetime. Even more alarming to Parliament was James's use of his dispensing power
Royal Prerogative

The Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognised in common law and, sometimes, in Civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the Sovereign alone....
 to allow Roman Catholics to command several regiments without having to take the oath mandated by the Test Act. When even the previously supportive Parliament objected to these measures, James ordered Parliament prorogued
Parliamentary session

A legislative session is the period of time when a legislature is convened for the purpose of lawmaking. Legislatures plan their business using a legislative calendar....
 in November 1685, never to meet again in his reign.

Religious tension grew from 1686. James allowed Roman Catholics to occupy the highest offices of the Kingdoms, and received at his court the papal nuncio, Ferdinando d'Adda
Ferdinando d'Adda

Ferdinando d'Adda was a Roman Catholic bishop and diplomat.D'Adda was born in Milan. He served as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments....
, the first representative from Rome to London since the reign of Mary I
Mary I of England

Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
. James's Jesuit
Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Roman Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits, Soldiers of Jesus Christ, and Foot soldiers of the Pope, because the founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a knight before becoming a Holy Orders....
 confessor, Edward Petre
Edward Petre

Edward Petre, SJ was an English Jesuit and privy councillor. He was the son of Sir Francis Petre, Bart., of Cranham, head of a junior branch of the family of the Baron Petre, and his wife Elizabeth Gage, daughter of Sir John Gage, both strong Catholic....
, was a particular object of Protestant ire. When the King's Secretary of State, the Earl of Sunderland
Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland

Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland Order of the Garter, Privy Council of England was an English people statesman and nobleman.Life...
, began replacing office-holders at court with Catholic favourites, James began to lose the confidence of many of his Anglican supporters. Sunderland's purge of office-holders even extended to the King's Anglican brothers-in-law and their supporters.

In 1687, James issued the Declaration of Indulgence
Declaration of Indulgence

The Declaration of Indulgence was made by King James II of Great Britain, on the April 4, 1687. It was a first step at establishing freedom of religion in England....
, also known as the Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, in which he used his suspending power
Royal Prerogative

The Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognised in common law and, sometimes, in Civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the Sovereign alone....
 to negate the effect of laws punishing Catholics and Protestant dissenters
English Dissenters

English Dissenters were English people Christians who separated from the Church of England. They opposed State interference in religious matters, and founded their own communities in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries....
. He attempted to garner support for his tolerationist policy by giving a speaking tour in the West of England in the summer of 1687. As part of this tour, he gave a speech at Chester where he said "suppose... there should be a law made that all black men should be imprisoned, it would be unreasonable and we had as little reason to quarrel with other men for being of different [religious] opinions as for being of different complexions." In 1688, James ordered the Declaration read from the pulpits of every Anglican church, further alienating the Anglican bishops against the Catholic governor of their church. While the Declaration elicited some thanks from Catholics and dissenters, it left the Established Church, the traditional ally of the monarchy, in the difficult position of being forced to erode its own privileges. James provoked further opposition by attempting to reduce the Anglican monopoly on education. At the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
, James offended Anglicans by allowing Catholics to hold important positions in Christ Church
Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church , is one of the largest Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford....
 and University College
University College, Oxford

University College , is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England. It is a contender for being the oldest of the colleges of the university, and is amongst the largest in terms of population....
, two of Oxford's largest colleges. He also attempted to force the Protestant Fellows of Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College redirects here, see also Magdalene College, CambridgeMagdalen College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
 to elect Anthony Farmer
Anthony Farmer

Anthony Farmer was an England nominated by King James II of England to the office of President of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1687.Life...
, a man of generally ill repute who was believed to be secretly Catholic, as their president when the Protestant incumbent died, a violation of the Fellows' right to elect a candidate of their own choosing.

Glorious Revolution

William Iii of England
In April 1688, James re-issued the Declaration of Indulgence, subsequently ordering Anglican clergymen to read it in their churches. When the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
 William Sancroft
William Sancroft

William Sancroft , was the 79th archbishop of Canterbury....
 and six other bishops (known as the Seven Bishops
Seven Bishops

The Seven Bishops were seven bishops of the Church of England. When James II of England issued his second Declaration of Indulgence in 1688 - which granted expansive religious freedoms by suspending penal laws enforcing conformity to the Church of England, allowing persons to worship in their homes or chapels as they saw fit, and ending t...
) submitted a petition requesting the reconsideration of the King's religious policies, they were arrested and tried for seditious libel
Seditious libel

Seditious libel is a criminal offence under English common law. Sedition is the offence of speaking seditious words with seditious intent: if the statement is in writing or some other permanent form it is seditious libel....
. Public alarm increased when Queen Mary gave birth to a Catholic son and heir, James Francis Edward
James Francis Edward Stuart

Prince James, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones from the death of his father in 1701, when he was proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by his cousin Louis XIV of France....
 on 10 June of that year. When James's only possible successors were his two Protestant daughters, moderate Anglicans could see his pro-Catholic policies as a temporary aberration; the Prince's birth opened the possibility of a permanent Catholic dynasty, and led such men to reconsider their patience. Threatened by a Catholic dynasty, several influential Protestants claimed the child was "suppositious". They had already entered into negotiations with William, Prince of Orange, when it became known the Queen was pregnant, and the birth of James's son reinforced their convictions.

On 30 June 1688, a group of Protestant nobles, later known as the Immortal Seven, invited the Prince of Orange to come to England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 with an army. By September, it had become clear that William sought to invade. Believing that his own army would be adequate, James refused the assistance of Louis XIV, fearing that the English would oppose French intervention. When William arrived on 5 November 1688, many Protestant officers, including Churchill, defected and joined William, as did James's own daughter, Princess Anne
Anne of Great Britain

Anne became Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Kingdom of Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England. Her Roman Catholic father, James II of England, was Glorious Revolution in 1688/9; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs as William III & II and Mary II of England, the only such c...
. James lost his nerve, and declined to attack the invading army, despite his own numerical superiority. On 11 December, James attempted to flee to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, first throwing the Great Seal of the Realm
Great Seal of the Realm

The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a Seal that is used to symbolise the monarch's approval of important state documents....
 into the River Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
. James was captured in Kent
Kent

Kent is a Counties of England in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary....
; later, he was released and placed under Dutch protective guard. Having no desire to make James a martyr, the Prince of Orange let him escape on 23 December. James was received by his cousin and ally, Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension. William convened a Convention Parliament
Convention Parliament

The term Convention Parliament has been applied to three different English Parliaments, of 1399, 1660 and 1689.The definition of the term convention parliament is generally taken to be:...
 to decide how to handle James's flight. While the Parliament refused to depose him, they declared that James, having fled to France and dropped the Great Seal into the Thames, had effectively abdicated
Abdication

Abdication is the act of renouncing and resigning from a formal office, especially from the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was also applied to the disowning of a family member, as the disinheriting of a son....
 the throne, and that the throne had thereby become vacant. To fill this vacancy, James's daughter Mary was declared Queen; she was to rule jointly with her husband William, who would be King. The Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
 on 11 April 1689, declared him to have forfeited the throne (due to the Scottish Parliament upholding of the belief in Divine Right of Kings
Divine Right of Kings

The Divine Right of Kings is a politics and religion doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God....
, abdication was not a valid option). The English Parliament passed a Bill of Rights that charged James II with abusing his power; amongst other things, it criticised the suspension of the Test Acts, the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for merely petitioning the crown, the establishment of a standing army and the imposition of cruel punishments. The Bill also stipulated that no Catholic would henceforth be permitted to ascend to the English throne, nor could any English monarch marry a Catholic.

Later years


War in Ireland

With the assistance of French troops, James landed in Ireland in March 1689. The Irish Parliament
Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. It comprised two chambers: the Irish House of Commons and the Irish House of Lords....
 did not follow the example of the English Parliament; it declared that James remained King and passed a massive bill of attainder
Bill of attainder

A bill of attainder is an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial....
 against those who had rebelled against him. At James's urging, the Irish Parliament passed an Act for Liberty of Conscience that granted religious freedom to all Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. James worked to build an army in Ireland, but was ultimately defeated at the Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thrones - the Catholic James II of England and the Protestant William III of England, who had Glorious revolution....
 on 1 July 1690 when William arrived, personally leading an army to defeat James and reassert English control. James fled to France once more, departing from Kinsale
Kinsale

Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and when the boating fraternity arriv...
, never to return to any of his former kingdoms. Because he deserted his Irish supporters, James became known in Ireland as Séamus an Chaca or 'James the be-shitten'.

Return to exile

In France, James was allowed to live in the royal château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye

ame=Saint-Germain-en-Laye|image =|caption=Ch?teau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the town centre|map_size=270px|adjustable_map =St-Germain-en-Laye_map.png|...
. James' wife and some of his supporters fled with him, including the Earl of Melfort
John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort

John Drummond, 1st Earl and titular 1st Duke of Melfort Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Privy Council of England was a Scotland nobleman....
; most, but not all, were Catholic. In 1692, James' last child, Louisa Maria Teresa
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart

Princess Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart , known to Jacobitism as The Princess Royal, was the last child of the deposed James II of England and of his Queen, Mary of Modena....
, was born. Some supporters in England attempted to restore James to the throne by assassinating William III in 1696, but the plot failed and the backlash made James' cause less popular. Louis XIV's offer to have James elected
Free election

Free election was the election of individual monarchs, rather than of dynasties, to the Poland throne between 1572 and 1791, when "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of May 3, 1791....
 King of Poland
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries in 16th and 17th-century Europe, formed by a Union of Lublin of Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569....
 in the same year was rejected, for James feared that acceptance of the Polish crown might (in the minds of the English people) render him incapable of being King of England. After Louis concluded peace with William in 1697, he ceased to offer much in the way of assistance to James.

During his last years, James lived as an austere penitent. He died of a brain hemorrhage on 16 September 1701 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye

ame=Saint-Germain-en-Laye|image =|caption=Ch?teau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the town centre|map_size=270px|adjustable_map =St-Germain-en-Laye_map.png|...
. His body was laid to rest in a coffin at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictine
Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy....
s in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris. In 1734, the Archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of France archdioceses of the Roman Catholicism in France in France....
 heard evidence to support James' canonization, but nothing came of it. During the French Revolution
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
, James's tomb was raided and his remains scattered.

Succession

Pretend3
James' younger daughter Anne
Anne of Great Britain

Anne became Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Kingdom of Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England. Her Roman Catholic father, James II of England, was Glorious Revolution in 1688/9; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs as William III & II and Mary II of England, the only such c...
 succeeded to the throne when William III died in 1702. The Act of Settlement
Act of Settlement 1701

The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England, originally filed in 1700, and passed in 1701, to settle the Order of succession to the List of English monarchs on the Electress Sophia of Hanover a granddaughter of James I of England and her Protestantism heirs....
 provided that, if the line of succession established in the Bill of Rights were to be extinguished, then the crown would go to a German cousin, Sophia, Electress of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover

Sophia of Hanover was the youngest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, of the House of Wittelsbach, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and Elizabeth of Bohemia....
, and to her Protestant heirs. Thus, when Anne died in 1714 (fewer than two months after the death of Sophia), the crown was inherited by George I
George I of Great Britain

George I was List of British Monarchs#House of Hanover and King of Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of Electorate of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, Sophia's son, the Elector of Hanover and Anne's second cousin.

James' son James Francis Edward
James Francis Edward Stuart

Prince James, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones from the death of his father in 1701, when he was proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by his cousin Louis XIV of France....
 was recognised as King at his father's death by Louis XIV of France and James' remaining supporters (later known as Jacobite
Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
s) as "James III and VIII." He led a rising
Jacobite rising

The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland , and Kingdom of Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746....
 in Scotland in 1715 shortly after George I's accession, but was defeated. Jacobites rose again
Jacobite rising

The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland , and Kingdom of Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746....
 in 1745 led by Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart

Charles Edward Stuart was the exiled Jacobitism claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland. He is commonly known in English and Scots language as Bonnie Prince Charlie....
, James II's grandson, and were again defeated. Since then, no serious attempt to restore the Stuart heir has been made. Charles's claims passed to his younger brother Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart

Henry Benedict Cardinal Stuart was the fourth and final Jacobitism heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne....
, the Dean of the College of Cardinals
Dean of the College of Cardinals

The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals is the president of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, and as such always holds the rank of Cardinal ....
 of the Catholic Church. Henry was the last of James II's legitimate descendants, and no relative has publicly acknowledged the Jacobite claim
Jacobite succession

The Jacobitism succession is the line through which the crown in pretence has descended since the flight of James II of England from London at the time of the Glorious Revolution....
 since then.

Historiography

Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay   Project Gutenberg Etext 13103
Historical analysis of James II has gone through considerable change since he was overthrown. Initially, Whiggish historians, led by Lord Macaulay, cast James as a cruel absolutist and his reign as "tyranny which approached to insanity". Subsequent scholars, such as G. M. Trevelyan
G. M. Trevelyan

George Macaulay Trevelyan, Order of Merit, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society, British Academy , was an England historian. Trevelyan was the third son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and great-nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, whose staunch liberal British Whig Party principles he espoused in accessible wo...
 and David Ogg, while more balanced than Macaulay, continued Macaulay's tradition into the twentieth century, characterizing James as a tyrant, his attempts at religious tolerance as a fraud, and his reign as an aberration in the course of British history. In 1892, A. W. Ward wrote for the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the United Kingdom, published from 1885....
 that James was "obviously a political and religious bigot", although never devoid of "a vein of patriotic sentiment"; "his conversion to the church of Rome made the emancipation of his fellow-catholics in the first instance, and the recovery of England for catholicism in the second, the governing objects of his policy."

Hilaire Belloc
Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre Ren? Belloc was a France-born writer and historian who became a naturalised United Kingdom subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century....
 broke with this tradition in 1928. Belloc cast James as an honorable man and a true advocate for freedom of conscience, and his enemies as "men in the small clique of great fortunes ... which destroyed the ancient monarchy of the English." Belloc's thesis failed to alter the course of historical opinion at the time, but by the 1960s and 1970s, Maurice Ashley and Stuart Prall began to reconsider James's motives in granting religious toleration, while still taking note of James's autocratic rule. These modern authors moved away from the school of thought that preached inevitability of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of British monarchy James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliament of England with an invading army led by the Dutch Republic stadtholder William III of England , who as a result ascended the English throne as William III of England....
 and the continuous march of progress and democracy. "[H]istory is,", Ashley wrote, "after all, the story of human beings and individuals, as well as of the classes and the masses." He cast James II and William III as "men of ideals as well as human weaknesses." John Miller, writing in 2000, accepted the claims of James's absolutism, but argued that "his main concern was to secure religious liberty and civil equality for Catholics. Any 'absolutist' methods ... were essentially means to that end." In 2004, W. A. Speck wrote in the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography that "James was genuinely committed to religious toleration, but also sought to increase the power of the crown." He added that, unlike the government of the Netherlands, "James was too autocratic to combine freedom of conscience with popular government. He resisted any check on the monarch's power. That is why his heart was not in the concessions he had to make in 1688. He would rather live in exile with his principles intact than continue to reign as a limited monarch."

Tim Harris's conclusions from his 2006 book summarize the crossroads of modern scholarship on James II:

Titles and styles


  • 14 October 1633 – 6 February 1685: Prince James
  • 27 January 1644 – 6 February 1685: The Duke of York
  • 10 May 1659 – 6 February 1685: The Earl of Ulster
  • 31 December 1660 – 6 February 1685: The Duke of Albany
  • before 1 January 1665 – 6 February 1685: His Royal Highness;


  • 6 February 1685 – 11 December 1688: His Majesty The King
  • 11 December 1688 – 16 September 1701: His Majesty King James II
    • Jacobite: His Majesty The King


The official style of James II was "James the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland was the name given to the Irish state from 1541, by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 of the Parliament of Ireland. It was based on the contested legitimacy of the right of conquest....
, King of Scots
List of monarchs of Scotland

The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin , who founded the state in 843, although this is no longer taken seriously by historians....
, Defender of the Faith
Fidei defensor

Fidei defensor is an originally Latin title which translates to Defender of the Faith in English language and D?fenseur de la Foi in French language....
, etc." (The claim to France
English claims to the French throne

The English claims to the French throne have a long and rather complex history between the 1340s and the 1800s.From 1340 to 1801, with only brief intervals in 1360-1369 and 1420-1422, the kings and queens of Kingdom of England, and after the Acts of Union 1707 in 1707 the kings and queens of Kingdom of Great Britain, also bore the title of '...
 was only nominal, and was asserted by every English King from Edward III
Edward III of England

Edward III was one of the most successful List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Englands of the Britain in the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II of England, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe....
 to George III
George III of the United Kingdom

George III was Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death....
, regardless of the amount of French territory actually controlled.)

James2coin
James was created "Duke of Normandy
Duke of Normandy

Duke of Normandy is a title held or claimed by various Normans, France, England and United Kingdom rulers from the 10th century until the present, in recognition of their history....
" by King Louis XIV of France, 31 December 1660. This was a few months after the restoration of his brother Charles II
Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
 to the English and Irish thrones (Charles II had been crowned King of Scotland in 1651), and probably was done as a political gesture of support for James - since his brother also would have claimed the title "Duke of Normandy".

Arms

Prior to his accession, James's arms
Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
 were those of the kingdom (which he later inherited), differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, although it is noted that, when it become clear that his position as heir-presumptive was not under threat, a label argent of three points was sometimes used. His arms as King were: Quarterly, I and IV Grandquarterly, Azure three fleurs-de-lis Or (for France) and Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England
Coat of arms of England

The royal coat of arms of England was the official coat of arms of the King of England, and were used as the official coat of arms of the Kingdom of England until the Union of the Crowns in 1603....
); II Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland)
.

In popular culture


Film and television

James has been portrayed on screen by:
  • Josef Moser in the Austrian silent film Das Grinsende Gesicht (1921), based on the novel The Man Who Laughs
    The Man Who Laughs

    The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. Although among Hugo's more obscure works, it was adapted into a popular The Man Who Laughs , directed by Paul Leni and starring Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin and Olga Baclanova....
     by Victor Hugo
    Victor Hugo

    Victor-Marie Hugo was a France poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romanticism movement in France....
  • Gibb McLaughlin
    Gibb McLaughlin

    Gibb McLaughlin , was an English film actor. He appeared in 118 films between 1921 in film and 1959 in film.He was born in Sunderland, England and died in London, England....
     in the silent film Nell Gwynne (1926), based on a novel by Joseph Shearing
  • Sam De Grasse
    Sam De Grasse

    Samuel Alfred de Grasse was a Canada actor. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he trained to be a dentist. After his older brother Joe De Grasse had gone into the fledgling movie business, de Grasse decided to also give it a try....
     in the silent film The Man Who Laughs
    The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)

    The Man Who Laughs is an United States silent film directed by the German Expressionism filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the The Man Who Laughs and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the Blindness Dea....
     (1928), also based on the novel by Victor Hugo
  • Lawrence Anderson in Nell Gwyn (1934)
  • Vernon Steele in Captain Blood (1935), based on the novel
    Captain Blood (novel)

    Captain Blood: His Odyssey is an adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1922....
     by Rafael Sabatini
    Rafael Sabatini

    Rafael Sabatini was an Italy/United Kingdom writer of novels of romance novel and adventure novel....
  • Douglas Matthews in the BBC TV drama Thank You, Mr. Pepys (1938)
  • Henry Oscar
    Henry Oscar

    'Henry Oscar', born 'Henry Wale' on 14 July 1891 in London, England, died 28 December 1969, was an England actor on stage and film.Oscar started acting in 1911 and appeared in a wide range of films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much , Fire Over England , The Four Feathers , Hatter's Castle , Bonni...
     in Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948)
  • John Westbrook
    John Westbrook (actor)

    John Westbrook was an England actor.Born in Teignmouth, Devon, John Westbrook worked mainly in theatre and in radio. He also made occasional film and television appearances....
     in the BBC TV series The First Churchills
    The First Churchills

    The First Churchills was a BBC mini-series from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough....
     (1969)
  • Guy Henry in England, My England (1995), the story of the composer Henry Purcell
    Henry Purcell

    Henry Purcell...
  • Charlie Creed-Miles
    Charlie Creed-Miles

    Charlie Creed-Miles is an England actor. He had a daughter with Samantha Morton in February 2000. Sometimes credited as "Charlie Creed Miles", he has had made many appearances in TV series including A Touch of Frost , Hustle and earlier episodes of Press Gang....
     in the BBC TV miniseries Charles II: The Power & the Passion (2003)

Books

  • The Long Shadow, Volume 6 of The Morland Dynasty
    The Morland Dynasty

    The Morland Dynasty is a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. There are currently thirty books in the series. The first book begins in 1434 and features the Wars of the Roses; the most recent book begins in 1916 and deals with the Battle of the Somme....
    , a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles covers James' deposition and exile, seen through the eyes of the fictional Morland family


Ancestors


Issue


See also

  • Touch Pieces
    Touch pieces

    Touch pieces are coins and medals that have attracted Superstition, such as those with 'holes' in them or those with particular designs. Such pieces were believed to cure disease, bring good luck, influence people's behaviour, carry out a specific practical action, et cetera....
  • List of James II deserters to William of Orange
    List of James II deserters to William of Orange

    According to 19th Century Peerage records, these are the British nobles and gentry, who, in 1688, deserted James II of England. These same nobles and gentry, then pledged their allegiances to, and fought for, William III of England, against King James II, throughout their Glorious Revolution, culminating in his overthrow and forced abdication....


External links



|- |-