JAMES II OF ENGLAND

In 1677, William of Orange married Mary, daughter of James, Duke of York, heir to the English throne. In 1685 Charles II, his brother, died, and James became king of England and Scotland.

James was Catholic. In 1686 he ignored the Test Act and appointed Roman Catholics to public positions. In 1687 he issued the Declaration of Indulgence giving freedom of worship to all religions. When James' second wife gave birth to a son, a line of Catholic kings seemed assured.

The English were Protestant and had no wish to be ruled by Catholics. In 1688, seven lords invited William of Orange to save England from Roman Catholicism. William landed in England with an army in November of that year, and was warmly greeted. The welcome grew as William marched towards London. James' fighting force quickly melted away and by Christmas he had fled abroad to France. The following year, Parliament passed the Bill of Rights which formally offered the English throne to William and Mary. It also stated that future rulers should not be, or marry, Roman Catholics. So William and Mary became rulers of England in a transfer of power that was accomplished with no bloodshed. It was later called the Glorious Revolution. Since they both had a claim to the English throne they occupied it as joint sovereigns, William III and Mary II.

But William and Mary's position was not secure yet. Backed by Louis XIV of France, James tried to win back his throne. In 1689 he landed in Ireland and besieged the Protestant stronghold of Londonderry. He failed to take it after 105 days. At one point, worn down by the siege, the citizens flung open the gates of Londonderry and prepared to surrender. A group of apprentices immediately shut them again as a sign of defiance. In Ulster, loyalists commemorate this event in the annual apprentice boys' march. In July 1690 James' army was utterly defeated by William at the battle of the Boyne. The Treaty of Limerick, signed in Ireland in 1691, formally ended the conflict between William III and James II. James died in exile in France in 1701.

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