The history of England in the 17th century is a time of turmoil and severe upheaval. The “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 also belongs to this period. Many researchers consider this event the main thing in the history of Great Britain.
The history of England: a brief account of the situation on the eve of the revolution
After the restoration of the Stuart dynasty, Charles II ruled in England until 1685 . After his death, Jacob II, the younger brother of the king, ascended the throne. Karl did not leave an heir after himself, since he did not have legal children. Jacob II became the last English Catholic king.
In 1677, the eldest daughter of the future king Maria was extradited, contrary to his desire, for William of Orange. She was the alleged heir to the throne due to the childlessness of Charles II.
Jacob himself, the liberal party of parliament tried to deprive the right to the throne because of his commitment to the Catholic Church. He was suspected of participating in a Catholic conspiracy, and he was forced to flee the country. But the attempt to deprive the Duke of York of the throne provoked a protest from his supporters against the Liberal Party of the Parliament (Whigs), and the younger brother of Charles II was able to freely ascend the throne after the death of the king.
Reign of Jacob II
To better understand what the “Glorious Revolution” is, you need to consider the reign of James II. Under the new king, the majority in parliament began to be represented by the Tories (members of the conservative party), his adherents. Jacob II did not cause sympathy among the British, as he was a zealous Catholic.
He had to start his reign with the suppression of the uprising, which was organized by the illegitimate son of Charles II, James Scott. He lived in Holland, which the new English king hated, and was a Protestant. After the execution of Charles I, James Scott and his mother were forced to go into exile. Especially for him the title of Duke of Monmouth was created.
Having landed on the coast of Great Britain, Scott claimed his rights to the English throne. The Scottish marquis Argyll joined him. In a battle with the royal troops, the conspirators were defeated and beheaded. But the king and his judges crushed the uprising with such cruelty that outrage at his actions was one of the reasons for the expulsion of the monarch and resulted in a coup d'etat, which received the following name in the historiography of England - Glorious Revolution.
Vain hopes
The last years of the reign of Charles II - this is the time of reaction when the parliament was not convened, and the opposition represented by the Whigs was scattered by the king and disorganized. Although the Duke of York was also spoken of as a reactionary, the opposition had hope for a change in the situation in the country and an end to the reaction.
Hopes were in vain. After the suppression of the rebellion, Yakov II, confident in his abilities, began to assemble an army on an ongoing basis under the pretext of fighting the rebels. He placed adherents of the Catholic faith in all key government posts. In the year of his accession to the throne, he dissolved the parliament and more than during his reign did not collect it even once. The king absolutely did not accept the opposition and criticism of his actions and immediately dismissed those who were displeased. Jacob II took all actions for one purpose - the establishment of absolute royal Catholic authority in the country. As a result, many opposition representatives were forced to flee to Holland. Extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the king, loyal followers, the Tories, who were afraid of strengthening the power of the Catholic Church in the country, turned away from him.
The immediate cause for the overthrow of Jacob II
The "glorious revolution" that took place in England had a good reason for its beginning. The king, who ascended the throne already at a young age, had no children. The wife of Jacob II was considered barren for 15 years. Therefore, those who were dissatisfied with the policy pursued by the king had the hope that after the death the throne would pass to his eldest daughter Mary, who accepted the Protestant faith and was married to William of Orange.
Quite unexpectedly for all, the heir was born to the elderly king in 1688. Immediately rumors spread that this was a strange child, whom they secretly carried to the royal palace. These conversations were also caused by the fact that at the birth of the crown prince only representatives of the Catholic faith were present, and even the youngest daughter Anna was not allowed to her mother.
Revolution
After the birth of the heir to the English throne , the opposition had no hope of changing the situation in England. Together, the Tories and Whigs, as well as part of the army officers organized a conspiracy. His goal was to remove the king from power and replace him with his own son-in-law with his daughter - the Prince of Orange and Mary. The most prominent English politicians, seeing no other way, wrote a secret message to the prince, urging him to invade England and remove his father-in-law from the throne. The message said that the country's population would support the coup and everyone would be happy to see the Protestant king at the head of England.
After the message was sent, some of the rebels traveled around the country in search of money and allies.
Jacob II could not help but see the preparations of the conspirators and decided to make concessions until the actions of his opponents went too far. But stopping the uprising was already impossible.
The Glorious Revolution began on November 15, 1688, when the people of the Prince of Orange landed on the English coast. The army he assembled was impressive and almost entirely consisted of Protestants. There were representatives of the opposition in it, who left the country because of the persecution of Jacob.
The result of the revolution in England: the overthrow of the king and the accession of William III
The appearance of the army of William in England led to the fact that most of the military leaders of James II immediately switched to the side of his son-in-law. The king's daughter, Anna, also left him and went to the camp of the Prince of Orange.
Left without an army, Jacob tried to enter into negotiations with the conspirators, and then in desperation he tried to flee to France, where he had sent his wife and son in advance. On the way, he was captured and returned to London. Later, with the help of William, who organized his escape, King James II was able to leave England.
The Glorious Revolution ended in 1689, when William and Mary were proclaimed by the rulers of England as parliament.
After the death of Mary, a few years later her husband ruled the country alone under the name of William III. According to historians, he proved himself a wise ruler and reformer. It was under him that the strengthening of the influence of England and its transformation into one of the strongest world powers began. During the reign of William III, the Bill of Rights was created, forever eliminating the possibility of establishing an absolute monarchy in England .