Glorious Revolution, in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II James II, 1633–1701, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685–88); second son of Charles I, brother and successor of Charles II .

Early Life

..... Click the link for more information. and the accession of William III 3)), William was able to drive the French out of the Netherlands. He made peace with England in 1674 and finally with France in 1678. Thereafter he endeavored to build up a European coalition to prevent further French aggression.
..... Click the link for more information. and Mary II Mary II, 1662–94, queen of England, wife of William III . The daughter of James II by his first wife, Anne Hyde, she was brought up a Protestant despite her father's adoption of Roman Catholicism.
..... Click the link for more information. to the English throne. It is also called the Bloodless Revolution. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 was met with misgivings by many Englishmen who suspected the Stuarts of Roman Catholic and absolutist leanings. Charles II increased this distrust by not being responsive to Parliament, by his toleration of Catholic dissent, and by favoring alliances with Catholic powers in Europe. A parliamentary group, the Whigs Whig, English political party. The name, originally a term of abuse first used for Scottish Presbyterians in the 17th cent., seems to have been a shortened form of whiggamor [cattle driver]. It was applied (c.
..... Click the link for more information. , tried to ensure a Protestant successor by excluding James, duke of York (later James II), from the throne, but they were unsuccessful. After James's accession (1685) his overt Catholicism and the birth of a Catholic prince who would succeed to the throne united the hitherto loyal Tories (see Tory Tory (tô`rē), English political party.
..... Click the link for more information. ) with the Whigs in common opposition to James. Seven Whig and Tory leaders sent an invitation to the Dutch prince William of Orange and his consort, Mary, Protestant daughter of James, to come to England. William landed at Torbay in Devonshire with an army. James's forces, under John Churchill (later duke of Marlborough), deserted him, and James fled to France (Dec., 1688). There was some debate in England on how to transfer power; whether to recall James on strict conditions or under a regency, whether to depose him outright, or whether to treat his flight as an abdication. The last course was decided upon, and early in 1689 William and Mary accepted the invitation of Parliament to rule as joint sovereigns. The Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights Bill of Rights, 1689, in British history, one of the fundamental instruments of constitutional law. It registered in statutory form the outcome of the long 17th-century struggle between the Stuart kings and the English Parliament.
..... Click the link for more information. (1689) redefined the relationship between monarch and subjects and barred any future Catholic succession to the throne. The royal power to suspend and dispense with law was abolished, and the crown was forbidden to levy taxation or maintain a standing army in peacetime without parliamentary consent. The provisions of the Bill of Rights were, in effect, the conditions upon which the throne was offered to and accepted by William and Mary. These events were a milestone in the gradual process by which practical power shifted from the monarch to Parliament. The theoretical ascendancy of Parliament was never thereafter successfully challenged.

Bibliography

See G. M. Trevelyan, The English Revolution, 1688–1689 (1938); L. Pinkham, William III and the Respectable Revolution (1954); J. Childs, The Army, James II, and the Glorious Revolution (1981); S. E. Prall, The Bloodless Revolution (1972)

Glorious Revolution

or Bloodless Revolution or Revolution of 1688

In English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband William III. James's overt Roman Catholicism, his suspension of the legal rights of dissenters, and the prospect of a Catholic heir to the throne brought discontent to a head, which caused opposition leaders to invite the Protestant William of Orange to bring an army to redress the nation's grievances. The support remaining for James dwindled, and he fled to France. The Convention Parliament asked William and Mary to rule jointly and set out the Bill of Rights.

Glorious Revolution

James II deposed; William and Mary enthroned (1688). [Br. Hist.: EB, 3: 248]

See : Usurpation

Glorious Revolution (redirected from English Revolution of 1688)

Early Life

Bibliography

Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution
(redirected from English Revolution of 1688)