Glorious Revolution

The Revolution of 1688, commonly known as the Glorious Revolution, was the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). It is sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution, although there was fighting and loss of life in Ireland and Scotland. Many modern historians prefer the term "Revolution of 1688", as "Glorious" or "Bloodless" reflect the biases of Whig historians. The Revolution is closely tied in with the events of the War of the Grand Alliance on the continent of Europe, and may be seen as the last successful invasion of England. It can be argued that James's overthrow began modern English parliamentary democracy; never again would the monarch hold absolute power. The deposition of the Roman Catholic James II ended any chance of Catholicism becoming re-established in England. It also led to toleration for nonconformist Protestants.

Backgrounds

James II
King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Duke of Normandy.

During his three-year reign, King James II fell victim to the political battles in England between Catholicism and Protestantism on the one hand, and on the other, between the divine right of the Crown and the political rights of Parliament. James's greatest political problem was his Catholicism, which left him alienated from both parties in Parliament. The low church Whigs had failed in their attempt to exclude James from the throne between 1679 and 1681, and James's supporters were the High Church Anglican Tories. When James inherited the throne in 1685, he had much support in the 'Loyal Parliament', which was composed mostly of Tories. James's attempt to relax the penal laws alienated his natural supporters, however, because the Tories viewed this as tantamount to disestablishment of the Church of England. Abandoning the Tories, James looked to form a 'King's party' as a counterweight to the Anglican Tories, so in 1687 James supported the policy of religious toleration and issued the Declaration of Indulgence. By allying himself with the Catholics, Dissenters and nonconformists, James hoped to build a coalition that would give him Catholic emancipation.

In 1686, James coerced the Court of the King's Bench into deciding that the King could dispense with religious restrictions of the Test Acts. James ordered the removal of Henry Compton, the anti-Catholic Bishop of London, and dismissed the Protestant fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford and replaced them with Catholics.

James also created a large standing army and employed Catholics in positions of power in the army. To his opponents in Parliament this seemed like a prelude to arbitrary rule, so James prorogued Parliament without gaining Parliament's consent. At this time, the English regiments of the army were encamped at Hounslow, near the capital. The army in Ireland was purged of Protestants who were replaced with Catholics, and by 1688 James had more than 34,000 men under arms in his three kingdoms.

In April 1688, James re-issued the Declaration of Indulgence and ordered all clergymen to read it in their churches. When the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, and six other bishops (see the Seven Bishops) wrote to James asking him to reconsider his policies, they were arrested on charges of seditious libel, but at trial they were acquitted to the cheers of the London crowd.

Matters came to a head in 1688, when James fathered a son; until then, the throne would have passed to his daughter, Mary, a Protestant. The prospect of a Catholic dynasty in the British Isles was now likely. Some leaders of the Tory Party united with members of the opposition Whigs and set out to solve the crisis.

Conspiracy

William III
King of England, Scotland and Ireland, stadtholder of Gueldres, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht and Overijssel.

In 1686, a group of conspirators met at Charborough House in Dorset to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts". In June 1688, a further conspiracy was launched at Old Whittington, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to depose James and replace him with his daughter Mary and her husband, William Henry of Orange — both Protestants and both grandchildren of Charles I of England. Before the birth of James's son on June 10, Mary had been the heir to the throne and William was third in line. James however had only wanted to treat them as possible heirs on condition that they accepted his pro-Catholic position, which they had been unwilling to do for fear that French influence would become too great. William was also stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, then in the preliminary stages of joining the War of the Grand Alliance against France. He had already acquired the reputation of being the main champion in Europe of the Protestant cause against Catholicism and French absolutism. It is still a matter of controversy whether the initiative for the conspiracy was taken by the English or by the stadtholder and his wife. William had been trying to influence English politics for well over a year, letting Grand Pensionary Gaspar Fagel publish an open letter to the English people in November 1687 deploring the religious policy of James, which action had generally been interpreted as a covert bid for kingship. Since then Willliam had maintained a close secret correspondence with the main Whig leaders. In it he had not committed himself to any definite action, but an understanding had been reached that if William should, for whatever reason, ascend, he would in accordance with his anti-absolutist reputation restrain the use of Royal power, in return for a full employment of English military resources against France.

Jumping at the chance to bring England into an anti-French coalition, offered by the crisis caused by the appearance of a new Catholic heir, William and Mary laid careful plans over a number of months for an invasion. Their first concern was to avoid any impression of foreign conquest and they arranged for a formal invitation to be given by a group of worthies, the Immortal Seven consisting of one bishop and six nobles, on June 30. Also William's confidant Hans Willem Bentinck launched a propaganda campaign in England, presenting William as really a true Stuart but one blessedly free from the, according to the pamphlets, usual Stuart vices of cryptocatholicism, absolutism and debauchery. Much of the later "spontaneous" support for William had been carefully organised by him and his agents.

The next concern was to assemble a powerful invasion force. William, financed by the city of Amsterdam after secret and difficult negotiations by Bentinck with the hesitant Amsterdam burgomasters during June, hired 400 transports; also Bentinck negotiated contracts for 14,000 German mercenaries from Brandenburg, Würtemberg, Hesse-Cassel and Celle, to man Dutch border fortresses in order to free an equal number of Dutch elite mercenary troops for use against England. Further financial support was obtained from the most disparate sources: the Jewish banker Francisco Lopes Suasso lent two million guilders; remarkably even Pope Innocent XI, an inveterate enemy of Louis XIV of France, provided a loan. Still William had great trouble convincing the Dutch ruling elite, the regents, that such an expensive expedition was really necessary. French policy played into his hand however. Late September Louis XIV seized all Dutch ships present in French ports, proving that war with France was imminent. On September 29 the States of Holland gathering in secret session and fearing a French-English alliance, approved the operation, resolving to make the English "useful to their friends and allies, and especially to this state". They accepted William's argument that a preventive strike was necessary to avoid a repeat of the events of 1672, when England and France had jointly attacked the Republic. They ordered a Dutch fleet of 53 warships to escort the troop transports. This fleet was in fact commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and Vice-Admiral Philips van Almonde but in consideration for English sensitivities placed under nominal command of Rear-Admiral Arthur Herbert, the very messenger who, disguised as a common sailor, had brought the invitation to William in The Hague. Though William was himself Admiral-General of the Republic he abstained from operational command. The States-General allowed the core regiments of the Dutch field army to participate under command of Marshall Frederick Schomberg.

William's Landing

The Dutch preparations, though carried out with great speed, could not remain secret. The English ambassador, the Marquess d'Albeville, warned his country: an absolute conquest is intended under the specious and ordinary pretences of religion, liberty, property and a free Parliament.... Louis XIV threatened the Dutch with an immediate declaration of war, should they carry out their plans. For three weeks the invasion fleet was prevented by the usual adverse southwestern gales of the season to depart from the naval port of Hellevoetsluis and Catholics all over the Netherlands and the British Isles held prayer sessions that this "popish wind" might endure, but late October it became the famous "Protestant Wind" by turning to the east, allowing a departure on October 28. Hardly had the fleet reached sea or the wind changed again to the southwest, becoming a favourable easterly only on November 9. First the fleet, four times larger than the Spanish Armada and having, including sailors and supply train, about 60,000 men aboard, sailed north in the direction of Harwich where Bentinck had a landing site prepared. It was forced south however when the wind turned to the north and sailed in an enormous square formation, 25 ships deep, into the English Channel on November 12, saluting Dover Castle and Calais simultaneously to show off its size. The English navy positioned in the Thames estuary saw the Dutch pass twice but was unable to intercept, first because because of the strong eastern wind, the second time due to an unfavourable tide. Landing with a large army at Brixham, Devon on November 15 (New Style, November 5 Old Style), 1688, William was greeted with much show of popular support (this was Bentinck's alternative landing site), and some local men joined his army. William's army totalled approximately 15,000 - 18,000 on foot and 3,000 cavalry. It was composed mainly of 14,352 regular Dutch mercenary troops (many of them actually Scots, Scandinavians, Germans and Swiss), and about 5,000 English and Scottish volunteers with a substantial Huguenot element in the cavalry and Guards as well as 200 blacks from plantations in America. Many of the mercenaries were Catholic. James in February 1688 had ordered all British subjects to leave Dutch service but few had complied. On November 17, the wind turned southwest, preventing the pursuing English fleet from attacking the landing site.

William considered his veteran army to be sufficient in size to defeat any forces (all rather inexperienced) James could throw against him, but it had been decided to avoid the hazards of battle and maintain a defensive attitude in the hope James's position might collapse by itself; thus he landed far away from James's army, expecting that his English allies would take the initiative in acting against James while he ensured his own protection against potential attacks. William was prepared to wait; he had paid his troops in advance for a three-month campaign. A slow advance had the added benefit of not over-extending the supply lines; the Dutch troops were under strict orders not even to forage, for fear that this would degenerate into plundering which would alienate the population. On his banners read the proclamation: "The Liberties of England and the Protestant Religion I will maintain." "I will maintain" was the motto of the House of Orange. Meanwhile, in the North, many nobles also declared for William. However in the first weeks most people carefully avoided to take sides; as a whole the nation neither rallied behind his King, nor welcomed William, but passively awaited the outcome of events.

James refused a French offer to send an expedition force. His forward forces gathered at Salisbury, and James went to join them on November 19 (Old Style). Amid anti-Catholic rioting in London, it rapidly became apparent that the troops were not eager to fight, and the loyalty of many of James's commanders was doubtful. The first blood was shed at about this time in a skirmish at Wincanton, Somerset, where Royalist troops retreated after defeating a small party of scouts; the total body count on both sides came to about 15. In Salisbury, a worried James was suddenly overcome by a serious nose-bleed that he took as an evil omen indicating that he should order his army to retreat. On November 23, Lord Churchill of Eyemouth, one of James's chief commanders, deserted to William. A few days later, James's own daughter, Princess Anne, did the same. Both were serious losses. James returned to London on November 26. By December 4, William's forces were at Salisbury; by December 7 they had reached Hungerford, where they met with the King's Commissioners to negotiate. In reality, by that point James was simply playing for time as he already had decided to flee the country. Convinced that his army was unreliable, he sent orders to disband it. December 10 saw the second engagement between the two sides with the Battle of Reading, a defeat for the King's men. In December there was anti-Catholic rioting in Bristol, Bury St. Edmunds, Hereford, York, Cambridge and Shropshire. On December 9th a Protestant mob stormed Dover Castle, where the Catholic Sir Edward Hales was Governor, and seized it.

December 11 saw James attempt to escape, dropping The Great Seal in the Thames along the way. However, he was captured by fishermen near Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. On the night of the 11th there were riots and lootings of the houses of Catholics and several foreign embassies of Catholic countries in London. The night of the 12th witnessed mass panic in London during what was later termed the Irish Night. False rumours of an impending Irish army attack on London gripped the capital, and a mob of over 100,000 assembled ready to defend the city.

Upon returning to London on the 16th, James was welcomed by cheering crowds. He took heart at this, and attempted to recommence government, even presiding over a meeting of the Privy Council. Then he received a request from William to remove himself from London. William at the same time ordered all English troops to depart from the capital; no local forces were allowed within a twenty mile radius until the spring of 1689. Already the English navy had declared for William. James went under Dutch guard to Rochester in Kent on December 18 (Old Style), just as William entered London. James then escaped to France on December 23. The lax guard on James and the decision to allow him so near the coast indicates that William might have hoped that a successful escape would avoid the difficulty of deciding what to do with him, especially with the memory of the execution of Charles I still strong. By fleeing, James helped ensure that William's grip was secure. On the 26th William, on the advice of his Whig allies, summoned an assembly of all the surviving MPs of Charles II's reign, thus bypassing the Tories of the Loyal Parliament of 1685. This assembly called for a Convention and on the 28th William accepted the responsibilities of government. Although James had fled the country, on the 30th William (in a conversation with the Marquess of Halifax) was threatening not to stay in England "if King James came again" and determined to go back to Holland "if they went about to make him [William] Regent".

William made King

In 1689, the Convention Parliament convened and declared that James's flight amounted to abdication. William and Mary were offered the throne as joint rulers, an arrangement which they accepted (William demanded the title of king and disdained the office of regent). On February 13, 1689, Mary II and William III jointly acceded to the throne of England. Although their succession to the English throne was relatively peaceful, much blood would be shed before William's authority was accepted in Ireland and Scotland.

Jacobite Uprisings

Main articles: Williamite war in Ireland and Jacobite Risings

James had cultivated support on the fringes of his Three Kingdoms - in Catholic Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Supporters of James, known as Jacobites there were prepared to resist what they saw as an illegal coup by force of arms. An uprising occurred in support of James in Scotland in 1689, the first Jacobite rebellion, led by John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount of Dundee, known as "Bonnie Dundee", who raised an army from Highland clans. In Ireland, local Catholics led by Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, who had been discriminated against by previous English monarchs, took all the fortified places in the kingdom except Derry to hold the Kingdom for James. James himself landed in Ireland with 6000 French troops to try to regain the throne in the Williamite war in Ireland. The war raged from 1689–1691. James fled Ireland following a humiliating defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, but Jacobite resistance was not ended until after the battle of Aughrim in 1691, when over half of their army was killed or taken prisoner. The Irish Jacobites surrendered at the Treaty of Limerick on October 3rd 1691. England stayed relatively calm throughout, although some English Jacobites fought on his side in Ireland. The Jacobite uprising in the Scottish Highlands was quelled despite the Jacobite victory at the Battle of Killiecrankie, due to death of Claverhouse, their leader.

The events of 1688 and their aftermath can thus be seen as much more of a coup d'état, achieved by force of arms than an authentic revolution. Many, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, continued to see the Stuarts as the legitimate monarchs of the Three Kingdoms and there were further Jacobite rebellions in 1715 and 1745 in Scotland.

Legacy

The Revolution of 1688 is considered by some as being one of the most important events in the long evolution of powers possessed by Parliament and by the Crown in England. With the passage of the Bill of Rights, it stamped out any final possibility of a Catholic monarchy, and ended moves towards monarchical absolutism in the British Isles by circumscribing the monarch's powers. The King's powers were greatly restricted; he could no longer suspend laws, levy taxes, or maintain a standing army during peacetime without Parliament's permission. Since 1689, England, and later the United Kingdom, has been governed under a system of constitutional monarchy, which has been uninterrupted. Since then, Parliament has gained more and more power, and the Crown has progressively lost it. Unlike in the civil war of the mid-seventeenth century, the "Glorious Revolution" did not involve masses of the ordinary people. This has led many historians to suggest that the events amount more to a coup d'état than to a social revolution.

England's new king, William III, had been of the Dutch Reformed faith, as opposed to the Church of England, prior to his arrival. Consequently, the Revolution led to the Act of Toleration of 1689, which granted toleration to Nonconformist Protestants, but not to Catholics. The Williamite victory in Ireland is still commemorated by the Orange Order for preserving British and Protestant dominance in the country.

Sources

• Maurice Ashley, The Glorious Revolution of 1688 (Hodder & Stoughton, 1966; also Panther History 1968)
• Robert Beddard, A Kingdom without a King: The Journal of the Provisional Government in the Revolution of 1688 (Phaidon, 1988).
• Eveline Cruickshanks, The Glorious Revolution (British History in Perspective) (Palgrave Macmillan, 2000). ISBN 0312230095.
• Jonathan I. Israel, The Anglo-Dutch Moment: Essays on the Glorious Revolution and its World Impact (Cambridge University Press, 2003). ISBN 0521544068.
• John Miller, The Glorious Revolution (Longman, 2d. Ed., 1997). ISBN 0582292220.
• Steven C. A. Pincus, England's Glorious Revolution 1688-1689: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin's , 2005). ISBN 0312167148.
• Edward Vallance, The Glorious Revolution: 1688 - Britain's Fight for Liberty (Brown Little, 2006). ISBN 1933648244.

External links

• BBC History: Charles II
• The Glorious Revolution of 1688
• Economic analysis of the Glorious Revolution from EH.NET
• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• http://www.open2.net/civilwar/6.3.aftershocks.html
• History of the Monarchy > The Stuarts > Mary II and William III