Glorious Revolution. The glorious revolution of 1688

The history of England in the 17th century is a time of turmoil and heavy shocks. This period includes the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. Many researchers consider this event to be the main event in the history of Great Britain.

History of England: briefly about the situation on the eve of the revolution

After the restoration of the Stuart dynasty until 1685, England ruled Charles II. After his death, Jacob II, the younger brother of the king, ascended the throne. Karl did not leave behind the heir, because he did not have legal children. Jacob II became the last English king-Catholic.

In 1677, the eldest daughter of the future King Mary was issued, in spite of his wish, for William of Orange. She was the alleged heir to the throne because of the childlessness of Charles II.

Yakov himself, the liberal party of parliament tried to deprive the right to the throne because of his adherence to the Catholic Church. He was suspected of participating in a Catholic conspiracy, and he was forced to flee the country. But an attempt to deprive the Duke of York of the rights to the throne was aroused by his supporters against the liberal party of the parliament (Whigs), and the younger brother of Charles II was able to mount the throne unhindered after the death of the king.

Board of Jacob II

To better understand what the "Glorious Revolution" is, you need to consider the reign of James II. With the new king, the majority in the parliament began to represent the Tories (members of the conservative party), its adherents. Jacob II did not arouse sympathy among the British, because he was a zealous Catholic.

He had to start his reign with the suppression of the uprising 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 was created the title of Duke of Monmouth.

Landed on the coast of Britain, Scott claimed his rights to the English throne. The Scottish Marquis Argyll joined him. In the battle with the royal troops, the conspirators were defeated and beheaded. But the king and his judges suppressed the insurrection with such cruelty that indignation with his actions became one of the reasons for the expulsion of the monarch and resulted in a coup d'état, which in the historiography of England received the following name - Glorious Revolution.

Vain hopes

The last years of the reign of Charles II - this time of reaction, when the parliament was not convened, and the opposition in the form of the Whigs was scattered by the king and disorganized. And although the Duke of York was also spoken of as a reactionary, the opposition had a hope of changing the state of affairs in the country and stopping the reaction.

Hopes turned out to be in vain. After the suppression of the insurrection, Yakov II, confident of his own strength, began to collect the army on an ongoing basis under the pretext of fighting the insurgents. At all key government posts, he put the followers of the Catholic faith. In the year of his accession to the throne, he dissolved the parliament and more than once during his reign did not collect it once. Opposition and criticism of his actions the king absolutely did not accept and immediately dismissed from the post of dissatisfied. Yakov II undertook all actions for one purpose - the establishment of an absolute royal power in the country. As a result, many representatives of the opposition were forced to flee to Holland. Extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the king, he turned away and loyal followers - the Tories, who feared the strengthening of the power of the Catholic Church in the country.

The immediate cause for the overthrow of James II

The "glorious revolution" that took place in England had a good reason for its beginning. The King, who ascended to the throne already at an elderly age, had no children. The wife of Jacob II 15 years was considered barren. Therefore, the dissatisfied with the policy pursued by the king was the hope that after the demise 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 elderly king in 1688 was born an heir. Rumors immediately spread that it was a strange child who had been secretly carried to the royal palace. These conversations were also caused by the fact that only representatives of the Catholic faith were present at the birth of the Crown Prince, and even the youngest daughter Anna was not allowed to visit her mother.

Revolution

After the birth of the heir to the English throne , the opposition had no hope of changing the situation in England. Having united, the Tories and the 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 son-in-law with his daughter - the Prince of Orange and Mary. Prominent British politicians, seeing no other way out, wrote a secret message to the prince, urging him to invade England and dislodge his father-in-law from the throne. The message said that the population of the country will support the coup and everyone will be happy to see the Protestant king at the head of England.

After the message was sent, some of the rebels dispersed around the country in search of money and allies.

Jacob II could not help seeing the preparations of the conspirators and decided to make concessions, while the actions of his opponents would not go too far. But it was already impossible to stop the insurrection.

The "glorious revolution" began on November 15, 1688, when the people of the Prince of Orange landed on the English coast. The army he gathered was impressive and almost entirely composed of Protestants. There were also representatives of the opposition in it, who left the country because of the persecution of Jacob.

The outcome of the revolution in England: the overthrow of the king and the accession of William III

The appearance of William's army in England led to the fact that most of the commanders of James II immediately took the side of his son-in-law. The daughter of the king, Anna, also left him and went to the camp of Prince of Orange.

Left without an army, Yakov tried to enter into negotiations with the conspirators, and then in despair tried to flee to France, where he sent his wife and son in advance. On the way he was captured and returned to London. Later, with the help of Wilhelm, who organized his escape, King James II could leave England.

The "glorious revolution" ended in 1689, when William and Mary were proclaimed the parliament by the rulers of England.

After the death of Mary in a few years her husband ruled the country one under the name of William III. According to historians, he showed himself to be a wise ruler and reformer. It was with him that Britain began to strengthen its influence and turn it into one of the world's strongest powers. During the reign of William III, the "Bill of Rights" was created, which permanently eliminates the possibility of establishing an absolute monarchy in England .