The Glorious Revolution occurred in 1688-1689 when King James II, a Roman Catholic, was replaced as monarch by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange from the Netherlands. James II faced opposition over his pro-Catholic policies like suspending anti-Catholic laws. When James II had a Catholic son in 1688, Protestants feared a permanent Catholic dynasty so invited William to invade England, which he did successfully as James fled to France. William and Mary then agreed to rule as joint monarchs under the conditions of the new Bill of Rights that established England as a constitutional monarchy.

1. The Glorious Revolution
1688-1689

2. What was the Glorious Revolution?
 It was the replacement of the reigning
king, James II, with the joint monarchy
of his protestant daughter Mary and her
Dutch husband, William of Orange.

3. Causes
 After the accession of
James II in 1685, his overt
Roman Catholicism
alienated the majority of
the population.
 In 1687 he issued a
Declaration of Indulgence,
suspending the penal laws
against dissenters and
recusants.
James II

4. Causes
 In April 1688, James II re-
issued the Declaration of
Indulgence and ordered all
clergymen to read it in
their churches.
 Archbishop of Canterbury,
William Sancroft, and six
other bishops were
imprisoned when
protested its illegality .
 Later, at trial they were
acquitted to the cheers of
the London crowd.
The seven bishops

5. Causes
 Mary, James’s daughter by
his first wife, Anne Hyde,
was a Protestant, married
to William, the Protestant
Prince of Orange.
 This couple, were to be
James’s successors on the
throne.
 England’s Protestant
majority were satisfied
about their future in the
hands of William and
Mary.
James II’s daughter, Mary

6. Causes
 Unfortunatelly for them, on 10 June 1688, James
Francis Edward was born.
 He was the son of James II and his second wife Mary
Beatrice and was baptized into Roman Catholic faith.
 This opened the possibility of a permanent Catholic
dynasty. The protestants were horrified.
Mary Beatrice and her son
James Francis Edward

7. Reactions
 On 30 June 1688, a group
of seven Protestant
nobles invited the Prince
of Orange to come to
England with an army.
 William was willing to
make the trip.
Prince William of Orange

8. The revolution
 William arrived on 5 November 1688. As
soon as he landed at Torbay in Devonshire,
people flocked to his support.
 Many Protestant officers, including
Churchill, defected and joined William, as
did James's own daughter, Princess Anne.

9. The revolution
 James lost his nerve and declined to attack the
invading army, despite his army's numerical
superiority
 Later, he got away to France, where his wife,
their newly-born son James and the generous
hospitality of the court of King Louis the
Fourteenth awaited him.

10. Consequences
 A few weeks later Parliament
decided that the throne was
vacant in consequence of
James’s flight.
 They voted that William and
Mary of Orange should be
proclaimed King and Queen
but under some conditions.
 These conditions were set out
in a document called the Bill of
Rights which was signed by
William and Mary in 1689.

11. Consequences
 Bill of Rights: This document limits on the
powers of the monarch and sets out the rights
of Parliament
 These new laws changed England from an
absolute monarchy (where the monarch has
power) to a constitutional monarchy (where
they have not much more than a ceremonial
role).
 The British system of government has
remained a constitutional monarchy ever
since this time.