Following Britain’s bloodless Glorious Revolution, Mary, the daughter of the deposed king, and William of Orange, her husband, are proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain under Britain’s new Bill of Rights.
William, a Dutch prince, married Mary, the daughter of the future King James II, in 1677. After James’ succession to the English throne in 1685, the Protestant William kept in close contact with the opposition to the Catholic king. After the birth of an heir to James in 1688, seven high-ranking members of Parliament invited William and Mary to England. William landed at Torbay in Devonshire with an army of 15,000 men and advanced to London, meeting no opposition from James’ army, which had deserted the king. James himself was allowed to escape to France, and in February 1689 Parliament offered the crown jointly to William and Mary, provided they accept the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights, which greatly limited royal power and broadened constitutional law, granted Parliament control of finances and the army and prescribed the future line of royal succession, declaring that no Roman Catholic would ever be sovereign of England. The document also stated that Englishmen possessed certain inviolable civil and political rights, a political concept that was a major influence in the composition of the U.S. Bill of Rights, composed almost exactly a century later.
The Glorious Revolution, the ascension of William and Mary, and the acceptance of the Bill of Rights were decisive victories for Parliament in its long struggle against the crown.
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Via: www.history.com
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Ah, yes! They were the ones who kicked my ancestors out of England for belonging to the Society of Friends. Fortunately, William Penn found them a new home in what is now Pennsylvania, so all’s well that ends well.
So, they prevented Roman Catholics from taking the throne — and now they’re about to be overrun by Muslims. Smooth move, folks.
We got tired of being told to bow to some old geezer in a dress thousands of miles away, calling himself ‘God’s Chosen’…
We loved their Bill Of Rights but couldn’t stand their bill writers.
Oh, you forgot to add to the fun. Not only was James II his father-in-law, he was also his uncle. William was the son of James sister. Technically, William and Mary were first cousins. If England and the Netherlands were still under Papal dominion, their marriage would have not been allowed due to consanguinity. As Mary never conceived another child after her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage, the throne reverted to her sister, Anne, on her and William’s death. Anne was pregnant 17 times. 12 ended in miscarriage or were still born, 4 children died before age 2, and one son lived to age 11. After her death, the throne passed to her cousin, Georg, Elector of Hannover and great-grandson of James I. Georg was crowned as George I of England. His Great-grandson, George III, had some problems with the colonies across the Atlantic Ocean at some point.
Victoria and Albert were also first cousins. Elizabeth and Phillip are cousins as well but further removed. Both descended from Victoria and Albert. Consanguinity has never been a problem in royal houses. in most countries and parts of the world, Royal Blood was a commodity kept within a single family. it is only in recent generations that we have started seeing Royalty marry outside their family.
Meanwhile, the Ascension of William and Mary also resulted in the Jacobite wars and the brutal oppression of Scotland, the destruction (attempted) of the Clan system and the outlawing of things like Tartans and family identity in an effort to destroy any unity in Scotland. No Scotsman was even allowed to own a weapon, much less carry one.
point is, we may not agree with what happened in History but we have to acknowledge that it happened and deal with the results. if anything in history could be changed, would you? the world would be an infinitely different place if any ONE of MANY different things had happened. Had WWI ended differently, WWII would not have happened. if WWII had not happened, Israel would not have been re-established. just one thread from that line of events but, look at all that came from those things. good and bad. if we had not needed to develop rockets for WWII, we would not have been able to go to the Moon. we would not have home computers.
things happen. we don’t always reflect on individual events with pleasure, but we must look at the whole of events they set in motion. William and Mary were the King and Queen of England (He reigned after she died, btw, even though he was not directly in line for that throne) because of them, wars happened, laws changed, the world changed. had they not taken the throne and James remained in power, things would have been very different. the world would be a very different place.
That’s life.
Also the first gay royal couple to rule in England.
Yes, both of them, and yet they were very fond of each other as well