His subjects distrust his religious policies and oppose his autocratic power. He was stripped of his throne in the glorious revolution. The throne fell to his Protestant daughter Mary Ⅱ and son-in-law William III. After James II abdicated, he was protected by French King Louis XIV. Louis, his son James Franciscus Edward and his grandson Charles Edward Stuart continued to plan to restore the James Sect to the throne, but in the end they failed.
ascend the throne
1685 charles ii died, and there were no children born in wedlock. Before his death, he also converted to Catholicism, and his younger brother James II succeeded him to the throne. Although the House of Commons once rejected James and he converted to Catholicism, James succeeded to the throne unexpectedly. Immediately after he ascended the throne, he attended mass in public, but he also informed the Privy Council and the parliament convened in 1685 that he would protect the Anglican Church because "its members showed priceless loyalty in the most difficult time". At this time, the parliament also gave the new king face, and they decided to give him a lot of money. At this time, Parliament was composed of powerful members of the King's Party and the Anglican Church. But then the parliament asked the king to issue a declaration to "all those who don't believe in the Anglican Church" and asked them to act according to the law, which made the king very angry. At first, the king meant the opposite. He wanted to put non-Anglican Catholics and Protestants in the same position as Anglican subjects.
counterinsurgency
1685 In June, Scotland was invaded by rebels under the command of Count argyle (the ninth Earl of argyle under duke of argyll). Monmouth Duke, the illegitimate child of charles ii, landed in the southwest of England, but was quickly defeated. Charlie's illegitimate son was executed in the Tower of London, but this incident made James suspicious of his subjects. He ordered the rebels to be severely punished. This excessive measure made the public think that their king was a tyrant. Parliament at that time was loyal to the king. In the autumn, James decided to allow Roman Catholic officers to serve in the army regardless of the first censorship regulations, and insisted on stopping the execution of relevant criminal laws against unbelievers, which caused protests in the House of Commons, and the Parliament had no intention of maintaining a standing army with Catholics as officers just after defeating Monmouth Duke. At this time, the parliament became unruly.
James then ordered the meeting to close on1October 20th, 1685, 165438, and the parliament was dissolved on 1687. So James lost some promised income, but he can use his privilege to suspend or cancel some laws to implement the policy of complete religious equality.
James appointed a committee of priests to prevent Anglican priests from attacking Roman Catholic religious beliefs in the pulpit, which James called "reckless preaching". Then a precedent was sent to the High Court. After the judge was purged, the High Court ruled that James could be exempted from legal sanctions under certain circumstances. This judgment enabled James to accept Catholics into the Privy Council, freely appoint Roman Catholics as officers in the army and navy, and even appoint Roman Catholics to serve in various colleges of Oxford University.
1687 in April, he published the first declaration of religious freedom, aiming at achieving complete religious freedom.
1688, James issued the second declaration of religious freedom, instructing Anglican priests to read aloud from the pulpit during church service. Finally, James dismissed his two brothers-in-law because they were Protestants and did not fully agree with the king's policies. He received the representative of the Pope in Paris, which is the first time that the representative of the Pope has come to England since Mary I. James's confessor is a Jesuit, and he is especially regarded as an enemy by Protestants. These measures cost James his allies who had supported him.
revolution
1in the summer of 688, James's rule took a turning point. The Archbishop of Canterbury and six bishops wrote to ask the king to cancel the order of issuing the Second Declaration on Religious Freedom, because the parliament had repeatedly insisted that the king had no right to cancel the criminal code when charles ii was in power. James was furious and arrested seven bishops for seditious slander. But the jury acquitted them, which pleased both civilians and the army. 10 In June, the Queen gave birth to a son-later called "the old man who coveted the throne". This increases the risk of establishing a Catholic dynasty (some people say that James's son is actually a stillbirth, but someone else has changed a live fetus, but this statement is unfounded). On the day when six bishops were acquitted, the Bishop of London and six laymen-later called "Seven Fairies"-secretly invited William, the nephew and son-in-law of James, Duke of Orange, to come to Britain to defend freedom and property and safeguard his wife's inheritance right, because William III fought against the Catholic French king Louis XIV in the Netherlands, which was regarded as the hope of Protestantism.
James clearly knows that he can't use his privilege to ensure freedom of religious belief indefinitely. Therefore, he made great efforts to elect a parliament to undertake the work of abolishing the criminal law and reviewing the two regulations. But before the new parliamentary elections,
1688 On June 30th, a group of religious nobles asked William to lead an army into England. It is obvious that William will attack Britain in September, but James rejected the offer of French Louis XIV to provide him with troops because he was afraid that it would cause more opposition from the British. He believed that his army was strong enough to resist William. But he was wrong.
1688165438+1On October 5th, after William landed, all Protestant officers defected, including the commander-in-chief of the army who gathered in Salisbury to defend the Netherlands, his mistress's younger brother and hand-picked john churchill. Later, the whole navy also surrendered to William. James' biological daughter Anne also joined the invading army, taking away many royal supporters. James, who was brave when he was young, had no intention of reorganizing the army at this time. He sent his wife and children abroad, pretended to negotiate with William and called a free parliament. 65438+February 1 1 He slipped out of the capital while people were unprepared, threw the seal of the kingdom into the Thames, and tried to escape to France, but was recognized and arrested by fishermen when Kent boarded the ship and fled. William didn't want James to be a martyr, so he deliberately let him escape on February 23, 65438. Louis XIV took James in and gave him a palace and a high income.
When James left the kingdom, there was no parliament. Although the general parliament was convened by the monarch, William convened the "Convention Parliament" (Convention Parliament was generally convened when the throne was vacant, such as the parliament that granted the throne to charles ii after the Civil War).
1689 February 12 The parliament stated that James voluntarily gave up the throne when 1 1 fled London, so the throne is currently vacant (the meeting did not give the throne to James' son). The meeting decided to make James' daughter Mary queen, and she ruled with her husband William III. On April 1 1 of the same year, the Scottish Parliament passed the same resolution.
After William and Mary came to power, they first passed a decree to declare the decision of the Customary Parliament valid. William and Mary officially became monarchs, and James gave up the throne. In addition, the law also stipulates that James abused his rights: he abandoned the oath law because seven bishops were arrested, established a regular army and were tortured. Finally, the decree also stipulates the order of succession to the throne: first, the children of William and Mary (if they have children), then Princess Anne and her children, and finally the children of William if he remarries.
Personality assessment
James was a talented and capable soldier when he was young, but he was impatient and arrogant, knew nothing about art and science, and was addicted to wine and sex. Afraid of being guillotined like his father, he easily gave up the throne to his son-in-law. Louis XIV disapproved of his stubborn attitude on religious issues, saying that James was a fool who abandoned the Three Kingdoms for a mass, because his grandfather, the great realist James I, was very flexible on religious issues.