King James II
1633 – 1701 · Generation XXVII · King of England, Scotland and Ireland (r. 1685–1688) · House of Stuart
James II & VII Stuart (1633–1701). King of England, Scotland and Ireland (r. 1685–1688). Married Anne Hyde in 1660. Married Mary of Modena in 1673. Driven out in the Glorious Revolution of 1688; his line pressed its claim for two more generations. The last Catholic to reign over England, Scotland and Ireland, he came to the throne at fifty-one on a wave of goodwill, but both the English and Scottish parliaments balked at his religious measures, and his resort to absolutist decrees to force them through turned goodwill into opposition. June 1688 brought the breaking point: a son was born, opening the prospect of a Catholic dynasty, and the Seven Bishops he had prosecuted were acquitted, wrecking his authority. Invited by leading Protestants, his nephew and son-in-law William of Orange landed that November; the royal army melted away, James fled to France, and the Convention Parliament that followed judged the throne vacant and settled it on William and Mary — a settlement that made Parliament, not birthright, the source of royal title. His bid to win back his kingdoms through Ireland broke at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and he ended his days at Saint-Germain under the protection of Louis XIV.
One of 14 people of House of Stuart (from 1371) in this archive. Scotland’s royal house for three centuries before James VI inherited England and wore both crowns.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → King Charles I → King James II.
Parents
- King Charles I (1600 – 1649)
- Henrietta Maria of France (1609 – 1669)
Siblings
- King Charles II (1630 – 1685)
- Mary Princess Royal (1631 – 1660)
Partners
- Married Anne Hyde (1637 – 1671) in 1660 — 2 children together
- Married Mary of Modena (1658 – 1718) in 1673 — one child together
Children
- Queen Mary II (1662 – 1694)
- Queen Anne (1665 – 1714)
- James Francis Edward Stuart (1688 – 1766)
Life
- 1633 — Born
- 1660 — Married Anne Hyde
- 1673 — Married Mary of Modena
- 1685 — James succeeds his brother, Charles II.
- 1685 — The Duke of Monmouth rebels against James, but is defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor in Somerset.
- 1686 — James takes first measures to restore Catholicism in England, and sets up a standing army of 13,000 troops at Hounslow to overawe nearby London.
- 1688 — James, believing his Divine Right as King, issues the Declaration of Indulgence to suspend all laws against Catholics and Non-Conformists and repeal the 1673 Test Act. He seeks to promote his Catholic supporters in Parliament and purge Tories and Anglican clergy .
- 1688 — James’ wife, Mary of Modena, gives birth to a son and Catholic heir. His daughters Mary, married to Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange, and Anne by his first wife Anne Hyde are Protestant.
- 1688 — Following discontent over James attempts to control politics and religion, seven leading statesmen invite William of Orange, son-in-law of James, to England to restore English liberties.
- 1688 — The 'Glorious Revolution'. William of Orange lands at Torbay with an army of 20,000 and advances on London. Many Protestant officers in James' army including Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and James' own daughter Anne defect to support William and his wife Mary.
- 1688 — James abdicates and flees to exile in France.
- 1701 — Died