Words: 1772
In English history, the events of 1688 to 1689 lead to the deposition of James II and the ascension of William III and Mary II to the English throne. Those events are known as the Glorious Revolution. In the origins and outcome of the Glorious Revolution, religion plays a significant role, however; politics also had a key role to play. In 17th Century England, religion and politics came close to being a single entity. Religion played a major role in the decisions made in the courts and parliament, and politics decided which religion would be dominant.
Religion was not the sole cause for the Glorious Revolution; it needed the spice of politics to heat things up. The origins of the Glorious Revolution have they’re roots back when Charles II was placed on the throne. People already had their misgivings about Charles II as the Stuarts were suspected of favoring Roman Catholicism and wanting to restore an absolute monarchy. Also adding to the quiet discord running through parliament and the populace, Charles II usually favored alliances with Catholic Powers, i. e.
France, and was also unresponsive to parliament. When Charles II was on his deathbed, a parliamentary group, called the Whigs, tried to ensure a protestant successor by excluding the Duke of York, later James II, from the throne. As James openly practiced his own religion, Catholicism, it is surprising that he was widely accepted as being the next in line and thus the Whigs lost their bid to keep James II off the throne. When James ascended the thrown, in 1685, the ruling classes welcomed him, as he was a quiet, sober, hard-working man, unlike his brother.
It was considered quite natural for James to practice his own religion and some people even commended him for doing so. It was only when James started making politically inappropriate moves that trouble started stirring. One move James II made was to push parliament into getting rid of the penal laws that prevented Roman Catholics from worshipping freely in their own way and required them to attend Church of England services. This, as well as openly practicing his Catholicism which was once thought of as commendable, irritated the Anglican Church even more.
Since religion was a major part in the lives of 17th Century citizens, when James went against the mainstream religion it was obviously going to cause conflict not only within the Church but in parliament too. Thus, religion played a major role in the origins of the Glorious Revolution. After a few years, James had managed to estrange most of the powerful groups in England by putting Catholics in strong leadership positions. He had appointed Catholics to govern Scotland, to command the English Navy and to lead the English Army stationed in Ireland.
For the powerful groups in England, most of them tangled in politics, that was enough of an excuse to rebel against the King but then he supplanted many country lords with men who lacked wealth and prestige, who were also loyal to the king and were also usually Catholics. James had begun to slowly build up his standing army, which worried several groups in parliament as well as the rural gentry as much of the army was garrisoned in the country. These moves made by James II seemed to point towards absolutism.
Since France, already known as being a staunch patron of absolutism, had already shown in the 1672 war against the Dutch that she was evidently Catholic, aggressive, and militarily powerful, it did not take much for these powerful groups to realise the relationship between Catholicism and absolutism, and standing armies. As James was known as being somewhat abrupt and subjective in government, an avid follower of Rome, and was forming an army loyal to the throne, Englishmen could see that all the elements for absolutism seemed to be present.
With religion being so tightly tied in with politics, religion was bound to play a significant role in the Glorious Revolution. Although James II had pushed the boundaries of his power, the steps he had taken towards absolutism were not enough to push people to revolt. They saw James’ moves as a push to secure his place on the throne. People believed James to be an old man, who would soon die and be replaced by his protestant daughter, Mary II. Unfortunately for James, in June1688, he became a father to a son, with his second wife, the Catholic Mary of Modena.
James announced that their son would be raised as a Catholic and thus it was clear that his son would continue the steps started by James towards an absolute monarchy. Had James remained without a male successor, The Glorious Revolution may have been set to a later date. It was the fact that James’ son was to be raised as a Catholic that threw much of the populace into disarray. Apart from the detail that James’ son would rule England, politics was not a decisive factor in the last crucial decision that lead to the Glorious Revolution.
With the information of the birth of James’ son, the Tories, who up until this stage had been supporters of James, reluctantly joined with the Whigs to ensure that the familiar customs of the country were kept safe. Seven Whigs and seven Tories sent an invitation to Mary II, James’ protestant daughter, and William III, otherwise known as William of Orange, to come and bring order to, what seemed, disastrous times. William’s invasion of England was brought about through necessity. He had no intention to take what was going to be his through succession, by undergoing, what could be, a bloody war.
It was only when the Anglican Church, which his wife cherished so dearly, was threatened, as well as her ascension to the thrown, and when James was endangering the English Monarchy, that he took decisive action and accepted the invitation sent to him by the Whigs and Tories. It is here we see the role of religion in the Glorious Revolution being played out in full force. It comes right down to Protestant verses Catholic and it is religion that pushes William III to step in and take control. In Early November 1688 William landed 15,000 men at Torbay and marched on London.
Losing courage, James fled to France but was captured before he made it to safety. However, he escaped again and this time made it to France. It was good fortune that James escaped as the Whigs and Tories were arguing heatedly over what to do with him. James had made the Tories choose between their loyalty to the crown and their devotion to Anglicanism. Most Tories, however reluctantly, had chosen their religion, yet they were not about to go down the path that had led to the Civil War in 1642 ??? 1646 and resulted in the beheading of Charles I.
Although James had fled the country and inadvertently prevented Civil War, the Tories and Whigs still contended intensely until they finally decided to give the crown to William and Mary to rule jointly. In 1689 Parliament also wrote up a Bill of Rights to redefine the relationship between monarch and subjects and bar any future Catholic succession to the throne. The royal power to suspend and dispense law was now abolished, and the crown was forbidden to levy taxation or maintain a standing army in peacetime without parliamentary consent.
The provisions of the Declaration of Rights were, in effect, the conditions upon which the throne was offered to and accepted by William and Mary. Mary II and William III ascending the throne and The Declaration of Rights are the two major outcomes of the Glorious Revolution. In the act of placing Mary and William on the throne religion played only a minor role. Once James had fled to France, England was left with a politically dangerous situation. On one side there was the danger of an uprising of the Catholics left in Scotland and Ireland and on the other, civil war.
Religion had played a major role in reaching the revolution and with every decision made, religion was still in the back of everyone’s mind. Throughout parliament there was a wide conflict in opinion as to what should be done. One faction, the Jacobites, would accept no other solution than the restoration of James II to the thrown. A large portion of Lords favored Mary and William to rule as regents during the life of James II. However, both suggestions were ignored and on February 6th 1689, William III and Mary II were set on the throne.
After the Coronation The Bill of Rights was formally passed through parliament. On December 16, 1689, the King and Queen gave it Royal Assent, which signaled the end of the concept of the divine right of kings. The Bill of Rights was designed to control the power of kings and queens and to make them subject to laws passed by Parliament. It signaled an era for a more tolerant royal privilege. William, for example, did not seek to oppress the supporters of the deposed and Catholic King James II, even though James tried to rally the Catholic forces within England, Scotland and Ireland against King William III.
In placing Mary and William on the throne parliament spent a huge amount of effort in devising the Declaration of Rights. Religion played a relatively minor role in the Declaration of Rights, yet the under current of religion in the Declaration changed the future of England. It removed the belief that the rulers of England were placed on the throne through divine intervention and made it clear that the King had to rule through Parliament. The role of religion in the origins and outcomes of the Glorious Revolution was extremely significant. When looking at the basic reasons for the Glorious Revolution religion is at the heart and sole.
In every revolution politics is obviously going to be the main reason for the over throw of government but with politics there is always another factor. In the Glorious Revolution, religion was that other aspect that pushed parliament and the populace into taking that final radical step to revolution. Religion played such a key role in the Glorious Revolution, that once the revolution was over, it significantly influenced the decisions made by parliament. Religion had to play a significant role in the Glorious Revolution or the gradual process by which power shifted from the monarch to Parliament would not have occurred.