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James II of England

James II of England and VII of Scotland (14 October 1633–16 September 1701) became King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 6 February 1685. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland. Some of his subjects distrusted his religious policies and alleged despotism, leading a group of them to depose him in the Glorious Revolution. He was replaced not by his Roman Catholic son, James Francis Edward, but by his Protestant daughter and son-in-law, Mary II and William III, who became joint rulers in 1689. The belief that James—not William III or Mary II—was the legitimate ruler became known as Jacobitism (from Jacobus or Iacobus, Latin for James). James did not himself attempt to return to the Throne, instead living the rest of his life under the protection of King Louis XIV of France. His son James Francis Edward Stuart and his grandson Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) attempted to restore the Jacobite line after James's death, but failed.

Early life

James, the second surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France, was born at St. James's Palace in 1633 and created Duke of York in 1644. During the English Civil War—in which his father fought English Parliamentary and Puritan forces—he stayed in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold. When the city surrendered in 1646, the Duke of York was confined in St James's Palace by parliamentary command. In 1648, he escaped from the Palace, whence he went to The Hague in disguise. When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed the Duke of York's elder brother, Charles, as King Charles II. Charles II was recognised by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Ireland, and was crowned King of Scots at Scone, in Scotland, in 1651. He was, however, unable to secure the Crown of England, and consequently fled to France.

Like his brother, the Duke of York sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne. In 1656, when his brother, Charles, entered into an alliance with Spain—an enemy of France—he joined the Spanish army under Louis, Prince of CondÈ. Both Turenne and CondÈ praised the Duke of York's abilities.

In 1660, with Oliver Cromwell dead, Charles II was restored to the English Throne, the Duke of York returning to England with him. Though he was the heir-presumptive, it seemed unlikely that the Duke of York would actually inherit the Crown, for Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children. In September 1660, the Duke of York (who was also created Duke of Albany in Scotland) married the Lady Anne Hyde, the daughter of Charles's chief minister, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.

The Duke of York was appointed Lord High Admiral and commanded the Royal Navy during the Second (1665–1667) and Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674). Following its capture by the English in 1664, the Dutch territory of New Netherland was named New York in his honour, as was the town of New Amsterdam. Fort Orange, 150 miles up the River Hudson, was renamed Albany in his honour as well. The Duke of York also headed the Royal African Company, which participated in the slave trade.

Religion

The Duke of York was admitted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1668 or 1669. His Protestant enemies in the Parliament of England, led by Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, ensured the passage of the Test Act; under the Act, all civil and military officials were required to take an oath (in which they were required not only to disavow the doctrine of transubstantiation, but also denounce certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church as "superstitious and idolatrous") and receive communion under the auspices of the Church of England. The Duke of York refused to perform both actions, instead choosing to relinquish the post of Lord High Admiral.

Charles II opposed the conversion, ordering that the Duke of York's children be raised as Protestants. Nevertheless, in 1673, he allowed York (whose first wife had died in 1671) to marry the Catholic Mary of Modena. Some English people distrusted Catholicism and regarded the new Duchess of York as an agent of the Pope.

In 1677, the Duke of York attempted to appease Protestants by allowing his daughter, Mary, to marry the Protestant Prince of Orange, William III (who was also his nephew). Despite the concession, fears of a Catholic monarch persisted, intensified by the failed pregnancies of Charles II's wife, Catherine of Braganza. A defrocked Anglican clergyman, Titus Oates, falsely spoke of a "Popish Plot" to kill Charles and put the Duke of York on the Throne. The fabricated plot caused a wave of anti-Catholic hysteria to sweep across the nation. The Duke of York wisely decided to leave England for Brussels. In 1680, the Duke of York was appointed Lord High Commissioner of Scotland and took up his residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

In England, attempts were made by Lord Shaftesbury and others to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession. Some even proposed that the Crown go to Charles II's illegitimate son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. When, in 1679, the Exclusion Bill was in danger of passing, Charles II dissolved the English Parliament. (The Exclusion Bill crisis contributed to the development of the English two-party system; the Whigs were those who supported the Bill, whilst the Tories were those who opposed it.) Two further Parliaments were elected in 1680 and 1681, but were dissolved for the same reason.

After the dissolution of the Parliament of 1681, no further Parliaments were called. Charles, whose popularity was very high at the time, allowed the Duke of York to return to England in 1682. The Rye House Plot of 1683, a Protestant conspiracy to assassinate both Charles and the Duke of York, failed utterly; it increased popular sympathy for the King and his brother. York once again found himself influential in government, becoming the leader of the Tory Party; his brother restored him to the office of Lord High Admiral in 1684.

Reign

Charles died sine prole legitima (without legitimate offspring) in 1685, converting to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed. He was succeeded by his brother, who reigned in England and Ireland as James II, and in Scotland as James VII. James was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1685. At first, there was little overt opposition to the new Sovereign; many conservative Anglicans even supported him. The new Parliament which assembled in May 1685 seemed favourable to James, agreeing to grant him a large income.

James, however, faced the Monmouth Rebellion (led by Charles II's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth). James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declared himself King on 20 June 1685, but was afterwards defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Monmouth was executed at the Tower of London soon afterwards. Despite the lack of popular support for Monmouth, James began to distrust his subjects.

His judges—most notably, George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (the "Hanging Judge")—punished the rebels brutally. Judge Jeffreys' Bloody Assizes led the public to see their King as a cruel and barbarous ruler. To protect himself from further rebellions, James sought to establish a large standing army. By putting Roman Catholics in charge of several regiments, the King was drawn into a conflict with Parliament. Parliament was prorogued in November 1685, never to meet again during James's reign.

Religious tension intensified in 1686. Paul Barillon, the French ambassador to England, was perhaps right when he claimed that the king, "resolved not to rule precariously". In the collusive case of Godden v. Hales, a panel of judges of the Court of King's Bench were coerced by the King into declaring that the King could dispense with the religious restrictions imposed by the Test Acts. Taking advantage of the dispensing power, James controversially allowed Roman Catholics to occupy the highest offices of the Kingdom. He received at his court the papal nuncio, Ferdinando d'Adda, the first representative from Rome to London since the reign of Mary I. James's Jesuit confessor, Edward Petre, was a particular object of Protestant ire. These policies caused the King to lose the support of his former allies, the Tories.

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