The Glorious Revolution 229

The context of European international politics seemed favorable to
William. Louis XIV’s revocation of the Edict of Nantes had outraged the
Dutch, who worried that James’s successful restoration of Catholicism in En­
gland might make the Dutch Republic more vulnerable to Catholic France.
They believed that England was an indispensable partner in helping resist
Louis XIV’s grand ambitions. A friendly Protestant monarch on the throne of
England might even reduce tensions stemming from the trade rivalry
between the Dutch Republic and England.
The Catholic continental monarchs would not aid James II. Louis XIV’s
principal interest remained continental territorial expansion. Despite declar­
ing war on the Dutch Republic, Louis limited his attacks to verbal bluster
and the seizure of several Dutch ships in French ports. Emperor Leopold of
Austria, another powerful Catholic monarch, was tied up fighting the Turks
in the east.
James did little to prepare military defenses except to appoint Catholic
officers in his new regiments and to bring more troops from Ireland. He
relied on his navy to protect his throne. Hoping for a last-minute compro­
mise, he promised to summon a “free” Parliament. But it was too late.
In a declaration promulgated early in October 1688, William accused
James of arbitrary acts against the nation, Parliament, and the Church of
England. Aided by a munificent wind—later dubbed the “Protestant wind”—
that blew his ships to the southwestern coast of England but pinned James’s
loyal fleet farther away in the Channel or kept them in port, William landed
at Torbay on the English Channel with a force of 15,000 men on November 5,

William III of England and Queen Mary, joint rulers of England.