THE EXILED
KING
GETTY IMAGES, ALAMYRevolution and restoration / The exiled king
94T
he ‘Merry Monarch’,
Charles II, had done
much to restore the
popularity of the royal
family after the bitter
years of civil war. But
though his many
mistresses had produced numerous
children, his marriage to Catherine
Braganza had produced no heirs. Upon his
death in 1685, therefore, the throne passed
to his younger brother, James.
James II presented a stark contrast to
his pleasure-loving brother. Serious and
driven, he was also stubborn and
headstrong. Although he won respect
as a soldier and naval commander, his
dogmatic nature soon caused serious
ructions within the new kingdom.
Whereas Charles had adopted the same
religious toleration that had served
Elizabeth I so well, James was determined
that his subjects should adhere to the
uncompromising Catholic beliefs that he
himself cherished. Worse still, he failed to
appreciate just how fragile support for the
newly restored monarchy was, and from
the very beginning of his reign, he adopted
dangerously absolutist policies.
Charles II had prophesied that his
brother would be king for no more than
three years. James paid little heed to it, but
opposition to his rule gathered ground
both at home and abroad. Matters came to
a head in June 1688 when James’s second
wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son,
James Francis Edward Stuart. Until then,
James’s eldest daughter from his firstAer he was deposed during the
Glorious Revolution, there was a
lengthy struggle to return James II
to the throne. Tracy Borman explores the rise of Jacobitism
marriage, Mary, had been the heir
presumptive. A Protestant and the wife of
William of Orange, Mary had offered a
glimmer of hope for all the opponents of
James’s increasingly dogmatic regime.
Now that he had a son, who would be
raised in the Catholic faith, their hopes
were dashed.
Spurred to action, parliament invited
Mary and her husband, William of
Orange, to invade England and claim the
throne. The ‘Glorious Revolution’ that
followed was a bloodless coup in which
James was ousted from the throne and
replaced by his Protestant daughter and
son-in-law, who were crowned Mary II
and William III.Foiled escape
Believing that he would meet the same fate
as his father, Charles I, who had been
executed by the parliamentarians, James
resolved to flee the country. On 10
December 1688, he arranged for his wife
to leave Whitehall disguised as a
laundry woman, taking their son
with her. James himself left London
the next day, throwing the Great
Seal (the seal that shows the
sovereign’s approval of state
documents) into the Thames on
the way. But he suffered the
humiliation of being capturedby fishermen off the Kent coast and was
brought back to London. There he received
a rapturous welcome and seems to have
considered making a stand against
William and Mary. But the new king was
too quick for him: he had already
garrisoned the capital and seized
Whitehall. James was ordered to leave
London and, on 23 December, he was
allowed to escape to France.
Although William and Mary had taken
the throne without contest, James and his
heirs would inspire a romantic loyalty for
many years to come. It was not long before
the deposed king sought to capitalise upon
this. In March 1689, James landed in
Ireland with the help of French troops. The
Irish Parliament
had notMary of Modena, wife of James
II and VI, flees to France with her
infant son James Francis