After the British Civil war and attempted republican reformation by a Parliamentarian dictator, when the Monarchy was established and Charles II was invited back to England; after nine years in France a cultured and learned King took power. Charles II, was a patron of the arts and sciences, who founded the Royal Observatory and supported the Royal Society. In Paris Charles had been reliant upon a pension granted by the government of France and surrounded by a group of quarrelsome advisers of his. The Royalist court-in-exile split into three main factions: the "Louvre" party, which revolved around Henrietta Maria and her close confidante Lord Jermyn; the "Old Royalist" faction, led by conservatives like Sir Edward Hyde, Sir Edward Nicholas and Lord Hopton; and the "Swordsmen" who looked to Prince Rupert for leadership.
By 1654, Cromwell was negotiating with Cardinal Mazarin of France for an alliance against Spain. Thus for French-British allegiance Charles and his entourage were obliged to leave Paris and they rebased in Bruges (the Spanish Netherlands) while the Anglo-Spanish War broke out between Spain and the English Protectorate in alliance with France. Charles' representatives negotiated with Spain thus for help in regaining the throne of England and the exiled Royalists raised an army of 3,000 English, Scottish and Irish soldiers commanded by Charles' brother James, Duke of York (later James II), to help the Spanish defend Flanders against Marshal Turenne's Anglo-French army.
During Charles' exile, there were three serious attempts to incite Royalist uprisings in Britain: Glencairn's Uprising in Scotland during 1653-4, Penruddock's Uprising in the West Country of 1655 and Booth's Uprising in Cheshire of 1659. All three were easily suppressed through superior military strength of the Parliamentarians and, in the case of the English uprisings, an efficient intelligence network that infiltrated Royalist conspiracies and allowed the Protectorate government to stay one step ahead of its enemies.
The Exclusion Crisis — Whigs, Tories & the Catholic QuestionCharles would later reign England for twenty-five years. Despite his considerable political skills, the power of Parliament steadily increased during this time. Thus towards the end of his reign, an embryonic political party system commenced. The Whig and Tory parties emerged when Charles' Roman Catholic sympathies brought him into conflict with Parliament again and since Charles' marriage to the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza produced no legitimate heir, succession was of issue. The Whigs in Parliament deliberately tried to exclude Charles' brother, James, Duke of York, from the succession specifically because he was an avowed Roman Catholic. In response to this (Exclusion Crisis), Charles dissolved Parliament in 1681 and took reigns as an absolute monarch for four years. He died suspiciously in 1685 professing that he was a Catholic on his deathbed and received his last rites. James II became King thence and during his very brief three-year reign, the monarchy fought from the very beginning. Ultimately gauging the last political battle ever between Catholicism and Protestantism (and between the Divine Right of Kings and the political rights of the Parliament of England). King James II was left alienated from both parties in the start, while as of Charles II's illegitimate heirs, the eldest, the Duke of Monmouth, led a rebellion against James II to take power from the outset. He was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, and captured and executed for the effort; a sturdy victory for the new monarch.
James hoped at first that in forming a 'King's party' as a counterweight to the Anglican Tories, he'd rally support for policy in religious toleration. He issued the Declaration of Indulgence thus; whence the majority of the Irish backed him and for his promise to the Irish Parliament of a greater future autonomy. By allying himself with the Catholics, Dissenters, and Nonconformists together, James tried to build a coalition that would advance Catholic emancipation and formally abandon the Tories in the process. A gallant attempt which only spelled doom for sovereign rulership (absolute monarchs) in England.
The Glorious Revolution — 1688In 1688 a vast fleet of 463 ships — twice the size of the Spanish Armada — put to sea from Holland. On board was William of Orange with 40,000 soldiers. Their objective: England.
The next revolution commenced thus peaking in 1688, with the birth of the King's son, James Francis Edward Stuart, on 10 June (Julian calendar). Changing the existing line of succession in displacing the heir presumptive, his daughter Mary, a Protestant and the wife of William of Orange. The establishment of a Roman Catholic dynasty in the Kingdom was set. The nobles and gentry had lined up practically to desert the King in pledge for revolution inviting William of Orange to England to challenge James. William thus crossed the North Sea and English Channel with a large invasion fleet in November 1688, landing at Torbay. After only two minor clashes between the two opposing armies in England, and anti-Catholic riots in several towns, James' regime collapsed, largely because of his lack of resolve. However, this was followed by the protracted Williamite War in Ireland and Dundee's rising in Scotland. Also in New England the revolution led to the collapse of the Dominion and a overthrow of the Province of Maryland.
A Protestant, now King, William III would embark on several wars against the powerful Catholic King of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant powers in Europe, and fermenting his place. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith but his loyalty to Parliamentarians was stout. His Declaration of Rights, established restrictions on his own and future Royal prerogative, duly by popular creed since Charles' uncouth dissolutions had set precedent for another Republican revolution and decidedly the dual party oligarchy, according the undivided standards of the British gentry.
Written by Jason Steven Jowett. Sourced from historical fact. This blog may not be reproduced in whole without the author's express permission. Copyright © 2024. greatbrittania.blogspot.com