James, Duke of York, was the
younger brother of King Charles II. The duke converted to Catholicism in 1661.
He did so without notice to others or pomp and splendor, therefore there wasn’t
any objections raised.
However 24 years later when
his brother Charles II died, James rose to the Throne of England as James II.
James began immediately bribing his diplomatic corps and military hierarchy to
convert to Catholicism. If they didn’t convert they were removed and replaced
with a Catholic.
As head of the Church of
England King James II appointed Catholic bishops. James had sired two daughter
Princess Ann and Mary who were raised protestant.
The assumption was that one
of them would inherit the thrown and England would once again be under a sovereign
who is protestant. Because of this, James II was tolerated as a distasteful sovereign,
and it would be better to tolerate his distasteful behavior than to have the
country fall into civil unrest.
In 1688 a son was born to
James which again added confusion. His daughters would no longer inherit his kingdom
but his Catholic son would. Therefore there was the prospect that England would
have a second Catholic monarch.
France during this time was
after being tolerant of Protestants for the last century had now revoked the
Edict of Nantes; which provided for Protestants to practice their faith unhindered.
King James II demanded that
his Anglican Clergy provide a declaration of Tolerance for Catholics and others
who had left the Anglican Church.
Seven Anglican Bishops
refused to comply. They were indicted for their disobedience, but also acquitted
at the same time as an act of judicial defiance by the judiciary.
William the Prince of Orange
who had married Princess Mary, daughter of James II, were vigorously
anti-Catholic. The parliament offered the Thrown to the Dutch Prince. He
accepted, on November 5th, 1688.
Civil unrest was expected,
but to everybody’s surprise King James II departed for France, where he went
into temporary exile on December 23, 1688.
It was a short exile, in
March of 1689 with a force of French troops and advisors he arrived in Ireland.
He began to form a parliament in exile, and form an Army with the assistance of
Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell.
On April 19th
James II besieged Londonderry which lasted until July 30, 1689, when his forces
were relieved. A year later, on the River Boyne, James II again encountered the
troops of King William, on July 1st 1690.
James II met disaster during
this conflict and he returned to permanent exile in France. His battered French
force continued sporadic resistance until defeated at the Battle of Aughrim. The French forces retreated to Limerick, where
they were under siege until October 3, 1691.
With the surrender of Robert
II forces at Limerick, the “Glorious Revolution” ended along with the Stuart dynasty.
History records James II of political “ineptitude of heroic proportions.”
This caused much sole
searching throughout the British Empire. The Stuarts were considered to have
deep roots throughout English society and culture. Not to far in the distant
past, a quarter of a century earlier, the Dutch House of Orange was a distinct enemy
of England.
In Scotland the nobles
remained loyal to the Stuarts, there were strong family bonds that went back to
Bruce. Organized resistance prevailed in Scotland under the leadership of the
first Viscount Dundee appointed by King James II.
The Stuarts were prominent
Freemasons as was the Viscount Dundee. The Viscount Dundee was later killed in
battle and the resistance lost its leadership and the resistance lost its way
for the next generation.
The theory is out there that
Dundee was actually assassinated by King Williams covert operators who had
infiltrated the Scottish Army, when Dundee’s body was recovered from the
battlefield it bore a Templar’s cross.
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