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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 119, James II:
July 4, 2005:
James II (1633 - 1701) was the second surviving son of Charles I. While Cromwell was whipping his dad, James II was at Oxford until the city surrendered. For clarity, we should not confuse Oxford the city with Oxford University which is just a part of the city. James lived in the city. Afer the surrender, Parliament sent him to St. James Palace. It was not a very secure internment and James managed to escaped and go to the Netherlands in 1648. From there, he went to France and joined the French army in 1652. Then in 1656 his brother Charles II undercut him with his alliance with Spain. James had to switch sides and command part of the Spanish army. Such goings on!
Later, when Charles actually managed to ascend the throne, James came home and took the post of lord high admiral. With that he acted to properly organize the navy for greater efficience. This was a big deal for a nation that pretty much depended on ruling the waves for its survival. Then he got involved in colonial affairs. By this time the Dutch were in control of New Amsterdam, but the English took it away from them in 1664 and renamed it New York in honor of James. Now you know how that city got its name.
It seems he was a better admiral than he was later to be king. He commanded the English fleet in the initial phases of the Second and Third Dutch wars. About these Dutch Wars, these were actually four wars between England and the Dutch Republic. The first three were about commerce and were precipitated by England's desire to cut the Dutch out of any sea trade. These were, for the most part, naval engagements. England won the first war by tromping the Dutch admiral Tromp. ( no kidding.)
The second war went badly for England. This was the one where the English fleet was destroyed by the Dutch fleet while in dock at Chatham. This was under Charles II when everything went bad. There was the plague to deal with and the Great Fire of London at the same time. Charles had to sue for peace and the conflict ended with the Treaty of Breda. The third war was kind of hidden in the general melee of the European war. It is difficult to see how there were any winners in that mess, however. England survived. The fourth Dutch war began in 1780. This was the time of the American colonial revolutionary war and the Dutch were annoying England by trading with the colonies. The war ended with the Dutch loss of power and prestige in the World. England ruled the waves alone, for a while.
Back to James II. At first, while Charles II was on the throne, James remained cool. Then he was admitted to the Roman Catholic church. Who knows why? Charles II kept his cool, but he demanded that James keep up the appearance of being an Anglican. This included going to church and rasing his daughters as Protestants. It may all seems kind of silly from our perspective, but religious behavior has always been like that. From the inside, it's dead serious. From the outside it seems childish. Actually, James, though converted to the Catholic faith, was more of an Anglican than Charles. He got along well with the Protestants and allowed his daughter to marry William of Orange in 1677. Nowadays we might call him a liberal.
This is the time of the ridiculous nonsense about the Popish Plot in which allies of James were supposedly plotting to off King Charles II. A lot of crap came down and James was finally exiled. He finally returned in 1682 after his name was cleared for all but the most rabid anti-Catholics. He became a leader of the Anglican Tories and did a great deal to reorganize the government of the counties. It seems he was a great second level bureaucrat, well liked and effective. He should have been destined to be a great king.
So, what went wrong? Well, he took the throne in 1685 after the death of his brother Charles II. So far so good. Then the Parliament, who liked him immensely voted a handsome income for him. Still good! It was not to last. There were just too many plotters in the woodwork. To start it off there were two rebellions against him by a couple of Dukes. One was by the English Duke of Monmouth. This guy was the illegitimate son of Charles II. He figured he had a right to the throne. Maybe so, but James disagreed. When Monmouth invaded and raised a small army it was easily and viciously defeated on the plain of Sedgemoor in Somerset. Monmouth ended up a head shorter.
At the same time there was another rebellious fellow, the Duke of Argyll in Scotland. It is a bit difficult to get all of these dukes straight. There are often dozens of people with the same title. The only way we can tell them apart is by date of birth or death. I know I have the right guy here because he died in 1685. He was another of those who simply lost his head. This guy, who was in support of Monmouth, invaded Scotland. The invasion went badly and he was later beheaded at Edinburgh. Such silliness!
Well, all of this crap kind of soured James and he got tough. He expanded his army and actually put some Roman Catholics in charge of some regiments. that ticked Parliament off and a snorting contest ensued. James did not dissolve them, but he discontinued the Parliament and continued on his own. However, the wicket was getting a bit sticky as they say. His old friends the Anglican Tories were upset by his appointments. James was also replacing these folks on the Privy Council. The fix was in at the Kings Bench and he got permission to excuse his Roman Catholic appointments from taking the test Oath. This oath required office holders to profess the reformed faith. It was essentially an anti-Catholic measure.
In spite of the growing opposition, James continued on his way of installing Catholics who were loyal to him and only him. He also dismissed people including the bishop of London, Henry Compton, who was an outspoken critic of James' goings on. He even dismissed a couple of his brothers-in-law and turned Magdalen College over to the Catholics. This was all a buildup to his Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 which suspended all laws against Catholics and other dissenters. He then dissolved Parliament and set about courting the Protestant dissenters. He was hoping for a more amenable Parliament.
James often seemed to be on the fence about religion. He actively supported freedom of religion, but he sometimes seemed to be strongly Roman catholic. His utterances on the issue were not clear at all. There is some speculation that James' own paranoia was pushing him over the edge of sanity. About this time, his wife Anne turned up pregnant. For the also paranoid Anglicans, this raised the specter of a Catholic successor to the throne. It was the beginning of the end for James.
There were already a bunch of the English leaders who were courting William of Orange. Then James hit a nerve when he reissued his Declaration of Indulgence in 1688. That was not bad enough. He then order it to be read in the churches. Oh boy! A bunch of church leaders petitioned him to withdraw the order. Instead he brought the leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. before the bar and sued them for libel. In a major defeat for James, they were acquitted.
At the same time, several English leaders invited William of
Orange to bring an army and invade England. King Louie XIV of
France, always the troublemaker, offered to help James. Foolishly,
James declined. He figured he could handle it. In 1688 William
having evaded the English fleet, landed at Brixham and proceeded
toward London. Then James suffered the humiliation of massive
defections by his Protestant officers. It was all over. James
lost his nerve and after some hokey foolishness he was allowed
to escape to France. On February 2, 1689 the Parliament declared
that James had abdicated. The next day William and Mary were offered
the crown. The following day, the Scots concurred. Thus began
the legend of William and Mary.
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