Glorious Revolution

In 1688 the English Parliament invited William of Orange to invade, deposing James II and establishing constitutional monarchy.

Overview

James II open Catholicism, promotion of absolutist methods, and the birth of a male heir in 1688 alarmed Protestant elites who feared a Catholic dynasty. Seven leading politicians secretly invited the Dutch stadtholder William, husband of the king Protestant daughter Mary. William landed in November 1688 with a large army; the royal army disintegrated, generals defected, and James fled to France. Parliament declared the throne vacant and crowned William and Mary jointly, binding them to the 1689 Bill of Rights with regular parliaments, free elections, and no taxation or standing army without consent. The settlement ended divine-right monarchy in England, inspired the political philosophy of John Locke, and furnished arguments for the American revolutionaries a century later.