Okla-homey
2/13/2006, 07:49 AM
February 13, 1689 William and Mary proclaimed joint sovereigns of Britain
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/2992/wiking20william20iii2020mary20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Royal Arms of William and Mary -- the three lions are for England, the single red lion is for Scotland, and the harp is for Ireland, the "fleur-de-lis" are for France.
Following Britain's bloodless Glorious Revolution, Mary, the daughter of the deposed king, and the Dutch princeWilliam of Orange, her husband, are proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain under Britain's new Bill of Rights.
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/980/williammary16874ye.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King William of Orange and Queen Mary
William, a Dutch prince, married Mary, who was the Protestant daughter of the future King James II by his first wife, in 1677. After James' succession to the English throne in 1685, his Dutch Protestant son-in-law William kept in close contact with the opposition to the Catholic king. The opposition was mostly concerned that James II would have son, which would lead to a monarchical dynasty of British Catholic kings.
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2532/wrenback7gv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Yep, they are the same William and Mary for whom the College of William and Mary founded in 1693 during their reign, in Williamsburg VA are named. W&M is the second oldest college in America.
You see, ever since King Henry VIII had in 1529 declared himself head of the English Church and thus separated the English Church from the Church of Rome in order to divorce his long-suffering first wife Catherine and marry the court hussy Anne Boleyn, there had been fears a Catholic monarch might someday regain the English throne -- thus spoiling Anglican (aka "Episcopal") dominance of religious matters in Great Britian.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3254/wijamesii6nh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King James II, a Catholic, given the boot by the English in favor of Protestants William and Mary
James II attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by dismissing judges and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the withdrawal of laws penalising religious dissidents, appointing Catholics to important academic posts, and to senior military and political positions. Within three years, the majority of James's subjects had been alienated.
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/6122/wijamesiii14co.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
James III
After the birth of James III, an heir to James II in 1688, seven high-ranking Protestant members of Parliament invited William and Mary to England. William landed at Torbay in Devonshire with an army of 15,000 men and advanced to London, meeting no opposition from James' army, which had deserted the king because of his appointments of Catholics to positions of leadership in the army and navy.
James II and his family himself were allowed to escape to France, and in February 1689 Parliament offered the crown jointly to William and Mary, provided they accept the Bill of Rights.
Interestingly, this same James II, from the House of Stuart was the grandfather of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) AKA "Bonnie Prince Charlie" who would leave France to lead the failed "Jacobite Rebellion" ("Jacob" is Latin for "James") for Scottish independence from England in 1745. Charlie sought the Scottish throne, thus restoring a Catholic Stuart to the family's "rightful" place as the royal family of Scotland. As stated, Charlie failed and died in exile in Rome in 1788.
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/6735/wibpcharlie4tv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
The 1689 English Bill of Rights, which greatly limited royal power and broadened constitutional law, granted Parliament control of finances and the army and prescribed the future line of royal succession, declaring that no Roman Catholic would ever be sovereign of England.
The document also stated that Englishmen possessed certain inviolable civil and political rights, a political concept that was a major influence in the composition of the U.S. Bill of Rights, composed almost exactly a century later.
The 1689 English Bill of Rights states the following:
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
The Glorious Revolution, the ascension of William and Mary, and the acceptance of the Bill of Rights were decisive victories for Parliament in its long struggle against the absolute power of the British crown.
BTW, the first Stuart king to mount the English throne and rule Scotland as well was on 24 March 1603 when James VI (James I of England) achieved his lifelong ambition upon Queen Elizabeth I's death when and he inherited the throne of England. This James was a Protestant however and his principle legacy to the world is the first popular English translation of the Bible, still called the King James Bible published in 1611.
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4888/wijames61englandb9je.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King James VI of Scotland/James I of England
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/3663/insane7zo6jq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/2992/wiking20william20iii2020mary20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Royal Arms of William and Mary -- the three lions are for England, the single red lion is for Scotland, and the harp is for Ireland, the "fleur-de-lis" are for France.
Following Britain's bloodless Glorious Revolution, Mary, the daughter of the deposed king, and the Dutch princeWilliam of Orange, her husband, are proclaimed joint sovereigns of Great Britain under Britain's new Bill of Rights.
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/980/williammary16874ye.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King William of Orange and Queen Mary
William, a Dutch prince, married Mary, who was the Protestant daughter of the future King James II by his first wife, in 1677. After James' succession to the English throne in 1685, his Dutch Protestant son-in-law William kept in close contact with the opposition to the Catholic king. The opposition was mostly concerned that James II would have son, which would lead to a monarchical dynasty of British Catholic kings.
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2532/wrenback7gv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Yep, they are the same William and Mary for whom the College of William and Mary founded in 1693 during their reign, in Williamsburg VA are named. W&M is the second oldest college in America.
You see, ever since King Henry VIII had in 1529 declared himself head of the English Church and thus separated the English Church from the Church of Rome in order to divorce his long-suffering first wife Catherine and marry the court hussy Anne Boleyn, there had been fears a Catholic monarch might someday regain the English throne -- thus spoiling Anglican (aka "Episcopal") dominance of religious matters in Great Britian.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3254/wijamesii6nh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King James II, a Catholic, given the boot by the English in favor of Protestants William and Mary
James II attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by dismissing judges and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the withdrawal of laws penalising religious dissidents, appointing Catholics to important academic posts, and to senior military and political positions. Within three years, the majority of James's subjects had been alienated.
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/6122/wijamesiii14co.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
James III
After the birth of James III, an heir to James II in 1688, seven high-ranking Protestant members of Parliament invited William and Mary to England. William landed at Torbay in Devonshire with an army of 15,000 men and advanced to London, meeting no opposition from James' army, which had deserted the king because of his appointments of Catholics to positions of leadership in the army and navy.
James II and his family himself were allowed to escape to France, and in February 1689 Parliament offered the crown jointly to William and Mary, provided they accept the Bill of Rights.
Interestingly, this same James II, from the House of Stuart was the grandfather of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) AKA "Bonnie Prince Charlie" who would leave France to lead the failed "Jacobite Rebellion" ("Jacob" is Latin for "James") for Scottish independence from England in 1745. Charlie sought the Scottish throne, thus restoring a Catholic Stuart to the family's "rightful" place as the royal family of Scotland. As stated, Charlie failed and died in exile in Rome in 1788.
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/6735/wibpcharlie4tv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
The 1689 English Bill of Rights, which greatly limited royal power and broadened constitutional law, granted Parliament control of finances and the army and prescribed the future line of royal succession, declaring that no Roman Catholic would ever be sovereign of England.
The document also stated that Englishmen possessed certain inviolable civil and political rights, a political concept that was a major influence in the composition of the U.S. Bill of Rights, composed almost exactly a century later.
The 1689 English Bill of Rights states the following:
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
The Glorious Revolution, the ascension of William and Mary, and the acceptance of the Bill of Rights were decisive victories for Parliament in its long struggle against the absolute power of the British crown.
BTW, the first Stuart king to mount the English throne and rule Scotland as well was on 24 March 1603 when James VI (James I of England) achieved his lifelong ambition upon Queen Elizabeth I's death when and he inherited the throne of England. This James was a Protestant however and his principle legacy to the world is the first popular English translation of the Bible, still called the King James Bible published in 1611.
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4888/wijames61englandb9je.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
King James VI of Scotland/James I of England
http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/3663/insane7zo6jq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)