Fall of James II & the Glorious Revolution

The cause of his fall was the widespread belief that he intended to impose Catholicism on England. The crisis of public religion that precipitated his fall, however, was closely bound up with the question of whether the crown or Parliament possessed ultimate authority. This fundamental constitutional issue had been left unresolved by the English Civil War, the execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649, and the subsequent restoration of his brother, Charles II, in 1660.

The remainder of this essay will examine the series of events that led to the Glorious Revolution, with particular attention to the background and character of James himself, and the factors in his conduct which undermined his authority. The central question to be examined is whether James's Catholicism or his tendency toward royal absolutism was the crucial factor in triggering the general disaffection that made possible his overthrow. It must be acknowledged at the outset that the two issues were closely bound up together in the minds o

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This broke out when James was in his middle teens, and 1648, when he was fifteen, he had to escape from England, eluding his Parliamentarian guards by being disguised as a girl. The great crisis of his early years thus came when he was just at an age to be able to form judgments as to the cause of his father's disaster, but when these judgments were likely to be relatively simple. "In the years that lay ahead he was to realize how weak and evasive his father had been and so he determined to be strong himself." Charles, a few years older, was perhaps able to reach the more subtle judgment that Charles I had brought his troubles on himself, and so learn to avoid similar trouble himself. James came to manhood in exile, and amid the struggle to regain the throne. By the age of eighteen he was serving in the field as a soldier. His role was more military and less political than his brother's, and this too may have influenced the formation of his character, leaving him sterner in his outlook and less inclined to political maneuver and compromise. What is certain is that James was steadfastly loyal to his brother. Nevertheless, throughout Charles II's reign, James's position as next in line to the throne was a constant s
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Approximate Word count = 2724
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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