James II of England and Ireland, and James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was the last Catholic monarch of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, ruling from 1685 until his deposition in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The second surviving son of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, James was the younger brother of Charles II of England, whom he succeeded in 1685.
His attempts to promote Catholic toleration and expand royal authority alarmed many of his Protestant subjects. The birth of a Catholic male heir in 1688 triggered a political crisis, leading to an invitation to William III of Orange to intervene. James fled to France, where he lived under the protection of Louis XIV of France. Although deposed, he and his descendants continued to claim the throne as the leaders of the Jacobite cause. He died in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1701.
Biography[]
Early life[]
King Charles and the Duke of York
James Stuart was born in London, England in 1633, the second surviving son of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France. At the age of three, he was appointed Lord High Admiral, and he was formally created Duke of York in January 1644. He accompanied his father at the Battle of Edgehill during the English Civil War, and, in 1642, he became colonel of a royalist volunteer regiment at Oxford. In 1648, disguised as a woman, he escaped from Oxford and crossed the North Sea to The Hague, and he sought refuge in France with his brother, who was crowned "Charles II of England" after King Charles I was executed in 1649. James served in the French Royal Army under Turenne during the Fronde and the Franco-Spanish War, but he was expelled from France in 1656 after allying with Spain due to France's alliance with Oliver Cromwell. He became Captain-General of six regiments of British volunteers in the service of Spain, fighting against his former French comrades at the Battle of the Dunes.
Restoration[]
The Duke of York in battle armor
In 1659, James considered becoming an Admiral in the Spanish Navy, but the Stuart monarchy was restored in 1660 in the person of Charles II, and James became the heir presumptive to the throne. James was confirmed as Lord High Admiral, Governor of Portsmouth, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Governor of the Royal African Company, and he served as a Royal Navy admiral during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. In 1664, King Charles granted American territory between Connecticut and Delaware to James, and the captured Dutch province of New Netherland was renamed to New York to honor James; the provincial capital of New Amsterdam was renamed to New York City. In 1668, James secretly converted to Catholicism, but he continued to attend Anglican services until 1676. In 1673, King Charles passed the anti-Catholic Test Act, leading to James refusing to denounce Catholicism and therefore making his conversion public. In 1677, to calm fears of a Catholic takeover in England, James agreed to the marriage of his daughter Mary to William of Orange, the Protestant ruler of Holland. He was also forced to withdraw from all policy-making bodies in order to ensure that the controversial Exclusion Act did not remove him from the succession to the throne. In 1680, he became Lord High Commissioner of Scotland. James' fall from grace ended in 1683, when a plot was uncovered to assassinate Charles and James and spark a republican revolution. Charles and James became ever more popular, and James was invited back onto the Privy Council in 1684.
King of England, Scotland, and Ireland[]
James in 1685
In 1685, King Charles died of apoplexy, having converted to Catholicism on his deathbed. Having no legitimate children, Charles was succeeded by James, and he was crowned on 23 April 1685. That same year, Charles' illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, led a Protestant rebellion in the West Country, but he was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor and executed for treason. He also crushed the Earl of Argyll's uprising in Scotland, and Argyll was also executed. James responded to these uprisings by expanding the size of the standing army, which shocked the public; it was against the English tradition to keep a professional army in peacetime. He also circumvented the Test Act by allowing for Catholics to hold regimental commands, and he allowed for Catholics to hold the highest offices of his kingdom. In 1687, he issued a declaration promising religious freedom to Catholics and dissenting Protestants, and he granted partial relief to Presbyterians in Scotland.
Glorious Revolution[]
A statue of King James II in Trafalgar Square
In 1688, James' son James Francis Edward Stuart was born. The birth of a male Catholic heir to the throne caused uproar in England, as it was now possible for a Catholic dynasty to rule over the kingdom. On 30 June 1688, seven Protestant nobles invited the Prince of Orange to come to England with an army, and James rejected French assistance in resisting the invasion, as he believed that using French troops against Englishmen would only serve to weaken his position even further. Despite his army's numerical superiority, James refused to attack the invaders, and he instead fled to France on 23 December 1688. King Louis XIV of France offered James a palace and a pension, and William and Mary became the Protestant co-rulers of England after James' abdication.
Later years[]
James fleeing after the Battle of the Boyne
In March 1689, James landed in Ireland with the assistance of French troops, and the Irish Parliament rallied to his cause. The Parliament granted religious freedom to all Catholics and Protestants on the island, and James worked to build an army. However, he was defeated by William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690, and James was forced to flee to France from Kinsale. He was allowed to live in the royal chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and he declined the crown of Poland-Lithuania in 1696, fearing that accepting the crown would mean that he could not return to ruling England. He died age 67 of a brain hemorrhage in 1701.
Legacy[]
James II’s reign was short but transformative. His attempts to impose religious toleration by royal decree and his reliance on Catholic allies provoked a revolution that permanently shifted power to Parliament. His deposition marked the beginning of a Protestant succession and constitutional monarchy.
His supporters, the Jacobites, continued to press his descendants’ claims, launching several uprisings in the 18th century. James himself was buried in the Chapel of Saint Edmund at the Church of the English Benedictines in Paris.
Gallery[]
| Monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Charles II of England |
1685–1688 | Succeeded by: William III and Mary II |
| Pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Himself (as deposed monarch) |
1689–1701 | Succeeded by: James Francis Edward Stuart |