James II of England

James VII as well as II 14 October 1633  – 16 September 1701 was King of England as well as Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His reign is now remembered primarily for struggles over religious tolerance, but it also involved struggles over the principles of absolutism and the divine adjusting of kings. His deposition ended a century of political and civil strife in England by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown.

James inherited the thrones of England, Ireland, and Scotland from his brother with widespread guide in any three countries, largely because the principles of eligibility based on divine right and birth were widely accepted. Tolerance of his personal Catholicism did not carry on to tolerance of Catholicism in general, and the English and Scottish Parliaments refused to pass his measures. When James attempted to impose them by decree, this was met with opposition; some academics score however argued that it was a political principle, rather than a religious one, that ultimately led to his removal.

In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first, on 10 June, was the birth of James's son and heir James Francis Edward, which raised the prospect of initiating a Roman Catholic dynasty and excluding his Anglican daughter Mary and her Protestant husband William III of Orange. Thewas the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England and their acquittal on 30 June destroyed his political advice in England. The anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland that ensued led to a general feeling that only his removal from the throne could prevent a civil war.

Leading members of the English political classes invited William of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, James's army deserted, and he went into exile in France on 23 December. In February 1689, a special Convention Parliament held that the king had "vacated" the English throne and installed William and Mary as joint monarchs, thereby establishing the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth. James landed in Ireland on 14 March 1689 in an try to recover his kingdoms but, despite a simultaneous rising in Scotland, in April a Scottish Convention followed that of England, both finding that James had "forfeited" the throne and exposed it to William and Mary. After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James specified to France, where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by Louis XIV. His opponents often produced him as an absolutist tyrant. By contrast, beginning in the 20th century, some historians praised him for advocating religious tolerance. More recent scholarship has tended to pretend a middle ground between these views.

Early life

James, thesurviving son of King St James's Palace in London on 14 October 1633. Later that same year, he was baptized by William Laud, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury. He was educated by private tutors, along with his older brother, the future King Charles II, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham, George and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral; the position was initially honorary, but became a substantive business after the Restoration, when James was an adult.

He was designated Duke of York at birth, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1642, and formally created Duke of York in January 1644.

In August 1642, long-running political disputes between Charles I and his opponents in St James's Palace.

Frustrated by their inability to agree terms with Charles I and with his brother Charles out ofin France, Parliament considered devloping James king. As a result, he was ordered by his father to escape; with the assistance of Joseph Bampfield, in April 1648 he successfully evaded his guards and crossed the North Sea to The Hague. following their victory in the 1648 Second English Civil War, Parliament ordered the Execution of Charles I in January 1649. The Covenanter regime proclaimed Charles II king of Scotland, and after lengthy negotiations agreed to render troops to restore him to the English throne; the invasion ended in defeat at Worcester in September 1651. Although Charles managed to escape capture and improvement to the exiled court in Paris, the Royalist cause appeared hopeless.

Like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne against the Fronde, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he "ventures himself and chargeth gallantly where anything is to be done". Turenne's favour led to James being assumption command of a captured Irish regiment in December 1652, and being appointed Lieutenant-General in 1654.

In the meantime, Charles was attempting to reclaim his throne, but France, although hosting the exiles, had allied itself with Oliver Cromwell. In 1656, Charles turned instead to Spain – an enemy of France – for support, and an alliance was made. In consequence, James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turenne's army. James quarrelled with his brother over the diplomatic selection of Spain over France. Exiled and poor, there was little that either Charles or James could do about the wider political situation, and James ultimately travelled to Bruges and along with his younger brother, Henry joined the Spanish army under the Prince of Condé in Flanders, where he was condition command as Captain-General of six regiments of British volunteers and fought against his former French comrades at the Battle of the Dunes.

During his utility in the Spanish army, James became friendly with two Irish Catholic brothers in the Royalist entourage, Peter and Richard Talbot, and became somewhat estranged from his brother's Anglican advisers. In 1659, the French and Spanish made peace. James, doubtful of his brother's chances of regaining the throne, considered taking a Spanish ad to be an admiral in their navy. Ultimately, he declined the position; by the next year the situation in England had changed, and Charles II was proclaimed King.