After parliament called for the removal ofJames II/VII,co-rulers William III/II Prince of Orange from the Dutch Republic and Mary II, James’ oldest daughter ascended the throne. The pairwere considered to bejoint sovereigns and their period of reign is often referred to as William and Mary, though it is generally agreed that William was the dominant force. He continued to rule alone after Mary’s death before being succeeded by her sisterAnnein 1702.
Quick Facts: William III/II
Born: 4thNovember,1650, The Hague, Dutch Republic
Died: 8thMarch 1702 (aged 51), Kensington Palace, England
Reign: 1689- 6thMarch 1702
Parents: Mary, Princess Royal and William II Prince of Orange
Predecessor:James II/VII (father in law)
Successor:Anne (sister in law)
Spouse: Mary II (co-ruler)
Children: none
Royal House:Stuart, through marriage to Mary.
Image: Statue of William
Quick Facts: Mary II
Born: 30thApril 1662, St James’ Palace, London
Died: 28thDecember 1694, Kensington Palace, London
Reign: 1689 – 28thDecember 1694
Parents:James II/VIIand Anne Hyde
Predecessor:James II/VII (father)
Successor:Anne (sister)
Spouse: William III/II (co-ruler)
Children: none
Royal House:Stuart
Image: Mary II
After declaring that James II/VII had abdicated, Parliament in England issued a Bill of Rights which gave them power over the crown. One of the laws implemented by the Bill determined that no Roman Catholic could sit on the throne and no English monarch can marry a Roman Catholic. The Bill also laid out an acceptable line of succession, which included James II/VII’s two daughters, their offspring and if there is no issue from either, the heirs of his sister Sophia,Electressof Hanover.
Who were William and Mary?
On their coronation, William became William III of England and Ireland and II of Scotland and Mary, Mary II of England,Irelandand Scotland. The pair were cousins as well as spouses and were related through the Stuart line of British monarchs.
William, who was also widely known as William of Orange was the sovereign prince of Orange from birth, the Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders andOverjisselinthe Dutch Republic, titles he also held until his death. In Scotland andIrelandhe is also informally known as King Billy, in fact, he left a long legacy of support in Ireland, particularly among the Unionists, who continue to commemorate his victory against James at the Battle of the Boyne by displaying the colour orange.
Mary, in contrast, was viewed less sympathetically than her husband because to some, she sacrificed her father to further her husband. By all accounts, Mary was a pious and loyal person who was deeply hurt by aspersions about her relationship with her father, though did have a fractious relationship with her sister Anne, particularly after ascending to the throne.
Mary’s childhood
Mary is the oldest surviving child of James II/VII, who at the time was the Duke of York, and Anne Hyde, his first wife.
At the time of her birth at St James’ Palace, London, her uncle was king following the restoration of the English monarchy. Her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde was the first Earl of Clarendon and the Chief Advisor to King Charles II, leaving her to be constantly surrounded by powerful men.
It is said that Mary was named for her ancestor, Mary Queen of Scots, her great-great-great grandmother. Unlike her namesake, this Mary Stuart was baptised in the Anglican faith, despite her parents both converting to Catholicism. Though Anne Hyde would go on to have eight children with James, only two would survive childhood,Maryand her younger sister Anne, both of whom, under the orders of her uncle, the King, were raised as protestants.
As her uncle, the king, had no legitimate children, Mary was the second in line to the throne and had to denounce Catholicismin order toassuage the government,who were wary of a potential catholic dynasty in charge of the country. After her father’s conversion, Mary and her sister Anne were moved to Richmond Palace under the care of a governess who would tutor them in music, dance, drawing,Frenchand religious studies. James was known to be fairly interested in his daughter’s lives and Mary and Anne would regularly visit their parents at St James’ Palace and were known to play with theirfather in particular. It is believed that this changed after their mother died in 1671, two years later, James married his second wife, the catholic princess Mary of Modena, who was just four years older than Mary Stuart.
Though many of Mary’s personal writings have been lost to time, her letters and diary survive, revealing that from the age of nine until her marriage to William, Mary was known to send passionate letters to the daughter of one of her uncle’s courtiers, perhaps indicating that she may have been hom*osexual or bisexual. It is certainly true that she initially married William against her will. The marriage was organised by her uncleas a way toimprove the popularity of her father among protestant citizens. Charles II insisted on the match between Mary and her cousin, William of Orange, the son of his older sister. William, being a Stuart on his mother’s side was fourth in line to the English throne and being a protestant, would ensure that James’ reign could not produce a catholic dynasty. James initially refused the match, but eventually agreed. It is said that Mary cried all afternoon after being told of the betrothal.
William’s childhood
William was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic and was the only son of William II Prince of Orange and Mary, Princess Royal, the sister of Charles II and James II/VII.Eight days before his birth, his father died ofsmall pox, automatically making him the sovereign Prince of Orange. His father’s willwasunsigned at the time of his death and so a government ruled on how William was to be raised. A court order dictated that his guardianship would be shared between his mother, paternal grandmother and the Elector of Brandenburg, a paternal uncle. Despite initially clashing with her mother-in-law, the Princess Royal showed little interest in her son and Dutch society as a hole.
In fact, she was often absent for years at a time and passed away when he was ten while visiting the court of Charles II. The Princess Royal contractedsmall pox, the same illness that had killed her husband, while in England and died at Whitehall Palace, her final words were to request that Charles look after William’s interests.
Unlike Mary, William received an extensive education, spending seven years at the University of Leiden, with his paternal uncles pushing for the state to take control of his education in the hope that he would be properly trained for life as a ruler. Charles, as his sister wished, steppedinand demanded that the state end their interference. The government complied, resulting in William’s continued guardianship and education to become a point of contention, eventually, he was made a Ward of the State.
At birth, William not only inherited the title of Prince of Orange but was also in line to take his father’s place as Stadtholder.However, OliverCromwell, who had emerged as the leader of the English Commonwealth following the execution of William’s grandfather Charles I, demanded that no member of the House of Orange could take the position as a condition of ending the first Anglo-Dutch War. After the restoration of the English Monarchy and the collapse of the Commonwealth, the conditions of the treaty were declared void, but it wasn’t a smooth path to the office of Stadtholder. William repeatedly asked his uncle Charles to intervene in exchange for an alliance, but Charles declined, preferring to ally himself with the French.
William finallybecame Stadtholder in 1672 following a political crisis and managed to maintain the position despite being implicated in the murder of several opponents in the Hague.Orangistsacting on his behalf carried out the murders and William repeatedly thwarted attempts to persecute the ringleaders, even rewarding some of them.
William and Mary married
While Mary was distressed at the idea of marrying her cousin, William was keen on the match, believing that he could use it to move up the line of succession and have a better claim on Charles’ kingdoms. Such a position would be strategically beneficial for him in his ongoing conflict with the French. For Charles, and eventually his brother James, the union was to assuage anti catholic feeling in the country and to guarantee protestants in the line of succession.
The pair married in St James’ Palace on 4thNovember 1677. There was aneleven yearage gap between the pair and Mary was reported to have cried throughout the ceremony.Following the exchanging of vows, a Bedding Ceremony took place to publicly establish proof of consummation. Mary’s family, including her father and uncle were present and Charles himself drew the bed curtains. Once the marriage was official, the pair travelled to the Hague where they lived until the Glorious Revolution which called them back to England.
Mary seemed to get over her original aversion to her new husband and was said to have been devoted to him. She was incredibly popular with the Dutch people who liked her animated and personable nature. The marriage also elevated her popularity among the English and helped with her father’s reputation. William too came to heavily rely on Mary throughout their marriage and was only known to have one mistress in comparison to other men of his position and indeed his uncles, who openly kept several mistresses.
Shortly after their marriage, Mary became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage. After a further illness the following year, which could have been another miscarriage, she never conceived again, something that caused her a great deal of personal sadness.
In 1684, after the pair were well established as members of the Dutch nobility, Mary’s cousin, the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s oldest son moved to the Netherlands, living with William and Mary until he embarked on hisshort livedrebellion against James. For many, he was a viable protestant alternative to James, though would be executed shortly after capture.
Glorious Revolution
Charles II died without legitimate children, leaving James to ascend him as James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland. Records show that Mary was apparently playing cards when she heard that her father hadbeen crowned and that she was the new heir presumptive.
James’ reign was beset with religious issues, mainly because of his controversial religious policies and conflicts with parliament. The government began to seriously consider replacing him as monarch after his second wife, Mary of Modena gave birth to a son, who overtook Mary in the line of succession and realised their fears of a new catholic royal dynasty. Parliament and prominent nobles began negotiating with William to depose James and, leaving Mary in the Netherlands, William summoned an army and invaded England. Initially, James believed he had enough support to defeat his nephew and son in law, however, the English army and Royal Navy both switched sides, supporting William instead. James was captured, but William, not wanting to make him a martyr let him escape to France.
James did return to the British Isles to reclaim the throne with the support of the Irish, however, William journeyed to personally meet with him at the Battle of the Boyne, rather than engage, James returned to France leaving William to take control.
William summoned a convention parliament to discuss the future of the three kingdoms. Parliament had already been split into two parties during James’ and Charles’ reigns and thetwo factions argued for a different monarch. Some believed that Mary, as the rightful heir, should be monarch, while others argued that a man could not be subject to his wife, it is said that Mary personally did not want to be queen regent and stated that she was happy to defer to William. In the end, the pair were named co-rulers.
Historians have said that there is some evidence to suggest that Mary was upset surrounding the circ*mstances of her father’s removal from the throne but was loyal to William and believed that her husband’s actions were necessary to save the state. On returning to England, she wrote that she was joyful but that she found much had changed because of her father’s misfortunes. Peers at the time, particularlyJacobites, regarded her as being disloyal to her father and branded her as cold and unfeeling, something that is said to have upset her deeply.
Reign
The Convention Parliament claimed that as James had fled, he had effectively abdicated, leaving the throne vacant. The Bill of Rights that was issued after securing the agreement of William and Mary to rule made them joint sovereigns, something only done once before for Mary I and her husband, Prince Philip of Spain. In that instance, Philip could only use the title of King during Mary I’slife time, but in the new bill, as co-ruler, William could retain the title and rule as a sole monarch on the event of Mary’s death. The pair had a joint coronation, firstlyin England, by one of the bishops arrested by James II/VII, and then in Scotland. The Bill of Rights also spelled out the succession, granting parliament power over the monarchy, William and Mary would work with and against parliament at various times over the course of their reign.
After the Exclusion Crisis during Charles’ reign, England had become atwo partystate, with both the Whigs and the Tories emerging as parliamentary factions. William would swap his support from one to the other, depending on the current policy. Elections in 1690 saw the Tories have the majority, but William later ordered a GeneralElectionand the next parliamentary session was dominated by Whigs. He would routinely agree and disagree, regardless of which had the majority.
William and Mary had continuing issues with Jacobite rebels and the French, who theywereengaged in a lengthy war with. A treaty between England and France was finally signed in 1697, when King Louis XIV recognised Mary and William as rulers and ended his assistance to James and support for theJacobites. Further treaties between the pair would divide up the Spanish empire to avoid another war, however, on his deathbed, the King of Spain bequeathed his land to Louis’ grandson, causing the French to ignore their side of the treaty and Louis restarted his support of James and his descendants. Because of hison goingconflicts on the continent, William was frequently absent from England from around 1690 onwards. While he was away, Mary administered the government with the advice of nine councillors, proving to be a strong and effective leader, despite not wanting power herself. She even had her own uncle arrested for his part in a Jacobite scheme and one of her leading advisors, John Churchill, which further alienated her from her sister, Anne. John Churchill’s wife Sarah was part of Anne’s household and was a close friend, Anne petitioned on behalf of the Churchills only to have Mary demand that shevacateher lodgingsimmediately and cease Sarah’s employment. Prior to this, the sisters had argued about money and would have a fractious relationship for the rest of Mary’s life.
In 1692, Mary became ill and did not attend church for the first time in 12 years. Around the same time, Anne gave birth, but lost the baby. The sisters met up after they had recovered, but just argued over Sarah Churchill again. It was the last time they spoke.
Considering Mary was tall and fit and regularly went walking between her palaces at Whitehall and Kensington, it was a surprise to everyone that she died so young.It was believed that she would outlive William who was plagued with ill health, however she caught smallpox and dismissed everyone in her household to avoid an outbreak. Anne did write to her requesting a meeting, but Mary’s Groom of the Stool declined the letter. Mary appeared to get better, but her condition then deteriorated and and she died at the age of 32 on 28thDecember leaving William to rule alone. It is believed that he deeply mourned his wife’s death.
He had grown to rely on Mary and was devastated by her passing, joining the country in mourning. After her death, his own popularity waned, but he continued as king until his own death in 1702. Mary was laid in state at Banqueting House in Whitehall and was buried at Westminster Abbey, herfuneralwas the first to be attended by members of both Houses of Parliament.
It wasn’t just the Spanish succession that caused William concern, especially after the death of Mary. Their marriage had not produced any children and he did not seem likely to remarry. Mary’s sister Anne had borne numerous children, all of whom had died in childhood, leaving her as the only person in the line of succession before it passed to SophiaElectressof Hanover, who was a daughter of Charles I. William died of pneumonia following complications from breaking his collar bone in 1702. The injury occurred when falling from a horse that he had confiscated from a Jacobite rebel, something the remainingJacobitescelebrated. He was buried alongside his wife.
Their legacy
William and Mary left a lasting impression on the kingdoms. William undoubtedly was a huge influence on the Unionists in Ireland and was the only member of the House of Orange to reign over England. Throughout his life, William appeared to be concerned with opposing Louis of France’s plans for European expansion and claiming his uncle’s lands in the British Isles, however collective, William and Mary’s reign ended years of conflict between crown and parliament and the establishment of the Bill of Rights which would shape the modern monarchy.
Mary is often remembered unfairly having been depicted as an unfaithful daughter who destroyed her father for her own gain. Others say she was under the spell of her husband despite proving to be a confident and capable ruler.Howeveryou view her, her memory lives on with her influence over the royal gardens, particularly at Hampton Court, the founding of hospitals and the keeping of goldfish. She is also credited with popularising owning blue and white porcelain.
William was succeeded by hissister in law, Anne.
Places to visit
Hampton Court Palace, London
The iron screen in the garden was designed for Mary and her husband, William. The annual Tulip Festival is set up so that the flowers are displayed as they would have been during their reign. The tulip was introduced to Britain during the reign.
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
Hyde Park, London
Hyde park became the first artificially lit highway in the country when William had 300 oil lamps installed here to make it easier for him to walk between Kensinton and St James' Palaces. The route later became known as Rotten Row.
Kensington Palace, London
William's preferred royal residence.
Kimpton Fitzroy, London
A statue of Mary, along with other queens, Elizabeth I, Anne and Victoria cna be found here.
Queen Mary Steps, London
These steps were named for Mary.
Westminster Abbey
William had his coronation here at the same time as Mary. He sat in the Coronation Chair, while Mary had another chair specificially made for the event.
