All Hail King James II!!

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Today in class, we were talking about what the word power means and we came up with different ideas like control, persuasiveness, leadership e.t.c. and the teacher asked us to do some basic research on the a significant person in history that was assigned to us e.g. I was assigned to do James II and we were told to answer the following questions: Get a basic understanding of person’s life, and share what you find. Why were they important to history? How were they portrayed as powerful?
Significant dates and background information: James II was born in 1633 and died in 1701: the second son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria and was born at St. James Palace, London, in 1633. He was given the title, Duke of York and during the Civil War he escaped to the Netherlands. He succeeded his brother, Charles II, to the throne and reigned as king of Great Britain from 1685 until 1688, when he was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution. He became a Roman Catholic, probably as early as 1672. He was an able soldier and seaman, but, unfortunately for him, an inept (unsuitable or useless) politician. James married Anne Hyde, a Catholic and he later converted to Catholicism.
His Significance in History: Upon his accession to the throne he promised to protect the Church of England and maintain the political and religious status quo, but in the event he could not resist the temptation to reintroduce Roman Catholicism in England. The revocation (annulment) in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes had forced thousands of French Protestants to emigrate to England, intensifying the already vehement (fierce) anti-Catholicism which existed there. James proceeded, ill-advisedly, to enlarge the standing army and to place Catholics within it in positions of command: after doing so, he stationed it where it threatened Protestant London.
In 1687 his order to all Anglican bishops to read his declaration of indulgence (in my words it could mean gratification) from their pulpits–a declaration which, in practice, meant that Dissenters (People who disagreed) would still be persecuted while Catholicism would not only be tolerated but favoured–was met with resistance by seven of the twenty-six bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury: those who refused to read it were thrown into the Tower of London, and immediately became national heroes. Freed after trial, they further inflamed (arouse) public sentiment (emotions) against him.
In a short life—he died at 29—he followed the path taken by his father, broke the power of the greatest magnate house, the Black Douglas’s, secured a sizeable increase in royal power at home and a formidable reputation abroad.
James II Portrayed: He is portrayed as a confident young man, his hands on a dagger at his belt, with the whole of the left side of his face disfigured by a livid vermilion birthmark.
In conclusion: James’s final downfall, however, came about as the result of fears about the succession to the throne.
He had had two Protestant daughters by his first wife, and in the normal course of events the elder would have become Queen, but in 1688 his second, Roman Catholic, wife unexpectedly gave birth to a son: various powerful figures within and without the government, faced with the prospect of a tyrannical (oppressive) Catholic dynasty, treasonously invited William of Orange, the staunchly (faithful) Protestant son of the daughter of Charles I, to assume the throne: James, finding himself bereft (hurt by circumstances) of political and military support, fled, though he stopped to throw the Great Seal of England into the Thames.
He was captured by some fishermen, however, before he could cross the Channel, and was brought back, ignominiously (disgracefully), to London, but William, having no wish to make him a martyr (victim) or a centre for Catholic resistance, contrived to let him escape again. It was announced that he had abdicated (given up), and the throne was officially declared vacant, though it was of course immediately occupied by William and Mary. The unhappy James lived out his life in exile at the court of Louis XIV.
Now you have you have gone back in time and have seen how highly controversial James II was. But even today people still think greatly of him do you think greatly of him? Share your thoughts and I will be happy to hear it.






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