Stuart Britain Points Test 8 - The Glorious Revolution and the Reign of William and Mary

Question 1

On 4th April 1687, what policy did James II announce in a bid to gain support from dissenters, to no avail?

Answer 1

Declaration of indulgence which suspended all penal laws, Test and Corporations Acts.

Question 2

What two events cemented protestant alliance of Anglicans and dissenters against James?

Answer 2

2nd Declaration of Indulgence Act 27th April 1688, and Trial/Acquittal of 7 bishops on 30th June.

Question 3

Name the immortal 7, that wrote to William of Orange, pledging support if he brought a force against James to England.

Answer 3

Edward Russell, Henry Sidney, Lord Lumley, Bishop Compton, Earls of Shrewsbury, Devonshire and Danby.

Question 4

Give four reasons why William was unable to form effective anti-French coalition prior to 1688?

Answer 4

Opposition within Netherlands from republicans
Spain weak
Hapsburgs preoccupied with Turkish Threat
Charles II/James II sympathetic to and related to Louis XIV

Question 5

What alliance did William form with German states, against France?

Answer 5

League of Augsburg.

Question 6

What event freed William up to launch an invasion of England?

Answer 6

French invasion of Palatine.

Question 7

James’ forces at Salisbury greatly outnumbered those of William-why were they never used?

Answer 7

James suffered panic attack/crisis of confidence and fled to London, ordered retreat.

Question 8

When did James successfully escape (having failed on 11th December) to France?

Answer 8

22nd December.

Question 9

What undermined the ability of the loyalist Tories to ensure James retained the throne?

Answer 9

James’ flight to France-William now only guarantor of public order.

Question 10

What did Sancroft, 5 bishops and 400 other clergy refuse to do after William’s arrival?

Answer 10

Swear oath of loyalty to William/Mary.

Question 11

When did Parliament offer William and Mary the throne?

Answer 11

6th February.

Question 12

How did Tories at this point recognise William and James?

Answer 12

William de facto monarch, James de Jure Monarch.

Question 13

What did the convention create, which was not legally binding on William and Mary but which was designed to restrict monarchical power?

Answer 13

Declaration of Rights/Bill of Rights.

Question 14

What Type of Protestantism was William III, making him closer to the dissenter than the Anglican position?

Answer 14

Calvinist.

Question 15

Who introduced the Comprehension Bill and Toleration Bill to the House of Lords in February/March 1689, the leading lay exponent of hoping to strengthen the Anglican Church and incorporate dissenters into it?

Answer 15

Nottingham.

Question 16

What group had again seized power in Scotland at the Glorious Revolution, which made the willingness of Anglicans to grant dissenters more toleration even less likely?

Answer 16

Presbyterians.

Question 17

With the Toleration Bill of 1689, who was now allowed to worship openly?

Answer 17

All protestants who took oath of supremacy and who made declaration against transubstantiation.

Question 18

How had dissenting services to be conducted according to the Toleration Bill?

Answer 18

With doors of meeting houses open.

Question 19

Where was Anglican anger at even this mild toleration of dissenters in the Toleration Bill greatest?

Answer 19

In localities, amongst local gentry/clergy.

Question 20

With what measure did Whigs try to punish Tories who had been involved in the Stuart undermining of corporation/borough franchises and charters? It was named after a Whig, and was defeated by 10 votes on 10th January 1690.

Answer 20

Sacheverell clause.

Question 21

At what battle did William have to fight to finally defeat James?

Answer 21

The Boyne.

Question 22

Whose death initiated the War of the Spanish Succession by 1689?

Answer 22

Charles II of Spain.

Question 23

Name the two other contenders for the Spanish Throne, apart from Louis’ son the Dauphin.

Answer 23

Emperor Leopold and Joseph Ferdinand, Elector of Bavaria.

Question 24

What was signed in May 1689 against Louis XIV’s European ambitions?

Answer 24

The Grand Alliance.

Question 25

Name 5 of the countries/powers that formed the Grand Alliance.

Answer 25

England, Netherlands, Savoy, Spain, many German States.

Question 26

What was the name of the Irish Catholic parliament that temporarily restored Catholic dominance and Irish parliamentary independence from England in 1689?

Answer 26

The Patriot Parliament.

Question 27

What was the treaty which ended the Irish war in 1691, later revoked with the Penal laws and harsh treatment of Catholics?

Answer 27

Treaty of Limerick.

Question 28

At what naval battle in May 1692 was the French fleet defeated, preventing a French invasion of England, while James II watched on?

Answer 28

Battle of Bay of La Hogue.

Question 29

What was the most decisive naval decision taken by William III in the war from 1694-1696, one which divided the French fleet in half for two years by preventing forces in Toulon (the south) joining up with the navy of the north in Brest?

Answer 29

Basing English fleet in Mediterranean.

Question 30

What was William’s only major land success from 1691-1695?

Answer 30

Recapture of Namur.

Question 31

Why was the anti-Louis alliance religiously and dynastically weak, in terms of the loyalty William got from allies (e.g. Leopold the Holy Roman Emperor)?

Answer 31

Catholic powers allied with protestant northern states, against ‘True’ Catholic English king-Leopold even had secret negotiations with Louis about succession of James III.

Question 32

When was the treaty of Ryswick finally concluded?

Answer 32

September 1697.

Question 33

What did Louis recognise in the Treaty of Ryswick?

Answer 33

William as king (promising not to aid enemies).

Question 34

Why was the Treaty of Ryswick fundamentally flawed, in terms of ensuring that war would not break out again?

Answer 34

Ignored initial cause of war, the Spanish succession.

Question 35

When did William’s first parliament meet (not the convention).

Answer 35

May 1690.

Question 36

In first 2 parliamentary sessions of William’s 1st Parliament, how much was demanded (and nearly received) in grant money for the war, a huge sum?

Answer 36

4.6 million.

Question 37

Why were so many people willing to pay such funds for war against Louis in William’s First Parliament?

Answer 37

Threat of James/Louis’ support for him/Ireland…

Question 38

How did parliament’s passage in December 1690 of an act, creating a commission of public accounts, limit the crown’s financial and political independence, altering the constitutional balance in their favour?

Answer 38

By ensuring that parliament chose commissioners to examine state of public finances, giving critics of royal policy an institutional focus to undermine powers of crown.

Question 39

What did commissioners use findings of November 1691 (condemning of government waste) to recommend to a select committee?

Answer 39

Cuts in 1692 official army and navy estimates.

Question 40

What practice was now all but forced upon royal officials, which undermined independence of crown, in terms of royal spending of taxation?

Answer 40

They would be regularly forced by commission/select committees of commons to account for way public money was spent.

Question 41

What further power from 16901-1691 did parliament have in terms of how they allocated financial grants, which prevented king or officials to side-track war money for any other purpose?

Answer 41

Able to appropriate/allocate money for specifically named purposes.

Question 42

In 3rd session of William’s first parliament, what two things did MPs of the ‘country’ persuasion seek to get rid of, in terms of kingly powers? Give two points.

Answer 42

Crown’s ability to determine outcome of treason trials.

Crown’s ability to remove judges at will.

Question 43

What two things did William do to oppose Treason Trial Bill and other measure?

Answer 43

Used Lords to block it.

Use royal veto to kill bill interfering with his ability to remove judges.

Question 44

Despite the impressive support the landed gentry was giving the war effort in 1692 (e.g. accepting 20% rent income tax), what policy did they want for the way in which the war was fought, rather than the land-based and Flanders-focussed approach?

Answer 44

Naval blue water policy.

Question 45

Which particularly flexible politician became powerful due to William’s frustrations with parliamentary behaviour, and the inability of Danby/Nottingham to squeeze more financial help from parliament without more royal concessions by 1693?

Answer 45

Earl of Sunderland.

Question 46

What two previously vetoed/blocked bills passed the house in 1693-1694, showing William’s need to surrender concessions to parliament in return for political/financial support?

Answer 46

Treason Trial Bill and Triennial Act.

Question 47

Which group now took charge in 1693 and helped initiate the financial revolution of 1693-1694?

Answer 47

The Junto Whigs.

Question 48

Which two measures did they achieve in this regard?

National debt, started by Million Loan act of 1693 which created National Debt.

Answer 48

Bank of England in April 1694 (created by a tonnage act).

Question 49

Instead of royal promises to repay loans, what were loans now underwritten by, which made parliament of vital importance to the governance of the realm and severely restricted power of crown, even to this day?

Answer 49

Parliamentary guarantee to repay loans.

Question 50

Why did this financial revolution make England so rich and powerful?

Answer 50

Enabled crown to borrow far more money and thus enabled England to become a major European Superpower.

Question 51

What quickly resulted in the electoral and political downfall of the Junto Whigs, as it made them far less useful and politically expedient for William to support?

Answer 51

The end of war in Europe in 1697.

Question 52

What three particular things, according to Coward, limited power of Junto Whigs? Give three points.

Answer 52

William’s own power/suspicion of Junto Whigs.
Position of Earl of Sunderland.
Lack of popular/local political support, increasingly amongst other Whigs.

Question 53

In Spring of 1696 what act was set up as a direct competitor to the Bank of England, which sought to raise 2.5 million by appealing directly to the landed interest? It failed abysmally, leading William to keep faith with Junto Whigs to secure funding for the war.

Answer 53

Act setting up Land Bank scheme.

Question 54

When a plot to assassinate William was uncovered in 1696, what was imposed which weakened the Tory position by forcing many of them to resign?

Answer 54

Oath of loyalty to William as ‘rightful and lawful king’, de jure as well as de facto monarch.

Question 55

What was the name of the negotiations which William had with Louis from 1697-1700 in a bid to avert a future war, which when published roused a storm of political opposition?

Answer 55

The Partition treaties.

Question 56

On December 10th 1697, what did the Commons pass a resolution on to reduce the threat they felt was posed by an overly powerful monarchy, in the aftermath of peace? It was confirmed in 1699 disbanding bill.

Answer 56

Demobilisation of all troops raised since 1680 (cutting English army to 8,000)

Question 57

On 10th April 1700, what xenophobic motion passed by the commons led a frustrated William to prorogue parliament?

Answer 57

To remove all foreigners from his councils.

Question 58

Whose death brought uncertainty to succession at end of July 1700?

Answer 58

Duke of Gloucester, son of Anne.

Question 59

Who did Charles II of Spain leave his kingdom to in his will in November 1701?

Answer 59

Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV.

Question 60

What constitutional development in England did this lead to in 1701, which sought to guarantee a protestant succession and ensure greater parliamentary authority over the monarchy and kingdom?

Answer 60

The Act of Settlement.