The significance of revolutionary ideals in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, Part 1

Question 1

In December 1688, King James II was faced with…

Answer 1

overwhelming opposition to his rule and fled the country and took refuge with Louis XIV of France.

Question 2

Why did William of Orange come to England?

Answer 2

A group of about 60 lords and 300 former MPs - Whigs as well as Tories - asked William of Orange to take over the government.

Question 3

When did the Convention Parliament meet? What did they decide?

Answer 3

22 January 1689:

• Met to decide how to deal with James’ flight
• Political opinion was deeply divided

Question 4

What ideas did Whig political theorists develop?

Answer 4

• Ideas on the nature of kingship
• They claimed that a contract existed between the king and his people which both sides had to uphold
• They asserted that James had broken his contract and had exceeded his powers by attempting to establish Catholicism in England
• James’ actions meant that he had lost the right to rule as king and that therefore the throne was vacant

Question 5

How were the views of Tory’s diametrically opposition to those of the Whigs?

Answer 5

• They believed in the hereditary succession, and in the divine right of kings to rule over their subjects
• Tories had sworn an oath of allegiance to James, and felt they could not break their oath as long as the king lived
• They needed some justification for the replacement of James by William of Orange

Question 6

How did The Convention Parliament’s wording of a resolution they formulated satisfy most Whigs and Tories?

Answer 6

• James had broken the contract between king and people (Whig).
• He had violated the country’s fundamental laws (Whig).
• His flight meant that he abdicated the throne (Tory).

Question 7

What did the Tories in the Lords object to the wording of the resolution lead to?

Answer 7

• Anti-Tory crowds demonstrating outside parliament

Question 8

What did peers warn William in a secret meeting in 1689? When was this meeting?

Answer 8

3 February 1689:

- They warned him that he ‘would go back to Holland’ unless he were made king.

Question 9

What agreement did William of Orange and the political elite come to?

Answer 9

• His wife, Mary, would share the title of Monarch with William, although without the power
• If Mary died and William married again, any children from this second marriage would follow Anne (Mary’s sister) in the line of succession

Question 10

When was the agreement between the Lords and William formally accepted?

Answer 10

6 February 1689 - confirmed by the Commons 2 days later.