William of Orange and Mary Flashcards
Aspects of the Revolution settlement of 1689
- William and Mary’s joint sovereignty
-Line of Succession would return to normal afterwards - if Mary dies then William could rule alone - The bill of rights - Parliaments had to be heard on a regular basis and raising tax without parliamentary approval was illegal
- Finance - ordinary expenditure at £1.2 million and custom duties for 4 years
- Religion - Parliament rejected settlement of comprehension which would have made public offices open to protestants and full religious toleration for dissenters was not achieved
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - James II in Scotland
- James II antagonised presbyterian settlement by his assault on conventicles - made it clear the Scottish parliament played a secondary role to the king
- Defeat of Argyll’s rebellion was followed by bloody repression
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - How was it received in Scotland
- James forced to withdraw army from Scotland to deal with Williams invasion
- July 1689 a Jacobean rising defeated William II’s forces at the battle Killiecrankie - Conflict ended in June 1691 with the treaty of Achallader
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - Glencoe massacre
William II secretary of state, Sir John Dalrymple, ordered the destruction of the Catholic clans at Glencoe - 45 killed with many being women and children
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - James II in Ireland
- Pressed the promotion of Catholics in both the army and administration - Earl of Tyrconnell was tasked with purging the Irish army of Ulster Presbyterians
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - How was it received in Ireland
- Tyrconnell persuaded James to return to Ireland - James wanted to use Ireland as a way of getting power back in England - Louis XIV encourage James to claim his Irish throne
How easily was resistance to the Glorious revolution overcome - Siege of Londonderry and the Battle of the Boyne
- James landed in Ireland in March 1689
- Civil war in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics
- June 1690 William arrived in Ireland - William defeated James at the battle of the Boyne in July 1690
How did William and Mary’s reign break the traditions of the English Monarch
- Accepted crown as joint Monarchy
- Wanted to get rid of religious rituals used by Tudor monarchs
- William didn’t believe in Divine right of King’s
- William is a Calvinist
What was William’s main reason for taking the throne
Part of his mission to defeat Catholic France
Why was there confusion in the divisions within the political nation at the time
- Whig’s still distrusted royal power
- Tories didn’t feel William was the real king
- William felt the Commons was using him
How did the roles of monarch and Parliament change at this time
- Parliament in control of spending on the military
- Parliament gave £5mn annually for Williams war
- New triennial act now requires new elections every 3 years, not just a new parliament every 3 years
Fiscal military state
A state financially organised for war with supporting administration
Constitutional monarchy
Form of national gov in which the power of the monarch is restrained by a parliament, by law, or by custom
Why did William fight the 9 years war
Aimed to force the French to give up territories won in the previous wars - wanted to restore the 1659 French frontier
What was the outcome of the Nine years war
- Grand alliance between the league of Augsburg and Britain - Forced France to fight a defensive war
- French won off beachy head in 1690 which gave them temporary control of the English channel
- War ended in 1697 with the peace of Ryswick
What was the impact of William’s foreign policy in England
- War did not achieve William’s full aim of restoring the frontiers of 1659 - however the tides had turned in the European struggle against France, made possible by Williams invasion
- Louis XIV recognised William as the King of England
Finance before the civil war
- King’s ordinary revenue from Crown lands and feudal duties was sometimes supplemented with ‘extraordinary revenue’ = parliamentary subsidies
- Ship money was an attempt at fair income in the 1630s
Finance during the civil war and interregnum
- Parliament created a more effective tax system e.g. excise tax = tax on purchases rather than wealth
- Monthly assessments were carried out by people appointed by parliament - enquired closely the wealth of individuals
Finance in the 1670s - 80s
- Crown replaced the system of farming out the customs, with the collection of the customs by paid royal officials - allowed crown to benefit from the expansion of trade
Financial changes of the 1690s under William and Mary
- 1690 = public account act = public account commission established to examine government income and expenditure
- Excise tax extended to cover a wider range of commodities, as well as money making schemes such as the national lottery
- Land tax in 1692 creates income from land
- by 1710 the crown was making over £5 million annually from tax
- Bank of England established in 1694 in return for £1.2 million
- Civil list established in 1698 which made the monarchs household income separate from the costs of government
What were the 2 important and permanent changes that occurred during the reign of William and Mary
- England achieved sustained military power through effective administration and taxation
- Constitutional monarchy in which the
What do Historians believe was responsible for developing a limited monarchy
The Glorious revolution of 1688-1689 was responsible
What was the impact of William and Mary’s reign on the old system of finance
Eased relations with parliament which resulted in the Million loan act
- Debt was also no longer a royal debt but instead the responsibility of the nation
How did Williams foreign policy change the English political system
- Made military expansion possible - Army increased from 10,000 in 1689 to 76,000 in 1697
