Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Who Are All These Kings?: James II

James II was the last Stuart king of England. He was also James VII of Scotland.

James was born at St. James`s Palace in London in 1633, the second son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria.

He was only a child when Civil War broke out, and he witnessed the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 at nine years old. Soon afterwards, he was removed for his safety to the Royalist headquarters at Oxford, and was created Duke of York in 1644, but when the Roundheads captured Oxford in 1646 he was captured and confined to St. James`s Palace.

Dressed as a girl, and pretending to be playing hide and seek, he escaped in 1648 and joined his elder brother Charles and others of his family in the Hague. He proved a capable soldier and was commissioned into the French army, and later served with Spain.

During this period, he became involved with Anne Hyde, daughter of his brother Charles` chief minister Edward Hyde. At the restoration of Charles II in 1660, James and the heavily pregnant Anne were married in London, although they had been through a ceremony in Holland earlier.

With his brother now King, James was made Lord High Admiral, and commanded the Navy in the Anglo-Dutch War, with a famous victory off Lowestoft in 1665. New Amsterdam, which had been captured from the Dutch, was presented to James and renamed New York in his honour.

James and Anne converted to Catholicism in 1668, but this was not made public until Charles had forced his Declaration of Indulgence through Parliament in 1672, Anne having died of cancer in 1671, and having been buried at Westminster Abbey.

James remarried in 1673 at Dover, this time to Mary of Modena, who was known to be an ardent Catholic. But the Earl of Shaftesbury led Parliamentary opposition to this, and forced the king to withdraw the Declaration of Indulgence, replacing it with the Test Act, banning Catholics from holding office. This meant that James had to stand down as Lord High Admiral, even though he had again served with distinction, this time at the Battle of Sole Bay off Southwold.

The Popish Plot, the 1678 Catholic plan to assassinate Charles and place James on the throne, led to strong public anti-Catholic feeling, even when Titus Oates admitted that it was a fabrication. James discreetly left the country, moving to Brussels then on to Scotland, where he was met with less than enthusiasm.

From this point on James, who had previously acted with discretion over his religion, changed to aggression and even persecution of the Covenanters, who would not agree to the legality of Catholic succession.

Charles II died in 1685 and James succeeded as James II in England and James VII in Scotland. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey (having been previously crowned by Catholic rites at Whitehall Palace), but never crowned in Scotland.

In both countries there was an attempt to oust the king, but in each case there was surprisingly little support for rebellion.

Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, invaded Scotland but was not even joined by his own clan. His small army was easily overpwered and he was executed in Edinburgh.

James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth who was Charles II`s eldest illegitimate son, landed at Lyme Regis and was proclaimed as the real James II at Taunton. He was defeated at Sedgemoor and executed on Tower Hill. Judge Jeffreys toured the West Country with his Bloody Assizes, condemning many of Monmouth`s supporters, 230 of whom were executed.

After these rebellions, ineffective as they were, James stepped up his campaign to restore Catholicism, and matters came to a head when his son James was born. Although the king`s daughters were Protestant, the baby would be brought up a Catholic and would succeed to the throne.

A rumour circulated that the baby was a changeling, and the Bishop of London and six supporters invited William of Orange to England to protect his wife Mary`s succession.

William landed at Brixham in 1688 and was welcomed at Exeter, following which most English cities and bishops declared support for him. James based his army at first at Salisbury, but being incapacitated by nosebleeds retreated to Reading, where John Churchill, his commander-in-chief, and his daughter Anne both defected to William.

The Marquis of Halifax organised negotiations, but after a few days James fled, throwing the Great Seal into the River Thames. He was captured at Sheerness by fishermen who understood that he was important but did not realise he was the king. He was taken to Faversham and returned to London, but William allowed him to escape and he fled to France. The following year, James was deemed to have abdicated and England gained their joint monarchs, William III and Mary II. This sequence of events came to be known as the Glorious Revolution.

James established a court in exile at Saint Germain near Paris. Knowing that he still had some supprt in Ireland, he landed there at Kinsale in 1689 and held a Parliament in Dublin. But William defeated him at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

After this he gradually became less of a threat to the new order, and he died of a stroke in 1701, leaving his son James to plot to regain the crown.

James II and his first wife Anne Hyde had eight children.

Charles was born at Worcester House, London in 1660. He died at Whitehall Palace in 1661 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Mary was born in 1662 at St. James`s Palace. She reigned as Mary II jointly with her husband William III from 1689, and died of smallpox in 1694, being buried at Westminster Abbey.

James was born in 1663 at St. James`s Palace. He died in 1667 at Richmond Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Anne was born in 1665 at St. James`s Palace. She reigned as Queen from 1702 to 1714, when she died at Kensington Palace, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Charles was born in 1666 at St. James`s Palace. He died in 1667 at St. James`s Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Edgar was born in 1667 at St. James`s Palace. He died in 1671 at Richmond Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Henrietta was born in 1669 at Whitehall Palace. Sh died in 1669 at St. James`s Palace and was buried at Westmionster Abbey.

Katherine was born in 1671 at Whitehall Palace. She died in 1671 at St. James` Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

James II and his second wife Mary of Modena had eleven children.

A baby was stillborn in 1674.

Katherine Laura was born in 1675 at St. James`s Palace. She died of convulsions in 1675 at St. James`s Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

A baby was stillborn in 1675.

Isabella was born in 1675 at St. James`s Palace. She died in 1681 at St. James`s Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Charles was born in 1677 at St. James`s Palace. He died in 1677 of smallpox at St. James`s Palace, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth was born in 1678. She died in 1678.

A baby was stillborn in 1681.

Charlotte Maria was born in 1682 at Windsor Castle. She died in 1682 of convulsions at St. James`s Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

A baby was stillborn in 1683.

A baby was stillborn in 1684.

James Francis Edward was born in 1688 at St. James`s Palace, and proved the catalyst for the Revolution. After his father died, he became Pretender to the throne, becoming known as the Old Pretender, or by his supporters James III. He died in 1766 in Rome, and was buried at St. Peter`s Basilica in the Vatican.

James II also had a number of illegitimate children.

By Arabella, daughter of Sir Winston Churchill and sister of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough:

Henrietta FitzJames was born in 1667, married twice and died in 1730.

James FitzJames, Duke of Berwick, was born in 1670, married twice and died in 1734.

Henry FitzJames, Duke of Albemarle, was born in 1673, married and died in 1702.

Arabella was born in 1674, became a nun in France and died in 1704.

By Katherine, Countess of Dorchester, daughter of Sir Charles Sedley:

Katherine Darnley was born in 1679, married twice and died in 1743.

James Darnley was born in 1684 and died in 1685.

Charles Darnley died as a baby.

James II was buried at St. Edmund`s Church of the English Benedictines in Paris.

Posted by colin on Friday 17th June, 2011 at 3:51pm