After a long wait, we now come to Queen Mary II, eldest daughter of James II, who would betray her own father and seize his throne... how could it come to this? And how did England wind up being ruled by a Dutchman? All this and more as we talk about The Velvet Queen, Mary II. (Oh, and her husband, King William III)
Born in 1662 to James Stuart (James II,) and his not-so-royal wife Anne Hyde, Mary was not very likely to take the throne... but as it became more and more clear that Charles II would have no legitimate heirs, James' daughters became more and more important.
Even though her parents were converted Catholics, Charles II, her uncle, ordered that she and her little sister Anne were to be raised Anglican. They saw little of their parents, being raised by their nanny. Mary was not very well educated, and mainly learned dance, music, French, and religion.
Mary was a troubled child, who was prone to melancholy. When her mother died, she was 11 years old. Her father remarried a girl who was 15. All this seems to have warped her somewhat. She wrote angry and sometimes sexually explicit letters to her older female cousin. Mary would grow hyper-attached to people, and fall into depression or anger if they rejected her.
Charles II, however, did take an interest in Mary. He arranged a political marriage with his late sister's son, William of Orange. This was purely political, but was not considered odd at the time. (Marrying your first cousin was still legal and more common than most would think.) Mary did not want to marry him, (some thought she was more interested in girls, anyway,) and is said to have wept for 3 days when she heard the news of her betrothal.
At the age of 15, Mary was married to William. She cried all the way through the ceremony. As they traveled back to Holland, a storm caused them to beach up far from home. They were forced to walk and ride carriages, but eventually made it to the palace, where, to Mary's surprise, everyone was overjoyed to meet her. The celebrations lasted days.
Mary became an instant hit in the Netherlands, and it seems to have brought her great joy. She fell in love with her husband, and fell in love with her people. She became animated and bubbly, and the people loved it. Her marriage to a Protestant made her popular back home in England as well... and all seemed to be going well for young Mary.
However, while visiting her husband on campaign, Mary suffered a very hard miscarriage. She nearly died. Though she would try and try throughout her life, she could not bring a child to term. This was her greatest shame and biggest regret, and she considered herself a failure as a woman... she said as much in letters to family.
When her father became King, Mary didn't seem to much care. Her home was now the Netherlands, and she liked it there. England was dreary and full of religious intolerance. The Netherlands were progressive and fun. James sought out his daughter as a shoe in the door to political gain, but Mary was having none of it. She was loyal to her husband, not her father.
Mary openly condemned James's policies of ignoring Parliament in favor of Catholics. When her husband came under attack from catholic France, James refused to help. Mary openly spoke out against her father. James responded by informing Mary that her husband was having an affair. (He was.) Mary refused to believe it, even though she caught William coming out of his mistress's room one night. Instead, Mary fired her entire staff, including the mistress, and sent them back to England. She would not have spies from her father's court in her household ever again.
When her father and stepmother gave birth to a son, Mary was suspicious. This child would be raised Catholic... and there were rumors that a peasant child had been switched with the stillborn baby of the Queen of England, in order to secure a Catholic succession. Mary wrote to her little sister, Anne, and asked her about the veracity of these rumors. Anne was inclined to believe the rumors, and the two of them made clear to all that they refused to believe that the baby was actually their brother.
The "Immortal Seven" of England wrote a letter to William of Orange, asking him to invade England in the name of his wife. William seems to have been reluctant. William did not love his wife as much as she loved him, and seems to have been afraid that she would become more powerful than him as the head of England. He told Mary this, and she swore to let him be king and she would be "No more than his dutiful wife." Whether she meant this or she was manipulating William is anyone's guess.
William and Mary invaded England, much to the relief of most Englishmen. James fled, (William intentionally let him get away,) and would die in France, an exiled king.
Mary seems to have been genuinely riddled with guilt over betraying her father. However, she held her Anglicanism as more important than family ties. Her faith convinced her that what she did was right. Even so, she was seen as a cold and heartless woman by many. Even though they hated James, she WAS a usurper, and there was simply no other way to put it. In truth, Mary was keenly aware of her father's suffering, and did her best to make sure he was well cared for after his exile. James, on the other hand, was deeply bitter and resentful towards his daughter. This appears to have genuinely hurt her.
Now, there was a problem. William wanted to be crowned William III of England, but he was Dutch. Mary stated that by religion, women must be deferential to their husbands, and wanted him to be King, not just the queen-consort. Parliament would not accept this, however. What could be done? Eventually, Parliament followed the example of the previous Queen Mary and Philip, her husband. William would be named King, but only as long as Mary was alive. They would be Co-Rulers, none higher than the other. This was as good as a compromise was going to get, and William III/Mary II became the co-monarchs of England.
William, still unhappy with the terms, continued to balk. Parliament changed the act several times. First, William would be allowed to rule after Mary died. Then, James and his son were specifically barred from succession. Then, ALL CATHOLICS were barred from succession. Then ALL CATHOLICS and ANYONE WHO MARRIED A CATHOLIC were banned from succession. That law is still in place today.
William and Mary were crowned in a lavish ceremony. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to crown them, calling them "Usurpers." another bishop was brought in. Mary did not like the ceremony, calling it extravagant. William, a hard core protestant, thought the Anglican ceremony was far too "Popist" for his tastes. So much for the "Glorious" revolution...
Parliament, now quite disenchanted with the "snobby Dutch" monarchs, set about limiting their power. William and Mary were stripped of the power to cancel laws, levy taxes, or infringe on the people's rights. This "Bill of Rights" still stands today, and was one of the first of its kind in the world. It would later serve as an inspiration to Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers of America. Mary seemed to realize that if they could toss out her dad, they could toss out her husband... she made little to no fuss about this.
Parliament and Mary/William soon had a common foe. The Jacobites, (those loyal to James II and his son,) had started uprisings all over Great Britain, particularly in Scotland. William III spent most of his time campaigning to put down the Jacobite Rising. Mary supported her husband, imprisoning those she found to be plotting against her... and this is where things went wrong.
Mary threw the very popular politician, John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, (yes... the progenitor of the line that would someday produce a little fat boy named Winston,) into jail. This not only outraged many politicians, it infuriated her sister, Anne. Anne was extremely dear and close friends with
Sarah Churchill, John's wife. Anne publicly defended John and Sarah, which angered Mary. Mary publicly reprimanded her sister... leading to a rather embarrassing and awkward public scene, in which the two young royal women yelled at each other from across the room in front of everyone.
Mary then fell ill and missed church for the first time in 12 years... at the same time, Anne suffered a nasty miscarriage, (it wouldn't be her last,) Mary recovered enough to visit her sister... instead of reconciling, as many thought she would, Mary angrily mocked and berated Anne on her sickbed for her friendship to Sarah Churchill. Anne was so shocked and disgusted, she refused to ever see her older sister again. The two sisters would never be in the same room again in their lives.
In her later years, Mary lamented her treatment of her sister, saying that God had cursed her for missing church and not doing enough to combat sex and alcohol in England during her lifetime. Thus, she never sought reconciliation with Anne, thinking it was God's will that they be estranged.
Whether or not Mary and Anne would have ever buried the hatchet is a moot point. Mary contracted smallpox at the age of 32. She insisted that this was a curse by God, and sent all aid away. She also sent away anyone who had not had the disease before, in an effort to keep them from dying as she was. Anne begged to come see Mary, and swore to let all arguments be forgiven. Mary was stubborn, however, believing that this was her curse for usurping her father's throne, marrying an adulterer (she was not so naive in later years,) and not doing enough to combat sin in her kingdom.
Mary died late on December 28, 1694. William, who had actually and FINALLY grown fond of his strong headed wife, honestly mourned her greatly. In fact, people all over England realized how fond they had been of this rather snobby, pious, bull headed young lady. She had grown to be a symbol of English regality, standing firm in the face of outside pressure, with a stiff upper lip, as it were.
William III now took over in his own right, and Anne would forever blame herself for not forgiving her sister sooner.
William carried on the fight against the Jacobites, who now were personally attacking him with accusations of homosexuality. They pointed out that Mary had died childless, and that some of William's court were handsome young men. William, disgusted, stated that he was amazed that in England, a man couldn't be young, powerful, and handsome without being accused of being a fiend. (Most historians agree, William was not in any way gay.)
William continued to fight, mostly against the Scottish Jacobites, and King Louis XIV of France, who was supporting James II to return to the throne. Luckily, William III was very good at war, and eventually, the Jacobites lost steam and were defeated. James II would never return to England. William, now 47 years old and with no legitimate heir, was secure, but his legacy was not... who would succeed him?
Parliament had already quite clearly planned this out... and had drawn out the rules of succession. For the first time, ever, it had been written down... the throne would not pass to whoever had the biggest army or killed the last king... instead, it would pass down to the Eldest son, then the next son, and so on. If there were no sons, it would pass to the brothers of the king, and their sons, and so on. If there were NO males left... then and only then would it pass to a daughter, in the same manner as a son.. (oldest first and so on.) Oh... and no Catholics, ever. Today, we simply think it was always like that... it wasn't. It was never a law until the late 1600s. (That law wasn't changed until just a few years ago, when the gender issue was removed by Parliament and Queen Elizabeth II.)
In 1701, however, it appeared that the entire Stuart line was in peril. William did not remarry, as he was genuinely brokenhearted after the death of Mary. Anne was next, but she had miscarried every one of her children, ever. If she had no children, the line would LEGALLY go to... JAMES II !!!
Parliament, in a panic, fell back on the "No Catholics" thing... added "Nor heir to a Catholic," and traced the line back a few generations... and good lord... they found that there were nearly no males left who were protestant with protestant parents... it meant that William was king, Anne was next, and the NEXT SIXTY ONE HEIRS would be passed over.... next in line was Sophia, grand-daughter of James I... who had a son named Georg.
Problem was... Sophia was from Hanover, a German principality. Surely, England wouldn't accept a German King, right????
The problem was never solved... William III died the next year, 1702. He had fallen off his horse when it stepped in a molehole and broken his collar bone... this led to the onset of pneumonia, and a quick death. The House of Orange was dead. England passed to Anne, who was still desperately trying to crank out an heir... and still desperately failing every time. William's childless death threw Europe into disarray, as the House of Orange had fingers in Spain, Portugal, most of the German states, The Netherlands, and Austria...
England's succession and future now lay in the womb of a dreary and melancholy woman rapidly entering middle age... the rule of Queen Anne Gloria had begun....
Born in 1662 to James Stuart (James II,) and his not-so-royal wife Anne Hyde, Mary was not very likely to take the throne... but as it became more and more clear that Charles II would have no legitimate heirs, James' daughters became more and more important.
Even though her parents were converted Catholics, Charles II, her uncle, ordered that she and her little sister Anne were to be raised Anglican. They saw little of their parents, being raised by their nanny. Mary was not very well educated, and mainly learned dance, music, French, and religion.
Mary was a troubled child, who was prone to melancholy. When her mother died, she was 11 years old. Her father remarried a girl who was 15. All this seems to have warped her somewhat. She wrote angry and sometimes sexually explicit letters to her older female cousin. Mary would grow hyper-attached to people, and fall into depression or anger if they rejected her.
Charles II, however, did take an interest in Mary. He arranged a political marriage with his late sister's son, William of Orange. This was purely political, but was not considered odd at the time. (Marrying your first cousin was still legal and more common than most would think.) Mary did not want to marry him, (some thought she was more interested in girls, anyway,) and is said to have wept for 3 days when she heard the news of her betrothal.
At the age of 15, Mary was married to William. She cried all the way through the ceremony. As they traveled back to Holland, a storm caused them to beach up far from home. They were forced to walk and ride carriages, but eventually made it to the palace, where, to Mary's surprise, everyone was overjoyed to meet her. The celebrations lasted days.
Mary became an instant hit in the Netherlands, and it seems to have brought her great joy. She fell in love with her husband, and fell in love with her people. She became animated and bubbly, and the people loved it. Her marriage to a Protestant made her popular back home in England as well... and all seemed to be going well for young Mary.
However, while visiting her husband on campaign, Mary suffered a very hard miscarriage. She nearly died. Though she would try and try throughout her life, she could not bring a child to term. This was her greatest shame and biggest regret, and she considered herself a failure as a woman... she said as much in letters to family.
When her father became King, Mary didn't seem to much care. Her home was now the Netherlands, and she liked it there. England was dreary and full of religious intolerance. The Netherlands were progressive and fun. James sought out his daughter as a shoe in the door to political gain, but Mary was having none of it. She was loyal to her husband, not her father.
Mary openly condemned James's policies of ignoring Parliament in favor of Catholics. When her husband came under attack from catholic France, James refused to help. Mary openly spoke out against her father. James responded by informing Mary that her husband was having an affair. (He was.) Mary refused to believe it, even though she caught William coming out of his mistress's room one night. Instead, Mary fired her entire staff, including the mistress, and sent them back to England. She would not have spies from her father's court in her household ever again.
When her father and stepmother gave birth to a son, Mary was suspicious. This child would be raised Catholic... and there were rumors that a peasant child had been switched with the stillborn baby of the Queen of England, in order to secure a Catholic succession. Mary wrote to her little sister, Anne, and asked her about the veracity of these rumors. Anne was inclined to believe the rumors, and the two of them made clear to all that they refused to believe that the baby was actually their brother.
The "Immortal Seven" of England wrote a letter to William of Orange, asking him to invade England in the name of his wife. William seems to have been reluctant. William did not love his wife as much as she loved him, and seems to have been afraid that she would become more powerful than him as the head of England. He told Mary this, and she swore to let him be king and she would be "No more than his dutiful wife." Whether she meant this or she was manipulating William is anyone's guess.
William and Mary invaded England, much to the relief of most Englishmen. James fled, (William intentionally let him get away,) and would die in France, an exiled king.
Mary seems to have been genuinely riddled with guilt over betraying her father. However, she held her Anglicanism as more important than family ties. Her faith convinced her that what she did was right. Even so, she was seen as a cold and heartless woman by many. Even though they hated James, she WAS a usurper, and there was simply no other way to put it. In truth, Mary was keenly aware of her father's suffering, and did her best to make sure he was well cared for after his exile. James, on the other hand, was deeply bitter and resentful towards his daughter. This appears to have genuinely hurt her.
Now, there was a problem. William wanted to be crowned William III of England, but he was Dutch. Mary stated that by religion, women must be deferential to their husbands, and wanted him to be King, not just the queen-consort. Parliament would not accept this, however. What could be done? Eventually, Parliament followed the example of the previous Queen Mary and Philip, her husband. William would be named King, but only as long as Mary was alive. They would be Co-Rulers, none higher than the other. This was as good as a compromise was going to get, and William III/Mary II became the co-monarchs of England.
William, still unhappy with the terms, continued to balk. Parliament changed the act several times. First, William would be allowed to rule after Mary died. Then, James and his son were specifically barred from succession. Then, ALL CATHOLICS were barred from succession. Then ALL CATHOLICS and ANYONE WHO MARRIED A CATHOLIC were banned from succession. That law is still in place today.
William and Mary were crowned in a lavish ceremony. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to crown them, calling them "Usurpers." another bishop was brought in. Mary did not like the ceremony, calling it extravagant. William, a hard core protestant, thought the Anglican ceremony was far too "Popist" for his tastes. So much for the "Glorious" revolution...
Parliament, now quite disenchanted with the "snobby Dutch" monarchs, set about limiting their power. William and Mary were stripped of the power to cancel laws, levy taxes, or infringe on the people's rights. This "Bill of Rights" still stands today, and was one of the first of its kind in the world. It would later serve as an inspiration to Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers of America. Mary seemed to realize that if they could toss out her dad, they could toss out her husband... she made little to no fuss about this.
Parliament and Mary/William soon had a common foe. The Jacobites, (those loyal to James II and his son,) had started uprisings all over Great Britain, particularly in Scotland. William III spent most of his time campaigning to put down the Jacobite Rising. Mary supported her husband, imprisoning those she found to be plotting against her... and this is where things went wrong.
Mary threw the very popular politician, John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, (yes... the progenitor of the line that would someday produce a little fat boy named Winston,) into jail. This not only outraged many politicians, it infuriated her sister, Anne. Anne was extremely dear and close friends with
Sarah Churchill, John's wife. Anne publicly defended John and Sarah, which angered Mary. Mary publicly reprimanded her sister... leading to a rather embarrassing and awkward public scene, in which the two young royal women yelled at each other from across the room in front of everyone.
Mary then fell ill and missed church for the first time in 12 years... at the same time, Anne suffered a nasty miscarriage, (it wouldn't be her last,) Mary recovered enough to visit her sister... instead of reconciling, as many thought she would, Mary angrily mocked and berated Anne on her sickbed for her friendship to Sarah Churchill. Anne was so shocked and disgusted, she refused to ever see her older sister again. The two sisters would never be in the same room again in their lives.
In her later years, Mary lamented her treatment of her sister, saying that God had cursed her for missing church and not doing enough to combat sex and alcohol in England during her lifetime. Thus, she never sought reconciliation with Anne, thinking it was God's will that they be estranged.
Whether or not Mary and Anne would have ever buried the hatchet is a moot point. Mary contracted smallpox at the age of 32. She insisted that this was a curse by God, and sent all aid away. She also sent away anyone who had not had the disease before, in an effort to keep them from dying as she was. Anne begged to come see Mary, and swore to let all arguments be forgiven. Mary was stubborn, however, believing that this was her curse for usurping her father's throne, marrying an adulterer (she was not so naive in later years,) and not doing enough to combat sin in her kingdom.
Mary died late on December 28, 1694. William, who had actually and FINALLY grown fond of his strong headed wife, honestly mourned her greatly. In fact, people all over England realized how fond they had been of this rather snobby, pious, bull headed young lady. She had grown to be a symbol of English regality, standing firm in the face of outside pressure, with a stiff upper lip, as it were.
William III now took over in his own right, and Anne would forever blame herself for not forgiving her sister sooner.
William carried on the fight against the Jacobites, who now were personally attacking him with accusations of homosexuality. They pointed out that Mary had died childless, and that some of William's court were handsome young men. William, disgusted, stated that he was amazed that in England, a man couldn't be young, powerful, and handsome without being accused of being a fiend. (Most historians agree, William was not in any way gay.)
William continued to fight, mostly against the Scottish Jacobites, and King Louis XIV of France, who was supporting James II to return to the throne. Luckily, William III was very good at war, and eventually, the Jacobites lost steam and were defeated. James II would never return to England. William, now 47 years old and with no legitimate heir, was secure, but his legacy was not... who would succeed him?
Parliament had already quite clearly planned this out... and had drawn out the rules of succession. For the first time, ever, it had been written down... the throne would not pass to whoever had the biggest army or killed the last king... instead, it would pass down to the Eldest son, then the next son, and so on. If there were no sons, it would pass to the brothers of the king, and their sons, and so on. If there were NO males left... then and only then would it pass to a daughter, in the same manner as a son.. (oldest first and so on.) Oh... and no Catholics, ever. Today, we simply think it was always like that... it wasn't. It was never a law until the late 1600s. (That law wasn't changed until just a few years ago, when the gender issue was removed by Parliament and Queen Elizabeth II.)
In 1701, however, it appeared that the entire Stuart line was in peril. William did not remarry, as he was genuinely brokenhearted after the death of Mary. Anne was next, but she had miscarried every one of her children, ever. If she had no children, the line would LEGALLY go to... JAMES II !!!
Parliament, in a panic, fell back on the "No Catholics" thing... added "Nor heir to a Catholic," and traced the line back a few generations... and good lord... they found that there were nearly no males left who were protestant with protestant parents... it meant that William was king, Anne was next, and the NEXT SIXTY ONE HEIRS would be passed over.... next in line was Sophia, grand-daughter of James I... who had a son named Georg.
Problem was... Sophia was from Hanover, a German principality. Surely, England wouldn't accept a German King, right????
The problem was never solved... William III died the next year, 1702. He had fallen off his horse when it stepped in a molehole and broken his collar bone... this led to the onset of pneumonia, and a quick death. The House of Orange was dead. England passed to Anne, who was still desperately trying to crank out an heir... and still desperately failing every time. William's childless death threw Europe into disarray, as the House of Orange had fingers in Spain, Portugal, most of the German states, The Netherlands, and Austria...
England's succession and future now lay in the womb of a dreary and melancholy woman rapidly entering middle age... the rule of Queen Anne Gloria had begun....