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6 February 1685
The Catholic James II, Duke of York, becomes king after the death of his brother Charles II. In April 1687, James raises anxieties among mainstream Protestants by issuing the first of two Declarations of Indulgence, which relax the penal laws against Catholic and Puritan dissenters. Seven bishops who object to this are tried for seditious libel but are acquitted on 29 June 1688 amid great popular rejoicing. — • — James's character was profoundly imprinted with the manner of his father's death, believing that it was caused in part by Charles I's softness and weakness in giving way to his opponents' demands. He simplified and distorted history by imagining the regicides to have been republicans intending all along to eliminate the English monarchy. From A Century of Troubles by Stevie Davies (Channel 4 Books) |
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