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Mary II (30 April 1662–28 December 1694) reigned as Queen of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689 until her death, and as Queen of Scotland (technically as Mary II of Scotland) from 11 April 1689 until her death. Mary, a Protestant, came to the throne following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of her Catholic father, James II. Mary reigned jointly with her husband and first cousin, William III, who became the sole ruler upon her death. Popular histories usually know the joint reign as that of "William and Mary". Mary, although a sovereign in her own right, did not wield actual power during most of her reign. She did, however, govern the realm when her husband was abroad fighting wars.
Early life
Mary, who was born in London, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (the future James II of England) and of his first wife, the Lady Anne Hyde. Mary's uncle was King Charles II; her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, served for a lengthy period as Charles's chief advisor. Although her parents bore eight children, only Mary and her younger sister Anne survived into adulthood.
The Duke of York converted to Roman Catholicism in 1668 or 1669, but Mary and Anne had a Protestant upbringing, pursuant to the command of Charles II. Mary's mother died in 1671; her father married again in 1673, taking as his second wife the Catholic Mary of Modena, also known as Mary Beatrice d'Este.
At the age of fifteen, Princess Mary became betrothed to the Protestant Stadtholder and Prince of Orange, William III. William was the son of her aunt, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, and of Prince William II of Nassau. At first, Charles II opposed the alliance with a Dutch ruler — he preferred that Mary marry the heir to the French Throne, the Dauphin Louis — but afterwards approved, as a coalition with the Dutch became more politically favourable. Pressured by Parliament, the Duke of York agreed to the marriage, falsely assuming that it would improve his popularity amongst Protestants. The first cousins Mary and William married in London on 4 November 1677.
Mary went to the Netherlands, where she lived with her husband. She did not enjoy a happy marriage; her three pregnancies ended in miscarriage or stillbirth. She became popular with the Dutch people, but her husband neglected or even mistreated her. William long maintained an affair with Elizabeth Villiers, one of Mary's ladies-in-waiting.
The Glorious Revolution
Upon the death of Charles II without legitimate issue in 1685, the Duke of York became King as James II in England and Ireland, and as James VII in Scotland. He had a controversial religious policy; his attempt to grant freedom of religion to non-Anglicans was not well-received, as the technique he chose was to annul acts of Parliament by royal decree. Several Protestant politicians and noblemen entered into negotiations with Mary's husband as early as 1687. After James took the suicidal step of forcing Anglican clergymen to read the Declaration of Indulgence—the proclamation granting religious liberty to dissenters—from their churches in May 1688, James's unpopularity soared. Public alarm increased when James's wife, Queen Mary, gave birth to a son—James Francis Edward—in June 1688, for the son would, unlike Mary and Anne, be raised a Roman Catholic. Some charged that the boy was "supposititious," having been secretly brought in as a substitute for the Queen's stillborn baby. Although there was no evidence to support the allegation, Mary publicly challenged the boy's legitimacy, leading to a breach with her father.
On 30 June, the "Immortal Seven" secretly requested William III—then in the Netherlands with Mary—to come to England with an army. At first, William was reluctant; he was jealous of his wife's position as the heiress to the English Crown, and feared that she would become more powerful than he was. Mary, however, convinced her husband that she cared not for political power. William agreed to invade; his intentions became public knowledge by September 1688, and the Dutch army landed on 5 November. The English people's confidence in James stood so low that they did not attempt to save their King. On 11 December, the defeated King attempted to flee, but was intercepted. A second attempt at flight (23 December) was successful...
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Mary II
Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland
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James VII and II
King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland
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