Thread by @rory20s

1/On June 20, 1688, the Queen of England, Mary of Modena, was giving birth to a child.
The birth of this child was a matter of national and international interest.
About 15 years earlier her husband, James II, had converted to the Roman Catholic faith

2/and, if the child was a boy, it would be raised in that religion. The boy gets the first rights to succession, and England can then prepare for a Catholic head of the Church of England, a century and a half after it has turned its back on the mother church and became Anglican.

3/If it was a girl, there would be no problem. Then Mary Stuart, the Protestant eldest daughter of the king from a previous marriage, remained heir to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.

4/Across the North Sea, Protestant Stadtholder Willem III, married to Mary Stuart, had been concerned for a while that his father-in-law would enter into an alliance with the French Catholic King Louis XIV who posed a major threat to the European balance of power.

5/He closely follows developments in England. He is not only closely involved in the succession to the throne through birth and marriage (Mary is his niece), but he also fears the fate of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the event of such an alliance.

6/His court is filled with English dissidents who expect the salvation of the Anglican dynasty of him and his wife. The prospect of a Catholic dynasty was very threatening to the English Protestants.
They conspired to replace James II by Mary Stuart.

7/In the spring of 1688, Willem's plans for an invasion took form and he started building up an impressive fleet with four hundred ships and around 35,000 men.
“The largest fleet that has ever sailed the North Sea".
(sounds like tRump but this is a true story)

8/Willem has a reassuring message for the English: he does not come as an enemy, but as a friend, to restore their violated freedom and religion. He makes it clear that he is not looking for a takeover or power, but only wants a free parliament to put order in order.

9/In the afternoon of June 20, 1688, the new royal child is born.
“There is the child. His umbilical cord hangs aimlessly next to his penis. That afternoon, when the prince has been washed, dressed and brought into decency, the salute shots echoed through London”

10/When Willem crosses the North Sea in November, he omits a declaration of war; after all, he is not coming to conquer the country, but to free it from idolatry and maladministration.
On November 15th Willem lands on English soil at Torquay.

11/He made a victory trip to London. Willem gave the order to dissolve the English army, so James soon had little support. On December 11th James fled to Catholic Ireland.
In early 1689, the parliament declared the English throne vacant.

12/Within Willem's entourage, voices were raised for him to claim the throne by right of conquest, but the Stadtholder does not want it. He convenes an extra-parliamentary meeting (for only the king can convene a real parliament), and puts his fate in the hands of the delegates.

13/After endless deliberations, the convention offers the throne to both Willem and Mary. The offer is accompanied by a package of conditions, the Declaration of Rights, which guarantees the rights of the parliament.
Willem accepts the offer.

14/This written document is one of the foundations of the British constitutional monarchy.
And so my friends, this is how a Dutch Stadtholder became king of England, Scotland and Ireland & how the British Empire came the closest ever to a written constitution.

15/thread inspired by Historisch Nieuwsblad