James II fled from England in 1688 during events described as the ‘Glorious Revolution’.
James’s Roman Catholic sympathies and belief in the divine right of the Crown
resulted in disgruntled parliamentarians offering the throne to his eldest
Protestant daughter, Mary. She accepted it on condition that she could reign
jointly with her Dutch husband, William of Orange, who became William III. The
convention Parliament of 1689 while offering the crown jointly to William and
Marry, took several steps to ensure the supremacy of parliament and to
safeguard the liberties of the people. Its first work was to turn the Declaration
of Rights which it had drawn up into the Bill of Rights. This document formed
the third great character of English liberties and completed the work which the
Magna Carta had begun. It declared the illegality of (1) the suspending and
dispensing powers as exercised by James II, (2) of maintaining a standing army,
and (3) of levying money without the consent of parliament. It asserted that
(a) Parliaments should be freely elected, frequently held and should have
freedom of speech and debate, (b) and that subjects should have a right to
petition the king. (c) Lastly, it provided that those “who are Papists or shall
marry a papist”, shall be incapable of possessing or inheriting the crown. Although
the Bill of Rights had established the order of succession with the heirs of
Mary II, Anne and William III, neither of James II’s daughters had surviving
heirs casting uncertainty on the future of succession.