William, Mary, & Ann: Defining the Constitutional Monarchy, 1688-1714 The Last Stuarts William, Mary, & Ann: Defining the Constitutional Monarchy, 1688-1714
Secularizers made Revolution more Palatable Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis (1687) Robert Boyle and Chemistry John Locke, Two Treatises on Government (1690); Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1694)
“A beautiful mind”: Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
Constitutional Settlement Bill of Rights (1689) Triennial Act (1694) Toleration Act (1689) Act of Settlement (1701) Bank of England (1694)
Party and Faction Whigs versus Tories Court versus Country Jacobites Save for Jacobites, these are persuasions more than parties or behaviors
Politics of the 1690s William preferred Tories but they won’t support War of the League of Augsburg William turns to Whig financiers who support the war because it earns returns for the Bank of England William pacifies Ireland at Battle of Boyne (1690) War on the continent goes less well, but Tr. Of Ryswick results in Louis XIV’s recognizing William III as king of England.
Political Repurcussions—late 1690s Robert Harley and Tories control Parliament—demand peace and retrenchment Harley and Tories pass Act of Settlement, with proviso that King had to be member of Church of England—slap at William
Robert Harley (1661-1724)
Wars of the Spanish Succession Fear of Louis XIV’s violation of Balance of Power Grand Alliance versus Bourbon dynasty William III took John Churchill to Europe to get support for his leadership William Dies Anne inherits war—her best friend is Churchill’s wife.
Anne and Spanish Succession War Tory triumvirate runs show: Churchill runs war; Harley runs commons, and Sidney Godolphin ran the treasury Battle of Blenheim (1704) turns war on the Continent George Rook captured Gibraltar in 1704 Churchill, now Duke of Marlboro, continues to win battles—Ramiellies, Undenard, and Mal Placquet. Charles Habsburg inherits family lands—now more dangerous than Philip V
Treaty of Utrecht (1713) Family compact w/ Bourbons England gets Minorca, Acadia, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, and Shores of Hudson’s Bay Gets Asiento from Philip V
Godolphin and Marlboro
Domestic Politics in Anne’s Reign Abigail Masham replaces Sarah Churchill Many parliaments and looser franchise—most democratic commons till 20th century Tories and “blue water policy” “Church in Danger”—Tory Domestic issue Henry St. John, Vicount Bolingbroke, called for a “Patriot King” Impeachment of Dr. Henry Sacheverell Would Hanoverian Settlement hold?