Record revealed
James II and the Declaration of Rights
In 1689, the role of the British Monarchy and Parliament would change forever. Legally, this began with a single document: the Declaration of Rights.
Important information
The Declaration of Rights, transcribed in this story, includes outdated language to describe Roman Catholics.
Images
Image 1 of 2
House of Commons votes and proceedings, 1689. Catalogue reference: YHC/CL/JO/6/2
Partial transcript
[Right page]
THE DECLARATION OF THE Lords and Commons Assembled at Westminster;
PRESENTED TO THEIR HIGHENESSES THE Prince and Princess of ORANGE,
At White-Hall the 13th of February, 1688/9,
WHEREAS the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers Evil Counsellors, Judges, and Ministers Imployed by him, did endeavour to subvert and Extirpate the Pro- testant Religion, and the Laws and Liber- ties of this Kingdom,
By Assuming and Exercising a Power of Dispensing with, and Suspending of Laws, and the Execution of Laws without Con- sent of Parliament.
By Committing and prosecuting divers worthy Prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power.
By issuing and causing to be executed a Commission under the Great Seal for Erecting a Court called the Court of Com- missioners for Ecclesiastical Causes.
By Levying Money for and to the use of the Crown, by pretence of prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament.
By raising and keeping a standing Army within this King- dom in time of peace, without consent of Parliament, and Quar- tering Souldiers contrary to Law.
By causing several good Subjects, being Protestants, to be dis- armed, at the same time when Papists were both Armed and Im- ployed contrary to Law.
By Violating the freedom of Election of Members to serve in Parliament.
Image 2 of 2
The Bill of Rights, 1689. Catalogue reference: C 65/228
Partial transcript
An Act declareing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Setteing the Succession of the Crowne
WHEREAS the Lords Spirtuall and temporall and Comons assembled at Westminster lawfully fully and freely representing all the Estates of the People of this Realme did upon the thirteenth day of February in the yeare of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty eight present unto their Majesties then called and known by the names and stile of William and Mary Prince and
Princesse of Orange being present in their proper persons a certaine Declaration in Writeinge made by the said Lords and Comons in the Words following viz.
WHEREAS the late King James the Second by the assistance of diverse evill Councellors Judges and Ministers impoyed by him did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant Religion and the Lawes and Liberties of this Kingdome.
By assumeing and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of Lawes and the execution of lawes without consent of Parlyament.
By committing and prosecuting diverse worthy Prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed Power.
By issueing and causing to be executed a Commission under the Great Seale for erecting a Court called the Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiasticall Causes.
By levying money for and to the use of the Crowne by p[re]tence of Prerogative for other time and in other manner then the same was granted by Parlyament.
Why this record matters
- Date
- 1689
- Catalogue reference
- YHC/CL/JO/6/2
In November 1688, William of Orange landed on the South Devon coast with a large army. The Dutch stadtholder (head of state) had invaded England by invitation of Parliament. England’s Protestant elite wanted to replace the Catholic King James II with a Protestant monarchy. Mary, the King’s Protestant daughter, and her husband, William of Orange, were seen as suitable successors. In April 1689, the pair were crowned William III and Mary II. These events have sometimes been referred to as the ‘Glorious Revolution’.
By the end of 1685, the first year of his reign, James II’s rule had already been marked by unrest. This included rebellions in England and Scotland, and growing dissent at James’ policies, which many viewed as pro-Catholic. This was happening at a time when most Britons were strongly Protestant and disliked Catholic influence.
Tensions had risen by November 1685, when James II dismissed his Parliament indefinitely. Concerned by the recent rebellions, the king wanted to place his supporters, many of whom were Catholic, in key military offices.
This presented a problem. Under the Test Acts, anyone seeking to hold British office needed to take an oath promising their allegiance to the Protestant religion. Due to this, James II pressured Parliament to repeal the Test Acts. When they refused, he prorogued (formally closed) Parliament, with no apparent intention of summoning another one.
The dissolution of Parliament, and the king’s clear preference for a standing army under his own control troubled many. It also seemed worryingly similar to the later years of Charles I’s unpopular reign, which had led to civil war. Encouraged by popular anti-Catholic sentiment, Parliament decided to act.
To justify the overthrow of James II and explain their reasons for replacing him with his daughter Mary and her husband William, Parliament issued the ‘Declaration of Rights’ in February 1689.
The Declaration listed 13 complaints against James II, describing how he ‘did endeavour to Subvert and Extirpate the Protestant Religion, and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom’. The grievances included James’ unilateral suspension of laws (without Parliamentary consent), his maintenance of a standing army, and his misuse of the British legal system to pursue his enemies. Essentially, Parliament felt that James II had taken too much power for himself, putting his desires before his people’s wishes.
The Declaration stated that all 13 of those complaints were ‘contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm’. It then proposed 13 limitations to royal power. These roughly corresponded to the 13 complaints above.
Finally, the Declaration stated Parliament’s formal intent to recognise William and Mary as King and Queen. This included an agreement that they would rule only according to these new limitations laid down by Parliament.
Later in 1689, the Declaration of Rights was passed into law as the ‘Bill of Rights’. This confirmed the limits of British royal power, and the growing importance of Parliament, within Britain’s system of constitutional monarchy. Parliament would keep its powers and freedoms as the state’s lawmaking body, and act as a safeguard against any monarch’s absolute power.
This makes the Declaration a landmark British document, but it has also had a complex historic role. While it established a functional constitutional monarchy in Britain, it did so partially through religious prejudice against people of the Catholic faith. Additionally, over the coming decades successive rebellions by Jacobites (supporters of James II and his descendants) would lead to violence in Britain and beyond.
The Declaration of Rights would echo again, nearly a century later, when another set of British people declared a list of similar grievances against a reigning monarch. This time the complaints were made against George III, in the US Declaration of Independence.
This copy of the Declaration of Rights was moved to The National Archives as part of the relocation of Parliament’s Archive Collections. These documents are searchable through Discovery, our online catalogue.
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