February 13 - Proclamation of William and Mary

This Day in History: 13 February 2020

 

13 February 1689

 

331 years ago, today, William and Mary were proclaimed as joint King and Queen of Britain, after the Glorious Revolution. Mary was the daughter of the deposed king, James II, and William was a Dutch prince, who married Mary in 1677. After the birth of an heir to James in 1688, Parliamentary members invited William and Mary to England, where William landed with an army of 15,000, and began to advance to London, but saw that the King's army had abandoned him. James then fled to France, and on this day, Parliament offered the crown jointly to William and Mary, if they were to accept the Bill of Rights.

 

The Bill of Rights limited the royal power and expanded constitutional law, while at the same time granted Parliament control of finances and the army and stated that no Roman Catholic would ever rule England. Englishmen now possessed absolute civil and political rights, which had a major influence on the US Bill of Rights, composed almost a century later. The Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights were huge victories for Parliament, in its long struggle against the crown. William and Mary were then crowned at Westminster Abbey on April 11, by the Bishop of London.

 

Want to find out more about the proclamation of William and Mary, and the Bill of Rights? Click here for more information, or here for a more detailed account of the reign of William and Mary.