James II

Why he matters for the novel

James II is the king who provoked the Glorious Revolution — the political climax of Book 3. His flight from England in 1688 and replacement by William and Mary reshapes every character’s situation. More broadly, his Catholicism is the reason the Act of Settlement exists, which is the reason the Hanoverian succession exists, which is why Princess Caroline writes to Daniel, which is why the novel has a plot.

Who he was

James II (1633-1701), younger brother of Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688. He was the last Catholic to sit on the English throne. Before his accession he was the Duke of York — the title by which he’s known for most of the novel’s earlier timeline, and the name behind New York (renamed from New Amsterdam when he was granted the colony in 1664).

Unlike his charming, flexible brother, James was stubborn, humorless, and convinced of his own rectitude. He’d converted to Catholicism during exile in France — exposed to it while serving in the French army under Turenne. Back in England, he made no secret of his faith, which terrified a country that associated Catholicism with absolutism, foreign control, and the fires of Smithfield.

The short reign (1685-1688)

What he did

• Immediately began promoting Catholics to positions of power — in the army, universities, and government — in violation of laws Parliament had passed specifically to prevent this.
• Issued the Declaration of Indulgence (1687), suspending laws against Catholics and Dissenters. This sounds tolerant, but Parliament saw it as a unilateral assertion of royal power to override legislation.
• Put seven bishops on trial for sedition when they petitioned against the Declaration. Their acquittal was celebrated with bonfires across England.
• Most critically: his Catholic second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son (James Francis Edward Stuart) on June 10, 1688. Suddenly the prospect wasn’t just one Catholic king — it was a Catholic dynasty. The “warming pan” rumor spread: that the baby was a fraud, smuggled into the birthing chamber in a warming pan.

What happened next

Seven English nobles secretly invited William of Orange to invade. William landed on November 5, 1688. James’s support collapsed — even his own daughter Anne abandoned him. He fled to France, dropping the Great Seal into the Thames on his way out.

Exile and the Jacobite cause

James lived out his life at the château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, under Louis XIV’s protection. He died in 1701. His son — the “Old Pretender,” James Francis Edward Stuart — continued to claim the throne. Supporters of the Stuart line were called Jacobites (from Jacobus, Latin for James). They launched rebellions in 1715 and 1745, both of which failed.

The Jacobite threat — Catholic Stuarts backed by France, waiting to reclaim the throne — is the shadow over the 1713 chapters. It’s why the Hanoverian succession matters so desperately, and why everyone is nervous about what happens when Queen Anne dies.