32. Glorious Revolution

Was it glorious? Was it even a revolution?

The Glorious Revolution brought to an end the short and little lamented - indeed, lamentable - reign of James II of England, James VII of Scotland, and with it, the Stuart dynasty on the throne of England.

But there was little fighting, particularly as James behaved uncharacteristically and fled abroad, after offering little resistance. And while there was certainly significant change, in that William III and Mary II replaced the king, and did so on the invitation of parliament, not by divine right - a revolution in seventeenth-century terms, as the wheel of fortune revolved - it was hardly revolutionary in our understanding of the word.

Little glory, then, and barely a revolution. But all the same, a highly significant event, as we shall see.

Illustration: JMW Turner, Prince of Orange landing at Brixham
Indianapolis Museum of Art

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License