welcome back to the ancestral findings podcast Mary II was Queen of England in the later 1600s
she was crowned and ruled jointly with her husband Prince William of Orange
this is the only fully equal joint monarchy in English History
Mary came by the throne in a most unusual way as well this is her fascinating story
foreign
Stewart was the eldest daughter of James Stewart Duke of York later King James II
of England and his wife Anne Hyde she was born in 1662 one of eight children born
to her parents of these children only Mary and her younger sister Anne survived past childhood
though never meant to be Queen of England at her birth Mary nonetheless did inherit
the throne in a most unusual and never since repeated way Mary's Uncle Charles was ruling
England as King Charles II at the time of her birth he had many illegitimate children but no
legitimate children with his wife this meant that his younger brother James was his Heir Apparent
and emailed children of James's were meant to be in line to the throne after that though James
did have male children with his first wife none of them survived him to take the throne
James had converted to Catholicism with the influence of his wife who converted after
their marriage Charles II though insisted that James's children be raised as Protestants as
Charles himself was Mary and her sister Anne were brought up in their own household at the
behest of the king and only occasionally saw their parents and their maternal grandfather for visits
after James's wife crossed to the other side when Mary was only a young child she became second in
line to the throne after James remarried to Princess Mary of Modena in Italy two years
after his first wife crossed his new wife was only four years older than his daughter Mary
this second marriage would cause much upheaval in England after James eventually inherited the
throne and paved the way for Mary to be offered it while James was still alive when she was 15 years
old Mary was betrothed to her first cousin William III of orange the son of her father's sister
in fact because of his status as the grandson of an English king that King being Charles the
first William was actually fourth in the line of succession during Charles's second's life after
James Mary and Anne Mary and William wed in 1677 with Mary still being only 15. she cried at the
wedding but soon came to love her new husband very much and was known for her Devotion to him
William was known to be equally devoted to Mary Mary was animated in personality and
quite personable qualities that made her popular with the Dutch people over whom her husband ruled
the fact that William was a Protestant made Mary's marriage also popular in England
she became pregnant soon after her wedding but miscarried a few months after at least three
other suspected miscarriages occurred during the first few years of their marriage after
early 1680 there were no more known or suspected pregnancies in Mary's childlessness was a source
of great unhappiness for her Mary's father James became king of England in 1685 after the crossing
of Charles II at the moment James became king Mary became the official heir presumptive of England
James's rule in England was not a popular one as a Catholic he used a Royal Decree to Grant
freedom of religion to non-protestants something the people of England did not approve of James's
popularity among the English people took another hit when his second wife gave him a son normally
the birth of a legitimate Prince will be a time of great joy in England but as both of his parents
were catholic the boy would be raised Catholic as well with no other king to order a Protestant
upbringing as with Mary and Anne England it appeared was willing to tolerate a Catholic
King as long as he had Protestant heirs the birth of a Catholic Heir was simply not to be tolerated
seven English Nobles went to Orange Williams Kingdom in the Netherlands and asked him to come
to England with Mary and an army to dispose James William was concerned that he would be subordinate
to his wife if he did this as he was lower in the line of English succession than her Mary assured
him that if he were to take England that she would only be his wife would do everything she could to
make sure he was King for life and as she would always do as she promised in her marriage vows
and Obey him as her husband William agreed to go to England and take the throne William issued a
declaration they called James's newborn son the pretended Prince of Wales went to England with his
army and was quickly joined by the English Army and Navy who did not want a Catholic monarchy
James attempted to flee the country but was intercepted he made a second attempt to flee which
William purposefully allowed to succeed James went to France with his wife and son where he lived the
rest of his life while England did not want him as king Scotland which was still an independent
country believed James to be their rightful King and his son to be the proper heir to their Kingdom
this set up a generation of fighting between England and Scotland over who was the rightful
heir to both kingdoms Mary was sad about the way her father was disposed but also believed that
she and William were doing the correct thing in order to secure a Protestant future for England
she was also happy about returning to the country of her birth to live
when she joined William in England shortly after he defeated James she was happy for them but sat
for James at the same time so William ordered her to appear cheerful when she arrived in London
this caused her to be criticized by some who observed her entry as being
uncaring of the plight of her father when it could not have been further from the truth
as the Throne of England was now considered vacant it was offered jointly to William and Mary as
equal monarchs an argument had been made that Mary should be Soul Monarch as the rightful hereditary
Heir but William believed a husband could not be subject to his wife and wished to rule as
a king rather than as a king consort to marry Mary believed that women should defer to their
husbands and did not want to be Queen regnant so both were offered the crown making them England's
only official jointly Crown monarchs there have been a precedent for this only once before in
English History A Century prior when Queen Mary the first married Prince Philip of Spain
Philip was technically made King but only during Mary's Lifetime and with limited powers
after Mary's Crossing Philip no longer had any power or claim to it in England and went home to
Spain to be its king in the case of William and Mary William could continue to rule as king if
Mary crossed before him any children William and Mary had would be their heirs followed by Mary's
Sister Anne and her heirs and finally any children William might have if Mary crossed before him and
he remarried Catholics were officially barred altogether from the English line of succession
William and Mary also had to agree to several reductions in the traditional power of the
English Monarch which were laid out in the new English Bill of Rights they still wielded enough
powers to be considered independent rulers but it wasn't what monarchs of Prior centuries enjoyed
they agreed to all conditions and were crowned together the same day the Scottish Parliament
finally decided to recognize them as their monarchs as well though many people in Scotland
still supported James and his son William was often away on business in Orange which
he still ruled on his own during his absences Mary reluctantly exercised power and she did so
capably and with a finely attuned diplomatic skill she was always happy to hand the reins over to
William though in her own words she only wanted a retired quiet life she was extremely devout
and attended prayers twice a day her greatest priority as Monarch aside from her Devotion to
William was to promote the Protestant church Mary II crossed to the other side of smallpox in 1694.
she was only 32 years old in fact she was long thought highly likely to outlive
both William and her sister Anne who were both known to be delicate in their health
she was tall 5 11 and physically fit walking many miles between her palaces on most days
her Crossing was a shock to everyone and William was devastated he never remarried William ruled as
king of England until his own Crossing in 1702 he was succeeded by Mary's Sister Anne [Music]
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