Glorious Revolution
1688 English coup
The Glorious Revolution was the 1688 overthrow of England's King James II, replaced by William III and Mary II with minimal bloodshed.
The event established parliamentary supremacy over the monarchy and secured Protestant succession.
The adjective reflects the Whig view that constitutional liberty triumphed without civil war: The Glorious Revolution shaped British political development for centuries.
Initial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- constitutional monarchyRoyalty limited by charter
- limited monarchyThrone restrained by law
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
- freedom of speechProtected right to speak
free elections · separation of powers · legal reform · coronation oath
Dutch-born English sovereign
- JacobitesExiled royal line supporters
- abdicationFormal surrender of power
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- invasion fleetNaval force for conquest
English empiricist philosopher
- social contractAgreement exchanging freedom for order
- consent of governedLegitimacy from citizen approval
- natural rightsFreedoms inherent to personhood
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
Whigs · Tories · political philosophy · legitimacy · popular sovereignty · civil government · property rights
Reformation-era Christian movement
- CatholicismPapal Christian denomination
- Church of EnglandBritain's state religion
- religious libertyProtected right to worship
- nonconformistsThose defying established customs
Bill of Rights
Initial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- constitutional monarchyRoyalty limited by charter
- limited monarchyThrone restrained by law
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
freedom of speech · free elections · separation of powers · legal reform · coronation oath
William of Orange
Dutch-born English sovereign
- JacobitesExiled royal line supporters
- abdicationFormal surrender of power
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
John Locke
English empiricist philosopher
- social contractAgreement exchanging freedom for order
- consent of governedLegitimacy from citizen approval
- natural rightsFreedoms inherent to personhood
tyranny · Whigs · Tories · political philosophy · legitimacy · popular sovereignty · civil government · property rights
Protestantism
Reformation-era Christian movement
- CatholicismPapal Christian denomination
- Church of EnglandBritain's state religion
- religious libertyProtected right to worship
- English Bill of Rightsfreedom of speech, free elections, right to bear arms, jury trial, William III
- British historyWilliam the Conqueror, Victorian era, Elizabethan era, English Civil War, Tudor era
- Early ModernRenaissance, 1500s, 1600s, Reformation, sixteenth century
- Irish HistoryGreat Famine, Easter Rising, Irish nationalism, Irish War of Independence, Irish Civil War
- 1600s EuropeLouis XIV, Peace of Westphalia, Versailles, William of Orange, absolutism
- English RestorationCharles II, William of Orange, Roundheads, monarchy, Oliver Cromwell
Glorious RevolutionEnglish Civil War
1640s British constitutional conflict
French Revolution · Reign of Terror · violent overthrow · Russian Revolution · regicide
Glorious RevolutionJacobite risings
Armed attempts restoring deposed monarchy
Glorious Revolutionabsolutism
Unrestricted governmental authority
divine right of kings · Bourbon Restoration · counter-revolution
revolution, glorify, revolutionary, revolutions, glorified, glorifying, revolutionize, revolutionized, gloriously