The English Convention was an assembly of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

which met between 22 January and 12 February 1689 (1688 old style, so its legislation was labelled with that earlier year) and transferred the crowns of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

from James II to William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife A ...

. A parallel Scottish Convention met in March 1689 and confirmed that the throne of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

was also to be awarded to William and Mary.

Assemblies of 1688

Immediately following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, with King

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

in flight and Prince

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

nearing London, the Earl of Rochester summoned the

Lords Temporal The Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. These can be either life peers or hereditary peers, although the hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords was abolished for all but ...

and

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

to assemble, and they were joined by the privy councillors on 12 December 1688 to form a provisional government for England. James II returned to London on 16 December; by the 17th he was effectively a prisoner of William who arrived in London the next day. Subsequently, William allowed James to flee in safety, to avoid the ignominy of doing his uncle and father-in-law any immediate harm. William refused the crown as ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' king and instead called another assembly of peers on 21 December 1688. On 23 December James fled to France. On 26 December the peers were joined by the surviving members of Charles II's Oxford Parliament (from the previous reign), ignoring the MPs who were just elected to James's

Loyal Parliament Loyal may refer to: * Loyalty Music * ''Loyal'' (album), by Dave Dobbyn, 1988 ** "Loyal" (Dave Dobbyn song) * ''The Loyal'', an album by Tiger Lou, 2005 * "Loyal" (Chris Brown song), 2013 * "Loyal" (PartyNextDoor song), 2019 * "Loyal", a song ...

of 1685. The Earl of Nottingham proposed a conditional restoration of King James II, an idea supported by

Archbishop Sancroft William Sancroft (30 January 161724 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulge ...

, but the proposal was rejected and instead the assembly asked William to summon a convention.

Convention of 1689

The Convention Parliament was elected in January and first met on 22 January 1689. The parliament spent much time arguing over whether James II was considered to have abdicated or abandoned the throne in some manner and who then should take the crown. The Whigs referred to theories of

social contract In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Social ...

and argued that William alone should now be king. A few 'Radical' Whigs argued for a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, but most Whigs argued for a limited monarchy. The Tories favoured the retention of James II, a regency, or William's wife, Mary, alone as queen. Archbishop Sancroft and loyalist bishops preferred that James II be conditionally restored. On 29 January, it was resolved that England was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

kingdom and only a Protestant could be king, thus disinheriting a Catholic claimant. James was a Roman Catholic. By the beginning of February, the Commons agreed on the descriptor "abdicated" and that the throne was vacant, but the Lords rejected abdicated as the term was unknown in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

and indicated that even if the throne was vacant, it should automatically pass to the next in line, which implied it was to be Mary. However, on 6 February the Lords capitulated, primarily since it became apparent that neither Mary nor Anne would agree to rule in place of William. As a compromise, the Lords proposed that William III and

should both take the throne, which the Commons agreed if William alone held regal power. The parliament drew up a Declaration of Right to address abuses of government under James II and to secure the religion and liberties of

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, which was finalised on 12 February. On 13 February, William and Mary were proclaimed King and Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. The acceptance of the Crown was conditional not upon acceptance of the Declaration of Right but on the assumption that they rule according to law.Harris 2006 p.347 On 23 February 1689, King William III reconvened the Convention into a regular parliament by dissolving it and summoning a new parliament almost a year later. The actions of the Convention Parliament were regularised in early 1690 by the

Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689 The Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689 (2 Will & Mary c 1) was an Act of the Parliament of England, passed in 1690. It was designed to confirm the succession to the throne of King William III and Queen Mary II of England and to confirm ...

, the first act passed by the regularly elected 2nd Parliament of William and Mary following a new election.

Effect on Thirteen Colonies

The Convention Parliament of 1689 would be imitated in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centu ...

, and the use of such conventions as an "instrument of transition" became more acceptable and more often used by the Colonies, resulting most notably in the 1787 Constitutional Convention which drew up the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

Notable Acts of the Parliament

Bill of Rights 1688 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Roya ...

Toleration Act 1688 The Toleration Act 1688 (1 Will & Mary c 18), also referred to as the Act of Toleration, was an Act of the Parliament of England. Passed in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, it received royal assent on 24 May 1689. The Act allowed for f ...

* Mines Royal Act 1688

References

Sources

Citations

{{authority control 1689 in England 17th-century English parliaments Constitutional conventions (political meeting) Glorious Revolution 1689 in politics English monarchy The Restoration