The ''Invitation to William'' was a letter sent by seven Englishmen (six nobles and a bishop), later referred to as "the Immortal Seven", to

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

William III, Prince of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

, dated 30 June 1688 (

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, 10 July

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

). In England, the heir apparent to the throne,

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

, had just been born to the unpopular King

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

, and baptised a Catholic. The letter asked William, who was a nephew and son-in-law of James II, to use military intervention to force the king to make his eldest daughter, Mary, William's Protestant wife, his heir. The letter alleged that the newborn prince was an impostor. The letter informed William that if he were to land in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

with a small army, the signatories and their allies would rise up and support him. The ''Invitation'' briefly rehashed the grievances against King James. It claimed that the king's son was supposititious (fraudulently substituted) and that the English people generally believed him to be so. The present consensus among historians is that he was almost certainly their real son. The letter deplored that William had sent a letter to James congratulating him for the birth of his son, and offered some brief strategy on the logistics of the proposed landing of troops. It was carried to William in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Arthur Herbert (the later Lord Torrington) disguised as a common sailor, and identified by a secret

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

. The invitation caused William to carry out his existing plans to land with a large Dutch army, culminating in the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

during which James was deposed and replaced by William and Mary as joint rulers. William and Mary had previously asked for such an invitation when William started to assemble an invasion force that April. This request was done through secret correspondence that had been taking place since April 1687, between them and several leading English politicians, regarding how best to counter the pro-Catholic policies of James. William later justified his invasion by the fact that he was invited, which helped to disguise the military, cultural, and political impact that the Dutch regime had on England when his reign was unpopular and he feared a popular uprising. The signatories were: * Henry Sydney (who wrote the letter) * Edward Russell * Charles Talbot, 12th Earl of Shrewsbury * William Cavendish, 4th Earl of Devonshire * Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of Danby * Richard Lumley, 2nd Viscount Lumley * Henry Compton,

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

Danby and Compton were generally considered to be Tories (court party), the other five as Whigs (country party). After William's rise to power, five were elevated further in the peerage, and Russell was made a peer with the mid-rank of earl. Compton as Bishop of London had his suspension (for refusing to suspend the strongly anti-Catholic John Sharp), running into a third year, lifted; he performed the coronation, granted lands in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

to his second cousin, and became a commissioner in revision of the litany.

The invitation declared:

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite book , last=Prall , first=Stuart , title=The Bloodless Revolution: England, 1688 , publisher=Anchor Books , location=Garden City, New York , date=1972 Stuart England 1688 in England 1688 documents Anti-Catholicism in England Glorious Revolution William III of England 17th-century documents

Contents

References

Sources