James II, ascended the throne, and his reign was marked by parliamentary control. Unlike his father before him, James II was a Catholic. Before he acceded to the throne, the parliament had tried to exclude him from the succession for fear that he might try to return England to the papacy. 

Unfortunately, the attempts at exclusion failed and he legally ascended the throne in 1685. As soon as he was proclaimed king James began to encourage Catholicism within the realm through various means. 

Once again the parliament was faced with a difficult decision regarding the monarch. The parliament decided to depose the monarch. An investigation into the laws of primogeniture revealed that the next in line for the throne would be William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic.

William’s claim to the throne was through the female line namely his wife Mary. However, such a claim was legal in England. Parliament sent a covert message to William inviting him to invade England with a Protestant army and seize the throne. They promised to welcome him with open arms, predicting that the English army would not fight for the Catholic James II.