The Supremacy of Parliament

James II (reigned 1685-88) was the last Catholic monarch of England. His appointment of Catholics to high offices and the birth of a male heir caused widespread fear that he would destroy the Church of England and attempt to reimpose Roman Catholicism. This led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Parliamentary leaders invited William of Orange and his wife, Mary, daughter of James II, to take the throne; both were Protestant. They ruled jointly as William III and Mary II. They accepted the Bill of Rights, proclaimed by Parliament in 1689, which made clear the supremacy of the legislative body. William ruled alone for eight years after his wife died in 1694.

In 1701 Parliament adopted the Act of Settlement, which required that future rulers belong to the Church of England. Meanwhile, there was an expansion of English trade with the continent of Europe and growth of English power in the New World.