William III(of England,Scotland and Ireland),called William of Orange(1650-1702),King of England,Ireland and Scotland(1689-1702),and stadtholder of the Netherlands(1672-1702),who helped form the Grand Alliance and led England in its Glorious Revolution.After the accession(1685)of James II there was fear in England that the Kings policies were directed towards restoring power of the Roman Catholic Church.In July 1688,James principal opponents secretly invited William,who was Europes leading Protestant statesman,to bring an army of liberation to England.William and a force totalling about 15,000 men landed at Torbay on November 5,1688.Most of the English nobility declared for William,and James fled to France.
William accepted the Declaration of rights passed by the Convention Parliament,which met on January 22,1689,and on February 13,William and Mary were proclaimed joint sovereigns of England.Shortly after the conclusion of this Glorious Revolution,the scottish Parliament accepted the new rulers.
Predominantly Catholic Ireland,however,remained loyal to the desposed King and had to be taken by force.
THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE
In 1690 William led the Army that defeated James and his Irish partisans at the Battle of the Boyne.The Battle of the Boyne was fought on the banks of the Boyne River in Ireland on July 1st(Old style),1690,between troops of the exiled James II,former king of England,and the forces of the Netherlands ruler William of Orange.To prevent James from regaining his throne,William led an army of about 35,000 men to Ireland,where James was enconced with 21,000 of his supporters.In the subsequent engagement on the Boyne,James suffered a complete defeat,losing 1,500 men,while William only lost 500.James returned to exile in France.
