Abstract
Abstract This chapter examines James VII and II’s relationship with his army as he started on political and religious reforms to promote Catholicism. James’s unruly army defended him during Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1685 and supported his policies, sparking civil–military conflict. The king’s military reviews on Hounslow Heath were the biggest public spectacle of his reign and suggested his military power over his international and domestic enemies. But the king’s subjects scrutinized the army for tantalizing signs that its members might ultimately be the preservers, rather than the destroyers, of Protestantism and parliament. Throughout his reign, James could not rely on the unanimous backing of army officers and soldiers and by 1688, a group of his most senior army officers was conspiring with William of Orange to support the Dutch invasion which would dethrone James and bring about the Revolution of 1688–9.
Published Version
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