Some Remarks on the Origins of the Term ‘Glorious Revolution’

Abstract

IThe 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688-89 has always been a subject of intense debate. Obviously, the understanding of it has continually been challenged by varying circumstances and discourses. Therefore, it is not surprising that important studies on the structure of political debates and legitimation strategies have already been published, for example, by John R Kenyon, Mark Goldie and Tony Claydon. These works focus particularly on the context of the of 1688 and its aftermath.1 According to these historians, the use of a certain vocabulary was instrumental in generating acceptance of the Revolution. They neglect, however, to question how and when the term 'Glorious Revolution' was invented, although the label that had been given to the event must be considered as an essential part of the way of talking about it. The terms employed helped to influence the imagination of the public and to create an idea of what had happened. The terminology surrounding the was therefore of vital importance for contemporaries as it is for historians attempting to understand how the image of it had been framed.2 It is well known that contemporaries already spoke of a 'revolution' when they referred to the events of 1688-89.3 Originally borrowed from astronomy, where it described a full circulation of celestial bodies, in the seventeenth century the term 'revolution' when applied to political events still had a restorative meaning.4 Thus, by its use, the event could be distinguished from the tumultuous years of the Civil War in the mid-century. Whereas the latter was depicted as unlawful rebellion, the (at least in the mainstream of political thought) was interpreted as a conservative and moderate measure to restore the ancient rights and liberties of England.5 In this sense, the word 'revolution' was used by contemporaries and carried positive connotations. But at what point did the become 'glorious'?Little research has been done on the first appearance of the term 'Glorious Revolution'. According to Gerald Straka, it had been coined immediately after the Revolution, or in his own words: Tt was called the Revolution from its onset'. But he provides no evidence for that assumption.6 Only one short article attempts to clarify the problem systematically. In that study, James R. Hertzler rejects Straka's claim and stresses that no historian in the eighteenth century ever spoke of a 'Glorious Revolution'.7 Moreover, Hertzler argues that the term 'Glorious Revolution' had not been in use at all until 1706.8 In his view, Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury and formerly one of the chief propagandists of William III, is the person most likely to have coined the term. Hertzler mentions a thanksgiving sermon by Burnet from 1706 in support of his claim.9 In fact, Burnet speaks of the events of 1688 as 'a Second Glorious and Happy 88' after the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588.10 In the same year, however, Samuel Rosewell did use the term on the title page of his printed sermon on the Fifth of November.11 At the end of the first decade of the eighteenth century, according to Hertzler, the term was fully established.12 Eveline Cruickshanks, however, gives evidence that the term had already been used in 1689, albeit not in a published form.13 Lois Schwoerer reconciles this notion with Hertzler's argument by assuming that the term was used once at that time and then 'appeared again' in 1706.14 Thus the dating of the term 'Glorious Revolution' as provided by Hertzler can be seen as the established date in present research.15Following this assumption, the term had not been part of the propaganda during William's reign, but appeared during the intense debates of the reign of Anne. The so-called 'rage of party' was opened by the dispute between Benjamin Hoadly, Francis Atterbury and Offspring Blackall after 1705 about the issue of resistance in the and continued during the Sacheverell affair in 1709/10. …