Glorious Revolution

English Revolution of 1688 was an almost bloodless revolution, sometimes called "The Glorious Revolution." It arose as the result of religious conflicts and the King's practice of dispensing with judges and Parliamentary laws that did not meet with his favor. King James II (1633-1701), a Roman Catholic and the last of the absolute English rulers, was forced to flee to France (1688) before Dutch forces that Tory and Whig leaders had asked the Protestant Prince William of Orange to bring to England. A special Parliament offered the throne to William and his wife, Protestant daughter of James II, and they became William III and Mary, joint rulers with powers limited by a Bill of Rights which later became a model for the American Bill of Rights. The revolution marked the ascendancy of the House of Commons over the House of Lords as well as the rise to power of the Whig Party over the Tory Party. It also marked the beginning of cabinet government, independence of judges, regular meetings of Parliament, the freedom of religious worship, Parliamentary budget control of taxes and expenditures and, later (1695), the freedom of the press.