The Religious History of England's Glorious Revolution

For more than three centuries, the Glorious Revolution has been presented as one of the defining triumphs of the modern West: a peaceful assertion of liberty, a bloodless correction of monarchical excess, the serene birth of constitutional government. This narrative, polished by generations of Whig historians and reinforced by Protestant memory, has become so deeply embedded in the English-speaking imagination that to question it can appear almost impious. Yet the very ease with which this interpretation has been accepted should give us pause. The events of 1688 were neither bloodless nor purely political, and they were certainly not a triumph for all the peoples of the British Isles. They marked, instead, a decisive moment in the long and often tragic conflict between the Catholic Church and the post-Reformation English state. The purpose of this study is to frame the Glorious Revolution not as a triumph of liberty, but as a watershed moment in the long conflict between the Catholic Church and the post¿Reformation English state.