This royal person ruled in three countries at once as a co-ruler of her husband, being the queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. They named her after the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart. She was brought up in the Anglican faith, which played an important role in her fate. We will tell about the life and reign of Mary II in our article.
Origin
Maria was born in 1662 into the royal family. Her father was the Duke of York, the future English, as well as the Scottish and Irish king - James II Stuart. He was the son of Charles I, brother of Charles II and grandson of James I. Her mother - the first wife of her father - Anna Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon.
There were eight children in the family, but only Maria and Anna, her younger sister, survived to adulthood. In the future, Anna also became the queen of the three countries mentioned above and the last representative of the Stuart dynasty on the English throne.
Mary's birth fell on the reign of Charles II, her uncle. Her grandfather, Edward Hyde, was his advisor. Due to the fact that Karl did not have legitimate offspring, the princesswas in second place in the line of heirs to the throne after her father.
Early years
In St. James's Palace, in his Royal Chapel, the girl was baptized in the Anglican faith. Around 1669, her father, under pressure from his wife, was converted to Catholicism. The mother herself went on a faith change eight years before. But neither Mary nor Anna did this, and both were brought up in the bosom of the Anglican Church. This was the wish of their crowned uncle Charles II.
On his orders, in order to rid the girls of the influence of their mother and father, who became Catholics, they were transferred to Richmond Palace under the supervision of a governess. The life of princesses proceeded in isolation from the outside world. Only sometimes they were allowed to visit their parents and maternal grandfather. Maria was taught by private teachers. The circle of her education cannot be called wide. It included French, religious education, music, dancing, drawing.
In 1671, the mother of the princess died, and two years later her father married a second time to the Catholic Mary of Modena, who was only four years older than the girl. The latter quickly bonded with her stepmother, unlike Princess Anna.
Before the wedding
When the future Queen Mary II turned 15, she became engaged to her cousin, the Prince of Orange. At that time he was a stadtholder in the Netherlands. As the son of Mary Stuart, he was also "in line" for the English throne under the fourth number. In addition to the heirs already mentioned, Anna was in front of him.
At first, the king opposed this marriage, as he planned to marry the princess to Louis, the Dauphin of France. Thus, he wanted to unite both kingdoms. But under pressure from Parliament, which believed that an alliance with Catholic France was irrelevant, he approved this alliance.
The Duke of York, in turn, succumbed to the pressure of the king and only then agreed. As for the girl herself, she cried all day after learning about who she should marry.
Marriage
In 1677, tearful Mary and the Prince of Orange got married and left for the Netherlands, in The Hague. Contrary to expectations, the marriage turned out to be quite strong. He was enthusiastically received both in Holland and in Great Britain, and Mary came to the court of the Dutch. She was very devoted to her husband, who was absent for a long time, undertaking many military campaigns. When Wilhelm was in the city of Breda, the princess had a miscarriage. Subsequently, she could not have children, which greatly overshadowed her family life.
Rise to power
In 1688, the Glorious Revolution broke out in England, as a result of which the father of the Dutch princess James II was overthrown, because of which he was forced to flee to France. After that, Parliament called William III and his wife to power as co-rulers. That is, none of them was a consort, but both ruled as monarchs and were each other's heirs.
Meanwhile, James II had a son, the Prince of Wales, who was removed from the throne. Mary II officially declared the child a foundling, and not her brother. In February, the Dutch couple were declared rulers of England and Ireland, and in April of Scotland.
On the throne
During the joint reign of William III and his wife, in 1689, the Bill of Rights was issued, and the British legal system was improved.
The king was often absent from England, as he fought in Ireland with the supporters of James - the Jacobites - or with Louis XIV, the French king, on the continent. In addition, he visited his native Netherlands, remaining the ruler there.
In such cases, Mary II took the reins of government and made important decisions. So, for example, on her orders, her uncle, Lord Clarendon, who organized a conspiracy in favor of the disgraced King James, was arrested.
In 1692, the queen (probably also in a Jacobite case) imprisoned the 1st Duke of Marlborough - John Churchill. He was a famous statesman and military leader. In addition to the above, the ruler took an active part in matters of appointment to church positions. Maria died at the age of 33, having contracted smallpox. Her husband became her sole successor.
