On 5 November 1688, William of Orange landed at Torbay in Devon with an invasion fleet and army, having been invited by a group of English Protestant nobles and clergy alarmed at King James II's Catholicising policies and the birth of a Catholic heir. James II's support collapsed as his army defected, and he fled to France in December 1688, leaving the throne effectively vacant. A Convention Parliament declared the throne abdicated and offered the crown jointly to William and his wife Mary, James's Protestant daughter, in February 1689, conditioned on the Declaration of Right that became the English Bill of Rights. The landing, rather than the crown's eventual acceptance, was the discrete act that made the revolution's outcome possible.
Facts
Event DateSourced to the subject's own account LocationSourced to the subject's own account Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account Connections
Decisive Moment Of
Source Glorious Revolution (Britannica)
Sources
1. Glorious Revolution (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaQuote
Encyclopaedia Britannica account of the Glorious Revolution, covering William of Orange's landing at Torbay on 5 November 1688.
2. Glorious Revolution (Wikipedia)
WikipediaChannel-crossing narrative, landing-date sentence
William landed with an army in Devon on 5 November 1688.
Channel-crossing narrative, Torbay-arrival sentence
The same wind blowing the Dutch down the Channel trapped Dartmouth in the Thames estuary, leaving him unable to prevent William reaching Torbay on 5 November.
Channel-crossing narrative, landing-date sentence, year component
William landed with an army in Devon on 5 November 1688.
Crossing and Landing section
The same wind blowing the Dutch down the Channel trapped Dartmouth in the Thames estuary, leaving him unable to prevent William reaching Torbay on 5 November.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.