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 Cross-Tradition Connections
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 sentenceQuote, Channel-crossing narrative, landing-date sentence
William landed with an army in Devon on 5 November 1688.
2. Glorious Revolution (Wikipedia)
WikipediaChannel-crossing narrative, Torbay-arrival sentenceQuote, 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.
2. Glorious Revolution (Wikipedia)
WikipediaChannel-crossing narrative, landing-date sentence, year componentQuote, Channel-crossing narrative, landing-date sentence, year component
William landed with an army in Devon on 5 November 1688.
2. Glorious Revolution (Wikipedia)
WikipediaCrossing and Landing sectionQuote, 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.
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