The Siege Of Derry

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The Siege Of Derry

There where many reasons why the siege begun but it all begun back in

1685 when Charles II died and he had no children so his successor was

his brother James, but James was a catholic but the country he was to

rule over was protestant. The protestants prepared to accept him as

king if he promised to govern according to the laws of England and to

accept the advise of the parliament. They were also reassured by the

fact that James' heir was his daughter from his first marriage, Mary,

who was a protestant and was married to Prince William of Orange. His

second marriage was childless.

James then allowed priests to celebrate mass in the palace; he

repealed laws against Catholics, which meant they could now become

important people.

The last straw for the protestant people was when James II's wife Mary

Of Modena, a catholic gave birth to her son who would now become the

heir to the throne. The English people started to see a long line of

catholic kings and queens, so a group of noblemen who were determined

not to let this happen, invited Mary and Prince William of Orange to

take the throne of England. They decided for William to land in

England in November 1688.

James II soon fled to France to his cousin, the catholic king Louis

XIV, in December 1688 without striking a blow in defence of his

kingdom. No blood had been shed and this is why this event is known in

England as the glorious revolution.

Mean while in Ireland there were more catholic subjects so they

welcomed a catholic king but the protestants were worried, they feared

that they would lose the land that they were given after it was taking

from the Catholics. James wanted to help his catholic subjects but he

didn't want to alarm the more powerful protestant. To reassure them he

appointed his protestant brother-in-law, the Earl Of Claredon as lord

lieutenant of Ireland. Although Irish Protestants were pleased with

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