GIACOMO II, king of ENGLAND. - B. in London, 15 Oct. 1633; d. at St. Germain, 17 Sept. 1701. The second son of Carlo I, he was imprisoned during the revolution in which, after the overthrow of the throne, his father lost his life. After two years of imprisonment (1646–48), he succeeded in escaping, first to Holland and then to France. When the restoration took place under his brother Carlo II, he returned to his homeland, and in 1672 publicly announced his conversion to Catholicism. His second marriage to Maria Beatrice di Modena (1673) intensified the hostility surrounding him, and his ties with France and his support for the Catholic cause compelled him to take refuge in Belgium (1678).
Nevertheless, upon his brother’s death (1685), he ascended the throne without opposition and proved an able administrator of the army and navy. But he encountered serious difficulties from the very beginning of his religious policy. His resolute policy of Catholic restoration in a country by then firmly rooted in Protestantism created a bloody chain of rebellions and repressions, which aggravated relations between the sovereign and his many opponents, so much so that they turned to Guglielmo d'Orange, son-in-law of G. II and favorable to the Anglican party. Guglielmo landed in England at the head of an army and was proclaimed king (1688), while G. II was forced to flee to France.