Mary of Modena


Mary of Modena

(mŏd`ĭnə), 1658–1718, queen consort of James IIJames II,
1633–1701, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1685–88); second son of Charles I, brother and successor of Charles II. Early Life
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 of England; daughter of Alfonso IV, duke of Modena. Her marriage (1673) to James, then duke of York, was brought about through the influence of Louis XIV of France. Mary was a devout Roman Catholic and therefore unpopular in Protestant England. When she bore a son in 1688, it was widely rumored that this Catholic heir to the throne was a changeling, and fear of a Catholic succession precipitated the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution,
in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of William III and Mary II to the English throne. It is also called the Bloodless Revolution.
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 that overthrew James II. Mary fled to France with her son, James Francis Edward StuartStuart or Stewart, James Francis Edward,
1688–1766, claimant to the British throne, son of James II and Mary of Modena; called the Old Pretender.
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, and worked tirelessly to advance his claims to the English throne (see JacobitesJacobites
, adherents of the exiled branch of the house of Stuart who sought to restore James II and his descendants to the English and Scottish thrones after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. They take their name from the Latin form (Jacobus) of the name James.
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).