Glorious Revolution

British  

noun

1. Also called: Bloodless Revolution.  the events of 1688–89 in England that resulted in the ousting of James II and the establishment of William III and Mary II as joint monarchs

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Glorious Revolution Cultural  

1. A revolution in Britain in 1688 in which the parliament deposed King James II, a Roman Catholic who had asserted royal rights over the rights of Parliament. Parliament gave the crown to the Protestant King William III, a Dutch prince, and his British wife, Queen Mary II (daughter of James II), as joint rulers. The Glorious Revolution was the last genuine revolution in Britain. Because there was little armed resistance in England to William and Mary, the revolution is also called the Bloodless Revolution. Battles did take place in Scotland and Ireland, however, between supporters of the new king and queen and the supporters of King James.

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When the crown was offered to William and Mary, they agreed to a Bill of Rights that severely limited the king or queen's power. The British Bill of Rights is often regarded as a forerunner to the United States Bill of Rights.

Example Sentences

The Protestant defenders of England’s Glorious Revolution of 1689, which deposed an autocratic monarch and established a constitutional government, were armed with a biblical text deeply rooted in Tyndale’s translation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

But the new system did not create a workable relationship between the executive and legislature the way the Glorious Revolution of 1688 had done in Britain, where king and Parliament became partners in governance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

The next great constitutional upheaval in Britain, the Glorious Revolution of 1688, displaced King James II in favor his daughter Mary and her consort, William of Orange.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 2025

Thirdly, Story discusses English history around the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the distinction between compact and constitution is richly illustrated, providing the historical legal grounding for his argument.

From Salon • Dec. 16, 2023

But history is written by the victors, and Glorious Revolution sounds so much better than Invasion if you want to keep the populace happy.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin