Joint monarchs

William III (William of Orange) and Mary II got married in 1677. They became joint King and Queen in 1689 and reigned together for five years until Mary's death in 1694.

Important changes that took place during their reign

Joint Rulers and Parliament

One of the important changes affected the balance of power between the monarch and Parliament. From 1688, it was a rule to summoned Parliament each year. One of the reason for that was the monarch’s dependence on tax revenues. The wars required a lot of money, which could be ensured by annual sessions of Parliament given that Parliament could not only impose new taxes, but also decide how to spend them. Therefore without the held of the Parliament the tax system would have had a lot of difficulties. The power of Parliament was also supported by the Triennial Act of 1694. Obviously, Parliament exploited its new power to the fullest extent. Firstly, from 1690 onwards, a Common Commission of Public Accounts controlled government expenses. Moreover, parliamentary guarantees decided on the government’s fiscal credit, which meant that they decided whether the monarchs could borrow money from the bank, which foundation in 1694 (in England and in 1695 in Scotland) was part of that process. Of course, not all the changes were accepted easily by William III. He tried to ban some of the decisions of Parliament until he was forced to accept them due to the lack of money.

Joint Rulers and the Judiciary

The monarch's power over the judiciary was diminished as well. In 1701 the Act of Settlement was passed, its official name was the following: "Act for the further limitation of the Crown, and better securing the fights and liberties of the subject " (Smith (1998:315)). That Act not just excluded all Catholic heirs from ascending the throne, which meant that only Protestants could claim for the position of the ruler of the country, it also restricted the power of the monarchs. This Act entered into force after the Queen Anne died.

Cabinet government

Another important change was the formation of Cabinet government. The reason for its creation was the constant absence of William III because of the wars and the necessity of his wife to reign alone, who needed help in the financial, diplomatic and military questions. Cabinet government usually consisted of 9-16 members and it established connection between Parliament and the monarchs. Mary II sought the help of Cabinet government until her death in 1694, after which Anne continued to use the Cabinet.

Political culture

Major transformation in political culture started taking place during their reign. It cannot be denied that parties existed before William III and Mary II reign, however their rapid growth happened during their government, or at least it started at that time. This can be seen on the fact, that such terms as Whig and Tory emerged, which mirrored the main political opposition in the country. The sessions of Parliament were longer in comparison to the years before, as well as the intervals between them were shorter, which encouraged the growth and development of the political parties.

Sources

• “William III (r. 1689-1702) and Mary II (r. 1689-1694)”, ‘royal.uk’, https://www.royal.uk/william-and-mary
• “King William III and Queen Mary II (1689 - 1702)”, ‘Britroyals.com’, https://britroyals.com/kings.asp?id=william3
• Smith L., David. A History of the Modern British Isles 1603-1707. Blackwell, 1998.
• Cannon, John & Ralph Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.