| March 23 |  |
Editor says, what if the Rye House Plot had succeeded (and William III had not married Mary, daughter of James II)? In our timeline the royal party was diverted by the Newmarket Fire. This title has been taken from a discussion on the Alternate History web site. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the July 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1683, just a week before race day, the citizens of Newmarket extinguished a major fire which was threatening to destroy half the town. Indirectly, the brave actions of the townsfolk led to the downfall of the Royal House of Stuart.
The Regicide at Rye House Because King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York were killed north-east of Hoddesdon on their return from the races. The ambush had been well-organized by an extremist Whig group who had concealed a band of one hundred armed men in the grounds of the Rye House.
Contrary to the hopes of the conspirators, the country did not rise in rebellion against the Restored Stuart Monarchy and their crypto-Catholicism. And yet their was some cold comfort to be taken in the undeniable force of Parliamentary Power. Because twenty-one year old Mary II was placed on the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland on terms very different from those of her executed grandfather King Charles I.
Thoughts now turned to the task of marrying the Queen to a suitable European monarch. Her father had plans to form a personal union with the Protestant House of Orange, but it soon became clear that Willem would insist on a co-monarchy, and this led Parliamentarians to the conclusion that a French noble was a more strategic choice.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Rye House, House of Stuart, James II, Charles II, England. Editor says, in this article we have repurposed significant amounts of content from Alternate History Discussion Site and Wikipedia. It has even been suggested that the plot was a fake conspiracy manufactured by Charles to subdue his political rivals. This is because the plotters had business interests in the Americas that overlapped their intrigues.
~ They could have gone with a British noble, if they could figure out among themselves who it could be. It could have brought the republican sense of Britain back much earlier than experimenting with Hanover rule.
~ Lord Bunny Wigglesbottom?
~ Without the shortsightedness of Jimmy 2&7 English anti-catholicism would be rather less severe, but the rivalry with the Sun King was still a major factor at this point so looking further east or south would be more probable.
~ What sort of monarch would Mary II and I have been? In OTL she was content to follow in William of Orange's footsteps...would she have been as docile with a different husband?
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