Battle of The Boyne Day
By tony leather, 5th Jul 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsEducation
The battle of the Boyne is a landmark event in British affairs, as well as an unforgettable moment in Irish history, celebrated by the Orange Order every year without fail.
Battle of The Boyne Day
July 1st marked, officially, the 321st anniversary if the battle of the Boyne, in which William of Orange achieved a famous victory that was a triumph for his beloved Protestantism in Ireland, making this day, for northern Irish . Orangemen, practically sacred, though in truth the decisive battle actually took place on July 1st in that year of 1690, but 50years later, when the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian, days were lost, and somehow the 12th became the day of commemoration
King William, oddly enough, was actually on the side of the Pope. Many Protestant historians gloss over this strange truth, which really needs to be seen in context, religious allegiance or scruples often pushed, at the time, to one side in pursuit of royal ambition.
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William III was a protestant, and headed the Dutch royal house of Orange, married the Protestant-raised daughter of King James II of Britain, a Catholic by conversion, Mary. It was in fact the ruthless determination of her father to lead Britain back into Catholicism that had managed to alienate not only his subjects but the royal court as well.
In 1688, William and Mary were invited, by disaffected courtiers to take the English throne. Realizing that he was on a losing side, James fled with the royal army, led by the future Duke of Marlborough, to France, where he had a friend in and ally in catholic Louis XIV of France, at that time keen to become master of all of Europe, including England.
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William hated the French with a vengeance, becoming an eager member of the League of Augsburg , powers opposed to Louis that included Leopold, Austrian emperor, and Pope Alexander VIII, so the fact was that James elected to land in Ireland, trying win back the English crown for the Catholics, he was indirectly fighting the
William, on the other hand, though defending the rising tide of the Protestant faith, was advancing the cause of the Vatican at the same time. Even so, his winning, at mouth of the River Boyne, was of massive import to both England and Ireland, cementing Mary and himself firmly as monarchs.
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The victory also consolidated the huge changes in the way of government in England that came to be known as the Glorious Revolution, William fully accepting the supremacy of parliament, making the battle of the Boyne a landmark event in British affairs, as well as an unforgettable moment in Irish history, celebrated by the Orange Order every year without fail.
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7th Jul 2012 (#)
Informative post
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