13th February: William and Mary

On this date in 1689 William III and Mary II ascended the English throne.

1. This couple became joint monarchs of England after Mary's half brother, James II, abdicated and fled the country.
2. He fled because William had invaded, landing in Brixham on 5 November 1688, with the support of Parliament, who'd grown tired of Catholic monarchs and wanted a protestant on the throne. William is the last person to successfully invade England by force of arms.
3. William was the Dutch Prince of Orange, a title inherited from his father, who'd died of smallpox a week before he was born. His mother Mary, Princess Royal, was the daughter of King Charles I of England.
4. Mary was the eldest daughter of the future James II of England and his first wife Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward, Earl of Clarendon. Anne Hyde had been a maid of honour to William's mother, Mary Stuart. They married because Anne was pregnant.
5. William and Mary were first cousins. She was 11 years younger than him.
6. She didn't want to marry him at first and cried for a day and a half when told she was to marry him. She also cried all through their wedding, but in time, she became devoted to him.
7. William and Mary were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on 11 April 1689 by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton. The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, was a supporter of James and refused to perform the ceremony.
8. It was Mary, rather than William, who had the greatest claim to the the throne, but William wasn't satisfied with being just a consort. However, Mary, by then loyal to her husband, refused the throne unless they could rule jointly. She did, however, rule by herself whenever William was away from England.
9. Mary died of smallpox at the age of 32. William then ruled alone until he died. William and Mary had no children and William didn't marry again. He was found to have kept a lock of Mary's hair and her Wedding ring next to his heart - although there was speculation he was gay.
10. William died in 1702. His horse stumbled on a molehill, he fell off and broke his collarbone, and while recovering, contracted pneumonia and died. The next in line to the throne was Mary's sister Anne.