British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley Episode 2: The Glorious Revolution

In this episode, Lucy debunks another of the biggest fibs in British history - the 'Glorious Revolution'. In 1688, the British Isles were invaded by a huge army led by Dutch prince, William of Orange. With his English wife Mary he stole the throne from Mary's father, the Catholic King James II. This was the death knell for absolute royal power and laid the foundations of our constitutional monarchy. It was spun as a 'glorious and bloodless revolution'. But how 'glorious' was it really? It led to huge slaughter in Ireland and Scotland. Lucy reveals how the facts and fictions surrounding 1688 have shaped our national story ever since. Subscribe and like!

Comments

1. Love, Love, Love your channel! Super content and no annoying ads in the middle. I'll watch docs all day long but Lucy Worsley is my favorite! ... Got my sub!
2. It's a good episode, but it does miss some important information. It would help to show why Holland was so vulnerable to France: Holland was super rich (20% of the world's gold was in Amsterdam) and maintained its wealth by having a world class navy. But their land army was weak and Holland had a very small population ( 2 million Dutch vs 20 million French). It was therefore super easy for Louis XIV to just march in and remove France's economic, imperial and religious competitor. Louis had also proven by that time that he really didn't like Protestants, by abolishing religious freedom in France and reintroducing the persecution of them. From this episode it seems as though William was primarily motivated to fight Louis because they were simply 'arch enemies'.
   Also, it should have been noted just how huge the Dutch invading army was, and that it consisted mostly of German and Polish hired soldiers. These facts show that William was seriously expecting a big fight with James, and thus help prove that it actually was a hostile invasion and not an inside coup. Finally, it needs to be noted that King James' army was about the same size as William's, so that if James had chosen to fight, he may very well have won.
3. She kind of has a Michael Cain type sound to her accent... Are they from the same region in Britain? Sorry, I mean no offense just interested, I'm American (unfortunately at the moment) but my grandmother and great grandmother are from Britain, always remembered one story of my grandma and her mother (my great grand) hiding under the table during the bombing during WWII and my grandmother whom was very young at the time playing with her toys under it like nothing bad was happening, so desensitized to it all.
   
   My grandmother lost her accent from coming to America and moving to California at such a young age right after the war but my great grandmother had an accent that almost slightly sounded like Robin Williams accent in ms.Doubtfire (I know terrible impersonation, but it did sound similar, may have just been her old age and maybe the fact she picked up a slight Minnesota accent) , always wondered where they were from before the move but unfortunately my grandmother died of cancer and soon after her mother passed as well before I could ask them, anyone know what part of Britain Robin Williams based his accent on in ms.Doubtfire?
4. My favourite historian! :-)
5. I am a big fan of Lucy, who is a great story teller, an intellectual historian, with an intense perky personality. I luv all documentaries. The British history of the bloodless revolution (an exaggerated fib) of 1688 by William and Mary's invited invasion, and subsequent King and Queen coronation of Britain, where British history claims was the start of their Democracy, is quite another exaggerated fib indeed, thus the subject of this documentary story. First of all, when you choose to live in and under a monarchy, a King or Queen rule, the conditions of abuse of power against the people is an inevitable consequence, the degree to which depends on the King or Queen. Secondly, as some MPs stated in the 1980s, many in Ireland and Scotland did not fair well, let alone the women and children of those unlucky enough to not be born in a aristocratic family home, were not much better off than before. Thus this narrative that it was because William and Mary the Nation of Britain and Democracy was created, started, is a deceptive misleading falsehood, is an understatement. That said, it was because of brave people who took matters on their own, who took a different approach other the normal bloody mob revolution that like that of the French Revolution, that enabled them to solve the King James tyranny problem, and securing a future that better assured their freedoms and autonomy from abusive monarchial rule.. and not that of King William and Mary. Regardless, inevitably, even with a better King on the throne, the people were still subjects and still subjected to the monarchial system of rule.Thus it was severely hypocritical and most erroneous to say that their Democracy was started, created in 1688. There was no Democracy, but just the seeds of Democracy had been planted while still living under a Monarchy, which btw they still retain in the 21 century, albeit just ceremonial position of regal stature. Nonetheless, they live a life of luxury at the people / tax payers expense, whom still believe in a fantasy fairytale of Kings and Queens, Princes and Dukes.
6. I enjoy historical documentaries along with reading a great deal of historical and biographical books. I must admit that I don't have a deep knowledge of British History but very well written and produced documentaries like this one fills in my knowledge gap and are also very enjoyable to watch. I have nothing but the highest praise for this episode. Thank you for uploading it.
7. Lucy Worsley possesses a spunkiness that makes her fun to watch. Thanks for uploading!
8. It's a good documentary, but Marxist nonsense aside it doesn't really succeed in establishing its premise, does it? William may have arrived with lots of troops, but the power shift from Crown to Parliament rather does make it rather more of a revolution. The crown William won wasn't quite the same as the one taken from James, and William clearly would not have succeeded without Parliamentary support in the first place.
   
   It might not have been glorious, or bloodless, but it most assuredly was a revolution.
9. And here I thought the house of lords was created after magna carta. :V
10. The dutch must have known the power of newspaper, and its ability for propaganda, which allowed William to succeed the throne. One of the first newspapers in the world appeared in the netherlands in the 17th century.
11. As a former Dragoon, myself I just loved listening to her explenation of what a Dragoon used to be - what gave that kind of soldiers their name....!
    Honestly, I never knew that was the "story" behind the name - I've often wondered, but thought it had more to do with the high speed and firepower these versatile mounted infantry/light cavalery reconnaissance units possessed, (including the ability to "shapeshift" between the role of mounted skirmishing scouts and infantrymen with high maneuverability)
    Thank you Lucy - and thank you very much to the uploader of this Documentary....
12. This commentator is a disgusting skank.
13. Anyone else notice that they skipped right over Britons first real kick in their teeth? They went from the 17th, and jumped to the 19th century.
14. Great documentary and great presentation by Lucy Worsley. Background music is beautiful too.
15. I gotta say, I enjoyed the first episode; but if more collusion than is historically noted between William of Orange and English nobles is the level of fibs hidden in Britain's closet...it's a bit of a yawn fest. As to not being "glorious" because it didn't introduce full suffrage? It's a simplistic view that ignores that the social changes we have seen in politics have come gradually. The Magna Carta is impressive. Did it give everyone in England the right to trial by their peers? No. But it paved the way for that right to exist, and then spread. The U.S. constitution is no less impressive just because it did not outlaw slavery immediately.
    Both little and big steps in their day are worth celebrating, as they have got us to where we are today.
16. SUBSCRIBED ~ fabulous vault of docs. Thank you
17. So, in a way, I can thank William of Orange for my grandparents coming to America from Northern Ireland - they were tired of dodging bullets on their way to mass.
18. I think she'd be great on QI.
19. 17:54 Context.