James II a king without a kingdom at Versailles

James II Stuart was king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1685 to 1688. Like his father Charles I before him, James saw the throne slip from his grasp following a revolution. But unlike him, James II saved his head by going into exile in France to return to this land which had already welcomed him during his first exile. His cousin Louis In twelve years of French life, James II visited Versailles ninety-four times. So many visits which were the sign of a more than cordial understanding between the two sovereigns.

By Kévin Guillot, journalist

On June 10/20, 1688 (England still respecting the Julian calendar), Queen Mary of Modena, second wife of King James II Stuart of England, gave birth to a little boy named Jacques François. Baptized the same day of his birth, the child became the symbol of the Catholic revival of the throne of Great Britain. It is now one hundred and fifty-four years since Anglicanism became the state religion of the British Isles. Anglican England does everything not to believe in this birth. Rumors are rife at the Court of Saint-James and dispute the veracity of the birth of the Prince of Wales. Outside of his Catholic faith, James II was criticized by parliamentarians for his policies. In a period of peace, it funds a standing army to guard against revolts. He offers key positions in his political entourage and his army to Catholics. The king dreams of personal government. In 1686, he did not hesitate to enact a law to govern freely. In the eyes of English politicians, James the Catholic is nothing other than James the tyrant. Seven of them met and sent a formal invitation to Prince William of Orange-Nassau, then Stadtholder of Holland and husband of James II's eldest daughter, to ask for help. These “seven immortals” quickly received a positive response (1).

The liberator set foot on English soil on November 5/15, 1688 with 15,000 men. James II did not want a surge of violence that would cost the lives of his dear subjects. This former soldier knows too well what such combat entails for human life. While his armed forces are superior in number, King James decides to lay down his arms against the army of his Dutch son-in-law. This glorious act will give its name to the revolution which is beginning. On December 11/21, James II hurriedly left London by boarding a ship that took him up the Thames to Kent. On board, he throws the royal seal into the river to signify that no man will be able to govern in his place. But the king was captured by William's men nine days later. For the new strong man of England, there was no question of making James II a martyr, so he decided to free him. On 23 December 1688/2 January 1689, the ousted monarch boarded a ship alongside his natural son Jacques Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, to reach France. A new destiny then opens for James II in a kingdom that lives to the rhythm of the Court of Versailles (2).

The prestigious welcome of a king without a kingdom

Louis XIV waited firmly for James II in front of the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on January 7, 1689. When the deposed king appeared, his wife and his son, aged only six months, were already with the Sun King. They fled England in December 1688 and took refuge in France. “Here is your house,” said the king, “when I come there you will do me the honors, and I will do them to you when you come to Versailles. » (3) With these words, Louis XIV intends to become the protector of his royal guests and offers them his castle of Saint-Germain. James II is not in unknown territory. In 1648, he had already designated France as a land of exile while his father Charles I fought against a revolution led by Oliver Cromwell. He was at the Louvre when he learned of his father's beheading one day in January 1649. During his years in France, Jacques, who was then only Duke of York, had fought the slingers under the orders of Turenne. While his older brother tried to regain his throne, he left alongside him in 1650 for a European exile until the reestablishment of the monarchy in England in 1660 (4).

Louis XIV first thought of developing the Château de Vincennes for the English family. However, according to an article in the magazine Le Mercure Galant, “His Majesty, believing the air of Saint-Germain-en-Laye better for the health of the young prince and the castle more convenient for seeing the queen more often, had changed design” (5) The king’s choice for Saint-Germain is far from being trivial. Louis XIV was attached to this castle all his life. It was here that he was born on September 5, 1638. Five years later, his father Louis XIII breathed his last there. The walls of Saint-Germain were also the ramparts that protected it from the Fronde which rumbled in Paris in 1649. Symbol of the young years of the Sun King, Saint-Germain had been entitled to its lot of work to beautify it and enlarge thanks to the talents of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Le Brun, Le Vau and of course the landscaper Le Nôtre, the quartet at the origin of Versailles (6). Saint-Germain-en-Laye is also ideally located. Between Paris and Versailles, the old castle has a strategic position. James II surrounded himself with a hundred Jacobites, who settled in the city and Paris, and took over the customs of the Saint-James court in his residence. But for now, James II’s obligations begin at Versailles.

The day after the reception at Saint-Germain, James II took the road to Versailles. Louis XIV intends to officially welcome this monarch without a kingdom to his palace. It has only been seven years since the king permanently settled there. “The king went to receive him as far as the end of the guard room, and then he led him into his room, always holding his hand. The two kings talked for a long time, then they entered the cabinet where they locked themselves. Then the king led the King of England through the gallery to Madame la Dauphine. » (7) With this visit to Versailles, Louis XIV demonstrated his power to King James, while presenting him to his court. During this first visit to Versailles, James II made a strong impression. “The King of England found the cabinets admirable and spoke as a connoisseur of the paintings, porcelain, crystals, and everything he saw there. » (8) This January 8, 1689, opened the ball for the Versailles visits of the King of England.

A royal friendship at Versailles

Queen Marie of Modena was also received at Versailles five days later. “The King received her at the top of the stairs. After a quarter of an hour of conversation, Her Majesty led her through the gallery to the apartment of Madame la Dauphine. » (9) As formal as that of James II, Louis XIV's welcome to the Queen of England was, however, less attentive to his host. The King of France gave more importance to his English counterpart, well beyond this single day in January 1689. James II was an exiled monarch, but he never officially abdicated. For him, nothing is lost yet. His usurping daughter and son-in-law pay nothing to wait. During numerous private interviews at Versailles, James II and Louis XIV spoke of a landing in England. On February 18, King Stuart went to Versailles to bid farewell to Louis XIV before embarking for Ireland (10). He left in March at the head of an army made up of French and Jacobite soldiers. The island never accepted the takeover of William III and Mary II and remained loyal to James II. While her husband was at war in Ireland, Mary of Modena prayed for him in her castle of Saint-Germain or during his visits to Paris, although she was only invited once to Versailles. On July 19, she discovered the fountains of the park in the company of the king and the dolphin (11). Finally, James II returned to France defeated in October 1690. His dreams of reconquering the English throne were pushed into the abyss. He now knows that France, more than a temporary exile, is the land that will welcome the autumn of his life.

The return of James II once again opens the season for Versailles visits. On October 29, 1690, the King and Queen of Great Britain came to visit Louis XIV, who received them privately in his cabinet (12). From this date, James II and Mary of Modena took part in all the festivities at Versailles. The slightest event is a pretext for an invitation sent to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Operas, balls, and courtesy visits, the English royal couple are regularly the guests of honor of Her Most Christian Majesty. Jacques II often participates in the evenings of the Grands Appartements where games, dancing, and snacks punctuate the time. Between 1690 and 1696, there were no fewer than sixty visits by James II and his wife to the palace. Among them, we can note the organization of an opera by Louis XIV in honor of the Queen of England in January 1691 (13), but also around ten dinners with the King of France on January 5, 1694 ( 14), or even walks in the immense park.

James II and Louis XIV had established a tradition. Every year, between January and February, the kings of England and France dined together with a more or less large assembly, but continually in front of the Versailles courtiers. At court, only Princess Palatine, with her murderous pen, dares to criticize the English king during her stays at Versailles. On September 13, 1690, while James II was fighting to regain his crown, she wrote to her aunt Sophie of Hanover: “I believe that I too will soon have “a little religion of my own”. And good King James too would have done better to act in this way rather than lose three kingdoms through bigotry. » (15) For Princess Palatine, a kingdom is better than a religion.

In short, these visits to Versailles between 1690 and 1696 reveal the deep affection between Louis the Great and James the dethroned. Legend has it that Louis XIV had no friends, but if among his entourage there is one who can easily be called that, it is James II. As proof, outside of Versailles, he was also the king's regular guest at Marly, Louis XIV happily hunting with him (16). “I made Versailles for my court, Marly for my friends, and Trianon for me. » Such a presence of the exiled sovereigns of England in this castle publicly shows the good feeling of the king towards them. In addition to Marly, Jacques II also came to Fontainebleau for two weeks each September or October (17), while the king stayed there for the hunting season, and sometimes at the Grand Trianon. Louis XIV also visited Jacques II very often in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. More than friends, the two monarchs share the same blood. Like Louis XIV, James II is a grandson of Henry IV. His mother, Henriette-Marie, was the sister of Louis XIII. The two men are therefore first cousins. In addition to this, Monsieur, brother of the king, was first married to Henrietta of England, the sister of James II, a woman very popular with the Sun King. The King of France therefore has more than one reason to offer a place of choice to his English cousin. But with Louis XIV, the politics of the kingdom prevailed over the reasons of the heart.

James II, the exile from Versailles became too cumbersome

On September 20, 1697, Louis XIV signed the Treaty of Ryswick which ended the War of the League of Augsburg. Among the conditions of peace, the King of France recognized to everyone's surprise the legitimacy of William III on the English throne (18). Louis XIV continued to invite his cousin to Versailles for a time. As indicated by the Marquis de Dangeau, on the following October 27, James II and his wife came to Versailles to visit the king (19). On December 7, James II and Queen Mary were invited to a most important event: the marriage of the Duke of Burgundy, second in line to the throne, to Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy. The Gazette then notes that at the time of the bed blessing, “the King and Queen of Great Britain gave the shirt to Monseigneur the Duke of Burgundy and the Queen to Madame the Duchess of Burgundy” (20). Versailles is made of symbols. Such a place attributed to the King and Queen of England during the union of the grandson of Louis XIV once again shows the affection that the old sovereign has for his cousin. However, 1697 proved to be the last year of the British royal couple's favor at Versailles.

With the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV was in an impasse. He wants to keep James II on his side, but he must also maintain his new good understanding with the England of William III. He cannot welcome the deposed king to Versailles as often as in the past. The palace is the official place of governance of the kingdom. Continuing to invite James II would be seen by England as an affront to its king. From 1698, the royal couple was only seen at Versailles one to four times a year. The contrast is total with the first years of the British couple in France. James II was received for the very last time at Versailles on June 14, 1701 (21). Nevertheless, Louis XIV appreciated his cousin too much to completely detach himself from him. The two men share a pronounced taste for art, music, and hunting. Both also have the same concept of power. It is therefore now in the discretion of Marly and Fontainebleau that the scenes of their friendship are played out. Officially, King Jacques is no longer present at Versailles. Unofficially, the Sun King continues to shine his impulses of kindness on him in his beloved castle of Marly. Despite everything, James II was invited to Versailles on December 2, 1700, to attend the farewell ceremony for Philip V of Spain (22). The grandson of Louis XIV is then about to leave for this kingdom which he inherited a year earlier.

On July 10, 1701 (23), the king was worried about the bad news coming from Saint-Germain. Weakened, James II was bedridden when the king visited him one last time on September 13 (24). Louis XIV is the monarch of paradoxes. While he officially recognized William III as the legitimate sovereign of Great Britain, in the last hours of James' life, he promised before a stunned court that he would recognize his son as the new king of England. It was with this promise in mind that James II breathed his last three days later. Despite this tragic death, Queen Marie and her children retained the grace of Louis XIV who continued to invite them from time to time to Versailles. But with the disappearance of James II, the Sun King sees one of his closest friends leave and opens the last chapter of his life.