On this day, Louis XIV is staying at Marly. There is a dubious report from across the Channel:
“M de Louvois had some news from England, which is that His Britannic Majesty has gone into Scotland with 15,000 men, and that Milord Argyle has come himself to bring that news to the Prince of Orange.”
Commentary:
James II (of England and Ireland) & VII (of Scotland) fled London in December, 1688. He and his family have been given sanctuary in France by his cousin Louis XIV. King James is currently in Ireland trying to win back his thrones with French help.
Pictured: James II & VII (1630-1701), King of England, Ireland, and Scotland, in fact from 1685 to 1688 and in pretence until his death, my own close-up photo of a portrait by Lely in the Nat’l Portrait Gallery in London, taken in January, 2020.
This report is wishful thinking. James is still in Ireland and will never make it to the bigger island before returning to France.
The Prince of Orange is the newly proclaimed William III, who is now reigning jointly over England, Ireland, and Scotland with his wife, Mary II, who is King James’s eldest daughter by his late first wife. William and Mary are the only joint monarchs in British history.
The translation from the French is my own. Images that are not my own are in the public domain; I only explicitly credit them when the uploader has made it a condition of sharing his/her work via Wikimedia Commons. Words in italics in the body of the post or bold italics in verbatim translations and image captions are in the Glossary; the royal family and other Bourbons are in the Who’s Who guides; information about the sources is in the Bibliography; all of these are in the Resources section and freely available to paid subscribers and Grandes Entrées. If you have questions, please ask in the comments.
Wishful thinking and fake news have always come hand in hand in war and politics!
David: You are writing about 1680 era in France and England so please check him out and let me know if you are interested, he is on the internet of course. Here is a short history. Jean Tijou is the guy who built the gates at St Pauls and Hampton Court. He left France and went to Holland. Became friends with Queen Mary and William of Orange. Went with them to England in 1689 and built the gates. In 2025 this guy wrote a book saying that Jean is an Alias. There seams to be no proof either way. I am in Canada so it's hard to do research. I have written to V and A, History Today and others but no response. My interest is that Jean is my 6th great grandfather. Should we do this by email? Cheers Dave