James II served as a soldier in continental Europe during the exile of the Stuart royal family and became lord high admiral after his brother Charles II's restoration in 1660. His naval responsibilities included command during the Anglo-Dutch wars. Conversion to Catholicism made his position contentious, and the Test Act forced him to give up office in 1673. Attempts to exclude him from the succession failed, and he inherited the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns in 1685.

His reign initially enjoyed support. The rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth was defeated at Sedgemoor, followed by executions and transportation of prisoners. James enlarged the standing army and appointed Catholic officers, using royal dispensing power to bypass legal restrictions. Conflict over these appointments and his wider religious policy estranged many who had defended hereditary monarchy during the exclusion controversy.

The Declarations of Indulgence suspended penalties against Catholics and Protestant dissenters. They offered wider freedom of worship, but James's reliance on prerogative rather than parliamentary legislation raised fears of arbitrary government. His attempts to secure compliant officials intensified opposition. When seven bishops petitioned against an order to read the declaration in churches, their prosecution and acquittal in 1688 became a rebuke to the king.

The birth of a son that June raised the prospect of a continuing Catholic dynasty. William of Orange, husband of James's Protestant daughter Mary, invaded in November with the encouragement of English opponents. Desertions undermined James's army, and he fled to France in December. William and Mary subsequently received the crown. James attempted a restoration through Ireland, where his supporters established a government and army, but defeat at the Boyne in 1690 forced his return to France. His exiled court at Saint-Germain remained the focus of Jacobite allegiance until his death in 1701.