Mary of Modena was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younger brother and heir presumptive of Charles II. She was devoted to James and their children, two of whom survived to adulthood: the Jacobite claimant to the thrones, James Francis Edward, and Louisa Maria Teresa.
Portrait by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1687
Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena, Mary's father, in a portrait by Justus Sustermans
James, Duke of York, in a portrait by Sir Peter Lely
Mary in the year of her husband's accession, 1685, in a painting by Willem Wissing
James VII and II was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His reign is now remembered primarily for conflicts over religious tolerance, but it also involved struggles over the principles of absolutism and the divine right of kings. His deposition ended a century of political and civil strife in England by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown.
Portrait by Peter Lely
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne, James's commander in France
James and Anne Hyde in the 1660s, by Sir Peter Lely
Wedding suit of James II, 1673, in the Victoria and Albert Museum