James II, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, reigned from 1685 to 1688. His reign was marked by religious and political turmoil, and he was eventually overthrown in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James's attempts to impose Catholicism on his Protestant subjects and his close ties to France led to widespread opposition, culminating in the invitation to his Protestant son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England. James was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and fled to France, where he lived in exile until his death in 1701. His reign is remembered as a time of great political and religious upheaval, and his legacy continues to be debated by historians.
