Lot 2691

Description

James II,(1685-1688). Silver medal featuring Archbishop Sancroft and the seven bishops by George Bower. 51 mm diameter. Raised edge lettering. Obverse has a bust of Sancroft facing right wearing a cap and religious robing. Reverse features six medallions with cameo portraits of the imprisoned bishops, around that of the Bishop of London. This pleasantly toned piece is a significantly better preserved medal than most of the other specimens which appear in the marketplace. (MI p.622 No.37, Eimer 288). Toned, extremely fine or better, scarce.

James II became King on the death of his brother Charles II in 1685. James did not have the tact or diplomatic prowess of Charles and soon began to force his religious views on a sceptical nation. In 1687 he issued the Declaration of Indulgence, also known as the Declaration for Liberty of Conscience in which he used his suspending powers to negate the effects of laws punishing Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters. James ordered the Declaration to be read from the pulpits of every Anglican church - further alienating the bishops. Later, in 1688, when the Archbishop of Canterbury (William Sancroft) and 6 other bishops submitted a petition asking for the reconsideration of the King's religious policies they were arrested, placed in the Tower of London and tried for seditious libel. They were later brought before the Court of King's Bench and found not guilty. The famous episode - one of the key events in British history - led to the beginning of the end of the reign of James II and his replacement by his daughter and son-in-law, William II and Mary II. The right to petition the King, as the bishops had done, became enshrined in the new Bill of Rights introduced in 1689.