I’ve spent many years now being on the fringes of British society as one of the few Jacobite activists left in the country.
Not only am I a Jacobite, but I am Catholic. And daughter of a vehemently post-Catholic, non-conformist, non-denom. You can imagine the discrimination I face on a daily basis.
It is a lonely place. I have spent years trying to shape my identity as a Catholic in a Protestant country. So you can imagine my surprise when none other than an American, put an extremely unique spin on it in a Twitter thread this week.
Suddenly my eyes were opened! Why don’t we talk more about this? The elites in our nation literally “invited William of Orange, a [completely random] Dutch Protestant, to invade [our] country.”
To quote professor Yates Sexton; “Paranoid appeals… led to the total overthrow of the English [Catholic] monarchy by foreign invaders.”
We literally went from a Catholic country to a Protestant one overnight. But no, in British schools we only learn about things unconnected to Britain like slavery, and nothing about these injustices closer to home.
There are many lines in the thread I love but I think this one might be my favourite;
That’s right. It’s Qanon in the 17th century.
Anthony Burgess, author of “A Clockwork Orange” insisted on Purcell’s The Funeral of Queen Mary for the opening credits to Kubrick’s adaptation. Why? Because a Clockwork ORANGE was a subtle reference to the “glorious” Revolution, while the book itself tells of a society descending into hell, after being colonised by apostate invaders from the East. Coincidence? I think not.
Sure I know what you are thinking, James II like his father, was born into a protestant country/Monarchy. But James II, like many of our Kings before and after him, married a Catholic (good taste); so that changed everything.
To conclude, the “glorious” Revolution — I use glorious ironically of course and always de-capitalise — was not so glorious, and was only the start of a steep descent into fascism on these isles.
Because the Act of Succession was fascism. A Catholic could no longer be King. He could not even *love* a Catholic. Then people acted surprised when London was set aflame and the gutters flowed with gin, during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots — the closest England has ever come to a definitely-not-so-glorious revolution.
Until now I had not truly understood how conspiracy theories were spun. So thank you professor Jared Yates Sexton, you have done the British people — and most importantly the minority Catholic community — a great service.
I think it’s really wonderful to see people who have accumulated a lot of knowledge in this area, sharing it with the masses.
(Am now waiting in vain for someone to photoshop Trump’s orange face onto King Billy’s orange face in Sandy Row.)
