Q&A
Who were the ‘Immortal Seven’?
• SHORT ANSWER
This group of noblemen didn’t want to live forever; they wanted a new king
• LONG ANSWER
It took less than three years as king for the Roman Catholic James VII and II to make enough enemies in Protestant England and Scotland that a group of nobles looked to get rid of him. They weren’t willing to lead a mass uprising or carry out an assassination, though. This ‘Immortal Seven’ sent an invitation, on 30 June 1688, to Holland’s stadtholder William of Orange, husband to James’ daughter Mary, to come and take the throne. “There are nineteen parts of twenty of the people throughout the Kingdom, who are desirous of a change,” it implored.
And William answered. The so-called Glorious Revolution was more or less bloodless in England as James fled into exile. The seven men who signed the invitation (in code) – earls Charles Talbot, William Cavendish and Thomas Osborne; Richard, Baron Lumley; naval officer Edward Russell; army officer Henry Sidney; and bishop of London Henry Compton – were all rewarded with better titles after William became king.
225
The number of recorded spellings since the 11th century for the Dutch city of Leeuwarden, making it the place with the most variants of its name in the world.