1689 – William III and Mary II are Crowned as Great Britain’s Joint Rulers

With the fall of her father, James II, his oldest daughter Mary was next in line to the throne, bringing an end to a Catholic monarchy in Great Britain.  Since she had been married to her cousin William of Orange in 1677, the two agreed to become joint rulers, something that had not been seen since the 1550’s when Mary I of England had married Philip II of Spain.  William and Mary’s marriage and reign went well until Mary’s death from smallpox in 1694 left the king devastated.  Already in ill health himself, William died of pneumonia eight years later and the throne was passed on to Mary’s younger sister, Queen Anne.