The Commonwealth The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries (Mozambique and Rwanda) were formerly part of the British Empire, out of which it developed. Civil War This is remembered as a contest between aristocratic, royalist Cavaliers and puritanical parliamentarian ‘Roundheads’ (they called them that way because of the style of their haircuts. The Roundheads were victorious by 1645, although the war periodically continued until 1649. The Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution of 1688 until 1689 replaced the reigning king, James II, with the joint of monarchy of his protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. It was the keystone of the Whig (those opposed to a Catholic succession) history of Britain. According to the Whig account, the events of the revolution were bloodless and the revolution settlement established the supremacy of parliament over the crown, setting Britain on the path towards constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The Bill of Rights what is that The Battle of the Boyne After James II (brother of Charles II, he took over the reign after Charles death) was deposed from the English and Scottish thrones, he fled to Ireland. But the Catholic Irish army he gathered over there was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and laws were then passed forbidding Catholics to vote or even own land. In Ulster (represents nowadays Northern Ireland) large number of fiercely anti-Catholic Scottish Presbyterians settled. The descendants of these people are still known today as Orangemen (after their patron William of Orange. They form one half of the tragic split in society in modern Northern Ireland, the other half being the native Irish Catholic (they feel like they’re part of the Republic of Ireland, while in fact, they belong to the UK. Ulster This name refers to the name of the portion of Ireland that belongs to the UK. Ulster is in fact one of the five ancient kingdoms of Ireland of the nine counties. Six are in the UK and the other in Ireland.
