England was in an awkward situation in 1689. The unpopular king James II had fled; William of Orange, the “liberator” who had saved the country from this supposed despot, was not likely to return to his native Dutch Republic uncompensated. The solution: crowning both William and his English wife Mary (who just happened to be James’s daughter) as rulers. But William was unwilling to share power, and he disliked like the English. The joint reign of William III and Mary II brought surprising and unanticipated consequences to the realm.