The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English and Irish crowns on Protestants only. This had the effect of deposing the descendants of Charles I (other than his Protestant granddaughter Princess (later Queen) Anne) as the next Protestant in line to the throne was the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James VI and I. After her, the crowns would descend only to her non-Catholic heirs.