Glorious Revolution
On 13 February 1689, Parliament passed the Declaration of Right, which said that James, by trying to run away on 11 December 1688, had abdicated and so no one at the time was king. Normally, James's oldest son, James Francis Edward, would have been the heir. However, Parliament offered the crown to William and Mary as joint sovereigns instead. However, it was added, "The sole and full exercise of the regal (royal) power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the names of the said Prince and Princess during their joint lives". The declaration was later extended to exclude Catholics from rule because "It hath been found (discovered) by experience that it is inconsistent (not in harmony) with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist prince".