On This Day: December 28

Westminster Abbey.

     In 1065, Westminster Abbey was consecrated in the name of King Edward the Confessor. The site on which the Abbey is built was originally occupied by a small Benedictine monastery that had been founded under the patronage of King Edgar the Peaceful and St. Dunstan in 960. Edward decided to build a new, larger church in the honor of St. Paul the Apostle, which was done in a Norman Romanesque style. He was too ill to attend the consecration, and died a few days later. His remains were interred in the Abbey, where they remain to this day.

Mary II.

     In 1694, Queen Mary II of England, Scotland, and Ireland died at the age of 32. She was the eldest daughter of James VII & II through his first wife, Anne Hyde, and was married to her first cousin, William of Orange. During the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89, King James was deposed when William invaded Britain under an invitation to do so by leading political figures. William and Mary eventually became joint monarchs of England and Ireland (as William III and Mary II) on February 13, 1689 and of Scotland (as William II and Mary II) on May 11th. In practice, the exercise of sovereignty was vested in William, who acted on his and his wife's behalf (though he heavily relied on her council). While William was away on military campaigns, Mary did effectively rule their kingdoms by herself. Following her death from smallpox, William reigned alone until his death in 1702.

Photo Credit: Σπάρτακος via Wikimedia Commons cc