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Peter Hanns Bloecker is blogging on Higher Education from the Gold Coast in Australia.

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This site explores the connections of German and British Royals and Families:

Hanover Herrenhausen (Castle)

Braunschweig and Celle and Lueneburg

Jacobite Rising

Act of Settlement 1701 and Its Implications in British History

Historical Context and Passage

The Act of Settlement was enacted by the English Parliament on 12 June 1701 against the backdrop of the Glorious Revolution (1688–1689) and the prospect of a Catholic monarch returning to the throne. With William III childless and Anne’s only surviving child deceased, Parliament moved to secure a Protestant succession and curb royal prerogative.

Key Provisions

• It limited the succession to “the heirs of [Electress Sophia of Hanover] being Protestants,” barring Roman Catholics or anyone who married one from inheriting the crown.
• It required the monarch to join in communion with the Church of England.
• It forbade the sovereign to leave England, Scotland, or Ireland—or to wage war for territories not belonging to the English crown—without Parliament’s consent.
• Judges were to hold office “during good behaviour” rather than at royal pleasure, laying groundwork for judicial independence.
• It disqualified foreign-born individuals (even if naturalised) from holding high office, seats in Parliament, or Crown grants, reinforcing the primacy of native parliamentary authority.

Immediate Outcomes

• The throne was settled on Sophia of Hanover’s line. Though Sophia died two months before Queen Anne, her son succeeded as George I in 1714, inaugurating the Hanoverian dynasty in Britain.
• The Act reinforced the principles of the 1689 Bill of Rights, deepening the realignment of power from the monarch toward Parliament.

Long-Term Constitutional Implications

• It cemented the exclusion of Catholicism from the British monarchy, influencing succession rules for over three centuries.
• By restricting royal prerogatives—over war, travel, and judicial appointments—it strengthened parliamentary sovereignty and foreshadowed the modern constitutional monarchy.
• The requirement for judges’ tenure under “good behaviour” became a cornerstone of judicial independence in Britain.
• When England and Scotland united in 1707, the Act was extended to Scotland, helping to unify legal and dynastic frameworks across Great Britain.

Modern Legacy

• The Act of Settlement remains a fundamental constitutional statute in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it cannot be amended without each realm’s consent.
• The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 amended it to end male-preference primogeniture and to remove the disqualification arising from marrying a Roman Catholic (though a Catholic still cannot reign). These changes took effect across the realms in March 2015.

George 1st

Brief Overview: King George I and His Hanoverian Home

Early Life and Accession

George I (George Louis; 1660–1727) was Duke of Brunswick–Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover from 1698, before succeeding to the British throne as King George I of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714. His accession marked the beginning of the 123-year reign of the House of Hanover over Britain.

Herrenhausen: His True Residence

Despite ruling Britain, George I’s principal seat remained in Hanover. He made Herrenhausen Palace, originally a 17th-century summer residence developed by his mother, Electress Sophia of Hanover, his home base. Rather than finishing its grand baroque palace, he focused on enhancing the estate’s water features and formal gardens, reflecting his enduring ties to his German realm.

Final Resting Place

Upon his death in 1727, George I’s remains were moved to the Guelph mausoleum in the Hill Garden at Herrenhausen, underscoring the palace’s role as his lasting dynastic home.

Brief Overview: King George II of Great Britain

Early Life and Accession

George Augustus was born on 9 November 1683 at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover as the eldest son of the future George I. He grew up speaking French and German, with private tutors guiding him in history, languages, and military tactics. In 1714 he became Prince of Wales when his father acceded to the British throne, and on 11 June 1727 he himself succeeded as King of Great Britain and Ireland and Elector of Hanover.

Military Leadership and Hanoverian Ties

George II is remembered as the last British monarch to lead troops in battle at Dettingen in 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He faced the Jacobite Rising of 1745, which he helped suppress, and under his reign Britain’s colonial reach expanded through victories in North America and India. True to his lineage, he continued to spend summers in Hanover, wielding direct influence over its government and maintaining the dynastic link between Britain and the Holy Roman Empire.

Death and Succession

George II died suddenly on 25 October 1760 at Kensington Palace and was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside his consort, Queen Caroline. His heart was interred in the Guelph Mausoleum at Herrenhausen, symbolising his enduring bond with Hanover. He was succeeded by his grandson, George III, marking the transition to a new era of British monarchy.

More about Herrenhausen and the British Dynasties here soon.

Scottish and Irish rebellions and resistance.

Catholic Dynasties

#Protestants

#Commons

#Herrenhausen

#Hanover