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James the Second's Statue, London

Along with the great hero Nelson, James the Second, deposed in 1688, has a statue in Trafalgar Square, outside the National Portrait Gallery. He appears in the guise of a Roman emperor above the inscription:

JACOBUS SECVNDUS

DEI GRATIA

ANGLIAE SCOTIAE

FRANCIAE ET

HIBERNIAE

REX

FEDEI DEFENSOR

ANN M.D.C LXXXVI

James is described as Fedei Defensor, or Defender of the Faith. This was his whole problem: he was a defender of the faith in the original sense of wanting to defend the Catholic church. This title, originally awarded to Henry the Eighth during his time as an enthusiastic Catholic, was then passed on to Protestant monarchs.