Читать книгу Anglo-American Cultural Studies - Jody Skinner - Страница 91

GermanGerman George with WalpoleWalpole, Robert as first prime ministerGeorge IGeorge I was proof of how much the English hated CatholicsCatholics. Although neither William nor Mary were called “Virgin” like Elizabeth, they also had no children. And AnneAnne I, Mary’s sister, who became queen after William’s death, also died with no heirs to the throne. Since the nearest relatives were Catholic, Parliament came up with an Act of Settlement,Act of Settlement which in effect passed on the [67]throne to some distant GermanGerman cousins, who all were Protestant and had to remain Protestant if they wanted to become English kings or queens. The first import was someone called George, or more precisely Georg Ludewig von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, who also started the House of Hanover (note the different spelling in English). Since Georg’s English wasn’t the best, he didn’t particularly enjoy attending meetings of his ministers and turned over much decision-making to one of his ministers, the highly capable Robert WalpoleWalpole, Robert, whose long years as minister helped change the structure of the way Britain was ruled and created in effect the position of the prime minister ( 5).