He was the younger brother of Charles II but had less charm and also lacked a sense of humour. When he was nine year old his father's quarrel with Parliament began, forcing him to go into exile in 1648 and volunteer for the French army. He proved a good soldier and loyal to whomever he served.
Like his French grandfather Henri IV and his brother Charles II, he loved women but seemed to prefer them ugly. He seduced the 19-year-old Anne Hyde and, as he had promised marriage, his brother forced him to marry her. Although Anne Hyde fulfilled her role as Duchess of York better than anyone had dared hope, she was domineering and James II was described as "in all things but his cod-piece is led by the nose by his wife".
Anne continued to bear children and James II continued to seduce women, including Lady Carnegie and Lady Chesterfield, though Lady Falmouth declined the honour he hoped to bestow on her. However, he had to compete with his nephew, the Duke of Monmouth, for the favours of Mary Kirke, who was followed by Goditha Price and Lady Denham. All
the others had been willing to hover in the back-ground, but not so Lady Denham; she required public recognition as the Duke of York's mistress.
As Lady Denham interfered with politics she soon became a liability and was discarded, and the Duke of York declared that he would never again have a "public mistress". However, his next affaire was to be the most important in his life: the 17-year-old Arabella Churchill who would become the mother of four of his illegitimate children. In 1670 the Duke and Duchess of York secretly converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1671 after the birth of her eight child, the Duchess of York died. In 1673, after having fallen in love and proposed to the 17-year-old widowed Lady Belasyse, he married the 15-year-old Maria Beatrice d'Este, Princess of Modena.
More than a year after his marriage, Arabella Churchill gave birth to her last child by James. However, a year or so later she was replaced by another Maid of Honour, Catherine Sedley, who produced a child while Maria Beatrice d'Este was to produce another eight. There was much opposition to the Catholic James and attempts were made to have him excluded from the throne. However, Charles II would not interfere and, when Charles II died, the Duke of York became James II. Charles II promised that "He will lose his kingdom by his bigotry
and his soul for a lot of trollops". James II started his reign by summoning Parliament, making his Protestant brother-in-law, the Earl of Rochester, Lord High Treasurer and banishing the Duchess of Portsmouth. James II and Maria Beatrice were crowned on 23 April 1685 and, on 11 June 1685, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth landed, proclaiming himself to be king. However, on the 5th July at Sedgemoor, Monmouth was defeated; on 17th July he was beheaded in the Tower.
James II was now more than ever determined to bring back the allegiance to the Pope. His first political step was denounced by seven Anglican Bishops, so he had them imprisoned; however, when they were tried for seditious libel, they were acquitted. England may have
put up with James II because his only surviving legitimate children were two Protestant daughters; but on 10 June 1688 Maria Beatrice gave birth to a healthy son, though false rumours had it that the child had been smuggled in and was not the child of James II and Maria Beatrice.
To protect Protestantism in England his nephew and son-in-law, William III, Prince of Orange, landed on 5 November 1588, having been invited. James II was deserted on all sides and sent his wife and son to France, following them a short while later. James II's eldest daughter, Mary, and her husband became Queen Mary II and King William III, while James II and his wife lived in exile in France for another thirteen years. In 1689 James II tried to regain his crown by invading Ireland, where he held a Parliament; but on 1 July 1690, at the battle of the Boyne, he was finally defeated.
He spent the rest of his life as Louis XIV's pensioner, continuing to plan more invasions. In 1692 Maria Beatrice gave birth to another daughter which consoled him as did the secret correspondence with his other daughter, the future Queen Anne. He died at St.Germain from a cerebral haemorrhage.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas