In 1685, James II succeeded his brother, Charles II, as king of England. Arguably, both men were supporters of divine right absolutism, but James was less adept than his brother in his relations with Parliament. He also openly adhered to Roman Catholicism; repealed the 1673 Test Act, which had required officials to repudiate certain Catholic doctrines and practices; and issued the Declaration of Indulgence (1688), which tolerated Catholics and other non-Anglicans. Essentially, the king was trying to rule without Parliament, and when his wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son in 1688, a Catholic succession was ensured. Leading noblemen invited Mary, the Protestant wife of the Dutch stadtholder (head of state) William of Orange who was also James II’s eldest daughter, to take the throne instead.