In fact William was fighting for the English crown against his rival James II as part of a far wider European campaign in which the Pope was opposed to Louis XIV and his allies and supported a coalition which included William of Orange. The papacy was thus on the side of the Protestant William, not the Catholic James. On learning of William’s victory the Pope was so delighted that he arranged for the celebration of a Pontifical High Mass in Rome and ordered a Te Deum and the ringing of church bells.
