In 1649 Cromwell violently suppressed the Irish forcing the majority of them to Connaught. This was the most bloody and vicious periods of Irish history. Then after an attempted rising with the help of the French many Irish families, fearing for their lives, fled the country. This is known as the Flight of the Earls. In practice this meant that all hope of a rising was removed for the foreseeable future. In 1695 Penal laws were introduced in Ireland. The aim of this was to destroy Catholicism as a political force in Ireland. Penal law had many effects on Ireland. Among the most important were that Catholics were not allowed into parliament, hold high office in the army (unless the swore an oath of supremacy to England). In practice this would mean they were saying that they were Protestant. King James II (1633-1700) who was a Catholic, succeeded his brother, Charles I. James, after a violent and mismanaged reign fled to Ireland where the Irish welcomed him. King William of Orange was invited to take over his throne. In 1689 he landed in Ireland with an army 35,000 and defeated James' army of 23,000 of both Irish and French. This battle was called the battle of the Boyne and ironically, though fought in Ireland, was for the throne of England. James turned and fled leaving the Irish to fight William for him. The Irish struggled on but after heavy defeats in Aughrim and Limerick, a year later, Irish resistance was ended. During 1690 and 1730 it is estimated that as many as 120,000 Irish sailed away to Europe. They became known as "The Wild Geese". This served to spread Irish influence throughout Europe.