In 1685, following the death of King Charles II, the Catholic James II ascended to the throne of England — much to the displeasure of the majority Protestant English population. The following year, Sir William Phips set sail for his first expedition to the wreck of the Spanish sea vessel Nuestra Señora de la Concepión, ultimately discovering $4 million in silver in today's USD, a heaping portion of which he gave to James II.
A theory presented (and tenuously supported by circumstantial evidence seen on "The Curse of Oak Island") by Oak Island historian Hammerson Peters, author of both volumes of "The Oak Island Encyclopedia," postulates that, at the same time, Phips politely asked for the return of the charter to Massachusetts. James II declined, presumably just as politely.
Meanwhile, Lord Charles Mordaunt, a self-exiled political enemy of King James II, was pleading with the Protestant William III, Prince of Orange, to invade England and overthrow James II. With William III in need of cash, Mordaunt supposedly partnered with Phips for another expedition to the Concepción, leading to Phips helping the Prince of Orange usurp the very royal he'd just paid (politely, of course).
