 Following James's death the pope refused to recognise the claim to the British and Irish thrones of his elder son Charles; instead, from 14 January 1766, in stages over the next decade, he accepted the Hanoverian dynasty as the legitimate rulers of Britain and Ireland.This decision led to a gradual relaxation and reform of the anti-Catholic "Penal laws" in Britain and Ireland.In 1792, the Papacy specifically referred to George III as the "King of Great Britain and Ireland", which elicited a protest from James's younger son Henry, who was by then the Jacobite claimant.