The Stuart Kings of Scotland – A Long and Violent History
The House of Stewart (or ‘Stuart’ as it later became) was established by Robert II of Scotland during the late 14th century and the Stuart rule spanned from 1371 to 1714. Initially rulers of Scotland only, the dynasty also went on to inherit the Kingdoms of England and Ireland.
James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne in 1603 as James I. This marked the beginning of the Stuart dynasty ruling both Scotland and England, with James I being the first Stuart monarch of both countries.
However, despite the longevity of the Stuart reign and Scotland’s prosperity and modernisation during the beginning of the Renaissance, the monarchs of the House were not without their failings. These led to a number of murders, beheadings and forcible removal from the throne during the English Civil War to name but a few!
One Stuart King, Charles the 1st, who believed in the Divine Right of Kings over the evolving power of parliament , was beheaded after the English Civil War, Mary,Queen of Scots who was a devout Catholic monarch was heheaded for treason after claiming hereditary right to the English throne. Over time the Stuart dynasty , with its roots in Roman Catholicism , was driven from power as Britain moved steadiy in the direction of Protestantism following the upheavals of the Reformaton .It was also constantly at war with rival nobles particularly in Scotland .
Robert II: Ruled 1371-1390
The first of the Stewart kings, RobertII, was born to Walter, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce. He was 55 years old when he inherited the throne from his uncle David II in 1371. He was a very passive person with no love of war, so he let his son John, Earl of Carrick (later known as Robert III) rule instead. He died in 1390 of infirmity.
Robert III: Ruled 1390-1406
The second of the Stewart kings, Robert III was considered illegitimate by the Church as his parents were so closely related but was legitimised in 1347 by papal dispensation. Seriously hurt following a kick from a horse in 1388, he never fully recovered from his injuries. He was considered a feeble or weak king and allowed his advisor the Duke of Albany to take control. His sons both suffered horrible fates as one, David, was starved to death in a prison at Falkland Palace (some say on the orders of Albany) and the other, James I, was captured by pirates and given to Henry IV of England. Robert died supposedly of grief, saying “I am the worst of kings and the most miserable of men.” He suggested that he should be buried in a rubbish heap, but was actually buried in Paisley Abbey!
James I: Ruled 1406-1437
James I was born on 25 July 1394 in Dunfermline and became king at the age of 12. In an attempt to keep James away from his uncle, the Duke of Albany, James was sent to France on his accession in 1406. Unfortunately his ship was captured by the English and James was taken prisoner and handed over to Henry IV. He was held prisoner for 18 years before finally taking control of Scotland in 1424. The Duke of Albany remained in charge of Scotland as Governor until his death in 1420 when he was succeeded by his son Murdoch. Upon his return to Scotland, James had Murdoch and several other powerful nobles beheaded. Subsequent laws restricted the power of the nobles. This did not please the nobles, especially the Earl of Athol and Sir Robert Graham, and in 1437 they broke into a party the King was hosting in Blackfriars, Perth, and murdered him.
James II: Ruled 1437-1460
James II was only 6 years old when crowned king at Holyrood Abbey in 1437. James was known as the ‘king of the fiery face’ because of a birthmark but perhaps the ‘fiery king’ would have been more appropriate, given the king’s temper. William, Earl of Douglas, one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland but also a troublemaker and dissenter, refused the king’s command to ‘toe the line’, and was murdered by James with a dagger in a fit of rage! James was particularly keen on the new weapon of war, the cannon, and at the Siege of Roxburgh Castle where cannons were used for the first time it was ironic that one of them blew him up as he stood close by watching.
James III: Ruled 1460-1488
James III was only 9 years old when his father met his untimely death. Unfortunately, James had a weakness that was ultimately to lead to his own death: he had favourites upon whom he would lavish money, land and gifts. This incensed the nobles: they even imprisoned James at Edinburgh Castle. The nobles succeeded in setting father against son and at the beginning of the battle of Sauchieburn on 11 June 1488, James III, not a good rider, was thrown from his horse and injured. Taken to the nearest building, a priest was called to the king: however the man claiming to be the priest stabbed the king through the heart and then fled before he could be identified.
James IV: Ruled 1488-1513
James IV was racked with guilt about his father’s death at Sauchieburn and did penance every year on the anniversary of the battle. He was a very clever, learned man, if not so lucky in love. James was in love with Margaret Drummond of Stobshall when it was proposed to him that a marriage to Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII would improve Anglo-English relations. The untimely death of Margaret Drummond and her two beautiful sisters by poison just after the marriage was proposed, opened the way to the alliance some 18 months later. However the marriage did not bring lasting peace. James was personally annoyed with Henry VIII, now king of England, because he had refused to send on jewellery that was part of Margaret’s marriage dowry. Publicly he was also angered because Henry had seized two Scottish ships without reason. When Henry then invaded France in 1513, the Auld Alliance was reintroduced with Louis XII of France. James invaded northern England and The Battle of Flodden was fought on 9 September 1513. James made a fatal error by choosing to advance down a steep slippery slope towards the English forces. His troops slid down the slope in total disarray and were picked off almost at will by the English. James himself was also killed.
James V: Ruled 1513-1542
James V was just 17 months old when James IV was killed. His mother Margaret ruled as Regent, followed by the Duke of Albany who took over as Guardian of the Realm, ruling wisely until his return to France in 1524 when fighting broke out between the Scottish nobles. James spent the first 14 years of his life being passed around from place to place until in 1526 he was imprisoned in Falkland Palace, finally escaping in 1528 to begin his rule at the age of 16. He ruled well to begin with but became tyrannical and obsessed with wealth in later years. His second wife Mary of Guise gave him two sons who died in infancy. She gave birth to Mary in the very same week as James lay dying in Falkland Palace, following a nervous collapse after defeat at the battle of Solway Moss.
Mary, Queen of Scots: Ruled 1542-1567
Mary Queen of Scots was just 6 days old when her father died. Her mother Mary of Guise acted as Regent for her daughter during the turbulent years after her father’s death. At the age of 5, Mary was betrothed to Francis, son of Henry II of France, and sent away to live in France. She is said to have changed the spelling of “Stewart” to “Stuart” during her time in France.
Mary Queen of Scots
Suffice to say that her tragic life came to an end when she was accused of treason and beheaded by her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, in 1587.
With the death of Queen Elizabeth I the Union of Crowns was introduced and Mary’s son James VI of Scotland became James I of England.
James VI: Ruled 1567-1625 (also James I of England)
The shrewd James I (r.1603–25), who was also James VI of Scotland (and the son of Elizabeth I’s cousin Mary, Queen of Scots), successfully conjoined the two long-warring nations of England and Scotland.
Despite threats to his reign, including the Gunpowder Plot (1605), he maintained peace at home and abroad.
James’s glamorous elder son Prince Henry died in 1612, leaving his younger son, Charles I (r.1625–49), to succeed.
This sober, ceremonious monarch was devoted to the arts and to the Anglican Church, and acutely conscious of his divine right to rule.
Charles I: Ruled 1625-1649
James’ rule had been affected by a the cycle of political and military conflict that marked the reign of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, culminating in a series of conflicts known as the War of the Three Kingdoms. After the English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I by the English Parliament in 1649 there began 11 years of republican government known as the English Interregnum.
Charles II: Ruled 1660-1685
Scotland initially recognised the late King’s son, also called Charles, as their monarch, before being subjugated and forced to enter Cromwell’s Commonwealth by General Monck’s occupying army. During this period, the principal members of the House of Stuart lived in exile in mainland Europe. Charles II returned to Britain to assume the three thrones in 1660 with the support of General Monck, but dated his reign from his father’s death eleven years before.
In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on French support was revived during the reign of Charles II, whose own mother was French. His sister Henrietta married into the French royal family. Charles II left no legitimate children, but his numerous illegitimate descendants included the dukes of Buccleuch, the dukes of Grafton, the dukes of Saint Albansand the dukes of Richmond.
The Stuart Monarchs of the United Kingdom to follow were
James II: Ruled 1685-1688
James was the second surviving son of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, and was created Duke of York at birth. He succeeded to the throne aged 51 with widespread support. The general public were reluctant to undermine the principle of hereditary succession after the trauma of the brief republican Commonwealth of England 25 years before, and believed that a Catholic monarchy was purely temporary. However, tolerance of James’s personal views did not extend to Catholicism in general, and both the English and Scottish parliaments refused to pass measures viewed as undermining the primacy of the Protestant religion. His attempts to impose them by absolutist decrees as a matter of his divine right met with opposition.
In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis. Firstly, the birth of James’s son and heir James Francis Edward Stuart on 10 June raised the prospect of a Catholic dynasty, excluding his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William III, Prince of Orange, who was also his nephew. Secondly, the prosecution of the Seven Bishops was seen as an assault on the Church of England, and their acquittal on 30 June destroyed his political authority. Ensuing anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland led to a general feeling that only James’s removal could prevent another civil war.
Leading members of the English political class invited William to assume the English throne. When William landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, James’s army deserted and he went into exile in France on 23 December. In February 1689, a special Convention Parliament held James had “vacated” the English throne and installed William and Mary as joint monarchs, thereby establishing the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth.
James landed in Ireland on 14 March 1689 in an attempt to recover his kingdoms, but, despite a simultaneous rising in Scotland, in April a Scottish Conventionfollowed England in ruling that James had “forfeited” the throne.
After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James returned to France, where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by Louis XIV.
William III and Mary II: Jointly ruled 1689-1702
The Restoration of the Crown was called the ‘Glorious’ Revolution. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of James II’s daughters.
The two ruled as joint monarchs of England, Scotland, and Ireland until Mary’s death in 1694, when William became ruler in his own right. Jacobitism, the political movement that aimed to restore the exiled James or his descendants of the House of Stuart to the throne, persisted into the late 18th century. William’s invasion was the last successful invasion of England.
Anne: Ruled 1702-1714
Anne was born during the reign of her uncle King Charles II. Her father was Charles’s younger brother and heir presumptive, James, whose suspected Roman Catholicism was unpopular in England. On Charles’s instructions, Anne and her elder sister Marywere raised as Anglicans. Mary married her Dutch Protestant cousin, William III of Orange, in 1677, and Anne married the Lutheran Prince George of Denmark in 1683. Although the sisters had been close, disagreements over Anne’s finances, status, and choice of acquaintances arose shortly after Mary’s accession and they became estranged. William and Mary had no children. After Mary’s death in 1694, William reigned alone until his own death in 1702, when Anne succeeded him.
During her reign, Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who were more likely to share her Anglican religious views than their opponents, the Whigs.
Anne was plagued by poor health throughout her life, and from her thirties she grew increasingly ill and obese. Despite 17 pregnancies, she died without surviving issue and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. The eventual loss of her young son, Prince William, precipitated a potential succession crisis. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, which excluded all Catholics, Anne was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover.
