The House of Stuart

THE STEWARDS

During the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during the transitive period in European history between the Middle Ages, via the Renaissance, to the midpoint of the Early modern period. Monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, among others. After the Stuarts reigned over all of Great Britain, the arts and sciences continued to develop. The name "Stewart" derives from the political position of office similar to a governor, known as a steward. It was originally adopted as the family surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, who was the third member of the family to hold the position. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father; for example the first two High Stewards were known as FitzAlan and FitzWalter respectively. The gallicised spelling was first borne by John Stewart of Darnley after his time in the French wars. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was living in France. She sanctioned the change to ensure the correct pronunciation of the Scots version of the name Stewart, because retaining the letter 'w' would have made it difficult for French speakers, who followed the Germans in usually rendering "w" as /v/. The spelling Stuart was also used by her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; he was the father of James VI and I, so the official spelling Stuart for the British royal family derives from him.

ENGLAND SCOTLAND

The ancestral origins of the Stuart family are quite obscure—what is known for certain is that they can trace their ancestry back to Alan FitzFlaad, a Breton who came over to Great Britain not long after the Norman conquest.[2] Alan had been the hereditary steward of the Bishop of Dol in the Duchy of Brittany;[3] Alan had a good relationship with the ruling Norman monarch Henry I of England who awarded him with lands in Shropshire.[3] The FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire.[3][4] It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlan who became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, while his brother William's family would go on to become Earls of Arundel. When the civil war in the Kingdom of England, known as The Anarchy, broke out between legitimist claimant Matilda, Lady of the English and her cousin who had usurped her, King Stephen, Walter had sided with Matilda.[5] Another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld.[5] After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire and the title for life of Lord High Steward.[5] The next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV, made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, South Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries. The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293–1326), married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, and also played an important part in the Battle of Bannockburn gaining further favour. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce, the Lordship of Cunningham and the Bruce lands of Bourtreehill; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his uncle David II died childless in 1371. In 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, the daughter of James V. Darnley's father was Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, a member of the Stewart of Darnley branch of the House. Lennox was a descendant of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, also descended from James II, being Mary's heir presumptive. Thus Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side and because of this connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stuart. Following John Stewart of Darnley's ennoblement for his part at the Battle of Baugé in 1421 and the grant of lands to him at Aubigny and Concressault, the Darnley Stewarts' surname was gallicised to Stuart. Both Mary, Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley had strong claims on the English throne, through their mutual grandmother, Margaret Tudor. This eventually led to the accession of the couple's only child James as King of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1603. However, this was a Personal Union, as the three Kingdoms shared a monarch, but had separate governments, churches, and institutions.

JAMES I OF ENGLAND AND VI OF SCOTLAND

James seemed in some ways ideal for continuing Elizabeth's program. James also tried to continue Elizabeth's latitudinarian policy in religion. The KJV version of the Bible contributed greatly to Christian unity, and, whatever differences English speaking Chrisitans might have, for the next three centuries they at least shared a common Bible translation. James had specifically asked his translators for a version of the Bible all could agree on, and the translators did this by relying on direct, literal translation from Greek and Hebrew rather than resorting to potentially controversial "interpretation" in place of translation. No "dynamic equivalence" garbage for them!!!

Also, because James was already King of Scotland, the potential for English/Scottish conflict seemed finished.

Unfortunately for James, the religious situation began to get out of hand despite his best efforts. Adding to religious tension: the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Because Catholicism was now hated, James and his successors were under constant pressure to help the Protestant cause on the European continent (e.g., supporing the Protestants in the Thirty Years' War). This was potentially very expensive, and, with already limited revenue, a real problem for English kings. Also a problem, anti-Catholic sentiment led to the growth of Puritanism, a movement wanting to "purify" the church of England by removing all things associated with Catholic tradition. The problems faced by James grew greater under his son and successor Charles I.

CHARLES I

Charles was under constant pressure to help protestants in France and the Holy Roman Empire, but parliament wouldn't vote to provide the funds to support the wars they themselves insisted need to be fought. Even worse, there were insufficient forces to properly prepare for what looked like an inevitable war with Spain. When Charles summoned parliament to ask for the authority to collect more tax revenue, parliament refused: they wanted first Charles agreement to what they called the Petition of Right, an agreement from the king that he would not resort to arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, arbitrary taxes, etc.). These were good provisions in a way, but Charles, facing real trouble, didn't want his hands tied and refused to grant the petition. The "Long Parliament," began in 1640--right where parliament had left of in 1629. Charles sends his most trusted minister (Wentworth) to parliament--and parliament indicts him, having Wentworth put on trial. It's obvious Wentworth isn't going to be convicted, so Parliament ends the trial, tries Wentworth itself--and orders him to be executed! The King might have intervened, by Wentworth himself was willing to give up his life, telling Charles not to try to save him. Wentworth probably thought his blood would appease the opponents of royal authority. In this he was wrong: give sharks a taste of blood and they want more. Charles ending up sending his soldiers in the parliament building itself with orders to arrest treasonous members of parliament. This was a mistake. The well disciplined, highly motivated "New Model Army" eventually defeated Charles' forces. Charles was captured and parliament was in control. But parliament needed now a competent executive. They turn to Cromwell, giving him the title Lord Protector.

THE COMMONWEALTH

OLIVER CROMWELL

Cromwell was born into the middle gentry, albeit to a family descended from the sister of King Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell. Little is known of the first 40 years of his life as only four of his personal letters survive alongside a summary of a speech he delivered in 1628.[1] He became an Independent Puritan after undergoing a religious conversion in the 1630s, taking a generally tolerant view towards the many Protestant sects of his period.[2] He was an intensely religious man, a self-styled Puritan Moses, and he fervently believed that God was guiding his victories. He was elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and for Cambridge in the Short (1640) and Long (1640–1649) parliaments. He entered the English Civil War on the side of the "Roundheads" or Parliamentarians. Nicknamed "Old Ironsides", he demonstrated his ability as a commander and was quickly promoted from leading a single cavalry troop to being one of the principal commanders of the New Model Army, playing an important role in the defeat of the royalist forces.

The Commonwealth was the period from 1649 onwards when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, was ruled as a republic following the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I. The republic's existence was declared through "An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth", adopted by the Rump Parliament on 19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested primarily in the Parliament and a Council of State. During the period, fighting continued, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, between the parliamentary forces and those opposed to them, as part of what is now referred to as the Third English Civil War.

In 1653, after the forcible dissolution of the Rump Parliament, the Army Council adopted the Instrument of Government which made Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of a united "Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland", inaugurating the period now usually known as the Protectorate. After Cromwell's death, and following a brief period of rule under his son, Richard Cromwell, the Protectorate Parliament was dissolved in 1659 and the Rump Parliament recalled, the start of a process that led to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The term Commonwealth is sometimes used for the whole of 1649 to 1660 – a period referred to by monarchists as the Interregnum – although for other historians, the use of the term is limited to the years prior to Cromwell’s formal assumption of power in 1653.

THE PURITANS

The Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic" practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed.

Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558.

Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the first half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, whose movement succeeded in taking control of the government of London at the time of the Grand Remonstrance of 1641.

THE RESTORATION OF MONARCHY

Is some ways, it looked like Charles might have an easy time of it. He was a very popuuar monarch. Most English were glad to have a king again, and glad the Puritans were not in control anymore. After 18 years of Puritan austerity, it was party time in England, and the leading partier was Charles himself. He's sometimes called the "merrie monarch" --with good reason. He certainly was no Puritan. He carried on a very public affair with the actress Nell Gwynn, and it didn't seem to hurt his popularity at all.

But the religious situation still wasn't stable. Charles had to deal, first of all, with an anti-Puritan movement. Parliament passes the Clarendon code that created lasting trouble for "non-comformists," those who won't go along with the Church of England and its liturgy. They can't hold political office and suffer other losses of privilege. On the other hand, there is sill a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment as well. A man named Titus Oates persuaded a lot of people that there had been a "Popish plot" to kill the king. Anti-Catholic hysteria led to at least 15 totally unjustifed executions. Oates was a liar, and Charles knew it: but he couldn't protect the victims. The interesting thing is that some anti-Catholics really did plot to kill the king, who had strong Catholic leanings himself. In any case, high religious tension made it harder to govern than it might have been, and was one of the reasons Charles and parliament had a major falling out.with pariament, and, from 1679-1685 he doesn't bother to call parliament into session.

Charles's successor, his brother James, is another example of the problems English monarchs faced as a result of religion. James himself had converted to Catholicism, something parliament found hard to take. Because his older daughters (Mary and Anne) were good protestants and because James was old, parliament tolerated having a Catholic king for the time being. Mary was married to one of leading protestant leaders on continent (William of Orange), and most were convinced that there would be a protestant leader in short order. But then James fathered a son who, by English law, took precedence over his sisters. The son was going to raised Catholic, and this was too much for the anti-Catholics. They had to get rid of James! But who would replace him? Parliament asks Mary and her husband William to replace James.

THE GREAT PLAGUE AND THE GREAT FIRE

The Great Plague, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long time period of the Second Pandemic, an extended period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics which began in Europe in 1347, the first year of the Black Death, an outbreak which included other forms such as pneumonic plague, and lasted until 1750.

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened but did not reach the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants.

The death toll is unknown but traditionally thought to have been small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded, while the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims, leaving no recognisable remains. A melted piece of pottery on display at the Museum of London found by archaeologists in Pudding Lane, where the fire started, shows that the temperature reached 1250 °C.

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

When Charles II died in 1685 his brother became King James II; He ruled with the support of the Tory party. He forced a series of highly unpopular proposals that would restore Catholicism to England. The Monmouth Rebellion broke out in western areas that was brutally suppressed. Elite opinion strongly turned against the king, and in late 1688 the elites invited William III and Mary II to govern. James went into exile in France, where his claims to the English throne were promoted by King Louis XIV. In England the claims were upheld by the Jacobite faction of Tories, who in alliance with France were a military threat to the throne for the next half-century. William III ruled 1689-1702, while his wife Queen Mary II was the nominal co-ruler until her death in 1694. Constitutionally, the Glorious Revolution established a precedent that British monarchs could not govern without the consent of Parliament, As enacted through the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the passage of the English Bill of Rights, and the Hanoverian succession.

THE LAST STUART AND THE HANOVER DINASTY

Anne was born in the reign of her uncle Charles II, who had no legitimate children. Her father, James, was thus heir presumptive to the throne. His suspected Roman Catholicism was unpopular in England, and on Charles's instructions Anne and her elder sister, Mary, were raised as Anglicans. Three years after he succeeded Charles, James was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Anne's sister and Dutch Protestant brother-in-law and cousin William III of Orange became joint monarchs. 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.

George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, is considered the first member of the House of Hanover. When the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was divided in 1635, George inherited the Principality of Calenberg and moved his residence to Hanover. His son, Christian Louis inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from George's brother. Calenberg and Lüneburg were then shared between George's sons until united in 1705 under his grandson, also called George, who subsequently became George I of Great Britain.

ACT OF UNION AND TREATY OF UTRECHT

The united Kingdom of Great Britain was born on May 1, 1707, shortly after the parliaments of Scotland and England had ratified the Treaty of Union of 1706 by each approving Acts of Union combining the two parliaments and the two royal titles. Deeper political integration had been a key policy of Queen Anne (reigned 1702–14). Under the aegis of the Queen and her advisors a Treaty of Union was drawn up, and negotiations between England and Scotland began in earnest in 1706.

Scottish proponents of union believed that failure to accede to the Bill would result in the imposition of union under less favourable terms, and months of fierce debate in both capital cities and throughout both kingdoms followed. In Scotland, the debate on occasion dissolved into civil disorder, most notably by the notorious 'Edinburgh Mob'. The prospect of a union of the kingdoms was deeply unpopular among the Scottish population at large, and talk of an uprising was widespread. However Scotland could not long continue. Following the financially disastrous Darien Scheme, the near-bankrupt Parliament of Scotland reluctantly accepted the proposals. Supposed financial payoffs to Scottish parliamentarians were later referred to by Robert Burns when he wrote "We're bought and sold for English gold, Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation! Recent historians, however, have emphasised the legitimacy of the vote.

The Acts of Union took effect in 1707, uniting the separate Parliaments and crowns of England and Scotland and forming the single Kingdom of Great Britain. Queen Anne (already Queen of both England and Scotland) became formally the first occupant of the unified British throne, with Scotland sending forty-five Members to join all existing Members from the parliament of England in the new House of Commons of Great Britain, as well as 16 representative peers to join all existing peers from the parliament of England in the new House of Lords.

Dynastic security was a factor in Britain, as, indeed, it was in other countries. The House of Stuart had abdicated the throne when King James II (1633-1701) fled to France in 1688. However he and his son the "Old Pretender" (1688-1766) claimed to be the legitimate kings, and had the support of important elements in England, as well as King Louis XIV in France. The main issue was religion; the Stuarts had the support of Catholic Europe, while the Whigs in Britain were staunch opponents of Catholicism. The great majority of Tories refused to support the Jacobites publicly, although there were numerous quiet supporters. After the death of King William III (1702) and Queen Anne (1714), the succession went to the Protestant House of Hanover, starting with King George I in 1714.