The Jacobites were the loyal followers of King James VII and II.
Two Kings?
No. King James's grandfather was King James the Sixth of Scotland. When the English monarch of the time died (Queen Elizabeth I if you wanted to know) he took over the throne and became King James the First of England - but he was still the King of Scotland as well remember, so he became known as King James the VI and I.
His grandson, also called James, succeeded to the throne some 70 or eighty years later and he became King James the VII and II.
Okay. So what was the big problem?
Well, not long after he became king, James was forced to abdicate.
What does that mean?
When a monarch is forced to abdicate it means he or she has to give up their position as King or Queen. They might do it by choice, but in the case of James VII and II it was because he had divorced his first wife and remarried. A lot of people didn't approve of this sort of behaviour from a monarch, so he was made to abdicate. Mary, his eldest daughter and her husband William of Orange were then crowned joint King and Queen of Britain. So what happened to James after he abdicated? He was exiled to France with his new wife and baby son. His followers, needless to say, found this extremely disagreeable. They refused to accept King William of Orange, and began to refer to James as "The King Over the Water." Those who were loyal to him and considered him still as the true King are what we know of as Jacobites. Their title comes from the word "Jacobus" - The Latin form of James. These Jacobites were prepared to fight to get their rightful King back on the throne - so they did, but although they secured a victory at the battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, ultimately their attempt was unsuccessful. So while all this was going on, what was happening to James over in France?
He was getting old! Eventually he died and his 13 year-old son (another James!) was proclaimed as his successor - so the Jacobite cause was set to continue. With this new, young king came renewed attempts
by the Jacobites to win back the throne. The Queen of England, Anne, who took the throne after her sister and brother-in-law died, even tried to help this time, by ensuring that she would be succeeded by James who was, after all, her half-brother. This didn't happen however, so when she died in 1714 and the throne went to a cousin, the Jacobites were very very angry. So what were they going to do about it?
This time, the assembled masses of Jacobite supporters were joined by...the King himself. James (VIII and III as they saw it) came over from France to personally assist them in the fight to win back his birthright. His presence didn't seem to bring any luck though, and this Rising, in 1715 was also a failure. To all those who opposed
him, James was no more than a "Pretender" to the throne. He was driven out of Scotland, never to return. Instead he lived most of the rest of his life in Rome, where he married a Polish Princess and raised two sons, Charles and Henry.
So was that the end of the Jacobites?
Not quite! His eldest son, Charles Edward Stuart took up the role of "The Young Pretender" and went to Scotland to fight on his father's behalf. He didn't need to wait until his father died, because James renounced his right to the throne leaving the way clear for the young Prince.
So did Charles get any further than his Father or Grandfather did before him?
Yes, his attempt was definitely an improvement. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, born in Italy, and of Polish descent, was none other than our very own Bonnie Prince Charlie. The second Jacobite Uprising of 1745 was all his doing and quite a story in its own right.
© West Highland Museum 2004
