The House of Stuart was one of the most prominent families in the 17th and 18th centuries, in the British Isles. With famous figures such as Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie, the House of Stuart had left an indisputable mark on the shared histories of Scotland, England, and Ireland. They reigned through tumultuous times, such as the English Civil War, the Stuart Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution.
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Origins of the House of Stuart
The House of Stuart has a history in Scotland dating back to the 12th century. The family’s progenitor begins with the very first High Steward of Scotland, a Breton baron named Walter FitzAlan. In the early years of FitzAlan’s time in Scotland, the family had to contend with The Anarchy, an English civil war of succession from 1138 to 1153. He sided with the claim of Matilda, Lady of the English, and grew close to her uncle, King David I of Scotland.
It was after The Anarchy that FitzAlan was named the High Steward of Scotland. Walter FitzAlan did such a bang-up job as Steward that David’s successor, King Malcolm IV, made the stewardship an inheritance.
Once Walter FitzAlan’s descendants inherited the position of High Steward of Scotland, the last name of “Steward” was adopted. The natural transition from “Steward” was “Stewart,” and the shift to the spelling of “Stuart” came only after Mary, Queen of Scots adopted it in the 16th century. Both spellings of the name are used today.
So, how did the Stewarts become Scottish royalty? Well, Walter, the 6th High Steward of Scotland, had been married to Princess Marjorie, the daughter of King Robert the Bruce. Robert’s heir, his son David, died without an issue in 1371. Thus, the son of Walter and Marjorie, Robert, became King Robert II of Scotland.
READ MORE: Scotland Royal Family Tree: Tracing the Lineage of Scottish Monarchs
Over a century after the House of Stewart became Scottish royals, they entered into the English line of succession. This happened when Margaret Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VII and sister of King Henry VIII, married King James IV of Scotland in a bid for peace. The Stewart children born from the union thus became potential heirs to the Kingdom of England. Although nothing would immediately come from the Tudor-Stewart union, it became a focal point in the conflict between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I; it would also explain how Mary’s son, James, was named Elizabeth’s heir.
READ MORE: The British Royal Family Tree: Tracing the Lineage from Anglo-Saxons to Modern-Day
Walter FitzAlan
Walter FitzAlan was a member of the Anglo-Norman FitzAlan family and the progenitor of the Stuart Clan, later the Royal House of Stuart. The FitzAlans gained notoriety through the successes of the knight Alan Fitz Flaad. Alan was Walter’s father, and his service to the English throne gained him lands as an early marcher lord along the Welsh-English border.
It is generally believed that Walter first arrived in Scotland in 1136, two years before the outbreak of The Anarchy. This period saw him grow close with King David I of Scotland, where he began serving as his High Steward. Walter operated as the High Steward of Scotland for two Scottish kings after David. Thereafter, the assigned noble position became a hereditary inheritance.
Walter FitzAlan’s grandson, Walter Stewart, became the first of the FitzAlan line to be recorded as a “Stewart.” He became the High Steward of Scotland after the death of his father and Walter FitzAlan’s son, Alan Fitz Walter.
The Scottish Stuarts and Key Monarchs
Before being monarchs of Scotland, England, and Ireland, the Stuarts were sole sovereigns of Scotland. The Scottish Stuarts got their royal privileges in 1371, after the heir to the House of Bruce, David, died without children. This left his nephew, King Robert II of the House of Stewart, to assume royal duties. From then on, Robert’s progeny would inherit the Crown of Scotland.
To maintain their newfound royal status, Robert II set up advantageous marriages for his children among Scotland’s peerage. Not by any coincidence, the marriages often came with impressive land holdings. Within a decade of his rule, Robert had control of over half of the Scottish Earldoms either through his daughters’ marriages or through his sons.
Major Monarchs
Stuart monarchs have been kings and queens of England, Ireland, and Scotland. The 1707 Acts of Union made the last reigning Stuart monarch the sovereign of all of Great Britain, too.
The monarchs from the House of Stuart remained one of the most influential royal families in Europe throughout the 14th and 18th centuries. The rights of succession passed onto the House of Hanover after the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland, died without an heir.
Here are some of the most significant sovereigns of the Stuart line before the Crowns of England and Scotland were united.
Robert II and Robert III
So, the Stuarts weren’t always a royal house. They were nobility in service to the Scottish king. As such, they could acquire advantageous marriages that common folk of the time weren’t privy to. One such marriage was the union of Walter Stewart, the 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, the daughter of the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce.
King Robert II of Scotland was born to Walter Stewart and Marjorie Bruce as tentative heir presumptive. After his uncle’s birth, David, he was made the second in line to the Scottish throne. David became king at the tender age of five in 1329 and Scotland, whose interests were constantly threatened by English occupation. The country’s Second War of Scottish Independence broke out during his reign. Robert became the King of the Scots in 1371 after King David II died childless.
Once king, Robert II consolidated Stewart’s influence and monarchical power. His surviving sons were granted noble titles and land holdings. He also petitioned Parliament to secure his sons’ inheritance of Scotland’s Crown through primogeniture. Under Robert II, Scotland’s economy improved and its political landscape somewhat stabilized. Upon Robert’s death in 1390, his son, John Stewart, became king, adopting the name King Robert III.
Robert III of Scotland was the second Stewart monarch but held little power throughout his reign. Unlike his father, who was successful in his political undertakings, Robert III struggled to gain the favor of key Scottish nobles. Instead, they preferred his younger brother, Robert the Duke of Albany, and transferred governmental powers to him. Hence, Robert III was king in name, but the Duke of Albany held all the power of the Crown.
Things seemed dismal for Robert III when his younger brother’s Albany Stewarts gained enough traction that his heir, David, was questioningly killed to resolve a familial dispute. The death was out of the king’s control since, again, he had no real political say. That and people really loved the Duke. So, with the death of David, the heir presumptive to King Robert III became his young son, James. Robert III died in 1406.
James VI–I
Sometime in the 16th century, we got King James VI of Scotland. By then, the Stewarts were known as the “Stuarts” and had well-ingrained themselves into European nobility. He was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, born in 1566. Through both of his parents, James was descended from King Henry VII of England by his daughter, Margaret Tudor.
The day after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, James VI of Scotland was proclaimed the new King of England as James I. This smooth succession was, in part, thanks to secret communications between the ailing queen (his godmother) and himself. He maintained Elizabeth’s privy council and added select Scottish representatives.
James held ambitions to unite the crowns of England and Scotland early in his reign, despite an English-Scottish union being vastly unpopular in either country. He referred to himself as the “King of Great Britain,” though the title held no real legal standing. As the king of England and Scotland, James made peace with the Spanish Habsburgs and ended the Anglo-Spanish War. However, he still struggled to implement religious tolerance at home, with himself and his privy councilors being staunch Protestants.
The Union of the Crowns and the English Stuarts
Everyone knows that Scotland and England have been at odds for centuries. It’s no secret. They, however, were symbolically united in 1603 upon the Scottish king James VI’s ascension to the English throne as James I of England. There were no legal affirmations around the “union of the Crowns” since the idea was wholly opposed by both respective countries. Nevertheless, King James would go on – in private and public – to refer to himself as the King of Great Britain.
James VI of Scotland becoming the King of England ushered in an era of English Stuarts who were considerably removed from Scottish politics. They replaced the Tudor Dynasty as England’s ruling house while maintaining their relevance in Scotland. Although James inherited the thrones of England and Scotland, the two countries would not be united until the 1707 Acts of Union, after which they became jointly known as Great Britain.
READ MORE: Tudor Royal Family Tree: A Full Lineage of the House of Tudor
Major Monarchs
The English line of Stuarts began with James I–VI of England and Scotland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark. Their son, King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland continued the Stuart line through his posterity.
The major monarchs of the English Stuarts had to contend with rebellions, revolts, wars, and economic crises in both England and Scotland. They managed, though, and remained in power until the death of Queen Anne in 1714. After that, Great Britain, which included England, Scotland, Ireland, and its colonies, fell into the hands of the House of Hanover.
James I
James I of England was known as James VI in Scotland and, in his heart, he was the King of Great Britain. He became the King of Scotland in 1567 and the King of England and Ireland in 1603, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Thereafter, the Crowns of Scotland and England were symbolically united under a single Stuart king. This would not become a legal union for another hundred years, though James had high ambitions otherwise.
From King James VI–I, all other English Stuarts are descended.
Charles I
Charles I was the son of James VI–I and his wife, Anne of Denmark. Born in 1600, Charles reigned as the king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625 until his (ahem) execution in 1649. Alright – so how did that happen?
Charles inherited one hell of a reign from his father, the first king of England and Scotland. The English Reformation was in full swing and the national divide between Protestants and Catholics was huge. Charles married the French, Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria because (oh boy) why not? Anyways, people and Parliament weren’t too jazzed about the union, especially with the queen’s older brother, King Louis XIII of France, actively suppressing Huguenots in his country.
Outside of his marriage, Charles was in a seemingly endless tit-for-tat with Parliament. They would recommend something and he would “But I’m the King” his way out of it. Or, he would just prorogue Parliament. He did so when it came to failing wars with Spain and France, taxation, and a lot of other things.
The king further found unrest in Scotland, whose native Stuart monarchs have been absent from the country since his father’s reign. This led to the Bishops’ Wars and further humiliating defeats for the English Crown. Scottish turmoil heralded unrest in other English territories, such as Ireland, giving ground to the Irish Rebellion of 1641. By the next year, the English Civil War took off. Consequently, the third of the British Civil Wars was within the Kingdom of England itself.
The English Civil War was, in short, a war between King Charles I and his Royalist supporters against the Parliamentarians, who were members and supporters of Parliament. It culminated in Charles’ capture, whereafter he was put on trial and found guilty of high treason. His execution took place before a massive crowd on January 30, 1649, which Oliver Cromwell was said to have called a “cruel necessity.”
Charles II
Charles II was the son of the ill-fated Charles I and his wife, Henrietta Maria. He was born in 1630, being 19 when his father was executed. The Commonwealth of England was formed afterward with Oliver Cromwell at the helm as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His son, Richard Cromwell, inherited the position in the interim after his death.
In 1650, Charles II was recognized by the Scottish Covenanter Government as King of Scotland and Britain, thus triggering the Anglo-Scottish War. Yeah, the new republic in England was a little stressed to hear that the son of the guy they just killed was rallying a Scottish army. Unfortunately for Charles, the English were victorious. He spent 1653-1660 in exile, until a series of decisive alliances led him to the Declaration of Breda.
The Declaration was a steal for the Parliamentarians in the Commonwealth. The Stuart Dynasty would be restored and everyone involved would be pardoned, save those involved in the regicide of his father. Seeing that Charles would also agree to work with Parliament, they couldn’t say no.
James II
James II was Charles II’s younger brother, making him a son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. His elder brother passed away without a legitimate heir in 1685, making James the one to succeed him. He became King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. James’ reign was that of yet another Stuart who just could not catch a break.
You see, James had been married twice. He had eight children with his first wife, Anne Hyde, of whom only two daughters, Mary and Anne, lived to adulthood. After Anne died, he married Mary of Modena, an Italian princess of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio, and had twelve more kids. Only two made it to adulthood here as well, James and Louisa Maria Teresa. Since James was the only surviving male heir, he took precedence over his older sister, Mary, in line of succession.
The prevailing problem was that the royal family was Catholic. James had converted to Catholicism in 1669, Mary of Modena was a Roman Catholic, and their two children were raised in the faith. His two other daughters from his marriage to Anne Hyde were Protestant practitioners in the Church of England. Fearing a plot involving the Pope and the turning of England into a Catholic nation, the Glorious Revolution began in 1688.
The Revolution deposed James II in favor of his eldest Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, the Prince of Orange. They became Queen Mary II and King William III (and II, in Scotland).
Historical Events
The Stuarts were monarchs from 1371 until 1714 – that’s 343 years! Their rule of England, Scotland, and Ireland began in 1603. That family has seen a lot of history.
From religious strife to one too many rebellions, here is a list of the major historical events that the Stuart sovereigns witnessed:
- The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1653)
- Bishops’ Wars (1639–1640)
- Irish Rebellion of 1641
- Irish Confederate Wars (1641–1653)
- First English Civil War (1642–1646)
- Second English Civil War (1648)
- Execution of King Charles I (1649)
- The Commonwealth of England and the Interregnum (1649–1660)
- Restoration of the Monarchy Under King Charles II (1660)
- The Glorious Revolution and the Deposition of King James II (1688)
- The War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714)
- The End of the Stuart Monarchy and the Start of Hanoverian Succession (1714)
- Jacobite Rebellions (1715–1746)
The Decline of the Stuarts and the Hanoverian Succession
After King James II of Scotland was deposed in favor of his daughter, Mary, during the Glorious Revolution, things went rapidly downhill for the Stuarts. Though Mary was without an heir upon her death and her husband, William, was foreign-born, Parliament approved his succession as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He was from the House of Orange-Nassau.
READ MORE: Dutch Royal Family Tree: Tracing the Lineage of the House of Orange-Nassau
Following the death of William III, his sister-in-law, Anne, ascended the throne. She was also without issue. Thanks to the 1701 Act of Settlement, Anne’s half-brother and his sons would be skipped over in succession, as well as several other Catholic Stuart kin, in favor of their Protestant Hanoverian cousins in Germany. This foreshadowed the end of Stuart rule and emphasized the continued struggle of the Jacobites in Scotland.
Jacobite Rebellions
The Jacobite Rebellions were a series of armed revolts led by James II and his descendants, who are remembered as the Jacobites. These uprisings were staged primarily in Scotland throughout the 18th century in opposition to the Hanoverian succession after the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain.
The House of Hanover – 52nd in line of succession – only came into power because they were the closest Protestant relatives of the House of Stuart. Naturally, the Catholic Stuarts felt cheated out of their inheritance. Their relationship with the Hanovers went back to 1613. Then was the marriage of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI–I, and the German prince and future king, Frederick V of the Palatine. Their daughter Sophia, Electress of Hanover, is the head of the House of Hanover.
The failures of the Jacobite Rebellions meant that the House of Stuart would no longer be the rulers of Great Britain. More importantly, the uprisings led to the harsh repression of the Scottish people, especially the Catholic population, and those few remaining Jacobites. Properties were confiscated, groups of people were tried for treason and executed, and Scotland’s traditional clan system was severely weakened.
Notable Figures
All royal families have their famous figures. Here are the most well-known of the Stuart family tree.
Queen Anne
Queen Anne reigned from 1702 to 1707 as the last Stuart monarch. She became the queen after the death of her brother-in-law, William III, who had insisted on remaining king after the death of his wife. Her husband was Prince George of Denmark. The couple had no surviving children at the time of Anne’s ascension in 1702.
In 1707, Anne saw that under the Acts of Union, the individual Kingdoms of England and Scotland would be united as Great Britain. Coincidentally, she became the first official monarch of Great Britain, despite the title being used since the time of James VI–I. Upon her death, the monarchy was passed to distant relatives of the House of Hanover.
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart was the surviving son of James II and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He would have been, in normal circumstances, the heir to the English throne. However, during the Glorious Revolution his elder sister, Queen Mary II, would inherit in his place. The Act of Settlement in 1701 removed James entirely from succession after making it so that only Protestants could rule and have royal inheritance.
During the Glorious Revolution, James II and his family were in exile in France and upon James’ death, King Louis XIV of France acknowledged James Francies Edward as the new King of England. This was followed by his mother’s native Duchy of Modena, the Papal States, and Spain. James would attempt several times throughout his life to claim the English throne, gaining him the nickname, “The Old Pretender.”
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart was the son of “The Old Pretender,” James Francis Edward, and his wife, the Polish princess Maria Clementina Sobieska. He was the House of Stuart’s last hope of reattaining the British Crown since the House of Hanover took over the throne when Queen Anne died heirless in 1707. His father failed, but the youngblood of “Bonnie Prince Charlie” had potential.
Charles led the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. After gaining footholds in Scotland, defeat at the decisive Battle of Culloden put an end to the Stuart revolts. From then on, Charles became remembered as “The Young Pretender” for his attempts to champion his father’s cause.
Legacy of the House of Stuart
The House of Stuart has left an undeniable mark on European history. They were, from the very inception of the House, in positions of immense power. As the High Stewards of Scotland, the Stewarts had a hand in the domestic affairs of the royal household. As monarchs of the House of Stuart, they had the power of absolute rule. That is, until King Charles I got a little too heavy-handed with it.
It can be argued that Charles paved the way for a constitutional monarchy in Britain through his claim of the divine rights of kings. Which, to be fair, the people were a little sick of hearing. A constitutional monarchy wasn’t enacted until the second of his sons, King James II, was deposed in the Glorious Revolution, but the thought began with Charles.
As sovereigns of Scotland, England, and Ireland, the Stuarts made several political alliances with numerous European powers, including…
- France
- Spain
- Portugal
- The Papal States
These alliances were largely based on political marriages, religion, or sometimes both. Depending on the prominent faith of the royal family at the time, some marriages and alliances were favored over others. Since the Act of Succession of 1701, members of the royal family had to be Protestant – those marrying in had to convert. Nowadays, members of the British royal family must obtain royal permission to convert to a different religion.
Wrapping Up the House of Stuart Family Tree
When people hear of the House of Stuart, their minds tend to travel to the more recognized figures of the family, those steeped in scandal or tragedy. From the troubled reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her opposition to her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, to the uphill struggle faced by Bonnie Prince Charlie and the fateful Battle of Culloden, the Stuart family tree is fraught with tragic characters. However, there is more to the Stuart lineage than content for Shakespeare’s next masterpiece.
The Stuart Dynasty had a substantial impact on the history of the British Isles and Europe as a whole. Their reign in Scotland and England was a historical first. In the aftermath of the English Reformation, the reign was further marked by intense religious unrest that changed the monarchy of the British Isles permanently. Regardless of the drama surrounding the Stuarts, their rule formed the base for many modern political systems and crafted the face of the United Kingdom as we know it today.