House of Stuart
| House of Stuart | |||
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 Armorial of Stuart, 1603 onwards |
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| Country | Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Ireland, Kingdom of France,[1] Kingdom of Great Britain | ||
| Parent house | Clan Stuart | ||
| Titles | High Steward of Scotland, Earl of Lennox, Duke of Aubigny, Earl of Moray, Marquess of Bute, King of Scots, King of England, King of Ireland, Queen of Great Britain | ||
| Founder | Robert II of Scotland | ||
| Final ruler | Anne of Great Britain | ||
| Current head | None agnatically. The current Jacobite claimant is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. | ||
| Founding year | 1371 | ||
| Dissolution | 1714 | ||
| Cadet branches | Stewarts of Appin Stewarts of Castle Stewart |
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The House of Stuart, also known as the House of Stewart is an important European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century. Their direct ancestors had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by route of Norman England. The dynasty inherited further territory by the 17th century which covered the entire British Isles, including the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, also upholding a claim to the Kingdom of France.
In total, nine Stuart monarchs ruled just Scotland from 1371 until 1603. After this there was a Union of the Crowns under James VI & I who had become the senior genealogical claimant to all of the holdings of the extinct House of Tudor. Thus there were five Stuart monarchs who ruled both England and Scotland as well as Ireland. Additionally at the foundation of the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Acts of Union, which politically united England and Scotland, the first monarch was Anne of Great Britain. However, she died without issue and all the holdings passed to the House of Hanover, under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.
During the reign of the Stewarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a more prosperous one. They ruled during a period of European history where the Middle Ages morphed into the Renaissance. Monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as poet Robert Henryson. After gaining control of all of Great Britain the arts and sciences continued to develop; William Shakespeare's best known plays were authored during the Jacobean era, while institutions such as the Royal Society and Royal Mail were established during the reign of Charles II.
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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, their family name was defined through immediate ancestors and changed from generation to generation; for example the first two High Stewards were known as FitzAlan and FitzWalter respectively. During the 16th century the name underwent a development and the French spelling Stuart was adopted. It was Mary Queen of Scots who adopted the change while living in France; this was to ensure that the Scots name Stewart was pronounced correctly.
- See also: Clan Stewart
The ancestral origins of the Stewart family are quite obscure — what is known for certain is that they can trace their ancestry back to Alan FitzFlaad, who came over to the island of 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] though scholars are divided as to whether he himself was Norman or Breton.[2] Alan had a good relationship with the ruling House of Normandy 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 broke out known as The Anarchy, 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 had followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands at Renfrewshire and the title life peerage of the 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, 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 currying further favour. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce, the Lordship of Cunningham and the Brucean 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, 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. Therefore Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side and at the time of their marriage was himself second in line to the Scottish throne. Because of this connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stewart. Because of the long French residence at Aubigny, held by Darnley's branch in the Auld Alliance, the surname was altered to Stuart. In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on French support was revived during the reign of Charles II, who had an illegitimate son by Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. This descent received the main Stuart appanages of Lennox and Aubigny, as well as the main Tudor appanage of Richmond.
French connections were notoriously unpopular and resulted in the downfall of the Stuarts, whose mutual enemies identified with the emergent Protestant nationalism and urban mercantilism as opposed to Catholic feudalism and rural manorialism. The Glorious Revolution caused the deposition of James II in favor of his son-in-law and his daughter, William and Mary. James continued to claim the thrones of England and Scotland, and encouraged revolts in his name, and his grandson Charles led an ultimately unsuccessful rising in 1745, becoming ironic symbols of conservative rebellion and Romanticism. Due to the identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Stuarts, Catholic Emancipation was not passed until Jacobitism (as represented by direct Stuart heirs) was extinguished. Despite the Whig intentions of tolerance to be extended to Irish subjects, this was not the preference of Georgian Tories and their failure at compromise played a subsequent role in the present division of Ireland.
The direct male line of the House of Stuart is assumed to be extinct, after the deaths of Henry Benedict Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart (the male line continues through the descendents of several illgitimate sons of Charles II). However, a female line through Henrietta Anne Stuart survived and continues to this day, albiet in the form of the current House of Wittelsbach. Henrietta Anne, or simply 'Minette', was a daughter of Charles I of England and married into the French royal family. Therefore, Franz, Duke of Bavaria, descends from Minette, and is the current Heir general of Charles I and is also the current Head of the House of Stuart.
| Portrait | Name | From | Until | Relationship with predecessor |
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Robert II of Scotland | 22 February 1371 | 19 April 1390 | cousin of David II of Scotland who died without issue. Robert's mother Marjorie Bruce was daughter of Robert I of Scotland. |
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Robert III of Scotland | 19 April 1390 | 4 April 1406 | son of Robert II of Scotland. |
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James I of Scotland | 4 April 1406 | 21 February 1437 | son of Robert III of Scotland. |
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James II of Scotland | 21 February 1437 | 3 August 1460 | son of James I of Scotland. |
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James III of Scotland | 3 August 1460 | 11 June 1488 | son of James II of Scotland. |
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James IV of Scotland | 11 June 1488 | 9 September 1513 | son of James III of Scotland. |
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James V of Scotland | 9 September 1513 | 14 December 1542 | son of James IV of Scotland. |
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Mary I of Scotland (Mary, Queen of Scots) |
14 December 1542 | 24 July 1567 | daughter of James V of Scotland. |
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James VI of Scotland | 24 July 1567 | 27 March 1625 | son of Mary, Queen of Scots. Stuart paternal line maintained due to his father being Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley from the Earl of Lennox cadet branch. |
| Portrait | Name | From | Until | Relationship with predecessor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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James VI of Scotland & I of England and Ireland | 24 March 1603 | 27 March 1625 | cousin of Elizabeth I of England who died issueless. Inherited the rights to the extinct House of Tudor which included the Kingdoms of England, Ireland and a genealogical claim to France. |
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Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland | 27 March 1625 | 30 January 1649 | son of James VI of Scotland & I of England & Ireland. |
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Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland | 30 January 1649 | 6 February 1685 | son of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland. Spent some time after father's execution in exile while the republican Commonwealth was in place. |
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James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland | 6 February 1685 | 13 February 1689 | brother of Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland, who died with no legitimate issue. Son of Charles I. Overthrown at the Revolution of 1688. |
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Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland | 13 February 1689 | 28 December 1694 | daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland, who was still alive and pretending to the throne. Co-monarch was William III & II who outlived his wife. |
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Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland | 8 March 1702 | 1 May 1707 | sister of issueless Mary II. daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland. |
| Portrait | Name | From | Until | Relationship with predecessor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Anne of Great Britain and Ireland | 1 May 1707 | 1 August 1714 | becomes first monarch of the new Kingdom of Great Britain after the political Acts of Union 1707 united England & Scotland. Died without issue, rights pass to House of Hanover. |
Patrilineal descent, descent from father to son, is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that the historically accurate royal house of the Stuart monarchs was the House of Stuart.[6]
- Alan of Dol, b. 1020
- Flaald fitz Alan, Baron of St. Florent
- Alan FitzFlaald, d. after 1114
- Walter fitz Alan, 1106 - 1177
- Alan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland, d. 1204
- Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, 1178 - 1241
- Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, 1214 - 1283
- Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl, 1246 - 1298
- Sir Alan Stewart of Dreghorn, 1280 - 1333
- Sir Alexander Stewart, d. 1374
- Sir Alexander Stewart, d. 1404
- Sir John Stewart, 1st Lord Aubigny, 1370 - 1429
- Sir Alan Stewart of Darnley, 1407 - 1439
- John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox, 1430 - 1495
- Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, 1472 - 1513
- John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox, 1490 - 1526
- Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, 1516 - 1571
- Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1545 - 1567
- James I of England, 1566 - 1625
- Charles I of England, 1600 - 1649
- James II of England, 1633 - 1701
- Mary II of England, 1662 - 1694 and Anne of Great Britain, 1665 - 1714
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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) |
- ^ titular claim rather than de facto
- ^ a b "J.H. Round: The Origin of the Stewarts: Part 1". MedievalGenealogy.org.uk. Retrieved on 13 November 2008.
- ^ a b c Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225, 544.
- ^ Lieber, Encyclopædia Americana, 30.
- ^ a b c King, The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign, 249.
- ^ Descent from before Walter fitz Alan is from [1] and may be unreliable.
- King, Edmund (1994). The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198203640.
- Jacobitism, for further information on the House of Stuart and their decline
- The family trees of the Stuarts: Scottish branch - England and Scotland united
- List of British monarchs
- List of Monarchs of Scotland
- Corsehill Stewarton in Ayrshire and the Stuart connection.
- Clan Stuart
- Addington, Arthur C. The Royal House of Stuart: The Descendants of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England). 3v. Charles Skilton, 1969-76.
- Cassavetti, Eileen. The Lion & the Lilies: The Stuarts and France. Macdonald & Jane’s, 1977.
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House of Stuart
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| Preceded by House of Bruce |
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Scotland 1371 – 1649 , 1660 – 1707 |
Titles Merged See Act of Union 1707 |
| Preceded by House of Tudor |
Ruling House of the Kingdom of England 1603 – 1649 , 1660 – 1707 |
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| Preceded by New Creation |
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Great Britain 1707 – 1714 |
Succeeded by House of Hanover |
