|
|
|
|
House of Stuart
|
| |
|
| |
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.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'House of Stuart' Start a new discussion about 'House of Stuart' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
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 prosperous, fairly modern and centralized state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages to 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.
Origins
Etymology
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.
Background
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. Alan had been the hereditary steward of the Bishop of Dol in the Duchy of Brittany; though scholars are divided as to whether he himself was Norman or Breton. Alan had a good relationship with the ruling House of Normandy monarch Henry I of England who awarded him with lands in Shropshire. The FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. 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. Another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld. 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. 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.
History
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 descendants of several illegitimate sons of Charles II). However, a female line through Henrietta Anne Stuart survived and continues to this day, albeit 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.
List of Monarchs
Scotland
England, Scotland, Ireland and France
Great Britain, Ireland and France
Patrilineal descent
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.
- Alan of Dol, b. 120
- 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
Sources
See also
Further reading
- 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.
External links
|-
|-
|
| |
|
|
