|
|
|
|
List of monarchs of Scotland
|
| |
|
| |
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín), who founded the state in 843, although this is no longer taken seriously by historians. The distinction between the Kingdom of Alba/Scotland and the Kingdom of the Picts is rather the product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature, i.e.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'List of monarchs of Scotland' Start a new discussion about 'List of monarchs of Scotland' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín), who founded the state in 843, although this is no longer taken seriously by historians. The distinction between the Kingdom of Alba/Scotland and the Kingdom of the Picts is rather the product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature, i.e. Rex Pictorum (King of the Picts) becomes ri Alban (King of Alba) under Donald II when annals switched from Latin to vernacular around the end of the 9th century, by which time the word Alba in Gaelic had come to refer to the Kingdom of the Picts rather than Britain (its older meaning).
The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as Kingdom of Alba in Gaelic, which later became known in English as Scotland; the terms are retained in both languages to this day. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term rex Scotorum, or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin. The title of King of Scots fell out of use in 1707 when the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Thus Queen Anne became the last monarch of Scotland (and concurrently, the last monarch of England) and the first monarch of Great Britain. The two kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603 (see Union of the Crowns), and Charles II was the last Scottish monarch to actually be crowned in Scotland, at Scone in 1651.
Coronation Oath
The Coronation Oath sworn by Mary II, William II and Anne as monarch of Scotland was approved by the Parliament of Scotland on 18 April 1689. The oath was as follows:
WE William and Mary, King and Queen of Scotland, faithfully promise and swear, by this our solemn Oath, in presence of the Eternal God, that during the whole Course of our Life we will serve the same Eternal God, to the uttermost of our Power, according as he has required in his most Holy Word, revealed and contained in the New and Old Testament; and according to the same Word shall maintain the true Religion of Christ Jesus, the preaching of his Holy Word, and the due and right Ministration of the Sacraments, now received and preached within the Realm of Scotland; and shall abolish and gainstand all false Religion contrary to the same, and shall rule the People committed to our Charge, according to the Will and Command of God, revealed in his aforesaid Word, and according to the laudable Laws and Constitutions received in this Realm, no ways repugnant to the said Word of the Eternal God; and shall procure, to the utmost of our power, to the Kirk of God, and whole Christian People, true and perfect Peace in all time coming. That we shall preserve and keep inviolated the Rights and Rents, with all just Privileges of the Crown of Scotland, neither shall we transfer nor alienate the same; that we shall forbid and repress in all Estates and Degrees, Reif, Oppression and all kind of Wrong. And we shall command and procure, that Justice and Equity in all Judgments be kept to all Persons without exception, us the Lord and Father of all Mercies shall be merciful to us. And we shall be careful to root out all Heretics and Enemies to the true Worship of God, that shall be convicted by the true Kirk of God, of the aforesaid Crimes, out of our Lands and Empire of Scotland. And we faithfully affirm the Things above-written by our solemn Oath.'
Houses
Although genealogists divide the monarchs of Scotland into "Houses", based on continental European ideas of dynasties, it appears that the kings and queens of Scotland, insofar as they thought about their ultimate origins, traced their descent from Fergus Mór, the legendary founder of Dál Riata said to have flourished in the late 5th century, and from his grandson Gabrán mac Domangairt and brother Loarn mac Eirc. James VI is recorded as saying that he was a "Monarch sprunge of Ferguse race". After the Restoration of 1660, when Jacob de Wet was commissioned to produce portraits of Scotland's past and present rulers for Holyrood Palace, the series began with Fergus Mór.
List of monarchs of Scotland
House of Alpin (848-1034)
The reign of Kenneth MacAlpin begins what is often called the House of Alpin, a concept entirely modern. The descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin were divided into two branches; the crown would alternate between the two, the death of a king from one branch often hastened by war or assassination by a pretender from the other. Malcolm II was the last king of the House of Alpin; in his reign, he successfully crushed all opposition to him and, having no sons, was able to pass the crown to his daughter's son, Duncan I, who inaugurated the House of Dunkeld.
| Portrait | Traditional modern English regnal name
(with modern Gaelic equivalent) | Medieval Gaelic name | Dynastic Status | Reign | Title | Nickname |
|---|
| Kenneth I
(Coinneach mac Ailpein) | Cináed mac Ailpín
Ciniod m. Ailpin | son of Alpin king of Dal Riata | 843/848-13 February 858 | Rex Pictorum
("King of the Picts") | An Ferbasach,
"The Conqueror" | | - | Donald I
(Dòmhnall mac Ailpein) | Domnall mac Ailpín | son of Alpin king of Dal Riata, and brother of Kenneth I | 858–13 April 862 | Rex Pictorum
("King of the Picts") | | | Constantine I
(Còiseam mac Choinnich) | Causantín mac Cináeda | Son of Kenneth I | 862–877 | Rex Pictorum
("King of the Picts") | An Finn-Shoichleach,
"The Wine-Bountiful" | | - | Áed
(Aodh mac Choinnich) | Áed mac Cináeda | Son of Kenneth I | 877–878 | Rex Pictorum
("King of the Picts") | | | - | Giric
(Griogair mac Dhunghail) | Giric mac Dúngail | † Non-dynastic | 878–889 | | Mac Rath,
"Son of Fortune" | | - | Eochaid | Eochaid mac Run | † grandson of Kenneth I | *878–889? | - | - | | Donald II
(Dòmhnall mac Chòiseim) | Domnall mac Causantín | Son of Constantine I | 889–900 | Rí Alban
("King of Scotland")
Rì nan Albannaich
("King of Scots") | Dásachtach,
the "Madman" or "Psycho" | | Constantine II
(Còiseam mac Aoidh) | Causantín mac Áeda | Son of Áed | 900–943 | Rí Alban | An Midhaise,
"the Middle Aged". | | Malcolm I
(Maol Chaluim mac Dhòmhnaill) | Máel Coluim mac Domnaill | Son of Donald II | 943–954 | Rí Alban | An Bodhbhdercc,
"the Dangerous Red" | | Indulf | Ildulb mac Causantín | Son of Constantine II | 954–962 | Rí Alban | An Ionsaighthigh,
"the Aggressor" | | - | Dub
(Dubh or Duff)
(Dubh mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Dub mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm I | 962–967 | Rí Alban | Dén,
"the Vehement" | | - | Cuilén
(Cailean) | Cuilén mac Ilduilb | Son of Indulf | 967–971 | Rí Alban | An Fionn,
"the White" | | - | Amlaíb
(Amhlaigh) | Amlaíb mac Ilduilb | Son of Indulf | * 973x –977 | Rí Alban | | | Kenneth II
(Coinneach mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Cináed mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm I | 971 x 977–995 | Rí Alban | An Fionnghalach,
"The Fratricide" | | Constantine III
(Còiseam mac Chailein) | Causantín mac Cuiléin | Son of Cuilén | 995–997 | Rí Alban | | | Kenneth III
(Coinneach mac Dhuibh) | Cináed mac Duib | Son of Dub | 997–25 March 1005 | Rí Alban | An Donn,
"the Chief"/ "the Brown". | | Malcolm II
(Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich) | Máel Coluim mac Cináeda | Son of Kenneth II | 1005–1034 | Rí Alban / Rex Scotiae | Forranach,
"the Destroyer"; |
* Evidence for Eochaid's reign is unclear: he may never have actually been King. If he was, he was co-King with Giric. Amlaíb is known only by a reference to his death in 977, which reports him as King of Alba; since Kenneth II is known to have still been King in 972-973, Amlaíb must have taken power between 973 and 977.
† Giric and Eochaid have uncertain dynastic status, but do not appear to be direct members of the House of Alpin: Eochiad was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde, but his mother may have been a daughter of Kenneth I; Giric's family is unknown, although he may also have been related to the House of Alpin.
House of Dunkeld, 1034-1286
Duncan succeeded to the throne as the maternal grandson of Malcolm II. After an unsuccessful reign, Duncan was killed in battle by Macbeth, who had a long and relatively successful reign. In a series of battles between 1057 and 1058, Duncan's son Malcolm III defeated and killed Macbeth and Macbeth's stepson and heir Lulach, and claimed the throne. The dynastic feuds did not end there: on Malcolm's death in battle, his brother Donald Ban claimed the throne, expelling Malcolm's sons from Scotland; a civil war in the family ensued, with Donald Ban and Malcolm's son Edmund opposed by Malcolm's English-backed sons, led first by Duncan II and then by Edgar. Edgar triumphed, sending his uncle and brother to monasteries. After the reign of David I, the Scottish throne was passed according to rules of primogeniture, moving from father to son, or where not possible, brother to brother.
| Portrait | Traditional modern English regnal name | Medieval Gaelic name | Dynastic Status | Reign | Title | Nickname |
|---|
| Duncan I
(Donnchadh mac Crìonain) | Donnchad mac Crínáin | Grandson of Malcolm II | 1034–1040 | Rí Alban | An t-Ilgarach,
"the Diseased" or "the Sick". | | Macbeth
(MacBheatha mac Fhionnlaigh) | Mac Bethad mac Findláich | Son of Mormaer Findláech, Grandson of Malcolm II and husband of granddaughter of Kenneth III | 1040–1057 | Rí Alban | Rí Deircc,
"the Red King" | | - | Lulach
(Lughlagh mac Gille Chomghain) | Lulach mac Gille Comgaín | Great-grandson of Kenneth III | 1057–1058 | Rí Alban | Tairbith,
"the Unfortunate"
-
Fatuus,
"the Foolish" | | Malcolm III
(Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh) | Máel Coluim mac Donnchada | Son of Duncan I | 1058–1093 | Rí Alban/ Scottorum basileus | ? Cenn Mór ("Canmore")
"Great Chief" | | - | Donald III
(Dòmhnall mac Dhonnchaidh) | Domnall mac Donnchada | Son of Duncan I | 1093–1097 | Rí Alban | Bán,
"the Fair". | | Duncan II
(Donnchadh mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Donnchad mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm III | 1094 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | | | Edgar
(Eagar mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Étgar mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm III | 1097–1107 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | Probus,
"the Valiant" | | Alexander I
(Alasdair mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Alaxandair mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm III | 1107–1124 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | "The Fierce" | | David I
(Dàibhidh mac Mhaoil Chaluim) | Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim | Son of Malcolm III | 1124–1153 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | "The Saint" | | Malcolm IV
(Maol Chaluim mac Eanraig) | Máel Coluim mac Eanric | Grandson of David I | 1153–1165 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | Virgo
"The Maiden"
-
Cenn Mór,
"Great Chief" | | William I
(Uilleam mac Eanraig) | Uilliam mac Eanric | Grandson of David I | 1165-1214 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | "The Lion"
-
Garbh,
"the Rough" | | Alexander II
(Alasdair mac Uilleim) | Alaxandair mac Uilliam | Son of William I | 1214–1249 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | | | Alexander III
(Alasdair mac Alasdair) | Alaxandair mac Alaxandair | Son of Alexander II | 1249–1286 | Rí Alban/ Rex Scottorum | |
House of Fairhair (disputed), 1286-1290
The last King of the House of Dunkeld was Alexander III. His wife had borne him two sons and a daughter; but by 1286, his sons were dead, and his daughter, Margaret, had borne only a single daughter to her husband Eric II of Norway before herself dying. Alexander had himself remarried, but in early 1286, he died in an accident while riding home. His wife, Yolande of Dreux, was pregnant; but by November 1286, all hope of her bearing a living child had passed. Accordingly, in the Treaty of Salisbury, the Guardians of Scotland recognised Alexander's granddaughter, Margaret of Norway, as Queen of Scots. Margaret remained in her father's Kingdom of Norway until Autumn 1290, when she was dispatched to Scotland. However, she died on the journey in Orkney, having never set foot on Scottish soil, and without being crowned at Scone. She is thus sometimes not considered Queen.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | Margaret
the Maid of Norway | granddaughter of Alexander III | early 1283 | 25 November 1286
disputed | Never crowned | September/October 1290 |
House of Balliol (1292-1296)
The death of Margaret of Norway began a two-year interregnum in Scotland caused by a succession crisis. With her death, the descent of William I went extinct; nor was there an obvious heir by primogeniture. Thirteen candidates presented themselves; the most prominent were John de Balliol, great-grandson of William I's younger brother David of Huntingdon, and Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale, David of Huntingdon's grandson. The Scottish Magnates invited Edward I of England to arbitrate the claims; he did so, but forced the Scots to swear allegiance to him as overlord. Eventually, it was decided that John de Balliol should become King; he proved weak and incapable, and in 1296 was forced to resign by Edward I, who then attempted to annex Scotland into the Kingdom of England.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | John de Balliol
Toom Tabard ("Empty Cloak")
(Iain Balliol) | great-grandson of David of Huntingdon (brother of William I) | c.1249 | 17 November 1292 | 30 November 1292 | 10 July 1296
deposed by Edward I of England | November 1314 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
House of Bruce (1306-1371)
For ten years, Scotland had no King of its own. The Scots, however, refused to tolerate English rule; first William Wallace and then, after his execution, Robert the Bruce (the grandson of the 1292 competitor) fought against the English, and in 1306, Robert was crowned King of Scots at Scone. His energy, and the corresponding replacement of the vigorous Edward I with his weaker son Edward II, allowed Scotland to free itself from English rule; at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scots routed the English, and by 1329 the English had agreed by treaty to accept Scottish independence. Robert's successor, his son David, was a child at his succession. The English renewed their war with Scotland, and David was forced to flee the Kingdom by Edward Balliol, son of King John, who managed to get himself crowned King of Scots and to give away Scotland's southern counties to England before being driven out again. David spent much of his life in exile, first in freedom with his ally, France, and then in gaol in England; he was only able to return to Scotland in 1357. Upon his death, childless, in 1371, the House of Bruce came to an end.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | Robert I
the Good
(Roibert a Briuis) | great-great-grandson of David of Huntingdon (brother of William I) | 11 July 1274 | 25 March 1306 | 7 June 1329 | | | David II
(Dàibhidh Bruis) | son of Robert I | 5 March 1324 | 7 June 1329 | November 1331 | 22 February 1371 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
House of Stewart/Stuart
Stewart (1371-1567)
Robert the Stewart was a grandson of Robert I by the latter's daughter, Marjorie. Having been born in 1316, he was older than his uncle, David II; consequently, he was at his accession an old man, unable to reign vigorously, a problem also faced by his son Robert III, who had suffered lasting damage in a horse-riding accident. These two were followed by a series of regencies, caused by the youth of the succeeding kings. Consequently, the Stewart era saw periods of royal inertia, during which the nobles usurped power from the crown, followed by periods of personal rule by the monarch, during which he or she would attempt to address the issues created by their own minority and the long-term effects of previous reigns. Governing Scotland became increasingly difficult, as the powerful nobility became increasingly intractable; James I's attempts to curb the disorder of the realm ended in his assassination; James III was killed in a civil war between himself and the nobility, led by his own son; when James IV, who had governed sternly and suppressed the aristocrats, died in the Battle of Flodden, his wife Margaret Tudor, who had been nominated regent for their young son James V, was unseated by noble feuding, and James V's own wife, Marie de Guise, succeeded in ruling Scotland during the regency for her young daughter Mary I only by dividing and conquering the noble factions, and by distributing French bribes with a liberal hand. Finally, Mary I herself, the last direct descendant of Robert II, found herself unable to govern Scotland faced with the surliness of the aristocracy and the intransigence of the population, who favoured Calvinism and disapproved of her Catholicism; she was forced to abdicate, and fled to England, where she was executed for treason against the English queen Elizabeth I. Upon her abdication, her son, fathered by a junior member of the Stewart family, became King.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | Robert II
the Steward,
(Roibert II Sdíbhard) | grandson of Robert I | 2 March 1316 | 22 February 1371 | 26 March 1371 | 19 April 1390 | | | Robert III (born John Stewart)
the Lame King
(Roibert III Sdíbhard, An Righ Bhacaigh) | son of Robert II | c.1340 | 19 April 1390 | 14 August 1390 | 4 April 1406 | | | James I,
(Seumas I Stiùbhairt) | son of Robert III | 10 December 1394 | 4 April 1406 | 2/21 May 1424 | 21 February 1437 | | | James II
Fiery Face,
(Seumas II Stiùbhairt) | son of James I | 16 October 1430 | 21 February 1437 | 1437 | 3 August 1460 | | | James III,
(Seumas III Stiùbhairt) | son of James II | 1451/52 | 3 August 1460 | 10 August 1460 | 11 June 1488 | | | James IV,
(Seumas IV Stiùbhairt) | son of James III | 17 March 1473 | 11 June 1488 | 24 June 1488 | 9 September 1513 | | | James V,
(Seumas V Stiùbhairt) | son of James IV | 15 April 1512 | 9 September 1513 | 21 September 1513 | 14 December 1542 | | | Mary I, Queen of Scots, Queen consort of France
(Mairi Stiùbhairt) | daughter of James V | 8 December 1542 | 14 December 1542 | 9 September 1543 | 24 July 1567 | 8 February 1587 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
Stuart (1567-1651)
The Stewarts of Lennox were a junior branch of the Stewart family; they were not, however, direct descendants of Robert II. In the past, through the means of the Auld Alliance with France, they had adapted their surname to the French form, Stuart. Consequently, when the son of the Earl of Lennox, Henry, Lord Darnley, married the Queen of Scots, Mary I, their son, as the first King of the Lennox branch of the Stewart family, ruled as a Stuart.
James VI also became King of England and Ireland as James I in 1603, when his cousin Elizabeth I died; thereafter, although the two crowns of England and Scotland remained separate, the monarchy was based chiefly in England.
Charles I, James's son, found himself faced with Civil War; the resultant conflict lasted eight years, and ended in his execution. The English Parliament then decreed their monarchy to be at an end; the Scots Parliament, after some deliberation, broke their links with England, and declared that Charles, son and heir of Charles I, would become King. He ruled until 1651; however, the armies of Oliver Cromwell occupied Scotland and drove him into exile.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | James VI
(also James I of England and Ireland)
(Seumas VI Stiùbhairt) | son of Mary I by Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley | 19 June 1566 | 24 July 1567 | 29 July 1567 | 27 March 1625 | | | Charles I
(also Charles I of England and Ireland)
(Teàrlach I Stiùbhairt) | son of James VI | 19 November 1600 | 27 March 1625 | 8 June 1633 | 30 January 1649
executed | | | Charles II
(also Charles II of England and Ireland)
(Teàrlach II Stiùbhairt) | son of Charles I | 29 May 1630 | 30 January 1649
| 1 January 1651 | 1651
removed by conquest | 6 February 1685 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
The Commonwealth of England
In 1652, following the flight of Charles II, the English Parliament passed the Tender of Union: by its terms, the Kingdom of Scotland was abolished, and annexed into the Commonwealth of England. Scotland would not regain independence until 1660, when at the restoration of Charles II, the old system of the Union of Crowns was restored. Until that time, Scotland was ruled directly from England; the rulers were Oliver Cromwell and his son, Richard, who ruled over the Commonwealth as Lord Protectors, quasi-monarchs.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | Oliver Cromwell,
Lord Protector of the Commonwealth | N/A | 19 April 1599 | 16 December 1653 | N/A | 3 September 1658 | | | Richard Cromwell
(Tumbledown Dick),
Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England | son of Oliver Cromwell | 4 October 1626 | 3 September 1658 | N/A | 25 May 1659
formally resigned | 12 July 1712 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
House of Stuart (restored) (1660-1707)
With the Restoration, the Stuarts became Kings of Scotland once more. But Scotland's rights were not respected: the Scottish Parliament was, during the reign of Charles II, dissolved, and his brother James was appointed Governor of Scotland. James himself became James VII in 1685; his Catholicism was not tolerated, and he was driven out of England after three years. In his place came his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, the ruler of the Dutch Republic; they were accepted as monarchs of Scotland after a period of deliberation by the Scottish Parliament, and ruled together as William II and Mary II.
An attempt to establish a Scottish colonial empire through the Darien Scheme, in challenge to that of England, failed, leaving the Scottish state bankrupt. This coincided with the accession of Queen Anne, daughter of James VII. Anne had multiple children but none of these survived her, and on her death her nearest heir was her halfbrother, James, in exile in France. The English favoured the Protestant Sophia of Hanover (a granddaughter of James VI) as heir; the Scots preferred Prince James, who as a Stuart was a Scot by ancestry, and threatened to break the Union of Crowns between England and Scotland by choosing him for themselves. To preserve the union, the English elaborated a plan whereby the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England would merge into a single Kingdom, the Kingdom of Great Britain, ruled by a common monarch, and with a single Parliament. Both national parliaments agreed to this (the Scots albeit reluctantly, motivated primarily by the national finances), and the Kingdom of Scotland was merged with England and came to an end. Thereafter, although monarchs continued to rule over the nation of Scotland, they did so first as monarchs of Great Britain, and then of the United Kingdom.
| Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
| | Charles II
(restored)
(Teàrlach II Stiùbhairt) | son of Charles I | 29 May 1630 | 29 May 1660
restored to power | 1 January 1651 | 6 February 1685 | | | James VII
(also James II of England and James I of Ireland)
(Seumas VII Stiùbhairt) | son of Charles I | 14 October 1633 | 6 February 1685 | | 11 April 1689 | 16 September 1701 | | | Mary II
(also Mary II of England and Ireland)
(Mairi II Stiùbhairt) | daughter of James VII | 30 April 1662 | 11 April 1689
with William II | | 28 December 1694 | | | William II,
(also William III of England and William I of Ireland)
(Uilleam Orains, "William of Orange") | grandson of Charles I, husband of Mary II | 14 November 1650 | 11 April 1689
with Mary II until 1694 | | 8 March 1702 | | | Anne
(also Anne of England and Ireland)
(Anna Stiùbhairt) | daughter of James VII | 6 February 1665 | 8 March 1702 | | 1 May 1707
Acts of Union, creation of Great Britain | 1 August 1714 | | Portrait | Name | Dynastic Status | Birth | Ruled From | Coronation | Ruled Until | Death |
|---|
From 1707, the titles King of Scots and Queen of Scots are incorrect. Hence, this list runs up to 1707; for monarchs after that date, see List of British monarchs.
Jacobite claimants
Despite having lost his thrones, James VII continued to claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. When he died in 1701, his son, James, inherited his father's claims, and called himself James VIII of Scotland and III of England and Ireland. He would continue to do so all his life, despite the fact that the Kingdoms of England and Scotland were ended by their merging as the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1715, a year after the death of his sister, Queen Anne, and the accession of their cousin George of Hanover, James landed in Scotland and attempted to claim the throne; he failed, and was forced to flee back to the Continent. A second attempt by his son, Charles, in 1745, also failed. Both James's children died without issue, bringing the Stuart family to an end.
- James VIII (Seumas VIII), also known as The Old Pretender, son of James VII, was claimant from 1701 until his death in 1766.
- Charles III (Teàrlach III), also known as The Young Pretender and often called Bonnie Prince Charlie, son of James VIII, was claimant from his father's death until his own death in 1788.
- Henry I (Eanraig I), brother of Charles III and youngest son of James VIII. Died in 1807 without offspring.
- After 1807, the Jacobite claims passed first to the House of Savoy (1807–1840), then to the Modenese branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (1840–1919), and finally to the House of Bavaria (since 1919). The current heir is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Neither he nor any of his predecessors since 1807 have pursued their claim.
Other claimants
- Idi Amin, President of Uganda 1971-1979, proclaimed himself King of Scotland in 1975 (died in exile 2003).
- Michel Roger Lafosse, has since 1979 claimed to be Prince of Albany and heir to the Scottish throne.
Timeline of Scottish Monarchs
Acts of Union
The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on July 22, 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single United Kingdom of Great Britain.
The two countries had shared a monarch for about 100 years (since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I). Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head. There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that the idea had the will of both political establishments behind them, albeit for rather different reasons.
See also
|
| |
|
|
.jpg)