Jacobitism Part III: James III of England "The old pretender"

James III, Jacobite pretender from 1701 to 1766. Have he really reigned, his reign (At 64 years) would be the longest in British History, surprassing the 63 years reign of Queen Victoria

It is a pleasure to me to talk about such a great person as James III was, I'll try to be objective and be always the nearest to the reality as possible, but I can not occult that I really have an admiration for this romantic figure, the "King over the water" also known by its opponents as "The old pretender".

James Francis Edward Stuart was born on 10 June 1688 to the reigning monarch James II of England and his second wife, the italian princess Mary of Modena .The birth took place at St. James Palace, the very same place were his father was born almost fifty five years before on 1633.

Even James II had already two daughters born from his first marriage, both English and Scottish thrones were ruled by male-preference primogeniture on theirs succession systems, and thus the newly born became immediately the first on the line of succession to both thrones and as such Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Roteshay.

The english people feared at that times that a popist plot was behind their current monarchs, a generalized anti-catholic sentiment was prevalent at the moment, vissible in so many cultural expressions such as the very frequent mocks to the Catholic hierarchy, including the reigning pope.

With that huge problem behing the british thrones, the people simply was not willing to accept a Catholic Dynasty, the birth of James Francis Edward meant that the throne should continue in the catholic line of the Royal Stuarts, many peopke at the Parliament however meant that it was time to take action before the Catholic dynasty could establish itself.

Soon rumors started to circulate among the masses, discrediting the birth of the young James, rumors included the false statement that in fact the actual baby had been born dead and it was soon replaced by another false baby, this rumor quickly grew since there were no relevant courtesans or nobles present at the birth.


Mary of Modena, James' mother and Queen of England and Scotland

Soon the situation became very unstable at England, a revolution was coming and the throne of James was more unsure than ever, on 10 December of the very same year of 1688, when the baby James was barely six months old, Mary of Modena his mother, took him with her to France in order to search for a better place, while his father James II tried without any succes to retain its moribund Crown.

A few weeks later James II joined his wife and baby son, and in 1689 his eldest daughter was crowned (By the will of the parliament) as Queen Mary II of England in a co-reign with her husband William III of Orange, however many people (Including some major European powers) view this as a clear usurpation, believing that the Parliament had not the right to change the order of succession.

James II always had the firm conviction that some day he would recover his throne, and continued to sign documents as the reigning monarch, as explored in the previous entry, the group that formed arround him in order to bring support, became known as Jacobitism and the young prince James was the focus of all the Jacobite interest, it was in fact the bright hope of a futute restoration, had James Francis Edward died before his father, for sure the Jacobitism would have become dead with it, however he lived long enough.


James with his sister, Louisa Maria Theresa "The Princess over the water"

At France, James was recognized as the true heir to the English and Scottish thrones, and threated as a Prince of Wales. On 1692 when James was four years old, a baby sister was born to his father and mother, the beautiful girl was called Louisa Maria (Later the name Theresa was added, and she is now known more commonly as Louisa Maria Theres Stuart) and would become a companion to the young prince, numerous portraits were made showing both princes.

The prince grew then at the french court, with his parents and his only full-sister to survive infancy, who was styled as the "Princess Royal" or called by the jacobites as the "Princess over the water", during this times James began a very strict catholic education and learned both english and french.

On 16 september 1701, his father James II died when he was just thirteen years old, he immediately proclaimed himselg with the support of Louis XIV and several other major catholic monarchs, as James III of England and VIII of Scotland refusing to recognize his half brother-in-law William III as a monarch, and after 1702 also refusing to recognize his half-sister Anne.

After this the English Parliament oficially removed all of his British titles and accused him of High-Treason under the penalty of death, however all the Jacobite community (Including four catholic states) still addresed him as a Majesty and as the rightful King of both England and Scotland.


Queen Anne, half-sister of James III and also his rival for the throne

After James came to age, it was time to try to regain his lost throne, after a brief illness associated with measles, James tried to land at the Firth of Forth however he failed when a fleet led by Sir George Byng (Loyal to Queen Anne) forced the french ships (Supporting James) to retreat.

It was just the beginning of a tragic series of events to lead to the total betrayal and lost of hope to the still young James III. France was in the middle of a continental war, the War of Spanish succession trying to ensure that Philip, Duke of Ajou (Grandson of Louis XIV in the male line, and thus a Bourbon) was accepted as the new king of Spain succeeding the now extinc line of the Spanish Habsburgs.

On 1713 the peace came with the Treaty of Utretch in which England finally accepted Philip V as the king of Spain, however it cost among others things to France, that Louis XIV had to accept Anne as the true Queen of England, leaving James III without the so much needed recognition of the French Court.

The tories, a parliamentarian group held restorationist views and even supported to a some degree James III, however it was obvious that he had to rennounce to his catholic faith in order to be accepted as British Monarch, however James III strong in his ideals refused to do so, even it meant that he lost any real hope to regain his throne.


George of Hanover became in 1714 George I of Great Britain being the nearest protestant relative to the protestant Stuarts

In 1714 Anne died, and with her the protestant branch of the Royal Stuart family, by the Act of Settlement the throne passed to a german prince, skipping not only James but a bunch of at least another forty nearest relatives that were considered unfit to rule over Great Britain because of their catholic faith.

The german prince, elector of Hanover in his own right, became then George I of Great Britain (In 1707 the parliament merged the english and scottish kingdoms to create the new realm of Great Britain, however the jacobite heirs continued to style themselves kings of the separated realms of England and Scotland).

On 1715 (Known as "The fifteen" by Jacobites)James III made his last effort to recover his crown, finally landing at Scotland, however he was very much dissapointed by the lack of support that he found, he had planned a coronation at Scone, but decided to retreat and left before being captured by the Hanoverian troops.

He was not welcomed again at France, that very same year his patron and protector, Louis XIV, died and was succeded by his child great-grandson, Louis XV under the regency of Philip II, Duke of Orleans, which saw James as an embarrassment and did not let him to come back to Versailles.


Pope Clement XI received the Jacobite court at Rome, where it stayed until its final days

Affortunately for James, the reigning pope Clement XI offered James a pension and the palace of Mutti in Rome as his new ressidence, James immediately accepted the offer and established for the rest of his life at the Papal States, specialy at the eternal city of Rome.

It was there that on 1719 James contracted marriage with the polish princess, Maria Clementina Sobieska,a granddaughter of the polish king John III Sobieski, trying to ensure the continuation of the Royal Stuart catholic line, one year later came the first child, that for the great pleasure of all the Jacobite community, resulted to be a babyboy, that was called Charles Edward, and would later become known as the Bonnie Prince Charlie and The young Pretender by its opponents (Of course a full entry would be dedicated to this beloved prince).


Maria Clementina Sobieska, Consort to James III and Queen of England and Scotland for Jacobites

Five years later came the second and last son of the marriage, Henry Benedict Stuart, that would become cardinal and Jacobite King in it's own right, and that for the sadness of the general Jacobite communite was to be the very last member of the Royal Stuart family.

The marriage of James and Clementina was a sorrowful one, totally unhappy and a big failure, Clementina accused James of adultery and soon after the birth of Henry Benedict, she decided to leave her husband and live at a local monastery, it would take two years before a reconciliation could came.

Clementina was prone to depression and as a fervant catholic he spent much of her time praying, distanced of both her husband and children. She would die in 1735, at the very early age of 32 years, recognized as the true and legitime Queen of both England and Scotland, she was interred with full royal honours at the St Peter's Basilica at Rome.

James would never marry again, and in fact he felt in a perpetual state of lethargy, spending all his time at his palace surrounded by his "Jacobite court in the exile" that was mantained by the pension payed by the Papal States. In fact in 1743 formaly retired from "polithics" when he oficially invested his eldest son, Charles, as the "Prince Regent" thus giving him full powers to act in his name.

On 1745 (The famous Forty-Five) the young and handsome, Charles Edward, made the last serious effort to recover the British thrones for his father, even he came closer to success than his father's 1715 invassion, he eventualy failed and all the factual hopes for an eventual Jacobite restoration were effectively destroyed.


Tomb of James III at St.Peter's Basilica, shared with his two sons and successors

James would die on 1 January 1766, yes the very first day of the year 1766, he was buried at the St. Peter's Basilica as his wife. Thirteen days after his death, the papacy oficially decided to recognize the Hanoverian Dynasty as the true and legitime rulers of Great Britain.

On the next entry I will talk about Louisa Maria Theresa, sister of James III, even little information is available, she well worths an entry, being an important Jacobite figure by her own right.

Jacobitism Part II: Life and reign of HM James II of England, VII of Scotland

James II as monarch

James II is a very controversial figure in the British History, condemned by the vast majority of historians as a tyrant and as a shame for the British monarchy, however this is a falacy mainly because James is judged with modern values and parameteres, an objective and factual conclussion can be that he was like the majority of the continental monarchs, however the Absolutism never functioned in the British Islands.

James was born at St. James palace in the city of London, England on 14 October, 1633 as the second eldest son of the reigning monarch of England and Scotland, Charles I Stuart, as that he was never expected to become king in his own right, however his position as second in the line of succession never changed up to the kingship of his eldest brother Charles II in 1660 when he became first in the line, a position that he kept during all of his brother reign.


The young prince James with his father the king Charles I

James was educated as was the costume of the time by tutors and raised as a Protestant even his mother was a Catholic, Henrietta Maria of France, a daughter of king Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon to reign in France (And himself a protestant that converted to Catholicism in order to ensure his position as french monarch).

At the age of three James was named Lord High Admiral, even this was nominal, the position would one day become significant after the restoration of the monarchy. In 1642 Charles I his father named him a member of the Order of the Garter. In 1644, following the costume, Charles I elevated him to the title of Duke of York (Always the second eledest surviving son of a monarch receives this title, bar Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and curiously enough the title has always merged back to the crown after only one generation).

The situation was already a difficult one in England, as the English Civil War erupted after strong differences between his father the King and the Parliament. He had to live during this time at Oxford (A stronghold of the monarchy) however after it fell to the republican forces, the young James was virtualy imprisoned at the St. James Palace (Ironically enough), until he escaped in 1648 and went to La Hague, in the continental Europe.

In 1649 his father was beheaded by the republicans, and the Commonwhealt was established with Oliver Cromwell as its leader, even Scotland and Ireland proclaimed Charles II (Eldest brother of our James) as the new monarch, he could not assure the Enligh throne and had to went to the exile at France, being supported by the regency at France (The young king Louis XIV was not in age yet).

His years in the exile were troubled ones, as he served in the French Army during the revolts of the Fronde (A civil war in France among nobles, even Gaston, Duke of Orleans, uncle to the king Louis XIV, participated in the opposite side), however at some point his brother Charles made an alliance with the Habsburg Spain (Enemy to France), and had to leave France.


Louis XIV was an important figure during a well part of James' life

In the middle of the confussion he joined Louis, Prince of Conde at Bruges and fought against his own former allies at the French army. During his tenure at the Spanish side, he met with two irish catholic brothers, most historians agree that it was during this moments that he began to doubt about his Anglican faith, and the Catholic practices became attractive for him.

Living for so many years in catholic countries meant the eventual conversion of James, but this was initially kept in secret in order to avoid scandal. In 1659 he was offered with a high office at the Spanish army, however he refused and the following year his brother could finaly regain his lost throne.


Charles II as monarch

Under the restoration, James made one of his first scandals at the court when he announced his engagement to Anne Hyde, a commoner, in those times it was difficult to wonder a royal prince marrying a commoner, however the morganatic marriage did not exist at those times in England (In fact Henry VIII married several commoners).


James with his first wife Anne Hyde

The marriage lasted from 1660 to 1671 (When Anne died), and it produced at least five children, only two daughters would survive and were raised in the protestant faith according to the wishes of the reigning monarch Charles II, these two ladies would one day become queens regnants of the realms, as Mary II and Anne, the last of the Stuart dynasty to reign upon the British Islands.

As a Lord High Admiral, the Duke of York commanded during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars, and when the american colony of the New Netherlands was conquered from the Dutchs it was renamed as New York in honour of James, few people know that this controversial figure is the namesake for the mosty important city in the modern world.

Growing fears and popular digust for Catholic things and people lead the parliament to pass an Act in 1673 that forced all civil and militar officials to take an oath in which they rennounced to catholic practices, James refused to do so, rennouncing thus to his office as Lord High Admiral, after this it was made public that James was a Roman Catholic.


Mary of Modena, the second wife of James II, a roman catholic and an italian princess

In 1673 James married a Catholic princess, Mary of Modena, she was unpopular from the very first moment that he set foot in the Great Britain, many people believed that she was a covered agent of the pope. The Roman Catholicism was in fact very unpopular among the masses because of fear of a papist complot against the Anglican Church (This was of course not true).

At those times it became evident that the queen Catherine (Consort to the king Charles II) would never become a mother, so at some point the throne would pass to the Catholic Duke of York and his unpopular wife. At the end of the 1670's the parliament tried to pass the Exclussion Bill that literaly excluded James and any son fro his second marriage of the line of succession. In response Charles II dissolved the parliament and did it two further times for the same reason.

The Exclussion Bill proposed that at the death of the king Charles II, the throune should pass to his illegitime son, James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, that in fact would later claim the throne and revolt against the crowned king James II.


James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, one of the greatest foes in James' life (And also his nephew)

James was at a very unpopular point among the masses and had to leave firt to Brussels and then to Scotland when his brother appointed him Lord High Comissioner. Eventually he returned when it became clear that Charles II would die soon. His last moment of popularity came in 1683 when a republican plot that wanted to kill both the king and the Duke of York became uncovered, the public fell simpathy then to both the monarch and James.

In 1685 Charles II died not before converting to Roman Catholicism at his deathbed, and the Duke of York became James II of England and VII of Scotland. At first it appeared that the transition was calmed and peaceful, even the Parliament showed favour to the new monarch, however soon James, 1st Duke of Monmouth revolted and declared himself as the true monarch.

Even Monmouth was defeated and soon executed, the rebellion just marked the beginning of a troubled time, and a reign that would be ephimeral. James had very unpopular ideas, he believed in the divine right of the monarchs and had clear autocratic ideals, but this was in fact not uncommon in the Europe of the XVIIth century, Louis XIV was ruling in France, Leopold I was Holy Roman Emperor, the great tsar Peter I was wuling in Russia and the Habsburgs were becoming extinct at Spain with Charles II.

The absolutism was a fashion in continental Europe, however the advanced and metropolitan minds of the english people could not accept this kind of government, prefering a more representative one, James II unfited with its people minds that were also fearful of the Roman Catholic faith while their monarch was trying to ensure religious liberty.

In 1688 after James II installed reforms on religion that favored the Roman Catholicism, his final fate was signed and when his wife gave birth to a baby son, James Francis Edward, the english people became totally hostile to their king, they were not willing to accept a Catholic Dynasty ruling in the British Islands.


William and Mary as co-sovereigns

The nephew of the king and also son-in-law (As was married to the Princess Mary, future Mary II), William, Prince of Orange was ploting against the king and finaly made an invassion from the Orange realms, soon the royalist forces were defeated, and James II had to fleed the country without abdicating.

This movement is now called the Glorious Revolution, and has a great impact on British History more for its aftermath, the Parliament passed the Bill of Rights that finaly limited the power of the monarch and gave the majority of the political control to the parliament itself, then they proclaimed William as co-monarch with his wife, Mary as William III and Mary II.

James II exiled at France however obtained recognition and protection from Louis XIV, Spain, Modena and the Papal States also refused to recognize William and Mary as the true sovereigns of the British Islands. The support for the deposed king became known as Jacobitism, and found allies in the Catholic powers and a minority of the population in the British Islands, specialy at Ireland and Scotland.

In fact Ireland refused at first to follow England and Scotland in their attempt to remove James II from the throne, so James II landed with French troops at Ireland in 1689 tryiing to regain his lost crown, however William III personaly went to defeat him, James II had to surrender and left, he would never set feet again in any of his lost realms.

After this James lost most of the Irish support, because he left his allies to his own luck and was tagged as a coward. He then arrived defeated to France. In 1692 James' wife, Mary, gave birth to her last child, the princess Louisa Maria Theresa, to be later styled "Princess Royal", she would become a gentile and romantic figure, that well deserves her own entry in these series.

In 1696 a plot in England was uncovered, it wanted to restore James II by murdering William III, however because of it's failure it only gave more unpopularity to the exiled king. Louis XIV helped so much his cousin and disgraced king, that he even found a new throne for him, he offered him to be crowned elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwhealt, however James refused believing that by accepting it, he would totaly relinquish his rights to the British realms.


James Francis Edward and his sister the princess over the water, Louisa Maria Theresa

In 1697 Louis XIV made peace with William III, and James II lost much of its favor and help. During his last years he lived impoverished at an austere palace, rounded by his family and a few supporters in a decadent and moribund court. James passed away on 16 September, 1701, he was succeeded in his Jacobite claims by his son that was proclaimed James III and VIII.

We would discuss and explore the life of James III in the next entry, also the fate of the queen Mary of Modena, the lives of Mary II and her sister Anne, and the eventual Hanoverian succession to the British thrones.

The Jacobitism: Part 1 Historical Background

The king James II of England, rightful monarch for the Jacobites from 1685 to 1701, but deposed since 1688

It is very difficult for a modern monarchist to establish an objective and prudent position in front to the Jacobitism, for that I will dedicate some entries to the Jacobitism, a royalist movement in the Great Britain of the late XVIIth century and a good part of the XVIIIth century.

First of all let's define the term "Jacobitism" a world coined after the King James II/VII of England and Scotland, in latin his name is spelled JACOBUS and holds a relation to the spanish name JACOBO, thus the Jacobitism is the support for the deposed king James II.

Historical Background

Arms of the Stuarts from 1603 onwards

In 1603 the celebrated Elizabethan age of England came to an end when the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I of England died, her dead without any direct heir meant that the throne should pass to the reigning king of the Scots, James VI a great-grandson of Margaret Tudor (Eldest daughter of Henry VII of England) this through both the paternal and maternal sides.

So James was proclaimed James I of England, becoming the first monarch reigning in the hole island of Great Britain, in the so celebrated and remembered Union of the Crowns, that was in fact just a Personal Union (The official merging of the crowns came more than a century later in the Act of Union of 1707 creating the Kingdom of Great Britain).

With the ascension of James I a new dynasty became the ruling House of England, the Royal Stuarts. This was going to be a troubled dynasty, specialy in matters of religion and parliamentary disputes, they had an undeniable tendency to autocracy and absolutism.

James I believed in the divine right of the kings, and in fact his son ans succesor, Charles I of England was even more absolutist than his father, this cost him his throne and his head. In 1642 the English Civil war erupted because of the differences between the parliament and the monarch, the former wanted more power and the monarch was not willing to give up it's royal political influences.

This resulted in the establishment of a kind or republic in the British Islands, in 1649 Charles I was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell proclaimed Lord Protector, however this republican experience (For the luck of all of we the moanrchists) lasted for a little time, from 1649 to 1660 when Charles' eldest son was called to reign and the monarchy restablished, he reigned as Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Charles II was married to Catherine of Braganza a catholic princess, this caused digust among Charles II anglican subjects, however Catherine failed to produce any heir to the throne, this in clear contrast with the numerous illegitime sons that Charles II procreated with his many mistresses.

Charles II died in 1685 leaving a direct succession to his brother the Duke of York, a catholic, that became James II and VII of England and Scotland. Most of his subjects didn't want a catholic to become monarch of the British Islands so he was unpopular during all of his reign, and when he showed clear signs of autocracy and absolutism, his fate was signed.


James III, eldest son of the deposed king James II, also known as "The old Pretender"

Going against the principles of the good relation between subjects and monarch, a revolution erupted in 1688, after the catholic wife of the king, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a male heir to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales in his own right.

The now called glorious revolution of 1688 ended with the deposition and exile of the monarch and his family, except for his two protestant daughters born from his first marriage to Anne Hyde. The eldest became Mary II of England in a co-reign with her husband, William of Orange that became William III of England. The younger would succeeded in 1702 as Queen Anne.

However a well amount of the population remained faithful to the deposed Royal Family (Specialy in Scotland), they were exiled to France were they received support from the sun king Louis XIV. Spain, France and Modena in fact refused to recognize the new line of monarchs until the Treaty of Utretch was signed in 1713.

The movement that was born in suport for the deposed Stuarts became known as "Jacobitism" and it was going to survive as a political force for more than a century to come.

The lack of fertility in the two protestant daughters of James II (Mary II died young and Anne gave birth to seventeen children all of whom died in infancy or were stillborn, William, Duke of Gloucester was the eldest to survive, living for barely eleven years) lead to the extinction of the protestant branch of the House of Stuart, the parliament had expected this since long before, when in 1701 the Act of Settlement was enacted, establishing that in the case of the extinction of the line of Anne, then the throne should pass to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, a grandaughter of king James I.

So in 1714 when Anne died, the throne passed to the eldest surviving son of the Electress of Hanover (That died a few weeks before Anne), George of Hanover became George I of Great Britain, the first of the Hanover dynasty that reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901. However the first monarchs of the Hanover Dynasty (Up to George III) had to deal with successive revolts supporting a restoration of the Royal Stuarts.

Even today the catholics are excluded from the line of succession to the British throne, and the Act of Settlement is still in force, all the people in the line of succession is directly descended from Sophie, Electress of Hanover. Jacobitism is still active (But with very little support), even the male line of James II died out in 1807 with the death of Henry (IX) Stuart, the line went first to the Savoys, then to the Modena ducal family and up to the present to the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria in the person of Franz, Duke of Bavaria.

We will explore the hole history of this romantic movement and try to establish a personal position that recognizes the right of the Stuarts to claim the throne, but also leave clear the fact that I do personally recognize the rule and reign of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her predecessors.

The future of the line of succession to the French Throne

At the present we as legitimists, have a lot of luck and blessings from the heaven, not only the French Bourbon line is separated from the Spanish one (Ensuring the principle of separation of both the french and spanish thrones), but also we have a young and promising King, HMCM Louis XX of France.

However not everything is that fine when we talk about the succession, up to this moment both main lines of the Bourbon family are lacking male heirs, in fact after our king, the next in the succession is Juan Carlos I of Spain who has always rejected the rights of Louis XX to be entitled "King of France".

After Juan Carlos comes the Prince of Asturias whose wife Letizia, after two pregnancies still lacks a male heir. The situation is in fact very worrisome, because of the following factors:

1.- If our kings fails to produce a male heir, the line will go to the Spanish one, and so the claim will become weaker as it will be must likely durmant. The spanish branch is even hostile to their rights to the French Throne.
2.- If both Louis XX and the future Philip VI of Spain fail to produce male heirs, the throne would pass to a minor line of the Bourbons, that of the Dukes of Seville descending from Charles IV of Spain through his grandson Enrique de Borbón (We ignore if they embrace the legitimist ideology.

For that all the legitimist shall pray to our Lord Jesuschrist in order that the queen Margarita becomes pregned again and bear us the so desired Dauphin. It is a basic need for the legitimist cause to preserve and perpetuate the male line of our king Louis XX.

With this entry I finish with the series surrounding the french succession, I've explained why the claim of Louis XX is the only valid, and why the Orleanism goes against the true ideals of monarchism. My next topic will be the Jacobitism, making however clear that I do respect and recognize HM Elizabeth II as the true and legitime Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwhealt Realms.