Jacobitism

This article is not about the Jacobite Orthodox Church, nor is it about Jacobinism or the earlier Jacobean period.

Decline of Jacobitism

Jacobitism entered permanent decline after the "Forty-Five" rebellion.

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The French made every effort to rescue Jacobite chieftains as well as Charles, and gave him a hero's welcome back to France, but soon tired of his badgering them to provided a renewed assault on the Hanoverians. After French victories knocked the Netherlands out of the war, the English offered reasonable peace terms and made the expulsion of Charles from France a precondition of negotiations. Charles ignored the French court's order to depart, continued to demand military action and support for his extravagant lifestyle and flaunted his presence around Paris as peace negotiations for the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle got under way. After British complaints the French government lost patience with Charles and in December 1748 he was seized on his way to the Opéra and briefly jailed before being expelled.

Related Topics:
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle - 1748

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The Elibank plot

From 1749 to 1751 Charles laid the groundwork for a rising in England including a visit to London in 1750 when he conferred with the Jacobite leaders and considered an assault on the Tower of London as well as converting to Anglicanism. The English were clear that they would not move without foreign assistance, and Charles turned to Frederick II of Prussia. While Frederick was indifferent to the Jacobite cause he made diplomatic use of the opportunity, and appointed the Earl Marischal as his ambassador to Paris, in a position to keep him informed and veto any plans. Andrew Murray of Elibank, the liaison between Charles and the plotters, finally realised there was no hope of foreign assistance and ended the conspiracy, but by then Charles had sent two exiled Scots as agents to prepare the clans. They were betrayed by Aleistair Ruadh MacDonell of Glengarry, a spy in Charles' entourage, and while one was arrested the other barely escaped. Typically Charles responded to the failure by denouncing his comrades, drunkenness and beating his mistress. Finally, in a dispute with Marischal and the English conspirators in 1754 a drunken Charles apparently threatened to publish their names for having "betrayed" him, finally forcing his supporters to abandon the Jacobite cause. The English Jacobites stopped sending funds and by 1760 Charles had returned to Catholicism and to relying on the Papacy to support his lifestyle.

Related Topics:
1749 - 1751 - 1750 - Tower of London - Anglican - Frederick II of Prussia - Earl Marischal - Glengarry - 1754 - 1760

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Crushing of the clans

In an effort to prevent further trouble in the Scottish Highlands, the government outlawed many cultural practices in order to destroy the warrior clan system. The Act of Proscription incorporating the Disarming Act and the Dress Act required all swords to be surrendered to the government and prohibited wearing of tartans or kilts. The Tenures Abolition Act ended the feudal bond of military service and the Heritable Jurisdictions Act removed the virtually sovereign power the chiefs had over their clan. Laws tried to end use of the Gaelic language. The extent of enforcement of the prohibitions was variable and sometimes related to a clan's support of the government during the rebellion.

Related Topics:
Clan system - Act of Proscription - Disarming Act - Dress Act - Tartan - Kilts - Tenures Abolition Act - Heritable Jurisdictions Act - Gaelic language

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Government troops were stationed in the Highlands and built more roads and barracks to better control the region, with a new fortress at Fort George to the east of Inverness which still serves as a base for Highland Regiments of the British Army. Highland clans found a way back to legitimacy by providing regiments to fight overseas in the Hanoverian cause.

Related Topics:
Road - Barracks - Fort George - Inverness

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Henry IX

When Charles died in 1788 the Stuart claim to the throne passed to his younger brother Henry, who had become a Roman Catholic cardinal, and now styled himself King Henry IX. After coming into financial difficulty during the French Revolution, he was granted a stipend by George III. However he never actually surrendered his claims to the throne.

Related Topics:
1788 - Henry - Roman Catholic - French Revolution - George III

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Following the death of Henry in 1807, the Jacobite claims passed to those excluded by the Act of Settlement: initially the House of Savoy, and then, through a daughter, to the House of Bavaria. Franz, Duke of Bavaria is the current Jacobite heir. Neither he nor any of his predecessors since 1807 have pursued their claim, although his father was known to wear the Stuart tartan on occasion.

Related Topics:
1807 - Act of Settlement - House of Savoy - House of Bavaria - Franz, Duke of Bavaria - Tartan

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