Jacobitism

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

Jacobite community, ideology and policy

From its religious roots, Jacobite ideology was passed on through committed families of the nobility and gentry who would have pictures of the exiled royal family and of Cavalier and Jacobite martyrs, and take part in networks of like minded Freemasons. Even today, some Highland clans and regiments pass their drink over a glass of water during the Loyal Toast — to the King Over the Water. More widely, commoners developed communities in areas where they could fraternise in Jacobite alehouses, inns and taverns, singing seditious songs, collecting for the cause and on occasion being recruited for risings. At government attempts to close such places they simply transferred to another venue. In these neighbourhoods Jacobite wares such as inscribed glassware, brooches with hidden symbols and tartan waistcoats were popular. The criminal activity of smuggling became associated with Jacobitism throughout Britain, partly because of the advantage of dealing through exiled Jacobites in France.

Related Topics:
Cavalier - Freemason

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:Further developments are mentioned under "Jacobitism in England" below.

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Official policy of the court in exile initially reflected the uncompromising intransigence that got James into trouble in the first place. With the powerful support of the French they saw no need to accommodate the concerns of his Protestant subjects, and effectively issued a summons for them to return to their duty. In 1703 Louis pressed James into a more accommodating stance in the hopes of detaching England from the Grand Alliance, essentially promising to maintain the status quo. This policy soon changed with the Jacobites promising restoration of Scottish independence to exploit Scottish outrage at the corrupt machinations which forced through the Act of Union of 1707, and increasingly Jacobitism identified with causes of the alienated and dispossessed.

Related Topics:
1703 - Grand Alliance - Act of Union of 1707

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