House of Stuart

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The House of Stuart or Stewart is a British/Scottish Royal House of Breton origin. The distinction is because the House started off ruling Scotland but after the death of Elizabeth I of England, last monarch from the House of Tudor, took over the whole of Britain. It was followed by the House of Hanover. The House began with the hereditary High Stewards of Scotland

=History=

Walter the Steward (died 1177) was born in Shropshire, the son Alan Fitz Flaad, a Norman conqueror. Along with his brother William, ancestor of the Fitzalan family (the Earls of Arundle), he supported Empress Maud during the Anarchy. Maud was aided by her uncle, David I of Scotland, and Walter followed David north in 1141, after Maud had been usurped by Stephen. Walter was granted land in Renfrewshire and the position of Lord High Steward. Malcolm IV made the position hereditary and it was inherited by Walter's son, who took the surname Stewart.

The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293-1326), married Majory, daughter of Robert the Bruce. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his uncle died childless in 1371.

In 1503, James IV of Scotland attempted to secure peace with England by marrying Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. Their union brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Maragret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter Margaret Douglas was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who married his half-cousin Mary Queen of Scots. Lord Darnley's surname was properly Stewart, though the spelling had been altered during his father's time at the English court. Darnley was himself a direct descendant of the fourth High Steward, Alexander Stewart, so Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stewart.

=Heads of the House of Stewart=

Table of contents

1 High Stewards of Scotland
2 Scottish Monarchs
3 British Monarchs
4 Pretenders

High Stewards of Scotland

Walter the Steward, 1st High Steward of Scotland (died 1177)
Alan Stewart, 2nd High Steward of Scotland (died 1204)
Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland (died 1246)
Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland (died 1283)
James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (died 1309)
Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland (died 1326)
Robert Stewart, 7th High Steward of Scotland (afterwards, Robert II)

Scottish Monarchs

British Monarchs

James VI of Scotland and I of England (1603-1625) - Jacobean Age
Charles I of England and Scotland (1625-1649 - Carolean Age
Charles II of England and Scotland (1660-1685) - Restoration Age
James VII of Scotland and II of England (1685-1688) (continued to claim the English and Scottish thrones after his deposition in 1688 until his death in 1701)
Mary II of England and Scotland (1689-1694) - with William III of England and II of Scotland, of the House of Orange-Nassau, a descendant of Charles I
Anne of England and Scotland (1702-1714) - Augustan Age

During the period between Charles I and Charles II, Britain was a Republican Commonwealth, and then a Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell.

Pretenders

James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, claimed throne as James VIII of Scotland and III of England, (1701-1766)
Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, claimed throne as Charles III, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, (1766-1788)
Henry Benedict Stuart, claimed throne as Henry IX of Britain, (1766-1807)

=See Also=

Jacobitism, for further information on the House of Stuart and their decline
The family trees of the Stuarts: Scottish branch - England and Scotland united
List of British monarchs