Jacobite Rebellion

The Jacobite Rebellion, which lasted over a period of almost sixty years, was a war of succession and religion. Jacobite is the name commonly given to English and Scottish supporters of the exiled Stuart dynasty. On the death of Charles II, his brother, James VII of Scotland and II of England, succeeded to the thrones of England and Scotland. James was a Roman Catholic and a firm believer in the divine right of Kings, both of which made him so unpopular that in 1688 Parliament invited William of Orange and Mary (James II's daughter by his first wife, a Protestant) to rule. In 1689 James VII & II was deposed. In the sixty years that followed there were five separate attempts to restore James and his descendants to the throne. The rebellions or ‘Risings’ of 1689, 1715 and 1745 were the major ones. The Jacobite Rebellion culminated in 1745, an event still referred to as “The ‘45” or “The ‘45 Rising”. James II's grandson, Charles Edward Stewart, or “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” as he was known, led an army of 5,000 supporters, mostly Highland Clansmen, against the Hanoverian army at the Battle of Culloden Moor. The Jacobites were defeated in a bloody slaughter, and Charles fled into exile. In the period of repression after the rebellion, the Scottish dress and language were outlawed, and many Highland Scots immigrated to America.