The House of Stuart

Today the Juniors and Seniors of Holy Family Academy will present the play, Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller (+1805).  It is splendid to be able to bring alive dramatic works that have been around for more than a couple decades! 


Mary, Queen of Scots (1559AD), after Francois Clouet (+1572)

On the historic side of things, Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542-1567, +1587), endured a tragic life.  Her father, James V of Scotland (reigned, 1513-1542), died when she was but 6 days old.

At the celebration of her marriage to the dauphin of France, her new Father-in-law died in the joust associated with the festivities.  The next year, her husband, Francis II (reigned 1559-1560), died of a brain abscess from a severe ear infection.

She would finally return to Scotland, to try to rule the Presbyterian kingdom as a Catholic.   In 1565, she wed her unpopular cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.  This marriage proved unhappy, but at least produced an heir, James (who would be James VI of Scotland and James I of England).  In the end, Darnley would be assassinated in 1567, and in what is the object of much historical debate, Mary wed a man probably involved in the plot, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, and this under odd circumstances.

To make a long story short, Mary would be forced to abdicate and to flee Scotland in the face of internal unrest, and she took refuge in England, ruled by her cousin, Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603).  She would be imprisoned there, and, in 1587, executed.  Meanwhile, her son, James VI (Reigned in Scotland 1567-1625, and in England 1603-1625) inherited England with the death of Elizabeth in 1603AD, bringing the House of Stuart to the throne of England.

This seems an opportune moment to lay out the royal line of Stuart, from its becoming the royal line of Scotland in 1371AD, until the death of Cardinal Henry of York, the last English Stuart claimant.  This lineage also shows why the Stuarts became the royals of England, why George I of Hanover inherited the throne, and why, with the death of Cardinal Henry, the Catholic claim shifted to the Kings of Piedmont.  Stuart claimants without the crown are marked with a *.  The formatting for this has not be cooperative; pardon any defects thereof:

Kingdom of Scotland

House of BRUCE                                House of STEWART (Stuart)

Robert I                                James, 5^th Steward of Scotland
(Scotland, 1306-1329)                                  (+1309)
      |                   \                                |

David II                 Marjorie Bruce = Walter, 6^th Steward

(Scotland, 1329-1371)              (+1316)                   (+1326)
                                           /

                                     Robert II

                          (Scotland, 1371-1390)
                         /

                     Robert III

                         (Scotland, 1390-1406)
                      |

                    James I

                (Scotland, 1406-1437)
                      |

                   James II

                       (Scotland, 1437-1460)
                   |                       House of TUDOR

           James III                             Henry VII       Kingdom of England

             (Scotland, 1460-1488)       (England, 1485-1509)

                 |                       /                 \

          James IV = Margaret Tudor                Henry VIII

  (Scotland, 1488-1513)    (+1541)             (England, 1509-1547)
               |                                       /              |         \

         James V = Mary of Guise                   Mary I        Elizabeth I    Edward VI

(Scotland, 1513-1542)  (+1560)    (England, 1553-1558) (E, 1558-1603)  (E, 1547-1553)

               |

Mary, Queen of Scots

(Scotland, 1542-1567, +1587)
               |                                               House of BOURBON

James VI (I of England)                                               Henry IV of France

(Scotland, 1567-1625; England 1603-1625)            (France, 1589-1610)
                        |                      \                         |
Frederick V = Elizabeth                              Charles I = Henriette Marie
(Palatinate, 1610-1623, +1632)(+1662)     (EngScot, 1625-1659) (+1669)           
                              \                           /                  |                      \

Ernest Augustus    =    Sophia                          Charles II             James II                  Henrietta of Orleans

(Brunswick- Lüneburg, +1698) (+1714) (EngScot, 1660-1685)  (EngScot, 1685-1688)      (+1670)
                |                                                   /       |            \                     |     House of SAVOY

           George I                                                    Mary II    Anne        James [III]*     Anne Marie = Victor Amadeus II

(Hanover, 1698-1727, GB after 1714)(ES, 1688-1694) (ES, 1702-1714)  (+1766)    (+1728)   (Sardinia, 1675-1730)
           |                                                                       /         \                              |

George II                                                       "Bonnie Prince" Charles*        Cardinal Henry*      Charles Emmanuel III

(GB-Hanover, 1727-1760)                                 (+1788)                                (+1807)                (Sardinia, 1730-1773)

           |                                                                                                                 |
Frederick, Prince of Wales                                                                                                               Victor Amadeus III
(+1751)                                                                                                                                     (Sardinia, 1773-1796)
        |                                                                                              /                |
George III                                                                                   Charles Emmanuel IV*         Victor Emmanuel I*
(GB-Hanover, 1760-1820)                                                        (Sardinia, 1796-1802, +1819)   (Sardinia, 1802-1821)


Live well!