James Francis Edward Stuart

1688-1766. Son of James II and Mary of Modena. The "Old Pretender", claimant to the English and Scottish throne. Supporters also called him James III of England and James VIII of Scotland.

Prince James Francis Edward Stuart was born 10 June 1688 in London and raised in the Catholic faith. Following the stipulations of the laws of primogeniture, he would have replaced his older sisters Mary and Anne in the succession to the throne. If it had not been for the Glorious Revolution which ousted his father James from power.

James II took his wife and his infant son to France to live in exile. King Louis XIV of France regarded James Edward Stuart as the rightful heir apparent. James Edward became the focus for the Jacobite movement. When James II died in September 1701, his son was declared King of Britain by Louis XIV; the rest of Europe more or less accepted William of Orange. When Louis XIV made peace with Britain in 1713 after the War of Spanish Succession, James Edward was forced to leave France and eventually settled in Rome.

In 1714, his half-sister, Queen Anne, died, leaving no direct heir. Due to the Act of Settlement of 1701, James Edward could not become the next king of England, because he was Catholic and the Protestant elector of Hanover became king as George I, instead. Both of James Edward's attempts to win back his inheritance in Jacobite risings did not work out.

Descendants

James Francis Edward married Maria Clementina Sobieski, a Polish Princess and the grand-daughter of John III of Poland, in 1719. One reason was to produce an heir. They had two sons, Charles Edward Stuart (1720–1788) and Henry Benedict Stuart (1725–1807). Charles Edward became known as The Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, who triggered one last Jacobite rebellion in Britain in 1745. Henry Benedict became the Cardinal Duke of York.

Sources

"James Francis Edward Stuart 1688-1766." English Monarchs, http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_10.htm. Accessed 09.11.09.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "James Edward, the Old Pretender." Encyclopædia Britannica, first published online Jul 20 1998, https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Edward-the-Old-Pretender. Accessed 09.11.09.