The Stuarts: An underrated period of history?

The Stuarts, 1603-1714 are usually overshadowed by the Tudors and later the Victorians in British history, They, (and the Georgians) usually come last in the pecking order, but why?

This period is full of plot twists that even the best cinematic scriptwriters would struggle to dream up: Sexual deviances, witch trials, a gun powder plot, a civil war, a king tried for treason, an outbreak of plague, the great fire of London and finally exile. James I Of England (Also James VI of Scotland) was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley. His Mother Mary was sentenced to death by his predecessor Elizabeth I, and his Father Lord Darnley was killed in very suspicious circumstances, allegedly being murdered by the order of his wife and James’s Mother Mary, 

Lord Darnley was almost certainly Homosexual, and his son, Our James I was a chip off the old block as he was almost certainly gay too. James filled his court with what he called several male lovelies’.James did father children, but this was seen as a duty rather than enjoyment, and he hardly saw or spoke to any women, not even his wife. James had not been long on the throne before he started to displease the Catholics, They appear to have been unimpressed with his failure to implement religious tolerance measures and become even more disgruntled when he demanded all the Catholic priests left England.

A swift plan was put into motion by a select few Catholic Gentlemen to blow up the King, Queen, church leaders, assorted nobles and both Houses of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder tactically placed in the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster. We all know what happens next: The plan fails just before the attack was due to take place and Guy Fawkes was said to have been caught at the scene. Fawkes was tortured and later signed a confession. He was executed along with his co-conspirators. 

It’s worth mentioning that James I was terrified of witches and dark magic, he had many people (Usually women) sent to their deaths and even published a book called Daemonologie. 

James, I was a Protestant from birth but was have said to have been (Largely) a peacekeeper of the 2 faiths. It was when Charles I gained the throne that it gets messy: Charles I married Henrietta Maria, a Roman Catholic from France. Parliament feared this was a sign that he identified with Catholics and that she would influence his religious policy. Charles believed in the Divine Right of Kings: This is the idea that God had chosen him to be king and that Parliament had a less important position in government.

 Charles was self-righteous and had a high concept of royal authority, He was a snob, he thought he was better than everyone else and his relationship with parliament was terrible, they couldn’t agree on anything. When Parliament complained in 1629, he dismissed them. Until 1640, Charles ruled without a Parliament in a period that was known as the 'Eleven Years Tyranny.

A civil war broke out between Catholics and Protestants, Pro Monarchists and Parliamentarians: The unrest lasted until Charles himself was arrested by the Parliamentarians and put on trial for treason. Charles was executed in January 1649. Oliver Cromwell essentially became King in all but name (Officially lord protector), Britain was under his leadership for 5 years until his death in 1658. Cromwell was a very religious man who was a puritan, this, in a nutshell, means anything fun had to go: Singing, Drinking excessively, Dancing, Christmas, and so on. Cromwell died and the son of Charles I was brought out of exile and claimed the throne once more. 

Charles II who became known as the “merry monarch”, got to work rounding up those responsible for his father’s death and he had them all executed, He rewarded his father’s supporters with land and estates, He also re-introduced fun and he was seen as a welcomed successor from the oppression of the Cromwell years. 

The period of fun was not to last though: a plague was creeping in and in 1665 the bubonic Plague hit English shores killing an estimated 75,000 people. The symptoms included Fever, Delirium, Buboes (puss-filled swellings) and coughing up blood.  The Plague ended a year later in 1666, However, good things were not around the corner for Londoners. In 1666 a small fire broke out (Ironically in a baker’s shop in a street called pudding lane) The fire spread quickly and almost the entire city of London (the square mile) was burned to the ground.

In 1670 Charles had agreed to sign a treaty with Louis XIV and agreed to convert to Catholicism and support Frances’s war against the Dutch. Charles II’s wife, Queen Catherine did not have a male heir and later on, it was feared that Charles’s Catholic brother (James, Duke of York) would claim the throne. Charles II had a falling out with parliament and dismissed them just like his grandfather did and ruled alone from 1679 to his death in 1685. 

James II did inherit the throne after his brother’s death but it did not last long, (1685-1688), The country was not prepared for another civil war, James II was asked to leave the country quietly and leave the succession to his Protestant Daughter Mary who was married to the Dutch King William. This in time became known as the glorious revolution and King William III and Queen Mary II ruled as joint MonarchWilliam III sometimes known as William of Orange was again almost definitely Homosexual, keeping male companions close and having rooms with adjoining doors built into the remodelling of Hampton court palace.  

Queen Anne who was the daughter of James II was the last in the line of the Stuart dynasty, Reining from 1702 to1714.Anne was popular and was the first queen to rule over Great Britain as we know it today with an act of unity. Anne was famously and tragically pregnant 18 times with only one child surviving infancy, however, this child sadly died at the age of two. Anne herself died in 1714.

The Stuarts lasted 111 years and saw drastic upheaval and change, many individuals would have lived through several of these events in one lifetime. A poignant reminder to us all that nothing is certain and this period especially shaped future dynasties including the Georgians, Victorians, Edwardians and finally the Windsors. 

Next time November 5th rolls around and you chant that chant, wave that sparkler and disturbingly burn that effigy of our Guy Fawkes, This is a direct link to the Stuart era. 

Please spare a thought for The Stuarts and their chaotic but majestic reign.

Oliver Green 2020. 

Re-Published 2022