The Royal Stuarts: A History of the Family That Shaped Britain (52 page)

Mary, Queen of Scots, has been the subject of innumerable biographies, besides novels, plays and films. Among the novels, I remember as a boy enjoying Margaret Irwin’s
The Gay Galliard
, which takes an unusually generous view of its hero, Mary’s third husband, Bothwell. Some recent writers, notably Professor Jenny Wormald, have been sharply critical to the point of outright hostility. However, Antonia Fraser’s life of the queen, though now forty years old, remains to my mind the fullest, most sympathetic and intelligent book about, in the words of her publisher’s advertisement, ‘the most tragic and romantic figure in British history’. In general, I think she gets Mary right, and I owe much to her work.

Readers will realise that I take a warmer view of James VI and I than many who have written about that odd but able character; indeed, this is one subject on which I part company with Scott, even while relishing his portrait of the king in
The Fortunes of Nigel
. There is also a very good biography of James by David Harris Wilson.

I have named many of the books I have used for Charles I and the Civil War in my notes. Modern historians have covered the ground thoroughly, but for the general reader I would still recommend C. V. Wedgewood’s three volumes:
The King’s Peace
,
The King’s War
and
The Trial of Charles I
. I would also draw attention to my friend Trevor Royle’s
The War of the Three Kingdoms
as an excellent survey intended also for the common reader. The best contemporary source remains Clarendon’s
History of the Great Rebellion
, rich in perceptive character sketches.

As a boy, I was once given Arthur Bryant’s
Charles II
as a history prize. It is doubtless far too indulgent and uncritical, but I revelled in it, and so remain grateful to him. Anyone who wishes to come to a fuller understanding of that charming but shifty character should read Hester W. Chapman’s
The Tragedy of Charles II.
Concentrating on the years of exile, it is the story of the education of a cynic.

Macaulay is harsh and unfair to James VII and II, but remains incomparable in his detailed, if biased, treatment of his reign – as he does, of course, in his portrait of his hero, William III. Nobody before Macaulay brought history to his readers as a living thing, and very few have matched him since. The Penguin abridgement of his
History of England
, edited by Hugh Trevor-Roper, offers an excellent introduction, or taste of the work, for those who fear they couldn’t stomach the whole.

Another great historian, G. M. Trevelyan, following in his great-uncle Macaulay’s wake, gives a marvellously rich picture of the early seventeenth century in his three-volume history of the reign of Queen Anne, though inevitably the poor woman rarely steps out of the background. Nothing gives a more vivid picture of the politics of the reign than Swift’s
Journal to Stella
. For a fictional treatment of the time, readers can turn to Thackeray’s
The History of Henry Esmond
.

The vast quantity of Jacobite literature is doubtless out of all proportion to the importance of the exiled Stuarts, but offers evidence of the fascination that Prince Charles Edward and the rising of 1745 continue to hold for writers and readers alike. The essence of partisan Jacobite history is still to be found in Bishop Forbes’s compilation
The Lyon in Mourning
. The best and most complete modern survey is offered by Bruce Lenman’s
The Jacobite Risings in Britain
. It punctures many myths.

Index

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

Abbott, Dr, Archbishop of Canterbury

Abercorn Castle

Aberdeen

Aberdeen University

Act of Indemnity and Oblivion (1660)

Act of Security (1704)

Act of Settlement (1701)

Act of Union (1607)

Agincourt, Battle of (1415)

‘Ainslie bond’

Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of (1748)

Alan, son of Flaald

Alasdair (commander)

Albano

Albany, Alexander Stewart, Duke of

Albany, Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of

Albany, John Stewart, Duke of

Albany, Murdoch Stewart, Duke of

as Murdoch Stewart

as Duke of Albany

Albany, Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife, Duke of Albany

Albemarle, Arnold Joost van Keppel, Earl of

Albermarle, General Monk, Duke of
see
Monk, General, later Duke of Albemarle

Albemarle, Henry Fitzjames, Duke of

Alberoni, Cardinal

Alexander III, King of Scotland

Alexander, Lord of the Isles

Alexander, Steward-Co-Regent of Scotland

Alfieri, Vittorio

Alfred the Great

Almanza, Battle of (1707)

Amsterdam

Anglican Church
see
Church of England Angus

Angus, Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of (‘Bell-the-Cat’)

Angus, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of

Angus, George Douglas, 4th Earl of

Anjou, Philippe, Duc d’

Annandale

Anne, Queen of France

Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland

as Princess

Anne of Austria

Anne of Denmark (wife of James VI and I)

Antrim, Earl of

Argyll

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl and 1st Marquis of

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of

Argyll, Bishop of

Argyll, Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of

Argyll, Duke of (present-day)

Argyll, John, 2nd Duke of

Arkinholm, Battle of (1455)

Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of

Armagnac, Bernard d’

Armagnacs (or Orléanists)

Arminianism

Armstrong, Archie

Armstrong, Johnnie, of Gilknockie

Army Plot

Arran, James Hamilton, 1st Earl of

Arran, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of, Duke of Châtelherault

Arran, James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of (previously Master of Hamilton)

Arran, Thomas Boyd, Earl of

Ascot

Ashley, Anthony, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
see
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley, 1st Earl of

Atholl, Duke of (present-day)

Atholl, 1st Duke of

Atholl, Walter, Earl of

Aubrey, John

Avignon

Ayala, Pedro de

Babington, Anthony

Bacon, Francis

Baillie, Reverend Robert

Balfour, Sir James

Balfour, Robert

Balliol, Edward

Balliol, John

Bambriefe

Bank of England

Bank of Scotland

Bannockburn, Battle of (1314)

Banquo

Barillon (French ambassador)

Bass Rock

Bastien (servant of Mary, Queen of Scots)

Bath

Bauge, Battle of (1421)

Beaton, Cardinal James, Archbishop of St Andrews

Beaufort, Duke of

Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Winchester

Beaufort, Joan
see
Joan, Queen Beaufort, Thomas, Duke of Exeter

Bedford, Earl of

Bedford, John, Duke of

Bellay, Joachim du

Bennet, Henry, 1st Duke of Arlington

Bentinck, William, Earl of Portland

Berwick

Berwick, 2nd Duke of (Duke of Liria)

Berwick, James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of

Berwick Castle

Bess of Hardwick

Beza, Theodore

Bible, Authorised Version of

Bill of Rights (1689)

Bishops’ Wars

Black Death

Black Douglases,
see also
names of individuals

Blackfriars Wynd, Edinburgh

Blair, Robert

Blandford, Marquis of

Blantyre, Walter Stewart, Lord

Blenheim, Battle of (1704)

‘Bloody Assizes’

Boece, Hector

Boethius

Boisdale, MacDonald of

Boleyn, Anne

Bolingbroke, Henry St John, Viscount

Bordeaux

Borders

Boswell, James

Bosworth Field, Battle of (1485)

Bothwell, 3rd Earl of

Bothwell, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of

Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of

Bower (chronicler)

Boyd, Sir Alexander

Boyd, Thomas, Earl of Arran

Boyle, Robert, Earl of Cork

Boyne, Battle of the (1690)

Bradshaw, John

Braehead

Braemar

Brahe, Tycho

Brantôme, Sieur de

Branxton Hill

Brest

Bridport

Brighton

Brissac, Marshal de

Bristol

Brittany

Bruce, Edward

Bruce, Marjorie

Bruce, Mary

Bruce, Nigel

Bruce, Robert the
see
Robert the Bruce Buccleuch, Duke of

Buccleuch and Queensberry, Duke of (present-day)

Buchan, Alexander Stewart, Earl of, ‘the Wolf of Badenoch’

Buchan, Countess of

Buchan, John

Buchan, John Stewart, Earl of

Buchanan, George

Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st Duke of

Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of

Bulkeley, Henry

Burgh, Egidia de

Burgundians

Burgundy, Dukes of

Burke, Ned

Burnet, Bishop

Bute, Isle of

Cabal, the

Cadogan, General

Calais

Calvin, John

Calvinism

Cambridge, Richard, Earl of

Cameron, Donald, of Lochiel (Jacobite)

Cameron, Donald, of Lochiel (in Queen Victoria’s reign)

Cameron, John

Camerons, the,
see also
names of individuals

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Campbell, Lady Anne

Campbell, Archibald, 5th Earl of Argyll
see
Argyll, Archibald Cameron, 5th Earl of

Campbell, Archibald, 8th Earl and 1st Marquis of Argyll
see
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl and 1st Marquis of

Campbell, Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll
see
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of

Campbell, Colin, 6th Earl of

Campbell clan,
see also
names of individuals

Canterbury

Carberry Hill

Carey, Sir Robert

Carisbrooke Castle

Carlinrig

Carlisle

Carlos, Don (son of Philip II)

Carlos, Don (later Charles III, King of the Two Sicilies)

Carmichael, Patrick

Carrick, John, Earl of
see
Robert II, King of Scotland (formerly John, Earl of Carrick)

Carstares, William

Casket Letters

Castle Cary

Castlemaine, Barbara Palmer, Lady, later Duchess of Cleveland

Catherine of Aragon (wife of Henry VIII)

Catherine of Braganza (wife of Charles II)

Catherine de Medici

Catherine of Valois (wife of Henry V)

Catholics/Catholicism

and Anne

and Charles II

and Darnley

and Elizabeth I

in France

and Henry VIII

in Ireland

and James V

and James VI and I

and James VII and II, formerly Duke of York

and James Edward, the Old Pretender

and Mary, Queen of Scots

and Mary Tudor

in Scotland

and William III

calls for repeal of Act of Settlement to end discrimation against

obstinate attachment of Stuarts to

see also
Counter-Reformation

Catholic League

Cavendish, Elizabeth

Cavers

Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury

Cecil, William

Cecily, Princess (daughter of Edward IV)

Cerdic

Chambers, Robert

Charlemagne

Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

as Prince

Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

as Prince

Charles II, King of Spain

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VI, King of France

Charles VIII, King of France

Charles IX, King of France

Charles XII, King of Sweden

Charles, Archduke of Austria

Charles, Prince of Wales (present-day)

Charles Edward, the Young Pretender (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’)

Charles Louis, Elector Palatine

Charles Martel

Charlotte, Queen (wife of George III)

Chase-about-Raid

Châtelherault, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
see
Arran, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of, Duke of Châtelherault Chatillon, Battle of (1453)

Chattan clan

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chesterton, G. K.

Christ Church, Oxford

Christian IV, King of Denmark

Churchill, Arabella

Churchill, John, Duke of Marlborough
see
Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of

Churchill, Sarah

Churchill, Sir Winston (father of John

Churchill)

Churchill, Sir Winston:
Life of Marlborough

Church of England and Anne

and Charles I

and Charles II

and Charles Edward, the Young Pretender

and Churchill

and James VI and I

and James VII and II

and Laud

and Mary II

Church of the Holy Rood, Stirling

Church of the Holy Trinity, Edinburgh

Cirencester

City of London

Civitavecchia

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of
see
Hyde, Edward, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Clarendon, 2nd Earl of

Clarendon Code

Clark, Arthur Melville

‘Cleanse the Causeway’

Clement XIV, Pope

Clerk, Sir John, of Penicuik

Clifford, Sir Thomas

Cochrane, Robert

Coke, Sir Edward

Coldingham