Stuarts

views updated Jun 11 2018

Stuarts (Stewarts) Scottish royal House, which inherited the Scottish throne in 1371 and the English throne in 1603. The Stuarts descended from Alan, whose descendants held the hereditary office of steward in the royal household. Walter (d.1326), the sixth steward, married a daughter of King Robert I, and their son, Robert II, became (1371) the first Stuart king. The throne descended in the direct male line until the death of James V (1542), who was succeeded by his infant daughter, Mary. In 1603, her son, James VI, succeeded Elizabeth I of England as James I. His son, Charles I, was executed in 1649 following the English Civil War, but the dynasty recovered with the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. His brother, James II, lost the throne in the Glorious Revolution (1688) and was replaced by the joint monarchy of William III and Mary II, James' daughter. On the death (1714) of Anne, the House of Hanover succeeded. James Stuart and Charles Stuart made several unsuccessful attempts to regain the throne. See also Jacobites

Stuart

views updated Jun 27 2018

Stuart the royal family (also called Stewart) ruling Scotland 1371–1714 and Britain 1603–1649 and 1660–1714. The name of the royal house comes ultimately from steward, and the accession in 1371 to the throne of Scotland as Robert II of Robert the Steward, grandson of Robert the Bruce by Bruce's daughter Marjory and her husband Walter, Steward of Scotland.

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Stuart

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