“… all and every person and persons, who shall or may take or inherit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this present act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the popish religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be subject to such incapacities [to rule], as in such case or cases are by the said recited act provided, enacted, and established …”
– “An Act for the further Limitation of the Crown and better securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject” (better known as the “Act of Settlement”), as passed by the Parliament of England in 1701 – later amended by the Perth Agreement in 2015
During the English Civil War, one king from this dynasty was executed …
During the English Civil War, one of the Stuart kings of England was executed. Specifically, Charles the First was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell and his allies in 1649. This was probably the most dramatic moment of the entire Stuart dynasty, but there are many other such moments. The Stuarts have a fascinating history, and left an indelible mark upon the history of the British Isles. Thus, the BBC decided to examine this story in the 2010s, by engaging Clare Jackson to make this documentary. It must have been reasonably popular, because they later added two bonus episodes to the original three in that same decade. More about those later. For now, let me examine the original three episodes, which were simply marketed as “The Stuarts.” I will cover “The Stuarts in Exile” somewhat later in this post.
Charles the First
The Scottish origins of the Stuarts, and their accession to the throne of England
The Stuarts would eventually rule all of Britain, including England. But their story starts farther north in Scotland. Presenter Clare Jackson goes over this prior history somewhat briefly. Specifically, the Stuarts began ruling Scotland in 1371, and there were eight Stuart monarchs who never got to rule anything more than Scotland. They included two kings named Robert, a queen named Mary, and several kings called James. Eventually, there was a ninth ruler in this line, who was also named “James.” Specifically, he was then known as “James the Sixth.” But he was the first Stuart monarch who also became king of England. His great-grandmother Margaret Tudor was the sister of Henry the Eighth. Thus, when Henry’s famous daughter (Queen Elizabeth) died childless in 1603, “James the Sixth of Scotland” also became “James the First of England.” This is the moment when Clare Jackson really begins her story. If you want to know more about the prior history of the Stuart monarchy back in Scotland, you’d be well-advised to go to Neil Oliver’s “A History of Scotland,” also by the BBC. By contrast, “The Stuarts” starts when their reign became important for England, and for the British Isles more generally.
James the Sixth of Scotland, and James the First of England
The colossally bad goofs on the front and back covers of this DVD case
This also explains some colossally bad goofs on the front and back covers of this DVD case. Specifically, the front cover calls this “The story of Britain’s greatest & longest-ruling dynasty.” Then the back cover advertises them as “Ruling Britain for over 300 years from 1603 to 1714.” If you do the math, this obviously does not add up to 300 years. Actually, it adds up to only 111 years. But if you start their reign when they began to rule Scotland back in 1371, and then go until their specified end year of 1714, you get 343 years – which is closer to their advertised round number of “300 years.” You could argue that either number is correct, but their lack of clarification makes the BBC sound rather self-contradictory. Their marketing department should have known how foolish their math would sound when they failed to clarify this issue. They also give only the runtime for the original three episodes, and do not include that of the two bonus episodes in their figures. This gives them yet another misleading number on the DVD’s back cover.
The English Civil War, the reign of Oliver Cromwell, and the Stuart Restoration
Regardless, the documentary itself is very interesting, and free from the kinds of embarrassing errors found on its DVD case. They talk about the reign of Charles the First, which would eventually culminate in the English Civil War. It’s called the “English” Civil War, but it also drew in Ireland and Scotland, and thus was important for much of the rest of the British Isles as well. This was something that the BBC helped to clarify for me, since I had not understood it before. The King was in charge of the one side of the civil war, while the Parliament was in charge of the other. Thus, the eventual Parliamentary victory is sometimes heralded as a “triumph” for democracy. But there are a number of problems with this argument, such as how this led to a later dictatorship – namely, that of Oliver Cromwell. In some ways, Oliver Cromwell was even worse than the king that he had replaced, although he was never deposed for his tyranny. Thus, the Stuarts were still the nominal ruling family of England, but Oliver Cromwell held the real power at this time. When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, there was a power vacuum in Britain, which would last for two years. But in 1660, the Stuarts were restored to the throne of England, in the person of Charles the Second. They were no longer merely “nominal” rulers, but monarchs with real power again. But the Stuarts had to agree to some major limits on their power to make this happen. This was a major step forward for English liberties, and pushed England further towards a constitutional monarchy.
Charles the Second
“Glorious Revolution” in 1688, Act of Settlement in 1701, and Acts of Union in 1707
“The Stuarts” also covers a number of other topics, such as the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. Time does not permit me to cover this in much detail, but suffice it to say that it effectively removed one Stuart monarch from power, and replaced him with another Stuart monarch. They also cover the “Act of Settlement” in 1701, a law which forbade Catholics from ruling England. It also forbade the monarchs from having a Catholic spouse. This was only repealed following the Perth Agreement in the twenty-first century (specifically, 2015). But in the eighteenth century, it had a major effect upon the British succession. At the time, there was another problem, which was that the Parliaments of Scotland and Ireland had not agreed to it. Thus, there was a possibility that the throne would go to one person in Scotland, and another back in England. The Parliaments of the two regions were willing to help the king to prevent this from happening, but only if the king agreed to some of their demands in return. Thus, the king agreed, and the Acts of Union were passed in 1707. One was passed by the English Parliament, and the other was passed by the Scottish Parliament. The result was the creation of a new merged kingdom – a kingdom called “Great Britain.” This is one of the major legacies of this time. They also mention how the Stuart dynasty was replaced by the Hanoverians in 1714 – leading to the end of the Stuart reign, and a new dynasty in the history of the British monarchy.
James the Seventh of Scotland, and James the Second of England – their last Catholic monarch
Bonus episodes of “The Stuarts in Exile,” about the pretenders to the throne
Now that I have covered the original series entitled “The Stuarts,” I will next go over the two bonus episodes. These comprise an arguably-separate series called “The Stuarts in Exile.” One of these episodes goes over the “Old Pretender” James Francis Stuart. The other goes over Bonnie Prince Charlie, another “pretender” to the throne of Britain. I actually think that Neil Oliver’s “A History of Scotland” gives better coverage of Bonnie Prince Charlie. But Clare Jackson gives better coverage of James Francis Stuart, whom I had barely heard of before this. The bonus episodes are a worthy addition to this series, and talk about the various attempts to re-establish Stuart rule in Britain. For example, they cover the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland in 1745. Time does not permit me to do justice to either of these topics, but suffice it to say that they also make for interesting television, and helped to justify the purchase price of this DVD for me.
The “Old Pretender,” James Francis Stuart
Conclusion: This is a great documentary, which is well worth the time of history buffs
My first impression of presenter Clare Jackson was that her speaking style was not as dynamic as that of some other BBC presenters. She doesn’t have the enthusiastic style of a Michael Wood, a Simon Schama, or a Bettany Hughes. But her speaking style grew on me, and became more interesting as the documentary went on. I think that she does proper justice to her topics. She makes a good argument for the importance of the Stuarts in broader British history, and helps to flesh out a number of rulers that I had known very little about before this. She gave me food for thought, and helped me to rethink certain ideas that I had held regarding this period. All in all, this is a fascinating series, which is well worth the time of anyone interested in British history, or in the seventeenth (and early eighteenth) centuries.
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Footnote to this blog post:
Many important laws were passed during the Stuarts’ reign in England. For example, the Petition of Right was written by Sir Edward Coke in 1628 (as I describe here). In 1679, the Habeas Corpus Act was passed; and in 1689, the English Bill of Rights was passed (both of which are described here).
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