Editing Jacobitism (section)

== Political background ==
[[File:True Law of Free Monarchies.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|'The True Law of Free Monarchies;' [[James VI and I]]'s political tract formed the basis of Stuart ideology]]

Jacobite ideology originated with [[James VI and I]], who in 1603 became the first monarch to rule all three kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]. Its basis was [[Divine right of kings|divine right]], which claimed his authority came from God, and the crown's descent by indefeasible hereditary right: James and his supporters emphasised his right to the throne by blood to forestall controversy over his appointment by [[Elizabeth I]] as her successor.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2001|pp=78–79}} His concept of personal rule eliminated the need for Parliaments, and required political and religious union, concepts widely unpopular in all three kingdoms, but especially England.{{sfn|Stephen|2010|p=49}}

The principle of divine right also clashed with Catholic allegiance to the [[Pope]], and with Protestant [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]], since both argued there was an authority above the king.{{sfn|Ryan|1975|pp=122–124}} The 17th-century belief that 'true religion' and 'good government' were one and the same meant disputes in one area fed into the other, while [[Millenarianism]] and belief in the imminence of the [[Second Coming]] meant many [[Protestant]]s viewed such issues as urgent and real.{{sfn|Jacob|1976|pp=335–341}}

As the first step towards union, James began standardising religious practices between the churches of [[Church of England|England]], [[Church of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Church of Ireland|Ireland]]. After his death in 1625, this was continued by his son [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], who lacked his political sensitivity; by the late 1630s, instituting [[Personal Rule]] in 1629, enforcing [[Laudian]] reforms on the Church of England, and ruling without [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] led to a political crisis.{{sfn|Kenyon|Ohlmeyer|1998|p=12}} Similar measures in Scotland caused the 1639–1640 [[Bishops' Wars]], and installation of a [[Covenanter]] government.{{sfn|Kenyon|Ohlmeyer|1998|p=16}}

Organised by a small group of Catholic nobility, the October 1641 [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Irish Rebellion]] was the cumulative effect of land confiscation, loss of political control, anti-Catholic measures and economic decline. The Rebellion was intended as a bloodless coup, but its leaders quickly lost control, leading to atrocities on both sides.{{sfn|Lenihan|2001a|pp=20–23}} In May, a Covenanter army landed in [[Ulster]] to support Scots settlers. Although Charles and Parliament both supported raising an army to suppress the Rebellion, neither trusted the other with its control; these tensions ultimately led to the outbreak of the [[First English Civil War]] in August 1642.{{sfn|Kenyon|Ohlmeyer|1998|p=31}}

In 1642, the [[Confederate Ireland|Catholic Confederacy]] representing the Irish insurgents proclaimed allegiance to Charles, but the Stuarts were an unreliable ally, since concessions in Ireland cost them Protestant support in all three kingdoms. In addition, the [[Adventurers' Act]], approved by Charles in March 1642, funded suppression of the revolt by confiscating land from Irish Catholics, much of it owned by members of the Confederacy.{{sfn|Manganiello|2004|p=10}} The result was a three-way contest between the Confederacy, Royalist forces under the Protestant [[James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond|Duke of Ormond]], and a Covenanter-led army in Ulster. The latter were increasingly at odds with the English government; after Charles' execution in January 1649, Ormond combined these factions to resist the 1649-to-1652 [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]].{{sfn|Lenihan|2001b|pp=11–14}}

[[File:Anthony van Dyck - Charles I (1600-49) with M. de St Antoine - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Charles I of England|Charles I]], whose policies caused instability throughout his three kingdoms]]

In 1650, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] repudiated his alliance with the Confederacy in return for [[Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652)|Scottish military support]], and Ormond went into exile. Defeat resulted in the [[Plantations of Ireland#Cromwellian land confiscation (1652)|mass confiscation]] of Catholic and Royalist land, and its re-distribution among Parliamentarian soldiers and Protestant settlers.{{sfn|Lenihan|2014|pp=140–142}} The three kingdoms were combined into the [[Commonwealth of England]], only regaining their separate status following the 1660 [[Stuart Restoration]].{{sfn|Worden|2010|pp=63–68}}

Charles's reign was dominated by the expansionist policies of [[Louis XIV]] of France, seen as a threat to Protestant Europe. When his brother and heir [[James II of England|James]] announced his conversion to Catholicism in 1677, an attempt was made to [[Exclusion Crisis|bar him from the English throne]].{{sfn|Harris|1993b|pp=581–590}} Nevertheless, he became king in February 1685 with widespread support from the Protestant majorities in England and Scotland. Accepting a Catholic monarch was seen as preferable to excluding the 'natural heir', and Protestant dissident rebellions in [[Monmouth Rebellion|England]] and [[Argyll's Rising|Scotland]] were quickly suppressed. It was also viewed as temporary, since James was 52, his second marriage was childless after 11 years, and his Protestant daughter [[Mary II of England|Mary]] was heir.{{sfn|Miller|1978|pp=124–125}}

His religion made James popular among Irish Catholics, whose position had not improved under his brother. Catholic land ownership had fallen from 90% in 1600 to 22% in 1685, partially due to Catholic landlords converting to the Protestant [[Church of Ireland]]. After 1673, a series of proclamations deprived Catholic gentry of the [[Right to keep and bear arms|right to bear arms]] or hold public office.{{sfn|McGrath|1996|pp=27–28}} The Catholic [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]], was appointed [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]] in 1687, and began building a Catholic establishment that could survive James. Fearing a short reign, Tyrconnell moved at a speed that destabilised all three kingdoms.{{sfn|Harris|1993|pp=123–127}}

When the English and Scottish Parliaments refused to remove civil restrictions on Catholics and Non-Conformists, James dismissed them and used the [[Royal Prerogative]] to force his measures through. These actions re-opened disputes over religion, rewarded the Protestant dissidents who rebelled in 1685, and undermined his own supporters. It also ignored the impact of the 1685 [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which revoked tolerance for [[Huguenots|French Protestants]] and created an estimated 400,000 refugees, 40,000 of whom settled in London.{{sfn|Spielvogel|1980|p=410}} Two events turned discontent into rebellion, the first being the birth of [[James Francis Edward Stuart|James's son]] on 10 June 1688, which created the prospect of a Catholic dynasty. The second was James's prosecution of the [[Seven Bishops]], which seemed to go beyond tolerance for Catholicism into actively attacking the Church of England. Their acquittal on 30 June caused widespread rejoicing, and destroyed James's political authority.{{sfn|Harris|2007|pp=235–236}}

In 1685, many had feared civil war if James were bypassed. By 1688, even his chief minister, the [[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland|Earl of Sunderland]], felt only his removal could prevent it. Sunderland secretly coordinated an [[Invitation to William]], assuring Mary and her husband and James's nephew, [[William III of England|William of Orange]] of English support for armed intervention. William landed in [[Brixham]] on 5 November with 14,000 men; as he advanced, James's army deserted and he went into exile on 23 December.{{sfn|Harris|2007|pp=3–5}} In February 1689, the [[Parliament of England|English Parliament]] appointed William and Mary joint monarchs of England, while the [[Parliament of Scotland|Scots]] followed suit in March.{{sfn|Coward|1980|p=460}}

[[File:James II (1685).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[James II of England|James II]], 1685, dressed in military uniform]]

Most of Ireland was still controlled by Tyrconnell, where James landed on 12 March 1689 with 6,000 French troops, but the 1689-to-1691 [[Williamite War in Ireland]] highlighted two recurring trends. For James and his Stuart successors, the main prize was to regain England, while the primary French objective was to tie down British resources, rebellions in Scotland and Ireland being seen as the cheapest option.{{sfn|McKay|1983|pages=138–140}} Elections in May 1689 produced the first [[Patriot Parliament|Irish Parliament]] with a Catholic majority since 1613. It repealed the Cromwellian land seizures, confiscated land from Williamites, and proclaimed Ireland a 'distinct kingdom from England', measures subsequently annulled after defeat in 1691.{{sfn|Lenihan|2014|pp=174–179}}

A [[Jacobite rising of 1689|Jacobite rising]] in Scotland achieved some initial success but was ultimately suppressed. Several days after the Irish Jacobites were defeated at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in July 1690, victory at [[Battle of Beachy Head (1690)|Beachy Head]] gave the French temporary control of the [[English Channel]]. James returned to France to urge an immediate invasion of England, but the Anglo-Dutch fleet soon regained maritime supremacy and the opportunity was lost.{{sfn|Lynn|1999|p=215}}

The Irish Jacobites and their French allies were finally defeated at the [[battle of Aughrim]] in 1691, and the [[Treaty of Limerick]] ended the war in Ireland; future risings on behalf of the exiled Stuarts were confined to England and Scotland. The [[Act of Settlement 1701]] barred Catholics from the English throne, and when [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] became the last Stuart monarch in 1702, her heir was her Protestant cousin [[Sophia of Hanover]], not her Catholic half-brother James. Ireland retained a separate Parliament until 1800, but the [[Acts of Union 1707|1707 Union]] combined England and Scotland into the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. Anne viewed this as the unified Protestant kingdom which her predecessors had failed to achieve.{{sfn|Somerset|2012|pp=532–535}}

The exiled Stuarts continued to agitate for a return to power, based on the support they retained within the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jacobites and the Union |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/features_union_jacobites.shtml |website=The Making of the Union |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 August 2020 |archive-date=27 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627213939/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/features_union_jacobites.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Ó Ciardha|2000|p=21}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jacobite Revolts: Chronology |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Jacobite-Revolts-Chronology/ |website=Historic UK |access-date=18 August 2020 |archive-date=23 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823001943/https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Jacobite-Revolts-Chronology/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Doing so required external help, most consistently supplied by France, while Spain backed the [[Jacobite rising of 1719|1719 Rising]]. While talks were also held at different times with [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], and [[Russian Empire|Russia]], these never produced concrete results. Although the Stuarts were useful as a lever, their foreign backers generally had little interest in their restoration.{{sfn|Wills|2001|pp=57–58}}