Home › C › Charles Edward Stuart

Charles Edward Stuart

called the PRETENDER, grandson of James II., CHARLES MARTEL King of England, son of James Edward and Clementina, daughter of Prince Sobieski, was born in Rome, Dec. 31, 1720. In 1742 he went to Paris and persuaded Louis XV. to assist him in an attempt to recover the throne of his ancestors.

Fifteen thousand men were on the point of sailing from Dunkirk, when the English admiral, Norris, dispersed the whole fleet. Charles now determined to trust to his own exertions. Accompanied by seven officers he landed on the W. coast of Scotland, from a small ship called the "Doutelle." Many Lowland nobles and Highland chiefs went over to his party. With a small army thus med he marched forward, captured formed Perth, then Edinburgh, Sept. 17, 1745, defeated an army of 4,000 0 British under Sir John Cope at Prestonpans, Sept. 22, and advancing obtained possession of Carlisle. He now caused his father to be proclaimed king, and himself regent of England; removed his headquarters to Manchester, and soon found himself within 100 miles of London, where many of his friends awaited his arrival. The rapid successes of the adventurer now caused a part of the British forces in Germany to be recalled. Want of support, disunion, and jealousy among the adherents of the house of Stuart, some errors, and the superior force opposed to him, compelled Prince Charles to retire in the beginning of 1746. The victory at Falkirk, Jan. 28, 1746, was his last. As a final attempt he risked the battle of Culloden against the Duke of Cumberland, April 16, 1746, in which his army was defeated and entirely dispersed. The prince now wandered about for a long time through the wilds of Scotland, often without food, and the price of £30,000 sterling was set upon his head. At length, on Sept. 20, 1746, five months after the defeat of Culloden, he escaped in a French frigate. He received a pension of 200,000 livres yearly from France, and of 12,000 doubloons from Spain. Forced to leave France by the terms of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), he went to Italy, and in 1772 married a princess of Stolberg-Gedern, from whom eight years later he was separated. He died Jan. 31, 1788, and was buried at Frascati.

The funeral service was performed by his only surviving brother, the Cardinal of York, with whose death in 1807 the Stuart line ended.