Historica Wiki
Advertisement


The Jacobites were a political movement in Great Britain and Ireland that sought to restore the Catholic King James II of England and his heirs to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The word "Jacobite" comes from the Latin name Jacobus, the Latin translation of "James", and from 1688 to 1746, the Jacobites launched many uprisings against the House of Hanover, and the Jacobites had support bases in the Scottish Highlands (especially among Scottish Catholics), northeastern Ireland, Northumberland, Lancashire, and the West County in England, and in Wales. The Jacobite movement won the support of Catholics and Anglicans, and the onset of Whig supremacy in 1714 led to many Tories participating in Jacobite intrigues. Many Scottish Jacobites fought for the cause out of loyalty to their feudal lords, and many of them were Protestants (especially Episcopalians, 70% of their number), as only 1% of Scots were Catholic by 1745.

The Jacobites gained the support of the Scots after the British tried to abolish the Scottish clan system, and their last rebellion was crushed at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, ending the last Jacobite rising. The movement died in the 1780s with Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie".

Advertisement