James Francis Edward "the Old Pretender" Stuart (10 June 1688-1 January 1766) was the Jacobite pretender to the throne of England from 16 September 1701 to 1 January 1766, succeeding James II of England and preceding Charles Edward Stuart.
Biography[]
James Francis Edward Stuart was born in London, England in 1688, the son of King James II of England and Queen Mary of Modena, both Roman Catholics. He was raised in exile in France due to his father's overthrow in the Glorious Revolution of 1689, which was triggered by Protestant fears of a Catholic succession. James Francis Edward Stuart was recognized by King Louis XIV of France as the rightful heir to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones, causing him to be attained for treason in London on 2 March 1702. In 1708, he attempted invasion of Scotland at the Firth of Forth, but his French invasion fleet was driven off by the Royal Navy and bad weather. He went on to serve in the French Royal Army during the War of the Spanish Succession and correspond with Tory politicians in England, and he arrived in Scotland in December 1715 amid the Jacobite rising of 1715, in which Scotland and Cornwall rebelled against the new Protestant king George I of Great Britain. He fled back to France in February 1716 after falling ill and coming under danger of government capture, and he was exiled to Papal-controlled Avignon in 1716 due to France's alliance with Great Britain. James then relocated to Rome, where he was given a generous life annuity. He organized a Jacobite court at Rome, where he lived on both splendor and melancholy. In 1719, a failed Spanish expedition to the British Isles amid the War of the Quadruple Alliance provoked the unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1719. James created Jacobite peerages for his British supporters and members of the court to secure their loyalty, but none of those titles were recognized in Britain. English travelers frequently visited the court during their "Grand Tour" of Europe, and James remained well-treated in Rome until his death in 1766.