House of Stuart (1603-1714)

From King James I to Queen Anne

The House of Tudor dominated the English

Renaissance 1485-1660.

King Henry VII

King Henry VIIIKing Edward VI

Queen Mary I

Last, but not least . . .

Queen Elizabeth Idied childless 1603, thus opening the door for a new royal house.

King James I (James VI

of Scotland; Elizabeth’s 2nd cousin)

1603-1625

James I: A Dull Man Succeeds a Witty Woman• James lacked Elizabeth’s

ability to resolve critical issues.

• He was a spendthrift; he was thick-tongued and goggle-eyed; he was a foreigner.

But James I tried hard.• Wrote in favor of the divine right

of kings and against tobacco

• A patron of Shakespeare

• Sponsored the new English translation of the Bible

• An admirable man; a peaceful ruler

King Charles I (Son of James I)

1625-1649

The difficulties of James’ reign became

impossibilities to Charles.

•Charles was remote, autocratic, and self-destructive.

Charles I is beheaded in 1649.

Interregnum Oliver Cromwell (Puritan),

“Lord Protector”

1653-1658

Restoration King

Charles II (son of

Charles I)

1660-1685

The end of the English Renaissance is marked

by the return of the exiled king in 1660.

• Political and secular values began to challenge the accepted doctrines of religion.

King James II (Catholic brother

of Charles II) 1685-

1688

• When Charles II died, his brother became James II.

• James II was not well-received because he was Catholic.

• James's second wife gave birth to a son in 1688, and a Roman Catholic dynasty became likely.

In 1688, William and Mary invaded

England to dethrone the unpopular James

II in the Glorious (“Bloodless”) Revolution.

King William III (Houses of Orange & Stuart; Charles II’s cousin) and

Queen Mary II (William’s first cousin; James II’s daughter) 1688-

1702

The Crown was offered to Mary, James’

Protestant daughter, but was accepted

jointly by the two, who ruled as the only joint monarchs in British

history.

Mary II died of smallpox in 1694,

and William III continued to reign

alone until his death in 1702.

Queen Anne (James II’s daughter/Mary II’s

sister)

1702-1714

The Last

Stuart

• Under the Acts of Union 1707, England and Scotland were united as a single state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.

• Anne became its first sovereign, while still holding the title Queen of Ireland.

Anne's reign was marked by the

development of a two-party system: Whig and Tory

The Whig party (short for Whiggamore, originally the name of a Scottish

group that opposed Charles I) favored

reform, the rights of the people, Parliamentary

power, and tolerance for religious dissenters.

The Tory party (from the Irish word for robber) wanted to maintain prerogatives of the

Crown and the authority of the Church of

England.

Anne personally preferred the Tory

Party, but "endured" the

Whigs.

Writers such as Daniel Defoe,

Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift flourished during

Anne's reign.

Anne was succeeded by her second cousin,

George I, of the House of Hanover, a descendant of the Stuarts through

his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth,

daughter of James I.

George I (House of Hanover),

great-grandson of James I

1714-1727

Whig dominance grew to be so great under George I that the Tories did not

return to power for another half-

century.