HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2024-09-09T14:46:59.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Your guide to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rebellion, plus 10 facts you might not know
items: 1745: The Jacobite rebellion
items: Outlander: the real history that inspired the time-slip drama
items: Your guide to the battle of Culloden – plus 7 myths busted
items: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Scottish history
items: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Forty-five rebellion: why did it fail?
items: 8 of Britain’s most mysterious ruins
items: 8 of Britain’s best battlefields
items: History Explorer: The Jacobite uprisings
items: Scottish history: 9 steps from Union to Referendum

Your guide to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rebellion, plus 10 facts you might not know
type: item
date: 2024-02-20T12:05:00.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
description: The 1745 Jacobite Rebellion was a turning point in British history. Believing the British throne to be his birthright, Charles Edward Stuart, aka 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', planned to invade Great Britain along with his Jacobite followers and remove the Hanoverian 'usurper' George II. Yet, argues Dr Jacqueline Riding, the reality of the '45 continues to be obscured by fiction and fables...
encoded: In June 1745, Charles Edward Stuart, aka 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', had one key aim: regaining the thrones his grandfather, the Roman Catholic convert James VII of Scotland and II of England and Ireland, had lost in 1688–90 to his nephew and son-in-law William of Orange (who reigned as William III). This 'glorious’ revolution' had confirmed a Protestant succession, in a predominantly Protestant Great Britain, which, from 1714, was embodied in the Hanoverian dynasty. Following George I’s accession, several risings in support of the exiled Stuarts occurred, most notably in the years 1715 and 1719. By this stage, on the death of James VII and II in 1701, the chief claimant (or ‘old pretender’) was his only legitimate son James Francis Edward (b1688), who was the father of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' (b1720). What did the Jacobites want to achieve? “The Stuarts had reigned in Scotland for centuries, and the Jacobites craved the reinstatement of the Stuart male line,” says Christopher Whatley, professor of Scottish history at the University of Dundee. “They championed the claim of the exiled James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the deposed James II and VII, the man after whom the movement was named [Jacobus being derived from the Latin form of James]. “What’s more, many Scots had been antagonised by King William’s imposition of Presbyterianism – a more austere form of Protestantism – as the Church of Scotland. Making James Francis Edward Stuart (the ‘Old Pretender’) king would herald changes to the practice of religion in Scotland.” The Jacobite rebellions were also, says Whatley, a reaction to the union of Scotland and England in 1707. “The later Stuarts were not especially well loved, but the union was even less so,” he says. “Anti-unionism – and Scottish independence – was a strong component of support for Jacobitism in Scotland in the early 18th century.” Did Bonnie Prince Charlie lead the Jacobites? A French invasion of Britain in support of the Stuarts in early 1744 had b…

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1745: The Jacobite rebellion
type: item
date: 2021-12-27T07:15:06.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Turning points in British history
description: Part fifteen in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores explores 1700–1749. The uprising of 1745 enjoyed spectacular early successes yet, as Daniel Szechi reports, it only succeeded in breathing new life into the very regime it aimed to bring to its knees
encoded: The most significant watershed in the first half of the 18th century came between July 1745 and April 1746, when the Jacobites launched their last attempt to overthrow Whig control of the British Isles. When the uprising failed, the Jacobite cause was irretrievably damaged and slipped into rapid decline. And with its internal enemy at last vanquished, the Whig regime could turn all its energies to imperial aggrandisement. Out of the Jacobites’ defeat came the epic victories of the Seven Years War, the conquest of the first British Empire and the consolidation of a political order that was to last until the middle of the Victorian era. Yet things hadn’t always looked so rosy for the Whig administration. In fact, it was a British defeat at Fontenoy in modern Belgium on 11 May 1745 that precipitated the rebellion. Prince Charles Edward Stuart (“Bonny Prince Charley”), grandson of James II and VII, had been summoned to France in December 1743 to head a French invasion of southern England scheduled to take place in early 1744. Bad weather, the Royal Navy and English Tory faintheartedness eventually brought that attempt to naught, and the Prince frustratedly idled away his time for the next year. Or so it appeared. In fact, with the help of a syndicate of Irish merchants resident in France, he was secretly preparing a surprise attack on the British Isles. And the news of Fontenoy provided exactly the opening he needed. On 5 July Charles Edward sailed from Nantes with two ships. His plan was to force the Jacobites of the British Isles to live up to their promises by throwing himself into their midst. If enough Jacobites responded and he could expose the weakness, as he believed, of the Whig regime he was sure the French would invade and victory would be his. It was either a bold gambit or a foolhardy gamble, and certainly the odds against success were greatly increased when the Prince encountered a Royal Navy patrol on the way to Scotland and one of his ships was damaged a…

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Outlander: the real history that inspired the time-slip drama
type: item
date: 2021-04-30T09:50:02.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Historical people
subject: TV interest
description: The historical drama series Outlander, based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, has become a TV phenomenon and – despite its fictional narrative – much of the story is rooted in historical fact. Here, Madeleine Pelling and Rosie Waine explore the real 18th-century events portrayed, and the artefacts that help bring history to life on screen…
encoded: The hit TV show Outlander follows its characters from the battlefields of the Second World War to the Jacobite risings of the 18th-century and colonial North Carolina on the eve of the American Revolution. Based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, the drama uses a time-slip narrative – in which its protagonist Claire (played by Caitriona Balfe) moves initially between the 1940s and the 1740s – to play fast and loose with history. But far from inaccurate, the show is deeply interested in the ways we experience and imagine the past. Merging elements of fact and fantasy, it explores many ‘what ifs’ of Scottish history by touching on key events and featuring recognisable historical figures. Here, we take a closer look at some of the real events featured in the drama, and separate fact from fiction… <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2021/04/sam-heughan-as-jamie-fraser-grant-o-rourke-as-rupert-mackenzie-graham-mctavish-as-dougal-mackenzie-episode-105-c6fb28a.jpg" width="1800" height="1200" alt="Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), Rupert Mackenzie (Grant O'Rourke) and Dougal Mackenzie (Graham McTavish) in Outlander" title="Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), Rupert Mackenzie (Grant O'Rourke) and Dougal Mackenzie (Graham McTavish) in Outlander. The show is deeply interested in the ways we experience and imagine the past, say Pelling and Waine. (Image by Outlander/Starz)" /> The Jacobite Risings The word ‘Jacobite’ features prominently in the early seasons of Outlander. But what does it mean? Jacobitism emerged in Britain in the wake of the forced abdication of King James II and VII, resulting from the so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688–9. James and his descendants lived in permanent exile in Europe, relying on the financial support and hospitality of foreign powers. The crown passed to James’s daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, which eventually lead to the succession of the Hanoverian dynasty to the British throne in 1714 and th…

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Your guide to the battle of Culloden – plus 7 myths busted
type: item
date: 2021-03-30T11:05:00.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Family and parenting
subject: Historical people
description: Discover everything you need to know about the 1746 battle of Culloden, the last ever battle to be fought on British soil and the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising...
encoded: The battle of Culloden of 1746 was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising – an attempt to reinstate a Stuart monarch on the throne of Britain – and is today considered one of the most significant clashes in British history. It saw a Hanoverian government army led by the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II, go head-to-head with the forces of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', in a battle that lasted less than an hour. Here's your guide to the historic battle – from seven common myths about Culloden to an exploration of the battlefield... Battle of Culloden: a quick guide Battle of Culloden: mythbusting The Culloden battlefield: everything you need to know The battle of Culloden: a brief guide Where: Northern Scotland When: 16 April 1746 Combatants: British Government vs Jacobites Outcome: Decisive victory for the British Army Culloden was the last battle fought on British soil. Prince Charles Edward, grandson of the deposed Roman Catholic Stuart king, James II and VII, raised the standard of rebellion in 1745. Supported by clansmen from the Scottish Highlands, he marched on London to regain the British throne. At Derby, he was forced to retreat to avoid being caught between two armies. In April 1746, overtaken by a British army twice their strength, the Highlanders gave battle on Culloden Moor near Inverness. Mercilessly cannonaded, they charged headlong, but met resolute British infantry and were then routed by cavalry. They lost 1,000 men killed; the British 50. Cumberland’s brutality after the battle earned him the nickname of ‘The Butcher’, but the legend that has grown up around ‘Bonnie’ Prince Charlie cannot disguise the fact that even in Scotland there were more in arms against him than for him. Discover more famous battles that changed the course of British history Battle of Culloden: separating fact from fiction In the centuries since it was fought, compelling but often misleading myths have come to surround the 1746 battle of Culloden, the last eve…

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10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Scottish history
type: item
date: 2020-06-30T09:30:42.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Period
description: Who was the first king of Scotland? What language did people in Ancient Scotland speak? And has Scotland really never been conquered? Dr William Knox from the University of St Andrews investigates...
encoded: In his book, Scottish History For Dummies, Knox explores the story of Scotland and its place within the historical narratives of Britain, Europe and the rest of the world. Here, writing for HistoryExtra, he reveals 10 surprising facts about Scottish history... There is no genetically pure or original Scot There is no common ancestral or genetic heritage that links the peoples of Scotland. The country was a patchwork quilt of various peoples grouped together in tribes who certainly never thought of themselves as Scottish. They owed allegiance only to their kith and kin, but in the campaigns against Roman imperialism they built federations that laid the basis of kingdoms. Ancient Scotland was made up of four separate groups: Angles, Britons, Picts and Gaels (or Scoti), who each spoke a different language. Latin became the common language of the whole country only after the Christianisation of Scotland in the 6th century AD. No, the Celts weren't primitive hooligans with terrible table manners... Kenneth McAlpin (810–858) was not, as is popularly claimed, the first king of Scotland What McAlpin did was in 842 take advantage of the Picts who had been severely weakened militarily by punitive Viking raids, and unite the kingdom of the Gaels with that of Pictavia. But while he ruled over the whole of Scotland north of the river Forth, large parts of the country were still in the hands of the Vikings in the north and Islands, and in the south the Anglo-Saxons ruled. But McAlpin was referred to as king of the Picts – a title conferred on him at his coronation on Moot Hill at Scone, Perthshire, in 843 AD. It was not until the reign of Donald II (889–900) that the monarch became known as the ri Alban (king of Alba). McAlpin’s achievement was to create a long-lasting dynasty that gradually extended the territorial borders of Scotland both north and south, but it was not until 1469 that what we know as Scotland today was established. Listen | Professor Tom Devine explores one of…

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Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Forty-five rebellion: why did it fail?
type: item
date: 2020-04-16T13:00:43.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Historical people
description: Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion of 1745 may have been short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful, but the exiled Stuart prince remains a Scottish hero. Here Jonny Wilkes explores the Jacobite rising...
encoded: Bonnie Prince Charlie convened a council of war on 5 December 1745 with no doubt in his mind of its purpose: to plan the next advance in his magnificent invasion of England. He had reason to be brimming with such confidence. His army marched across the border from Scotland less than a month earlier and, still undefeated, had already reached Derby – some 110 miles from London and from Charles’s birthright, the throne of the United Kingdom. So what he did not expect at the meeting in Exeter House was his military advisers’ recommendation for a full retreat. The advisers – led by commander of the Jacobite forces Lord George Murray, no less – argued that with two Redcoat armies behind them and another in front, a single engagement risked crippling their ranks and cutting off an escape. 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites History Explorer: The Jacobite uprisings Where history happened: The Jacobites Charles couldn’t hide his astonishment and dismay. True, promises of assistance by the French or English Jacobites had not materialised, but his warriors had high morale and were well positioned. As he saw the whole rebellion as a leap of faith from the beginning, he did not understand why they should stop now. Charles adjourned the council to rally and cajole men to his cause. This proved fruitless and, after a final, unsuccessful plea that evening – “You ruin, abandon and betray me if you do not march on” – he grudgingly acquiesced. This was treachery and cowardice. To advance meant possible glory, while withdrawal only led to defeat. The next morning, a furious Charles and his army turned back the way they came, back to Scotland and, as it turned out, their ultimate doom. To die or conquer Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie, or the ‘Young Pretender’) grew up believing he should be king one day. Since his grandfather James II of England and VII of Scotland had been deposed in 1688, a group known as the Jacobites aimed…

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8 of Britain’s most mysterious ruins
type: item
date: 2018-08-21T12:00:07.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Castles
subject: Halloween
subject: Where history happened
description: From haunted castles to cursed, crumbling manor houses, Britain is home to hundreds of ruins steeped in spooky and supernatural history. Here, David Hamilton, author of Wild Ruins, explores eight of the most intriguing…
encoded: Ruthven Barracks (Badenoch, Scotland) With the distant backdrop of the Cairngorms and amid spectacular scenery, Ruthven is a must-see for anyone travelling through Scotland. During the early 18th century the British government was a nervous one. It had just quelled (in 1715) the first of what would be two Jacobite uprisings, and it sought to subdue the unruly clans of the Highlands. Situated on the main Perth to Inverness road, with a crossing of the river Spey, Ruthven was strategically placed for the building of an army outpost and in 1719 Ruthven Barracks was built on the site of a 13th-century castle. Read more: 10 facts about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites Scottish history: 9 steps from Union to Referendum 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Scottish history <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2016/07/Bonnie-2-0ff53f8.jpg" width="800" height="800" alt="Prince Charles Edward Stuart, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, by William Mosman, 1750. Oil on canvas. (Photo by National Galleries Of Scotland/Getty Images)" title="Prince Charles Edward Stuart, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, by William Mosman, 1750. Oil on canvas. (Photo by National Galleries Of Scotland/Getty Images)" /> In 1745 its defences were put to the test when it was attacked by John William O’Sullivan and his group of 300 Jacobites. The barracks successfully warded off the attack with only 12 redcoats. Accounts of the day claim they suffered only one casualty, who received a fatal gunshot to the head after leaning too far over the ramparts. The Jacobite army returned the following year, and the ruins we see today are the result of the damage they inflicted. Before the barracks were built, there is a tale of a dark figure who arrived at the former castle one night in the 14th century. He challenged Alexander Stewart, known as the ‘Wolf of Badenoch’, to a game of chess (or cards depending on sources). By morning the shadowy figure was gone and all the men of the castle …

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8 of Britain’s best battlefields
type: item
date: 2018-03-29T07:00:34.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Norman
subject: Period
subject: Plantagenet
subject: Tudor
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Where history happened
description: From the Isles of Scilly to the Scottish Highlands, Britain is dotted with hundreds of battlefields. Julian Humphrys of the Battlefields Trust picks eight of the best to visit
encoded: Nearly everyone in Britain lives within half an hour’s drive of a battlefield. Some, like Hastings, Bannockburn and Bosworth, are familiar to many of us, whereas others are relatively unknown. Yet the battles fought on them all played their part in shaping the way that we live today, and that makes them worth studying – and preserving. To get a feel for a battle you really need to walk the ground on which it was fought, and this has influenced the choices I’ve made here. While the battles needed to have been important ones, I was also looking for battlefields across Britain that can be visited, studied and experienced, and I think that these eight are excellent examples of that. Hastings (East Sussex), 14 October 1066 William of Normandy considered himself the heir to the English crown, so when he heard of Harold Godwinson’s accession to the English throne in early 1066 he resolved to take it by force. On 28 September he landed with his army at Pevensey, forcing Harold, who had just defeated a Norwegian invasion at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, to march south to face him. On 14 October Harold’s army took up a strong defensive position on Senlac Ridge (in present-day Battle), with its flanks protected by steep slopes and marshy ground. While the English fought on foot in closely packed ranks, William’s army was made up of both mounted knights and foot soldiers. The first Norman attacks were repelled with heavy losses and at one stage it was rumoured that William had been killed, but in the end the English were worn down by a combination of shock action and archery. The English line broke and Harold was hacked to death. The centre of the action is marked by the remains of Battle Abbey, founded at William’s express command to atone for the slaughter of the conquest. There is today an interpretation centre in the grounds and you’ll soon be able to climb the gatehouse for a bird’s-eye-view of the area. Alternative sites for the battle have occasionally been suggested, bu…

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History Explorer: The Jacobite uprisings
type: item
date: 2015-10-04T08:15:06.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Castles
description: Professor Christopher Whatley and Charlotte Hodgman explore Ruthven Barracks in Badenoch, Scotland – a Highland fort built to suppress Jacobite rebellions in the 18th century
encoded: This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of BBC History Magazine Perched high on a hill in the Spey valley, surrounded by mountains, Ruthven was once one of four infantry barracks built across the Highlands in an attempt by George I to put down further Scottish rebellions in the wake of the great Jacobite uprising of 1715. The strategic position of the fortification, lying as it does at an important junction of military roads from Perth, Fort Augustus and Inverness, meant that Ruthven was a key stronghold for the British Army – and a target for rebelling Scots. But, despite being completed in 1721, Ruthven didn’t see its first military action until 1745, when a 300-strong Jacobite force attempted to besiege the barracks. (Remarkably, it took just 14 Redcoats to repel the attack, with the loss of just one man.) Although now ruined – little of the interior structure, and no visible flooring or roofing remains – the layout of Ruthven is still virtually as it was when it was first built. Once they have climbed the steep path to the barracks, visitors can see where the government soldiers stationed there would have slept – 10 men to a barrack-room and two to a bed – walk the small parade ground once used for drilling, and view the spot where the horses were stabled. Craving power The Jacobite rebellions against the crown were ultimately triggered by the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688, when the Dutch prince William of Orange seized the English and Scottish thrones from the Stuart king James II and VII to become William III and II. “The Stuarts had reigned in Scotland for centuries, and the Jacobites craved the reinstatement of the Stuart male line,” says Christopher Whatley, professor of Scottish history at the University of Dundee. “They championed the claim of the exiled James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the deposed James II and VII, the man after whom the movement was named [Jacobus being derived from the Latin form of James]. “What’s more, m…

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Scottish history: 9 steps from Union to Referendum
type: item
date: 2015-09-18T12:31:34.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
description: Dr Sean Lang charts the history of the Union from 1707 to the present day...
encoded: 1707: Act of Union passed by Scottish and English Parliaments King James VI and I had hoped to create a united kingdom of Great Britain, but the idea found no support in either of his parliaments. After Charles II was crowned in Edinburgh Cromwell led a successful invasion and under the 1651 Tender of Union, reinforced in 1657 by an Act of Union, Scotland was subsumed into Cromwell’s English Republic. However, the two kingdoms separated again at the Restoration in 1660. The 1707 Union was put forward in response to Scottish bankruptcy after the Darien fiasco [an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called Caledonia on the Isthmus of Panama on the Gulf of Darién in the late 1690s] and English fears that Scotland might restore the Stuarts rather than accept a Protestant Hanoverian succession. 1746: Battle of Culloden – British government forces crush the largely Highland army of the Jacobite claimant, Prince Charles Edward Stuart The “45” Jacobite Rising was a Scottish civil war: Jacobite support in the lowlands was minimal, and almost non-existent in England (the real focus of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s interest). Most Scots opposed the Jacobite rising, and many served in the Duke of Cumberland’s army that defeated the Jacobites at Culloden Moor. After the battle, the British engaged in the systematic eradication of traditional highland culture, though they eventually adopted an anglicised form of it for Highland regiments within the British army. 1856: The rebuilt Balmoral Castle opens as a royal residence for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Building on the huge popularity of the Waverley novels of Sir Walter Scott, the royal couple spearheaded a Victorian craze for Scottish traditional culture, virtually inventing much of it in the process. Much of the current paraphernalia of clan tartans, dress kilts and the ubiquitous playing of bagpipes in fact dates no further back than the 19th century. This r…

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