After Sheriffmuir: A Cause in Retreat
The 1715 Rising, led by the Earl of Mar, had ended in a disappointing stalemate at the Battle of Sheriffmuir and the eventual retreat of the Jacobite army. James Francis Edward Stuart - the Old Pretender - arrived in Scotland too late to rally momentum and returned to France soon after. With the Hanoverians firmly on the throne, and the Whigs dominating British politics, the Jacobite cause appeared all but extinguished. But beneath the surface, it continued to gather strength.
Following the ‘15, many prominent Jacobite leaders went into exile, primarily to France and Italy, where they were hosted by sympathetic courts and continued to plan for the restoration of the House of Stuart. The Jacobite court-in-exile at Rome, supported by the Pope and various Catholic powers, became a hub of intrigue, while in Britain, sympathy for the Stuart cause lingered, particularly in the Highlands, parts of Ireland, and among some English Tories and Catholics.
The Rise of Charles Edward Stuart
The 1720s and 1730s saw a series of false starts and foiled plots. One of the most significant came in 1719, when a small force landed in the west of Scotland with Spanish backing. It ended in failure at the Battle of Glen Shiel, but it proved the Jacobites were still active. These years also saw growing discontent in Britain over rising taxation, religious tensions, and resentment towards the ruling Hanoverians - factors that quietly nurtured the Jacobite cause.
Throughout this period, James's son, Charles Edward Stuart, born in 1720, was being groomed as the new face of the movement. Known later as Bonnie Prince Charlie, he came of age in an era when political tides began to shift. Britain’s involvement in continental wars (particularly the War of the Austrian Succession) strained its resources, and by the early 1740s, France began to see strategic value in supporting a Jacobite rebellion to destabilise Britain.
