Charles Edward Stuart
Birth
Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart was born in the Palazzo Muti, Rome, Italy, on 31 December 1720, where his father had been given a residence by Pope Clement XI.
Noteable Ancestors
He was the son of the Old Pretender, Prince James, son of exiled Stuart King, James II of England and his wife Maria Clementina Sobieska and great-grandson of John III Sobieski, most famous for the victory over the Ottoman Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna.
The Early Years
His childhood in Rome was one of privilege, being brought up Catholic in a loving but argumentative family. Being, in their own opinion, the last legitimate heirs of the House of Stuart, his family lived with a sense of pride and staunchly believed in the Divine Right of Kings. The talk of regaining the thrones of England and Scotland for the Stuarts was a constant topic of conversation in the household, principally reflected in his father's often morose and combative moods.
His grandfather, James II of England and VII of Scotland, had ruled the country from 1685 to 1688 at which time he was deposed when Parliament invited the Dutch Protestant, William III and his wife the Princess Mary (King James' eldest daughter) to replace him, in the Revolution of 1688. James II had aimed to bring England back into the Catholic fold and, in the process, had irritated and alarmed the powerful statesmen of the day. Since the exile of James II, the 'Jacobite Cause' had striven to return the Stuarts to the thrones of England and Scotland, in 1707 united as Great Britain. Charles Edward was to play a major part in the pursuit of this ultimate goal.
His Legacy
In 1745 the Prince sailed from France and raised his flag at Glenfinnan, in the West Highlands, hoping to raise an army and overthrow King George II. He nearly succeeded.
Many Highland clans supported him - others opposed him, siding with the Hanoverian monarch. Most Lowland Scots and English people were against him and he gained little support from English Jacobites.
After an eight-month campaign, the Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland - son of the King George II - obliterated what was left of the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden. Charles Edward Stuart had ignored the advice of more experienced commanders.
Charles Edward Stuart fled the battlefield, escaped Scotland and returned to France. He lived out the remainder of his life in exile; trying to gain support for his cause, conducting a string of affairs and drinking excessively.
His Death
Charles died in Rome on 31 January 1788. He was first buried in the Cathedral of Frascati, where his brother Henry Benedict Stuart was bishop. At Henry's death in 1807, Charles's remains were moved to the crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican where they were laid to rest next to those of his brother and his father. His mother is also buried in Saint Peter's Basilica.