Bonnie Prince Charlie

Elevation Ten Facts

'Prince Charles Edward Stuart'

With a proper name like Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Mario Stuart, it is little wonder that this legendary Scottish figure is best known by his nickname: Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Throughout his lifetime, Bonnie Prince Charlie was besides known equally 'the Immature Pretender' and 'the Immature Chevalier', or referred to just equally Charles III. He was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, and the Stuart claimant to the throne of Britain later 1766.

Bonnie Prince Charlie was born on the 3rd December 1720 and lived until the age of 67, when he died on the 31st January 1788.

He is probably all-time remembered for his office in the 1745 Jacobite ascension, as well as his defeat at The Battle of Culloden in April 1746, which finer concluded the last Jacobite ascent.

Bonnie Prince Charlie believed that the thrones of the three kingdoms were his birthright, and had just one aim: to employ the Jacobite movement to defeat and remove the Hanoverian 'usurper' George 2.

Many of usa volition be familiar with this Scottish grapheme with his popular moniker, namely for his escape from Scotland afterwards the uprising, which led to his portrayal as a romantic figure of heroic failure.

But there's really so much more to the immature Prince's story than is captured in the history books. That'due south why we are here today to sift through the facts and the fictions and to bring you our top 10 facts near Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Bonnie Prince Charlie was born in, and likewise died in, Rome.

Charles was built-in in the Palazzo del Re, in Rome, Italy, on 31 Dec 1720.

This is because, later being deposed in 1688, James II and VII went into exile in Europe for the remainder of his days, forth with his family - including the baby prince, James Francis Stuart. He was welcomed as a guest by his cousin, King Louis Fourteen of French republic, and from here the Stuarts established a court in exile.

After the failure of the 1715 ascent, Charles' begetter, James Francis Edward Stuart, James 3 and Eight in the Jacobite line, was obliged to get out France, and finally settled in Rome in 1719. He was given a palace by Pope Clement XI, and as a result Bonnie Prince Charlie spent almost all his babyhood in Rome and Bologna.

Bonnie Prince Charlie's mother was  Maria Clementina Sobieska, the granddaughter of John III Sobieski, who is nigh famous for the victory over the Ottoman Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

This babyhood in Rome was a very privileged ane, Charles was brought up Catholic in a loving but riven family. Equally, according to Jacobite succession, the family unit were the legitimate heirs to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland, the family lived with a sense of pride, and staunchly believed in the divine right of kings.

During his life he spent merely fourteen months on British soil, in 1745-6, and a brief hugger-mugger return visit in 1750.

So what happened to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and how did he dice?

Many years later, Bonnie Prince Charlie, past then a hopeless alcoholic, died in Rome of a stroke on 31 Jan 1788, anile 67. At offset he was cached in Frascati Cathedral nigh Rome, where at the time his brother Henry Benedict Stuart was bishop. After Henry'south death in 1807, both his and Charles'southward remains were moved to the crypt of St. Peter'south Basilica in the Vatican, where they were laid to residue side by side to their begetter.

This spot over the 3 male person Stuart's remains is where the monument to the Royal Stuarts was later erected in 1939. Charles' mother is also buried in St. Peter'southward Basilica. Simply when they removed the prince's remains from their original resting place in Frascati Cathedral, his centre was left behind, where it is independent in a small urn beneath the floor nether a monument.

Bonnie Prince Charlie is played by actor Andrew Gower in the hit Goggle box series, Outlander.

Watch this video to hear Andrew talking almost The Jacobite Trail!

Bonnie Prince Charlie spoke English language, French and Italian

Because Charles was born and raised in Rome to a Polish mother and a begetter of mixed European heritage, including Italian and French also as British, in that location has often been an assumption that the prince would have spoken English with some course of foreign emphasis.

But despite spending such a short amount of his life on British soil, Bonnie Prince Charlie is too believed to have spoken with a clear British emphasis.

Although his father, James Francis Stuart, left Britain at 6 months old, he would have been influenced by his principal role model, his father James VII and II, who was built-in at St James'south Palace, London and a mature 55-year-old in 1688 when they fled, and would have evidently spoken English language with an English emphasis.

Bonnie Prince Charlie would have grown upwardly surrounded by British and Irish courtiers, and allegedly with a Scottish schoolmaster.

Eyewitnesses during the 1745 uprising described Charles as speaking "the English or broad Scots very well".

He also spoke fluent French and Italian, and tried to learn Scots Gaelic during the '45 uprising.

The Jacobites were not all Scottish

There is often a misconception that the Jacobite cause was simply a example of the Scots vs the English, simply the truth is in fact more than complex. In fact, Jacobites came from all parts of the British Isles.

It is truthful that many members of the Stuart court in exile were Scottish – certainly past 1745 – but at that place were Irish gaelic and English exiles too.

And there were Jacobite sympathisers in England, although unfortunately for Bonnie Prince Charlie this did not interpret into significant military or overt political support in the 1745 uprising.

And not everyone beyond Scotland was a supporter of the Stuart crusade, there was considerable opposition to the Jacobites inside Scotland.

Glasgow in particular famously remained loyal to the Hanoverians, who were by now on the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland, and Edinburgh Castle was held by a government garrison throughout.

This partition is sometimes simplified to Highlanders and Lowlanders just there was strong Jacobite back up in Lowland Aberdeenshire, Perthshire and Fife, and indeed many Highlanders fought on the regime side.

It is true that many Scottish Jacobites saw the return of the Stuarts as the just style to dismantle the Acts of Union between Scotland and England.

Many, if not nearly, supporters of the Jacobite cause saw the render of the Stuarts every bit a vehicle for achieving other goals rather than being a good matter in itself.

Bonnie Prince Charlie (thank you to the National Museum of Scotland for the image).

Nor were they all Cosmic

It was too non a matter of Protestant v Catholic in Scotland. It is well known that the male heirs of James II and VII were Roman Catholic, but did yous know that the great majority of the Jacobites were Protestants?

It is truthful that religious minorities similar British Catholics could expect greater tolerance under a Catholic monarch, and therefore they were natural Jacobites, but not all displayed any interest in joining Charles'south campaign.

High profile English Catholics, the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, attended court at St James'south Palace at the peak of the threatened advance to London in November 1745, in club to publicly demonstrate their support for Male monarch George.

And amid the Scottish Jacobite army commanders of the 1745 rebellion, at that place were many Scottish Catholic leaders, such as James Drummond, Duke of Perth, and his brother Lord John Drummond. But most of the other commanders, such as Lieutenant-General Lord George Murray and the Life Guards commander David Wemyss, Lord Elcho, were Protestant.

The Jacobite crusade did not really end until some years after the Boxing of Culloden

It is true that the Battle of Culloden in 1746 was a crushing defeat for the Bonnie Prince; after nine successful months of candidature, the showtime major defeat hit the Jacobite army hard. But the perception that this was instantly the end of war is false.

Several thousand men, including some of those who had not even been present at the boxing, were willing to go on the fight. They gathered 30 miles s of the boxing site at Ruthven, but a lack of supplies and poor leadership from Bonnie Prince Charlie put paid to the thought of making a final stand.

The Duke of Cumberland certainly seemed to believe that another battle was imminent in the months after the Battle of Culloden, and this is why various acts were introduced to make such a rising more hard for the remaining Jacobites.

The pacification of the highlands may have made another ascension less likely, but with Charles in France agitating for troops and money to renew the state of war, the Jacobite threat was very much withal alive.

The affair that finally finished the 1745 rising, was the peace reached betwixt Great United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and France in 1748, with one of the terms existence that Charles was to exist removed from French territory.

Information technology was not widely known, merely in 1750 Bonnie Prince Charlie a secret visit to London to attempt and stimulate another uprising. This programme became known as the Elibank plot, and this was when Charles converted to the Church building of England.

Without French back up though, in that location was little hope for the Stuart cause. Charles' behaviour during the Seven Years War of 1756-63 was disappointing to the French, peculiarly his drunkenness, and after the Majestic Navy prevented a French invasion endeavor in 1759 by winning the battle of Quiberon Bay, the French abandoned him and his cause for good.

At around the same time a new pope, Pope Clement XIII, was elected and he did non recognise Charles as the Jacobite Male monarch. And in 1760, the third King George peacefully ascended to the throne, which suggests that Jacobitism as an agile political cause was effectively dead.

Bonnie Prince Charlie was not the last of the Stuart claimants to the throne

Subsequently Charles'south decease in 1788, his brother, Henry Benedict, became the Jacobite Henry 9 of England and I of Scotland. But, unlike his blood brother and father, Henry did not printing his claim. With him the direct, legitimate line ended upon his death in 1807.

In fact, Henry was considered picayune threat by George III, the latest in the line of 'usurpers' Henry'south family had fought so hard to remove from the British throne. So small a threat in fact that George took pity on the destitute Henry and paid him an almanac alimony of £4,000.

The classic 'Skye Boat Vocal' was written near Bonnie Prince Charlie'southward escape

"The Skye Boat Song" is a well known 19th-century Scottish song, but did yous know that it was written to commemorate the journey of Bonnie Prince Charlie from Benbecula to the Isle of Skye, as he evaded capture by Hanoverian troops later on his defeat at the Battle of Culloden?

The original lyrics were composed by Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet, in the 1870s, but alternative lyrics were rewritten in 1885 by  Robert Louis Stevenson. Famous versions accept been sung by  Paul Robeson, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Roger Whittaker, and Tori Amos.

The song gives an account of how Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised equally a serving maid, escaped in a small boat after his unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1745, with the aid of Flora MacDonald.

The Skye Gunkhole Song was not just extremely popular in its twenty-four hours, from its first recording by Tom Bryce on Apr 29, 1899, only  became a standard among Scottish folk and dance musicians e'er since. It was fifty-fifty more widely known from the 1960s onwards subsequently the aforementioned celebrities produced covers, and information technology has remained popular in mainstream music genres.

Skye Gunkhole Song Lyrics

The original chorus lyrics went as follows:

"Speed, bonnie gunkhole, like a bird on the wing,

Onward! the sailors weep;

Carry the lad that's born to be king

Over the sea to Skye."

The popularity of The Skye Boat Song is likely to exist one of the contributing factors to Bonnie Prince Charlie'due south reputation every bit a romanticized Scottish hero.

The level of interest in Bonnie Prince Charlie has also been boosted by the striking TV series, Outlander, for which The Skye Boat Song, performed below by Ella Roberts, is the theme tune.

As a result of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the wearing of tartan and kilts was banned in Scotland

As a consequence of the failed 1745 rebellion against the crown, The Dress Act 1746 was brought into force.

This happened on the 1 Baronial 1746, and the law stated "no man or boy within that part of Britain called Scotland, shall wear or put on the clothes commonly chosen Highland wearing apparel (that is to say) the Plaid, Philabeg, or picayune Kilt, Trowse, Shoulder-belts, or whatever part whatever of what especially belongs to the Highland Garb".

So despite the fact that not all Highland clans were even Jacobite supporters, but just because Bonnie Prince Charlie had institute his most effective supporters from within the Scottish clans, a series of convincing acts were brought in by the government. They aimed to dismantle the Highland mode of life and bring any and all clans under government control.

The culture of the Gaels was seen equally a danger to the nation's stability that needed to be cleaved up and the Gaels absorbed by Lowland culture.

An exemption allowed the kilt to be worn in the army, continuing the tradition established by the Blackness Picket regiment.

The police was eventually repealed in 1782, but by this time, kilts and tartans were never really ordinary Highland wear once more.

Charles was not always such a 'Bonnie' Prince

Whilst it appears to be true that Bonnie Prince Charlie every bit a immature man was handsome, athletic, musical and fluent in multiple languages, we take reason to believe that he wasn't always and so lovely.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart was beginning given his nickname on Tuesday 17th September 1745, the twenty-four hour period he entered Edinburgh.

E'er the showman, whilst he held a review of his forces, he allowed the gathering crowd quite a close view. He is reported to have been tall and handsome on his fine horse, and to have been wearing a tartan curt coat, crimson velvet trousers and military boots.

Local women adored him, the crowds cheered and he was received with a real hero's welcome.

But it would announced that these qualities that found him so adored faded in his later life. Sketches produced of Charles in later life show a bitter and disappointed man compared to the earlier hype.

He lived for another 42 years after the battle of Culloden of 1746 but was never able to muster sufficient support for a farther attempt to merits the throne. Whether the fact that he no longer lived up to his famous nickname had anything to practise with this seems unlikely, but nonetheless he was definitely never quite and so Bonnie again subsequently his defeat and subsequent years in hiding.

The same could be said for his personality. The failure of the '45 led him to alcoholism and he is known to take browbeaten his wife and girlfriends in this period of his life.

It is believed that there is a directly descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie still alive today.

There is a belief that there are descendents of Charles Edward Stuart alive today. In 1753, Bonnie Prince Charlie had an illegitimate daughter by his mistress Clementina Walkinshaw.

The child was called Charlotte Stuart, and although Charles initially refused to acknowledge her afterward her mother took her abroad from him when their relationship soured, he did eventually legitimise her in 1784. Prior to this, during their estrangement, Charlotte spent years in convents in French republic and produced three illegitimate children of her own.

Charlotte died but two years later than her male parent in 1790, and her children remained unknown until the mid-twentieth century. This is when historians of Jacobitism carried out enquiry which allowed them to discover the existence of them, and their children, Bonnie Prince Charlie's grandchildren.

Recently a human being chosen Peter Pininski has come forrad claiming to be the descendant of Charlotte'southward eldest girl, Marie Victoire Adelaide, and his claim appears to be legitimate.

This text has been edit and canonical by our bookish and historical advisor, Professor Daniel Szechi.

Professor Szechi is the author of The Jacobites: Uk and Europe, 1688–1788 and holds the post-obit positions:

Emeritus Professor in Early on Mod History, Academy of Manchester

Honorary Professor of History, Academy of Aberdeen

Emeritus Professor of History, Auburn University, Alabama