The House of Stuart or Stewart was a Scottish, and then British, Royal House of Breton origin. The House started off ruling Scotland but after the death of Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch from the House of Tudor, took over the whole of Britain. It was followed by the House of Hanover. The House began with the hereditary High Stewards of Scotland .

History

The earliest known member of the House of Stewart was Flaald I (Flaald the Seneschal), an 11th century Breton noble who was a follower of the Lord of Dol and Combourg. Flaald and his immediate descendants held the hereditary and honorary post of Dapifer (food bearer) in the Lord of Dol's household. His grandson Flaald II was a supporter of Henry I of England and made the crucial move from Brittany to Britain, which was where the future fortunes of the Stewarts lay.

Walter the Steward (died 1177), the grandson of Flaald II, was born in Shropshire. Along with his brother William, ancestor of the Fitzalan family (the Earls of Arundel), he supported Empress Maud during the period known as the Anarchy. Maud was aided by her uncle, David I of Scotland, and Walter followed David north in 1141, after Maud had been usurped by Stephen. Walter was granted land in Renfrewshire and the position of Lord High Steward. Malcolm IV made the position hereditary and it was inherited by Walter's son, who took the surname Stewart.

The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293-1326), married Majory , daughter of Robert the Bruce. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his uncle David II of Scotland died childless in 1371.

In 1503, James IV of Scotland attempted to secure peace with England by marrying Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, the daughter of James V. Darnley's father was Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, a direct descendant of James II of Scotland and Mary's heir presumptive, who had changed the spelling of his surname whilst at the English court. Therefore Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side, and at the time of their marriage was himself second in line to the Scottish throne. Because of this connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stewart.

Heads of the House of Stewart

Dapifers of Dol

• Flaald I (died c.1080)
• Alan I (died ?)
• Alan II (died 1095)
• Flaald II (died c.1101-1102)
• Alan III (died c.1121)

High Stewards of Scotland

• Walter the Steward, 1st High Steward of Scotland (died 1177)
• Alan Stewart, 2nd High Steward of Scotland (died 1204)
• Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland (died 1246)
• Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland (died 1283)
• James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (died 1309)
• Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland (died 1326)
• Robert Stewart, 7th High Steward of Scotland (afterwards, Robert II)

Scottish Monarchs

• Robert II (1371-1390)
• Robert III (1390-1406)
• James I (1406-1437)
• James II (1437-1460)
• James III (1460-1488)
• James IV (1488-1513)
• James V (1513-1542)
• Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1567)
• James VI (1567-1625)

British Monarchs

• James VI of Scotland and I of England (1603-1625) - Jacobean Age
• Charles I of England and Scotland (1625-1649) - Carolean Age
• Charles II of England and Scotland (1660-1685) - Restoration Age
• James VII of Scotland and II of England (1685-1688) (continued to claim the English and Scottish thrones after his deposition in 1688 until his death in 1701)
• Mary II of England and Scotland (1689-1694) - with William III of England and II of Scotland, of the House of Orange-Nassau, a descendant of Charles I
• Anne of England and Scotland (1702-1714) - Augustan Age

During the period between Charles I and Charles II, England was a Republican Commonwealth, and then a Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell.

Pretenders

• James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, claimed throne as James VIII of Scotland and III of England, (1701-1766)
• Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, claimed throne as Charles III, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, (1766-1788)
• Henry Benedict Stuart, claimed throne as Henry IX of Britain, (1766-1807)

See Also

• Jacobitism, for further information on the House of Stuart and their decline
• The family trees of the Stuarts: Scottish branch - England and Scotland united
• List of British monarchs
• List of Monarchs of Scotland