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Edinburgh Town Guide, Bonnie Prince Charlie, 8K

Charles Edward Stuart, more commonly known by the familiar nickname of Bonnie Prince Charlie, is one of the best known characters in Scotland's history.

Edinburgh Town Guide, Charles Edward Stuart, 3K Charles Edward Stuart was born in 1720 during a very turbulent time in British politics. The Crowns of England and Scotland had been united in 1603, and the Act of Union in 1707 meant that Scotland was now governed by England, which led to enormous tension between England and Scotland.

There was also a great deal of religious tension in Britain at the time, firstly between Catholics and Protestants, but also between Anglicans (English Protestants) and Presbyterians (Scottish Protestants).

Over the last century the British Crown had passed from the Stuarts, who were Catholic and descended from the Scottish King James I, to the Tudors who were protestant and descended from the English monarchy.

The Prince was born in Rome because his father, who was a Stuart and had a claim on the throne, was exiled there. In the early 1700s there had been several attempts to claim the Scottish throne back for the Stuarts, but these had all been unsuccessful.

Edinburgh Town Guide, Battle of Prestonpans, 3K But then in 1745 Charles Edward Stuart arrived in Scotland to claim his right to the throne. Against all odds, he went on to defeat the English at the Battle of Prestonpans.

He then had a series of other victories over the English and successfully managed to reach northern England before he was forced to retreat back to Scotland.

Edinburgh Town Guide, Battle of Culloden, 3K Eventually the Prince was defeated at the disastrous Battle of Culloden in the spring of 1746. But he managed to escape capture due to the help of Flora MacDonald who was subsequently imprisoned in the Tower or London for her efforts.

Charles Edward Stuart quickly became a Scottish hero and was soon nicknamed Bonnie Prince Charlie. And Flora MacDonald also became a famous folk hero due to her part in the prince's escape.

Edinburgh Town Guide, The Clearances, 2K Despite the positive impact that the Prince's exploits had on Scottish nationalism, there was a downside to them. Once the Prince had been defeated, the English Crown sought to remove any further threat to their security from the Highlands.

The result was the systematic destruction of Highlanders and the Highland Culture - a process known as the "Clearances". Land was forcibly removed from families and even the wearing of traditional Highland dress was banned.

Edinburgh Town Guide, Jacobite Rebellions, 2K The attempts by the Stuarts to recapture the Scottish throne in the 18th century are today known as the Jacobite Rebellions (after the Latin word for James, Scotland's last king), and are regarded by many Scots as a great period in Scottish nationalism.

Nowadays you will find that anywhere in Scotland that Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed or slept proudly makes their claim to a piece of a national hero and their place in Scottish history.





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