The Jacobites were supporters of the Stuart royal family. The name came from the word 'Jacobus' which is Latin for James, after James II, the last Catholic king of England, who had been forced to flee the country in 1688. He was replaced by his daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange.

James made an attempt to reclaim his crown in 1689, when he landed in Ireland but his forces were defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and he returned to exile in France. James spent the rest of his life at the court of his cousin and sponsor King Louis XIV.
When James II died in 1701, his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, claimed that he was now the rightful king of England, Scotland and Ireland.

After the Hanoverian kings ascended to the throne two major Jacobite rebellions took place in 1715 and 1745 in an attempt to return the crown to the Stuarts. 
In 1743 war broke out between England and France. King Louis XV of France supported the Stuart claim and provided the Jacobites with arms and ammunition. The 'Forty-Five' rebellion was led by Charles Edward Stuart (the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie).

Many Catholics living in the Scottish highlands were persuaded to join the Prince's cause and the Jacobites started their campaign by capturing Holyrood, the ancient palace of the Scottish royal family. Prince Charles's army then secured an easy victory at the Battle of Prestonpans and, in December 1745, marched into Derby. The Prince hoped that English Catholics would swell his army's ranks, but this was not the case. Then the French king reneged on his promise to provide 12,000 men and the Jacobites were forced to retreat back over the border. they were hotly pursued by the king's forces, led by the Duke of Cumberland. 

In April 1746, the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden Moor and Charles himself was forced to flee the scene. Although a reward of £30,000 was offered for his capture, his loyal supporters hid him. The Duke of Cumberland gave the order that there should be 'no quarter' which meant that wounded or fleeing Jacobites were brutally slaughtered.
The reprisals taken by King George II against the Scots were designed to destroy the clan system. Many Jacobites were executed and their land was distributed among those loyal to the king. the wearing of kilts and playing of bagpipes was banned.  

Swarketsone Bridge features in my historical romance, 'A Kiss for a Highlander'. One of the characters, Lord Jack Lindsey, is wounded in the skirmish and is close to death when he is rescued by his friend, Fraser Lachlan. Swarkestone Bridge, over the River Trent in Derbyshire, was built in the 13th century and is the longest stone bridge in England. According to legend the bridge was commissioned by two beautiful noble sisters of the Bellamont family. The sisters were betrothed to a pair of knights who, during the engagement party were called away to a meeting of the barons. During the meeting, rain swelled the river making their return to over the fording point hazardous. Both knights missed the ford when they urged their horses into the river and they died whilst the sisters looked on. Devastated by the loss of their loves the sisters decided to have the bridge built. The cost of the bridge is said to have ruined them and unable to forget their loves, they never married. The sisters are believed to haunt the bridge on stormy evenings when the water is high. 

On the 4th of December 1745, the Jacobite army led by Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) reached Derby. An advance party of seventy loyal highlanders were sent to secure Swarkestone Bridge and prevent King George's men from crossing the River Trent. The bridge, six miles south of Derby is believed to be the southern most point reached by the rebels in their advance towards London. The Jacobites held the crossing until 6th December 1745. Due to lack of support in England, the prince reluctantly followed advice and began the long retreat north, a journey which would end in bloody defeat at Culloden. There have been many reports of ghostly shouts and the sound of horses hooves across and around Swarkestone Bridge and it is believed that the ghosts of Bonnie Prince Charlie's loyal Jacobite troops still defend the bridge to this day. 

Bonnie Prince Charlie features in my historical romance, 'A Kiss for a Highlander', but who was he?
"Bonnie Charlie's now awa', Safely o'er the friendly main;
Many a heart will break in twa,
Should he ne'er come back again." 
Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart was born on December 31, 1720 in Rome. Throughout his lifetime he would be known by many names, The Young Pretender, Tearlach (the Scottish form of Charles), Carluso by his mother, Carluccio by his father, but, for most, he was Bonnie Prince Charlie. His birth was surrounded by pomp and circumstance. Believed by many to be the true heir to the English throne, he was given the title Prince of Wales and nobles waited in line to kiss his tiny hand while cardinals said blessings over his wee head. On the death of Queen Anne in 1714 the crown passed to the Elector of Hanover, who became George I. From a very early age Charles was encouraged to think of King George as a usurper and himself as the true heir to the Scottish and English thrones.
When Charles landed in the north of Scotland, to win back the throne of his fathers, he met with a hearty welcome from the Highlanders. The handsome young prince, with his charming manner was popular and soon several thousand men were marching behind him to Edinburgh, wearing his badge - the white cockade.
He entered the city, and occupied the old palace of Holyrood but in a few days he was forced to march out and fight the army of King George II, which was led by Sir John Cope. A wild rush of the Highlanders soon put to flight the king's troops; in fact, the battle was over in about ten minutes.
The prince was soon joined by more men, and he began the march south to claim London. The border was crossed, and, in a short time, the town of Derby a little more than a hundred miles from London was reached.
Prince Charles expected many of the English to join him, but very few did so. As his army passed through the country, people came out to marvel at the strange sight, but that was all.
So, when his advisers said his army was not strong enough to go forward, and that the king's men were marching to meet him, the prince reluctantly gave the order to retreat.
After many weary weeks of marching and several skirmishes with the king's redcoat army, he drew up his troops on Drumossie and Culloden Moor, near Inverness in the far north of Scotland. Soon, the army of King George, led by Charles' own cousin, the Duke of Cumberland, was in pursuit.
Hugh Rose of Kilravock entertained both Charles Edward Stuart and the Duke of Cumberland respectively on 14 and 15 April 1746, before the Battle of Culloden. Charles' manners and deportment were described by his host as most engaging. Having walked out with Mr. Rose, before sitting down he watched trees being planted. The prince remarked, "How happy, Sir, you must feel, to be thus peaceably employed in adorning your mansion, whilst all the country round is in such commotion." The next day, the Duke of Cumberland called at the castle gate, and when Kilravock went to receive him, he bluffly observed, "So you had my cousin Charles here yesterday." Kilravock replied, "What am I to do, I am Scots", to which Cumberland replied, "You did perfectly right."
Prince Charles' Jacobite followers were tired and hungry, but, in spite of this, when the battle began, they fought bravely. They broke through the front rank of the Duke's army, only to find another rank drawn up, waiting for them with loaded guns.
The fire from these killed hundreds of the Highlanders, and the battle was soon over. The Duke of Cumberland's army were ordered to give 'no quarter' to their fleeing foes. Wounded men were killed where they lay; and a barn, where a number of rebels had taken shelter, was burned to the ground.
For weeks afterwards, the duke's men went about, burning houses and castles, and turning the country into a desert. Men were shot like wild beasts, while women and children were turned out to starve.
During this time, Prince Charles was hiding as best he could. The enormous sum of £30,000 was offered to anyone who would give him up to the king's men; but the Highlanders were so loyal to the prince that no one claimed the money.
For months, he wandered about among the hills and glens, sometimes spending the night in a poor hut, sometimes on the bleak moors. At one time, he was hiding on a small island off the west coast of Scotland, and, when the king's soldiers heard this, orders were given that no one was to leave the island.
A brave young Jacobite, Flora Macdonald, the daughter of a chieftain, came to his help. She dressed the prince as a maid servant, and called him 'Betty Burke'. She then boldly asked the king's men for safe passage for herself, her manservant and 'Betty' and crossed over in safety to her home in the island of Skye.
For a few weeks, he lived in a cave with some outlaws. They got the prince some clothes, and two of them acted as his guides. At last, five months after the battle of Culloden, his friends found a ship to take him safely across to France. 
In 1748, the war between France and England ended and the English insisted the French exile Charles. He was forced to spend the rest of his life moving around Europe in a range of guises. Bonnie Prince Charlie never returned to Scotland's shores and he died forty years later, a broken, bitter alcoholic who blamed his Scots supporters for his defeat. He was no longer recognisable as the 'King of Highland Hearts'.
"Rally in the name of God. Pray, gentleman, return. Pray, stand with me, your Prince, but a moment- otherwise you ruin me, your country and yourselves; and God forgive you."
Prince Charles Edward Stuart at the Battle of Culloden, 16 April 1746

My Pinterest board about the Jacobites is here:
http://www.pinterest.com/JaneGodman/jacobites/

The Jacobites were the supporters of King James II of England, who was also King James VII of Scotland, and his heirs.
After the death of his brother Charles II, James II ruled Britain from 1685 to 1689. He was hugely unpopular, because of his absolutist behaviour (the sort which had cost his own father his head) and also because he was a Roman Catholic. 
The English parliament was not prepared to tolerate this behaviour and invited James’s daughter Mary and her husband, the Dutch Prince William of Orange to replace the king.
William of Orange accepted the invitation from the English parliament in November 1688. James did not attempt to fight for his crown and fled the country instead. William became William III of England, ruling jointly with his wife. In Scotland it took until April 1689 to recognize William as King of Scotland.
Those who continued to support the exiled King James became known as Jacobites. Their name was derived from Jacobus, the Latin version of James.
In 1689, the Jacobites were opposed by the Whigs, those Britons who supported the Protestant cause and were not prepared to tolerate a Catholic kingdom.
There were three main Jacobite risings.
The 1689 rising was led by Bonnie Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse. He was outraged at the notion of accepting William of Orange as his king, and raised a small army of which he was commander. His spectacular victory against the Williamite army at Killiecrankie was won at the cost of his own life. He was killed at the moment of victory. Thereafter the rebellion was quickly quelled.
Mar’s Rebellion, or the Fifteen, in 1715  was provoked by the death in 1714 of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, and the subsequent accession of the Hanoverian King George I. The Jacobite standard was raised on 6 September 1715 in the north-east Highlands. There was widespread support for the rebellion and the Jacobites vastly outnumbered the British government forces. The campaign was not well organised and the exiled Stewart 'king', James VIII, did not land in Scotland until 22 December by which time the government had regained the initiative. On 4 February 1716 James admitted defeat and returned to France.
The final Jacobite rebellion, the Forty-Five, took place in 1745 when Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, led an army against the Hanoverian King George II. It is this rebellion that is the backdrop for A Kiss for a Highlander, the first book in my Georgian Rebel Series coming soon from Samhain Publishing.  

Jacobite Pinterest board:
http://www.pinterest.com/JaneGodman/jacobites/

I'm very excited that my novel, A Kiss for a Highlander, will be published by Samhain Publishing in May 2015. The book is the first in The Georgian Rebel Series, set in eighteenth century England and Scotland. But who were the Georgians? 
  
The Georgian era spanned the reigns of the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain. They were George I, George II, George III and George IV, who was the Prince Regent prior to ascending the throne. The Georgian period started in 1714 and ended in 1830.

What was their claim to the throne? When George I became king in 1714, there were fifty seven people with a better claim than his. But they were all Catholics and it was the Hanoverian Elector's Protestant faith that secured him the throne. The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure Protestant succession and guarantee a parliamentary system of government.

King James II had fled England in 1688 during 'The Glorious Revolution'. His Catholicism and belief in the divine right of kings did not sit well with the parliamentarians, and his father Charles I, had lost his life for adhering to just such beliefs. 

The throne was offered to James's daughter, Mary, who ruled jointly with her husband, William of Orange. They had no children and were succeeded by Mary's sister, Anne. Although Anne gave birth to 17 children, only one, the Duke of Gloucester, survived infancy. When he died, aged 11, Sophia, Electress of Hanover (granddaughter of King James I) became heir to the throne. Electress Sophia died just months before Queen Anne and her son, George Louis (Georg Ludwig) became George I of Great Britain.

I love this era. From the changing fashions of powder, patch, tricorn hats and cloaks through to the gentler garments of the Regency. The swashbuckling days when men would fight duels over an imagined slight to the formality that was a rehearsal for Queen Victoria's reign (which followed). My Georgian heroes and heroines are of their time and yet have a reason to rebel against it. I can't wait to share their stories with you!

My Pinterest board about life in Georgian England is here:
http://www.pinterest.com/JaneGodman/life-in-georgian-england/