Previously on this blog, we have written about the last female of the Stuart lineage to be crowned Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. Anne Stuart was the daughter of the problematic king James II of England and VII of Scotland, who did much to what we know of today's Great Britain as explored in the post before. But Anne died with no heirs, despite her eighteen pregnancies, no child survived adulthood and even William, duke of Gloucester, died at age 11. The crown, after much reluctance of her part, was passsed by her German cousin Georg, Elector of Hanover, who was the great-grandson of King James VI Stuart, who in turn was the son of the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots.
Georg was the Protestant heir the British wanted to. But was he the only heir to succeed British's crown? In the very same post concerning Anne, we saw that, ironically, it was the birth of a son of his catholic wife Mary of Modena that culminated in his exile to France. James Francis Edward, later known as the "Old Pretender", was offered the British crown if he convered to Anglicanism, something he refused. Therefore, Anne had no other choice but to acknowledge her detested cousin Georg of the House Hanover as her heir. If it's in Anne's late reign, we have James Francis Edward, who self entitled as King James VIII upon his father's death and thus being acknowledged so by Louis XIV of France (something which he would later undo), first attempt invasion that ended in nothing, it is in the reign of King George I that we have the development of the infamous Jacobite rebellion that we see in "Outlander". The Catholic Stuarts would not give their claim until later defeat by the reign of King George II, the next topic of this blog. For now, we will discuss about this figure who was the father of a dynasty that is still on the British throne today, except by a more anglicized name we know as Windsor.
So who was George I as king? Can we understand his personal character that was, until then, deeply associated with government? What aspects of his reign can be associated with the Jacobite rebellion? What were the fruits of the relationship of both dynasties? Having those questions in mind, if we cannot answer at least one of them, it is our intention to at least provide a better comprehension of the connection of George Hanover as person and monarch to the rebellion we hereby intend to write about.
George I of Great Britain, Ireland, France and Hanover was born George Louis (German: Georg Ludwig) of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the oldest son of Sophia of Palatinate, who was in turn a daughter of Elizabeth Stuart (the Queen of Winter, whom we have already discussed on this very blog), and Ernest Augustus. Regarding his childhood, what we know is that "in her letters, Sophie describes George as a responsible, conscientious child who set an example to his younger brothers and sisters". Later, at age of 15, he was introduced to matters of war by bringing him to a "campaign in the Franco-Dutch War with the deliberate purpose of testing and training his son in battle."
Aside of the informations above, little can be speculated, except that he might have received a good education, appropriated for the standards of a man of his status. What we know next is the "marriage of State" with Sophia Dorothea of Cella, a match with the purpose of ensuring a
"healthy annual income and assisted the eventual unification of Hanover and Celle. His mother was at first against the marriage because she looked down on Sophia Dorothea's mother (who was not of royal birth), and because she was concerned by Sophia Dorothea's legitimated status. She was eventually won over by the advantages inherent in the marriage."
The marriage was unhappy due to the infidelity of both parts. Nonetheless, Sophia produced two legitimate children, the future George II and a girl named Sophia, who was the mother of Frederick "the Great" (this one also being a subject of one of our previous posts). Yet this did not prevent the divorce that marked their relationship and George locked his ex-wife at a Tower (with, however, a proper treatment for someone of her status: though she never received permission in leaving the place, she was well treated, having a good number of servants and living to certain extent in comfortable; however, Sophia was not allowed to see her children again and she was not acknowledged by the title of Queen of Great Britain), and it probably explains the sour relationship George had with his oldest and only legitimate son, the Prince of Wales George. To have a better understanding of the relationship between George and Sophia, we can read the next excerpt below:
"[...] but there were no other pregnancies. The couple became estranged - George preferred the company of his mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg-, and Sophia Dorothea, meanwhile, had her own romance with the Swedish Count Philip Cristoph von Königsmarck. Threatened with the scandal of an elopement, the Hanoverian court, including George's brother and mother, urged the lovers to desist, but to no avail. According to diplomatic sources from Hanover's enemies, in July 1694 the Swedish count was killed, possibly with the connivance of George, and his body thrown into the river Leine weighted with stones."
Whatever the case, George's personal life remained separated from Sophia's, and he was rather seen in the company of a few mistresses even after his ascension as the new British king. In the meantime, must it be said that
"England's whig politicians began to court his favour, but many Tories remained loyal to the Old Pretender. When George's mother died on June 8, 1714, he became heir to the throne, and on the death of Queen Anne (Aug. 1, 1714) the Whigs, who had just gained control of the government, ushered him into power."
It must be remembered, however, that in our previous post, when we discussed Queen Anne's reign, James Francis Edward, at first supported by the French King Louis XIV as James VIII, attempted a first invasion into England, but failed. James would not give up though and when George, then elector of Hanover, became King George, he was well aware of the Tories' sympathies concerning the 'Old' pretender. In truth, we have speculated that Anne herself might have been eager to support her brother's succession had he accepted converting to Anglican's religion, which he refused. If we consider the possibility of such, there would be no Hanover dynasty or even our present queen, Elizabeth II, who is a direct descendant of George I. It is no wonder, thus, why George favoured the Whigs and for so long there were no Tories in power. As we can see here:
"Naturally, George formed a predominantly Whig ministry. Although the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1719 were readily suppressed, he was far from popular in England. [...] He attempted dilligently, however, to fulfill his obligations to his new kingdom. Since he could not speak English, he communicated with his ministers in French. Although he stopped attending Cabinet meetings, he met with key ministers in private- a step that led to the decline of the Cabinet, which had largely controlled the government during Queen Anne's reign. His shrewd diplomatic judgment enabled him o help forge an alliance with France in 1717-18. Nevertheless, he often found it difficult to get his way in domestic politics, in which he had to deal with such strong-willed mininsters as Robert Walpole (later earl of Oxford), James Stanhope, and Viscount Charles Townshend."
It is also important to remember that this small struggle perceived in the last paragraph through the tensions of such strong-willed ministers and the king is explained by the fact that, as Elector of Hanover, George learned to command his province of a certain extent quite freely. Naturally, this foreign sovereign felt more inclined to the homeland where he was born and raised. Must be added that any foreign in any situation, sociologically speaking, to better adjust to a different society where the individual sets in, he "translates" his values in order to shape them according to that new society's he is to live in. Otherwise, he stands as an outsider and treated as such, which might explain the "anti-German" feeling expressed by some part of the British society and why the Scots in particular hoped to place "one of their kind" on the throne again.
"George mainly lived in Great Britain after 1714 though he visited his home in Hanover in 1716, 1719, 1720, 1723 and 1725; in total George spent about one fifth of his reign as King in Germany. A clause in the Act of Settlement that forbade the British monarch from leaving the country without Parliament's permission was unanimously repealed in 1716. During all but the first of the King's absences power was vested in a Regency Council rather than his son, George Augustus, Prince of Wales."
As for the already mentioned James Francis Edward, who was self entitled as James VIII, we have explained about the division in George's government due to the former support to the late Queen Anne's brother from the Tories and the subsequent favour in terms with the Whigs. This can be still reflected in 1715's rebellion as we see best explained below:
"Several members of the defeated Tory Party sympathised with the Jacobites, who sought to replace George with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart (called "James III and VIII" by his supporters and "the Pretender" by his opponents). Some disgruntled Tories sided with a Jcobite rebellion with became known as "The Fifteen". James's supporters, led by Lord Mar, an embittered Scottish nobleman who had previously served as a secretary of state, instigated rebellion in Scotland where support for Jacobitism was stronger than in England.[...]"
To corroborate this, here's a small excerpt original content¹ of the said Lord Mar's letter concerning the discussed event above:
"Barock Sunday the 13th November 1715.
Mar's Letter to the Governor of Perth
I thought you would be anxious to know the fate of this day. We attacked the Enemy on the end of the Sheriff Muir at 12 of the Cloack [clock] this day on our Right and Centre, and Carry'd the day entirely, and pursued the Enemy to the little hill on the south of Dunblain [Dunblane], And there I got most of our horse, and a pretty good number of our foot brought again into some order, We knew not then what was become of our Left so we returned to the field of Battle, We discovered a Body of the Enemy to the north of us, consisting mostly of the Grey Dragoons and some of the Black [Dragoons] and We also discerned a body of their foot a little. (...) I send you a List of the Officers names who are prisoners here, beside those who are dangerously wounded, and could not come along whose words of honour were taken. Two of these are the Earl of Forfar, who I'm afraid will dye, and Captain Urghart of Burdsyards who is very ill wounded, We have also a good number of private men prisoners But the number I do not exactly know (...) But that I am yours [Mar]. P.S. We have taken a great many of the Enemy's army."
As we know, however,
"'The Fifteen' (...) was a dismal failure; Lord Mar's battle plans were poor, and James arrived late with too little money and too few arms. By the end of the year the rebellion had all but collapsed. In February 1716, faced with impending defeat, James and Lord Mar fled to France. After the rebellion was defeated, although there were some executions and forfeitures, George acted to moderate the Government's response, showed leniency, and spent the income from the forfeited estates on schools for Scotland and paying off part of the national debt."
There was another account² about the 'Fifteen' concerning a different point of view about what happened in the mentioned event, which the reader can find in the bibliography towards the end of this post. However, as the last paragraph mentioned, George was forced to measure his actions towards such treason. Looking back at the British history, probably monarchs of the Tudor dynasty or even some of the Stuarts would have responded so by violent means, at least some of them would do so in order to have his power and authority uncontested. But this is early 18th century, only a few generations after Glorious Revolution, which in turn is the direct fruit of Puritan Revolution, so the Parliament is a more active political instrument where royal authority is concerned. There is a surviving letter petitioning royal pardon from a dowager countess to her son, who supposedly participated or was at least associated with the Jacobite rebels.
One of the results of this rebellion was how watchful were the British loyalists to small acts of the noblemen (or not), such as the toast. In official dinners, it was quite common to offer a toast to the sovereign of the country. To refuse doing it so was consistent to treacherous acts and could be seen with suspicious and association with the Jacobites. Such was the perspective or rather fear of another rising in order to context the Hanoverian succession. Nonetheless, rebellion was a failure and James Francis Edward Stuart would not give trouble for a while, rather leaving it for the next generation when Charles Stuart, later known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', was born.
In domestic affairs, looking back to George's small family (if compared to George II, George III and other's family, in numbers George only had two children with his lawful wife), we observe how father-son relationship was one of the marks of the Hanovers, since George II did not get along well with his son, Frederick of Wales, either. George III laterwards had a clearly dislike for the future George IV and they had a sour relationship as well, preferring -and sometimes favouring- his daughters instead. It was not until Robert Walpole, the mentioned earl of Oxford, who insisted improving their relationship and for a time it worked out for the sake of Britain's unity policies. As we see in the next paragraph:
"George Augustus, Prince of Wales, encouraged opposition to his father's policies, including measures designed to increase religious freedom in Britain and expand Hanover's German territories at the expense of Sweden. In 1717 the birth of a grandson led to a major quarrel between George and the Prince of Wales. [...] The Prince's new home, Leicester House, became a meeting place for the King's political opponents. George and his son were later reconciled at the insistence of Robert Walpole and the desire of the Princess of Wales, who had moved out with her husband but missed her children who had been left in the care of the King. [...]"
As in foreign affairs, aside of the issue concerning the Jacobite Rebellion which we have already explored,
"In 1717, he contributed to the creation of the Triple Alliance, an anti-Spanish league composed of Great Britain, France and the United Provinces. In 1718 the Holy Roman Empire was added to the body which became known as the Quadruple Alliance. The subsequent War of the Quadruple Alliance involved the same issue as the War of the Spanish Succession. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) had recognized the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, Philip, as the King of Spain on the condition that he gave up his rights to succeed the French throne."
What can it be said regarding King George's controversial character? It certainly divided opinions, but the "anti-German" feeling is no more different than the British's commonly known despise for foreigners on the throne, which explains why his image is damaged to certain extent and does not cause any curiosity in trying to get to know him more. Which is a pity for, as any other monarch before and after his time, George is an interesting character and no better or worse than some of his counterparts. He was curiously the product of two centuries (mid 17th and early 18th centuries) and managed to combine the inheritances of different historical and social contexts after an uneasy struggle for his throne. Finally,
"the British perceived him as too German, and in the opinion of historian Ragnhild Hatton, wrongly assumed that he had a succession of German mistresses. However, [...] he was seen as a progressive ruler supportive of the Enlightment who permitted his critics to publish wihout risk of severe censorship and provided sanctuary to Voltaire when the philosopher was exiled from Paris in 1726. European and British sources agree that George was reserved, temperate and financially prudent; George disliked to be in the public light at social events, avoided the royal box at the opera and often travelled incognito to the house of a friend to play cards. Despise some unpopularity, the protestant George I was seen by most of his subjects as a better alternative to the Roman Catholic Pretender James."
King George died of a stroke during his trip to Hanover. He was succeeded in the year of 1727 by his oldest and stranged son also named George, who became King George II and will be the next subject on this blog to close the topic of the Jacobite rebellions.
Bibliography:
-https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-I-king-of-Great-Britain
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Great_Britain
-https://www.biography.com/people/george-i-38166
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/account-sheriffmuir/
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/john-eldridge-court-case/
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/jacobite-timeline.jpg
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/benjamin-taylor-wells/
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/petition-john-blackwell/
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/report-john-blackwell/
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/jacobites-earl-mar-sheriffmuir/¹
-http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/lord-argyll/
