Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald
The Stewart dynasty came to an end with the ouster of James II (VII of
Scotland) and the accession of William III (of Orange-Nassau) in 1689. The
reasons for James' unpopularity and the fall of the Stuarts, as the name is
often spelt, were basically two: a) his absolutism, verging on tyranny, in
keeping with the fashion of the age; and b) his conversion to Catholicism
and the attempt to re-establish this religion in Britain. Hence the Battle
of the Boyne episode, where the Stuart cause was espoused by the Irish
catholics, as well as many Scots of that persuasion. James, as is known, was
thoroughly thrashed in that action, the consequences of which continue down
to the present day, specifically in the Northern Ireland conflict.
