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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 Alexander Stewart, the fourth High Steward, 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
British Monarchs 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
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