Publicly, Charles was claimed to be a healthy, strong, well-built child who quickly mastered English, French, and Italian. Stuart supporters took great pride in this reported potential, but the stories were far from the truth. In reality, Charles was an extremely weak child who did not walk until the age of four. Even at this point Charles required assistance, which came mostly from his nurse Mrs. Sheldon, whom had been hired by James and Clementina to raise the boy. Intellectually, Charles may have been even less impressive. Although it was claimed that Charles mastered multiple languages in childhood, he never in his life quite grasped English; he was more

Through this international activity, Charles Edward began to accompany his father as the recipients of support for a Stuart return to the throne. Charles became fascinated by his Scottish heritage as contact with the “highlanders” became more regular. With a return to the throne seeming more possible because of England’s newly-at-war status (Britain declared war on Spain in 1739), Charles sailed to the west coast of Scotland in July 1745. There he gathered clan members and instigated “the ‘45”, a rebellion which over its eight month duration brought the Stuarts within 127 miles of London and the throne. Charles was ultimately forced to retreat, flee, and return to Rome, where he died on January 30, 1788.

For three years, beginning when Charles was less than five years old, the young prince’s life was plagued with familial scandal and conflict. In November of 1724, Clementina accused James of carrying on an affair with Marjorie Hay, a woman whom James had recently appointed as Lady Inverness. At the same time, James had announced that Charles and his younger brother, Harry, would be trained in both Catholicism and Protestantism. It is assumed that in efforts of absorbing the shock of the announcements, Clementina, an extremely devout Catholic, concluded that an affair was evident. Pope Benedict VIII investigated both the love affair and the educational dispute, settling the former through discussion and the latter through demand that the children be raised in the traditional Catholic manner.

The Rebellion of 1745 held many historical implications on many levels. As an uprising, it decidedly brought suppression to the Scottish Highlanders. As a near overtaking of the throne, it contributed to nearly every aspect of European and World History since. Because Great Britain has emerged as a superpower, it can be assumed that France, with a puppet king in England, would have had influence in all British colonies and territories. It is even possible to speculate that the United States would not exist; the world would be a different reality had Charles not retreated.

On November 1, the Jacobite forces began their march to London. The English forces surrendered at Carlisle on November 16, Charles marched through Manchester on the 28th, and reached he Derby on December 4. By this point, word of the approaching army had spread to London and produced surprising support. Additionally, 10,000 French troops had been sent to assist Charles. But in the field, the commander could not gauge these aids, and in fear of the converging English forces, Charles and the Jacobites retreated on December 6—“Black Friday”—, only 127 miles from London.

Almost immediately following the Stuarts’ exile came the first attempt to restore their position. In July of 1789, John Graham of Claverhouse led the uprising, and met the English at the Battle of Killiecrankie. The Jacobites won the battle, but Graham was fatally wounded, and the movement lost its momentum. In 1701, James II died; the Jacobites regained support as they shifted attention to the new claimant to the throne, James III—the “Old Pretender”. It was in 1708 tha

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