Introducing Jacobitism
The Stuart, Episcopalians and Anti-Unionism
Jacobitism was a political and military movement that sought from 1688 to 1746 to restore the deposed royal family of the Stuarts to the thrones of Scotland, Ireland and England. The Jacobites are usually associated with the clans of the Scottish Highlands; yet the North-East of Scotland, including Aberdeen and its two university colleges, was also a prominent centre of support for the Stuarts.
James VII & II in royal attire. b2_023
The flight of James VII and II and the advent of William of Orange’s reign in 1688 saw the overthrow of the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Scotland and the establishment of the Presbyterian Kirk as the new state religion. The 1701 Act of Settlement, which ensured that the throne of England and Ireland would pass to the Protestant Hanoverians, was enacted in Scotland through the Union of 1707. The creation of Britain was in part designed to ensure the exclusion of Catholics from the throne and the continuation in Scotland of Presbyterian supremacy. For some Catholics and Episcopalians, the Jacobite cause offered a means of restoring the Stuarts, ending the British Union, and adjusting Scotland’s religious constitution.
With a long tradition of loyalism to the House of Stuart and a vibrant culture of Episcopalianism, it is unsurprising that Aberdeen became a Jacobite stronghold. Various prominent North-East families aligned themselves firstly with James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, and later with his son, Charles Edward Stuart, while many of the staff and students at King’s College and Marischal College displayed Stuart sympathies and fought in the Rising of 1715.
Following the failure of the 1715 Rising, government action was swift and drastic. The exiled Jacobite, the Earl Marischal, was forced to relinquish his rights of college patronage. Teaching at Marischal College was suspended, and a purge of academics involved the removal of most staff from King’s and all but one teacher from Marischal. These interventions meant that the colleges remained politically quiet for the rest of the century. Neither Town nor Gown lent significant support to the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
The Collections
The University of Aberdeen holds rich collections of manuscripts, printed books and artefacts which give an insight into the complex history of shifting political allegiances and compromises during the 17th and 18th centuries. More recently, the collections have attracted some important donations, notably in 1918 when the wealthy Scottish emigrant and collector, William H. MacBean, donated his extraordinary collection of over 5,000 rare books, broadsides, pamphlets and manuscripts to the University.
