Stuart, Charles Edward (1720-1788), also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, led an unsuccessful rebellion in Scotland and northern England in 1745 and 1746. Charles began the rebellion in the name of his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. James was known as the Old Pretender because he pretended to (claimed) the crowns of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Charles was called the Young Pretender.
Charles’s grandfather had ruled England and Ireland as James II (and Scotland as James VII) from 1685 to 1688. King James was forced into exile during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. After he died in 1701, his followers supported the claim of his only surviving son, James Francis Edward, to the throne.
In the late summer of 1745, Charles landed in Scotland. Many supporters joined his rebellion, especially among the Scottish clans in the north. Within weeks, he occupied Edinburgh. By early December, he had marched as far south as Derby in England. But Charles found little support in England and retreated to Scotland. On April 16, 1746, his army suffered a devastating defeat at Culloden Moor, near Inverness. Charles then hid as a fugitive in the Scottish Highlands, until he sailed back to France in September.
Charles spent most of the remainder of his life in Italy, dying in Rome on Jan. 31, 1788. He had been born in that city on Dec. 31, 1720. His full name was Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart (also spelled Stewart).
