What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1] 1566 - 1568: Alexander IV (House of Stewart) [2]
1568 - 1584: Charles I (House of Stewart) [3]
1584 - 1621:Matthew I (House of Stewart) [4]
1621 - 1690: Duncan III (House of Stewart) [5] 1690 - 1753: Alexander V (House of Graham) [6]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
Alexander IV
[2] James would be succeeded by his second son Alexander, after the death of the Duke of Rothesay one year earlier. Rothesay and his wife, Barbara of Hesse, would only have three daughters before James's death: Anna, Mary, and Jean. Many feared war would break out over the princesses rights to the succession, particularly given the unpopularity of Alexander and his wife, the young Catherine Vasa.
Catherine was an almost fanatic devotee to Lutheranism and attempted to convert the Scottish court to the faith. Many reformers saw the faith as too Catholic in its traditions and saw Catherine as ruining all their hard work. However, the Queen was popular among the Catholic south, who saw Lutheranism as more tolerable. Alexander himself had the opposite problem, being accused of "having only one concern: his own enrichment". His ascension was bemoaned by the nobility, who believed his nature was antithetical to Kingship. The King's constant covert meetings with ambassadors "taking bribes and other such things".
The birth of a daughter, called Catherine for her mother, became the last straw. There were rumors that King Alexander planned on selling his young nieces to the highest bidders, which was met with revulsion due to their ages, given the eldest only recently turning 7 at the time. These rumors caught the ears of Robert McDonald, a young courtier of the Dowager Duchess of Rothesay. Fearing for his beloved mistress and her daughters, he took up vigilante justice. While the King was out riding with one of his many foreign friends, looking for new streams of private revenue, stopped at Cadzow Castle. McDonald covertly followed him in and, when the King went off alone for some heir, stabbed the King, reportedly screaming "Die you bastard". The news of McDonald's actions shocked the court, not least his former mistress, who called it "a ghastly thing". The short reign of King Alexander IV would be followed by that of his uncle, Charles.
Charles when he converted
[3] If his older brother was his father's son, raised to be a True Scotsman, by fostering him to the north, Charles was his mother's son, sharing the same name as his more illustrious cousin, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, the House of Hapsburg, and as Charles I was the King of Spain. Charles did not spend time in the Highlands or among the north. When most of Scotland became Presbyterian, including his brother the king, Charles remained Catholic. However, after the Battle of Solway Moss and the clear reality that from this point on Scotland and Presbyterianism were from now on one and the same, Charles had three options. He could, like so many of his wife's relatives from the south, decamp to England, or perhaps to the Continent and the court of his cousin. He coud remain in Scotland and convert to remain a part of the Court and a True Scotsman. Finally he could choose to reject the new conditions of the kingdom, unite the southern aristocracy who were Catholic, and go to war with his brother.
Charles became Presbyterian. Like many of the other southern nobility, Charle's converion was not a deep one, but his children were still young as he'd married late in life in his early 30s, the oldest, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, was only ten at this point. They were raised in the new Presbyterian faith and they were sincere by adulthood.
By the time of his nephew's assassination, Charles was 61, had been officially Presbyterian for over two decades, and had children and grandchildren all in this faith.
Some of the still leaning towards Catholicism in their hearts among the souther nobility, hoped that Charles would on taking the throne avenge the death of his nephew, and perhaps take up the 'compromise' of becoming Lutheran- that is Protestant in Theology but Catholic in style, especially Bishops instead of elected councils of Elders (Presbyters) governing the church, a parallel to Parliament having shared governing responsibiity with the monarch.
But Charles knew that would lead to civil war and eventually intervention by Catholic England, which would easily destroy Scotland's independence if they had allies.
So Charles remained Presbyterian, demanded that Queen Catherine convert and raise Princesess Catherine within the Covenant, and did not include the Dowager Duchess nor her daughters in the arrests that eventually led to the trial and execution of McDonald for regicide.
Charles unified Scotland after the fears of civil war and then turned its attention to overseas. He found common cause with France, despite their religious differences, in that both were threatened by the alliance between Catholic England and the Catholic Hapsburgs. This gave Scotland the breathing room to explore trade with the Indies of the Far East and the Indies of the Carribean. He also hired Jacques Cartier to explore North America for Scotland and conceived of a Scottish Colony somewhere in North America, which didn't happen until after he'd died and his heir, his grandson, Prince Matthew, Duke of Albany succeeded him.
Charles died at the ripe age of 77, still a robust man, when he was riding his horse and it tripped. He fell and broke his leg. While recovering it became infected and he did from the infection.
Matthew I in his old age.
[4] Matthew I was born the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Albany and his wife, Princess Hedwig of Anhalt, being 'the spare' to his brother Prince Charles, Prince Matthew was educated for the possibility of one day wearing the crown, in addition to being tutored in the faith of the Scottish Kirk along side his older brother and their younger siblings.
As the Prince became older he fell in with the clique of popular young noblemen that flocked around Prince Charles, this group of young men became notorious all throughout Scotland for their epic drinking binges, wild hunting parties, and an ever changing cast of young, beautiful women. The King was dismissive of complaints from the authorities about his grandsons behavior, seeing it as part of their growing up with their peers.
The death of Charles and Matthew's father, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany in one of the last outbreaks of the Sweating Sickness bumped Matthew up in the succession, and forced the King to consider the marriages of his grandchildren.
A prestigious continental match was made for Prince Charles, for Matthew his first wife was chosen from the Scottish nobility, Barbara Hamilton, a daughter of the prestigious Hamilton family, with whom he had two children before Barbara died in a miscarriage with what would have been their third child.
King Charles began to consider a new marriage for his second grandson when another tragedy struck the House of Stewart with the unexpected death of Prince Charles, Duke of Albany when he fell out of a tower window while drunk, crashing onto the ground below.
Prince Matthew was then made Duke of Albany and the heir to the Scottish throne, and his second marriage was not with a Scottish lady but with a German Princess, Anna Magdalene of Brandenburg with whom Matthew would have three children.
Prince Matthew's partying ways slowed down considerably after the death of his first wife, and ended by the birth of his third child with Anna Magdalene, it was his second wife who encouraged his maturity, even encouraging regular church attendance, which earned the Prince (and his wife) the love of the ministers in the Church of Scotland.
The 'long-wait' for the throne ended with the death of King Charles and the rise of King Matthew I to the throne.
As the continent continued to convulse with the growing number of Protestant churches, internal schisms, Catholic Reformation, war and violence bloomed like flowers in spring. Scotland being relatively peaceful became a haven for various Calvinist and Presbyterian preachers.
Problems for Scotland began when members of other groups within Protestantism found their way to Scotland, the various branches of Lutheranism, and more radical groups such as the Anabaptists and Nontrinitarian Christianity, these groups were not officially welcomed into the Kingdom but never the less they did gain small followings, particularly on the borderlands with England, which did allow these groups to slip between the border to preach in England and flee to the 'relative' safety of Scotland.
This did anger the English authorities, however King Matthew was able to plead ignorance of the matter to King Henry XI of England, who also had to deal with rebellion in Ireland due to England's 'Plantations' in Ireland. Keeping England distracted with internal problems would prove to be King Matthew I's main policy of dealing with the English Kingdom.
King Matthew I also served as a patron of literature and the arts in Scotland, seeing the rise of the 'Scottish Renaissance' that would outlast Matthew's reign, in addition to this King Matthew established a number of schools and two universities to promote education amongst the nobility and merchant classes.
The King also considered a colonial project in the New World, however the costs at the time were seen as too high and Scotland's low population meant that there were a lack of volunteers to risk it all in a strange new land.
However when Queen Anna Magdalene died at age 53 in 1619, it broke the King's heart, the remaining few years of his reign were spent in a gloomy court in perpetual mourning until King Matthew I was found to have passed in his sleep at age 58 in 1621, passing the crown to his son, James.
Duncan III
[5] Duncan Charles Stewart was born May 29, 1588, the eight child of then Prince Matthew, the sixth with his second wife, Anna Magdalene, and his third son and second son to survive to adulthood. He was 32 when he took the throne, a vibrant man and soldier, who'd fought in the wars of Religion on the Continent, alongside his mother's relatives, fighting for the Protestants of Brandenburg against the Holy Roman Empire and Poland. (OOC: the War known as the Thirty Years War in OTL is the Forty Years War in TTL, starting in 1609 instead of 1618. /OOC) His older brother, Prince Robert James Stewart died in 1620 only months before his father, and Prince Duncan was quickly made Duke of Albany and recalled from the wars on the Continent.
Prince Robert was Duncan's senior by 7 years, the child that had led to their father settling down into a devout life. Robert had continued in that vein, becoming a devout man of art, literature, and science. He married his mother's cousin's daughter, Katrina of Brandenburg and had many children, but only daughters who survived past infancy. Robert never was a robust man, he was a thin, frail man, who started balding in his early twenties and often would be bedridden for a week or more with an illness. Finally one of those illnesses took him when he was not yet 40 years old.
Prince Duncan, on the other hand, was a robust man, who as a child had loved the hunt, the Highlands, where the family had kept the Inverness Castle as a second home in the north, and revered his ancestors, Charles I and James V. Against his father's wishes, he'd gone to the continent to soldier as soon as the Wars of Religion began in the Forty Years War in 1609. There the little bit of German he'd learned from his mother became a second tongue for him. He was reknown for his courage and prowess in battle.
It was a blow to him to have to return to Scotland while the war raged on. He not only grieved his older brother, whom he loved dearly, but also having to cease to be a soldier. He'd never married or even courted a woman. Now a friendship over the death of Robert led him and Katrina to become quite close. After the death of King Matthew, it was clear the wisest thing for Dunan was to marry the Princess. They did marry in 1622 and he became the stepfather of his nieces. However, he and Katrina were never able to conceive a child. It was clear they loved each other and neither one was ever unfaithful.
Duncan remained robust throughout his life, an outdoors king. His long life amazed his contemporaries, living to the age of 102, being on the throne for yearly 70 years. By then his Queen, Katrina, and step daughters had all died, even some of his step-grandchildren who'd survived childhood had also died. It was said Duncan at age 100 resembled another man in his 80s; he still had all his mental facilities, all his teeth, a full head of hair, good eye sight and hearing, and stood strong and tall. He only declined in his last year of life.
Duncan pursued colonies in North America, estabishing New Albion in the lands south of the St. Lawrence River Gulf (New Brunswich and Nova Scotia in OTL). He also established a colony in the East Indies in Timor, with the Dutch taking the rest.
Scotland remained a devout land steeped in Presbyterianism, but this faith was one very open to the developing Science and drew men of learning in the new leaning from all over Europe to Scotland, where a Royal Academy was developed by Duncan and the Universities of Edinburgh and of Glasgow became among the most prestigious centers of learning in the world.
Even though it was expected when the King's health began to turn as he entered his second century, it was still difficult for the kingdom to lose their long reigning king. He was suceeded by his great step-grandson, Prince Charles.
View attachment 485932
[6] Affectionately known as Sandy by close family and friends, from a childhood nickname due to his older brothers, being unable to say his name properly at a young age as the third son of the Prince James, Duke of Ross (1649–1688), and his wife Maria Katharina of Denmark and Norway, a daughter of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Sweden.
Prince James was the son of Elizabeth, (eldest daughter of Prince Robert and Queen Katrina) and her husband, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, bringing the mighty clan Graham, into the royal family.
Alexander was born in Mugdock Castle on 11 May 1682 and he was named the Earl of Dundee. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; the King's oldest niece and heir, Princess Elizabeth, Alexander's father and his elder brothers Duncan and Robert were ahead of him in the succession. However, Princess Elizabeth died of pneumonia on 29 December 1682.
On 11 February 1684, his father, Prince Robert, was stricken with measles and died, followed on 15 February by his second brother.
On 19 February, it was found that both Alexander and his remaining older brother, Duncan, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding.
By the morning of the 20th, Prince Duncan died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. Fearing for her last child, Princess Maria, would not allow the doctors to bleed Alexander any further, pleading that if God was to take him from her, he would do so peacefully; he was very ill but survived.
When Duncan III died, Alexander, at the age of eight, inherited the throne and would see his mother rule as regent along with his father’s cousin, Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow.
Following his age of majority in 1698, Alexander became known as the Enlightenment King.
He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment, abolishing the act in 1725, he would set about some of the greatest minds in Scotland to bring about an improved and reformed government.
His marriage in 1702 to Henriette Albertine, Princess of Nassau-Dietz, (1686-1754) was seen as an unusual choice to ally with, but over time, the alliance between the Dutch Republic and Scotland, would be financially and militarily beneficial to both nations, with their joint naval knowledge, matching those of England, France and Spain.
He modernized the Scottish bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.
He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble status to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Alexander encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Scotland and their colonies.
He supported arts and philosophers, he favored as well as allowing complete freedom of the press and literature.
Most modern biographers agree that Alexander, was primarily homosexual, and that his sexual orientation was central to his life and character, although he did his duty producing a male heir.
Many modern historian, including Dean of Edinburgh University, Nicola Sturgeon, has called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".
As well as this, on his tomb is inscribed with this quote, “With the massive shoes left to him by his great-grandfather, a lesser man would have tripped and stumbled, whereas Alexander, proudly picked them up and carried on the legacy.”
What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1] 1566 - 1568: Alexander IV (House of Stewart) [2]
1568 - 1584: Charles I (House of Stewart) [3]
1584 - 1621:Matthew I (House of Stewart) [4]
1621 - 1690: Duncan III (House of Stewart) [5] 1690 - 1753: Alexander V (House of Graham) [6]
1753 - 1763: William II (House of Graham) [7]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
Alexander IV
[2] James would be succeeded by his second son Alexander, after the death of the Duke of Rothesay one year earlier. Rothesay and his wife, Barbara of Hesse, would only have three daughters before James's death: Anna, Mary, and Jean. Many feared war would break out over the princesses rights to the succession, particularly given the unpopularity of Alexander and his wife, the young Catherine Vasa.
Catherine was an almost fanatic devotee to Lutheranism and attempted to convert the Scottish court to the faith. Many reformers saw the faith as too Catholic in its traditions and saw Catherine as ruining all their hard work. However, the Queen was popular among the Catholic south, who saw Lutheranism as more tolerable. Alexander himself had the opposite problem, being accused of "having only one concern: his own enrichment". His ascension was bemoaned by the nobility, who believed his nature was antithetical to Kingship. The King's constant covert meetings with ambassadors "taking bribes and other such things".
The birth of a daughter, called Catherine for her mother, became the last straw. There were rumors that King Alexander planned on selling his young nieces to the highest bidders, which was met with revulsion due to their ages, given the eldest only recently turning 7 at the time. These rumors caught the ears of Robert McDonald, a young courtier of the Dowager Duchess of Rothesay. Fearing for his beloved mistress and her daughters, he took up vigilante justice. While the King was out riding with one of his many foreign friends, looking for new streams of private revenue, stopped at Cadzow Castle. McDonald covertly followed him in and, when the King went off alone for some heir, stabbed the King, reportedly screaming "Die you bastard". The news of McDonald's actions shocked the court, not least his former mistress, who called it "a ghastly thing". The short reign of King Alexander IV would be followed by that of his uncle, Charles.
Charles when he converted
[3] If his older brother was his father's son, raised to be a True Scotsman, by fostering him to the north, Charles was his mother's son, sharing the same name as his more illustrious cousin, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, the House of Hapsburg, and as Charles I was the King of Spain. Charles did not spend time in the Highlands or among the north. When most of Scotland became Presbyterian, including his brother the king, Charles remained Catholic. However, after the Battle of Solway Moss and the clear reality that from this point on Scotland and Presbyterianism were from now on one and the same, Charles had three options. He could, like so many of his wife's relatives from the south, decamp to England, or perhaps to the Continent and the court of his cousin. He coud remain in Scotland and convert to remain a part of the Court and a True Scotsman. Finally he could choose to reject the new conditions of the kingdom, unite the southern aristocracy who were Catholic, and go to war with his brother.
Charles became Presbyterian. Like many of the other southern nobility, Charle's converion was not a deep one, but his children were still young as he'd married late in life in his early 30s, the oldest, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, was only ten at this point. They were raised in the new Presbyterian faith and they were sincere by adulthood.
By the time of his nephew's assassination, Charles was 61, had been officially Presbyterian for over two decades, and had children and grandchildren all in this faith.
Some of the still leaning towards Catholicism in their hearts among the souther nobility, hoped that Charles would on taking the throne avenge the death of his nephew, and perhaps take up the 'compromise' of becoming Lutheran- that is Protestant in Theology but Catholic in style, especially Bishops instead of elected councils of Elders (Presbyters) governing the church, a parallel to Parliament having shared governing responsibiity with the monarch.
But Charles knew that would lead to civil war and eventually intervention by Catholic England, which would easily destroy Scotland's independence if they had allies.
So Charles remained Presbyterian, demanded that Queen Catherine convert and raise Princesess Catherine within the Covenant, and did not include the Dowager Duchess nor her daughters in the arrests that eventually led to the trial and execution of McDonald for regicide.
Charles unified Scotland after the fears of civil war and then turned its attention to overseas. He found common cause with France, despite their religious differences, in that both were threatened by the alliance between Catholic England and the Catholic Hapsburgs. This gave Scotland the breathing room to explore trade with the Indies of the Far East and the Indies of the Carribean. He also hired Jacques Cartier to explore North America for Scotland and conceived of a Scottish Colony somewhere in North America, which didn't happen until after he'd died and his heir, his grandson, Prince Matthew, Duke of Albany succeeded him.
Charles died at the ripe age of 77, still a robust man, when he was riding his horse and it tripped. He fell and broke his leg. While recovering it became infected and he did from the infection.
Matthew I in his old age.
[4] Matthew I was born the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Albany and his wife, Princess Hedwig of Anhalt, being 'the spare' to his brother Prince Charles, Prince Matthew was educated for the possibility of one day wearing the crown, in addition to being tutored in the faith of the Scottish Kirk along side his older brother and their younger siblings.
As the Prince became older he fell in with the clique of popular young noblemen that flocked around Prince Charles, this group of young men became notorious all throughout Scotland for their epic drinking binges, wild hunting parties, and an ever changing cast of young, beautiful women. The King was dismissive of complaints from the authorities about his grandsons behavior, seeing it as part of their growing up with their peers.
The death of Charles and Matthew's father, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany in one of the last outbreaks of the Sweating Sickness bumped Matthew up in the succession, and forced the King to consider the marriages of his grandchildren.
A prestigious continental match was made for Prince Charles, for Matthew his first wife was chosen from the Scottish nobility, Barbara Hamilton, a daughter of the prestigious Hamilton family, with whom he had two children before Barbara died in a miscarriage with what would have been their third child.
King Charles began to consider a new marriage for his second grandson when another tragedy struck the House of Stewart with the unexpected death of Prince Charles, Duke of Albany when he fell out of a tower window while drunk, crashing onto the ground below.
Prince Matthew was then made Duke of Albany and the heir to the Scottish throne, and his second marriage was not with a Scottish lady but with a German Princess, Anna Magdalene of Brandenburg with whom Matthew would have three children.
Prince Matthew's partying ways slowed down considerably after the death of his first wife, and ended by the birth of his third child with Anna Magdalene, it was his second wife who encouraged his maturity, even encouraging regular church attendance, which earned the Prince (and his wife) the love of the ministers in the Church of Scotland.
The 'long-wait' for the throne ended with the death of King Charles and the rise of King Matthew I to the throne.
As the continent continued to convulse with the growing number of Protestant churches, internal schisms, Catholic Reformation, war and violence bloomed like flowers in spring. Scotland being relatively peaceful became a haven for various Calvinist and Presbyterian preachers.
Problems for Scotland began when members of other groups within Protestantism found their way to Scotland, the various branches of Lutheranism, and more radical groups such as the Anabaptists and Nontrinitarian Christianity, these groups were not officially welcomed into the Kingdom but never the less they did gain small followings, particularly on the borderlands with England, which did allow these groups to slip between the border to preach in England and flee to the 'relative' safety of Scotland.
This did anger the English authorities, however King Matthew was able to plead ignorance of the matter to King Henry XI of England, who also had to deal with rebellion in Ireland due to England's 'Plantations' in Ireland. Keeping England distracted with internal problems would prove to be King Matthew I's main policy of dealing with the English Kingdom.
King Matthew I also served as a patron of literature and the arts in Scotland, seeing the rise of the 'Scottish Renaissance' that would outlast Matthew's reign, in addition to this King Matthew established a number of schools and two universities to promote education amongst the nobility and merchant classes.
The King also considered a colonial project in the New World, however the costs at the time were seen as too high and Scotland's low population meant that there were a lack of volunteers to risk it all in a strange new land.
However when Queen Anna Magdalene died at age 53 in 1619, it broke the King's heart, the remaining few years of his reign were spent in a gloomy court in perpetual mourning until King Matthew I was found to have passed in his sleep at age 58 in 1621, passing the crown to his son, James.
Duncan III
[5] Duncan Charles Stewart was born May 29, 1588, the eight child of then Prince Matthew, the sixth with his second wife, Anna Magdalene, and his third son and second son to survive to adulthood. He was 32 when he took the throne, a vibrant man and soldier, who'd fought in the wars of Religion on the Continent, alongside his mother's relatives, fighting for the Protestants of Brandenburg against the Holy Roman Empire and Poland. (OOC: the War known as the Thirty Years War in OTL is the Forty Years War in TTL, starting in 1609 instead of 1618. /OOC) His older brother, Prince Robert James Stewart died in 1620 only months before his father, and Prince Duncan was quickly made Duke of Albany and recalled from the wars on the Continent.
Prince Robert was Duncan's senior by 7 years, the child that had led to their father settling down into a devout life. Robert had continued in that vein, becoming a devout man of art, literature, and science. He married his mother's cousin's daughter, Katrina of Brandenburg and had many children, but only daughters who survived past infancy. Robert never was a robust man, he was a thin, frail man, who started balding in his early twenties and often would be bedridden for a week or more with an illness. Finally one of those illnesses took him when he was not yet 40 years old.
Prince Duncan, on the other hand, was a robust man, who as a child had loved the hunt, the Highlands, where the family had kept the Inverness Castle as a second home in the north, and revered his ancestors, Charles I and James V. Against his father's wishes, he'd gone to the continent to soldier as soon as the Wars of Religion began in the Forty Years War in 1609. There the little bit of German he'd learned from his mother became a second tongue for him. He was reknown for his courage and prowess in battle.
It was a blow to him to have to return to Scotland while the war raged on. He not only grieved his older brother, whom he loved dearly, but also having to cease to be a soldier. He'd never married or even courted a woman. Now a friendship over the death of Robert led him and Katrina to become quite close. After the death of King Matthew, it was clear the wisest thing for Dunan was to marry the Princess. They did marry in 1622 and he became the stepfather of his nieces. However, he and Katrina were never able to conceive a child. It was clear they loved each other and neither one was ever unfaithful.
Duncan remained robust throughout his life, an outdoors king. His long life amazed his contemporaries, living to the age of 102, being on the throne for yearly 70 years. By then his Queen, Katrina, and step daughters had all died, even some of his step-grandchildren who'd survived childhood had also died. It was said Duncan at age 100 resembled another man in his 80s; he still had all his mental facilities, all his teeth, a full head of hair, good eye sight and hearing, and stood strong and tall. He only declined in his last year of life.
Duncan pursued colonies in North America, estabishing New Albion in the lands south of the St. Lawrence River Gulf (New Brunswich and Nova Scotia in OTL). He also established a colony in the East Indies in Timor, with the Dutch taking the rest.
Scotland remained a devout land steeped in Presbyterianism, but this faith was one very open to the developing Science and drew men of learning in the new leaning from all over Europe to Scotland, where a Royal Academy was developed by Duncan and the Universities of Edinburgh and of Glasgow became among the most prestigious centers of learning in the world.
Even though it was expected when the King's health began to turn as he entered his second century, it was still difficult for the kingdom to lose their long reigning king. He was suceeded by his great step-grandson, Prince Charles.
[6] Affectionately known as Sandy by close family and friends, from a childhood nickname due to his older brothers, being unable to say his name properly at a young age as the third son of the Prince James, Duke of Ross (1649–1688), and his wife Maria Katharina of Denmark and Norway, a daughter of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Sweden.
Prince James was the son of Elizabeth, (eldest daughter of Prince Robert and Queen Katrina) and her husband, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, bringing the mighty clan Graham, into the royal family.
Alexander was born in Mugdock Castle on 11 May 1682 and he was named the Earl of Dundee. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; the King's oldest niece and heir, Princess Elizabeth, Alexander's father and his elder brothers Duncan and Robert were ahead of him in the succession. However, Princess Elizabeth died of pneumonia on 29 December 1682.
On 11 February 1684, his father, Prince Robert, was stricken with measles and died, followed on 15 February by his second brother.
On 19 February, it was found that both Alexander and his remaining older brother, Duncan, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding.
By the morning of the 20th, Prince Duncan died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. Fearing for her last child, Princess Maria, would not allow the doctors to bleed Alexander any further, pleading that if God was to take him from her, he would do so peacefully; he was very ill but survived.
When Duncan III died, Alexander, at the age of eight, inherited the throne and would see his mother rule as regent along with his father’s cousin, Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow.
Following his age of majority in 1698, Alexander became known as the Enlightenment King.
He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment, abolishing the act in 1725, he would set about some of the greatest minds in Scotland to bring about an improved and reformed government.
His marriage in 1702 to Henriette Albertine, Princess of Nassau-Dietz, (1686-1754) was seen as an unusual choice to ally with, but over time, the alliance between the Dutch Republic and Scotland, would be financially and militarily beneficial to both nations, with their joint naval knowledge, matching those of England, France and Spain.
He modernized the Scottish bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.
He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble status to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Alexander encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Scotland and their colonies.
He supported arts and philosophers, he favored as well as allowing complete freedom of the press and literature.
Most modern biographers agree that Alexander, was primarily homosexual, and that his sexual orientation was central to his life and character, although he did his duty producing a male heir.
Many modern historian, including Dean of Edinburgh University, Nicola Sturgeon, has called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".
As well as this, on his tomb is inscribed with this quote, “With the massive shoes left to him by his great-grandfather, a lesser man would have tripped and stumbled, whereas Alexander, proudly picked them up and carried on the legacy.”
William II
[7] William II was the only son of Alexander V, named after William the Lion due to his birth cries sounding like a lion's roar, William II would ultimately prove a far cry from the legendary warrior-king of old.
The then Prince was raised surrounded by an army of nannies, courtiers, his mother, and two sisters the Princesses Anne and Eleanor. While many expected the royal children to emerge hopelessly spoiled, their mother the Queen Henriette Albertine proved a formidable figure in their lives, holding her children to a strict standard of behavior and in their education. At times members of the court found the Queen too harsh, however the King usually sided with his wife, and so the royal children emerged high educated, but social awkward with all but each other.
As the future King became older, he began to rebel at his mother's controls, attaching himself to a group of young noblemen that came to be called 'the Young Bucks', like many such groups of young men before them, they became known for their wild ways, which led to the fighting between the Queen and the Prince to become worse and worse until the King was forced to intervene by separating the pair the only way he could and still save face.
The King hurriedly arranged a marriage for his son at the age of 16 to an English noblewoman, Lady Mary Catherine Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, this allowed the King to grant his son the rights to his own household away from court, and away from his mother.
The forced seperation of Prince William from his sisters however would leave William forever bitter at both his parents, however his first marraige to Mary Catherine would prove a happy one, but would only produce a single child.
It was in his twenties that Prince William was able to return to court, however his sisters has been married off, leaving the Prince with few true allies. This narrowness in his social circle grew more pronounced when the Prince's first wife, Mary Catherine Howard died of pnemonia.
Once again the King hurriedly arranged a new marriage for his son, this time out of fear of an uncertain succession since so few members of the House of Graham remained. William's second wife was a continental match, the Princess Eleonora Maria of Sardinia, one of the daughter of the King of Sardinia. The match was controversial due to Eleonora Maria being Roman Catholic, however it went forward and the marriage would prove more fruitful than William's first, seeing the birth of four children in quick succession, though two died in infancy.
Tragedy nearly struck when Prince William became deathly ill with smallpox in his thirties, while he did survive (albeit heavily scared), William's health never fully recovered.
Upon the death of Alexander V, sickly William II took the Scottish throne at age 41. Within a year the Queen Eleonora Maria died in a riding accident, the King initially decided to remain single for the remainder of his life, however a number of advisors convinced him that having more heirs would be to Scotland's benefit.
So the King got to choose his own wife, this time selecting Princess Christine Augusta of Prussia, a woman with a surprisingly dynamic personality and a female painter in an era when it was rare for women to do so. This marriage would see the birth of two more children, and Queen Christine Augusta would become popular with the Scottish commoners, though the nobility was more divided in it's views on King William II's third wife.
Despite his poor health, William II would prove an effective administrator, and was more involved in his children's lives than his father was, and became known for being a loving, doting father to all of his children.
The sickly King's health gave out on him in 1763, having spent the unusually warm autumn day out and about enjoying his gardens, reading in the shade of his favorite tree, and spending his evening enjoying a dinner with the royal family and their friends. William II's successor was his ____, _____.
What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1] 1566 - 1568: Alexander IV (House of Stewart) [2]
1568 - 1584: Charles I (House of Stewart) [3]
1584 - 1621:Matthew I (House of Stewart) [4]
1621 - 1690: Duncan III (House of Stewart) [5] 1690 - 1753: Alexander V (House of Graham) [6]
1753 - 1763: William II (House of Graham) [7]
1763 - 1801: James VI (House of Graham) [8]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
Alexander IV
[2] James would be succeeded by his second son Alexander, after the death of the Duke of Rothesay one year earlier. Rothesay and his wife, Barbara of Hesse, would only have three daughters before James's death: Anna, Mary, and Jean. Many feared war would break out over the princesses rights to the succession, particularly given the unpopularity of Alexander and his wife, the young Catherine Vasa.
Catherine was an almost fanatic devotee to Lutheranism and attempted to convert the Scottish court to the faith. Many reformers saw the faith as too Catholic in its traditions and saw Catherine as ruining all their hard work. However, the Queen was popular among the Catholic south, who saw Lutheranism as more tolerable. Alexander himself had the opposite problem, being accused of "having only one concern: his own enrichment". His ascension was bemoaned by the nobility, who believed his nature was antithetical to Kingship. The King's constant covert meetings with ambassadors "taking bribes and other such things".
The birth of a daughter, called Catherine for her mother, became the last straw. There were rumors that King Alexander planned on selling his young nieces to the highest bidders, which was met with revulsion due to their ages, given the eldest only recently turning 7 at the time. These rumors caught the ears of Robert McDonald, a young courtier of the Dowager Duchess of Rothesay. Fearing for his beloved mistress and her daughters, he took up vigilante justice. While the King was out riding with one of his many foreign friends, looking for new streams of private revenue, stopped at Cadzow Castle. McDonald covertly followed him in and, when the King went off alone for some heir, stabbed the King, reportedly screaming "Die you bastard". The news of McDonald's actions shocked the court, not least his former mistress, who called it "a ghastly thing". The short reign of King Alexander IV would be followed by that of his uncle, Charles.
Charles when he converted
[3] If his older brother was his father's son, raised to be a True Scotsman, by fostering him to the north, Charles was his mother's son, sharing the same name as his more illustrious cousin, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, the House of Hapsburg, and as Charles I was the King of Spain. Charles did not spend time in the Highlands or among the north. When most of Scotland became Presbyterian, including his brother the king, Charles remained Catholic. However, after the Battle of Solway Moss and the clear reality that from this point on Scotland and Presbyterianism were from now on one and the same, Charles had three options. He could, like so many of his wife's relatives from the south, decamp to England, or perhaps to the Continent and the court of his cousin. He coud remain in Scotland and convert to remain a part of the Court and a True Scotsman. Finally he could choose to reject the new conditions of the kingdom, unite the southern aristocracy who were Catholic, and go to war with his brother.
Charles became Presbyterian. Like many of the other southern nobility, Charle's converion was not a deep one, but his children were still young as he'd married late in life in his early 30s, the oldest, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, was only ten at this point. They were raised in the new Presbyterian faith and they were sincere by adulthood.
By the time of his nephew's assassination, Charles was 61, had been officially Presbyterian for over two decades, and had children and grandchildren all in this faith.
Some of the still leaning towards Catholicism in their hearts among the souther nobility, hoped that Charles would on taking the throne avenge the death of his nephew, and perhaps take up the 'compromise' of becoming Lutheran- that is Protestant in Theology but Catholic in style, especially Bishops instead of elected councils of Elders (Presbyters) governing the church, a parallel to Parliament having shared governing responsibiity with the monarch.
But Charles knew that would lead to civil war and eventually intervention by Catholic England, which would easily destroy Scotland's independence if they had allies.
So Charles remained Presbyterian, demanded that Queen Catherine convert and raise Princesess Catherine within the Covenant, and did not include the Dowager Duchess nor her daughters in the arrests that eventually led to the trial and execution of McDonald for regicide.
Charles unified Scotland after the fears of civil war and then turned its attention to overseas. He found common cause with France, despite their religious differences, in that both were threatened by the alliance between Catholic England and the Catholic Hapsburgs. This gave Scotland the breathing room to explore trade with the Indies of the Far East and the Indies of the Carribean. He also hired Jacques Cartier to explore North America for Scotland and conceived of a Scottish Colony somewhere in North America, which didn't happen until after he'd died and his heir, his grandson, Prince Matthew, Duke of Albany succeeded him.
Charles died at the ripe age of 77, still a robust man, when he was riding his horse and it tripped. He fell and broke his leg. While recovering it became infected and he did from the infection.
Matthew I in his old age.
[4] Matthew I was born the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Albany and his wife, Princess Hedwig of Anhalt, being 'the spare' to his brother Prince Charles, Prince Matthew was educated for the possibility of one day wearing the crown, in addition to being tutored in the faith of the Scottish Kirk along side his older brother and their younger siblings.
As the Prince became older he fell in with the clique of popular young noblemen that flocked around Prince Charles, this group of young men became notorious all throughout Scotland for their epic drinking binges, wild hunting parties, and an ever changing cast of young, beautiful women. The King was dismissive of complaints from the authorities about his grandsons behavior, seeing it as part of their growing up with their peers.
The death of Charles and Matthew's father, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany in one of the last outbreaks of the Sweating Sickness bumped Matthew up in the succession, and forced the King to consider the marriages of his grandchildren.
A prestigious continental match was made for Prince Charles, for Matthew his first wife was chosen from the Scottish nobility, Barbara Hamilton, a daughter of the prestigious Hamilton family, with whom he had two children before Barbara died in a miscarriage with what would have been their third child.
King Charles began to consider a new marriage for his second grandson when another tragedy struck the House of Stewart with the unexpected death of Prince Charles, Duke of Albany when he fell out of a tower window while drunk, crashing onto the ground below.
Prince Matthew was then made Duke of Albany and the heir to the Scottish throne, and his second marriage was not with a Scottish lady but with a German Princess, Anna Magdalene of Brandenburg with whom Matthew would have three children.
Prince Matthew's partying ways slowed down considerably after the death of his first wife, and ended by the birth of his third child with Anna Magdalene, it was his second wife who encouraged his maturity, even encouraging regular church attendance, which earned the Prince (and his wife) the love of the ministers in the Church of Scotland.
The 'long-wait' for the throne ended with the death of King Charles and the rise of King Matthew I to the throne.
As the continent continued to convulse with the growing number of Protestant churches, internal schisms, Catholic Reformation, war and violence bloomed like flowers in spring. Scotland being relatively peaceful became a haven for various Calvinist and Presbyterian preachers.
Problems for Scotland began when members of other groups within Protestantism found their way to Scotland, the various branches of Lutheranism, and more radical groups such as the Anabaptists and Nontrinitarian Christianity, these groups were not officially welcomed into the Kingdom but never the less they did gain small followings, particularly on the borderlands with England, which did allow these groups to slip between the border to preach in England and flee to the 'relative' safety of Scotland.
This did anger the English authorities, however King Matthew was able to plead ignorance of the matter to King Henry XI of England, who also had to deal with rebellion in Ireland due to England's 'Plantations' in Ireland. Keeping England distracted with internal problems would prove to be King Matthew I's main policy of dealing with the English Kingdom.
King Matthew I also served as a patron of literature and the arts in Scotland, seeing the rise of the 'Scottish Renaissance' that would outlast Matthew's reign, in addition to this King Matthew established a number of schools and two universities to promote education amongst the nobility and merchant classes.
The King also considered a colonial project in the New World, however the costs at the time were seen as too high and Scotland's low population meant that there were a lack of volunteers to risk it all in a strange new land.
However when Queen Anna Magdalene died at age 53 in 1619, it broke the King's heart, the remaining few years of his reign were spent in a gloomy court in perpetual mourning until King Matthew I was found to have passed in his sleep at age 58 in 1621, passing the crown to his son, James.
Duncan III
[5] Duncan Charles Stewart was born May 29, 1588, the eight child of then Prince Matthew, the sixth with his second wife, Anna Magdalene, and his third son and second son to survive to adulthood. He was 32 when he took the throne, a vibrant man and soldier, who'd fought in the wars of Religion on the Continent, alongside his mother's relatives, fighting for the Protestants of Brandenburg against the Holy Roman Empire and Poland. (OOC: the War known as the Thirty Years War in OTL is the Forty Years War in TTL, starting in 1609 instead of 1618. /OOC) His older brother, Prince Robert James Stewart died in 1620 only months before his father, and Prince Duncan was quickly made Duke of Albany and recalled from the wars on the Continent.
Prince Robert was Duncan's senior by 7 years, the child that had led to their father settling down into a devout life. Robert had continued in that vein, becoming a devout man of art, literature, and science. He married his mother's cousin's daughter, Katrina of Brandenburg and had many children, but only daughters who survived past infancy. Robert never was a robust man, he was a thin, frail man, who started balding in his early twenties and often would be bedridden for a week or more with an illness. Finally one of those illnesses took him when he was not yet 40 years old.
Prince Duncan, on the other hand, was a robust man, who as a child had loved the hunt, the Highlands, where the family had kept the Inverness Castle as a second home in the north, and revered his ancestors, Charles I and James V. Against his father's wishes, he'd gone to the continent to soldier as soon as the Wars of Religion began in the Forty Years War in 1609. There the little bit of German he'd learned from his mother became a second tongue for him. He was reknown for his courage and prowess in battle.
It was a blow to him to have to return to Scotland while the war raged on. He not only grieved his older brother, whom he loved dearly, but also having to cease to be a soldier. He'd never married or even courted a woman. Now a friendship over the death of Robert led him and Katrina to become quite close. After the death of King Matthew, it was clear the wisest thing for Dunan was to marry the Princess. They did marry in 1622 and he became the stepfather of his nieces. However, he and Katrina were never able to conceive a child. It was clear they loved each other and neither one was ever unfaithful.
Duncan remained robust throughout his life, an outdoors king. His long life amazed his contemporaries, living to the age of 102, being on the throne for yearly 70 years. By then his Queen, Katrina, and step daughters had all died, even some of his step-grandchildren who'd survived childhood had also died. It was said Duncan at age 100 resembled another man in his 80s; he still had all his mental facilities, all his teeth, a full head of hair, good eye sight and hearing, and stood strong and tall. He only declined in his last year of life.
Duncan pursued colonies in North America, estabishing New Albion in the lands south of the St. Lawrence River Gulf (New Brunswich and Nova Scotia in OTL). He also established a colony in the East Indies in Timor, with the Dutch taking the rest.
Scotland remained a devout land steeped in Presbyterianism, but this faith was one very open to the developing Science and drew men of learning in the new leaning from all over Europe to Scotland, where a Royal Academy was developed by Duncan and the Universities of Edinburgh and of Glasgow became among the most prestigious centers of learning in the world.
Even though it was expected when the King's health began to turn as he entered his second century, it was still difficult for the kingdom to lose their long reigning king. He was suceeded by his great step-grandson, Prince Charles.
Alexander V
[6] Affectionately known as Sandy by close family and friends, from a childhood nickname due to his older brothers, being unable to say his name properly at a young age as the third son of the Prince James, Duke of Ross (1649–1688), and his wife Maria Katharina of Denmark and Norway, a daughter of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Sweden.
Prince James was the son of Elizabeth, (eldest daughter of Prince Robert and Queen Katrina) and her husband, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, bringing the mighty clan Graham, into the royal family.
Alexander was born in Mugdock Castle on 11 May 1682 and he was named the Earl of Dundee. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; the King's oldest niece and heir, Princess Elizabeth, Alexander's father and his elder brothers Duncan and Robert were ahead of him in the succession. However, Princess Elizabeth died of pneumonia on 29 December 1682.
On 11 February 1684, his father, Prince Robert, was stricken with measles and died, followed on 15 February by his second brother.
On 19 February, it was found that both Alexander and his remaining older brother, Duncan, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding.
By the morning of the 20th, Prince Duncan died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. Fearing for her last child, Princess Maria, would not allow the doctors to bleed Alexander any further, pleading that if God was to take him from her, he would do so peacefully; he was very ill but survived.
When Duncan III died, Alexander, at the age of eight, inherited the throne and would see his mother rule as regent along with his father’s cousin, Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow.
Following his age of majority in 1698, Alexander became known as the Enlightenment King.
He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment, abolishing the act in 1725, he would set about some of the greatest minds in Scotland to bring about an improved and reformed government.
His marriage in 1702 to Henriette Albertine, Princess of Nassau-Dietz, (1686-1754) was seen as an unusual choice to ally with, but over time, the alliance between the Dutch Republic and Scotland, would be financially and militarily beneficial to both nations, with their joint naval knowledge, matching those of England, France and Spain.
He modernized the Scottish bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.
He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble status to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Alexander encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Scotland and their colonies.
He supported arts and philosophers, he favored as well as allowing complete freedom of the press and literature.
Most modern biographers agree that Alexander, was primarily homosexual, and that his sexual orientation was central to his life and character, although he did his duty producing a male heir.
Many modern historian, including Dean of Edinburgh University, Nicola Sturgeon, has called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".
As well as this, on his tomb is inscribed with this quote, “With the massive shoes left to him by his great-grandfather, a lesser man would have tripped and stumbled, whereas Alexander, proudly picked them up and carried on the legacy.”
William II
[7] William II was the only son of Alexander V, named after William the Lion due to his birth cries sounding like a lion's roar, William II would ultimately prove a far cry from the legendary warrior-king of old.
The then Prince was raised surrounded by an army of nannies, courtiers, his mother, and two sisters the Princesses Anne and Eleanor. While many expected the royal children to emerge hopelessly spoiled, their mother the Queen Henriette Albertine proved a formidable figure in their lives, holding her children to a strict standard of behavior and in their education. At times members of the court found the Queen too harsh, however the King usually sided with his wife, and so the royal children emerged high educated, but social awkward with all but each other.
As the future King became older, he began to rebel at his mother's controls, attaching himself to a group of young noblemen that came to be called 'the Young Bucks', like many such groups of young men before them, they became known for their wild ways, which led to the fighting between the Queen and the Prince to become worse and worse until the King was forced to intervene by separating the pair the only way he could and still save face.
The King hurriedly arranged a marriage for his son at the age of 16 to an English noblewoman, Lady Mary Catherine Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, this allowed the King to grant his son the rights to his own household away from court, and away from his mother.
The forced seperation of Prince William from his sisters however would leave William forever bitter at both his parents, however his first marraige to Mary Catherine would prove a happy one, but would only produce a single child.
It was in his twenties that Prince William was able to return to court, however his sisters has been married off, leaving the Prince with few true allies. This narrowness in his social circle grew more pronounced when the Prince's first wife, Mary Catherine Howard died of pnemonia.
Once again the King hurriedly arranged a new marriage for his son, this time out of fear of an uncertain succession since so few members of the House of Graham remained. William's second wife was a continental match, the Princess Eleonora Maria of Sardinia, one of the daughter of the King of Sardinia. The match was controversial due to Eleonora Maria being Roman Catholic, however it went forward and the marriage would prove more fruitful than William's first, seeing the birth of four children in quick succession, though two died in infancy.
Tragedy nearly struck when Prince William became deathly ill with smallpox in his thirties, while he did survive (albeit heavily scared), William's health never fully recovered.
Upon the death of Alexander V, sickly William II took the Scottish throne at age 41. Within a year the Queen Eleonora Maria died in a riding accident, the King initially decided to remain single for the remainder of his life, however a number of advisors convinced him that having more heirs would be to Scotland's benefit.
So the King got to choose his own wife, this time selecting Princess Christine Augusta of Prussia, a woman with a surprisingly dynamic personality and a female painter in an era when it was rare for women to do so. This marriage would see the birth of two more children, and Queen Christine Augusta would become popular with the Scottish commoners, though the nobility was more divided in it's views on King William II's third wife.
Despite his poor health, William II would prove an effective administrator, and was more involved in his children's lives than his father was, and became known for being a loving, doting father to all of his children.
The sickly King's health gave out on him in 1763, having spent the unusually warm autumn day out and about enjoying his gardens, reading in the shade of his favorite tree, and spending his evening enjoying a dinner with the royal family and their friends. William II's successor was his first born child, James.
James VI
[8] James Stewart Graham, was the only child of his father's first marriage to Lady Mary Catherine Howard, born in 1731, when Prince William was only 19 and the Princess was only 17. His parents were married when they were young and she was only 14. However, for the first two years of their marriage, the marriage was only in name only, due to the youth of both. After the wedding the new Princess returned to her own family in Arundel Castle in Sussex, to live with her father, Thomas, the 8th Duke of Norfolk, her mother, Catherine nee Graham, a granddaughter of Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow, her older brother, Henry, her father's heir (he'd become the 9th Duke in 1732,) and her younger sister, Sophia, who was 13. On the Princess's 16th birthday she joined her husband and their marriage was finally consumated. Prince James was only 9 months old when his mother died of pneumonia. The small family had only returned to the Court a few months previously.
Quickly the baby Prince's maternal aunt, Sophia, now 18, took the child to raise him. She had married her own distant cousin, Angus Graham, the son of the current Earl of Glasgow, also named Malcom like his grandfather, who'd been regent during King Alexander's childhood. Sophia and Angus lived with William at the Court and fostered the baby for him. Later when his father married a second time, Sophia and Angus had the primary responsibility in raising Prince James.
His two half siblings by his father's second marriage who survived infancy were both sisters, Princess Louisa Maria and Princess Theresa Maria, born in 1737 and 1743. The Prince and these half-sisters were never close due to Princess Eleonora Maria severely disliking the Lady Sophia Graham and her jealously of Prince James as the heir. She had hoped that her own third child, Robert, born in 1740, would be made the heir, but of course Robert died before his first birthday. Her first child, also a girl, Regina Maria, was born in 1736 and lived to be two, dying in 1738. On the Duke of Albany's marriage in 1736, Sophia and her husband returned to Glasow, as Angus now became the Earl upon his father's death. Angus and Sophia convinced the Duke that Prince James was not really safe at court and so he was raised by them in Glasgow.
James never felt close to his father, especially after the illness of his father in 1742, the Duke no longer was well enough to visit the boy in Glasgow, and his aunt and uncle did not want him visiting Edinburgh for extended stays. The Prince was 21 when his father became King and he became the Duke of Albany. When the new Queen died a year later, James finally moved into quarters in court, along with his cousin, the Earl of Glasgow's heir, also named Malcolm, who was only a year younger than James and like a brother to him.
To James and Malcolm, James newest half siblings were more like nieces and nephews. James especially took a liking to his youngest sibling, Prince William, affectionally known as Billy, born in 1758. (Billy's older sister, Princess Ilse, was born in 1756.) The two older princesses, Louisa Maria and Theresa Maria, were 17 and 11, when their mother died. Louisia Maria had already been married to the Count of Savoy and her younger sister joined her there. (At this point their secret Catholicism became evident. Later Therea Maria would take orders as a Poor Claire.)
As Duke of Albany, James represented his sickly father to the kingdom, traveling throughout it, always accompanied by his cousin, Malcolm. It was while visiting Ulster, which had been part of the Scottish Kingdom since the days of Duncan III, that he met the eldest daughter of Andrew MacMurray, the Earl of Belfast, Briggitte. It was a whirlwind romance. James intended on marrying the girl and was returning to Court to speak to his father when the King died.
The Dowage Queen, Christina Augusta, was quite a bit younger than her late husband, in fact she was younger than her step-son! She'd been born in 1733, having married the King at the age of 21. She'd been a dutiful wife, popular with the people, a good mother, and a good friend to James and Malcolm, as well as Malcolm's parents. But the marriage was loveless and the King had only visited her bed a few time, but enough to sire her two children. A secret romance had grown between the Queen and Macolm, but it had remained chaste due to their mutual devotion not only to the King, but to the morals of their faith.
Two marriage occured in 1763 after the coronation of King James. First was his marriage to Lady Briggitte of Belfast. Some months later, after an appropriate time of morning, Lord Malcolm and Christina Augusta also married. Both marriages were love matches and were long, fruitful, good matches.
Queen Briggitte
It was during the reign of King James that Scotland joined the Industrial Revolution. Also the Scottish Colonies in both North America and the East Indies expanded. Besides New Albion, New Caledonia was established alongside the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River up to Lake Champlain, taking these lands from France in the brief War of 1769. In the Indies, Scotland established a colony on the north coast of Austraila south of Timor, known as Kingsland.
Scotland continued to be a land of learning and science, attracting the best minds of the world to study there. In 1770, the King proclaimed the Edict of Toleration, allowing all Scottish citizens in both Scotland, Ulster, the North American Colonies, and the Indies, to practice whatever faith their conscience demanded. Learned Jews flocked to Scotland, French Catholics in New Caledonia practiced their faith openly, and Muslims and Hindus were received fully in the Indies. However, the Kingdom remained officially Presbyterian with the King and Queen required to be members in good stand of the Kirk and raise ther children in the Covenant.
King James and Queen Briggitte had many children, as did his former step-mother and Malcolm. The King died at the age of 70 after he choked on a piece of meat he was eating. His Queen, his cousin, now the Earl of Glasgow, his former Step-mother, his two youngest half-siblings, and his children and grandchildren survived him. He was succeeded by his ________________, _______________.
What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1] 1566 - 1568: Alexander IV (House of Stewart) [2]
1568 - 1584: Charles I (House of Stewart) [3]
1584 - 1621:Matthew I (House of Stewart) [4]
1621 - 1690: Duncan III (House of Stewart) [5] 1690 - 1753: Alexander V (House of Graham) [6]
1753 - 1763: William II (House of Graham) [7]
1763 - 1801: James VI (House of Graham) [8]
1801 - 1817: Duncan IV (House of Graham) [9]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
Alexander IV
[2] James would be succeeded by his second son Alexander, after the death of the Duke of Rothesay one year earlier. Rothesay and his wife, Barbara of Hesse, would only have three daughters before James's death: Anna, Mary, and Jean. Many feared war would break out over the princesses rights to the succession, particularly given the unpopularity of Alexander and his wife, the young Catherine Vasa.
Catherine was an almost fanatic devotee to Lutheranism and attempted to convert the Scottish court to the faith. Many reformers saw the faith as too Catholic in its traditions and saw Catherine as ruining all their hard work. However, the Queen was popular among the Catholic south, who saw Lutheranism as more tolerable. Alexander himself had the opposite problem, being accused of "having only one concern: his own enrichment". His ascension was bemoaned by the nobility, who believed his nature was antithetical to Kingship. The King's constant covert meetings with ambassadors "taking bribes and other such things".
The birth of a daughter, called Catherine for her mother, became the last straw. There were rumors that King Alexander planned on selling his young nieces to the highest bidders, which was met with revulsion due to their ages, given the eldest only recently turning 7 at the time. These rumors caught the ears of Robert McDonald, a young courtier of the Dowager Duchess of Rothesay. Fearing for his beloved mistress and her daughters, he took up vigilante justice. While the King was out riding with one of his many foreign friends, looking for new streams of private revenue, stopped at Cadzow Castle. McDonald covertly followed him in and, when the King went off alone for some heir, stabbed the King, reportedly screaming "Die you bastard". The news of McDonald's actions shocked the court, not least his former mistress, who called it "a ghastly thing". The short reign of King Alexander IV would be followed by that of his uncle, Charles.
Charles when he converted
[3] If his older brother was his father's son, raised to be a True Scotsman, by fostering him to the north, Charles was his mother's son, sharing the same name as his more illustrious cousin, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, the House of Hapsburg, and as Charles I was the King of Spain. Charles did not spend time in the Highlands or among the north. When most of Scotland became Presbyterian, including his brother the king, Charles remained Catholic. However, after the Battle of Solway Moss and the clear reality that from this point on Scotland and Presbyterianism were from now on one and the same, Charles had three options. He could, like so many of his wife's relatives from the south, decamp to England, or perhaps to the Continent and the court of his cousin. He coud remain in Scotland and convert to remain a part of the Court and a True Scotsman. Finally he could choose to reject the new conditions of the kingdom, unite the southern aristocracy who were Catholic, and go to war with his brother.
Charles became Presbyterian. Like many of the other southern nobility, Charle's converion was not a deep one, but his children were still young as he'd married late in life in his early 30s, the oldest, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, was only ten at this point. They were raised in the new Presbyterian faith and they were sincere by adulthood.
By the time of his nephew's assassination, Charles was 61, had been officially Presbyterian for over two decades, and had children and grandchildren all in this faith.
Some of the still leaning towards Catholicism in their hearts among the souther nobility, hoped that Charles would on taking the throne avenge the death of his nephew, and perhaps take up the 'compromise' of becoming Lutheran- that is Protestant in Theology but Catholic in style, especially Bishops instead of elected councils of Elders (Presbyters) governing the church, a parallel to Parliament having shared governing responsibiity with the monarch.
But Charles knew that would lead to civil war and eventually intervention by Catholic England, which would easily destroy Scotland's independence if they had allies.
So Charles remained Presbyterian, demanded that Queen Catherine convert and raise Princesess Catherine within the Covenant, and did not include the Dowager Duchess nor her daughters in the arrests that eventually led to the trial and execution of McDonald for regicide.
Charles unified Scotland after the fears of civil war and then turned its attention to overseas. He found common cause with France, despite their religious differences, in that both were threatened by the alliance between Catholic England and the Catholic Hapsburgs. This gave Scotland the breathing room to explore trade with the Indies of the Far East and the Indies of the Carribean. He also hired Jacques Cartier to explore North America for Scotland and conceived of a Scottish Colony somewhere in North America, which didn't happen until after he'd died and his heir, his grandson, Prince Matthew, Duke of Albany succeeded him.
Charles died at the ripe age of 77, still a robust man, when he was riding his horse and it tripped. He fell and broke his leg. While recovering it became infected and he did from the infection.
Matthew I in his old age.
[4] Matthew I was born the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Albany and his wife, Princess Hedwig of Anhalt, being 'the spare' to his brother Prince Charles, Prince Matthew was educated for the possibility of one day wearing the crown, in addition to being tutored in the faith of the Scottish Kirk along side his older brother and their younger siblings.
As the Prince became older he fell in with the clique of popular young noblemen that flocked around Prince Charles, this group of young men became notorious all throughout Scotland for their epic drinking binges, wild hunting parties, and an ever changing cast of young, beautiful women. The King was dismissive of complaints from the authorities about his grandsons behavior, seeing it as part of their growing up with their peers.
The death of Charles and Matthew's father, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany in one of the last outbreaks of the Sweating Sickness bumped Matthew up in the succession, and forced the King to consider the marriages of his grandchildren.
A prestigious continental match was made for Prince Charles, for Matthew his first wife was chosen from the Scottish nobility, Barbara Hamilton, a daughter of the prestigious Hamilton family, with whom he had two children before Barbara died in a miscarriage with what would have been their third child.
King Charles began to consider a new marriage for his second grandson when another tragedy struck the House of Stewart with the unexpected death of Prince Charles, Duke of Albany when he fell out of a tower window while drunk, crashing onto the ground below.
Prince Matthew was then made Duke of Albany and the heir to the Scottish throne, and his second marriage was not with a Scottish lady but with a German Princess, Anna Magdalene of Brandenburg with whom Matthew would have three children.
Prince Matthew's partying ways slowed down considerably after the death of his first wife, and ended by the birth of his third child with Anna Magdalene, it was his second wife who encouraged his maturity, even encouraging regular church attendance, which earned the Prince (and his wife) the love of the ministers in the Church of Scotland.
The 'long-wait' for the throne ended with the death of King Charles and the rise of King Matthew I to the throne.
As the continent continued to convulse with the growing number of Protestant churches, internal schisms, Catholic Reformation, war and violence bloomed like flowers in spring. Scotland being relatively peaceful became a haven for various Calvinist and Presbyterian preachers.
Problems for Scotland began when members of other groups within Protestantism found their way to Scotland, the various branches of Lutheranism, and more radical groups such as the Anabaptists and Nontrinitarian Christianity, these groups were not officially welcomed into the Kingdom but never the less they did gain small followings, particularly on the borderlands with England, which did allow these groups to slip between the border to preach in England and flee to the 'relative' safety of Scotland.
This did anger the English authorities, however King Matthew was able to plead ignorance of the matter to King Henry XI of England, who also had to deal with rebellion in Ireland due to England's 'Plantations' in Ireland. Keeping England distracted with internal problems would prove to be King Matthew I's main policy of dealing with the English Kingdom.
King Matthew I also served as a patron of literature and the arts in Scotland, seeing the rise of the 'Scottish Renaissance' that would outlast Matthew's reign, in addition to this King Matthew established a number of schools and two universities to promote education amongst the nobility and merchant classes.
The King also considered a colonial project in the New World, however the costs at the time were seen as too high and Scotland's low population meant that there were a lack of volunteers to risk it all in a strange new land.
However when Queen Anna Magdalene died at age 53 in 1619, it broke the King's heart, the remaining few years of his reign were spent in a gloomy court in perpetual mourning until King Matthew I was found to have passed in his sleep at age 58 in 1621, passing the crown to his son, James.
Duncan III
[5] Duncan Charles Stewart was born May 29, 1588, the eight child of then Prince Matthew, the sixth with his second wife, Anna Magdalene, and his third son and second son to survive to adulthood. He was 32 when he took the throne, a vibrant man and soldier, who'd fought in the wars of Religion on the Continent, alongside his mother's relatives, fighting for the Protestants of Brandenburg against the Holy Roman Empire and Poland. (OOC: the War known as the Thirty Years War in OTL is the Forty Years War in TTL, starting in 1609 instead of 1618. /OOC) His older brother, Prince Robert James Stewart died in 1620 only months before his father, and Prince Duncan was quickly made Duke of Albany and recalled from the wars on the Continent.
Prince Robert was Duncan's senior by 7 years, the child that had led to their father settling down into a devout life. Robert had continued in that vein, becoming a devout man of art, literature, and science. He married his mother's cousin's daughter, Katrina of Brandenburg and had many children, but only daughters who survived past infancy. Robert never was a robust man, he was a thin, frail man, who started balding in his early twenties and often would be bedridden for a week or more with an illness. Finally one of those illnesses took him when he was not yet 40 years old.
Prince Duncan, on the other hand, was a robust man, who as a child had loved the hunt, the Highlands, where the family had kept the Inverness Castle as a second home in the north, and revered his ancestors, Charles I and James V. Against his father's wishes, he'd gone to the continent to soldier as soon as the Wars of Religion began in the Forty Years War in 1609. There the little bit of German he'd learned from his mother became a second tongue for him. He was reknown for his courage and prowess in battle.
It was a blow to him to have to return to Scotland while the war raged on. He not only grieved his older brother, whom he loved dearly, but also having to cease to be a soldier. He'd never married or even courted a woman. Now a friendship over the death of Robert led him and Katrina to become quite close. After the death of King Matthew, it was clear the wisest thing for Dunan was to marry the Princess. They did marry in 1622 and he became the stepfather of his nieces. However, he and Katrina were never able to conceive a child. It was clear they loved each other and neither one was ever unfaithful.
Duncan remained robust throughout his life, an outdoors king. His long life amazed his contemporaries, living to the age of 102, being on the throne for yearly 70 years. By then his Queen, Katrina, and step daughters had all died, even some of his step-grandchildren who'd survived childhood had also died. It was said Duncan at age 100 resembled another man in his 80s; he still had all his mental facilities, all his teeth, a full head of hair, good eye sight and hearing, and stood strong and tall. He only declined in his last year of life.
Duncan pursued colonies in North America, estabishing New Albion in the lands south of the St. Lawrence River Gulf (New Brunswich and Nova Scotia in OTL). He also established a colony in the East Indies in Timor, with the Dutch taking the rest.
Scotland remained a devout land steeped in Presbyterianism, but this faith was one very open to the developing Science and drew men of learning in the new leaning from all over Europe to Scotland, where a Royal Academy was developed by Duncan and the Universities of Edinburgh and of Glasgow became among the most prestigious centers of learning in the world.
Even though it was expected when the King's health began to turn as he entered his second century, it was still difficult for the kingdom to lose their long reigning king. He was suceeded by his great step-grandson, Prince Charles.
Alexander V
[6] Affectionately known as Sandy by close family and friends, from a childhood nickname due to his older brothers, being unable to say his name properly at a young age as the third son of the Prince James, Duke of Ross (1649–1688), and his wife Maria Katharina of Denmark and Norway, a daughter of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Sweden.
Prince James was the son of Elizabeth, (eldest daughter of Prince Robert and Queen Katrina) and her husband, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, bringing the mighty clan Graham, into the royal family.
Alexander was born in Mugdock Castle on 11 May 1682 and he was named the Earl of Dundee. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; the King's oldest niece and heir, Princess Elizabeth, Alexander's father and his elder brothers Duncan and Robert were ahead of him in the succession. However, Princess Elizabeth died of pneumonia on 29 December 1682.
On 11 February 1684, his father, Prince Robert, was stricken with measles and died, followed on 15 February by his second brother.
On 19 February, it was found that both Alexander and his remaining older brother, Duncan, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding.
By the morning of the 20th, Prince Duncan died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. Fearing for her last child, Princess Maria, would not allow the doctors to bleed Alexander any further, pleading that if God was to take him from her, he would do so peacefully; he was very ill but survived.
When Duncan III died, Alexander, at the age of eight, inherited the throne and would see his mother rule as regent along with his father’s cousin, Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow.
Following his age of majority in 1698, Alexander became known as the Enlightenment King.
He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment, abolishing the act in 1725, he would set about some of the greatest minds in Scotland to bring about an improved and reformed government.
His marriage in 1702 to Henriette Albertine, Princess of Nassau-Dietz, (1686-1754) was seen as an unusual choice to ally with, but over time, the alliance between the Dutch Republic and Scotland, would be financially and militarily beneficial to both nations, with their joint naval knowledge, matching those of England, France and Spain.
He modernized the Scottish bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.
He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble status to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Alexander encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Scotland and their colonies.
He supported arts and philosophers, he favored as well as allowing complete freedom of the press and literature.
Most modern biographers agree that Alexander, was primarily homosexual, and that his sexual orientation was central to his life and character, although he did his duty producing a male heir.
Many modern historian, including Dean of Edinburgh University, Nicola Sturgeon, has called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".
As well as this, on his tomb is inscribed with this quote, “With the massive shoes left to him by his great-grandfather, a lesser man would have tripped and stumbled, whereas Alexander, proudly picked them up and carried on the legacy.”
William II
[7] William II was the only son of Alexander V, named after William the Lion due to his birth cries sounding like a lion's roar, William II would ultimately prove a far cry from the legendary warrior-king of old.
The then Prince was raised surrounded by an army of nannies, courtiers, his mother, and two sisters the Princesses Anne and Eleanor. While many expected the royal children to emerge hopelessly spoiled, their mother the Queen Henriette Albertine proved a formidable figure in their lives, holding her children to a strict standard of behavior and in their education. At times members of the court found the Queen too harsh, however the King usually sided with his wife, and so the royal children emerged high educated, but social awkward with all but each other.
As the future King became older, he began to rebel at his mother's controls, attaching himself to a group of young noblemen that came to be called 'the Young Bucks', like many such groups of young men before them, they became known for their wild ways, which led to the fighting between the Queen and the Prince to become worse and worse until the King was forced to intervene by separating the pair the only way he could and still save face.
The King hurriedly arranged a marriage for his son at the age of 16 to an English noblewoman, Lady Mary Catherine Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, this allowed the King to grant his son the rights to his own household away from court, and away from his mother.
The forced seperation of Prince William from his sisters however would leave William forever bitter at both his parents, however his first marraige to Mary Catherine would prove a happy one, but would only produce a single child.
It was in his twenties that Prince William was able to return to court, however his sisters has been married off, leaving the Prince with few true allies. This narrowness in his social circle grew more pronounced when the Prince's first wife, Mary Catherine Howard died of pnemonia.
Once again the King hurriedly arranged a new marriage for his son, this time out of fear of an uncertain succession since so few members of the House of Graham remained. William's second wife was a continental match, the Princess Eleonora Maria of Sardinia, one of the daughter of the King of Sardinia. The match was controversial due to Eleonora Maria being Roman Catholic, however it went forward and the marriage would prove more fruitful than William's first, seeing the birth of four children in quick succession, though two died in infancy.
Tragedy nearly struck when Prince William became deathly ill with smallpox in his thirties, while he did survive (albeit heavily scared), William's health never fully recovered.
Upon the death of Alexander V, sickly William II took the Scottish throne at age 41. Within a year the Queen Eleonora Maria died in a riding accident, the King initially decided to remain single for the remainder of his life, however a number of advisors convinced him that having more heirs would be to Scotland's benefit.
So the King got to choose his own wife, this time selecting Princess Christine Augusta of Prussia, a woman with a surprisingly dynamic personality and a female painter in an era when it was rare for women to do so. This marriage would see the birth of two more children, and Queen Christine Augusta would become popular with the Scottish commoners, though the nobility was more divided in it's views on King William II's third wife.
Despite his poor health, William II would prove an effective administrator, and was more involved in his children's lives than his father was, and became known for being a loving, doting father to all of his children.
The sickly King's health gave out on him in 1763, having spent the unusually warm autumn day out and about enjoying his gardens, reading in the shade of his favorite tree, and spending his evening enjoying a dinner with the royal family and their friends. William II's successor was his first born child, James.
James VI
[8] James Stewart Graham, was the only child of his father's first marriage to Lady Mary Catherine Howard, born in 1731, when Prince William was only 19 and the Princess was only 17. His parents were married when they were young and she was only 14. However, for the first two years of their marriage, the marriage was only in name only, due to the youth of both. After the wedding the new Princess returned to her own family in Arundel Castle in Sussex, to live with her father, Thomas, the 8th Duke of Norfolk, her mother, Catherine nee Graham, a granddaughter of Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow, her older brother, Henry, her father's heir (he'd become the 9th Duke in 1732,) and her younger sister, Sophia, who was 13. On the Princess's 16th birthday she joined her husband and their marriage was finally consummated. Prince James was only 9 months old when his mother died of pneumonia. The small family had only returned to the Court a few months previously.
Quickly the baby Prince's maternal aunt, Sophia, now 18, took the child to raise him. She had married her own distant cousin, Angus Graham, the son of the current Earl of Glasgow, also named Malcom like his grandfather, who'd been regent during King Alexander's childhood. Sophia and Angus lived with William at the Court and fostered the baby for him. Later when his father married a second time, Sophia and Angus had the primary responsibility in raising Prince James.
His two half siblings by his father's second marriage who survived infancy were both sisters, Princess Louisa Maria and Princess Theresa Maria, born in 1737 and 1743. The Prince and these half-sisters were never close due to Princess Eleonora Maria severely disliking the Lady Sophia Graham and her jealously of Prince James as the heir. She had hoped that her own third child, Robert, born in 1740, would be made the heir, but of course Robert died before his first birthday. Her first child, also a girl, Regina Maria, was born in 1736 and lived to be two, dying in 1738. On the Duke of Albany's marriage in 1736, Sophia and her husband returned to Glasow, as Angus now became the Earl upon his father's death. Angus and Sophia convinced the Duke that Prince James was not really safe at court and so he was raised by them in Glasgow.
James never felt close to his father, especially after the illness of his father in 1742, the Duke no longer was well enough to visit the boy in Glasgow, and his aunt and uncle did not want him visiting Edinburgh for extended stays. The Prince was 21 when his father became King and he became the Duke of Albany. When the new Queen died a year later, James finally moved into quarters in court, along with his cousin, the Earl of Glasgow's heir, also named Malcolm, who was only a year younger than James and like a brother to him.
To James and Malcolm, James newest half siblings were more like nieces and nephews. James especially took a liking to his youngest sibling, Prince William, affectionally known as Billy, born in 1758. (Billy's older sister, Princess Ilse, was born in 1756.) The two older princesses, Louisa Maria and Theresa Maria, were 17 and 11, when their mother died. Louisia Maria had already been married to the Count of Savoy and her younger sister joined her there. (At this point their secret Catholicism became evident. Later Therea Maria would take orders as a Poor Claire.)
As Duke of Albany, James represented his sickly father to the kingdom, traveling throughout it, always accompanied by his cousin, Malcolm. It was while visiting Ulster, which had been part of the Scottish Kingdom since the days of Duncan III, that he met the eldest daughter of Andrew MacMurray, the Earl of Belfast, Briggitte. It was a whirlwind romance. James intended on marrying the girl and was returning to Court to speak to his father when the King died.
The Dowage Queen, Christina Augusta, was quite a bit younger than her late husband, in fact she was younger than her step-son! She'd been born in 1733, having married the King at the age of 21. She'd been a dutiful wife, popular with the people, a good mother, and a good friend to James and Malcolm, as well as Malcolm's parents. But the marriage was loveless and the King had only visited her bed a few time, but enough to sire her two children. A secret romance had grown between the Queen and Macolm, but it had remained chaste due to their mutual devotion not only to the King, but to the morals of their faith.
Two marriage occured in 1763 after the coronation of King James. First was his marriage to Lady Briggitte of Belfast. Some months later, after an appropriate time of morning, Lord Malcolm and Christina Augusta also married. Both marriages were love matches and were long, fruitful, good matches.
Queen Briggitte
It was during the reign of King James that Scotland joined the Industrial Revolution. Also the Scottish Colonies in both North America and the East Indies expanded. Besides New Albion, New Caledonia was established alongside the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River up to Lake Champlain, taking these lands from France in the brief War of 1769. In the Indies, Scotland established a colony on the north coast of Austraila south of Timor, known as Kingsland.
Scotland continued to be a land of learning and science, attracting the best minds of the world to study there. In 1770, the King proclaimed the Edict of Toleration, allowing all Scottish citizens in both Scotland, Ulster, the North American Colonies, and the Indies, to practice whatever faith their conscience demanded. Learned Jews flocked to Scotland, French Catholics in New Caledonia practiced their faith openly, and Muslims and Hindus were received fully in the Indies. However, the Kingdom remained officially Presbyterian with the King and Queen required to be members in good stand of the Kirk and raise ther children in the Covenant.
King James and Queen Briggitte had many children, as did his former step-mother and Malcolm. The King died at the age of 70 after he choked on a piece of meat he was eating. His Queen, his cousin, now the Earl of Glasgow, his former Step-mother, his two youngest half-siblings, and his children and grandchildren survived him. He was succeeded by his third son, Prince Duncan, Duke of Albany and Rothes.
Duncan IV
[9] Duncan IV, born Prince Duncan, Duke of Rothes was the third son of James VI and Queen Briggitte, he was preceded in birth order by his older brothers Prince James, Duke of Albany and Prince Malcolm, Duke of Rothesay (who died at age 7), and his eldest sister the Princess Catherine (later married to the King of Sweden). With little expectation of becoming King, Prince Duncan grew up in his father's splendid court alongside his younger siblings and many children of the Scottish peerage in relative ease, and while his education wasn't neglected, the Prince didn't put much focus on it, instead his interests were in sports like golf, horse racing, and of course the pastime of many court, gambling and drinking.
It was during his brother Prince James's marriage to Princess Louise of England and Ireland that James VI began to negotiate a marriage for his third, somewhat disappointing son. After a few months the King selected the Princess Caroline of Denmark for Prince Duncan, hoping that his new daughter-in-law could be a positive influence on his son.
While Prince Duncan accepted the marriage with good grace, he didn't seem to have much feeling for his plain-looking, religiously devout Danish bride, and continued with his wild ways, much to his father's anger.
This anger became more acute when Princess Louise died giving birth to a sickly girl (Princess Mary Louise), leaving Prince Duncan still close in the line of succession to the Scottish throne.
A mere six months after the death of Princess Louise, Prince James, Duke of Albany was poisoned by an unknown assailant, dying a week later. Thus his hedonistic brother Prince Duncan became the heir to the throne.
The death of his brother did cause Duncan to moderate some of his excesses, but he continued enjoying a series of mistresses, up until this point having only bothered to father a single child on his wife Princess Caroline. James VI was able to convince his son to return to his wife's bed to father an additional two more children to help bolster the succession, and try and distract him a bit.
Having gained the Duchy of Albany as heir, Prince Duncan made a tour of Scotland's colonies in North America in 1776, making him the first Scottish royal to visit the New World when his wife was pregnant with their third child. Duncan noticed a number of intellectual trends being imported from the English Colonies to the south, ideas of liberty, democracy, and freedom of faith. Things that Scotland already practiced to various degrees, but the English under their autocratic monarchy was the antithesis of.
Duncan noted his concerns to his father, but was ignored, which many historians considered to be one of James VI's greatest mistakes.
Upon the death of James VI, Duncan IV became king at age 38 at the dawn of a new century, one that would prove a bumpy ride for the monarchies of Europe. The reason was that Duncan's worries in the 1770s bore fruit with the American Revolution in the English Colonies against the tyrannical rule of King Henry XVII in 1802 to 1808, a bloody war that saw English expend massive amounts of resources, however the new republican government in the United States of America had many problems, however it's first President Hugh Jackson (the eldest of the infamous Jackson Brothers) had territorial ambitious and a desire to expand the new nation 'from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with only the American banner of Republic on the soil', setting the stage for future conflict between America and Scotland.
The American Revolution would not be contained in the New World, having lost to 'mere colonists' and angry at the decades of repression by the Tudor monarchy, much of Ireland and many in England rose against their King, detonating the War of Irish Independence and the First English Civil War in 1810, with revolutionary ideas (and violence) spreading throughout much of continental Europe.
Duncan IV was thankful that Scotland was spared the internal troubles, with only a few malcontents to deal with, the problem was the violence south of the border. Duncan IV did not like Henry XVII, however he could not condone the overthrow of an anointed King, and so Scotland sided with the Tudor Monarchy against the Revolutionaries, and while the Scots were able to aid the English Monarchists against the Revolutionaries in 1814, in Ireland the intervention failed at the Battle of Dublin (1815) that saw the Irish drive out the Anglo-Scottish Alliance and establish the Republic of Ireland.
The war was exhausting, and a mere year after the First English Civil War, Henry XVII was assassinated, plunging England into a messy regency under Henry XVIII and setting the stage for further war in the 19th century.
For Duncan IV, it was heartbreaking to see so much of Europe burning, and Scotland having been forced to fight to prevent a worse conflict at home. While Scotland celebrated it's victory in England, the failed Irish Intervention pushed Duncan IV to the breaking point.
After a night with his latest mistress, Anne Crawford (a beautiful commoner actress) the King was found to have died in his sleep at age 54 after a 16 year reign, much of which was dominated by war.
This is not possible. James and Briggitte married after James became King in 1763. If that was early 1763 and she immediately got pregnant and the death of James was even later in the year in 1801- the oldest that Duncan could be on his father's death would be 38....
This is not possible. James and Briggitte married after James became King in 1763. If that was early 1763 and she immediately got pregnant and the death of James was even later in the year in 1801- the oldest that Duncan could be on his father's death would be 38....
The heir of the King of Scotland is Duke of Rothesay not Albany (who often was given to the second son if it was free like York in England) so you need to switch that titles.
Earldom/Dukedom of Ross or Earldom of Moray also would work better as both title for Duncan
The heir of the King of Scotland is Duke of Rothesay not Albany (who often was given to the second son if it was free like York in England) so you need to switch that titles.
Earldom/Dukedom of Ross or Earldom of Moray also would work better as both title for Duncan
To be fair, @Shiva isn't the first one to make that mistake. It's been an ongoing thing in this list. I noticed it, but decided it didn't matter in the scheme of things. Especially not for Duncan, who was born the third son, not the intended heir. His father may just never have got round to investing him as Rothesay after his brothers died... Or felt he didn't deserve it, if it's like the Prince of Wales title is in England...
To be fair, @Shiva isn't the first one to make that mistake. It's been an ongoing thing in this list. I noticed it, but decided it didn't matter in the scheme of things. Especially not for Duncan, who was born the third son, not the intended heir. His father may just never have got round to investing him as Rothesay after his brothers died... Or felt he didn't deserve it, if it's like the Prince of Wales title is in England...
Duke of Cornwall goes to the oldest living son of a monarch who is also the Heir Apparent, Prince of Wales goes to the Heir Apparent.
So George III was Prince of Wales, but not Duke of Cornwall as he was the grandson of George II not the son.
In the case of Edward VII, George V was both Duke of Cornwall AND Prince of Wales given his elder brother Albert Victor died without issue and he was the eldest son of a monarch and their apparent when Edward became King in 1901.
Duke of Cornwall goes to the oldest living son of a monarch who is also the Heir Apparent, Prince of Wales goes to the Heir Apparent.
So George III was Prince of Wales, but not Duke of Cornwall as he was the grandson of George II not the son.
In the case of Edward VII, George V was both Duke of Cornwall AND Prince of Wales given his elder brother Albert Victor died without issue and he was the eldest son of a monarch and their apparent when Edward became King in 1901.
Rothesay work exactly in the same way of Cornwall (and George III held neither Dukedom) and the whole titulature of the Scottish heir was established before the POD
What if Brian Boru and Burchad survived the Battle of Clontarf?
Petty King of Munster
Brian "Bóruma" mac Cennétig (Ua Thairdhealbach) 978 - 1002
High Kings of Eire
Brian "Bóruma" mac Cennétig (Ua Briain) 1002 - 1014 [1] Murchad mac Briain (Ua Briain) 1014 - 1052 [2]
Brienn "Boruma" [1], the founder of the famed Uì Briainn dynasty, was High King of Ireland from 1002 A.D. until his death in late 1014 A.D. He started his reign by killing his brother, Mathgamain, and establishing himself as Overlord of Munster, gaining the nickname Boruma, meaning worthy of cattle tribute, because of his influence. He then proceeded in what would become a life-long campaign to bend the petty kings of Eire to his will. and defeated the Ui Neills the final time in 1002, where after he became High King of Ireland, permanently damaging the Neill's, which would be the beginning of a downward spiral. He would definitively kick out the Norse for good at the Battle of Clontarf and die sometime after, buried in Tara.
He clashed with High King Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, The King Of Meath and other Uì Neill's, ultimately winning and weakening the Southern branch. With Meath submitted, Briain turned to the Norse-Gael cities, having to establish his dominance multiple times before having the waters calmed. But even with this much power, he wasn't satisfied and challenged the Ui Neills again, this time defeating Mael and conquering Ulster, though the latter took more time to subjugate than the former, due to Ulster having geography that countered Brian's tactics, which relied on the contemporaneous use of land and naval forces.
After having defeated all of Ireland, Brian decided to donate to the powerful Monastery of Armagh, with which he sought to reform the role of The High King, to be more like the unitary kings of France and England, rather than an Honorary title. He would defeat the Gael vikingr at Clontarf and die months later kickstarting a new era in Irish history. He would be succeeded by his son, Murchad.
Murchad mac Briain [2] was the second High King of Ireland or Imperator Scottorum as the Latin texts say. He was responsible for the curbing of the many powers which surrounded him, the most fierce of these, his vassals. He would bring continental customs to Eire, such as feudalism and the Idea of a unitary state. For 20 years he, non-continuously, fought vassal after vassal, putting an end to the era of petty "kings".
One of the most enduring aspects of Murchad reign was his reliance on Monasteries to legitimize his reign and the centralization of the Irish church, almost parallel to the centralization of the state, which was met with hostility from the Ulster Ua Neill's. He would commission the writing of epics regarding Brian and during his reign, Brjan's Saga was written from the Norse-Gaels. He would marry _______, and be succeeded upon his death in 1014 A.D., by ____________.
The heir of the King of Scotland is Duke of Rothesay not Albany (who often was given to the second son if it was free like York in England) so you need to switch that titles.
Earldom/Dukedom of Ross or Earldom of Moray also would work better as both title for Duncan
To be fair, @Shiva isn't the first one to make that mistake. It's been an ongoing thing in this list. I noticed it, but decided it didn't matter in the scheme of things. Especially not for Duncan, who was born the third son, not the intended heir. His father may just never have got round to investing him as Rothesay after his brothers died... Or felt he didn't deserve it, if it's like the Prince of Wales title is in England...
Rothesay work exactly in the same way of Cornwall (and George III held neither Dukedom) and the whole titulature of the Scottish heir was established before the POD
1) James V made the title the Duke of Rothesay automatic to not just the firstborn son, but to the heir.
2) All uses of "Albany" in the previous posts are now retconned to "Rothesay." All previous usages of "Rothesay" as another title for a non-heir are retconned away.
3) It is not necessary for anyone to go back and edit old posts to fit this retcon, but the next poster in this line will fix...
1) James V made the title the Duke of Rothesay automatic to not just the firstborn son, but to the heir.
2) All uses of "Albany" in the previous posts are now retconned to "Rothesay." All previous usages of "Rothesay" as another title for a non-heir are retconned away.
3) It is not necessary for anyone to go back and edit old posts to fit this retcon, but the next poster in this line will fix...
What if James IV of Scotland (House of Stewart) had married Maria of Aragon instead of Margaret Tudor of England, daugher and sister to kings. Thus the crowns of Scotland and England would not eventually unite, nor Scotland and England eventually become the United Kingdom?
1488 - 1513: James IV (House of Stewart)
1513 - 1566: James V (House of Stewart) [1] 1566 - 1568: Alexander IV (House of Stewart) [2]
1568 - 1584: Charles I (House of Stewart) [3]
1584 - 1621:Matthew I (House of Stewart) [4]
1621 - 1690: Duncan III (House of Stewart) [5] 1690 - 1753: Alexander V (House of Graham) [6]
1753 - 1763: William II (House of Graham) [7]
1763 - 1801: James VI (House of Graham) [8]
1801 - 1817: Duncan IV (House of Graham) [9]
1817 - 1889: Malcolm IV (House of Graham) [10]
James V
[1] In the year 1500, King James IV of Scotland, House of Stewart, married the Infanta Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. She was 18 and he was 27. Therir firstborn, named after his father, was born in 1501. He was partially raised in the Higlands by Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Sherrif of Inverness, which he was made in 1500. Gordon was the righthand man of the King in securing the north and west and he was trusted with helping raise the Prince. James IV wanted to insure that his son was not seen as Spanish, but as a true Scotsman, and thus the sending him to Inerness every summer from the age of four until his majority. When the King died in 1513 in battle with England, Gordon became co-Regent with Queen Maria, and sole regent when shortly after that she married Manuel of Portugual.
James V, House of Stewart, always considered himself a Highlander and was beloved by the clans. In 1519 he ended the regency and married Gordon's granddaughter, Jean Campbell, keeping Gordon as an advisor until the older man's death five years later.
Scotland was constantly at war with England during the reign of James, both during the Regency of the Earl of Huntly and when James came of age. Border skirmishes and outright wars breaking out were common. Finally in 1543 the Scottish forces won a decisive victory against the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. Afterwards a peace was enacted between James and his young cousin, King Henry IX, of England. The borders that were negotiated remain the borders between the two British kingdoms until this day. (Yep, Mary I Tudor is instead male and succeeds his father sooner.)
The final battle between England and Scotland was noteworthy in that England was securely Catholic with King Henry IX continuing his father's role as "Defender of the Faith," that is the Catholic Faith, while Scotland was more and more becoming Presbyterian and James himself 'reformed' in 1542 becoming Presbyterian. Quickly after that the entire country converted. James identified with the Highlander Presbyterians over the lowland Catholics. The battle was an attempt by England to force Scotland to at least remain Catholic in the lowlands. Many of those lowlander Catholics fled to England after the victory of Solway Moss and the realization that Scotland was not going to give up the Reformation.
James died in his sleep at the age of 65 after complaining of headaches the night before He was survived by his wife, his children, and a country secure in its Independence, its Presbtyerianism, and its Gaelic heritage.
Alexander IV
[2] James would be succeeded by his second son Alexander, after the death of the Duke of Rothesay one year earlier. Rothesay and his wife, Barbara of Hesse, would only have three daughters before James's death: Anna, Mary, and Jean. Many feared war would break out over the princesses rights to the succession, particularly given the unpopularity of Alexander and his wife, the young Catherine Vasa.
Catherine was an almost fanatic devotee to Lutheranism and attempted to convert the Scottish court to the faith. Many reformers saw the faith as too Catholic in its traditions and saw Catherine as ruining all their hard work. However, the Queen was popular among the Catholic south, who saw Lutheranism as more tolerable. Alexander himself had the opposite problem, being accused of "having only one concern: his own enrichment". His ascension was bemoaned by the nobility, who believed his nature was antithetical to Kingship. The King's constant covert meetings with ambassadors "taking bribes and other such things".
The birth of a daughter, called Catherine for her mother, became the last straw. There were rumors that King Alexander planned on selling his young nieces to the highest bidders, which was met with revulsion due to their ages, given the eldest only recently turning 7 at the time. These rumors caught the ears of Robert McDonald, a young courtier of the Dowager Duchess of Rothesay. Fearing for his beloved mistress and her daughters, he took up vigilante justice. While the King was out riding with one of his many foreign friends, looking for new streams of private revenue, stopped at Cadzow Castle. McDonald covertly followed him in and, when the King went off alone for some heir, stabbed the King, reportedly screaming "Die you bastard". The news of McDonald's actions shocked the court, not least his former mistress, who called it "a ghastly thing". The short reign of King Alexander IV would be followed by that of his uncle, Charles.
Charles when he converted
[3] If his older brother was his father's son, raised to be a True Scotsman, by fostering him to the north, Charles was his mother's son, sharing the same name as his more illustrious cousin, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, the House of Hapsburg, and as Charles I was the King of Spain. Charles did not spend time in the Highlands or among the north. When most of Scotland became Presbyterian, including his brother the king, Charles remained Catholic. However, after the Battle of Solway Moss and the clear reality that from this point on Scotland and Presbyterianism were from now on one and the same, Charles had three options. He could, like so many of his wife's relatives from the south, decamp to England, or perhaps to the Continent and the court of his cousin. He coud remain in Scotland and convert to remain a part of the Court and a True Scotsman. Finally he could choose to reject the new conditions of the kingdom, unite the southern aristocracy who were Catholic, and go to war with his brother.
Charles became Presbyterian. Like many of the other southern nobility, Charle's converion was not a deep one, but his children were still young as he'd married late in life in his early 30s, the oldest, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, was only ten at this point. They were raised in the new Presbyterian faith and they were sincere by adulthood.
By the time of his nephew's assassination, Charles was 61, had been officially Presbyterian for over two decades, and had children and grandchildren all in this faith.
Some of the still leaning towards Catholicism in their hearts among the souther nobility, hoped that Charles would on taking the throne avenge the death of his nephew, and perhaps take up the 'compromise' of becoming Lutheran- that is Protestant in Theology but Catholic in style, especially Bishops instead of elected councils of Elders (Presbyters) governing the church, a parallel to Parliament having shared governing responsibiity with the monarch.
But Charles knew that would lead to civil war and eventually intervention by Catholic England, which would easily destroy Scotland's independence if they had allies.
So Charles remained Presbyterian, demanded that Queen Catherine convert and raise Princesess Catherine within the Covenant, and did not include the Dowager Duchess nor her daughters in the arrests that eventually led to the trial and execution of McDonald for regicide.
Charles unified Scotland after the fears of civil war and then turned its attention to overseas. He found common cause with France, despite their religious differences, in that both were threatened by the alliance between Catholic England and the Catholic Hapsburgs. This gave Scotland the breathing room to explore trade with the Indies of the Far East and the Indies of the Carribean. He also hired Jacques Cartier to explore North America for Scotland and conceived of a Scottish Colony somewhere in North America, which didn't happen until after he'd died and his heir, his grandson, Prince Matthew, Duke of Albany, and as heir, the Duke of Rothesay, succeeded him.
Charles died at the ripe age of 77, still a robust man, when he was riding his horse and it tripped. He fell and broke his leg. While recovering it became infected and he did from the infection.
Matthew I in his old age.
[4] Matthew I was born the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, Duke of Rothesay, and his wife, Princess Hedwig of Anhalt, being 'the spare' to his brother Prince Charles, Prince Matthew was educated for the possibility of one day wearing the crown, in addition to being tutored in the faith of the Scottish Kirk along side his older brother and their younger siblings.
As the Prince became older he fell in with the clique of popular young noblemen that flocked around Prince Charles, this group of young men became notorious all throughout Scotland for their epic drinking binges, wild hunting parties, and an ever changing cast of young, beautiful women. The King was dismissive of complaints from the authorities about his grandsons behavior, seeing it as part of their growing up with their peers.
The death of Charles and Matthew's father, Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, and as heir, the Duke of Rothesay, in one of the last outbreaks of the Sweating Sickness bumped Matthew up in the succession, and forced the King to consider the marriages of his grandchildren.
A prestigious continental match was made for Prince Charles, for Matthew his first wife was chosen from the Scottish nobility, Barbara Hamilton, a daughter of the prestigious Hamilton family, with whom he had two children before Barbara died in a miscarriage with what would have been their third child.
King Charles began to consider a new marriage for his second grandson when another tragedy struck the House of Stewart with the unexpected death of Prince Charles, Duke of Albany, and as heir, the Duke of Rothesay, when he fell out of a tower window while drunk, crashing onto the ground below.
Prince Matthew was then made Duke of Albany and as the heir to the Scottish throne, the Duke of Rothesay, and his second marriage was not with a Scottish lady but with a German Princess, Anna Magdalene of Brandenburg with whom Matthew would have three children.
Prince Matthew's partying ways slowed down considerably after the death of his first wife, and ended by the birth of his third child with Anna Magdalene, it was his second wife who encouraged his maturity, even encouraging regular church attendance, which earned the Prince (and his wife) the love of the ministers in the Church of Scotland.
The 'long-wait' for the throne ended with the death of King Charles and the rise of King Matthew I to the throne.
As the continent continued to convulse with the growing number of Protestant churches, internal schisms, Catholic Reformation, war and violence bloomed like flowers in spring. Scotland being relatively peaceful became a haven for various Calvinist and Presbyterian preachers.
Problems for Scotland began when members of other groups within Protestantism found their way to Scotland, the various branches of Lutheranism, and more radical groups such as the Anabaptists and Nontrinitarian Christianity, these groups were not officially welcomed into the Kingdom but never the less they did gain small followings, particularly on the borderlands with England, which did allow these groups to slip between the border to preach in England and flee to the 'relative' safety of Scotland.
This did anger the English authorities, however King Matthew was able to plead ignorance of the matter to King Henry XI of England, who also had to deal with rebellion in Ireland due to England's 'Plantations' in Ireland. Keeping England distracted with internal problems would prove to be King Matthew I's main policy of dealing with the English Kingdom.
King Matthew I also served as a patron of literature and the arts in Scotland, seeing the rise of the 'Scottish Renaissance' that would outlast Matthew's reign, in addition to this King Matthew established a number of schools and two universities to promote education amongst the nobility and merchant classes.
The King also considered a colonial project in the New World, however the costs at the time were seen as too high and Scotland's low population meant that there were a lack of volunteers to risk it all in a strange new land.
However when Queen Anna Magdalene died at age 53 in 1619, it broke the King's heart, the remaining few years of his reign were spent in a gloomy court in perpetual mourning until King Matthew I was found to have passed in his sleep at age 58 in 1621, passing the crown to his son, James.
Duncan III
[5] Duncan Charles Stewart was born May 29, 1588, the eight child of then Prince Matthew, the sixth with his second wife, Anna Magdalene, and his third son and second son to survive to adulthood. He was 32 when he took the throne, a vibrant man and soldier, who'd fought in the wars of Religion on the Continent, alongside his mother's relatives, fighting for the Protestants of Brandenburg against the Holy Roman Empire and Poland. (OOC: the War known as the Thirty Years War in OTL is the Forty Years War in TTL, starting in 1609 instead of 1618. /OOC) His older brother, Prince Robert James Stewart died in 1620 only months before his father, and Prince Duncan became the heir and the Duke of Rothesay and recalled from the wars on the Continent.
Prince Robert was Duncan's senior by 7 years, the child that had led to their father settling down into a devout life. Robert had continued in that vein, becoming a devout man of art, literature, and science. He married his mother's cousin's daughter, Katrina of Brandenburg and had many children, but only daughters who survived past infancy. Robert never was a robust man, he was a thin, frail man, who started balding in his early twenties and often would be bedridden for a week or more with an illness. Finally one of those illnesses took him when he was not yet 40 years old.
Prince Duncan, on the other hand, was a robust man, who as a child had loved the hunt, the Highlands, where the family had kept the Inverness Castle as a second home in the north, and revered his ancestors, Charles I and James V. Against his father's wishes, he'd gone to the continent to soldier as soon as the Wars of Religion began in the Forty Years War in 1609. There the little bit of German he'd learned from his mother became a second tongue for him. He was reknown for his courage and prowess in battle.
It was a blow to him to have to return to Scotland while the war raged on. He not only grieved his older brother, whom he loved dearly, but also having to cease to be a soldier. He'd never married or even courted a woman. Now a friendship over the death of Robert led him and Katrina to become quite close. After the death of King Matthew, it was clear the wisest thing for Dunan was to marry the Princess. They did marry in 1622 and he became the stepfather of his nieces. However, he and Katrina were never able to conceive a child. It was clear they loved each other and neither one was ever unfaithful.
Duncan remained robust throughout his life, an outdoors king. His long life amazed his contemporaries, living to the age of 102, being on the throne for yearly 70 years. By then his Queen, Katrina, and step daughters had all died, even some of his step-grandchildren who'd survived childhood had also died. It was said Duncan at age 100 resembled another man in his 80s; he still had all his mental facilities, all his teeth, a full head of hair, good eye sight and hearing, and stood strong and tall. He only declined in his last year of life.
Duncan pursued colonies in North America, estabishing New Albion in the lands south of the St. Lawrence River Gulf (New Brunswich and Nova Scotia in OTL). He also established a colony in the East Indies in Timor, with the Dutch taking the rest.
Scotland remained a devout land steeped in Presbyterianism, but this faith was one very open to the developing Science and drew men of learning in the new leaning from all over Europe to Scotland, where a Royal Academy was developed by Duncan and the Universities of Edinburgh and of Glasgow became among the most prestigious centers of learning in the world.
Even though it was expected when the King's health began to turn as he entered his second century, it was still difficult for the kingdom to lose their long reigning king. He was suceeded by his great step-grandson, Prince Charles.
Alexander V
[6] Affectionately known as Sandy by close family and friends, from a childhood nickname due to his older brothers, being unable to say his name properly at a young age as the third son of the Prince James, Duke of Ross (1649–1688), and his wife Maria Katharina of Denmark and Norway, a daughter of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Sweden.
Prince James was the son of Elizabeth, (eldest daughter of Prince Robert and Queen Katrina) and her husband, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, bringing the mighty clan Graham, into the royal family.
Alexander was born in Mugdock Castle on 11 May 1682 and he was named the Earl of Dundee. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; the King's oldest niece and heir, Princess Elizabeth, Alexander's father and his elder brothers Duncan and Robert were ahead of him in the succession. However, Princess Elizabeth died of pneumonia on 29 December 1682.
On 11 February 1684, his father, Prince Robert, was stricken with measles and died, followed on 15 February by his second brother.
On 19 February, it was found that both Alexander and his remaining older brother, Duncan, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding.
By the morning of the 20th, Prince Duncan died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. Fearing for her last child, Princess Maria, would not allow the doctors to bleed Alexander any further, pleading that if God was to take him from her, he would do so peacefully; he was very ill but survived.
When Duncan III died, Alexander, at the age of eight, inherited the throne and would see his mother rule as regent along with his father’s cousin, Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow.
Following his age of majority in 1698, Alexander became known as the Enlightenment King.
He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment, abolishing the act in 1725, he would set about some of the greatest minds in Scotland to bring about an improved and reformed government.
His marriage in 1702 to Henriette Albertine, Princess of Nassau-Dietz, (1686-1754) was seen as an unusual choice to ally with, but over time, the alliance between the Dutch Republic and Scotland, would be financially and militarily beneficial to both nations, with their joint naval knowledge, matching those of England, France and Spain.
He modernized the Scottish bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.
He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble status to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Alexander encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Scotland and their colonies.
He supported arts and philosophers, he favored as well as allowing complete freedom of the press and literature.
Most modern biographers agree that Alexander, was primarily homosexual, and that his sexual orientation was central to his life and character, although he did his duty producing a male heir.
Many modern historian, including Dean of Edinburgh University, Nicola Sturgeon, has called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".
As well as this, on his tomb is inscribed with this quote, “With the massive shoes left to him by his great-grandfather, a lesser man would have tripped and stumbled, whereas Alexander, proudly picked them up and carried on the legacy.”
William II
[7] William II was the only son of Alexander V, named after William the Lion due to his birth cries sounding like a lion's roar, William II would ultimately prove a far cry from the legendary warrior-king of old.
The then Prince was raised surrounded by an army of nannies, courtiers, his mother, and two sisters the Princesses Anne and Eleanor. While many expected the royal children to emerge hopelessly spoiled, their mother the Queen Henriette Albertine proved a formidable figure in their lives, holding her children to a strict standard of behavior and in their education. At times members of the court found the Queen too harsh, however the King usually sided with his wife, and so the royal children emerged high educated, but social awkward with all but each other.
As the future King became older, he began to rebel at his mother's controls, attaching himself to a group of young noblemen that came to be called 'the Young Bucks', like many such groups of young men before them, they became known for their wild ways, which led to the fighting between the Queen and the Prince to become worse and worse until the King was forced to intervene by separating the pair the only way he could and still save face.
The King hurriedly arranged a marriage for his son at the age of 16 to an English noblewoman, Lady Mary Catherine Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, this allowed the King to grant his son the rights to his own household away from court, and away from his mother.
The forced seperation of Prince William from his sisters however would leave William forever bitter at both his parents, however his first marraige to Mary Catherine would prove a happy one, but would only produce a single child.
It was in his twenties that Prince William was able to return to court, however his sisters has been married off, leaving the Prince with few true allies. This narrowness in his social circle grew more pronounced when the Prince's first wife, Mary Catherine Howard died of pnemonia.
Once again the King hurriedly arranged a new marriage for his son, this time out of fear of an uncertain succession since so few members of the House of Graham remained. William's second wife was a continental match, the Princess Eleonora Maria of Sardinia, one of the daughter of the King of Sardinia. The match was controversial due to Eleonora Maria being Roman Catholic, however it went forward and the marriage would prove more fruitful than William's first, seeing the birth of four children in quick succession, though two died in infancy.
Tragedy nearly struck when Prince William became deathly ill with smallpox in his thirties, while he did survive (albeit heavily scared), William's health never fully recovered.
Upon the death of Alexander V, sickly William II took the Scottish throne at age 41. Within a year the Queen Eleonora Maria died in a riding accident, the King initially decided to remain single for the remainder of his life, however a number of advisors convinced him that having more heirs would be to Scotland's benefit.
So the King got to choose his own wife, this time selecting Princess Christine Augusta of Prussia, a woman with a surprisingly dynamic personality and a female painter in an era when it was rare for women to do so. This marriage would see the birth of two more children, and Queen Christine Augusta would become popular with the Scottish commoners, though the nobility was more divided in it's views on King William II's third wife.
Despite his poor health, William II would prove an effective administrator, and was more involved in his children's lives than his father was, and became known for being a loving, doting father to all of his children.
The sickly King's health gave out on him in 1763, having spent the unusually warm autumn day out and about enjoying his gardens, reading in the shade of his favorite tree, and spending his evening enjoying a dinner with the royal family and their friends. William II's successor was his first born child, James.
James VI
[8] James Stewart Graham, was the only child of his father's first marriage to Lady Mary Catherine Howard, born in 1731, when Prince William was only 19 and the Princess was only 17. His parents were married when they were young and she was only 14. However, for the first two years of their marriage, the marriage was only in name only, due to the youth of both. After the wedding the new Princess returned to her own family in Arundel Castle in Sussex, to live with her father, Thomas, the 8th Duke of Norfolk, her mother, Catherine nee Graham, a granddaughter of Malcolm, Earl of Glasgow, her older brother, Henry, her father's heir (he'd become the 9th Duke in 1732,) and her younger sister, Sophia, who was 13. On the Princess's 16th birthday she joined her husband and their marriage was finally consummated. Prince James was only 9 months old when his mother died of pneumonia. The small family had only returned to the Court a few months previously.
Quickly the baby Prince's maternal aunt, Sophia, now 18, took the child to raise him. She had married her own distant cousin, Angus Graham, the son of the current Earl of Glasgow, also named Malcom like his grandfather, who'd been regent during King Alexander's childhood. Sophia and Angus lived with William at the Court and fostered the baby for him. Later when his father married a second time, Sophia and Angus had the primary responsibility in raising Prince James.
His two half siblings by his father's second marriage who survived infancy were both sisters, Princess Louisa Maria and Princess Theresa Maria, born in 1737 and 1743. The Prince and these half-sisters were never close due to Princess Eleonora Maria severely disliking the Lady Sophia Graham and her jealously of Prince James as the heir. She had hoped that her own third child, Robert, born in 1740, would be made the heir, but of course Robert died before his first birthday. Her first child, also a girl, Regina Maria, was born in 1736 and lived to be two, dying in 1738. On the Duke of Rothesay's marriage in 1736, Sophia and her husband returned to Glasow, as Angus now became the Earl upon his father's death. Angus and Sophia convinced the Duke that Prince James was not really safe at court and so he was raised by them in Glasgow.
James never felt close to his father, especially after the illness of his father in 1742, the Duke no longer was well enough to visit the boy in Glasgow, and his aunt and uncle did not want him visiting Edinburgh for extended stays. The Prince was 21 when his father became King and he became the Duke of Rothesay. When the new Queen died a year later, James finally moved into quarters in court, along with his cousin, the Earl of Glasgow's heir, also named Malcolm, who was only a year younger than James and like a brother to him.
To James and Malcolm, James newest half siblings were more like nieces and nephews. James especially took a liking to his youngest sibling, Prince William, affectionally known as Billy, born in 1758. (Billy's older sister, Princess Ilse, was born in 1756.) The two older princesses, Louisa Maria and Theresa Maria, were 17 and 11, when their mother died. Louisia Maria had already been married to the Count of Savoy and her younger sister joined her there. (At this point their secret Catholicism became evident. Later Therea Maria would take orders as a Poor Claire.)
As Duke of Rothesay, James represented his sickly father to the kingdom, traveling throughout it, always accompanied by his cousin, Malcolm. It was while visiting Ulster, which had been part of the Scottish Kingdom since the days of Duncan III, that he met the eldest daughter of Andrew MacMurray, the Earl of Belfast, Briggitte. It was a whirlwind romance. James intended on marrying the girl and was returning to Court to speak to his father when the King died.
The Dowage Queen, Christina Augusta, was quite a bit younger than her late husband, in fact she was younger than her step-son! She'd been born in 1733, having married the King at the age of 21. She'd been a dutiful wife, popular with the people, a good mother, and a good friend to James and Malcolm, as well as Malcolm's parents. But the marriage was loveless and the King had only visited her bed a few time, but enough to sire her two children. A secret romance had grown between the Queen and Macolm, but it had remained chaste due to their mutual devotion not only to the King, but to the morals of their faith.
Two marriage occured in 1763 after the coronation of King James. First was his marriage to Lady Briggitte of Belfast. Some months later, after an appropriate time of morning, Lord Malcolm and Christina Augusta also married. Both marriages were love matches and were long, fruitful, good matches.
Queen Briggitte
It was during the reign of King James that Scotland joined the Industrial Revolution. Also the Scottish Colonies in both North America and the East Indies expanded. Besides New Albion, New Caledonia was established alongside the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River up to Lake Champlain, taking these lands from France in the brief War of 1769. In the Indies, Scotland established a colony on the north coast of Austraila south of Timor, known as Kingsland.
Scotland continued to be a land of learning and science, attracting the best minds of the world to study there. In 1770, the King proclaimed the Edict of Toleration, allowing all Scottish citizens in both Scotland, Ulster, the North American Colonies, and the Indies, to practice whatever faith their conscience demanded. Learned Jews flocked to Scotland, French Catholics in New Caledonia practiced their faith openly, and Muslims and Hindus were received fully in the Indies. However, the Kingdom remained officially Presbyterian with the King and Queen required to be members in good stand of the Kirk and raise ther children in the Covenant.
King James and Queen Briggitte had many children, as did his former step-mother and Malcolm. The King died at the age of 70 after he choked on a piece of meat he was eating. His Queen, his cousin, now the Earl of Glasgow, his former Step-mother, his two youngest half-siblings, and his children and grandchildren survived him. He was succeeded by his third son, Prince Duncan, Duke of Rothesay.
Duncan IV
[9] Duncan IV, born Prince Duncan, Duke of Rothes was the third son of James VI and Queen Briggitte, he was preceded in birth order by his older brothers Prince James, Duke of Rothesay and Prince Malcolm, Duke of Aberdeen (who died at age 7), and his eldest sister the Princess Catherine (later married to the King of Sweden). With little expectation of becoming King, Prince Duncan grew up in his father's splendid court alongside his younger siblings and many children of the Scottish peerage in relative ease, and while his education wasn't neglected, the Prince didn't put much focus on it, instead his interests were in sports like golf, horse racing, and of course the pastime of many court, gambling and drinking.
It was during his brother Prince James's marriage to Princess Louise of England and Ireland that James VI began to negotiate a marriage for his third, somewhat disappointing son. After a few months the King selected the Princess Caroline of Denmark for Prince Duncan, hoping that his new daughter-in-law could be a positive influence on his son.
While Prince Duncan accepted the marriage with good grace, he didn't seem to have much feeling for his plain-looking, religiously devout Danish bride, and continued with his wild ways, much to his father's anger.
This anger became more acute when Princess Louise died giving birth to a sickly girl (Princess Mary Louise), leaving Prince Duncan still close in the line of succession to the Scottish throne.
A mere six months after the death of Princess Louise, Prince James, Duke of Rothesay was poisoned by an unknown assailant, dying a week later. Thus his hedonistic brother Prince Duncan became the heir to the throne.
The death of his brother did cause Duncan to moderate some of his excesses, but he continued enjoying a series of mistresses, up until this point having only bothered to father a single child on his wife Princess Caroline. James VI was able to convince his son to return to his wife's bed to father an additional two more children to help bolster the succession, and try and distract him a bit.
Having gained the Duchy of Rothesay as heir, Prince Duncan made a tour of Scotland's colonies in North America in 1787, making him the first Scottish royal to visit the New World when his wife was pregnant with their third child. Duncan noticed a number of intellectual trends being imported from the English Colonies to the south, ideas of liberty, democracy, and freedom of faith. Things that Scotland already practiced to various degrees, but the English under their autocratic monarchy was the antithesis of.
Duncan noted his concerns to his father, but was ignored, which many historians considered to be one of James VI's greatest mistakes.
Upon the death of James VI, Duncan IV became king at age 38 at the dawn of a new century, one that would prove a bumpy ride for the monarchies of Europe. The reason was that Duncan's worries in the 1780s bore fruit with the American Revolution in the English Colonies against the tyrannical rule of King Henry XVII in 1802 to 1808, a bloody war that saw English expend massive amounts of resources, however the new republican government in the United States of America had many problems, however it's first President Hugh Jackson (the eldest of the infamous Jackson Brothers) had territorial ambitious and a desire to expand the new nation 'from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with only the American banner of Republic on the soil', setting the stage for future conflict between America and Scotland.
The American Revolution would not be contained in the New World, having lost to 'mere colonists' and angry at the decades of repression by the Tudor monarchy, much of Ireland and many in England rose against their King, detonating the War of Irish Independence and the First English Civil War in 1810, with revolutionary ideas (and violence) spreading throughout much of continental Europe.
Duncan IV was thankful that Scotland was spared the internal troubles, with only a few malcontents to deal with, the problem was the violence south of the border. Duncan IV did not like Henry XVII, however he could not condone the overthrow of an anointed King, and so Scotland sided with the Tudor Monarchy against the Revolutionaries, and while the Scots were able to aid the English Monarchists against the Revolutionaries in 1814, in Ireland the intervention failed at the Battle of Dublin (1815) that saw the Irish drive out the Anglo-Scottish Alliance and establish the Republic of Ireland.
The war was exhausting, and a mere year after the First English Civil War, Henry XVII was assassinated, plunging England into a messy regency under Henry XVIII and setting the stage for further war in the 19th century.
For Duncan IV, it was heartbreaking to see so much of Europe burning, and Scotland having been forced to fight to prevent a worse conflict at home. While Scotland celebrated it's victory in England, the failed Irish Intervention pushed Duncan IV to the breaking point.
After a night with his latest mistress, Anne Crawford (a beautiful commoner actress) the King was found to have died in his sleep at age 54 after a 16 year reign, much of which was dominated by war.
Duncan IV was succeeded by his grandson, Malcolm, the Duke of Albany.
Malcolm IV
[10] Duncan IV's sickly niece, Princess Mary Louise, had died not much longer after her father's death. When Duncan and his wife had a child, also a daughter, they were deeply concerned as she was sickly also. This was part of the reason that Duncan's father was so adamant he have more children.
Thus it was ironic that of all the grandchildren of James VI, it was this firstborn girl who surived to adulthood. She was named Briggitte, in honor of her grandmother. She was born in 1782. Her siblings were Prince James (1785-1793), who died of a broken neck he got while climbing on the walls of the Inverness Castle when the Prince's famiy was visiting there, and Princess Caroline (February 2, 1788- February 6, 1788) who died in infancy.
Princess Briggitte didn't remain sickly long. By her first birthday she was fully healthy. By the time she was ready to start learning her letters, she was beyond healthy, she was a robust child and what later came to be called a Tomboy. She wanted to learn how to ride like a man, use a sword, and wear trousers. But as a young lady she was willing to act ladylike, wear the dresses, wigs, makeup and jewelry that befit a princess.
On her 16th birthday she wed her own cousin by some degrees, James Graham, the heir to the current Duke of Glasgow, a descendent of Queen Christina. James had always been friends with the Princess due to their close family connections and as children they had played together, rode together, and sparred together. He was a year her senior and deeply in love with her. The Princess within a year became pregnant and their son, named after not only the kings, but the husband of Queen Christina, was Malcolm Graham, born on Christmas Day 1799.
It was known from his birth that Prince Malcolm would become King. His great grandfather granted him the title that had been part of the crown for generations, and he became the Duke of Albany.
Upon the death of King James, Malcolm's grandfather, King Duncan, declared that from this point on the first born child, whatever their gender, would be the heir of the King and that Princess Briggitte was now the Duchess of Rothesay, and her husband was the Earl of Rothesay. Upon her acension to the throne he would retain that title and also gain the title of Prince. Of course one day he would also be the Duke of Glasgow. Duncan also declared that the Duchy of Glasgow would not pass to Prince Malcolm, but to the next born son of Briggitte and James, which in due course of times turned out to be Prince Alexander, born in 1803.
By 1812, the Princess and the Earl had three more children, all surviving infancy. Princess Eloise, born in 1805, Prince William, born in 1809, and Princess Adelaine, born in 1811. It was shortly after Adelaine's birth that the Princess and the Earl went horseback riding. Several in the court thought it was too early after giving birth, but the Princess assured them she was healed.
She was healed. But that didn't save her from the horse throwing her when it was scared by a skunk. She was impaled on a broken branch and died almost immediately, only enough time for the Earl to get to her side and for her to say the mysterious words, "Seven ravens destroy the crown." As soon as this was known, many believed she was prophesying and started specualting on the meaning of her last words.
Prince Malcolm, the Duke of Albany, now became the Duke of Rothesay and the heir to the throne. He was only 12 years old. He was the true son of his parents, an outdoorsman like his ancestors, and a lover of everything Scottish and Scotland. But Malcolm had a new passion that was not the usual passion of a Scot Royal- he loved the sea and sailing. As a small boy that only meant small boats on the lochs that were oared. By the time he was 10 he was sailing small boats on the lochs. As a teenager, the young man insisted he be able to go to sea and be a member of the Scottish Navy- not staying home in Edinburgh waiting to take the crown some decades in the future, but to serve the Kingdom then.
It was common for aristocratic boys who wished to serve in the Navy to start at age 14 serving as the Captain's Cabin Boy. This was what Malcolm insisted on, but his grandfather the King denied this to him. Instead the boy was allowed to sail as a guest on limited voyages on a ship but only a few hours out into the North Sea and then back. However, once at sea, Malcolm insisted by his royal privilege that he be allowed to work as a member of the crew.
Malcolm over time convinced his grandfather to let him take a commission when he was 18. His father, the Earl, and now the current Duke of Glasgow, was an advocate for his son on this and it is said whispered in the King's ears that with the current rules of succession, that there were four more heirs besides Malcolm. It was known the Earl had spoken to the King on this, but unknown what he said. Speculation arose that he said that the seven ravens his wife spoke about were the King, the late Duchess of Rothesay herself, who was alive when she said the prophesy, and the five children- but that by letting the current Duke of Rothesay go to sea he became a gull instead of a raven, and the prophesy was undone. In reality Earl James said nothing of the sort.
Prince Malcolm did not take his commission, for by the age of 18 he was King. For a little less than a year there was a regency and the Duke of Glasgow, James Graham, the Earl of Rothesay, was the regent until the King's 18th birthday. But he never gave up on the sea. He made his priority as King be that the Scottish Navy was the biggest, best, and pre-eminent navy of the world. Every new ship commissioned was first captained by him on it's maiden voyage. A few leagues out to sea, he would turn over command and depart in a smaller boat back to shore.
Although the state of England and the rest of Europe, in war and chaos, was a very big disappointment to his predecessor, the new King saw it as an opportunity. England was caught up in internal problems and had just lost Ireland (But not Ulster, which had never been English, but Scottish.) England's American colonies had gained independence except for it's Canadian province further up the St. Lawrence Seaway, Ontario. Quebec, the French colony north of the St. Lawrence Seaway as well as New Caledonia and New Albion were all targets of American expansionism- but it was Ontario and the Spanish territories of Florida and Louisiana that were the first goals- as Quebec was protected by the Scottish colonies to its south and they were strong.
Scottish explorers commanded by Captain Horace McPherson in the 18th Century under King James and then in the early 19th under King Duncan had sailed up the Pacific Coast of North America, exploring the lands between Spanish California and Russian Alaska, claiming them for Scotland and giving them the name Briggittania, which they also named the great river there (OTL Columbia R). McPherson had been the one who'd worked with the King when he was a prince to sail on small voyages. King Malcolm now made McPherson the Admiral of the Pacific and the South Seas and sent him back to further explore Briggittania, establish permanent settlements on the Briggittania River and in the Prince William Sound (OTL Puget Sound). But also to explore the vast Pacific and the continent that Kingsland was on, and any lands surrounding it.
That continent had gained the name Antipodes, but it was unexplored beyond the north coast where Kingsland was. During this long voyage from 1819 to 1827, Admiral McPherson discovered the Sandwich Islands, where he established a treaty of friendship between the two Kingdoms, many of the South Seas Island, The New Skye Islands (OTL New Zealand), and explored the West Coast and South Coast of Antipodes- estabishing the settlements of Malcolmville (OTL Sydney), Duncan (OTL Melbourne), and Adelaine (OTL Adelaide.)
In Briggittania, McPherson established on Prince Alexander Island (OTL Vancouver Island) the settlement of Eloise (OTL Victoria), in Prince William Sound the settlement of Queen Christina Town (OTL Seattle), and further up the inland waters the settlement of Sophia Town on the river named Sophia River (OTL Vancouver, B.C. & the Fraser River.)
This establishment of the Scottish Colony on the west coast of North America was only part of Malcolm's plan. The other part was to unite the northern colonies into one Scottish realm of Canada to counter the American attempt to domiate the continent. While McPherson was rounding the Horn, Malcolm was convincing France and England that their colonies in North America were more trouble than they were worth. Scotland had become rich from the spice trade using the East Indies colony of Timor and Kingsland as the base for this. England and France had wanted to get into this too, but their problems early in the 19th Century interferred in this and so the Dutch and the Scots continued to dominate it. Now Malcolm offered large sums to both kingdoms for their North American colonies with promise that in each colony their language and culture would be preserved and not replaced with Scots or Gaelic and that a special relationship would be established with their original mother countries- anyone from France who wanted to immigrate to Quebec or to do busines in Quebec was welcome and the same with England and Ontario.
Malcolm was not the only one buying colonies. The United States also did this with Spain, who was still in possession of its North American Colonies but was dealing with revolution and rebellion in Central America and South America. Spain was happy to sell Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and California to the United States.
By 1823 this was complete on both sides and the stage was set for Scottish-American War. On one side were Scotland, France, England, the Scottish Colonies of New Albion, New Caledonia, Quebec, Ontario, and Briggittania, with the neutral Dutch giving logistics and trade support. On the other side was the United States of America, which now stretched to the Pacific, Spain, and Ireland, which saw this as a chance to take Ulster. There was also conflict in the East Indies as Scotland sought to take the Philipines away from Spain.
It was a brutal and harsh war. But there was little doubt who would win- as the Scottish Navy was too strong, surrounding the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, imposing an embargo, and destroying the economy of the South of the USA that depended on the cotton trade. The US was dominated by the North which desired Industrializatin and was driven by this vision of dominating the entire continent, thus pushing out the Scots, English, and French. The result was the US side fell apart into a civil war. This led the US to seek peace as quickly as possible.
In the Treaty of 1826 the United States, while still fighting its own rebels, negotiated the borders with Scottish North America by dividing the yet settled Louisiana at the 42nd Latitude, which already had been negotiated as the northern border of California, New Mexico, and the furthest western part of Texas. This woud run to the Mississippi River, which would be the border up until its headwaters. From there the border would be a straight line to the extreme southwest corner of Lake Superior. The previous borders in the east would continue.
Standing alone, Spain was no match for Scotland and sued for peace, yielding the Philipines and several western northern Pacific island to Scotland. Engand and France, as junior partners, took advantage of this too. France took Indochina and England took islands in the Gulf of Canton.
Ireland fought to a standstill. Malcolm made peace with a bold idea. All the northern counties on the island of Ireland would hold plebiscites and decide themselves which nation they wanted to be part of, the Scottish Kingdom with voting rights to send members to Parliament in Edinburgh, or the Irish Republic. Both nations would honor the decision of the people from then and forever. Also the people could move from one to the other, instantly having full citizenship where they lived.
It was no surprise to the Scots that all of Ulster chose to be part of the Scottish Kingdom, although it was a bit of a shock to many in the Republic. Humiliated by this result, the Republic Army had to retreat from the territory they'd taken in parts of Ulster before the stalemate.
Scotland had won on all fronts.
Malcolm was only 26 and was the king of a robust world power. But he was still single. It was time for him to marry. He had the choice of a thousand princesses from across the world. He spent a year meeting and spending time with various princesses sent to Edinburgh for his consideration. She wasn't the most political choice, that would have been an English or French princess, or even the rising powers of Prussia or Russia. Instead he chose a Dutch princess of the House of Orange, a nation that was seeing its power as the dominate spice trading nation being surplanted by Scotland itself. Sabrina Vander Mall was a minor princess in the House of Orange, the third daughter of the fifth daughter of the Prince of Orange. If she had not married royalty her own children would no longer have been considered royalty. But when Malcolm met her he was instantly in love and so her chidren were royalty, Scottish royalty.
Queen Sabrina Vander Mall de Orange Graham
Three great events marked the year 1827:
1) The grand wedding of the King: it was a lavish affair with visiting royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
2) The return of Admiral McPherson's Fleet from its circle of the world and establishment of settlements around the world. With him were chidren of tribal chieftains from Briggittania, children of the King & Queen of the Sandwich Islands, children of the Sultan of the Philipines, and children of Aboriginal chiefs from Antipodes. All of them were in their native dress and treated as visiting dignitaries and royaty. They attended the Royal Wedding in their native attire and returned to their homes the following year with many immigrating to the new colonies.
3) The signing of the peace treaty previously negotiated with Spain, Ireland, and the United States.
Malcolm could now turn his attention to uniting Canada, building the colonies in Antipodes, and expanding the Scottish government into more democratic and constitutional directions. The power of Parliament was expanded, the right to vote was extended to all men whatever their race, color, or religion, and Ulster, the Canadian Provinces, and the Antipodes Provinces all were considered to be full parts of the Scottish Kingdom and would elect members to Parliament on and equal footing to Scotland proper. This required logistics for the distant provinces (the term colony was removed from usage) as it might take up to a year for their members to arrive in Ediburgh- so their elections would be in advance of Parliament.
In part to unite the worldwide Kingdom, Malcom became an advocate of railroads and Parliament was fully behind him on this. Two major railroads were built in the middle of the 19th Century. The Canadian transcontinental to unite Briggittania with the eastern provines was the biggest and most difficult needing to transverse the Rocky Mountains. The much shorter Sinai Railroad was difficut in that the land was owned by the Ottoman Empire.
The solution was the independence of Egypt under the Mamluks, helped to establish this with Scottish pressure and war ships off Istanbul. First a railroad was built. Then a canal was begun.
Scotland, including its overseas provinces, prospered during Malcolm's long reign. In midlife he grew a beard, the first Scots King in centuries to have a full beard. He and Queen Sabrina had many chidren and those children had many children. A middle class developed and literacy reached very high levels. An interest in Scottish history as expressed in historical novels, especially about the Stewarts and Grahams, developed.
Later in life when Malcolm was in his early 80s, a new colonization push was happening in Africa. Scotland joined in from its base in Madagascar, which it had colonized right after the Scottish-American War. Mozambique, Tanzania, Zanibar, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all became Scottish colonies (the term was reintroduced to usage.)
In previous provinces the indigenous peoples had been made full Scottish citizens, a multicultural approach was taken with multilingualism, and local governments were established. In the new provinces the growing business oriented middle class of non-aristocrats dominated Parliament and had no interest in following Malcolm's previous policies. Malcolm had reformed away much of the royal power he'd had as a young King with his democratic reforms and now he was powerless to stop the new Imperialism that treated the native Africans as subjects not citizens.
In an effort to raise awareness, Malcolm did something never done before by a European monarch. He and the Queen left Scotland and journed to the southern African colonies, which he insisted on calling 'provinces.' They toured the African provinces, finding themselves loved by the native people, who understood this foreign King and Queen were here to extend to them the same freedom and privileges their own peope had. The tour was a success and the new telegraph made sure everyone in the Kingdom knew.
Malcolm was convinced that on returning home that his message of equality and inclusion would carry the day in the next elections and sweep into power those who would extend the franchise and citizenship to the Africans.
But Malcom didn't live long enough to see this. He died at sea, a fitting end for him. He had contracted Malaria on his tour and while at sea it overwhelmed him. He died on deck in the arms of his beloved Sabrina. His ____________, ______________, who had fulfilled his royal duties while he was in Africa, succeeded him.
Ok, this is what happened. James V's brother, later Charles I, had a son who was given the title Duke of Albany. Eventually this title got passed down to Charles' grandson, Matthew I, who was also his heir.
So for a time the heir was the Duke of Albany.
In retconning I decided the title was absorbed into the crown with Matthew I and not passed on to the heir.
Hong Xiuquan [1] A aspiring administrator to the Qing Dynasty as a young man, Hong failed the examinations three times. After his third time, however, Hong had a nervous breakdown and as he was in the midst of his breakdown he reportedly went to Heaven and learned of his supposed relation to Christ. When he supposedly recovered he founded a Christian secret society and began to plot to take over the Qing Empire and spread the word of Christ throughout. This began in 1851 as his followers rose up across Southern China starting what's known in China as the Heavenly Liberation War. The revolt was at first treated as an afterthought by the Qing authorities and only after much of South and South-Eastern China fell to the revolters did Qing armies start to seriously fight the rebellion. This led to some decisive defeats in southern China around Guangdong and Hong realized that his followers, despite their zealousness, couldn't stand up to the Qing armies so he turned to the West. He sent dozens of telegrams to as far away as Great Britain calling on them to help save Christianity in China from extinction. The West finally agreed but only if Hong agreed to give them large concessions which Hong, increasingly backed into a corner, was forced to accept. Soon after Royal Navy ships appeared off the coast of China, Russian troops began to be ferried to the Manchurian border in large numbers and French troops in Indochina began to cross into Chinese territory. The expanded war would go on for ten more years as Hong, now with his army reforming under Western doctrines and with western weapons, slowly inched their way across China. Finally, in 1865 as America was finishing up their Civil War Hong led the Great Heavenly Army, his main force, in a concentrated push towards the capital. The fight was hard but with Royal Navy support and by keeping close to the coast to keep within Western supply the advance moved inexorably towards Beijing and as the outskirts of the city fell to Heavenly armies the last Qing Emperor, the Xianfeng Emperor, committed suicide. Soon after the Empress was forced to flee China and Hong assumed control of all of China.
Before he could even sit on his throne however the West was already calling in their end of the bargain and began demanding large concessions. Hong concerned they would just depose him if he refused, gave Hainan to France, Taiwan to the UK and Shangdong to Russia. This led to an outcry in China but Emperor Hong, styling himself the Heavenly Emperor quickly squashed dissent using his fanatic Tiāntáng Wèiduì (Heavenly Guard) to suppress the budding rebellions in Beijing and across China. Hong, in an attempt to unify the populace behind him, declared the foundation of the Christian Church of China which fused Confucian teachings and Christian dogma to varying degrees of success. His followers from the rebellion readily accepted the Church but the rest of China were more hesitant with Confucianism remaining a strong minority, only just under the Church. Hong also spread the reforms implemented during the rebellion to the rest of China, reforming the ancient bureaucracy that denied him so many times, changed the calendar and banned polygamy. These two had limited effect outside the cities that were hubs of revolutionary fervor. With China seemingly stabilized Hong turned his eyes to the fringes of China which had taken advantage of the chaos to free itself. Hong sent agitators into Tibet and Xinjiang to cause chaos and make any future invasion easier. However anticlimactically, just as the invasions reached the planning stages Hong was shot and killed by an assassin. He was succeeded by Tiaguifu, his son and heir apparent.
Tiaguifu 1874 - 1912 [2]
A photo of the heavenly king at age 14
Hong Tiaguifu, also known as Hong Futian or Hong Tiangui by some of the Manchu's records, was the second King of the Heavenly Kingdom. A pious young man, the king was full of zealotry and was ready to preach the word of God to every corner of China. He was regarded as a scholar from a young age and was not a particularly brilliant military commander and in fact was bad at horse riding, at the time wrongly considered an essential skill for a commander, and especially a leader. But even with his lack of military prowess, he wished to build railroads to connect the country. He endorsed many of his uncle, Ex-Prince Gan Rengan military and especially administrative reforms, which encouraged the centralization of the Kingdom. His first years of reign were spent in the establishment of a new order in the Nanjing court in a power struggle with his brother Tianguang "The Guang-King", where he came out on top. Frustrated with his losing battle, Tianguang would self-exile himself to Xinjiang, where, with a group of Loyalists, he would conquer the region, and by right of conquest, become sultan of East Turkestan, plotting during the next decade, waiting for the chance to strike.
Painting of the Beijing line later built in the waning years of the king
Meanwhile, the King crushed rebellions all over the country and constructed the first train, the Nanjing-Shanghai line, in 1879 and would build more under his 28 year-long reign. He used railroads to spread the God-worshipping faith and convert millions, sometimes en masse. He would build churches and convert old Buddhist and Taoist monasteries. And last but not least, he would deal with rebellions in the rump state of Xinjiang in 1891. A brief campaign was overseen by Officer Li Rongfa, passing by Jiuquan and attacking Hami, Turpan and Luntai [called by the locals "Ürümqi"]. The Siege of Luntai lasted 10 days, as it was starved out by the Heavenly Army. At last in 1893, Xinjiang would be pacified. The Guang-King would be executed, but his 4-year-old son and his wife would escape, disappearing for some time. Tibet would fall shortly after, not only thanks to the efforts of the previous monarch but also due to expeditions launched by the British during the Great Game. Even if by 1906, direct rule was restored thanks to the Treaty of Lhasa, control of the region was still tenuous.
Uygurs being POWs being enslaved.
But under Taiping rule, the Muslim Uygurs especially would suffer immense brutality, and centuries-old literary traditions would die, In the fire of the fanatical Hong. Many books were burned under the Great Hong Preaching, and it remains a stain on the long history of the Hong, and unfortunately, a footnote in China. This would cause collective cultural trauma, and would not be the last time that the heavenly kings would deal with this unstable and volatile region.
The King ordered the killing of Uygur scholars
Tiangufui spent his last years in deep meditation, living in the reclusion in monasteries built during his rule. After a life of War crimes, zealotry, fanaticism, and some progress, King Tiandguifu would die in 1912 and would be succeeded by his nephew, Hong Qiangjie
The next and last of the Heavenly Emperors of China, Qiangjie, was the nephew of Hong Tianguifui through his sister Hong Xiuying. After the death of Tianguifui’s only son in 1882, Qiangjie, through a complicated web of lies and appeasement, would be appointed crown prince.
Qiangjie became king of The Heavenly Kingdom of Zhongguo in 1912 when his uncle allegedly died of natural causes (although some said he was poisoned by his sister). The cruelest king of Zhongguo, he was also the last.
Above:Chinese soldiers preparing for an attack on the German-held port of Tsingtao in 1914
In 1914, war broke out when the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb nationalist. Fearing isolation from the west, Qiangjie chose to side with the Entente. The brutality of the war and the instability it caused in China caused several rebellions, which led to Zhongguo dropping out of the war.
Tögs- Ochiryen Namnansüren, leader of the Second Mongol Khanate
In Mongolia, several high-ranking princes and leaders rebelled against the King, in favor of reestablishing a Mongol Buddhist monarchy. Similar events occurred in Turkestan and Manchuria.
Chen Duxiu of the Socialist Republic of China
But by far the biggest threat to the Monarchy was the socialists, who formed a coalition with Sun- Yat Sen’s Republicans, and received aid from Bolshevik leaders in Siberia. On December 13, 1940, they declared war on the Kingdom, and six years later, seized Peking. King Qiangjie would die in exile in 1953. His son, Shangjun, succeeded him as a pretender to the throne.
King Shangjun reigned 1953 to 1966, was one of the more controversial figures in Chinese History. Born in 1918, he would start his reign at the high point of the Civil War between the Communist and Republicans, which, after rising tensions and increasingly incompatible positions, would plunge the country in flames. While most provinces rebelled, many seceded, like Mongolia, Turkestan, and Manchuria. One of these was the island of Taiwan, which would declare independence in 1952. At this point, the Warsaw pact was funding the reds, under Mao Zedong, more radical and dictatorial than his predecessor Duxiu, and NATO funded the authoritarian republicans under Chen Kai-Shek. In the Caos, Shangjun, militarily competent and charismatic, was able to occupy Taiwan, squandering the last funds he had. He was planning to attack and liberate the whole of China but ended up dying in 1966.
He is known for how he conducted himself in the Taiwanese campaign, first spending a year to conquer and pacify the western plateau and then spending two years deep in the mountainous east. His first order of business was to proselyte in the island, encouraging fleeing priests, which were butchered by Mao's red guards and welcomed Han and Haka Christian refugees used to displace the local Buddhist and Taoist population. He would then convert the already overwhelmingly Christian Gaoshan people, using them in positions of power in the court. He would enforce the usage of the dying Hakka language, already the language of education and politics in the Old Zogghuo. Over the decade, Shangjun managed to stabilize, even a little bit the state. But life wasn't all sunshine and roses.
He violently repressed the native culture and language, and would easily resort to blackmailing if citizens didn't fit in line with the image the state wanted to promote, those of a Hakka-speaking Han and Christian nation-state. Closet Taoists were tortured and killed, many escaping. He also nearly created one of the most prominent Chinese saints, Hong Xiquan, known as Saint Renkun The Great.
Although he had a short reign, he was able to stand as an example, a model, to follow for future theocracies, strangely in Islam where Ayatollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein were inspired by his practices, even if they considered him an infidel. He would inspire revolutions in Christian Nations such as East Timor, which shake off its chains in 1975, and in Georgia, which would go through many anti-communist uprisings before 1989, which restored its monarchy under Jorge XIV de Bagration y de Mukhrani in 1989.
He would die in 1966 and be succeeded by ____________.
The current king of Zhongguo, Hong Qianglei, is a tyrannical strongman. Functioning as an autocrat, he controls all China with his iron fist. Born in 1928, he ascended to the throne at the age of 38, and continues to rule at the age of 91. A powerful brute, he has been subject to many investigations for human rights violations. He has constantly promised to abdicate due to these reasons, but has never fulfilled that so far. He is also known for his eccentricities, including declaring himself a saint. While he might abdicate next year, most doubt it, and until he does, Zhongguo will continue to be under his rule and his alone.
I retconned Duncan's trip to North America from 1776 to 1787, as it wasn't very likely a 12 or 13 year old Prince would do that. In 1787 he's 23.
With Sean Connery as Malcolm I think I've finished off my Highlander borrowing, although I had to go elsewhere than his work in that franchise to get a good picture.
Notice the color is different- that's because even though its still a Graham dynasty- it's a different one, a adjunct line of the family that now became the main line.
I am going to post a map of the Scottish North America / USA border as soon as I make it.
