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The ‘
  
 , also known as the ‘
  

 , is an
important European royal house. The Stewart family records its traditional
descent from Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, who makes an appearance as a
character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Historically, however, the family
appears to be descended from an ancient family who were seneschals of Dol in
Brittany, the earliest recorded being Flaald. They acquired lands in England
after the Norman conquest, and moved to Scotland with many other Anglo-
Norman families when David I ascended to the throne of Scotland. The family
was granted extensive estates in Renfrewshire and in East Lothian and the
office of High Steward of Scotland was made hereditary in the family. Walter,
the son of Alan or Fitz-alan was the founder of the royal family of Stewarts. He
was the first of the family to establish himself in Scotland. Walter's elder
brother called William was the progenitor of the family of Fitzalan who were
the Earls of Arundel. Their father who was a Norman married soon after the
Norman Conquest. He married the daughter of Warine, sheriff of Shropshire.
He acquired the manor of Ostvestrie or Oswestry on the Welsh border. On the
death of King Henry I of England in 1135 Walter and William supported the
claims of Empress Maud and in doing so raised themselves high in the favour
of her uncle King David I of Scotland.
 In 1141 Walter accompanied King David I to retire in Scotland on
promises made to him by the Scottish monarch which were faithfully fulfilled.
His brother William however remained in England and was rewarded by
Empress Maud's son, King Henry II of England.
In Scotland Walter obtained from King David I of Scotland large grants of land
and property in Renfrewshire as well as in many other places, together with
the hereditary office of Senescallus Scotiae, Lord High Steward of Scotland.
From this title Walter's grandson, also called Walter, took the name Stewart,
which was forever afterwards retained by the family. This Walter was also
rewarded lands by King Malcolm IV of Scotland. Walter is celebrated as the
founder of Paisley Monastery in 1163 in the barony of Renfrew. Walter
married Eschina de Londonia, Lady of Moll, in Roxburghshire. Walter died in
1177, he was succeeded by his son Alan Stewart.
Alan died in 1204 leaving a son called Walter who was appointed by
King Alexander II of Scotland as justiciary of Scotland in addition to the
hereditary office of high steward. This Walter died in 1246 leaving four sons
and three daughters. The third son called Walter was Earl of Menteith. The
eldest son, called Alexander married Jean, the daughter and heiress of James
Lord of Bute. In her right their son James Stewart seized both the Isle of Bute
and Isle of Arran.
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Alexander Stewart had two sons, James and John. The elder, James
would succeed Alexander as chief of the clan. During the Wars of Scottish
Independence the Clan Stewart gave much support to King Robert the Bruce.
Alexander's second son, known as Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll, was killed at
the Battle of Falkirk (1298), fighting in support of William Wallace.
ye principal clovris of ye clanne Stewart ?
?   
 
 
 ?

 Vestiarium Scoticum
Alexander's second son, John, who was killed at the Battle of Falkirk in
1298 had seven sons. The eldest was Sir Alexander who was the ancestor to
the Stewarts who were Earls of Angus. The second son was Sir Alan of
Dreghorn whose family became the Earls and Dukes of Lennox. The third son
was Walter whose family were the Earls of Galloway. The fourth son was Sir
James whose family were the Earls of Atholl, Earl of Buchan and Earl of
Traquair. The fifth son Sir John Stewart was killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill
in 1333. The sixth son Sir Hugh Stewart fought in Ireland under Edward
Bruce, the younger brother of King Robert the Bruce. The seventh son was Sir
Robert Stewart of Daldowie (NOT the Lanarkshire Daldowie).
James Stewart, the eldest son of Alexander Stewart, succeeded as the
fifth high steward in 1283. On the death of King Alexander III of Scotland in
1286, James Stewart was one of six magnates of Scotland chosen to act as
regents of the kingdom. James died in the service of Robert the Bruce in 1309.
James's son Walter became the sixth high steward. This Walter Stewart at the
age of just twenty-one years commanded the left wing of the Scottish army,
along with Douglas at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Robert the Bruce
and his wife Isabella's only child, Marjorie Bruce, married Walter Stewart, 6th
High Steward of Scotland (1293Ȃ1326), and from him the Royal House of
Stewart are descended.
A chief of the Clan Stewart Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland
married Marjorie Bruce daughter of King Robert the Bruce, this began the
Royal House of Stewart. Walter Stewart's son called Robert the seventh lord-
high steward had been declared heir to the throne of Scotland in 1318.
However the birth of a son to Robert the Bruce in 1326 interrupted Robert
Stewart's prospects for a time. Robert Stewart received from his grandfather
large amounts of land in Kintyre. During the long and disastrous reign of King
David II of Scotland, Robert Stewart acted a patriotic part in the defense of the
kingdom. On the death of King David II without issue on 22 February 1371
Robert Stewart, at the age of fifty five, succeeded to the crown of Scotland as
King Robert II of Scotland. He was the first of the Stewart family to ascend to
the throne of Scotland.
Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of
the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century. Their direct ancestors
(from Brittany) had held the title High Steward of Scotland since the 12th
century, after arriving by route of Norman England. The dynasty inherited
further territory by the 17th century which covered the entire British Isles,
including the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, also upholding a
claim to the Kingdom of France.
In total, nine Stuart monarchs ruled just Scotland from 1371 until
1603. After this there was a Union of the Crowns under James VI & I who had
become the senior genealogical claimant to all of the holdings of the extinct
House of Tudor. Thus there were six Stuart monarchs who ruled both England
and Scotland as well as Ireland (although the Stuart era was interrupted by an
interregnum lasting from 1649-1660, as a result of the English Civil War).
Additionally at the foundation of the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Acts of
Union, which politically united England and Scotland, the first monarch was
Anne of Great Britain. However, she died without issue and all the holdings
passed to the House of Hanover, under the terms of the Act of Settlement
1701.
During the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively
poor and feudal country into a prosperous, fairly modern and centralized
state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the
Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Monarchs such as James IV were known for
sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as poet Robert
Henryson. After gaining control of all of Great Britain the arts and sciences
continued to develop; William Shakespeare's best known plays were authored
during the Jacobean era, while institutions such as the Royal Society and Royal
Mail were established during the reign of Charles II.

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c

cccccc The name Stewart derives from the political position of office similar to
a governor, known as a ?
. It was originally adopted as the family
surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, who was the third
member of the family to hold the position. Prior to this, their family name was
defined through immediate ancestors and changed from generation to
generation; for example the first two High Stewards were known as 
?Alan
and FitzWalter respectively. During the 16th century the name underwent a
development and the French spelling ?
? was adopted. It was Mary Queen
of Scots who adopted the change, to ensure the correct pronunciation of the
Scots name ?
? while she was living in France.
ccccccccc
 c
ccccccc ccThe ancestral origins of the Stewart family are quite obscure Ȅ what is

known for certain is that they can trace their ancestry back to Alan FitzFlaad, a
Breton who came over to the island of Great Britain not long after the Norman
conquest. Alan had been the hereditary steward of the Bishop of Dol in the
Duchy of Brittany; Alan had a good relationship with the ruling House of
Normandy monarch Henry I of England who awarded him with lands in
Shropshire. The FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a
prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as
High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter
FitzAlan who became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, while his
brother William's family would go on to become Earls of Arundel.
When the civil war in the Kingdom of England broke out known as The
Anarchy, between legitimist claimant Matilda, Lady of the English and her
cousin who had usurped her; king Stephen, Walter had sided with
Matilda.Another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from
the House of Dunkeld. After Matilda was pushed out of England into the
County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne,
many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter had
followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands at
Renfrewshire and the title life peerage of the Lord High Steward. The next
monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV made the High Steward title a hereditary
arrangement. While High Stewards the family were based at Dundonald,
Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries.
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cccccccc The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293-1326),
married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, and also played an important
part in the Battle of Bannockburn gaining further favour. Their son Robert
was heir to the House of Bruce, the Lordship of Cunningham and the Brucean
lands of Bourtreehill; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his
uncle David II died childless in 1371.
In 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying
King Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James
V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor,
and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th
Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry
Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, the
daughter of James V. Darnley's father was Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of
Lennox, a member of the Stewart of Darnley branch of the House. Lennox was
a descendant of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, also
descended from James II, being Mary's heir presumptive. Therefore Darnley
was also related to Mary on his father's side and because of this connection,
Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stewart. Because of the long
French residence at Aubigny, held by Darnley's branch in the Auld Alliance,
the surname was altered to ?
?.
Both Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley had strong claims on the
English throne, through their mutual grandmother, Margaret Tudor. This
eventually led to the accession of the couple's only child James as King of
Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1603. However, this was a Personal Union,
as the three Kingdoms shared a monarch, but had separate governments,
churches, and institutions. Indeed the personal union did not prevent an
armed conflict, known as the Bishopsǯ Wars, breaking out between England
and Scotland in 1639. This was to become part of the cycle of political and
military conflict that marked the reign of Charles I of England, Scotland &
Ireland, culminating in a series of conflicts know as the English Civil War
(which, despite its name, impacted on all three Kingdoms). The trial and
execution of Charles I by the English Parliament in 1649 began 11 years of
republican government knows as the English Interregnum. Scotland initially
recognised the late King's son, also called Charles, as their monarch, before
being compelled to enter a republican system. During this period, the
principal members of the House of Stuart lived in exile in mainland Europe.
The younger Charles returned to Britain to assume his three thrones in 1660
as "Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland", but would date his reign from
his father's death 11 years before.
In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on French support
was revived during the reign of Charles II, whose own mother was French. His
sister Henrietta married into the French Royal family. Charles II left no
legitimate children, but his numerous illigitemate descendants included the
Dukes of Buccleuch, the Dukes of Grafton, the Dukes of Saint Albans and the
Dukes of Richmond.
These French and Roman Catholic connections proved unpopular and
resulted in the downfall of the Stuarts, whose mutual enemies identified with
Protestantism and because he had offended the Anglican establishment by
proposing tolerance not only for Catholics but for Protestant Dissenters. The
Glorious Revolution caused the overthrow of James II in favor of his son-in-
law and his daughter, William and Mary. James continued to claim the thrones
of England and Scotland to which he had been crowned, and encouraged
revolts in his name, and his grandson Charles led an ultimately unsuccessful
rising in 1745, becoming ironic symbols of conservative rebellion and
Romanticism. Some blame the identification of the Roman Catholic Church
with the Stuarts, with the extremely lengthy delay in passage of Catholic
Emancipation until Jacobitism (as represented by direct Stuart heirs) was
extinguished, however it was as likely to be caused by entrenched anti-
Catholic prejudice among the Anglican establishment of England. Despite the
Whig intentions of tolerance to be extended to Irish subjects, this was not the
preference of Georgian Tories and their failure at compromise played a
subsequent role in the present division of Ireland.
The direct male line of the Royal branch of the House of Stuart is
assumed to be extinct, after the deaths of Charles Edward Stuart, and his
brother Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart (although the male line continues
through the descendants of several illegitimate sons of Charles II). The current
British Royal family descends from the House of Stuart in the Count Palatine
cadet branch of the House of Stuart.
The current senior line descends through Charles I and his youngest daughter
Henrietta Anne Stewart and survives to this day in the House of Wittelsbach.
The next most senior line is the cadet branch of the Count Palatine,
which contains all the descendents of Elizabeth of Bohemia, the youngest
daughter of James VI/I. Of this line, there are several junior branches, the
houses of Simmern and of Hanover. It is from the sub branch of Hanover that
Queen Elizabeth descends, as a descendent of the Electress Sophia of Hanover.
Interestingly, as the house is not regulated by Salic law, her claim to the House
of Stuart remains senior to the rest of the House of Hanover, as she is a
descendent of the most senior male line, from Prince Edward of Kent, rather
than his younger brother, Ernst Augustus of Hanover.
Thus, Queen Elizabeth may be said to be of the Count Palantine -
Hanoverian - Saxe Coburg Gotha branch of the House of Stuart.
At least three cadet branches of the House of Stuart survive amongst the
titled British aristocracy; the Clan Stuart of Appin, the Earls Castle Stewart,
and the Earls of Galloway, all of who have claims which date prior to the
accession of James VI/I.c

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nephew of
David II of
Scotland who
died without
22
Robert II of 19 April issue. Robert's
February
Scotland 1390 mother
1371
Marjorie Bruce
was daughter of
c

Robert I of
Scotland.

Robert III of 19 April 4 April son of Robert II

Scotland 1390 1406 of Scotland.

21
James I of 4 April son of Robert III
February
Scotland 1406 of Scotland.
1437
c
 21
James II of 3 August son of James I of
February
Scotland 1460 Scotland.
1437
c

James III of 3 August 11 June son of James II

Scotland 1460 1488 of Scotland.
c

9
James IV of 11 June son of James III
September
Scotland 1488 of Scotland.
1513
c

9 14
James V of son of James IV
September December
Scotland of Scotland.
1513 1542
c

Mary I of
14 daughter of
Scotland 24 July
December James V of
(
   1567
1542 Scotland.
?)
c


 ^
   

 
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son of Mary, Queen

of Scots and Henry
Stuart, Lord
Darnley. King of
James VI of Scotland alone,
24 July 27 March
Scotland & I of 1567Ȅ1603, until
1567 1625
England inheriting the titles
c
King of England and
Ireland, including
claim to France from
the extinct Tudors.

Charles I of 27 30 son of James VI of

England, Scotland March January Scotland & I of
& Ireland 1625 1649 England & Ireland.
c

son of Charles I of
England, Scotland &
Ireland. In exile
from 1649 to 1660,
Charles II of 30 6
during a republican
England, Scotland January February
period of
& Ireland 1649 1685
c
government known
as the
Commonwealth of
England.
 brother of Charles II
of England, Scotland
James II of
6 13 & Ireland, who died
England and
February February with no legitimate
Ireland & VII of
1685 1689 issue. Son of Charles
Scotland
c
I. Overthrown at the
Revolution of 1688.

daughter of James II
of England and
Ireland & VII of
Scotland, who was
Mary II of 13 28
still alive and
England, Scotland February December
pretending to the
and Ireland 1689 1694
throne. Co-monarch
was William III & II
c

who outlived his

wife.

sister of Mary II.

daughter of James II
of England and
Ireland & VII of
Scotland. Name of
state changed to
Anne of Great
8 March 1 May Great Britain with
Britain and
1702 1707 the political Acts of
Ireland
Union 1707, though
family has used title
c

since James I & VI.

Died issueless,
rights pass to House
of Hanover.
 è 

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Patrilineal descent, descent from father to son, is the principle behind
membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations
- which means that the 
?

  
? royal house of the Stuart
monarchs was the House of Stuart.
1.c Alan of Dol, b. 1020
2.c Flaald fitz Alan, Baron of St. Florent
3.c Alan FitzFlaald, d. after 1114
4.c Walter fitz Alan, 1106 - 1177
5.c Alan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland, d. 1204
6.c Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, 1178 - 1241
7.c Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, 1214 - 1283
8.c Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl, 1246 - 1298
9.c Sir Alan Stewart of Dreghorn, 1280 - 1333
10.c Sir Alexander Stewart, d. 1374
11.c Sir Alexander Stewart, d. 1404
12.c Sir John Stewart, 1st Lord Aubigny, 1370 - 1429
13.c Sir Alan Stewart of Darnley, 1407 - 1439
14.c John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox, 1430 - 1495
15.c Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, 1472 - 1513
16.c John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox, 1490 - 1526
17.c Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, 1516 - 1571
18.c Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1545 - 1567
19.c James I of England, 1566 - 1625
 20.c Charles I of England, 1600 - 1649
21.c James II of England, 1633 - 1701
22.c Mary II of England, 1662 - 1694 and Anne of Great Britain,
1665 - 1714
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