James Francis Edward Stuart, the Jacobite claimant to the British Throne.
Jacobites were supporters of the House of Stuart and their claim to the British throne after they were deposed.
History[]
Background[]
James II and VII, the last Catholic king of England, went into exile after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 where he was deposed. Jacobites were against this, as it violate the belief that monarchs were appointed by God and divine right and therefore could not be removed. The Jacobites largely drew the support from the Scottish Highlands.
James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of the aforementioned James, attempted to regain the throne during the War of the Spanish Succession. James was the half brother of Queen Anne, but the rules of succession said that a Catholic could not inherit the throne, and it passed to her second cousin George of the House of Hanover. The attempt failed and James fled to France.
Benjamin Hornigold was a Jacobite, however when the attempts to place James on the throne failed, he and his men turned pirate. He told them that if they remained with him, they would be soldiers in a rebel navy fighting to restore the rightful king to the throne.
Season One[]
Hal Gates asks Benjamin Hornigold if he has heard anything from his contacts in Edinburgh. Hornigold explains that the last he heard, James had fled to France, and laments how he and his men have come to the realization that they are nothing more than thieves now.
Trivia[]
- Charles Vane was historically thought to have Jacobite leanings.