James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 1688 – 1 January 1766), also known as the Old Pretender, was the senior House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until his death in 1766. The only surviving son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, he was created Prince of Wales. He was heir-apparent until his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His Protestant half-sister Mary II and her husband William III and II became co-monarchs. As a Catholic, he was subsequently excluded from the succession by the Bill of Rights 1689.
James claimed the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland when his father died in September 1701. As part of the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1708 Louis XIV of France backed a landing in Scotland on his behalf. This failed, as did further attempts in 1715 and 1719, after which James lived quietly in Rome. Led by his elder son Charles Edward Stuart, the 1745 Rising was the last serious effort to restore the Stuart line.
Birth and childhood
James Francis Edward Stuart was born on 10 June 1688, at St. James's Palace, the second son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, both Catholics. As the eldest surviving son of the reigning monarch, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth, and was created Prince of Wales in July 1688.
His birth was unexpected, as it came five years after his mother's tenth pregnancy; none of the infants had survived more than a few days. The birth reignited controversies of religion, as the new son would be raised a Catholic. Wild rumours spread among British Anglicans: that the child had died stillborn, and that the baby feted as the new prince was an impostor smuggled into the royal birth chamber in a warming pan. Protestants found it suspicious that everyone attending the birth was supposedly Catholic, Another rumour was that James II had not been the father; he was said to be impotent after a bout with venereal disease years earlier. In an attempt to quash these rumours, James published the testimonies of over seventy witnesses to the birth.
thumb|upright=1.0|left|James Francis Edward as [[Prince of Wales]]
The line of succession to the throne was thrust into doubt. James II's eldest legitimate daughters, Mary and Anne, had been raised as Protestants. This possibility had kept Protestants reasonably content, with his reign a temporary inconvenience. Now that Mary or Anne's succession was in doubt with this new Catholic son and heir, discontent grew, already stoked by James II's actions which had alienated Tory Anglicans who had previously been inclined to honour him as sovereign even if they differed in religion. This movement would become the Glorious Revolution; Mary's husband William of Orange landed in England, backed by an army of English and Scottish exiles, as well as Dutch soldiers. Much of the English army promptly defected to William's cause, causing James II and his family to flee rather than stay and fight.
On 9 December, Mary of Modena disguised herself as a laundress and escaped with the infant James to France. He was there brought up at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, In June 1692 James's sister Louisa Maria was born. He later received a military education overseen by Richard Hamilton and Dominic Sheldon, two veterans of the Irish Army.
Struggle for the throne
thumb|right|upright=1.0|James Francis Edward 1703, portrait in the [[Royal Collection attributed to Alexis Simon Belle]]
On his father's death in 1701, James was proclaimed as rightful king by Louis XIV of France, despite having previously recognised the legitimacy of William III and II under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick. Spain, the Papal States, and Modena also recognised him as king of England, Ireland and Scotland and refused to recognise William III and II, Mary II, or Anne as legitimate sovereigns. As a result of his claiming his father's lost thrones, James was attainted for treason in London on 2 March 1702, and his titles were forfeited under English law.
Early attempts
Though delayed in France by an attack of measles, James attempted invasion, trying to land at the Firth of Forth on 23 March 1708. The fleet of Admiral Sir George Byng intercepted the French ships, which, combined with bad weather, prevented a landing.
James served for a time as a volunteer in the French army, as his father had done during the interregnum. Between August and September 1710, Queen Anne appointed a new Tory administration led by Robert Harley, who entered into a secret correspondence with de Torcy, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he claimed to desire James's accession to the throne should James convert to Protestantism. Through de Torcy and his London agent, Abbé François Gaultier, Harley maintained the correspondence with James and Bolingbroke entered into a separate correspondence with him. They both stated to James that his conversion to Protestantism would facilitate his accession. However, James, a devout Catholic, replied to Torcy: "I have chosen my own course, therefore it is for others to change their sentiments." Following George's coronation in October 1714, major riots broke out in provincial England.
The Fifteen
thumb|James ("The Old Pretender") lands in Scotland after [[Battle of Sheriffmuir|Sheriffmuir. An 18th-century engraving.]]
In the following year, James's supporters, known as Jacobites, started uprisings in Scotland and Cornwall aimed at putting "James III and VIII" on the throne. On 22 December 1715, James reached Scotland after the Jacobite defeats at the Battle of Sheriffmuir (13 November 1715) and Battle of Preston (1715). Learning of the approach of government forces, he returned to France, sailing from Montrose on 5 February 1716. The abandonment of his rebel allies caused ill-feeling against him in Scotland; in Rome as his residence, which he accepted. Pope Innocent XIII, like his predecessor, showed much support. Thanks to his friend Cardinal Filippo Antonio Gualterio, James was granted a life annuity of 12,000 Roman scudi. Such help enabled him to organise a Jacobite court at Rome, where, although he lived in splendour, he continued to suffer from fits of melancholy.
Further efforts to restore the Stuarts to the British throne were planned. In 1719 a major expedition left Spain but was forced to turn back due to weather. A small landing took place in the Scottish Highlands, but the Jacobite rising of 1719 was defeated at the Battle of Glen Shiel. James had gone to Spain in the hope he could take part in the invasion, but following its abandonment was forced to return to Italy. A further attempt was planned in 1722, For many, it functioned as an unofficial consulate. Those in need of medical attention preferred being treated by one of their own countrymen. In 1735 court physicians tended to Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, and thirty years later to James Boswell.
James remained well-treated in Rome until his death. He was allowed to hold Protestant services at Court, and was given land where his Protestant adherents could receive a public burial. James and Charles later clashed repeatedly, and relations between them broke down completely when James played a role in the appointment of his son Henry as a cardinal. Henry then took holy orders, infuriating Charles, who believed that such an obvious profession of their Catholicism damaged their chances of being restored.
thumb|Portrait of James from 1748
Later years
After the 1745 rising, there were no other plots to restore the Stuart dynasty except for when, in 1759, the French government briefly considered a scheme to have James (then aged 70) crowned King of Ireland as part of their plans to invade Britain, but the offer was never formally made to James. Several separate plans also involved Charles being given control of a French-backed independent Ireland, though that too was aborted after Charles showed up at a meeting with the French to discuss the plan late, argumentative, and idealistic in expectations, so that the French dismissed the possibility of Jacobite assistance.
right|thumb|200px|Tomb of James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons in [[St. Peter's Basilica]]
Death
After a lingering illness, James died aged 77 on 1 January 1766, at his home, the Palazzo Muti in Rome, and was buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica in present-day Vatican City. His grave is marked by the Monument to the Royal Stuarts. His claimed reign had lasted for 64 years, 3 months and 16 days, longer than any British monarch until Queen Elizabeth II's reign surpassed it on 23 May 2016.
End of papal support
Following James's death the pope refused to recognise the claim to the British and Irish thrones of his elder son Charles, which had severely exacerbated the hostility between England and the Catholic Church. Instead, from 14 January 1766, in stages over the following decade, Rome accepted the Hanoverian dynasty as the legitimate rulers of Britain and Ireland; this was accompanied by a gradual relaxation and reform of the anti-Catholic "penal laws" in Britain and Ireland. Two months after James's death, on 14 March, the royal arms of England were removed from the doorway of the Palazzo Muti.
Titles and honours
thumb|right|200px|Coat of arms of James Francis Edward Stuart as Prince of Wales
James was Duke of Cornwall from birth. He was created Prince of Wales on 4 July 1688. He lost his titles on his attainder for treason in 1702.
Honours
- Jacobite, KG: Knight of the Garter, 1692–1766
Arms
As Prince of Wales, James bore a coat of arms consisting of those of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points.