On 17 January 1746, the Highland Army of Prince Charles Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) engaged the royal troops of King George II in battle on a moor south west of Falkirk in what would become known as The Second Battle of Falkirk. (The first having taken place in 1298 between William Wallace and Edward Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots.)
The Jacobite Rebellion
In brief, the word Jacobite stems from the name James (Jacob) and relates to the followers of the James kings down through the Royal House of Stuart. After Elizabeth I of England died without an heir, the Catholic King of Scotland, James VI, succeeded to the English throne and this caused great dissent in the predominantly Protestant England. The parliament in England was more powerful than the Stuarts and they were eventually forced into exile in France in 1707 when Queen Anne died without an heir and the English parliament introduced the Act of Union which merged the thrones of Scotland and England. The crown was then offered to the German House of Hanover, despite the continued existence of the Royal House of Stuart who still had a valid claim to the thrones of both Scotland and England.
