The Stuart Court in Rome

The Stuart Court in Rome Synopsis

Title first published in 2003. When the Stuarts left Britain after the 'Glorious Revolution' they established an important court in exile, first in France, then for most of the eighteenth century in Italy. Jacobites who could not hope to see their careers furthered at the Hanoverian court in London maintained their loyalty to James III, the 'King over the Water', and his son 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'. The Stuart Court in Rome describes the court as a centre of cultural patronage, particularly of music and painting, and considers whether it lived up to the idealized picture celebrated by Jacobites in Britain. The financial vicissitudes of James III and his entourage are uncovered, and the influence of Hanoverian agents such as Baron von Stosch. The book investigates links between the Stuarts and Freemasonry; presents new evidence for the Stuart descent; and recounts the dispersal and acquisition of Stuart portraits and other relics during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.