0:00:07 > 0:00:11On the 22nd December 1715,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15a ship anchored off the north-east coast of Scotland.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Ashore stumbled a sick, bedraggled man.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Behind him, servants hauled a chest of gold.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29The gold was to finance a rebellion, and the man
0:00:29 > 0:00:32was a king back to claim his kingdoms.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38For this was James Francis Stuart, rightful heir
0:00:38 > 0:00:42to the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49But there was no coronation party to greet James, no trumpet fanfare
0:00:49 > 0:00:53no bonnets in the air, just a cold, empty beach
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and a secretive dash into the dunes.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01For this young king's return was a momentous one.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06James and his family had been banished from these islands
0:01:06 > 0:01:08nearly 30 years before.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15But now he was back to retake his throne by force.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It was a pivotal moment in our history
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and one that divided Britain.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27To some, the Stuarts
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and their Jacobite supporters were discredited relics of a bygone era.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38Traitors intent on breaking apart a united, protestant Britain.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45While, to others, the Stuarts were the solution to a broken Britain.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48One ruled by corrupt governments, that had fought
0:01:48 > 0:01:54illegitimate and unpopular wars, and crippled the country with debt.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00But was the return of an outlawed royal dynasty really the answer?
0:02:00 > 0:02:05By 1715, it was time to choose.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Are you for the Stuarts, or against them?
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The answer would prove one of the greatest turning points
0:02:11 > 0:02:13in European history.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32TRUMPET FANFARE
0:02:41 > 0:02:45At the 2015 state opening of Parliament,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Scottish Nationalist politicians could be seen wearing white roses,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53in a modern poetic allusion to Scottish nationhood.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57My government will also bring forward legislation to secure
0:02:57 > 0:03:00a strong and lasting constitutional settlement,
0:03:00 > 0:03:05devolving wide-ranging powers to Scotland and Wales.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10But, for over 300 years, a white rose signified, emblematically,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12a very special day.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17The birthday of James Francis Stuart,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21the man who arrived on that Scottish beach in 1715.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27For his birth had transformed both the history of Britain
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and the Stuart dynasty forever.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42In 1688, James Francis Stuart was born as son
0:03:42 > 0:03:45and heir to the king of these islands.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49James VII of Scotland and II of England and Ireland.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55James was the latest in a line of Stuart monarchs who had ruled
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Scotland for centuries, and England and Ireland since 1603.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07But, in 1688, James' reign was in crisis.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12A devoutly Catholic King,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15his actions had convinced many he was trying to return
0:04:15 > 0:04:18his Protestant kingdoms to the Catholic Church.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21From town boroughs to the army,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24James was handing out high ranking jobs
0:04:24 > 0:04:27to Catholics and Protestant nonconformists.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36And when James' queen gave birth to a son and heir in 1688,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41the concrete prospect of a permanent Catholic succession
0:04:41 > 0:04:45brought James' kingdoms to the brink of civil war.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56The solution was simple. He had to be stopped in his tracks.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00It was time to find a more flexible ruler.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02And, as luck would have it, one was available.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07William of Orange, a Protestant prince.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13William had married King James' protestant daughter, Mary,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and theirs was a union that enabled a new royal succession
0:05:16 > 0:05:19without breaking the Stuart bloodline.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27At the invitation of a small group of prominent politicians
0:05:27 > 0:05:32opposed to James, William daringly sailed to England in November 1688
0:05:32 > 0:05:36with a 15,000 strong invasion force.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43And, here on Salisbury Plain, James planned to confront William
0:05:43 > 0:05:46with an even bigger army of his own.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52By James' side was a man whose job it was to stop
0:05:52 > 0:05:53William in his tracks.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58John Churchill, a loyal follower of King James
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and one of his key military commanders.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06But then something happened that changed everything.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17John Churchill had, like many others, grown privately
0:06:17 > 0:06:20disillusioned with James' brand of Catholic rule.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23He was a canny political operator,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and was well aware that public opinion was turning against his king.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Churchill sensed the change in the wind and one thing was certain -
0:06:31 > 0:06:35he had no intention of being on the losing side.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43And, so, in the early hours of the 24th November 1688,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Churchill took a momentous decision.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Along with 400 other officers,
0:06:50 > 0:06:55he deserted the royal camp and rode to join William instead.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Churchill had abandoned his king.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06While James, rather than fighting for his crown,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10fled the country with his infant son and wife.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Meanwhile, John Churchill was handsomely rewarded for his change
0:07:18 > 0:07:20of sides by the new King William...
0:07:22 > 0:07:25..as explained by Churchill archivist John Forster.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- So, John, what are we looking at here?- Well, this dramatic
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and powerful document has massive historical importance.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40It very much is at a key point,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43a turning point in the whole history
0:07:43 > 0:07:45of the house of Stuart, really,
0:07:45 > 0:07:46where John Churchill
0:07:46 > 0:07:50has supported the incoming William, deserted James,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and so he's given his reward, he's given the earldom of Marlborough.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55And this is the significant part of the document here where you
0:07:55 > 0:07:59see the actual first appearance in the history of this family,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01later Dukes of Marlborough,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03but here the first appearance of Marlborough.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And how significant was the creation of an earldom?
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Well, it's absolutely critical, really,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12because it indicates a massive change of commitment
0:08:12 > 0:08:14from one political affiliation to another,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16the winning side, if you like.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20It was his reward, really, I mean earldom is really the first
0:08:20 > 0:08:23significant step to high status in the peerage.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25There are only two ranks above from there. There's Marquess
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and, from there, there's Duke, both of which he later became.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33So, Churchill very physically becomes Marlborough in this document.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Exactly that, yes.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43The transformation from Churchill to Marlborough was a key moment.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47It not only marked the birth of one of British history's most
0:08:47 > 0:08:51iconic names, but, for the new King William,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55it also signified the beginning of a crucial relationship.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Marlborough was a gifted military strategist
0:08:58 > 0:09:00and William wanted him by his side.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06But, whilst the new king admired Marlborough as a soldier,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08he still doubted his loyalty.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11And with good reason.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16"Will I always, with the hazard of my life
0:09:16 > 0:09:21"and fortune, endeavour to preserve your royal person and lawful rights,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24"with all the tender concern and dutiful respect that becomes
0:09:24 > 0:09:29"Your Majesty's most dutiful and most obliged subject and servant?"
0:09:29 > 0:09:33This is from a letter that Marlborough wrote to James
0:09:33 > 0:09:35within days of deserting him in Salisbury.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39In the letter he apologises to the exiled king
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and confirms his commitment to the Stuart cause.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Not exactly the sentiments you'd expect from someone who was
0:09:45 > 0:09:47now clearly on the other side.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49But this was the problem.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52This letter was just the first of serial flirtations
0:09:52 > 0:09:54between Marlborough and the exiled Stuart court
0:09:54 > 0:09:57that lasted for the rest of Marlborough's life
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and constantly casts doubt as to where his true loyalties lay.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Was he really still with the Stuarts, or was he against them?
0:10:07 > 0:10:11It was a question that haunted James for many years.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15But, in 1688, this was the least of his problems.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20For James and his family were now homeless royal exiles,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25destined to be guests to whatever foreign power would host them.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Luckily, there was one king who would.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Louis XIV of France.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Phenomenally powerful, Catholic,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and a valuable friend to the exiled Stuarts.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55In Louis' eyes, James was no fugitive,
0:10:55 > 0:11:00but was still the rightful ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04And the French king vowed to help him reclaim his thrones.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15He accommodated James and his court in the grand opulence
0:11:15 > 0:11:19of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a royal palace just outside Paris.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32But Saint-Germain was something of a mirage.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Behind the magnificence of this palace's facade,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38lay a different reality.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Saint-Germain had seen better days.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The palace was unpopulated and sparsely furnished.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02But, strange as it may seem, this dilapidated French palace
0:12:02 > 0:12:06which has been described as a labyrinth of misery, became
0:12:06 > 0:12:11the command centre for Jacobite resistance over the next 20 years.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16James surrounded himself with a motley crew of political advisors,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20some totally committed, others cynically duplicitous.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24But James Stuart's quest to regain his rightful thrones
0:12:24 > 0:12:26would start from here.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31And the first step in achieving that goal was for James to win
0:12:31 > 0:12:33the support of his former British subjects.
0:12:36 > 0:12:42From Saint-Germain, a remarkable propaganda machine was created,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45churning out powerful stuff.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49A battery of poetry and verse was commissioned,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54aimed at reviving nostalgic memories of James' father, Charles I,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58the martyr king who had been tried and executed years earlier
0:12:58 > 0:13:00by the English parliament.
0:13:01 > 0:13:08Adieu, false Brittains. My royalties I have trampled on....
0:13:08 > 0:13:10My glory...
0:13:10 > 0:13:13..be the stars which did ordain the Whigs...
0:13:13 > 0:13:16..who by their damned rebellions brood
0:13:16 > 0:13:19laid the three kingdoms all in blood.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24This kind of rabble-rousing propaganda
0:13:24 > 0:13:26was powerful and effective.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30It instilled the idea that a great wrong had been committed,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32that what would become known as
0:13:32 > 0:13:35the Glorious Revolution had in fact been an illegal
0:13:35 > 0:13:37and treacherous coup d'etat.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41And it wasn't just poetry that was used to spread the message.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43This was a multi-media blitz.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46# Beware in bed, sir, every man When the English horse...#
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Popular music of the day, cleverly infused with seditious
0:13:50 > 0:13:52messages are now sung aloud
0:13:52 > 0:13:55on the streets of Britain's towns and cities.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59While pro-Jacobite newspapers and pamphlets were distributed
0:13:59 > 0:14:03in their thousands and read in public houses and inns,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06the hotbeds of Jacobite dissenters became known
0:14:06 > 0:14:07as the Coffee House Militias.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Private clubs and societies also started to meet and discuss
0:14:15 > 0:14:17the exiled king and his cause.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23Clandestine rituals and symbols sustained Jacobite hopes.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Such as wearing the white rose of James and raising a glass
0:14:26 > 0:14:31above a bowl of water to toast their exiled King across the sea.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38And then there was the visual propaganda.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Images like this were reproduced en masse
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and circulated throughout James' former kingdoms
0:14:45 > 0:14:47so that, come the day of his return,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51everyone would know exactly what their king looked like.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55An artist's brush became the camera shutter of the day.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It all helped to sustain a powerful information network that
0:15:00 > 0:15:05reminded subjects throughout Britain of the king they had lost and ensured
0:15:05 > 0:15:08that his voice was still heard loud and clear from across the Channel.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12It was persuasive stuff and propaganda remained by far
0:15:12 > 0:15:16James' most effective weapon in his early years in exile.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21But the Jacobite court knew it would need more than pictures
0:15:21 > 0:15:26and words and claims of past injustices to reclaim the thrones.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29For, in James' absence,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33William's kingdoms were changing fast in ways that
0:15:33 > 0:15:37threatened to eradicate any residual attachment to the Stuarts.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45And much of this change was the work, not of the new king,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48but a powerful new faction on the rise.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Hello, good morning, I'm standing for parliament in this constituency.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05This is Alistair Henderson...
0:16:05 > 0:16:09I'm standing for the oldest and the newest political party in Britain.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14..hoping to represent the Whig Party, launched in 2014.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17We're trying to offer a genuinely values based
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and principled vision of what a good society would look like.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25The emblem of a fox is a historical clue to the type of new Whig politics
0:16:25 > 0:16:27that Alistair is promoting.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30So, what is the new Whig party?
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Well, we are a bunch of people who have been feeling
0:16:33 > 0:16:36kind of disillusioned with the current political scene
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and in particular feel that Britain needs once again
0:16:39 > 0:16:42a party that's unashamedly idealistic, that's optimistic and
0:16:42 > 0:16:46excited about the future, excited about change, open to the world and
0:16:46 > 0:16:48really keen on getting
0:16:48 > 0:16:51as many people as involved in democracy as possible.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53We just think it needs revitalising.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02But Alistair's progressive 21st century politics is directly
0:17:02 > 0:17:07inspired by the Whig agenda that became dominant the 1690s.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Late 17th century Whigs had been determined to ensure
0:17:17 > 0:17:21a permanent transfer of power from monarch to parliament.
0:17:23 > 0:17:29And that ambition had made them the real architects of change in 1688.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36To safeguard that change, the Whig leaders retained the initiative
0:17:36 > 0:17:38and drew up a Bill of Rights.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47From then onwards, Parliament became a permanent constitutional fixture.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Since that date, it's only been with MPs' consent
0:17:54 > 0:17:58that taxes have been raised and foreign wars have been fought.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Never again would a monarch rule without parliament.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11And King William gladly agreed.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17What he most wanted was military might to fight his greatest enemy,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Louis XIV.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And now that the English Parliament had control of the country's
0:18:25 > 0:18:28purse strings, MPs were willing to pay.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33And the man who would help to fight William's French wars was
0:18:33 > 0:18:36none other than the Earl of Marlborough.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Keen to prove his outward loyalty to the new king,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Marlborough set about helping William weaken the French.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51While the exiled king that he'd betrayed could only sit back
0:18:51 > 0:18:55and watch as William went to war against his only ally.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Louis.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Although James had worked hard to keep the Stuart claim alive
0:19:08 > 0:19:13during the 1690s, the future looked bleak.
0:19:17 > 0:19:23The exiled Catholic king was frail, ill and consumed by self-pity.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28But consoled by dreams of possible sainthood.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37In September 1701, James died at Saint-Germain.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44But hopes for a Jacobite restoration remained alive.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53They were now pinned to James' 12-year-old son and heir.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55James Francis Stuart.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03And, within months of his father's death,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Jacobite hopes gained ground
0:20:05 > 0:20:08as fate stepped in to lend a hand.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16While out riding in Hampton Court,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19King William had an unfortunate encounter.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25His horse stepped on a molehill
0:20:25 > 0:20:27and threw him to the ground.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33William later died from his injuries.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37As Jacobites made a toast
0:20:37 > 0:20:39to their little friend in the velvet waistcoat,
0:20:39 > 0:20:44William was succeeded by his ageing and childless sister-in-law
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Queen Anne.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50Recognised as the next in line by the kings of France and Spain
0:20:50 > 0:20:52and by the Pope himself,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56the young James Francis Stuart had reason to be confident
0:20:56 > 0:20:58he might yet be King
0:20:58 > 0:21:01but a major obstacle lay in his way.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07English MPs remained determined
0:21:07 > 0:21:10to exclude the Catholic Stuarts from power.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15And, to make sure,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17they had passed a new law...
0:21:23 > 0:21:25..the Act of Settlement,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28which stated that only a Protestant claimant
0:21:28 > 0:21:31could succeed Queen Anne on her death.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39But, in their haste to shut the door on Jacobite claims,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42English MPs had not paused to consider
0:21:42 > 0:21:44another of the Stuarts' kingdoms...
0:21:48 > 0:21:50..Scotland,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54the ancient homeland of the Stuart dynasty.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00As subjects of an independent kingdom
0:22:00 > 0:22:02with its own separate parliament,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Scots did not relish the English assumption
0:22:05 > 0:22:08that succession to the Scottish Crown
0:22:08 > 0:22:11simply followed the dictates of English legislation.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16But the English couldn't risk the possibility
0:22:16 > 0:22:19of a Jacobite restoration in Scotland
0:22:19 > 0:22:23followed by a French-backed invasion to reclaim the English throne.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30And the way to ensure that both countries chose the same monarch
0:22:30 > 0:22:33was to have the same parliament.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37And, in 1707,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39that's exactly what happened...
0:22:42 > 0:22:44..by the Act of Union,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48a constitutional marriage between Scotland and England
0:22:48 > 0:22:50that lasts to this day.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Great Britain was born
0:22:56 > 0:23:00and the union was meant to kill off Jacobite hopes permanently
0:23:00 > 0:23:03but, ironically, the resentments it provoked,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05especially in Scotland,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07only strengthened them.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16James was just 18 when the Act of Union was passed in 1707.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18His entire life had been spent
0:23:18 > 0:23:22pacing the corridors of the palace here at Saint-Germain,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25carefully groomed to reclaim his blood right.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27By the time he reached adulthood,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30James was imbued with a single purpose -
0:23:30 > 0:23:31to become King.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38The Act of Union was yet another attempt to extinguish those ambitions
0:23:38 > 0:23:43but, instead, the Jacobite court saw it as an opportunity.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46The game of crowns that had, for almost 20 years,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48been a furious propaganda war of words
0:23:48 > 0:23:51was about to get a lot more serious.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00James eagerly sent one of his agents, Nathaniel Hooke, to Scotland
0:24:00 > 0:24:04to sound out likely levels of support for a Jacobite rising.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06It was all enticing stuff,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and when Hooke returned to France
0:24:08 > 0:24:12brandishing a document signed by ten Scottish nobles
0:24:12 > 0:24:13and promising that the whole nation
0:24:13 > 0:24:16will rise upon the return of its king,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19the young and ambitious James was itching to act
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and, in March 1708, he did.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36James and his entourage, with 30 vessels and 6,000 French troops,
0:24:36 > 0:24:37set sail from Dunkirk
0:24:37 > 0:24:40en route to the east coast of Scotland.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52As James saw it,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56he was at last returning to the British shores he'd left as a baby
0:24:56 > 0:25:00and it was time to reclaim his family's honour.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Except that it didn't prove to be quite that straightforward.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11In an incident that would set the tone
0:25:11 > 0:25:14for ensuing years of Jacobite rebellion,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17young James' uprising didn't quite go to plan.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25First, James had been struck down with measles before leaving France
0:25:25 > 0:25:27delaying his departure.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Alerted to the suspicious massing of thousands of troops
0:25:34 > 0:25:35on the French coast,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38a twitchy English government was quick to act.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44While Marlborough was ordered to strengthen England's borders,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49the Scottish coastline was left undefended and ripe for attack.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59James and his French armada were further hampered by winter storms
0:25:59 > 0:26:00that blew them off course
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and away from the planned invasion point in the Firth of Forth.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10By the time they finally arrived,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12government forces were waiting.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15The game was up.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21And James' French armada commander, Claude de Forbin, knew it.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Forbin had been given strict instructions by Louis himself
0:26:28 > 0:26:32either to deliver James safely or not at all.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35The French king needed a living Catholic monarch,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37not a dead royal martyr,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41and, with the prospect of an English fleet bearing down on him,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43and with only a handful of Jacobite soldiers
0:26:43 > 0:26:46having actually materialised on the mainland,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Forbin knew it was all over.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56He upped anchor and dashed back to France.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00The 1708 Jacobite uprising had failed.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09But, while Queen Anne mocked James with a new nickname,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Old Mr Misfortunate,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16in truth, the Jacobites had caught her government by surprise.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And, to make matters worse,
0:27:25 > 0:27:30the very man who had contributed to Stuart misfortunes in 1688
0:27:30 > 0:27:32now went from strength to strength.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Marlborough was by now not only a Duke
0:27:39 > 0:27:42but also a British national hero.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47A brilliant military strategist,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50he'd won stunning victories on the Continent
0:27:50 > 0:27:52from Blenheim to Ramillies.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58He'd been made Captain General of the army,
0:27:58 > 0:28:03while building work began on his most lasting physical legacy...
0:28:10 > 0:28:13..Blenheim Palace,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Marlborough's prize
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and a gift from a grateful Westminster Parliament,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21which had started to fund its construction.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30- Hi, Peter. I'm Clare. Hi. - Welcome to Blenheim Palace.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- Thank you. Wow. - Certainly got the wow factor.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Well, as you can see here, we have a 24-carat gold-leaf ceiling.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42- Well, it makes a statement, doesn't it?- It makes a big statement.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44That's what this is all about.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47It's really a statement about how powerful he was.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49He was a very popular hero at that time.
0:28:51 > 0:28:56Blenheim was the clear embodiment of Marlborough's success.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00An opulent palace full of the trappings of fame and wealth.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06But, as he basked in his military glory,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Marlborough's very reputation was about to haunt him
0:29:10 > 0:29:12as 18th-century British politics
0:29:12 > 0:29:14took an unexpected turn.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Britain's aggressive warmongering on the Continent
0:29:21 > 0:29:23might have benefited Marlborough
0:29:23 > 0:29:27but, to his enemies, his victories were only distractions
0:29:27 > 0:29:31from foreign wars that had been ruinously expensive
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and of limited strategic gain,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37and, as the Whigs' conquering hero, Marlborough was seized upon
0:29:37 > 0:29:42as symbolising everything associated with Whig misgovernment.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44To the Tory opposition,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Marlborough had primarily benefited himself
0:29:46 > 0:29:48during the years of Whig dominance.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50He'd amassed a great fortune,
0:29:50 > 0:29:52was building this grand palace,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55was demanding his military position be made permanent
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and was behaving as though he were King.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Marlborough had to go
0:29:59 > 0:30:01and so too did his Whig backers.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08The Tory opposition was gathering strength
0:30:08 > 0:30:10and, as a political party,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13they couldn't have been more different to the Whigs.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21The Tories now promoted themselves as the party of peace,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23the prudent, country party,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27and the champions of old English values.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30In short, the attractive alternative
0:30:30 > 0:30:32to an unpopular Whig government.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37But the Tories were also something else.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40They were staunch royalists
0:30:40 > 0:30:43and their party contained a significant number
0:30:43 > 0:30:45of Jacobite supporters,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48which made them a powerful ally for James.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54And, in 1710, they won a landslide parliamentary election.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56For Marlborough, this was a disaster.
0:30:56 > 0:31:01With the Whigs out of office, he, too, was out in the cold -
0:31:01 > 0:31:02public enemy number one
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and now the focus of a vindictive Tory witch hunt.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11The new Tory administration accused Marlborough of corruption
0:31:11 > 0:31:14and embezzling military funds.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Moves were made to impeach him
0:31:16 > 0:31:20and, by late 1712, public vilification had become
0:31:20 > 0:31:26so intense that Marlborough himself was forced to flee into exile.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28It was all music to James' ears.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32The very party that had masterminded his family's downfall had
0:31:32 > 0:31:35been wiped out at the polls, while many of the Tories
0:31:35 > 0:31:39now in power actively favoured a Jacobite restoration.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41And, with Anne's health failing,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45the end of the Protestant Stuart line was drawing near.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49The timing felt right and James smelt another opportunity.
0:31:51 > 0:31:52And he wasn't the only one.
0:31:55 > 0:31:56Marlborough, it seemed,
0:31:56 > 0:32:00was also sensing a possible change in Jacobite fortunes.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08I'm meeting historian Daniel Szechi here at Blenheim to find out more.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Can you talk us through the exact nature of Marlborough's
0:32:12 > 0:32:15correspondence with the Jacobite court in exile?
0:32:15 > 0:32:19He'd always been in correspondence with the exiled courts
0:32:19 > 0:32:21since the 1690s.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26But there'd been a lapse, and then in 1713, through an intermediary,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29he asks for somebody he can speak to.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32What do we actually know about the content of the exchanges
0:32:32 > 0:32:35that took place between Marlborough and the exiled court?
0:32:35 > 0:32:39What Marlborough wanted at that point was to be
0:32:39 > 0:32:43protected from impeachment and he said he would like permission from
0:32:43 > 0:32:51Louis XIV to be allowed to settle in southern France for his health and
0:32:51 > 0:32:58he asked specifically that James III contact Louis XIV and arrange this.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00What was the significance of Marlborough
0:33:00 > 0:33:03getting in touch for James?
0:33:03 > 0:33:07For James, it was always possible
0:33:07 > 0:33:10that if Marlborough had genuinely
0:33:10 > 0:33:15at last turned to Jacobitism,
0:33:15 > 0:33:20then he could be an ace card.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24Marlborough was one of the best generals in Europe.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27If he was on the Jacobite side,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31it would have been an enormous gain in military terms
0:33:31 > 0:33:37but, for Marlborough, it's all about reinsurance.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40In the event that James returns,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42he wants to be able to say,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45"Well, I was always your secret friend".
0:33:48 > 0:33:53Marlborough was clearly a powerful ally for the Stuarts.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57But James also had good reason to doubt the loyalties of a man
0:33:57 > 0:34:00who had not only betrayed his father in 1688,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04but had also pledged empty promises before.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06And James was right to be cautious.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:34:12 > 0:34:16# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah... #
0:34:16 > 0:34:21300 miles away, amid the ornate gardens and palace of Herrenhausen
0:34:21 > 0:34:23lived George Ludwig of Hanover...
0:34:25 > 0:34:28..whose family had been named as the next Protestant successors
0:34:28 > 0:34:33to Queen Anne in the English Act of Settlement.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
0:34:38 > 0:34:42# For the Lord God... #
0:34:42 > 0:34:45When he wasn't in contact with James, Marlborough spent
0:34:45 > 0:34:48much of his time in exile currying favour with the Hanoverians
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and paving the way for a peaceful succession.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Once again, he was hedging his bets
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and trying to keep in with both claimants to the throne.
0:34:56 > 0:35:02# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah... #
0:35:02 > 0:35:05And it would be the signing of an international peace treaty
0:35:05 > 0:35:08that finally helped Marlborough to make up his mind.
0:35:14 > 0:35:20In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht ended a lengthy war between much
0:35:20 > 0:35:24of Catholic Europe and Protestant Britain and her allies.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28But Queen Anne's signing of the treaty included one key condition.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31James had to be expelled from France.
0:35:35 > 0:35:42Louis XIV was war-weary, physically unwell and desperate for peace.
0:35:42 > 0:35:43He agreed.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50For Marlborough, Louis XIV's expulsion of James
0:35:50 > 0:35:52crystallised his own loyalties.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57He now pinned his colours to the Hanoverians' mast.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01But, for James, it was a major setback.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03He now had to find another foreign home.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10He finally settled in the town of Bar-le-Duc, in Lorraine -
0:36:10 > 0:36:16now a region of north-east France but then an independent Duchy.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19But James was isolated here
0:36:19 > 0:36:24and more cut-off from his Jacobite supporters than ever before.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27And while Marlborough secretly helped to pave the way
0:36:27 > 0:36:30for a smooth Hanoverian succession,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34back in London, the Tory administration was fatally split.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40With the Tories bitterly divided between one faction
0:36:40 > 0:36:44keen to persuade Queen Anne to support James' return as king
0:36:44 > 0:36:48when she died and the other just as firmly opposed, the Whigs could
0:36:48 > 0:36:52focus on the succession of their new king without anyone really noticing.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Frustrating for James,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Britain seemed on course to have a foreign prince with a very
0:36:57 > 0:36:59distant claim as its new king,
0:36:59 > 0:37:04while the next in line could only watch from afar here in Lorraine.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11And, in October 1714, that's exactly what happened.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15The Queen was dead - long live the King!
0:37:18 > 0:37:20George I.
0:37:20 > 0:37:26A new British king and the first in a lineage that continues to this day.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31Marlborough was once again rewarded for his loyalty.
0:37:31 > 0:37:36He was reinstated as Captain General of the British Army.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40He got his Palatial Blenheim back and returned to London
0:37:40 > 0:37:43to a hero's welcome.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48But the birth of this new Hanoverian era proved divisive among
0:37:48 > 0:37:50the people of these islands.
0:37:55 > 0:38:01On 8th May 1715, just months after George I's coronation,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04the Royal Standard was raised outside
0:38:04 > 0:38:09St James' Palace in London to mark the King's birthday.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12But the signal was not met by cheers of celebration,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15but shouts of angry resentment.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20For not everyone warmly welcomed the Hanoverian foreigner that now
0:38:20 > 0:38:23sat on the British throne.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28The Hanoverian succession had been constantly discussed in sermons,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32newspapers and coffee houses throughout the country for months.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36But when the new king set about exercising his will,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39the popular mood began to change.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42George was keen to reward those Whigs who had helped to
0:38:42 > 0:38:44secure his succession with government posts.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48But he was equally keen to punish Tory opponents.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Some were arrested and charged with fabricated offences,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54and all Tories, however unjustifiably,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59found themselves branded as basically disloyal to the Hanoverian cause.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04Ostracized, regarded with suspicion, and excluded from power,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08many Tories simply ran into the arms of committed Jacobites
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and Tory anger fanned the flames of unrest.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15The ugly mood in London quickly spread throughout England
0:39:15 > 0:39:18and Scotland, highlighting just how polarized Britain
0:39:18 > 0:39:22was at the time its new German monarch arrived.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27The people of these islands faced a stark choice.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31Did they want a united, Protestant Britain, ruled by a foreign
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Hanoverian monarch, and a centralized Westminster parliament,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38or the Catholic James Stuart,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41a monarch who promised to dissolve the Anglo-Scottish union
0:39:41 > 0:39:44and restore England and Scotland as independent nations, with
0:39:44 > 0:39:49separate parliaments and toleration of different religious practices?
0:39:49 > 0:39:55In short, were you for the Stuarts or were you for the Hanoverians?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57The choice was a simple one
0:39:57 > 0:40:00and, for the exiled James, it was the incentive to act.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06It was time to draw the battle lines of rebellion once again.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17- Morning, Colin. Hi. I'm Clare.- Good morning. Welcome to Lyon & Turnbull.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19This is the largest hoard
0:40:19 > 0:40:22of Jacobite memorabilia ever to be auctioned.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Well, a man who needs no introduction, the old pretender,
0:40:29 > 0:40:33James, sitting here in armour, a very, very strong portrait.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36It's part of a sale commemorating the 300th anniversary
0:40:36 > 0:40:41of the often overlooked 1715 Jacobite rebellion.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44They're lovely small objects that really tell many, many stories
0:40:44 > 0:40:46and, as you can see, a great variety.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50It was dubbed The '15
0:40:50 > 0:40:53and it was one of the most significant flashpoints
0:40:53 > 0:40:58in the Stuarts' century-long quest to regain their thrones.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02But it's a story that's often neglected in Jacobite history -
0:41:02 > 0:41:04a complex, yet fascinating affair,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06far removed from the polished trinkets
0:41:06 > 0:41:09and relics up for sale today.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12First lot in the sale, ladies and gentlemen and bidding on this opens
0:41:12 > 0:41:16at £1,200. 1,300, 1,400, 1,500,
0:41:16 > 0:41:191,600, 1,900, 2,000. Start me at 2,000.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20Two-six is the telephone bidder.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Selling at £2,600.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33By the summer of 1715, while the exiled Jacobites
0:41:33 > 0:41:38set about planning James' future restoration, with the help of
0:41:38 > 0:41:43French military backing, rebellion continued to brew across Britain.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Support for the Jacobites was particularly strong
0:41:51 > 0:41:55in southern England, and was led by the Duke of Ormonde,
0:41:55 > 0:41:56a committed supporter of the Stuarts,
0:41:56 > 0:42:02an experienced soldier and a former Captain General of the British Army.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Along with other Jacobite supporters, Ormonde started
0:42:05 > 0:42:09to orchestrate risings across the towns and cities of the south-west.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15But the sudden raising of Jacobite forces instantly raised
0:42:15 > 0:42:20the alarm within a twitchy and constantly alert Whig government.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28In July 1715, the King addressed parliament, confirming that
0:42:28 > 0:42:32the Pretenders' invasion plans were already well known.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36A reward of £100,000 was offered to anyone who captured James
0:42:36 > 0:42:39should he arrive on British soil, and there were mass arrests
0:42:39 > 0:42:44of anyone suspected of Jacobite plotting.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46It was the first important flashpoint of the rebellion.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Would the English Jacobites rise up en masse as required?
0:42:53 > 0:42:56No, they would not.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00With a hefty bounty now placed on his head,
0:43:00 > 0:43:04Ormonde abandoned the south-west offensive and fled to France.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09Panicked by the loss of their leader,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12the English Jacobites gave up the fight and went into hiding.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19And it was into this vacuum that one of the key players
0:43:19 > 0:43:23of the 1715 rebellion emerged.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27The Earl of Mar was a prominent Tory politician
0:43:27 > 0:43:30and a man deliberately ostracized by the new Hanoverian regime.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41Mar had enthusiastically joined the Jacobite ranks.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44but, after the rapid collapse of the south-west offensive,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Mar realised he needed to take the initiative.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Government forces were on high alert
0:43:51 > 0:43:54and hunting down suspected Jacobite ringleaders.
0:43:54 > 0:43:55Mar needed to act quickly.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02He left London in early August 1715,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04and headed north to the one place
0:44:04 > 0:44:06he knew Jacobite support remained strong.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Mar's plan was to invite influential nobles and clan chiefs
0:44:14 > 0:44:18from across Scotland to join him in a major Jacobite uprising.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24Here in the Highland town of Braemar,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27the Jacobite standard was raised on the 6th September.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Mar then delivered a stirring speech to the gathered crowd
0:44:30 > 0:44:34in which he claimed that his eyes had now been opened to the
0:44:34 > 0:44:37cursed union and the negative impact of Hanoverian rule.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41It was powerful rhetoric, and together with assurances that
0:44:41 > 0:44:44King James himself was now en route to Scotland with French
0:44:44 > 0:44:48reinforcements, it was an enticing prospect for those listening.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55But, as Mar waved James Stuart's declaration of war,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58he made a fatal strategic error.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00He had declared too early.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08For, in France, Old Mr Misfortunate had been hit by yet another setback.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Louis XIV had died just days before Mar's speech in Braemar
0:45:15 > 0:45:21and had been succeeded by his sickly five-year-old great grandson.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Control of French policy passed to Louis's nephew,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26who did not favour the Stuarts.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29So, French support for Jacobite rebellion went cold
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and James' invasion plans had stalled.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38Louis' death was bad news for the rebellion's chances.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40And it was fatal for Mar.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44Oblivious to events back in France, Mar had already started
0:45:44 > 0:45:47the Scottish Jacobite uprising in earnest.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52Supported by many Scottish clansmen and lowlanders, Mar had rallied
0:45:52 > 0:45:55a sizeable army and started marching south into central Scotland.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02At the beginning of October 1715, most of Scotland
0:46:02 > 0:46:04was in fact controlled by the Jacobites.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06The nation was theirs for the taking.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09And things were looking up elsewhere.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Support for the Stuarts had always been strong
0:46:16 > 0:46:19in the north-east of England.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23And, as Mar's Scottish rebellion gathered momentum, Jacobites
0:46:23 > 0:46:27here in the north-east also began to think about making a move.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32The ringleaders were local Tory MP Thomas Forster
0:46:32 > 0:46:34and a young nobleman, the Earl Of Derwentwater.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40On 5th October, they gathered here at this farmhouse
0:46:40 > 0:46:46in the Northumberland village of Bamburgh to plot their uprising.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51They agreed that seizing Newcastle was their first priority.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54They would then rendezvous with the southern Scots clans who
0:46:54 > 0:46:58controlled the border region, and then meet up with Mar's larger army.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01It was a sound plan and they easily recruited a small
0:47:01 > 0:47:05and willing force of around 1,000, and headed for Newcastle.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12They travelled full of hope,
0:47:12 > 0:47:17but arrived to find no cheering crowds, and the city gates locked.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Unnerved by the lack of support, Derwentwater
0:47:24 > 0:47:28and Forster then headed north towards the Scottish border
0:47:28 > 0:47:34to meet the Jacobites there, and somehow combine their two forces.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38But what followed only served to increase the confusion.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44Both armies gathered here in the Scottish borders
0:47:44 > 0:47:47but neither side could decide what to do next.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51While Forster, Derwentwater and the English Jacobites wanted
0:47:51 > 0:47:54the Scots to join their march into England, the Scots preferred
0:47:54 > 0:47:59the idea of retreating north to rendezvous with Mar in Perth.
0:47:59 > 0:48:04It was a bizarre deadlock and one that would prove costly.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11As they argued over where to go next,
0:48:11 > 0:48:12government troops closed in.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27Meanwhile, in France, James had finally secured French support.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29He set sail for Scotland,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32intending to join Mar's by now huge Jacobite army.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41During October 1715, Mar stationed 10,000 of his troops in Perth
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and, from here, co-ordinated
0:48:43 > 0:48:46a number of small-scale local uprisings and raids.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54But the Hanoverian administration was quick to react.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Led by the highly experienced Duke of Argyll,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00government forces were garrisoned at Stirling Castle.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05As winter approached,
0:49:05 > 0:49:09Mar decided it was time to push his Jacobite offensive south.
0:49:09 > 0:49:10By early November,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14his army was marching across the Sheriffmuir Hills,
0:49:14 > 0:49:18around eight miles from Argyll's forces in Stirling
0:49:18 > 0:49:22and it wouldn't be long before the two sides came face-to-face.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27His army might only have been one third of the size of Mar's,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30but Argyll was a seasoned campaigner.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33He tactically placed his troops in the favourable position
0:49:33 > 0:49:36on raised ground, looking down on the Jacobites.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45Between them lay two miles of rolling moorland and, as the sun set,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49this stark physical landscape became the stage for the great
0:49:49 > 0:49:51Scottish battle of the '15 rebellion.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57As trouble brewed in Scotland,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00the English Jacobites had abandoned their standoff with the Scots
0:50:00 > 0:50:04and headed south, eventually reaching the town of Preston.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17But the Hanoverian forces were closing in quickly.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21When the first government troops arrived outside Preston
0:50:21 > 0:50:22on the 12th November 1715,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26they found the town's streets and houses barricaded.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29From heavily defended positions, the Jacobites opened fire
0:50:29 > 0:50:32and the Hanoverians were forced to retreat.
0:50:32 > 0:50:37Derwentwater and his men were in fact in a strong position at this point.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Preston, it seemed, was theirs for the taking.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43But when government reinforcements arrived,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46the Jacobites were quickly surrounded and outnumbered.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52As night fell, the Hanoverian commander started setting fire
0:50:52 > 0:50:55to parts of the town.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58And while many English Jacobites retaliated, others deserted
0:50:58 > 0:50:59and drifted away.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17And, as morning broke on the 13th November, Mar and Argyll
0:51:17 > 0:51:21eyeballed one another across the desolate Sheriffmuir.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32While, in England, the battle of Preston was about to play itself out.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40In Scotland, Argyll was the first to make his move.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45He formed his government army into two attack lines,
0:51:45 > 0:51:47facing the Jacobites.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54After some hesitation, Mar then gave the order to attack.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56And the Highlanders charged.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00But Argyll had anticipated this,
0:52:00 > 0:52:04and sent a flanking force to ambush them on the right wing.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13Taken by surprise, the Jacobite charge was stopped in its tracks.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18Meanwhile, in Preston,
0:52:18 > 0:52:23the English Jacobites were now completely surrounded.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27Despite successfully defending their positions the previous day,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Derwentwater and Forster now took cover in a graveyard
0:52:31 > 0:52:34where they decided what to do next.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Forster summoned a war council
0:52:37 > 0:52:39and immediately suggested they surrender.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40While some agreed,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Derwentwater and many of the Scottish Jacobites refused.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48A farcical brawl ensued with half the Jacobite army
0:52:48 > 0:52:53threatening to lynch Forster if he did not fight to the death.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57But Forster was not a soldier - he was a politician
0:52:57 > 0:53:01and he had no appetite for a sustained fight.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Surrender was inevitable.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08In Sheriffmuir,
0:53:08 > 0:53:13the other great battle of the 1715 rebellion was in full flow.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Having easily overwhelmed the first Jacobite attack,
0:53:16 > 0:53:20Argyll was now ready to move in for the kill.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24But his attempt to finish things off proved less decisive.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28Thanks to the uneven rolling ground of this battlefield,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Argyll's other flanking force, coming from the left,
0:53:31 > 0:53:33couldn't see the enemy as they approached.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36The men became scattered into small groups
0:53:36 > 0:53:40and were easily overwhelmed by Mar's much larger army.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43But, as the day drew on, exhaustion set in
0:53:43 > 0:53:47and both sides slowly began to retreat from the battlefield.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56In Preston, white flags of surrender were being raised
0:53:56 > 0:54:00by the English Jacobites by 8pm that evening.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05Derwentwater surrendered himself first, but, amid the mayhem,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08failed to inform his troops, who were surprised when he then appeared
0:54:08 > 0:54:12in the churchyard with government soldiers at his side.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Around 200 men were dead
0:54:16 > 0:54:22and the last battle to be fought on English soil was over.
0:54:22 > 0:54:27The Jacobite rising in England had failed.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29And in Sheriffmuir,
0:54:29 > 0:54:34the fight for Scotland was also drawing to a curious end.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37After effectively abandoning the battlefield,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40both armies eventually returned.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Mar simply watched as Argyll regrouped his forces
0:54:43 > 0:54:47on the other side and a prolonged face-off ensued.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Neither side, it seemed, had the appetite to carry on.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Sheriffmuir had degenerated into a farcical stalemate
0:54:55 > 0:55:00and the battle to take Scotland had resulted in a no-score draw.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06As Mar and Argyll marched their armies away in opposite
0:55:06 > 0:55:10directions and Jacobite prisoners were rounded up in Preston,
0:55:10 > 0:55:15both uprisings did have one concrete outcome.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18They had broken the heart of the Jacobite rebellion.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26And amid an air of despondency and defeat, the man for whom
0:55:26 > 0:55:30the entire 1715 rebellion had been staged finally appeared.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37James had set sail from France just as the battle lines at Preston
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and Sheriffmuir were being drawn up.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43But he was not accompanied by a mass French army
0:55:43 > 0:55:47and his hopes of royal restoration were pinned on victory having
0:55:47 > 0:55:49already been secured in Britain.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57But, like the unlucky chief guest at a banquet that would never take
0:55:57 > 0:56:03place, Old Mr Misfortunate instead arrived on an empty Scottish beach.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08He was met by a demoralized Mar who was obliged to break the bad news.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13The rebellion was already over.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15James had failed to reclaim his crown.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22Any advance on £32,000? At 32,000...
0:56:25 > 0:56:301715 was, in our history, a moment of genuine potential.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33But overambition killed it -
0:56:33 > 0:56:37a fatal blend of rash impatience, chronic indecision
0:56:37 > 0:56:39and a lack of strategic coordination.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44There were serious discontents ripe for Jacobite exploitation,
0:56:44 > 0:56:48but, across Britain, the rebellion on the ground was bungled.
0:56:51 > 0:56:56And, throughout all this activity, floated James Francis Stuart,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00seemingly drifting through the 1715 rebellion,
0:57:00 > 0:57:04chasing the empty promises of his various supporters.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07And the man whose support he had hoped for most
0:57:07 > 0:57:09never even came to the party.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Marlborough remained at Blenheim Palace, orchestrating
0:57:17 > 0:57:21the Hanoverian armies that engineered the Jacobites' defeat.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28By this time, Blenheim was nearly complete and soon came to
0:57:28 > 0:57:33symbolize the new order - a huge Georgian palace that would play
0:57:33 > 0:57:40host to the great and the good of Continental Europe for generations.
0:57:40 > 0:57:46James, on the other hand, would never recover from the failure of 1715.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51He spent barely a month on British soil
0:57:51 > 0:57:56before once again fleeing back to the Continent.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59But the story of the Stuarts in exile was far from over.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Like a sore that constantly itched,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10the Jacobite threat refused to go away.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14James eventually found refuge in another Catholic haven,
0:58:14 > 0:58:18among the piazzas of Rome, and soon made himself at home.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22And amid the disappointments of his attempts to play this
0:58:22 > 0:58:26game of crowns, James Francis had achieved one victory -
0:58:26 > 0:58:28a son and heir,
0:58:28 > 0:58:31a new beacon of hope that would signal the next chapter
0:58:31 > 0:58:33in the Jacobite story.
0:58:33 > 0:58:38Charles Edward Stuart, the Bonnie Prince who would keep
0:58:38 > 0:58:40the family's dreams alive.
0:58:40 > 0:58:44The man who would again try to take the Stuarts out of exile,
0:58:44 > 0:58:46and place them back on the British throne.