Isabel Stuart
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Isabel Stuart (28 August 1676 – 2 March 1681), also called Isobel and Isabella,''Burials in Westminster Abbey'', p. 201 was a daughter of the future King
James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...
and his second wife,
Mary of Modena Mary of Modena ( it, Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; ) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the young ...
. Isabel was born at
St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...
in London. She was the second daughter of James and Mary, after her sister Catherine Laura who died eleven months before Isabel's birth. Isabel had two older half-sisters from her father's first marriage to
Anne Hyde Anne Hyde (12 March 163731 March 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII. Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry – Edward Hyde (later created ...
: Mary and Anne; both would become reigning Queens of England. Isabel's paternal grandparents were
Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...
and his wife
Henrietta Maria of France Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...
, her maternal grandparents were
Alfonso IV d'Este Alfonso IV d'Este (2 February 1634 – 16 July 1662) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1658 until his death. He was the father of Mary of Modena, consort of James II of England. Alfonso was born in Modena, the eldest son of Francesco I d'E ...
and Laura Martinozzi.


Life

For the majority of her lifetime, Isabel was the royal couple's only child and thus fourth in line to the throne (behind her father, Mary and Anne). She was moved down a place upon the birth of her brother Charles Stuart, Duke of Cambridge; however, he died of smallpox after living only for a month, so Isabel was promoted back up to fourth in line. In 1678, Isabel was joined by another sister, Elizabeth, who was also short-lived. Her family had a portrait painted of her by Sir Peter Lely. In 1678 when Isabel was two years old, the
Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...
led to her parents' being exiled to
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
to stay with Mary. The royal couple were accompanied by Isabel and Anne. A report that her uncle
King Charles King Charles may refer to: Kings A number of kings of Albania, Alençon, Anjou, Austria, Bohemia, Croatia, England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Jerusalem, Naples, Navarre, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sardinia, Scotland, Sicily, Sp ...
was very sick sent the family hurrying back to England. They feared that the King's eldest illegitimate son,
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685) was a Dutch-born English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlan ...
and commander of England's armed forces, might usurp the crown if Charles died in their absence.Oman, p 63. Monmouth enjoyed the support of the Exclusionists, who held a majority in the
House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...
. Charles survived but, feeling the family returned to court too soon, sent James and Mary to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where for the next three years they stayed on-and-off in the dilapidated
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...
, while Anne and Isabel stayed in London on Charles's orders. The couple were recalled to London in February 1680, only to return again to Edinburgh that autumn; this time they went on a more honourable footing: James was created King's Commissioner to Scotland. Separation from Isabel caused her mother to sink into a state of sadness, exacerbated by the passing of the Exclusion bill in the Commons.Haile, pp. 99–100 Lady Isabel, thus far the only one of Mary's children to survive infancy, died of natural causes in March 1681, five months before her fifth birthday, at St James's Palace, the place of her birth.Oman, p 71. She was buried at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
on 4 March (Old Style) as "The Lady Isabella, daughter to the Duke of York. Isabel's death plunged Mary into a religious mania, worrying her physician. At the same time as news reached Holyrood of Isabel's death, her maternal grandmother, Laura Martinozzi, was falsely accused of offering £10,000 for the murder of the King. The accuser, a pamphleteer, was executed by order of the King. Four years after Isabel's death, her father succeeded as King of England.


Ancestry


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Isabel 1676 births 1681 deaths 17th-century Scottish people 17th-century English women 17th-century English people 17th-century Scottish women Isabel English princesses Scottish princesses People from Westminster Burials at Westminster Abbey Children of James II of England Royalty and nobility who died as children Daughters of kings