Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart (Pimlico) by Frank McLynn

Chronology of the Principal Events in the Life of Charles Edward Stuart
(1720–88)
    31 December 1720
Born at Rome.
    1725
Birth of his brother Henry.
    November 1725
His mother, Clementina Sobieska leaves James for a convent.
    1726–8
The prince at Bologna with his father, James, ‘the old Pretender’.
    1728
Reunion with his mother and return to Rome.
    1734
Gaeta campaign.
    1735
Death of Clementina Sobieska.
    1737
The prince’s tour of northern Italy.
    1738
Death of 2nd duke of Berwick (Liria).
    9 January 1744
Departs Rome for France.
    February–March 1744
At Gravelines with French invasion force.
    April 1744–June 1745
In France (Paris, Fitzjames, Navarre).
    July 1745
Sails from Nantes and Belle-Isle for Scotland.
    3 August (NS)
Lands in Scotland.
    19 August (OS)
Raises the standard at Glenfinnan.
    17 September
Enters Edinburgh.
    21 September
Defeats Cope at Prestonpans.
    21 September–1 November
In Edinburgh.
    8 November
Invades England.
    5 December
Council at Derby insists on retreat.
    20 December
Re-enters Scotland.
    17 January 1746
Defeats Hawley at Falkirk.
    1 February
Retreat to the Highlands commences.
    Mid-February–mid-April
The prince based at Inverness.
    16 April 1746
Defeated by Cumberland at Culloden.
    17 April–20 September
The prince in the heather.
    10 October (NS)
The prince arrives at Roscoff.
    October 1746–January 1747
The prince in and around Paris.
    January–March
His embassy to Madrid via Avignon.
    May
His brother Henry departs secretly for Rome.
    July
The prince hears that Henry has been made a cardinal.
    Autumn 1747–January 1748
Affair with Louise de Montbazon.
    February 1748
Beginning of affair with the Princesse de Talmont.
    10 December 1748
His arrest and confinement in the Chateau de Vincennes, followed by expulsion from France.
    27 December 1748
He reaches Avignon.
    February 1749
Leaves Avignon to begin the ‘obscure years’.
    May 1749
In Venice.
    1749–52
The prince based in Luneville. End of the affair with the Princesse de Talmont.
    1752–4
Based in Ghent and Liège. Renews liaison with Clementina Walkinshaw. Failure of the Elibank Plot. Birth of his daughter Charlotte (1753).
    1754–6
Final break with Marischal and effective end of Jacobitism. The prince in Basle with Clementina.
    1756–8
In Liège.
    1758–65
The prince based at Bouillon.
    1759
Negotiations with Choiseul over projected French invasion of England.
    1760
Clementina Walkinshaw leaves him, taking Charlotte with her.
    1765
The prince renews contact with Henry.
    1 January 1766
Death of his father James.
    1766
The prince returns to Rome but is not recognised as ‘Charles III’ by the Pope.
    1766–74
The prince based in Rome.
    1772
Marriage to Louise of Stolberg.
    1774–86
The prince based in Florence.
    1778–80
Louise of Stolberg’s affair with Alfieri.
    1780
Louise flees to a convent.
    1783–4
Visit of Gustav III of Sweden.
    1784
Recognises Charlotte as his legitimate daughter and makes her duchess of Albany.
    1786
Returns to Rome with his daughter.
    30 January 1788
Dies in Rome, aged 67.



Preface
    There has never been a comprehensive scholarly biography of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. That deficiency, is, I think, sufficient justification for the labour expended in a twelve-year Odyssey in the world of ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, a journey that also produced my first three books on the Jacobites. I have consulted nearly 100,000 individual documents in the Stuart papers and tens of thousands in other manuscript collections, especially in the Vatican archives. To the best of my knowledge, much of this material has never been used before. Yet a biography can never be purely a work of antiquarian research. I have benefited greatly from wide reading in the literature on childhood, and I have found many psychoanalytical studies and psychohistorical methodologies useful.
    I must first of all thank Her Majesty the Queen for allowing me to work in her archives. Then I must explain two procedural decisions I