February: The Cruelest Month of Scotland's Stuart Dynasty

February was a cruel month if your name was Stewart or Stuart and you were part of that extraordinary dynasty which held the throne of Scotland for more than 340 years.

So why should they have feared February? It just happens to be the month of the year when a lot of untoward things happened to, or were caused to happen by, the royal descendants of the High Steward of Scotland.

Here is condensed timeline:

• 22nd February 1371 - the Stewarts gain the throne of Scotland with the end of the Bruce line with Robert Stewart (III) becoming King
• February 1406 - James I (son of Robert III) was sent into exile aged 12yo - it lasted 25 years, during which time he married Joan Beaufort (12th February 1424). 
• 21st February 1431 - James I is brutally murdered
• 22nd February 1452 - James II (heir of James I) in an attemtp to deal with the powerful Douglas clan, ended up brutally stabbing James, Earl of Douglas, which led to a long period of civil war
• 2nd February 1488 - James III (heir of James II) had has troubles with rebellious nobles - his son, future James IV, was handed over to the rebels - was was inevitable.
• 21st February 1507 - James IV's wife Margaret Tudor gives birth to a son James 
• 27th February 1508 - James IV's son, infant James died
• 10th February 1567 - death of Henry Darnely, husband of Mary Queen of Scots (granddaughter of James IV)
• 8th February 1587 - execution of Mary Queen of Scots - the order signed on 1st February.
• 5th February 1649 - Charles II was acclaimed King of Scotland following the execution of his father Charles I (the succession in Scotland was unbroken)
• 6th February 1685 - death of Charles II - he was succeeded by his brother James II
• February 1687 - Anne, sister & successor to Mary, lost her two daughters to illness
• 13th February 1689 - reign of James II officially over when William & Mary proclaimed
• 13th February 1693 - William I signs the order for what will be known as the Glencoe Massacre
• 5th February 1716 - the uprising to put James Stuart (the Old Pretender) back on the throne ended in failure - the Stuart claim to the throne was officially over.
• February 1687 - Queen Anne (born 6th February 1665)
  , sister & successor to Mary, lost her two daughters

Read a more detailed timeline in The National