The Stuart Successions Database is the central, open-access output from a four-year research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Led by researchers from the universities of Exeter and Oxford, The Stuart Successions Project aimed to identify and interpret the wealth of material published in response to each of the six Stuart successions: i.e. those of James VI and I (1603), Charles I (1625), Charles II (1660), James II (1685), William III and Mary II (1688-89), and Anne (1702). In the interests of establishing a more complete picture of the period, the project also covered the accessions to the role of Lord Protector of Oliver Cromwell (1653) and his son Richard (1658). Read more >>

Mike Bartlett’s recent play King Charles III, nominated for six Olivier awards, opens and concludes with a royal succession. The plot is a prophecy about Prince Charles’ future kingship, in which Charles uses dormant royal powers to stop Parliament passing legislation he disagrees with, and so sparks a revolution. Revolution is probably not at stake in today’s Supreme Court decision to release the real Prince Charles’ ‘black spider memos‘. But these letters will bring the Prince’s political leanings under scrutiny. Read more >>