Stuart Pretenders (Cromwell the Great)

The Stuart Pretenders, also know as the Stuart Succession and later as the Jacobite succession, refers to the royal pretenders to the Crowns of England and Scotland and Ireland after the execution of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland in 1649 by the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Despite the Stuart family connections through Henrietta Maria and the Princess of Orange, France and the Dutch Republic allied themselves with the Commonwealth's government from 1654, forcing Charles II to turn for aid to Spain, which at that time ruled the Southern Netherlands. Among the conditions of Treaty of Madrid (1670) between Spain and the Commonwealth was the removal of the Stuart Pretenders from Southern Netherlands. So the Court of Charles II moved to France at Louis XIV's invitation.

Charles initially raised a ragtag army from his exiled subjects.