Prince Charles Edward Stuart and Music: A Lifelong Love

Citation

Baccolo S & Cunningham CE (2024) Prince Charles Edward Stuart and Music: A Lifelong Love. The Jacobite: Journal of the 1745 Association, (175F), pp. 1-45.

Abstract
Historians have paid much attention to Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s connection with music when studying his youth. Yet they have never entirely explored his close relationship with it throughout the prince's life. The heavily mythologised and romanticised image of ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, borne from popular memory, folklore and legend, also influenced the interpretation of Charles’s connection with music in several of his numerous biographies. The authors argue that many writers have confused or misconstrued part of this musical connection, predominantly associating the prince with instruments such as the bagpipes. This article exposes the significant role that Charles gave to music in building and managing his social relations and public image. It also demonstrates how the prince’s education as a European Prince shaped and influenced his passion for the arts, which royalty and the aristocracy shared, especially his love of Italian Baroque.

Journal
The Jacobite: Journal of the 1745 Association, Issue 175F