What Was The Jacobite Cause?

The Jacobite cause was a revolution that united Scots, Britons and citizens of other European countries, led by James VII and II to vent out their hidden angst and frustration against the rift caused by the polarisation of people on communal lines. Critics have found a way to look at the cause in as unsympathetic a manner as possible and make the sweeping statement that people in Europe were swayed by sentiment and caught up in a complex whirlpool of religious and political loyalties, that would be (and still is, as a matter of fact) not only extremely difficult, but also highly impossible, for them to get out of.

The revolt managed to bring together all the disgruntled and passionate Catholics of Europe to join forces and fight a battle against the Protestant Williamites, led ably by William III of England and Ireland and William II of Scotland, which was not insignificant but was highly unnecessary and pretty ridiculous to say the least. This battle was known as the Battle of Boyne, and the Jacobites were outnumbered and hence defeated. The battle was doomed to fail right at the outset, as the Jacobites were not even a match for their much stronger (in every way) opponents.

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