George I Facts & Worksheets

• Sophia, who had an affair with the Swedish nobility Count Philip von Königsmarck, was found to be having an affair with George senior, leading to their divorce in December 1694. After the count vanished inexplicably, Sophia was sent to Ahlden House in Celle, where she would remain for the remainder of her life and be denied contact with her children. 
• Melusine von der Schulenburg, whom George had created Duchess of Kendal in 1719, was one of his famous mistresses. Melusine was treated at court as the king's wife, regardless of whether the pair were secretly married. Three illegitimate daughters were born to the union. Charlotte Sophia Kellmanns, who was unjustly claimed to be George's half-sister, was another of the king's several mistresses.

RULE AS KING

• After just one visit to England (in around 1680), George became King George I of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 August 1714. At the age of 54, he became the oldest king or queen to ascend to the throne. This transition between the royal families was met with little organised or immediate opposition. George was crowned on 20 October 1714, at Westminster Abbey. Nevertheless, the next year there would be a challenge to his monarchy.

Jacobite Rebellions

• Despite the official choice or the ban on a Catholic taking the throne, George's ascension was seriously challenged in 1715. The group known as the Jacobites backed James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, who was James II's exiled son's heir apparent to the British throne. The future king refused to give up his Catholic faith in order to win over more potential followers. Furthermore, he wasn't the most charismatic of leaders and, for once, a war-weary France wasn't willing to get involved in British issues. 
• As a result of these flaws, the Jacobite Rising was a flop, and it was put down in Scotland at the Battle of Preston on 14 November 1715, before the Old Pretender ever arrived. 
• After suffering through a miserable Scottish winter for six weeks, the Old Pretender departed to Continental Europe. 
• There were two further Jacobite plans that failed, one in 1719 with Spanish help and the other in 1722 with the improbable goal of seizing control of London. The causes of the failure were bad weather and betrayal, respectively.

Political Landscape

• In Parliament, the Whigs and the Tories were the two dominant parties. Rich landowners, corporate entrepreneurs and financial speculators made up the Whig coalition. They only wanted a very limited monarchy since they were ardent supporters of legislative authority. The majority of the country aristocracy who supported the two main traditions of the church and monarchy made up the more conservative Tories.
• The king then presided over a constitutional monarchy in which Parliament had significant authority, notably over taxes. No monarch could dismiss a declaration of war, as had frequently occurred under the Stuart rulers. Only Parliament could do so. Despite his bad English, George was fluent in numerous other languages, and as such he frequently used French and Latin to conduct governance in his new kingdom. 
• The monarch chose his advisers from both sides. However, certain Tory members of parliament, most notably the Earl of Mar, were publicly accused of being Jacobite sympathisers. 
• Whig media consistently portrayed their rivals as 'Jacobites' as opposed to 'Tories'. 
• Because of this prejudice, those who aspired to positions of authority eventually decided to separate themselves from the defunct Conservatives and join the Whig party. 
• After winning the 1715 general election, the Whigs remained in power for the ensuing 100 years.

Foreign Policies

• The War of Spanish Succession was resolved in 1713–1715 by the Treaty of Utrecht, which also brought about the expansion of British possessions in North America (Newfoundland and Nova Scotia) and a profitable monopoly contract for the transportation of slaves from Africa to Spanish Empire provinces. 
• King George was unsatisfied because he had thought that the war against France would go on and expand Hanover's lands. 
• The Tory administration signed the pact, and the monarch never forgot it. Britain and Spain fought each other from 1718 to 1719 over Spain's territorial ambitions in the Mediterranean. 
• After a Spanish fleet was destroyed, the two competing nations engaged in yet another battle in 1726 when Spain attempted to but was unable to regain Gibraltar. 
• In 1729, a peace treaty was concluded, recognising Gibraltar as a British territory and allowing trade between the British and the Spanish American possessions.
• George was eager to exploit his newfound realm to increase Hanover's economy. One strategy was to seize Bremen and Verden – both of which Sweden was closely pursuing – by using the formidable Royal Navy. Hanover, a landlocked nation, would gain vital access to the North Sea with their takeover. The tactic, which amounted to little more than threatening naval involvement, worked, and Hanover was able to capture the two provinces in 1719 through a peace deal.