Exile of Viscount Bolingbroke

Political Context. Bolingbroke was a British Tory politician and philosopher who supported the 1715 Jacobite rebellion aimed at overthrowing King George I. In August 1712, he had previously gone to France to sign an armistice between Britain and France for four months.

Role in the Stuart Court. Bolingbroke joined the Pretender and was made Earl of Bolingbroke in the Jacobite Peerage. He took charge of foreign affairs in the Stuart court. This occurred in a context where the 1715 uprising was badly botched and the death of Louis XIV meant the Pretender had lost his major sponsor.

Legal and Literary Aftermath. Bolingbroke lost his titles and property when Parliament voted a bill of attainder for treason. He wrote 'Reflexions upon Exile' and a letter to Sir William Wyndham explaining his position, which was not published until 1753 after his death.