Page "History of Scotland" Paragraph 69

By 1700, the Protestant monarchy seemed in danger of coming to an end with the childless Stuart Princess Anne.

Rather than return to her Roman Catholic brother James Francis Edward Stuart, the English Parliament decided that Sophia of Hanover and her descendants should succeed ( Act of Settlement 1701 ).

However, the Scottish counterpart, the Act of Security, prohibited a Roman Catholic successor, leaving open the possibility that the crowns would diverge.