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House of FitzJames

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FitzJames
Jacobite noble family

Arms of the House of FitzJames
Parent houseHouse of Stuart
CountryKingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Two Sicilies
Founded1670
FounderJames FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
Current headJacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 12th Duke of Berwick
Titles
List
Connected familiesHouse of Alba
House of Silva

The House of FitzJames Stuart, or simply FitzJames, is a noble house founded by James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick. He was the illegitimate son of James II & VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, a monarch of the House of Stuart.[1] After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the 1st Duke of Berwick followed his father into exile, and much of the family's history since then has been in Spain and France, with several members of the family serving in a military capacity.

The house has two main branches:

  1. The senior branch: It carries the title of Duke of Berwick and residing in Spain, originating from the 1st Duke's first marriage to Honora Burke, Countess of Lucan. Over time, this branch has accumulated many titles, including a few grandeeships of Spain, with some members acting as ambassadors or military officers.
  2. Junior Branch: Associated with France, this branch derives from the 1st Duke's second marriage to an Englishwoman, Anne Bulkeley. A notable member of this branch was Édouard de Fitz-James, 6th Duke of Fitz-James (1776–1838), an ultraroyalist who escaped to Italy after the French Revolution and returned to France around the time of the Bourbon Restoration, after which he became a prominent politician. This branch became extinct in the male line upon the death of the 10th Duke of Fitz-James in 1967.

Dukes of Berwick and of Liria

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This branch gained the Spanish title of Duke of Alba after the death in 1802 of the childless María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba. The branch's ancestral link to the dukedom of Alba was through the 4th Duke of Berwick, whose mother was the granddaughter of the 11th Duchess of Alba.

Upon the death of the 10th Duke of Berwick in 1953, his Spanish titles (including the dukedoms of Alba and of Liria) went to his daughter while the Jacobite dukedom of Berwick went to his nephew (who was already the 19th Duke of Peñaranda de Duero), due to differences between the Spanish and Jacobite succession laws (male-preference primogeniture and agnatic primogeniture respectively). The current holder of the Jacobite dukedom is Jacobo Hernando Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 12th Duke of Berwick.

Junior branch

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Édouard, 6th Duke of Fitz-James

Dukes of FitzJames

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Sources

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Ruvigny, The Nobilities of Europe, 303.

References

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  • Ruvigny, Melville H. (2000). The Nobilities of Europe. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1-4021-8561-8.
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