House of FitzJames

House of FitzJames

Arms of the House of FitzJames
Country Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Spain
Titles
Founded 1670
Founder James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
Current head Jacobo Hernando FitzJames-Stuart y Gomez, 12th Duke of Berwick

The House of FitzJames (or the House of FitzJames-Stuart) is a noble house of Scottish origin founded by James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, who was the illegitimate son of James II & VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, a Catholic monarch from the House of Stuart.[1] After the Revolution of 1688, the Duke of Berwick followed his father into exile and much of their history since then has been in Spain and France, with several members of the house serving in a military capacity.

The house has two main branches. The senior line, carrying the title Duke of Berwick and residing in Spain, is the result of the 1st Duke's marriage to Honora Burke, Countess of Lucan. This line has collected many titles throughout their history, including a few grandeeships of Spain, with some activity as ambassadors and military generals. The line associated with France, derived from the 1st Duke's second marriage to an Englishwoman, Anne Bulkeley, carried the title Duke of Fitz-James.

Perhaps the best known of the French line was Edward FitzJames, 5th Duke of FitzJames, an ultraroyalist who escaped to Italy after the French Revolution and returned around the time of the Bourbon Restoration.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Ruvigny, The Nobilities of Europe, 303.

References

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