House of FitzJames


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. 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, 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.
Category:Illegitimate branches of the House of Stuart

Dukes of Berwick and of Liria

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 went to his daughter while the Jacobite dukedom of Berwick went to his nephew, due to differences between the Spanish and Jacobite succession laws. The current holder of the Jacobite dukedom is Jacobo Hernando Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 12th Duke of Berwick and his heir apparent is the duke's brother Don Luis Esteban Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 14th Marquess of Valderrábano.

Junior branch

Dukes of FitzJames