Dukedom of Berwick



Upper: arms of the Dukedom of Berwick in the peerage of England (1687–1695)
Lower: arms of the Dukedom of Berwick in the peerage of Spain (1707–present)
Creation date1687 (created English title)
1707 (confirmed Spanish title)
Created byJames II
Philip V
PeeragePeerage of England
Peerage of Spain
First holderJames FitzJames
Present holderJacobo Hernando Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez (English title)
Carlos Fitz-James Stuart y Martínez de Irujo (Spanish title)
Heir apparentLuis Esteban Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 14th Marquess of Valderrábano (English title)
Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Huéscar (Spanish title)
Remainder tothe 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten (English title)
the 10th Duke's heirs, both male or female (Spanish title)
Subsidiary titlesPeerage of England only:
  • Earl of Tinmouth
  • Baron Bosworth
Seat(s)Liria Palace

Duke of Berwick (/ˈbɛrɪk/) (Spanish: Duque de Berwick) is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of James II and VII, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Arabella Churchill. The title's name refers to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, near the border with Scotland.

The titles of Baron Bosworth and Earl of Tinmouth were created at the same time, and they are subsidiary to the English dukedom. As a noted Jacobite, the 1st Duke did not receive a Writ of Summons to take his place in the House of Lords[1] after 1695, and thus the title has long been assumed to be dormant. However, as its creation is not considered part of the illegitimate Jacobite peerage, and no Writ of attainder was issued by Parliament for the Dukedom (although it was for the Duke himself), the title is still considered by some as theoretically extant, albeit dormant, in the Peerage of England and could be petitioned for reinstatement by the legitimate heirs male of the body (as detailed below in the list of Jacobite succession).

Since 13 December 1707, when Philip V, King of Spain confirmed the title in his country, and conferred the dignity of Grandee to the 1st Duke of Berwick, the dukedom is also a title of Spanish nobility. However, unlike the English peerage, the Spanish title follows the rule of absolute primogeniture, which allows a female to succeed if she is the first-born child. Thus following the death of the 10th Duke of Berwick in September 1953, who had only a daughter, the succession has divided into two separate lines.

At this point, the English title was inherited by the nephew of the 10th Duke, Don Fernando Fitz-James Stuart y Saavedra, 19th Duke of Peñaranda (1922–1971), and subsequently Fernando's son Don Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 20th Duke of Peñaranda (born 1947), who became the 12th Duke of Berwick in 1971. The heir presumptive to the Dukedom is the 12th Duke’s younger brother Don Luis Fitz-James Stuart y Gómez, 14th Marquess of Valderrábano (born 1950). Under the English rule of male primogeniture, since Jacobo and his brother Luis do not have male issue, it is expected that the English peerage title will become extinct, and with it the agnatic House of Stuart.

In contrast, in 1953, the Spanish title was inherited by the 10th Duke’s only daughter, Doña Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (1926-2014), who was, in her own right, the 11th Duchess of Berwick. When she died in 2014, her son Don Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 19th Duke of Alba (born 1948) succeeded to the title. The heir apparent to the dukedom is his eldest son Don Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Huéscar (born 1990).

History

The peerage and its subsidiary titles were generally considered to have been forfeit by the English parliament in 1695, when James FitzJames was attainted following the enforced exile of his father. The College of Arms in its Roll of the Peerage does not list any such title, which means that it is non-existent today in England.

Nevertheless, the titles were recognized in France as de facto Jacobite peerages by Louis XIV, King of France to please the exiled James II & VII, along with other Jacobite peerages recognized in France, like Duke of Perth, Duke of Melfort, etc. On 13 December 1707, Philip V confirmed or issued the title in Spain, and he conferred the dignity of Grandee of Spain on James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick. The grandeeship is attached to the Spanish title of Duke of Berwick.

If the English peerage title was still extant, that title is only inheritable in the male line. At the death of Don Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Alba and 10th Duke of Berwick, the English title would have been inherited by his nephew Don Fernando FitzJames Stuart, 15th Duke of Peñaranda de Duero (1922–1971), and subsequently by Fernando's son Don Jacobo FitzJames Stuart, 16th Duke of Peñaranda de Duero and current head of the House of FitzJames (born in 1947 and without children).

The Spanish title, with the accompanying dignity of Grandee of Spain, follows the inheritance rules of that country.[2] Spanish noble titles historically have followed the rule of male-preference primogeniture, which allows a female to succeed if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. With the death of the 10th Duke of Berwick in September 1953, his only child, Doña Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, succeeded him in his Spanish titles, including the Spanish dukedom of Berwick. With her death in November 2014, the dukedom passed to her eldest son, Don Carlos Fitz-James Stuart y Martínez de Irujo.[3]

Dukes of Berwick (16871695)

DescendantPortraitBirthMarriagesDeath
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
16701695
21 August 1670
Moulins, Allier
son of James II of England and Arabella Churchill
Honora de Burgh, Countess de Lucan
26 March 1695
1 child

Anne Bulkeley
18 April 1700
10 children
12 June 1734
Philippsburg
aged 63

Jacobite Dukes of Berwick (1695present)

DescendantPortraitBirthMarriagesDeath
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
16951734
21 August 1670
Moulins, Allier
son of James II of England and Arabella Churchill
Honora de Burgh, Countess de Lucan
26 March 1695
1 child

Anne Bulkeley
18 April 1700
10 children
12 June 1734
Philippsburg
aged 63
James Fitz-James Stuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick
17341738
21 October 1696
son of James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick and Honora de Burgh, Countess de Lucan
Catalina Colón de Portugal y Ayala, 9th condesa de Gelves
31 December 1716
6 children
2 June 1738
Naples
aged 41
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 3rd Duke of Berwick
17381785
28 December 1718
Madrid
son of James Fitz-James Stuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick and Catalina Colón de Portugal y Ayala, 9th condesa de Gelves
María Teresa de Silva y Alvarez de Toledo
26 June 1738
1 child
30 September 1785
Valencia
aged 66
Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 4th Duke of Berwick
17851787
25 March 1752
Liria
son of James Fitz-James Stuart, 3rd Duke of Berwick and María Teresa de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo
Carolina Augusta, Prinzessin zu Stolberg-Gedern
15 September 1771
2 children
7 September 1787
Madrid
aged 35
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 5th Duke of Berwick
17871794
25 February 1773
Paris
son of Carlos FitzJames Stuart, 4th Duke of Berwick and Carolina Augusta, Prinzessin zu Stolberg-Gedern
María Teresa de Silva Fernández de Híjar y Palafox
24 January 1790
2 children
3 April 1794
died
aged 21
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 6th Duke of Berwick
17941795
3 January 1792
son of Jacobo FitzJames Stuart, 5th Duke of Berwick and María Teresa de Silva Fernández de Híjar y Palafox
never married5 January 1795
aged 3
Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 7th Duke of Berwick
17951835
19 May 1794
Madrid
son of Jacobo FitzJames Stuart, 5th Duke of Berwick and María Teresa de Silva Fernández de Híjar y Palafox
Rosalia Ventimiglia e Moncada, nobile dei principi di Grammonte
15 February 1817
3 children
7 October 1835
Sion
aged 41
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 8th Duke of Berwick
18351881
3 June 1821
Palermo
son of Carlos FitzJames Stuart, 7th Duke of Berwick and Rosalia Ventimiglia e Moncada, nobile dei principi di Grammonte
María Francisca Portocarrero Palafox y Kirck Patrick, 12th duquesa de Peñaranda
14 February 1848
3 children
10 July 1881
Madrid
aged 60
Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 9th Duke of Berwick
18811901
4 December 1849
Madrid
son of Jacobo FitzJames Stuart, 8th Duke of Berwick and María Francisca Portocarrero Palafox y Kirck Patrick, 12th duquesa de Peñaranda
María del Rosario Falcó y Osorio, 12th condesa de Siruela
10 December 1877
3 children
15 October 1901
New York City
aged 51
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 10th Duke of Berwick
19011953
17 October 1878
Madrid
son of Carlos FitzJames Stuart, 9th Duke of Berwick and María del Rosario Falcó y Osorio, 12th condesa de Siruela
María del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, 9th marquesa de San Vicente del Barco
7 October 1920
1 child
24 September 1953
Lausanne
aged 74
Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, 11th Duke of Berwick
19531970
24 January 1922
El Guadalperal
son of Carlos Fernando Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó, 14th duque de Peñaranda, grandson of the 9th Duke of Berwick, and María del Carmen de Saavedra y Collado, 13th marquesa de Villaviciosa
María Isabel Gómez y Ruiz
1944
4 children
20 July 1970
El Guadalperal
aged 48
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 12th Duke of Berwick
1970present
15 November 1947
son of Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, 11th Duke of Berwick and María Isabel Gómez y Ruiz
not married

Spanish Dukes of Berwick (1707present)

Before 1953, the Spanish Dukes were also the Jacobite Dukes of Berwick. The line split due to the differences between the Spanish and Jacobite succession laws (male-preference primogeniture and agnatic primogeniture respectively).

DescendantPortraitBirthMarriagesDeath
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 11th Duchess of Berwick
19532014
28 March 1926
Liria Palace, Madrid
daughter of Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 10th Duke of Berwick, and María del Rosario de Silva, 9th Marquise of San Vicente del Barco
Honorable Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz
m. 1947; dec. 1972
with him 6 children

Jesús Aguirre y Ortiz de Zárate
m. 1978; dec. 2001

Alfonso Díez Carabantes
m. 2011
20 November 2014
Palacio de las Dueñas, Seville
aged 88
Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 12th Duke of Berwick
2014present
2 October 1948
Madrid
son of Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 11th Duchess of Berwick, and Don Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz
Doña Matilde de Solís-Beaumont y Martínez-Campos
m. 1988; div. 2004
with whom he had 2 children

References

  1. https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/writ-of-summons/
  2. "BOE.es - BOE-A-2015-6673 Orden JUS/1142/2015, de 1 de junio, por la que se manda expedir, sin perjuicio de tercero de mejor derecho, Real Carta de Sucesión en el título de Duque de Berwick, con Grandeza de España, a favor de don Carlos Fitz-James-Stuart y Martínez de Irujo". www.boe.es. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. BOE-A-2015-6673
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