STUART FAMILY. - An ancient Scottish family, descended from a branch of the Anglo-Norman family Fitz-Alan.
In the time of King David I of Scotland (1124-53) it inherited the office of steward (master of the court), whence the name S. After the marriage of WALTER S. to a daughter of King Robert I Bruce (1306-29), since the latter's son David II (1329-71) had no male heirs, their son ascended the throne in 1371 under the name ROBERT II (1371-90), founder of the dynasty that reigned in Scotland for several centuries and also ascended the throne of England in 1603 with JAMES I (VI as king of Scotland), son of Mary (v.) Stuart. After the expulsion of James II in 1688, the latter's son JAMES EDWARD (1688-1766) sought the help of Louis XIV to recover the kingdom. Proclaimed king at St-Germain in 1701 upon his father's death, under the name James III, he accompanied a French expedition to Scotland in 1706 but was unable to land there and was forced in 1713 to leave France following a clause of the Treaty of Utrecht. He returned to Scotland in 1715, but when this attempt also failed, he settled in Rome, remaining there until his death. His son CHARLES EDWARD (1720-88), born in Rome, with French help landed in Scotland in 1745, occupied Edinburgh, penetrated into England, but, defeated at the battle of Culloden (1746), had to abandon all ambition of restoration.
Bibliography4 works
Silvio Furlani

HENRY BENEDICT MARIA CLEMENT, duke of York. - Cardinal, b. in Rome on 6 March 1725, d. at Frascati on 13 July 1807. Son of James III, pretender to the throne of England, and of Maria Clementina Sobieski, he received Baptism from Benedict XIII. Benedict XIV, in 1747, conferred on him the Orders up to the diaconate inclusive and in the Consistory of 3 July 1747 created him cardinal. In 1748 he was ordained priest and, in 1751, became archpriest of the Vatican Basilica; later vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and commendatory of S. Lorenzo in Damaso. On 2 Oct. 1758, Clement XIII elected him titular archbishop of Corinth; from 1761 he was bishop of Frascati, where he held two esteemed synods that were put into print, restored the episcopal palace, embellished the Cathedral and acquired distinguished merits toward the Seminary, which he provided with a most precious library. Having become, in 1774, subdean of the Sacred College, he did not wish to leave the suburbicarian see of Frascati, where he was accustomed to stay for long periods, loved and esteemed by that population, which he constantly benefited. Upon the death of card. Giovanni Francesco Albani he received the deanship of the Sacred College and from 26 June 1803 he was bishop of Ostia and Velletri. After the death of his brother Charles Edward, duke of Albany and prince of Wales, the cardinal, considering himself the legitimate sovereign of England, assumed the name of Henry IX, having himself addressed at home, by his household, with the title of majesty. He was buried in St. Peter's.
Bibliography3 works
Mario De Camilli