STUART, FAMIGLIA

STUART, FAMILY. - An ancient Scottish family, descended from a branch of the Anglo-Norman family Fitz-Alan.

During the reign of King David I of Scotland (1124-53), it inherited the office of steward (master of the court), from which the name S. derives. 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 of ROBERT II (1371-90), founder of the dynasty that ruled 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, his son James EDWARD (1688-1706) sought the aid of Louis XIV to recover the kingdom. Proclaimed king at St-Germain in 1701 upon his father’s death under the name of James III, he accompanied a French expedition to Scotland in 1706 but was unable to land and was forced in 1713 to leave France following a clause in the Treaty of Utrecht. He returned to Scotland in 1715, but after this attempt also failed, he settled in Rome, where he remained until his death. His son CHARLES EDWARD (1720-88), born in Rome, landed in Scotland in 1745 with French support, occupied Edinburgh, penetrated into England, but after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden (1746) had to abandon all hopes of restoration.

STUART, FAMILY - Portrait

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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 minor orders up to and including the diaconate, and at 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 abbot of S. Lorenzo in Damaso. On 2 Oct. 1758, Clement XIII appointed him titular archbishop of Corinth; from 1761 he was bishop of Frascati, where he held two synods that were printed, restored the episcopal residence, embellished the Cathedral, and earned notable merits for the Seminary, which he provided with a most valuable library. In 1774, having become sub-dean of the Sacred College, he refused to leave the suburban see of Frascati, where he was accustomed to stay for long periods, beloved and esteemed by the local population, whom he constantly benefited. Upon the death of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani, he received the deanery of the Sacred College, and from 26 June 1803 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, and was addressed in private by his family with the title of majesty. He was buried in St. Peter’s.