James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of Berwick
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James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of Berwick , 1st Duque de Berwick, 1st Duque de Liria y Jerica , 1st Duque de Fitzjames , (born August 21, 1670 in Moulins , France , † June 12, 1734 in Philippsburg , Hochstift Speyer ) was an illegitimate son of the British King James II and founded the Fitz-James family . He fought as a military leader of the Jacobites in French and Spanish services and became marshal and peer of France and Spanish grandee .
Life
James Fitzjames was the son of the Duke of York , later King James II of England, and Arabella Churchill , a sister of the later Duke of Marlborough .
He was raised Catholic in France at the Collège Henri-IV de La Flèche , first distinguished himself in the Turkish War in 1686 and 1687 under Duke Charles of Lorraine , and was therefore elevated to the peer and commander of Portsmouth by James II as Duke of Berwick . After the revolution of 1688 he accompanied his father to France and Ireland and took part in the siege of Londonderry in 1689 and in the battle of the Boyne in 1690 , where he was badly wounded. His English titles were withdrawn from him because he was against the new English King Wilhelm III. had fought, but he and later his descendants continued to lead them.
He then entered the service of Louis XIV , fought under Luxembourg in 1691 and 1692 , later under Villeroi in Flanders, and was appointed lieutenant-général by Louis XIV and naturalized .
In the War of the Spanish Succession he first commanded Spain in 1704 , was sent against the Camisards in Languedoc in 1705 , whom he treated very severely, then received supreme command of the French troops in Italy and on January 4, 1706 captured Nice . Thereupon appointed marshal, he went back to Spain, where he won at Almansa on April 25, 1707 , for which Philip V (Spain) raised him to Spanish grandee and Duque de Liria y Xerica . He was also recognized by him as Duque de Berwick in the Spanish nobility.
At the beginning of 1708, Berwick was in command on the Rhine , then joined Vendôme in Flanders , and, having got into a dispute with him, took over a command in Savoy and covered Provence and Dauphiné . In 1714 he ended the War of the Spanish Succession by taking Barcelona (September 11th).
In 1719 he was sent to Spain by the regent Philip of Orléans against Philip V and conquered Fuenterrabia , La Seu d'Urgell and San Sebastian. In 1733, during the War of the Polish Succession, he crossed the Rhine in October, led the siege of Kehl in October 1733 and was killed by a cannonball during the siege of Philippsburg fortress on June 12, 1734. A memorial in Philippsburg commemorates this event.
Montesquieu wrote: "In the works of Plutarch I saw from a distance what the great men were, in Marshal Berwick I saw what they are."
family
James Fitzjames was married twice, his wives were Honora de Burgh († 1698), widow of Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan and Anne Bulkeley.
- His eldest son Don James Francis Stuart-FitzJames-Stuart , 2nd Duque de Berwick, 2nd Duque de Liria y Xerica, b. 1696, served under his father, took part in the pretender's expedition in 1715 , became Spanish general in 1724, then Spanish envoy in Petersburg and Vienna , commanded Italy in 1734 , conquered Gaeta , was Spanish envoy in Naples after the war was over and died there in 1738. His descendants should inherit several high and old Spanish nobility titles. Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitzjames-Stuart , 18th Duquesa de Alba de Tormes, 11th Duquesa de Berwick, 11th Duquesa de Liria y Xerica etc. (* 1926, † 2014) was the head of the oldest line. The direct male descendant of the 1st Duke of Berwick is Jacobo Hernando Fitzjames-Stuart y Gomez, Duque de Penaranda (* 1947), who, if the English title had not been revoked in 1695, would be the 12th Duke of Berwick today.
- His younger son Charles de Fitzjames, Duc de Fitzjames (1712–1787) founded the French line of the Ducs de Fitz-James , which went out in 1967.
Fonts
- Mémoires du maréchal de Berwick, écrits par lui-même; Avec une suite abrégée depuis 1716, jusqu'à sa mort en 1734; précédés de son Portrait, par Milord Bolingbroke, & d'une ebauche d'Eloge historique, par le Président de Montesquieu; Terminés par des Notes & des Lettres servant de pieces justificatives pour la campagne de 1708. 2 volumes. Moutard, Paris 1778, (edited by his grandson; several editions; digitized volume 1 , digitized volume 2 ).
literature
- Charles Townshend Wilson: James the Second and the Duke of Berwick. Henry S. King & Co., London 1876, ( digitized version ).
- Charles Townshend Wilson: The Duke of Berwick: Marshal of France, 1702-1734. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., London 1883, ( digitized version ).
- Charles Petrie : The Marshal Duke of Berwick. The picture of an age. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1953.
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fitzjames, James, 1st Duke of Berwick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Berwick, James FitzJames, 1st Duke of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French military leader and marshal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 21, 1670 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Moulins , France |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 12, 1734 |
| Place of death | Philippsburg , Speyer Monastery |