Duke of Berwick


Duke of Berwick ' is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of King James II and Arabella Churchill. The titles of Baron Bosworth and Earl of Tinmouth''' were created at the same time, and they are subsidiary to the English dukedom. Since 13 December 1707, the dukedom is also a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. The title's name refers to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, near the border with Scotland.

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 King Louis XIV, to please the exiled King James II & VII, along with other Jacobite peerages recognized in France, like Duke of Perth, Duke of Melfort, etc. On 13 December 1707, King 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, and subsequently by Fernando's son Don Jacobo FitzJames Stuart, 16th Duke of Peñaranda de Duero and current head of the House of FitzJames.
The Spanish title, with the accompanying dignity of Grandee of Spain, follows the inheritance rules of that country. 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.

Dukes of Berwick (1687–1695)

Jacobite Dukes of Berwick (1695–present)

Spanish Dukes of Berwick (1707–present)

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.
DescendantPortraitBirthMarriagesDeath
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 11th Duchess of Berwick
1953-2014		March 28, 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
2014-present		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