Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (6 March 1725 – 13 July 1807) was a
Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. Unlike his father James Francis Edward Stuart (The Old Pretender) and elder brother Charles Edward Stuart (The Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie), Henry made no effort to seize the thrones. After Charles's death in 1788, Henry became known by Jacobites as Henry IX and I, but the Papacy did not recognise Henry as the lawful ruler of Great Britain and Ireland and instead referred to him as the "Cardinal Duke of York".[2] He was most widely known as the Duke of York, a title in the Jacobite peerage
granted to him by his father.
Early life
Henry Benedict Stuart, age 13, by Louis Gabriel Blanchet (1738)
Henry was born in exile at the
Maria Klementyna Sobieska, granddaughter of the Polish King and Lithuanian Grand-Duke, John III Sobieski. Henry was apparently an intelligent child who could spell and write better than his older brother Charles. More introverted than Charles and more cautious in his approach to problems, Henry was described as pious and mild-mannered.[4]
A young Henry Benedict Stuart (painted ca. 1729–1732), bearing a striking resemblance to his elder brother Charles Edward Stuart
Henry went to France in 1745 to help his brother, Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie", or "the Young Pretender") prepare the Jacobite rising of 1745. Attached to the French Royal Army, he was in nominal command of a cross-channel invasion force of some 10,000 men that never made it out of Dunkirk, and subsequently served under Maurice de Saxe at the siege of Antwerp. After the defeat at the Battle of Culloden (1746), Henry Stuart returned to Italy, aged 21.
Ecclesiastical career
On 30 June 1747
Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Campitelli in a special consistory held on 3 July 1747. On 27 August 1747 he was promoted through the four minor orders by Benedict. He received the subdiaconate on 18 August 1748 and diaconate on 25 August 1748. His elder brother Charles, who was in France at the time, was not in favor of the ecclesiastical honors as he believed they would only serve to further religious prejudice against the Stuarts.[5]
As the cardinalate was a rank rather than one of the priestly orders, Charles hoped that Henry might yet make a politically advantageous marriage, and was dismayed to discover that his brother had been ordained a priest on 1 September 1748.[3] Later that month, Henry was made Cardinal-Priest, retaining his diaconal church. In 1751, he was made Arch-Priest of St. Peter's Basilica.[3]
His revenues from the many ecclesiastical preferments he enjoyed were enormous. His income from abbeys and other pluralities in Flanders, Spain, Naples and France amounted to 40,000 Pounds in British money at the time. He also held sinecure benefices yielding revenues in Spanish America. He owned territory in Mexico, which contributed largely to his income.
Louis XV of France bestowed on the Cardinal the abbeys of Auchin and St. Amand as compensation for having had to evict his brother pursuant to the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[5]
In December 1752 his titular seat was changed to
Archbishop of Corinth. The following year, he resigned the title of Santa Maria in Campitelli to assume that of Santa Maria in Trastevere; however, he retained the Church of Santi Apostoli in commendam
.
He was made
Ostia and Velletri. He lived and worked in Frascati for many years, descending each afternoon in his carriage to Rome, where his position as vice-chancellor entitled him to the Palazzo della Cancelleria
.
Henry was the last claimant to the British throne to
King's Evil
.
Henry is described as a beatific, abstemious, wealthy, celibate aesthete who lived to a great age, 'inoffensive and respectable' to the end.[8]
George III of Great Britain. Although the British government represented this as an act of charity, Henry and the Jacobites considered it to be a first instalment on the money which was legally owed to him. (For many years the British government had promised to return the English dowry of his grandmother, Mary of Modena
, but never did so.)
The Vatican had recognised James Francis Edward Stuart as James III and VIII as the King of Great Britain and Ireland. After his death in 1766, the Vatican did not recognise his son (Henry's brother) Charles, who had converted to
Elector of Hanover. This resulted in a protest by Henry, who suggested the insult would result in him not visiting Rome again.[10]
Despite their general
United Irishmen in 1798 to elevate Henry as King of the Irish (Henry IX).[11][12] This was in the course of General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert landing a force in County Mayo for the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and trying to rally the Catholic population: a significant number of Irish priests supported the Rising, even though Humbert's army had been veterans of the anti-clerical campaign in Italy.[12] The French hoped Henry could lead a French client state in Ireland; however, Wolfe Tone, the Protestant republican leader, vetoed the scheme.[12]
Henry returned to Frascati in 1803. In September of that year he became the
though he still lived in the episcopal palace at Frascati. He died there on 13 July 1807, aged 82, simultaneously the 60th anniversary of his appointment as the Cardinal Deacon of his titular church, and the 46th anniversary of his elevation to the rank of Cardinal Bishop.
Some modern historians have explored whether Henry was homosexual.[1] Contemporary accounts include the writings of Hester Lynch Thrale[13] (1741–1821), and the diplomat and writer Giuseppe Gorani [it; fr][14] (1740–1819). Gorani admitted to having gathered evidence insufficient to confirm his suspicions either way, but drew attention to the number of handsome clerics that were to be found in Henry's palace. The historian Andrew Lang alluded to James's comment that his younger son would never marry although many marriages had been planned for him.[1]
The writer
Archbishop of Genoa
.
Things became easier after the death of James in 1766. From 1769 onwards Henry remained close to Angelo Cesarini, a nobleman from Perugia, who under Henry's protection won various honours, was made canon of the cathedral in Frascati, and in 1801 became Bishop of Milevi. Henry died with Cesarini at his side, as for the past 32 years. Cesarini was later buried in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella.
These relationships may have had a romantic element.[17]
Under his will, which he signed as "Henry R" (i.e. Rex or king), he was succeeded in all his claimed British rights by his nearest blood-relative and friend, King
kings of Sardinia had other vital interests in Italy which would have been harmed by pursuing a hopeless cause in Britain.[citation needed
]
Contrary to popular belief, he did not leave the Crown Jewels to the
St Andrew's Cross (now at Edinburgh Castle), which are insignia of the orders of the Garter and the Thistle, and also a ruby ring. Nevertheless, this gift was not a formal renunciation of the Jacobite claim.[citation needed
]
Henry, his brother, his father and his mother are buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. There is a monument to the Royal Stuarts on one of the columns in the basilica proper, designed by Antonio Canova. The monument was originally commissioned by Angelo Cesarini, executor of Henry Benedict's estate. Among the subscribers, curiously, was George IV, who became an admirer of the Stuart legend.[citation needed]
14 January 1763 Comendatario of San Lorenzo in Damaso (proper of the cardinal vice-chancellor, held in addition to the suburbicarian sees)
26 September 1803 Cardinal Bishop of Ostia e Velletri (proper of the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals)
In March 1774 he became Sub-dean, and on 15 September 1803 –
Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
.
He was a cardinal elector in the
1799–1800
.
Arms
During the pretence of his father and brother, Henry claimed a coat of arms consisting of those of the kingdom, differenced by a crescent argent[19] or white crescent.
Marshall, Rosalind K. (27 May 2010). "Henry Benedict [Henry Benedict Stuart; styled Henry; known as Cardinal York] (1725–1807), cardinal and Jacobite claimant to the English, Scottish, and Irish thrones". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
Bindelli, Pietro (1982). Enrico Stuart, Cardinale, Duca di York [Enrico Stuart, Cardinal, Duke of York] (in Italian). Frascati: Associazione Tuscolana "Amici di Frascati".
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
