Édouard de Fitz-James, 6th

Duke of Fitz-James Duke of Fitz-James ( French: ''duc de Fitz-James'') was a title of nobility in the peerage of France. It was created by King Louis XIV of France in 1710 for James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, an illegitimate son of King James II of England. Thi ...

(10 January 1776 – 15 November 1838) was a French soldier, politician,

Peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

, and 6th

, who descended from the British

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

Early life

Édouard was born at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

on 10 January 1776. He was the second, but eldest surviving, son of

Jacques Charles de Fitz-James Jacques Charles de Fitz-James, 5th Duke of Fitz-James (16 November 1743 – 11 August 1805) was a French-born nobleman. He was a grandson of James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, himself an illegitimate son of King James II and VII by Arabella C ...

, 5th

, (1743–1805) and Marie Claudine Silvie de Thiard de Bissy (–1812). His elder sister, Henriette Victoire de Fitz-James, who married Charles François Armand de Maillé de La Tour Landry, 2nd

Duke of Maillé Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

, in 1784. His paternal grandparents were

Charles de Fitz-James Charles, duc de Fitz-James (4 November 1712 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye – 22 March 1787 at his ''hôtel particulier'', Paris) was a French general and 4th Duke of Fitz-James, who descended from the British House of Stuart. He rose to become a pee ...

, 4th Duke of Fitz-James (younger son of

James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick (21 August 1670 – 12 June 1734) was a French Royal Army officer and nobleman who was the eldest illegitimate son of James II of England by Arabella Churchill (royal mistress), Arabella Churchill, the ...

, who was an illegitimate son of King

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

), and the former Victoire Goyon de Matignon (a granddaughter of Field Marshal Charles-Auguste de Goyon). His paternal aunt was Laure-Auguste de Fitz-James, the wife of Philippe Gabriel Maurice d'Alsace de Hénin-Liétard, 6th

Prince of Chimay Prince of Chimay is a title of Belgian nobility, Belgian and Dutch nobility associated with the town of Chimay in what is now Belgium. The title is currently held by Philippe de Caraman-Chimay, 22nd Prince de Chimay (b. 1948). The main residence ...

, and the

Première dame d'honneur ''Première dame d'honneur'' (, ), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' (), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post shifted, the dame d'honneur was norm ...

to the Queen of France.Hardy, B. C. (Blanche Christabel),
The Princesse de Lamballe; a biography
', 1908,

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

His maternal grandparents were the former Anne Brissart and Gen. Henri de Thiard de Bissy, who was guillotined on the day Robespierre fell during the French Revolution.

Career

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, Édouard escaped to Italy. He later joined the Condé

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

of émigrés where he served as aide-de-camp to

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries (), marquis de Castries, baron des États de Languedoc, comte de Charlus, baron de Castelnau et de Montjouvent, seigneur de Puylaurens et de Lézignan (25 February 1727, Paris – 11 January 1801 ...

. He returned to France in 1801 around the time of the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

, succeeding his father as the 6th

on 11 August 1805. In 1813, he accepted the rank of

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the first legion of the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

and was sent to the barrier of Monceau on 30 March 1814. During the

and became aide-de-camp and First Gentleman of the Chamber of the

Count of Artois The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric () *Altmar () *Adelelm (?–932) *''C ...

(later

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the National Guard and

on 4 June 1814. He accompanied the king's brother on his tour of the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. During the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

in 1815, he went to Ghent with

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

before returning to Paris and taking his place in the Chamber of Peers where he was known for his

ultraroyalist The Ultra-royalists (, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Catholicism as the state an ...

views. On 21 October 1815, he put forth a vote of thanks to the

Duke of Angoulême Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. He distinguished himself during the trial of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

, judged by the Chamber of Peers, by insisting on death penalty, the verdict which he brought to the

Palais des Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was ...

on 6 December 1815. He also played a role in the trial brought against Gen.

Henri Gatien Bertrand Henri-Gatien Bertrand (; 22 March 1773 Dictionnaire Napoléon - Jean Tulard - P207 – 31 January 1844) was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last G ...

, his brother-in-law, by publishing a letter in which he claimed that the general had taken an oath to Louis XVIII. From 10 January 1835 to 11 November 1838, he represented

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

in the third legislature.

Personal life

On 2 May 1797, Édouard married Elisabeth "Betsy" Alexandrine Le Vassor de la Touche de Longpré (1775–1816) in England. She was a daughter of François Le Vassor de La Touche de Longpré and the former Anne Girardin de Montgerald. Before her death in 1816, they were the parents of: * Antoinette Alexandrine Claudine de Fitz-James (1799–1837), who died unmarried. * ''Jacques'' Marie Emmanuel de Fitz-James (1803–1846), who married Marguerite de Marmier, a daughter of Philippe-Gabriel de Marmier, 1st Duke of Marmier, in 1826. * Henri Charles François de Fitz-James (1805–1883), who married Cécile de Poilly, daughter of Charles de Poilly, in Rome in 1833. After the death of his first wife, he remarried to Antoinette Françoise Sidonie de Choiseul (1777–1862) on 6 December 1819 in Paris. She was a daughter of Gabriel de Choiseul-Daillecourt and the former Adélaïde de Gouffier d'Heilly. She was the widow of Alexandre du Moucel, Marquess of Torcy from whom she inherited from him the

Château de La Rivière-Bourdet A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

near

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. The Duke of Fitz-James died at the

Quevillon Quevillon () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A forestry and farming village situated in a meander of the river Seine, some west of Rouen at the junction of the D67 and the D267 ...

on 15 November 1838 and was succeeded in the dukedom by his son,

Jacques Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

Descendants

Through his son, Jacques, he was a grandfather to

Édouard Antoine Sidoine de Fitz-James Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne ...

, 8th Duke of Fitz-James (1828-1906), who married Marguerite Augusta Marie Löwenhielm, a French

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

who was the daughter of Count

Gustaf Löwenhielm Count Gustaf Carl Fredrik Löwenhielm (6 October 1771 – 29 July 1856) was a Swedish general and diplomat. Early life Löwenhielm was born on 6 October 1771 in the Royal Court Parish (''Hovförsamlingen''), Stockholm County, Sweden, the son of ...

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

Édouard, Duc de Fitz-James
at

The British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitz-James, Édouard de 1776 births 1838 deaths Dukes of Fitz-James 18th-century peers of France

Édouard Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne ...