Jacobitism Part III: James III of England "The old pretender"

James III, Jacobite pretender from 1701 to 1766. Have he really reigned, his reign (At 64 years) would be the longest in British History, surprassing the 63 years reign of Queen Victoria

It is a pleasure to me to talk about such a great person as James III was, I'll try to be objective and be always the nearest to the reality as possible, but I can not occult that I really have an admiration for this romantic figure, the "King over the water" also known by its opponents as "The old pretender".

James Francis Edward Stuart was born on 10 June 1688 to the reigning monarch James II of England and his second wife, the italian princess Mary of Modena .The birth took place at St. James Palace, the very same place were his father was born almost fifty five years before on 1633.

Even James II had already two daughters born from his first marriage, both English and Scottish thrones were ruled by male-preference primogeniture on theirs succession systems, and thus the newly born became immediately the first on the line of succession to both thrones and as such Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Roteshay.

The english people feared at that times that a popist plot was behind their current monarchs, a generalized anti-catholic sentiment was prevalent at the moment, vissible in so many cultural expressions such as the very frequent mocks to the Catholic hierarchy, including the reigning pope.

With that huge problem behing the british thrones, the people simply was not willing to accept a Catholic Dynasty, the birth of James Francis Edward meant that the throne should continue in the catholic line of the Royal Stuarts, many peopke at the Parliament however meant that it was time to take action before the Catholic dynasty could establish itself.

Soon rumors started to circulate among the masses, discrediting the birth of the young James, rumors included the false statement that in fact the actual baby had been born dead and it was soon replaced by another false baby, this rumor quickly grew since there were no relevant courtesans or nobles present at the birth.


Mary of Modena, James' mother and Queen of England and Scotland

Soon the situation became very unstable at England, a revolution was coming and the throne of James was more unsure than ever, on 10 December of the very same year of 1688, when the baby James was barely six months old, Mary of Modena his mother, took him with her to France in order to search for a better place, while his father James II tried without any succes to retain its moribund Crown.

A few weeks later James II joined his wife and baby son, and in 1689 his eldest daughter was crowned (By the will of the parliament) as Queen Mary II of England in a co-reign with her husband William III of Orange, however many people (Including some major European powers) view this as a clear usurpation, believing that the Parliament had not the right to change the order of succession.

James II always had the firm conviction that some day he would recover his throne, and continued to sign documents as the reigning monarch, as explored in the previous entry, the group that formed arround him in order to bring support, became known as Jacobitism and the young prince James was the focus of all the Jacobite interest, it was in fact the bright hope of a futute restoration, had James Francis Edward died before his father, for sure the Jacobitism would have become dead with it, however he lived long enough.


James with his sister, Louisa Maria Theresa "The Princess over the water"

At France, James was recognized as the true heir to the English and Scottish thrones, and threated as a Prince of Wales. On 1692 when James was four years old, a baby sister was born to his father and mother, the beautiful girl was called Louisa Maria (Later the name Theresa was added, and she is now known more commonly as Louisa Maria Theres Stuart) and would become a companion to the young prince, numerous portraits were made showing both princes.

The prince grew then at the french court, with his parents and his only full-sister to survive infancy, who was styled as the "Princess Royal" or called by the jacobites as the "Princess over the water", during this times James began a very strict catholic education and learned both english and french.

On 16 september 1701, his father James II died when he was just thirteen years old, he immediately proclaimed himselg with the support of Louis XIV and several other major catholic monarchs, as James III of England and VIII of Scotland refusing to recognize his half brother-in-law William III as a monarch, and after 1702 also refusing to recognize his half-sister Anne.

After this the English Parliament oficially removed all of his British titles and accused him of High-Treason under the penalty of death, however all the Jacobite community (Including four catholic states) still addresed him as a Majesty and as the rightful King of both England and Scotland.


Queen Anne, half-sister of James III and also his rival for the throne

After James came to age, it was time to try to regain his lost throne, after a brief illness associated with measles, James tried to land at the Firth of Forth however he failed when a fleet led by Sir George Byng (Loyal to Queen Anne) forced the french ships (Supporting James) to retreat.

It was just the beginning of a tragic series of events to lead to the total betrayal and lost of hope to the still young James III. France was in the middle of a continental war, the War of Spanish succession trying to ensure that Philip, Duke of Ajou (Grandson of Louis XIV in the male line, and thus a Bourbon) was accepted as the new king of Spain succeeding the now extinc line of the Spanish Habsburgs.

On 1713 the peace came with the Treaty of Utretch in which England finally accepted Philip V as the king of Spain, however it cost among others things to France, that Louis XIV had to accept Anne as the true Queen of England, leaving James III without the so much needed recognition of the French Court.

The tories, a parliamentarian group held restorationist views and even supported to a some degree James III, however it was obvious that he had to rennounce to his catholic faith in order to be accepted as British Monarch, however James III strong in his ideals refused to do so, even it meant that he lost any real hope to regain his throne.


George of Hanover became in 1714 George I of Great Britain being the nearest protestant relative to the protestant Stuarts

In 1714 Anne died, and with her the protestant branch of the Royal Stuart family, by the Act of Settlement the throne passed to a german prince, skipping not only James but a bunch of at least another forty nearest relatives that were considered unfit to rule over Great Britain because of their catholic faith.

The german prince, elector of Hanover in his own right, became then George I of Great Britain (In 1707 the parliament merged the english and scottish kingdoms to create the new realm of Great Britain, however the jacobite heirs continued to style themselves kings of the separated realms of England and Scotland).

On 1715 (Known as "The fifteen" by Jacobites)James III made his last effort to recover his crown, finally landing at Scotland, however he was very much dissapointed by the lack of support that he found, he had planned a coronation at Scone, but decided to retreat and left before being captured by the Hanoverian troops.

He was not welcomed again at France, that very same year his patron and protector, Louis XIV, died and was succeded by his child great-grandson, Louis XV under the regency of Philip II, Duke of Orleans, which saw James as an embarrassment and did not let him to come back to Versailles.


Pope Clement XI received the Jacobite court at Rome, where it stayed until its final days

Affortunately for James, the reigning pope Clement XI offered James a pension and the palace of Mutti in Rome as his new ressidence, James immediately accepted the offer and established for the rest of his life at the Papal States, specialy at the eternal city of Rome.

It was there that on 1719 James contracted marriage with the polish princess, Maria Clementina Sobieska,a granddaughter of the polish king John III Sobieski, trying to ensure the continuation of the Royal Stuart catholic line, one year later came the first child, that for the great pleasure of all the Jacobite community, resulted to be a babyboy, that was called Charles Edward, and would later become known as the Bonnie Prince Charlie and The young Pretender by its opponents (Of course a full entry would be dedicated to this beloved prince).


Maria Clementina Sobieska, Consort to James III and Queen of England and Scotland for Jacobites

Five years later came the second and last son of the marriage, Henry Benedict Stuart, that would become cardinal and Jacobite King in it's own right, and that for the sadness of the general Jacobite communite was to be the very last member of the Royal Stuart family.

The marriage of James and Clementina was a sorrowful one, totally unhappy and a big failure, Clementina accused James of adultery and soon after the birth of Henry Benedict, she decided to leave her husband and live at a local monastery, it would take two years before a reconciliation could came.

Clementina was prone to depression and as a fervant catholic he spent much of her time praying, distanced of both her husband and children. She would die in 1735, at the very early age of 32 years, recognized as the true and legitime Queen of both England and Scotland, she was interred with full royal honours at the St Peter's Basilica at Rome.

James would never marry again, and in fact he felt in a perpetual state of lethargy, spending all his time at his palace surrounded by his "Jacobite court in the exile" that was mantained by the pension payed by the Papal States. In fact in 1743 formaly retired from "polithics" when he oficially invested his eldest son, Charles, as the "Prince Regent" thus giving him full powers to act in his name.

On 1745 (The famous Forty-Five) the young and handsome, Charles Edward, made the last serious effort to recover the British thrones for his father, even he came closer to success than his father's 1715 invassion, he eventualy failed and all the factual hopes for an eventual Jacobite restoration were effectively destroyed.


Tomb of James III at St.Peter's Basilica, shared with his two sons and successors

James would die on 1 January 1766, yes the very first day of the year 1766, he was buried at the St. Peter's Basilica as his wife. Thirteen days after his death, the papacy oficially decided to recognize the Hanoverian Dynasty as the true and legitime rulers of Great Britain.

On the next entry I will talk about Louisa Maria Theresa, sister of James III, even little information is available, she well worths an entry, being an important Jacobite figure by her own right.

Jacobitism Part II: Life and reign of HM James II of England, VII of Scotland

James II as monarch

James II is a very controversial figure in the British History, condemned by the vast majority of historians as a tyrant and as a shame for the British monarchy, however this is a falacy mainly because James is judged with modern values and parameteres, an objective and factual conclussion can be that he was like the majority of the continental monarchs, however the Absolutism never functioned in the British Islands.

James was born at St. James palace in the city of London, England on 14 October, 1633 as the second eldest son of the reigning monarch of England and Scotland, Charles I Stuart, as that he was never expected to become king in his own right, however his position as second in the line of succession never changed up to the kingship of his eldest brother Charles II in 1660 when he became first in the line, a position that he kept during all of his brother reign.


The young prince James with his father the king Charles I

James was educated as was the costume of the time by tutors and raised as a Protestant even his mother was a Catholic, Henrietta Maria of France, a daughter of king Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon to reign in France (And himself a protestant that converted to Catholicism in order to ensure his position as french monarch).

At the age of three James was named Lord High Admiral, even this was nominal, the position would one day become significant after the restoration of the monarchy. In 1642 Charles I his father named him a member of the Order of the Garter. In 1644, following the costume, Charles I elevated him to the title of Duke of York (Always the second eledest surviving son of a monarch receives this title, bar Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and curiously enough the title has always merged back to the crown after only one generation).

The situation was already a difficult one in England, as the English Civil War erupted after strong differences between his father the King and the Parliament. He had to live during this time at Oxford (A stronghold of the monarchy) however after it fell to the republican forces, the young James was virtualy imprisoned at the St. James Palace (Ironically enough), until he escaped in 1648 and went to La Hague, in the continental Europe.

In 1649 his father was beheaded by the republicans, and the Commonwhealt was established with Oliver Cromwell as its leader, even Scotland and Ireland proclaimed Charles II (Eldest brother of our James) as the new monarch, he could not assure the Enligh throne and had to went to the exile at France, being supported by the regency at France (The young king Louis XIV was not in age yet).

His years in the exile were troubled ones, as he served in the French Army during the revolts of the Fronde (A civil war in France among nobles, even Gaston, Duke of Orleans, uncle to the king Louis XIV, participated in the opposite side), however at some point his brother Charles made an alliance with the Habsburg Spain (Enemy to France), and had to leave France.


Louis XIV was an important figure during a well part of James' life

In the middle of the confussion he joined Louis, Prince of Conde at Bruges and fought against his own former allies at the French army. During his tenure at the Spanish side, he met with two irish catholic brothers, most historians agree that it was during this moments that he began to doubt about his Anglican faith, and the Catholic practices became attractive for him.

Living for so many years in catholic countries meant the eventual conversion of James, but this was initially kept in secret in order to avoid scandal. In 1659 he was offered with a high office at the Spanish army, however he refused and the following year his brother could finaly regain his lost throne.


Charles II as monarch

Under the restoration, James made one of his first scandals at the court when he announced his engagement to Anne Hyde, a commoner, in those times it was difficult to wonder a royal prince marrying a commoner, however the morganatic marriage did not exist at those times in England (In fact Henry VIII married several commoners).


James with his first wife Anne Hyde

The marriage lasted from 1660 to 1671 (When Anne died), and it produced at least five children, only two daughters would survive and were raised in the protestant faith according to the wishes of the reigning monarch Charles II, these two ladies would one day become queens regnants of the realms, as Mary II and Anne, the last of the Stuart dynasty to reign upon the British Islands.

As a Lord High Admiral, the Duke of York commanded during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars, and when the american colony of the New Netherlands was conquered from the Dutchs it was renamed as New York in honour of James, few people know that this controversial figure is the namesake for the mosty important city in the modern world.

Growing fears and popular digust for Catholic things and people lead the parliament to pass an Act in 1673 that forced all civil and militar officials to take an oath in which they rennounced to catholic practices, James refused to do so, rennouncing thus to his office as Lord High Admiral, after this it was made public that James was a Roman Catholic.


Mary of Modena, the second wife of James II, a roman catholic and an italian princess

In 1673 James married a Catholic princess, Mary of Modena, she was unpopular from the very first moment that he set foot in the Great Britain, many people believed that she was a covered agent of the pope. The Roman Catholicism was in fact very unpopular among the masses because of fear of a papist complot against the Anglican Church (This was of course not true).

At those times it became evident that the queen Catherine (Consort to the king Charles II) would never become a mother, so at some point the throne would pass to the Catholic Duke of York and his unpopular wife. At the end of the 1670's the parliament tried to pass the Exclussion Bill that literaly excluded James and any son fro his second marriage of the line of succession. In response Charles II dissolved the parliament and did it two further times for the same reason.

The Exclussion Bill proposed that at the death of the king Charles II, the throune should pass to his illegitime son, James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, that in fact would later claim the throne and revolt against the crowned king James II.


James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, one of the greatest foes in James' life (And also his nephew)

James was at a very unpopular point among the masses and had to leave firt to Brussels and then to Scotland when his brother appointed him Lord High Comissioner. Eventually he returned when it became clear that Charles II would die soon. His last moment of popularity came in 1683 when a republican plot that wanted to kill both the king and the Duke of York became uncovered, the public fell simpathy then to both the monarch and James.

In 1685 Charles II died not before converting to Roman Catholicism at his deathbed, and the Duke of York became James II of England and VII of Scotland. At first it appeared that the transition was calmed and peaceful, even the Parliament showed favour to the new monarch, however soon James, 1st Duke of Monmouth revolted and declared himself as the true monarch.

Even Monmouth was defeated and soon executed, the rebellion just marked the beginning of a troubled time, and a reign that would be ephimeral. James had very unpopular ideas, he believed in the divine right of the monarchs and had clear autocratic ideals, but this was in fact not uncommon in the Europe of the XVIIth century, Louis XIV was ruling in France, Leopold I was Holy Roman Emperor, the great tsar Peter I was wuling in Russia and the Habsburgs were becoming extinct at Spain with Charles II.

The absolutism was a fashion in continental Europe, however the advanced and metropolitan minds of the english people could not accept this kind of government, prefering a more representative one, James II unfited with its people minds that were also fearful of the Roman Catholic faith while their monarch was trying to ensure religious liberty.

In 1688 after James II installed reforms on religion that favored the Roman Catholicism, his final fate was signed and when his wife gave birth to a baby son, James Francis Edward, the english people became totally hostile to their king, they were not willing to accept a Catholic Dynasty ruling in the British Islands.


William and Mary as co-sovereigns

The nephew of the king and also son-in-law (As was married to the Princess Mary, future Mary II), William, Prince of Orange was ploting against the king and finaly made an invassion from the Orange realms, soon the royalist forces were defeated, and James II had to fleed the country without abdicating.

This movement is now called the Glorious Revolution, and has a great impact on British History more for its aftermath, the Parliament passed the Bill of Rights that finaly limited the power of the monarch and gave the majority of the political control to the parliament itself, then they proclaimed William as co-monarch with his wife, Mary as William III and Mary II.

James II exiled at France however obtained recognition and protection from Louis XIV, Spain, Modena and the Papal States also refused to recognize William and Mary as the true sovereigns of the British Islands. The support for the deposed king became known as Jacobitism, and found allies in the Catholic powers and a minority of the population in the British Islands, specialy at Ireland and Scotland.

In fact Ireland refused at first to follow England and Scotland in their attempt to remove James II from the throne, so James II landed with French troops at Ireland in 1689 tryiing to regain his lost crown, however William III personaly went to defeat him, James II had to surrender and left, he would never set feet again in any of his lost realms.

After this James lost most of the Irish support, because he left his allies to his own luck and was tagged as a coward. He then arrived defeated to France. In 1692 James' wife, Mary, gave birth to her last child, the princess Louisa Maria Theresa, to be later styled "Princess Royal", she would become a gentile and romantic figure, that well deserves her own entry in these series.

In 1696 a plot in England was uncovered, it wanted to restore James II by murdering William III, however because of it's failure it only gave more unpopularity to the exiled king. Louis XIV helped so much his cousin and disgraced king, that he even found a new throne for him, he offered him to be crowned elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwhealt, however James refused believing that by accepting it, he would totaly relinquish his rights to the British realms.


James Francis Edward and his sister the princess over the water, Louisa Maria Theresa

In 1697 Louis XIV made peace with William III, and James II lost much of its favor and help. During his last years he lived impoverished at an austere palace, rounded by his family and a few supporters in a decadent and moribund court. James passed away on 16 September, 1701, he was succeeded in his Jacobite claims by his son that was proclaimed James III and VIII.

We would discuss and explore the life of James III in the next entry, also the fate of the queen Mary of Modena, the lives of Mary II and her sister Anne, and the eventual Hanoverian succession to the British thrones.

The Jacobitism: Part 1 Historical Background

The king James II of England, rightful monarch for the Jacobites from 1685 to 1701, but deposed since 1688

It is very difficult for a modern monarchist to establish an objective and prudent position in front to the Jacobitism, for that I will dedicate some entries to the Jacobitism, a royalist movement in the Great Britain of the late XVIIth century and a good part of the XVIIIth century.

First of all let's define the term "Jacobitism" a world coined after the King James II/VII of England and Scotland, in latin his name is spelled JACOBUS and holds a relation to the spanish name JACOBO, thus the Jacobitism is the support for the deposed king James II.

Historical Background

Arms of the Stuarts from 1603 onwards

In 1603 the celebrated Elizabethan age of England came to an end when the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I of England died, her dead without any direct heir meant that the throne should pass to the reigning king of the Scots, James VI a great-grandson of Margaret Tudor (Eldest daughter of Henry VII of England) this through both the paternal and maternal sides.

So James was proclaimed James I of England, becoming the first monarch reigning in the hole island of Great Britain, in the so celebrated and remembered Union of the Crowns, that was in fact just a Personal Union (The official merging of the crowns came more than a century later in the Act of Union of 1707 creating the Kingdom of Great Britain).

With the ascension of James I a new dynasty became the ruling House of England, the Royal Stuarts. This was going to be a troubled dynasty, specialy in matters of religion and parliamentary disputes, they had an undeniable tendency to autocracy and absolutism.

James I believed in the divine right of the kings, and in fact his son ans succesor, Charles I of England was even more absolutist than his father, this cost him his throne and his head. In 1642 the English Civil war erupted because of the differences between the parliament and the monarch, the former wanted more power and the monarch was not willing to give up it's royal political influences.

This resulted in the establishment of a kind or republic in the British Islands, in 1649 Charles I was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell proclaimed Lord Protector, however this republican experience (For the luck of all of we the moanrchists) lasted for a little time, from 1649 to 1660 when Charles' eldest son was called to reign and the monarchy restablished, he reigned as Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Charles II was married to Catherine of Braganza a catholic princess, this caused digust among Charles II anglican subjects, however Catherine failed to produce any heir to the throne, this in clear contrast with the numerous illegitime sons that Charles II procreated with his many mistresses.

Charles II died in 1685 leaving a direct succession to his brother the Duke of York, a catholic, that became James II and VII of England and Scotland. Most of his subjects didn't want a catholic to become monarch of the British Islands so he was unpopular during all of his reign, and when he showed clear signs of autocracy and absolutism, his fate was signed.


James III, eldest son of the deposed king James II, also known as "The old Pretender"

Going against the principles of the good relation between subjects and monarch, a revolution erupted in 1688, after the catholic wife of the king, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a male heir to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales in his own right.

The now called glorious revolution of 1688 ended with the deposition and exile of the monarch and his family, except for his two protestant daughters born from his first marriage to Anne Hyde. The eldest became Mary II of England in a co-reign with her husband, William of Orange that became William III of England. The younger would succeeded in 1702 as Queen Anne.

However a well amount of the population remained faithful to the deposed Royal Family (Specialy in Scotland), they were exiled to France were they received support from the sun king Louis XIV. Spain, France and Modena in fact refused to recognize the new line of monarchs until the Treaty of Utretch was signed in 1713.

The movement that was born in suport for the deposed Stuarts became known as "Jacobitism" and it was going to survive as a political force for more than a century to come.

The lack of fertility in the two protestant daughters of James II (Mary II died young and Anne gave birth to seventeen children all of whom died in infancy or were stillborn, William, Duke of Gloucester was the eldest to survive, living for barely eleven years) lead to the extinction of the protestant branch of the House of Stuart, the parliament had expected this since long before, when in 1701 the Act of Settlement was enacted, establishing that in the case of the extinction of the line of Anne, then the throne should pass to Sophia, Electress of Hanover, a grandaughter of king James I.

So in 1714 when Anne died, the throne passed to the eldest surviving son of the Electress of Hanover (That died a few weeks before Anne), George of Hanover became George I of Great Britain, the first of the Hanover dynasty that reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901. However the first monarchs of the Hanover Dynasty (Up to George III) had to deal with successive revolts supporting a restoration of the Royal Stuarts.

Even today the catholics are excluded from the line of succession to the British throne, and the Act of Settlement is still in force, all the people in the line of succession is directly descended from Sophie, Electress of Hanover. Jacobitism is still active (But with very little support), even the male line of James II died out in 1807 with the death of Henry (IX) Stuart, the line went first to the Savoys, then to the Modena ducal family and up to the present to the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria in the person of Franz, Duke of Bavaria.

We will explore the hole history of this romantic movement and try to establish a personal position that recognizes the right of the Stuarts to claim the throne, but also leave clear the fact that I do personally recognize the rule and reign of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her predecessors.

The future of the line of succession to the French Throne

At the present we as legitimists, have a lot of luck and blessings from the heaven, not only the French Bourbon line is separated from the Spanish one (Ensuring the principle of separation of both the french and spanish thrones), but also we have a young and promising King, HMCM Louis XX of France.

However not everything is that fine when we talk about the succession, up to this moment both main lines of the Bourbon family are lacking male heirs, in fact after our king, the next in the succession is Juan Carlos I of Spain who has always rejected the rights of Louis XX to be entitled "King of France".

After Juan Carlos comes the Prince of Asturias whose wife Letizia, after two pregnancies still lacks a male heir. The situation is in fact very worrisome, because of the following factors:

1.- If our kings fails to produce a male heir, the line will go to the Spanish one, and so the claim will become weaker as it will be must likely durmant. The spanish branch is even hostile to their rights to the French Throne.
2.- If both Louis XX and the future Philip VI of Spain fail to produce male heirs, the throne would pass to a minor line of the Bourbons, that of the Dukes of Seville descending from Charles IV of Spain through his grandson Enrique de Borbón (We ignore if they embrace the legitimist ideology.

For that all the legitimist shall pray to our Lord Jesuschrist in order that the queen Margarita becomes pregned again and bear us the so desired Dauphin. It is a basic need for the legitimist cause to preserve and perpetuate the male line of our king Louis XX.

With this entry I finish with the series surrounding the french succession, I've explained why the claim of Louis XX is the only valid, and why the Orleanism goes against the true ideals of monarchism. My next topic will be the Jacobitism, making however clear that I do respect and recognize HM Elizabeth II as the true and legitime Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwhealt Realms.

His Most Christian Majesty Louis XX Titular King of France

As I have expressed in the past entries, for all rational and legal reasons, Louis of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou is the only rightful pretender to the French Throne, all other people claiming this throne are either usurpers or betrayers.

Being the most senior descendant of both Hugh Capet and Louis XIV of France, our king is Louis XX, and may God hive gim male issue in the near future, or the claim would pass most likely to Felipe, Prince of Asturias that to the date also lacks any male issue.

Louis Alphone of Bourbon and Martínez-Bordiú was born on April 25th, 1974 at the city of Madrid, Spain, being the second son of Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cadiz and his then wife María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú and Franco, a grand daughter of the late Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

Louis Alphonse was at that time given the courtesy title of Duke of Toureine, and in 1975 his grandfather Jaime, Duke of Anjou and Segovia died, leaving Louis' father as Titular King, legitimist proclaimed his father as Alphonse III of France, Louis was then at the second place of the line of succession after his elder brother Francisco.

Unfortunately Francisco died in a car crash on February 7, 1984, Louis was left thus as the only and true Dauphin of Viennois and France. However his royal cousin, Juan Carlos I of Spain has never liked his claims, and thus several frictions have existed between both families, for example in 1987 the Royal Crown of Spain declared that the Duchy of Cadiz would no longer by hereditary, thus when Alphonse III died in 1989 at a skiing accident, Louis did not receive the title of Duke of Cadiz.

However for all of we legitimists, since 1989 Louis Alphonse became HMCM Louis XX King of France and Navarre, Duke of Anjou, Chief of the House of Bourbon, as the most senior living descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus also Chief of the Capetian Dinasty, that includes at least other three royal Houses (Spain, Two-Sicilies, Portugal), one grand ducal (House of Bourbon-Parma-Nassau of Luxemborug), one princely house (House of Bourbon-Parma), one Imperial (House of Orleans-Braganza) and several other minor branches (As the Dukes of Orleans, or the Dukes of Galliera).



On November 5th, 2004 he married the venezuelan heiress Margarita Vargas y Santaella, with the hope for all of we the legitimist that soon male heirs would be born, a thing that to the date has not yet happened, however both the King and the Queen are young and well in the age of child-bearing.

Their first daughter was born on March 5th, 2007 and was named Eugenia, for all of we the legitimists she must be styled as HRH the Madame Royale or HRH Eugenia, Fille de France. Our king studied economics and is currently working at a Bank in Venezuela.

On the next and final entry about the succession in France I'll talk about the future of the line of succession and our hope for the birth of the so desired dauphin.

The Orleans: A family that betrayed its own origins

Coat of arms used by Louis Philip III, Duke of Orleans during his tenure as "King of the French"

How can a monarchist support a branch that descends from the so called Philip Egalitte? may be the most hypocritye person that has ever existed, the betray of the Duke of Orleans can be compared to that of Judas against Our Lord Jesuschrist.

In the eve of the french revolution Louis Philip II, Duke of Orleans was the Premier Prince du Sang, a french prince with all the privileges and honours that the title carries, however he was always a very ambicious person that wanted to be the King of France at any cost.

It was 1789 and the revolution erupted in l'hexagone of France, soon came the most tragic year of all the Monarchical History: 1792, the year when His Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI of France was beheaded by the guillotine, everybody will be surpised knowing that Louis Philip II voted in favor of the regicide, even the revolutionaries were shocked by this.

The young son of Louis XVI, Louis Charles became for the royalist Louis XVII however the french revolutionary government decided to establish a republic and abolish the monarchy, Louis Philip II changed his name to Philippe Egalite and "rennounced" to his origins and alligned with the new government.

He had a special disgust for the queen Marie Antoinette and there are very deep suspicions that he even provoked the death of the Dowager Queen. At the end however everyone pays its own debts, and Louis Philip II was also killed by the revolutionary government during the Reign of Terror, I'm sure he's paying his sins at the hell lamenting his betray to his royal cousin the martyr king Louis XVI.

Ironically his son and succesor Louis Philip III succeeded to become "King of the French" as an usurper thus following the betray of his father, in 1830 when Charles X abdicated the throne should have passed to Louis XIX and after him to Henry V, however the General Estates "elected" the Duke of Orleans as the next monarch, this was of course illegal and without any historical or traditional basis.


Louis-Philippe III, Duke of Orleans, one of the biggest betrayers in French history.

As a prince du sang and cousin to the king, Louis Philip III should have rejected the offer of the throne, however he accepted and became "King of the French", BETRAY BETRAY and more BETRAY!, at the end he payed his betray when in 1848 a new French Revolution deposed his usurper government, the decaying prince then was exiled.

Today his male line descendants continue to claim the throne of France under false and illegal pretensions, they are not the most senior capetians, they are betrayeres of the legitime monarchy, they are standard bearers of a fratricide legacy, the only right pretender to the Throne of the Holy France is: HMCM Louis XX, Duke of Anjou, may God give him male issue!!

Philip V's rennunciation: Null and void to both International Law and God's eyes

HMCM Louis XX, current Legitimist (And only rightfull) Titular King of France

In 1700 Charles II of Spain died childless, the last king of the most senior House of the Austrias, the Spanish Habsburgs, was a sick person unable to procreate even he marries twice, he was deformed and was sterile.

As the male line of the Spanish Habsburgs died with Charles II, then the throne should pass (According to the traditional law of succession followed by the Spanish Monarchy) to the eldest daughter of the previous monarch, Philip IV of France, and then to her issue, the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain that was already deceased but had left her own issue.



The family tree shown above demonstrates how the Bourbons were the next in line of succession to the then heirless Spanish throne.

Maria Theresa was the queen consort of Louis XIV and their only surviving son was, Louis the Grand Dauphin, then in normal conditions he would have been the next monarch of Spain, however he was destined to become King of France at teh death of Louis XIV, and thus unable to accend another throne.

In those times the theories of the Balance of Power were already very popular and thus no european power would allow a single monarch to become king of two very powerfull countries as it were both Spain and France.

The Grand Dauphin had three sons of his own: Louis, Duke of Bourgogne (Also expected to become king of France at some time), Philip, Duke of Anjou and Charles, Duke of Berry, it was decided then that Philip was going to be selected as the heir to the Spanish crown so the thrones of France and Spain would remain separated.

However in XVIIIth century Europe the life was ephimeral and the deseases took the lives of both royals and commoners, as that the succession issues were common as life expectancy was short. Even the succession to both French and Spanish thrones was already separated, countries as Prussia, the HRE and England feared that in near future it would be possible that both countries will be unified in a personal union.

Then in 1700 Philip, Duke of Anjou became Philip V of Spain, but was still in the line of succession to the French Throne, the War of Spanish Succession then erupted, as the archduke Charles of Austria (Future Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor) contested the accession of Philip V.

At the end of the War, Philip V could assure his new crown, however he was FORCED to rennounce to his rights to the French throne. According to the then popular "Divine right of Kings" it was impossible to rennounce to one's divine destiny, Philip V as a capetian had al the rights to become King of France in the eventuality of the loss of the heirs apparents, according to modern International Law any treaty signed under coersions is illegal and thus null and void.

The so called rennunciation of Philip V was thus illegal in both traditional and modern law, a Prince du Sang can not simply rennounce his right of blood, and the centuries old French Salic tradition could not be affected by a treaty of such nature.

It was never necessary to call Philip V back to France since the little Louis XV could survive infancy and produce his own issue, however unfortunately this line became extinct in 1883 at the death of the Count of Chamboard, thus according to Salic Law the succession devolved to the descendants of Philip V of Spain.

Under no means a French Prince can be deprived of it's right to succession, this did not happened even when the protestant Henry IV acceeded to the throne, and at the time that tyhe succession devolved to descendants of Philip V, the most senior Bourbon was not reigning as King of Spain thus no violation to the Balance of Power happened.



Juan, Count of Montizon (Pictured above) of the Carlist Branch of the Spanish Bourbons was then the next rightfull king of Spain, his line became extinct in 1936 and then it passed to the royal line of Spain with Alfonso XIII of Spain, however both the spanish and french lines became separated again in 1941, the second son (Jaime, Duke of Segovia) of Alfonso XIII succeeded to the french crown while the youngest (Juan, Count of Barcelona) succeeded to the spanish.

Even today both lines are separated, with HMCM Louis XX as the pretender to the french throne, and HM Juan Carlos I as the present and reigning King of Spain, then there it is no reason to use the argument of the personal union to avoid Louis XX becoming King of France.

In brief the rennunciation was null and void, the spanish and french lines of the Bourbons are now again separated and thus there it is no valid reason to reject Louis XX as the only rightfull pretender of the throne.

Remember that since 987 the following formula was always true:

Most senior Capetian= King of France
HMCM Louis XX= King of France DEI GRATIA

The issue of the succession in France

Why should we always support Louis XX as the rightfull pretender to the throne of France??? Why is there a succession crisis in France???? What are we expecting for the near future in the French Throne???? This questions are going to be answered in a series of entries that will be totally dedicated to demonstrate that Louis XX is the rightfull King of France.

1.- The "extinction" of the main line of the French Bourbons

The French Revolution was a genocide, according to the current definitions a "Genocide" is a deliberate and systematic destruction of a certain group. During the French Revolution thousands of nobles died, only because their noble or royal birth, hundreds and even thousands of innocent souls died in a horrible genocide that most of the liberal historians have ignored during these centuries.

Even the Royal Family of France suffered from this unjustified genocide, the first to die was His Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI, then his wife the Queen Marie Antoinette, other members of the Royal Family had a similar fate, for example Madame Élisabeth of France the youngest sister of Louis XVI (Pictured below).



The royal partner left only two children, the Madame Royale and the Dauphin that in 1793 (After the beheading of his father the king) became HMCM Louis XVII of France, however he was imprisoned by the revolutionaries (How can someone justify the imprisioning of an innocent child?????) in very sad and unclean conditions, it was just a matter of time before he would fell ill.

Louis XVII died in 1795, thus the male line of Louis XVI was extinct, the throne then passed in titularity to Louis XVIII (Brother of Louis XVI), the new king however was also childless and failed during all his lifetime to produce any issue, his male line then was also extinct at the time of his own death in 1824.

The last male scion of the generation of Luis XVI was his youngest brother Charles X, that had two sons of his own: the Dauphin Louis of Angouléme and Charles, Duke of Berry. It were some hopes that they would likely had children of their own and ensure the continuation of the main line of the Royal Bourbons.

Louis of Angouléme was married to the Madame Royal, the last surviving child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, however for the sadness of everyone they failed to produce any child. Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry was murdered in 1820 however he left his wife, Caroline Ferdinande of the Two Sicilies, pregned and she later gave birth to the very last male scion of the Royal Bourbons of France, Henry, Duke of Bordeaux.

However in 1830 Charles X was forced to abdicate, the Dauphin Louis XIX also rennounced his rights to the throne and as Charles was already dead, the throne should have passed to the Duke of Bordeaux. However a huge betray then happened, the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philip usurped the throne and crowned himself as "King of the French".



To the general suffering ot the monarchists, the Duke of Bordeaux (Better known as Count of Chamboard, and pictured above) failed to produce children of his own and thus the main line of the Bourbons became extinct in 1883, and thus the doubt came, who was the next in the line of succession???

Following the agnatic succession under Salic Law, always followed in strict order by the French Monarchy, the next heir was Juan, Count of Montizon, the most senior living descendant of Philip V of Spain and thus of Louis XIV of France.

In the next entry I will discuss why the so called "rennunciation" of Philip V was illegal and thus without any real effect, I will also discuss why the Orleans Family has not any real right to pretend the throne, Henry the so called Count of Paris is only in the 76th place of the line of succession and is descended from usurpers and betrayers of the only true and legitime monarchy.

This series of entries will be distributed in the following way:

1.- "Extinction" of the main line of the French Royal House. (Current)
2.- The so called "rennunciation" of Philip V. (Next)
3.- The Orleans: A family that betrayed their own origins.
4.- His Most Christian Majesty Louis XX Titular King of France.
5.- The future of the succession.

The forgotten infantas: Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catherine Michelle of Spain

Today when I woke up I remembered this two very special infantas. They are almost forgotten by historians and most monarchists in Spain, and however they are very important because of a series of reasons that I will expose next.

This two girls were the only surviving daughters from the marriage between Philip II of Spain and his third wife, Elizabeth of France (Daughter of Henry II of France, and thus a member of the Royal House of Valois-Angouléme, exposed in the last entry of this blog), Isabella Claura Eugenia was the eldest to survive, (before her a set of female twis was miscarriaged) and after her came the Infanta Catherine Michelle, their mother Elizabeth then gave birth to a son, both mother and son died the very same day.

Philip II had already a male heir Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias a son by his first marriage with Maria Manuela of Portugal, however he died in 1568 leaving Philip heirless, he then married the fiance of his own deceased son, the archduchess Anne of Austria (Even he was her own uncle). From this marriage Philip II finally could produce new male heirs, the only surviving would become the next king of Spain: Philip III.


Well, in this circumstances grew older the poor infantas, however their father, the always ambicious Philip II had great plans and vission for their daughters, specially for the eldest, Isabella Clara Eugenia. When in 1558 Elizabeth I came to the throne of England, the devout Roman Catholic Philip II could not simply accept a protestand in the throne of the Island, indeed Philip II wanted Isabella Clara Eugenia to become the next monarch of England (The only claim she could have to the throne was that his father Philip II had been indeed King of England in the right of his second wife, Queen Mary I of England, however Isabella Clara Eugenia was not her descendant).



Of course this failed, and all hopes were beaten after the defeat of the "Armada Invencible" of Spain. Then Philip II sought another throne for her daughter in that of France, indeed she was the nearest blood relative (And also the most senior) to the last kings of the House of Valois-Angoulême in France), however she was barred from the throne because of the Salic Law, in 1589 when her last Valois uncle died heirless the throne went to the Premier Prince du Sang, the King of Navarre, Henry IV.

At the end in 1598 Isabella Clara Eugenia was declared Sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in a co-regency with her husband, the archduke Albert VII of Austria, finally she could reign over her own realm in the right of his nephew the King Philip III of Spain.

The times of Isabella Clara Eugenia as co-sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands are remembered as a Golden Age.

Catherine Michele the youngest had a much shorter life, however she succeeded were his sister failed, while Isabella Clara Eugenia failed to produce heirs (She gave birth to three siblings, however all they died very young), Catherine Michele gave birth to his spouse, Charles Emmanuel I Duke of Savoy, ten children.



Catherine Michele died shortly after turning thirty years old, however all their descendants succeeded to built the Royal House of Savoy, first as dukes of Savoy, then as Kings of Sardinia and finally as Kings of Italy. Her descendants were the main line of the Savoy and also the junior line of Savoy-Carignano that at the extinction of the former became the most senior and the one that succeeded to the throne of Italy.

Then as you can see both infantas have indeed a very special place in history, Isabella Clara Eugenia as a potential pretender to very important thrones and as a ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, and Catherine Michele as the matriarch of the Royal Hoyse of Savoy.

Le Maison de Valois-Angoulême

In 1328 the senior lineage of the Capetian Dinasty became extinct in the male line at the death of Charles IV of France.

After his death, the succession was unclear and several pretenders claimed the vacant French throne, he only left one daugther and his wife was pregnant, however at the end the queen Jeanne gave birth to another daughter.

In this moment the monarchy was defined to be ruled under Salic Law and thus all the sons born through female lines were barred from the throne, including Edward III of England who was claiming without any legal basis to be the rightfull king of France (The kings of England, and then from Great Britain continued to claim the French throne as late as 1801).

The nearest relative in the main line to the last king of France was Philip, Count of Valois, from then on the French Monarchy has been always ruled by the most strict and perfect Salic Law, this prevented France to be swallowed by England.

The main line of the Valois died out in 1498, it was followed by the brief reign of Louis XII who belonged to the junior branch of Valois-Orleans, however he also died without male heirs and in 1515 after his death, he was succeeded in the throne by a first cousin once removed, Francis I of Valois-Angoulême, a new lineage of french kings was born.

However the history had different plans for the new reigning House of France, it seems that the Valois-Angoulême were a cursed family, a lot of strange facts and unfortunate events lead us to think this.

The first king of this House is remembered as an accomplished writer and a man of letters, however his life was full of tragedies and slips. All of his reign was a bitter fight against his mosty hated enemy, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who was also the King of Spain.

Charles V's reign supposed a permanent threat to the French Kingdom, Francis had unsuccesfully tried to become the Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, instead his enemy was chosen.

The most tragic event of his life came when he was captured in 1525 at the Battle of Pavia, he was forced to sign an humilliant treaty which greatly affected his own realm, he even had to leave his sons as hostages as a backing to his own word (That was put in doubt).

In 1536 he lost hiw eldest son and heir, Francis, Dauphin of France, and when he finally died in 1547 he was then succeeded by his second son, Henry that became Henry II of France, and who also had a very sad life but a even a worse dead.

Henry II married to the bitter and ambicious Catherine De Medici, and he had four sons that survived to adulthood and even the dinasty semt to be well safe in the male line, the destiny had different plans, all of the four would fail to produce their own male issue.

Henry II ended with the Italian Wars and even recaptured Calais, however everything else was obscure, he married his heir Francis to the heir of Scotland, Mary I, the marriage would then give the Dauphin of France rights not only to the Kingdom of France but also to that of Scotland, and potentially to that of England.

However the big hopes of the dinasty were all bitterly destroyed, Henry II died in 1559 when he was participating in a tournament to celebrate the peace with his long-time enemies the Habsburgs, there in a tragic accident a lance wounded him in an eye and had a long and very painfull death.

He was succeeded in the throne by Francis II who in turn died one year later, not only a king died but also the pretensions over Scotland and England also.

In 1560 came Charles IX a weak and fearfull child that had to suffer from the wars of religion and the struggle of power in France, his mother Catherine a rude women is supposed to be one of the main minds behind the bloody Massacre of Saint Barthelemy, where large crowds of hugenots were tragically murdered.

Charles IX died in 1574 childless and almost totally out of his mind, believing that he was going to hell after the massacres that occurred during his ephimeral reign. The last monarch of the dinasty, Henry III had also a poor reputation, some historians agree that he was an homosexual this after his exaggerate effeminate aspect and manners.

Henry III failed to produce heirs, to stop the religion wars in France and when his brother Hercules (The last male scion of the House of Valois) died, the faith of the dinasty was written. The premier prince du sang, and then heir presumptive was his distant cousin Henry of Bourbon, King of Navarre, a protestant.

Charles IX was murdered in 1589 and the Valos-Angolême dinasty died with him, the great House of Bourbon then succeeded, the Bourbons continue to this day and in fact they are the last surviving legitimate branch of the Capetian Dinasty.

I added a Family Tree (Original production) in order to expose the three generations of the Valois-Angoulême, even they had sad lifes, I hope they found a peacefull and quiet rest at Heaven.

God Bless Them

Welcome to International Monarchism

Hi my name is Federico Campos, and I am mexican of birth, since I was a child I've been a strong supporter of monarchism and so I decided that it was time to express to the world my ideals and my reasons. It is difficult to be a monarchist in a very republican country as Mexico, however I'll never surrend my ideal of monarchism.

The main cause of this blog is to create a place for all monarchists arround the World (Specially those in the Christian World) in order to exchange opinions and to glorify the most wonderfull and beautiful form of state: The Monarchy

This blog is defined as follows:

*Legitimist: Always supporting Louis XX, Duke of Anjou (May God always bless him)
*Respectful of the UK: I think jacobitism is right, however at the end of Henry IX, the succession becomes less clear, and thus is better to accept the status of His Majesty Elizabeth II (Shall always God bless her and give her more years to come)
*Supportive of Salic Law: I think the salic law is a beautiful form to define lines of succession, however I am notr against the rule of women (Many queens have been incredibly wise, as Maria Theresa of the HRE or queen Cristina of Sweden).
*Iturbidist: Supporting the rights of His Imperial Highness Maximilian II of Mexico, heir general of the emperor Agustin Iturbide of Mexico.
*Always monarchist: supporting the restoration of the monarchy in the following countries:
-Italy: in the person of Vittorio Emmanuele IV
-Greece: In the person of His Majesty Constantine II
-Austria: In the person of His Imperial Majesty Otto I of Habsburg
-Germany: In the person of His Imperial Majesty George Frederick I, Titular German Emperor
-France: In the person of His Most Christian Majesty Louis XX of France
-Portugal: In the person of Dom Duarte de Braganza (A male line descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a Capetian in an illegitime line)
-Bulgaria: In the person of Simeon II Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
-Romania: In the person of HM Michael II of Hohenzollern (And supporting his eldest daughter as the next in line)
-Serbia: In the person of Crown Prince Alexander
-Montenegro: In the person of HRH Nicholas, Prince of Montenegro
-Albania: In the person of Leka, Crown Prince of Albania
-Mexico: In the person of HIM Maximilian II, Titular Emperor of Mexico
-Brazil: In the person of Luis-Gastao, Titular Emperor of Brazil

I guess there are many other thrones i would support, and of course in the future I will paid them respect and loyalty.

From time to time, issues surrounding monarchy will be discussed in this Blog, for example the dynastic disputes in France, Two-Sicilies and Brazil, I'm sure that we will have different opinions, but it is important to always remember that united we will achieve the more good for Monarchy.

I am also supporting the motion in the UK to stop banning the catholics from reaching the throne, you may find more info on the issue in the following lynk (Is in spanish): http://www.monarquiaconfidencial.com/pg_Articulo.aspx?IdObjeto=698

God bless forever monarchy and all the Christian Royal Houses!

Please comment!! No matter what language do you speak!