(37) 1. STUART OF YORK, Henry Benedict Mary Clement (1725-1807)

Birth. March 6, 1725, Palazzo Muti (now Palazzo Balestra) in Rome. He was the younger son of James Francis Edward Stuart, son of King James II of England, de iure James III, called the Old Pretender, and Maria Clementina Sobieska, granddaughter of Jan Sobieski, king of Poland. He was baptized by Pope Benedict XIII in Palazzo Muti and received the names Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier. From birth he had the title of Prince of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. His brother, Charles Edward, was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender, King Charles III. Related to Cardinal Jan Aleksander Lipski (1737), on his mother's side.

Education. He spent his childhood and youth in the residences of his father in Rome, Albano, and Bologna, where he was educated.

Early life. In October 1745, he went to Paris to seek support for his brother Prince Charles' campaign to restore their father to his thrones. He obtained French troops, artillery and ships. Because of ongoing delays, neither Henry nor the French troops ever reached Scotland to support the uprising; this became an ongoing source of friction between Henry and his brother for many years. In May and June 1746, Duke Henry participated in his only active military service at the siége of Antwerp. In the following October he returned to Clichy, near Paris, where shortly after he was joined by his brother. In June 1747, Pope Benedict XIV announced his intention to elevate Duke Henry to the Sacred College of Cardinals. He received the clerical tonsure from Pope Benedict XIV in the Sistine Chapel, on June 30, 1747.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of July 3, 1747; received the red hat on July 8, 1747; and the deaconry of S. Maria in Portico Campitelli, July 31, 1747. Granted dispensation to be a cardinal without having received the subdiaconate and diaconate, August 27, 1747. Received the minor orders and the subdiaconate from Pope Benedict XIV, August 17, 1748; and the diaconate, August 25, 1748.

Priesthood. Ordained, September 1, 1748, by Pope Benedict XIV, in the basilica of Ss. XII Apostoli, Rome. Opted for the order of priests and his deaconry was elevated pro illa vice to title, September 16, 1748. Arcediano of Carmona, a dignity of the cathedral of Sevilla, Spain, in September 1748. Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican basilica; prefect of the S.C. of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's; and protector of the Order of the Carthusians, November 8, 1751. Opted for the title of Ss. XII Apostoli, retaining in commendam the title of S. Maria in Portico Campitelli, December 18, 1752. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, March 13, 1758 until January 28, 1760. Participated in the conclave of 1758, which elected Pope Clement XIII.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Corinto, October 2, 1758. Consecrated, November 19, 1758, basilica of Ss. XII Apostoli, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII, assisted by Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Guadagni, bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, and by Cardinal Francesco Borghese, bishop of Albano. Opted for the title of S. Maria in Trastevere, retaining in commendam his title of Ss. XII Apostoli from February 12, 1759 until July 13, 1761. Opted for the order of bishops and the suburbicarian see of Frascati, July 13, 1761. Vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, January 24, 1763 until his death. Received in commendam the title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, proper of the vice-chancellor, January 24, 1763. Participated in the conclave of 1769, which elected Pope Clement XIV. Participated in the conclave of 1775, which elected Pope Pius VI. In 1788, when his brother Prince Charles Stuart died, he was proclaimed by the Jacobites Henry IX, king de iure of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. Named protector of the Order of the Friars Minor, Capuchins, July 9, 1793. In 1798, during the invasion of Rome by the Bonapartist troops, he heavily contributed to the ransom paid to avoid the sacking of the city. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Ostia e Velletri, September 26, 1803. Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. He continued to reside in the episcopal palace of Frascati.

Death. July 13, 1807, in the episcopal palace of Frascati. Exposed in the church of S. Andrea della Valle, Rome, where the funeral took place; and buried, next to his father and brother, in the vault of the Stuart family, in the patriarchal Vatican basilica.They now rest in a sarcophagus of red granite topped with the royal crown which was commissioned by King George VI of England in 1939 (1). He was a cardinal for sixty years and ten days. Last surviving cardinal of Pope Benedict XIV.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1797, IX, 39; Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, pp. 8, 30, 59, 103 and 219; Fothergill, Brian. The Cardinal King. London : Faber and Faber, 1958; Kelly, Bernard W. Life of Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York. With a notice of Rome in his time.. London : R. & T. Washbourne; New York : Benziger bros., 1899; Jesse, John Heneage. Memoirs of the pretenders and their adherents. Philadelphia : J.W. Moore, 1846; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 16, 41, 42, 44, 47, 52 and 55; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, p. 37; Shield, Alice. Henry Stuart, Cardinal of York, and his times. London : Longmans, Green, 1908; Vaughan, Herbert M. The Last of the Royal Stuarts : Henry Stuart, cardinal duke of York. London : Methuen & co., 1906.

Webgraphy. Biography by Edwin Burton, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; his portrait and biography (Henry IX), in English, The Jacobite Heritage, Noel S. McFerran; portraits, funeral monument, arms and biography, in English, Wikipedia; Life of Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York : with a notice of Rome in his time by Bernard William Kelly, London : R. & T. Washbourne: 1899, archive.org; The restoration of King Henry IX Identifying Henry Stuart, Cardinal York by Bendor Grosvenor, The British Art Journal, IX, no.1, 28-32; portrait and biography, in Italian, diocese of Frascati; his episcopal lineage by Charles N. Bransom, Jr., in English, Apostolic Succession & Episcopal Lineages in the Roman Catholic Church; his portrait, Studio of Louis-Gabriel Blanchet (1701-1772), Philip Mould London; his portrait, after Domenico Dupra, Philip Mould London; his portrait by Domenico Corvi (1721-1803), Philip Mould London; his portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, National Portrait Gallery, London; his portrait by Alexander Cosmà, Wikigallery; his portrait, atelier of Alexander Cosmà, châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées; his portrait, attributed to Giorgio Domenico Duprà, châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées; his portrait by Domenico Corvi, Historical Portraits Picture Library, Philip Mould Ltd.; his portrait by an anonymous artist, Christie's; his portrait, British School, The Royal Collecion, London; more portraits, engravings and his effigy on a medal on a silver medal by Gioacchimo Hamerani, National Portrait Gallery, London; his portrait, Italian School, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, The Public Catalogue Foundation, BBC; his portrait by an unknown artist, The Highland Council, The Public Catalogue Foundation, BBC; his portrait by Domenico Corvi (after), National Galleries of Scotland, The Public Catalogue Foundation, BBC; his arms, church of S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome, flickr; his monument, patriarchal Vatican basilica, Rome, The Australian National University; his tomb, grotte Vaticane, Wikimedia; Vatican’s Jacobite treasures go on display in Edinburgh museum, Catholic Herald, posted Friday, 23 Jun 2017.

(1) This is the text of the inscription in his sarcophagus, taken from its photograph, linked above:

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