Roman Catholic Cardinal and the fourth and final Jacobite heir to claim the thrones of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland
1725 CE
to 1807 CE
Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (March 6, 1725 – July 13, 1807) is a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to claim the thrones of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland publicly.
Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry makes no effort to seize the throne.
After Charles's death in January 1788 the Papacy does not recognize Henry as the lawful ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland, but refers to him as the Cardinal Duke of York.
He spends his life in the Papal States and has a long career in the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, rising to become the Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri.
At the time of his death he is (and still is) one of the longest serving Cardinals in the Church's history.
In his youth, Henry's father had made him Duke of York (in the Jacobite Peerage), and it is by this title that he is best known.
Upon the death of his brother in 1788 Henry becomes known by Jacobites, and within his personal entourage, as Henry IX of England and Ireland, and I of Scotland, although publicly he refers to himself as Cardinal-Duke of York nuncupatus.
