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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. FEB. 15, 1902.

THE DUCHY OF BERWICK. (9 th S. viii. 439, 534.)

Is MR. CURWEN correct in saying that St. Dominic was not the founder of the In- quisition? He certainly instigated the "in- quisitorial missions " sent out by Pope Inno- cent III. in 1210-15 against the Albigenses in the south of France, and every Spanish account of the institution which I have ever seen claims St. Dominic as its founder. It was in consequence of St. Dominic's con- nexion with these Inquisitorial Commissions that the Inquisition, when regularly organized by Gregory IX. in 1233, was placed in the hands of the Dominicans.

As regards the Duchy of Berwick, which, of course, was created as a. peerage of Eng- land in 1687, what I meant to say was that the first holder who, in consequence of the Revolution of 1688, never took his seat in the House of Lords previous to his attainder in 1695 had his English duchy bestowed on him as a Spanish grandeeship by Philip V. of Spain, and hence the present holder very legitimately describes himself as "Duke of Berwick," and not " Duque de Berwick," in the ' Almanach de Gotha,' and is so addressed by all English officials. Curiously enough, William III. did much the same thing when he created Marshal Schomberg an English duke by the title of Duke of Schomberg. I confess I quite forgot that Lord Bridport holds the Duchy of Bronte. Admiral the Earl of Dun- donald held the Brazilian title of Maranhao for life. Lords Rothschild and Pirbright hold Austrian baronies, just as Sir William Walrond, M.P., holds the old Spanish Mar- quisate of Vallado. I find I also omitted from my list the Austrian honours held by Viscount Taaffe, and the Papal principality held by the Earl of Newburgh (Prince Gius- tiniani Bandmi). Lord Perth, as Due de Meltort in France, is another instance in which a title originally bestowed by James II was reconferred on the holder during his exile by a foreign sovereign ; and, as Thave already said it is a very open question whether or not the English Duchy of Whar- ton and James Ill's Duchy in partibus of Northumberland were not recognized as bpanish grandeeships by Philip V.

Fitz-James as a royal surname mav of course, be paralleled by Fitz-Charles, which was bestowed by Charles II. upon his son by the Viscountess Shannon, whom he created Earl of Plymouth ; but I should be surprised to learn that Fitz is necessarily or always a

sign of illegitimacy. How about Fitz-Gerald and Fitz-William ? The present Earls of Pembroke are Herberts, not Fitzherberts, although they are undoubtedly illegitimate descendants of the old Earls of Pembroke, whilst the Fitzherberts of Tissington have no bend sinister. Is MR. EASTON certain that there is no documentary proof older than Scott for the assumption that James V., when on frolic bent, used to call himself Fitz- James ? Moreover, if Fitz is a proof of illegitimacy, why is Henry II. so constantly described as Henry Fitz Empress ? Was there any earlier instance of its use in Eng- land to denote illegitimate descent from royalty than that of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of Henry VIII. by Elizabeth Blount? The illegitimate de- scendants of John of Gaunt took the name of Somerset, not Fitzjohn. Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, was not the eldest child of Charles II., who went back to history for the surnames of his children in the instance of Lady Mary Tudor, his daughter by Moll Davies.

Your readers may be interested in one title which, according to G. E. C. in his * Complete Peerage,' vol. i. p. 60, is possessed by the Duke of Berwick. The Marquisate of Jamaica in the English peerage was conferred upon his ancestor the Duke of Liria by James III. in 1720, and, according to G. E. C., is still borne by the family. It is curious that James III. should have chosen for his cousin a grandee of Spain a title derived from a former possession of the Spanish Crown. Readers of Beckford's ' Letters from Spain and Portugal' may recollect his fre- quent mention of a Marquis of Jamaica, presumably the then heir of the Berwick family. He evidently had not a notion that the title was English, but a Jacobite creation. I recollect some years ago taking part in a controversy in the Globe as to whether or not the Marquisate of Jamaica was one of the titles borne by the descendants of Colum- bus. Other titles in partibus conferred by James III. upon foreigners seem to have included an English Duchy of Castelbranco, granted by him to the Spanish Count of Castelbranco, and a Scotch Earldom of Almond given to Sig. Dayia, senator of Bologna. With the exception of two or three baronetcies given by Charles II. to friends in Holland these are, probably, the only instances since the time of the Plan- tagenets in which English honours have been conferred upon non- naturalized foreigners. Are any instances known in which the Garter has been granted to foreign subjects ? H.