James de la Cloche facts for kids

James de la Cloche (born around 1644, died around 1669) was thought to be an unofficial son of Charles II of England. The story says he first joined a Jesuit school to become a priest, but then left to marry a woman from Naples. However, there is no strong proof that he ever existed. Also, if he was born in 1644, it's unlikely he was Charles II's son, because the king was only 14 years old then.

James de la Cloche is mostly known because of the studies done by a British historian named Lord Acton. In 1908, Arthur Barnes, and later Marcel Pagnol in 1973, suggested that James de la Cloche might have been the famous Man in the Iron Mask. Marcel Pagnol wrote a book called Le Secret du Masque de fer (The Secret of the Iron Mask) in 1973. In it, he looked at many different ideas from historians like Lord Acton, Mgr Barnes, John Lingard, Andrew Lang, Edith Carey, and Laloy.

Lord Acton's Discoveries

In 1862, Lord Acton received copies of old papers, called the Gesu manuscript, from the Jesuit archives in Rome. These papers were given to him by Giuseppe Boero. Lord Acton later wrote an article about them called The Secret History of Charles II.

Based on these documents, it was believed that King Charles II had an unofficial son with a woman named Marguerite de Carteret when he was in Jersey in 1646. Marguerite's husband, Jean de la Cloche, was the official father. The son was said to have grown up in France and the Netherlands, learning about the Protestant faith. He used the name James de la Cloche du Bourg. The papers claimed that Charles II secretly recognized him as his son in 1665. The king supposedly promised him £500 a year if he stayed in London and remained an Anglican (a member of the Church of England). James de la Cloche seemed to speak mostly French.

On April 2, 1668, a man named Jacobus de la Cloche joined a Jesuit school in Rome. He was wearing normal clothes and said he was 24 years old. He claimed he had become a Catholic in Hamburg in 1667. He also said he had a written paper from Queen Christina of Sweden proving his family background. He was accepted and started as a new student on April 11.

It seemed King Charles was not upset that de la Cloche had changed his religion. In 1668, Oliva, the leader of the Jesuits, received a letter. In this letter, the king supposedly said he planned to become Catholic himself. He explained he couldn't talk to local Catholic priests without people getting suspicious. But his son, de la Cloche, would be perfect for this secret task. The king even said he could arrange for de la Cloche to become a cardinal if he wasn't suitable for the throne. In August, another letter invited de la Cloche to come home. It said he should not speak to Queen Christina, who was coming to Rome. The king had arranged for him to travel using the name Henri de Rohan. By October, de la Cloche was on his way.

The next letter from the king, dated November 18, 1668, stated that Charles II had sent his son back to Rome. His job was to be a secret ambassador to the Holy See (the Pope's government). He would return to London later after getting answers to questions the king would only ask in person. The king had asked Oliva to give de la Cloche 800 doppies (a type of money) for his travel costs. After this, there is no more mention of de la Cloche in these papers.

The Mystery of Prince "Stuardo"

However, in 1669, a man named James Stuart, also called Don Giacopo Stuardo, appeared in Naples. On February 19, he married Donna Theresa Corona in a chapel in Naples. She received a dowry of 200 doppies. But James Stuart started talking a lot about his important family and spent money very freely. This made the viceroy of Naples (the local ruler) suspicious. The viceroy ordered Stuart to be arrested and put in San Elmo castle. Later, he was moved to the castle of Gaetà. Theresa was sent to live in a monastery. The English consul, Browne, was called to investigate. He reported that this Jacopo "could give no account of the birth he pretends to," even though he claimed to be an unofficial son of Charles II.

The English government did not support his claims, and he had no papers to prove them. So, he was moved from the more comfortable Gaeta castle to a common prison. He was sentenced to be whipped, but his wife's family managed to stop it.

Stuart was eventually set free. He supposedly left for England and came back with more money. By August 31, he was dead. In his confusing will, he asked Charles II to give his unborn child an "ordinary principality" or something similar. He also named Henrietta Maria Stuart (Charles II's sister) as his mother. This whole story was mentioned in news reports and messages from the English consul at the time.

Stuart's widow later gave birth to a son, Giacomo Stuardo. This son married Lucia Minelli di Riccia in 1711 and later got back some of his father's money. The last record of him is from 1752.

Historians have different ideas about these events. Some think James de la Cloche might have written the fake royal letters himself. Others believe the confusing will might have been created by the Corona family. It's also possible there were two different men claiming to be Charles II's son. Lord Acton and Father Boero thought the second man was an impostor (someone pretending to be someone else). Boero believed de la Cloche had returned to London using a different name, and James Stuart had taken over his claim. Lord Acton suggested that Stuart might have been a servant who stole de la Cloche's money and papers.

John Lingard's View

The historian John Lingard studied the letters supposedly written by Charles II to James and Father Oliva. He believed that all these letters were fakes, meaning James was a fake prince.

Lingard pointed out that the letters addressed to King Charles II mentioned Queen Henrietta Maria being in London in 1668. However, she had moved to France three years earlier and stayed there until she died in 1669. This made the letters seem untrue.

Marcel Pagnol also mentioned other evidence from John Lingard about a fake letter. For example, one of the king's official papers was dated from Whitehall. But at that time, the king and his court had moved to Oxford to escape the plague in London.

However, according to the article about Charles II of England, the royal family left London in July 1665 for Salisbury. Parliament met in Oxford. The king returned to London in February 1666. So, it was possible for him to have written a letter from Whitehall in late 1668.

Miss Edith Carey's Ideas

Miss Edith Carey was sure that James was truly the son of Charles II and Marguerite Carteret. She believed he became a priest in Rome and then returned to London to try and convert his father to Catholicism. She thought he disappeared after Charles II's letter to Oliva, dated November 18, 1668.

According to her, Charles II asked King Louis XIV of France to arrest this embarrassing unofficial son in France in July 1669. Then, he was supposedly put in prison in Pinerolo. This idea connects James to the Man in the Iron Mask, as he would have been a cousin of Louis XIV. Miss Carey believed that the story of Prince Stuardo was made up by Charles II to explain James's disappearance.

This theory suggests Charles II got rid of his unofficial son just a few months after asking him to return to London to help him convert. Marcel Pagnol disagreed with this idea. He argued that Charles II had made other unofficial sons into dukes, so he wouldn't have imprisoned James for life after recognizing him.

Andrew Lang's Thoughts

Andrew Lang believed that if James de la Cloche had royal blood and strong religious beliefs, he would not have married an ordinary woman or shown off his money. Lang thought James was a "bold crook" who tricked Father Oliva just to get money from him.

Marcel Pagnol found in a Jersey dictionary that James was not the king's unofficial son. Instead, he was a "megalomaniac crook" (someone who thinks they are very important) who died in Naples on September 10, 1669.

Arthur S. Barnes's Theory

In his book The Man of the Mask (1908), Mgr Barnes claimed that James was indeed the unofficial son of Charles II. He believed James returned to London using the name Father Pregnani to convert his father before going back to France. Barnes thought that because James knew the secret of the Treaty of Dover (a secret agreement), he was arrested and taken to Pinerolo under the name "Eustache Dauger." The French historian Mr Laloy also looked into this theory. Father Pregnani did return from London to Paris in early July 1669, but according to other historical writings, he died in Rome in 1679.

Marcel Pagnol's Research

In his historical book Le Masque de fer (The Iron Mask), released in 1965, Marcel Pagnol suggested that the famous prisoner in the Iron Mask was the older twin brother of Louis XIV. This would mean the older brother, born before Louis, was the true heir to the throne.

Marcel Pagnol finished his book in 1973, renaming it Le Secret du Masque de fer (The Secret of the Iron Mask). He added his new findings about James de la Cloche. Pagnol believed James de la Cloche was actually Louis XIV's twin brother, who used that name when he was young.

Growing Up on Jersey Island

M. Pagnol looked for birth, baptism, or death records for James in the Jersey archives but couldn't find any. So, he concluded that James was not born on the island and was not part of the Carteret family.

In 1644, Louis XIV was 6 years old. Cardinal Mazarin (a powerful French leader) supposedly sent a midwife named Lady Perronette to England. There, Queen Henrietta of France, who was Louis XIII's sister and the wife of English King Charles I, gave birth to Henrietta of England. According to M. Pagnol, the midwife secretly brought a twin baby with her to hide him abroad. This was the real reason for her trip.

After giving birth, Henrietta of France sent Lady Perronette to the Carterets, a very important family on the island of Jersey. Their daughter, Marguerite, was to raise the child. Perronette paid them a large sum of money for the adoption but did not tell them the child's true identity. She said he was the son of a young noblewoman. It was to this same Carteret family that Henrietta of England sent her own son (who would become Charles II) when he was 15 years old in 1646, during the English Civil War (1642–1651).

In 1657, Marguerite married Jean de la Cloche, who gave his name to James. On Jersey, a rumor spread that James was the son of Marguerite Carteret and the future King Charles II, who had visited the island when he was young. James asked Marguerite about this, but she denied it. Later, when he saw a portrait of Charles II, James noticed a strong resemblance to himself. He became convinced he was the King's son and wanted to be officially recognized, like two other unofficial sons of the king. Marguerite (or perhaps her father) spoke to the King on James's behalf, but the King did not recognize him.

James as a Jesuit in Rome

James felt unfairly rejected by the person he believed was his father. He didn't give up. Through the Carteret family, he learned that Charles II was secretly planning to become Catholic. This would mean the English Church would follow the Pope's authority. So, James decided to become a Catholic priest himself. He hoped to be able to convert Charles II.

Besides the certificate from Queen Christina of Sweden, James applied to the Jesuit school with a first certificate from Charles II himself. This certificate supposedly recognized him as his son, "Prince Stuart." In other letters, Charles II promised the throne to James and a large reward to the Jesuits.

In a letter dated November 18, 1668 (likely the one Lord Acton mentioned), Father Oliva supposedly received a thank-you note. It promised him £20,000 and then asked for a payment of £800 to James, which the king promised to pay back. According to M. Pagnol, Oliva probably paid this money to James, believing the letters and royal promises were real. Pagnol therefore thought James left Rome in early December 1668, a few weeks later than Lord Acton's date.

M. Pagnol had two handwriting experts compare the letters from Charles II to Father Oliva with other letters Charles II wrote to his sister Henrietta of England. Both experts agreed: the letters sent to Father Oliva were fake. This meant James was a fraud. However, M. Pagnol believed James was sincere and truly thought he was Charles II's unofficial son.

James Meets Charles II

In his last letter, Charles II supposedly told James to visit his sister Henrietta of England in Paris. She could arrange for him to become a priest. Since this letter was a fake, M. Pagnol believed it was James who, using another false letter from Charles II, asked to meet Henrietta of England.

M. Pagnol also mentioned a letter from Charles II to Henrietta of England, dated January 20, 1669. This letter referred to an earlier letter from Henrietta to Charles, delivered by a certain "Italian" identified as James, who had come from Rome.

M. Pagnol concluded that Henrietta met James. She immediately noticed he looked like her cousin Louis XIV (since she lived in France). She then gave James a letter for Charles II, cleverly leaving it up to the king to make James a priest. When James gave the letter to Charles II in London in early 1669, the king recognized him. Charles II then told James the secret of his birth, information he likely got from his mother, Henrietta of France. Learning that he should be king instead of his twin brother, James was sent by Charles II to Roux de Marcilly. Marcilly was organizing a plot against Louis XIV, and all the English ministers knew about it.

In his book, Marcel Pagnol argued that the famous prisoner in the Iron Mask was not Italian. By identifying James de la Cloche as the prisoner, James would therefore not be Abbot Pregnani, as Mgr Barnes claimed.

As for Prince "Stuardo," M. Pagnol believed he could not be Prince Stuart (James de la Cloche). He thought James would not have returned to Italy to spend the money he tricked from the Jesuits in Rome. So, Pagnol suggested it was James's butler who, after learning of his master's arrest, took his money and pretended to be him before running away to Naples.