James of the Bell

James of the Bell (1644? - 1669?) is an alleged bastard son of Charles II of England which, after being entered a seminar Jésuite, would have given up at the state ecclesiastical and married a Napolitaine.

Its existence is not shown and filiation with Charles II would be improbable if the birth date of 1644 were correct, since the king did not have who 14 years at that time. James of the Bell is especially known through the studies of the British historian Lord Acton. In 1862, this one allegedly obtained a copy of a manuscript of the Boero father who would have been preserved in the files of the Jesuits in Rome. He drew the matter from it from an article entitled: Secret The History off Charles II (secret History of Charles II).

According to these documents, Charles II would have had a bastard son with Marguerite de Carteret with Jersey in 1646. Officially, it was given for wire of the husband of Marguerite, Jean of the Bell. It would have been high in the religion Protesting E in France and with the Netherlands and used the name James of the Bell of the Borough. Charles II would secretly have recognized it in 1665, allocating to him an annual pension of 500 pounds, in so far as it remains with London and converts with the religion Anglican E. Apparently, the Bell was expressed mainly in French.

Jacobus of the Bell entered a seminar Jesuit to Rome on April 2nd, 1668, wearing ordinary clothes and declaring themselves 24 years old. It had converted with the Catholicisme with Hamburg in 1667. It had received from the queen Christine of Sweden a documentary evidence of its chalk-lining. It was accepted like beginner at Saint Andrea of Quirinal on April 11th.

The conversion of the Bell to Catholicism had apparently not moved Charles II since in 1688, Oliva, general of the Jesuits, accepted a letter in which the king said to him that it planned to convert. It could not come into contact with the catholic clergy without waking up suspicions, but his/her son, certain Bell, could be used as intermediary. If it could not succeed to him, it could obtain the cardinal hat of to him. In August, a new letter invited the Bell to return in England without speaking with the Christine queen, who was to go to Rome. The king had made him establish a passport in the name of Henri de Rohan. The Bell spent in October on the way.

The following letter, dated November 18th, 1868, indicates that Charles II returned his son to Rome to be his Ambassade semi-official ur near the the Holy See and that it should go back to London with the answers to questions which the king wanted to make make only verbally. After this letter, plus any mention Bell is not made.

A James Stuart or gift Giacopo Stuardo made his appearance in Naples in 1669. February 19th, he married Teresa Corona, girl of a landlord, while giving to his father 200 ducats as a dowry. As the father-in-law started to spend the money, Stuart was stopped as counterfeiter and declared being a natural son of Charles II. The viceroy wrote in London to check, while Stuart, prisoner with the castle of Gaète, called for the aid the consul of England, Browne. But at the conclusion of these steps, Stuart was transferred from the castle of Gaète to the prison of Vicaria, much less comfortable. It was finally slackened. It is supposed that it turned over to England and returned with money. He died on August 31st and, in a confused will, asked Charles II to give to his child to be born a “ordinary principality” or something from suitable. He named Marie Henriette Stuart like his mother. The business was mentioned in gazettes of time and the dispatches of the consul of England.

The widow of Stuart gave rise to a son, Giacomo Stuardo, which married Lucia Minelli di Riccia in 1711 and managed to put the hand on part of the heritage of his/her father. He is mentioned for the last time in 1752.

The historians are divided on the subject. James of the Bell could have written itself of false royal letters. The will could be manufactured by the Corona family. There could have been two men claiming same filiation. Lord Action and the Boero Father thinks that the second was an impostor. Boero supposes that the Bell was gone back to London under another name. Lord Acton thinks that Stuart could have been with the service of the Bell and to have flown to him of the money and papers.

In 1908, Barnes defended an identification between the Homme with the iron mask and James of the Bell.

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