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James FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond

Summary

James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, de jure 12th Earl of Desmond (died 1540), also counted 13th, was called Court Page as he grew up as a hostage for his grandfather Thomas FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond, the Bald, at the court of Henry VIII. He should have succeeded this grandfather in 1534, but John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond usurped the earldom and was followed in 1536 by his son James, fitz John. In 1539 the lord deputy of Ireland, Leonard Grey seized some Desmond land in southern County Cork and handed it to Court Page, who came to Ireland to claim his rights but was killed by Maurice fitz John FitzGerald, called Totane. He was succeeded by James fitz John, now rightful 13th earl.

James fitz Maurice FitzGerald
Earl of Desmond
Tenure1534–1540
PredecessorThomas, 11th Earl of Desmond
SuccessorJames, 13th Earl of Desmond
Other namesCourt Page
Died19 March 1540
Leacan Sgail, County Kerry
Cause of deathmurdered
Spouse(s)Mary MacCarthy
FatherMaurice fitz Thomas FitzGerald
MotherJoan FitzGibbon

Birth and origins edit

James was born the only son of Maurice fitz Thomas FitzGerald and his wife Joan FitzGibbon. His father was the only son[1] of Thomas FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond, called the Bald, but predeceased him.[2] His father's family, the FitzGeralds of Desmond, were a noble cadet branch of the Old English Geraldines, of which the FitzGeralds of Kildare were the senior branch.

James's mother was a daughter of John fitz Gerald FitzGibbon, the white knight.[3]

James had a sister, Ellen, who married Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Cahir as his second wife.[4]

Family tree
James FitzGerald with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.[a]
Thomas
7th Earl
d. 1468
of Drogheda
Thomas
11th Earl
1454–1534
the Bald		Sheila
MacCarthy		John
de facto
12th Earl
d. 1536		More
O'Brien
Maurice
fitz Thomas
d. 1529
d.v.p.*		Joan
FitzGibbon		James
13th Earl
d. 1558		Maurice
FitzJohn
Totane
James
12th Earl
d. 1540
Court Page		Mary
MacCarthy
d. 1548		Gerald
14th Earl
c. 1533 – 1583
Rebel Earl		Maurice
6th Viscount
Fermoy
d. 1600		Eleanor
FitzGerald
James
1st Earl
1570–1601
Tower Earl		Joan
Roche
Thomas
fitz James
Ruadh		Ellis
le Poer
James
fitz Thomas
d. 1608
Sugan Earl
Legend
XXXSubject of
the article		XXXEarls of
Desmond		XXXViscounts
Fermoy
*d.v.p. = predeceased his father (decessit vita patris).
 
Ireland in 1450, showing the Earldom of Desmond
 
Henry VIII playing his harp beside his jester, Will Somers, in an illustration from Henry's psalter. James FitzGerald, the "Court Page," grew up a hostage at Henry's court.

Marriage and child edit

FitzGerald married Mary, eldest daughter of Cormac Laidir Oge MacCarthy, 10th Lord of Muskerry.[5]

James and Mary had an only daughter:

  • Judith who died unmarried in 1565[6]

His widow married Daniel O'Sullivan Mor.[7]

Later life edit

Upon the death in 1634 of his grandfather Thomas FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond, called the Bald, Court Page should have succeeded as the 12th earl of Desmond, but he was absent in London. His right to the title was disputed by his granduncle John FitzGerald. When John died in 1536,[8] his son James, fitz John continued in the claim to the earldom.

Court Page came or was sent to Ireland[9] in 1539 after Leonard Grey, Lord Deputy of Ireland helped by James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond had seized the Desmond territories of Imokilly and Kerrycurrihy in southern Cork.[10]

Death and timeline edit

On 19 March 1540 Court Page was killed by his cousin, Maurice fitz John FitzGerald, called Totane, brother of James FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Desmond. Court Page is reported to have died at a place called Leacan Sgail in County Kerry that does not seem to have been identified.[11]

Timeline
As her birth date is uncertain, so are all her ages.
Age Date Event
0 1500, estimate Born
8–9 1509, 22 Apr Accession of Henry VIII, succeeding Henry VII of England[12]
19–20 1520, Sep Grandfather and his ally Cormac Laidir Oge MacCarthy, 10th Lord of Muskerry defeat James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond in the battle of Mourne.
27–28 1528 Grandfather succeeds as 11th Earl of Desmond.
28–29 1529 Father died predeceasing his grandfather
33–34 1534 Succeeds his grandfather as 12th Earl of Desmond but the earldom is usurped by John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond
35–36 1536 James fitz John continues the usurpation of the earldom begun by his father John FitzGerald, de facto Earl 12th of Desmond.
38–39 1539, Nov Took possession of Imokilly and Kerrycurihy[10]
39–40 1540, 19 Mar Killed by Totane and succeeded by James fitz John as the rightful 13th Earl of Desmond.

Notes and references edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text. Note his problematic first marriage.

Citations edit

  1. ^ Cokayne 1916, p. 250. "Maurice FitzThomas (FitzGerald), only s. [son] and h. ap. [heir apparent] by 1st wife. He m. [married] his 1st cousin, Joan, da. [daughter] of John FitzMaurice FitzGibbon, the White Knight"
  2. ^ Cokayne 1916, p. 251, line 3. "12. James FitzMaurice (FitzGerald), Earl of Desmond [I. [Ireland ], called The Court Page, grandson and h. [heir], being only s. [son] and h. of Maurice FitzThomas and Joan his wife ..."]
  3. ^ Burke 1866, p. 205, left column, line 65. "Maurice FitzMaurice who d.v.p. [predeceased his father] 1529 within six months after the earldom fell to his father, and was buried at Youghal, leaving by his wife Joan, dau. [daughter] of John-FitzGarret FitzGibbon, the white knight, with a dau. Ellen, 2nd wife of Thomas, 1st Lord Cahir, an only son, James FitzMaurice, 13th Earl."
  4. ^ Cokayne 1912, p. 465. "He m. [married], 2ndly, Ellen, sister (whose issue, in 1565 became h.) of James, Earl of Desmond [I. [Ireland] ], da. [daughter] of Maurice Fitz Gerald, by Joan, da. of John FitzGibbon, the White Knight."
  5. ^ McCormack 2009b, 2nd paragraph. "He [Thomas fitz Thomas] thus sought to continue the alliance with Cormac by arranging for his heir James to marry Cormac's daughter Mary."
  6. ^ Cokayne 1916, p. 251, note (e). "His only da. [daughter], Judith, d. unm. [died unmarried] 1565."
  7. ^ McCormack 2009a, last paragraph, last sentence. "His wife, Mary, married secondly Daniel O'Sullivan Mor, and died in 1548."
  8. ^ Webb 1878, p. 140, left column. "This Sir John [the de facto 12th] died about christmas 1536."
  9. ^ Graves 1869, p. Note on Pedigree A between pages 460 and 461. "James Fitz Maurice, thirteenth Earl of Desmond. He was sent to London by his grandfather, and was educated at the court of Henry VIII, and hence called 'The Court Page'. The King sent him back to Ireland with a great retinue where he was slain at Leacan Sgail in Kerry, on March 19, 1540, shortly after his arrival by his cousin Mauric an Totane ..."
  10. ^ a b McCormack 2009a, last paragraph. "In November 1539, Lord Deputy Grey and James Butler, 9th earl of Ormond, who had a claim to the Desmond estates through his wife (who was the heir general of the 11th earl of Desmond) captured the territories of Imokilly and Kerrycurihy in Co. Cork from James fitz John and handed possession of them to James fitz Maurice. Fitz Maurice took possession in person ..."
  11. ^ Cokayne 1916, p. 251, line 7. "He was sent back to Ireland with a great retinue, but was slain at Leacansgail, co. Kerry, 'the friday before Palme Sondaie,' 1539/40, by his cousin Maurice Fitzjohn (called Maurice an Toihuhi, or 'of the burnings'), br. [brother] to the next Earl."
  12. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 42, line 23. "Henry VIII ... acc. 22 April 1509;"

Sources edit

  • Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348.
  • Cokayne, George Edward (1912). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. II (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Bass to Canning (for Cahir)
  • Cokayne, George Edward (1916). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. IV (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Dacre to Dysart (for Desmond)
  • Fryde, Edmund Boleslaw; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-86193-106-8. – (for timeline)
  • Graves, James (1869). "The Earls of Desmond". The Journal of the Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland. 3rd. 1 (2): 459–498. JSTOR 25497799.
  • McCormack, Anthony M. (October 2009a). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "FitzGerald (fitz Maurice), James". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 13 May 2022. – "Court Page"
  • McCormack, Anthony M. (October 2009b). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "MacCarthy (Mac Carthaigh), Cormac Óg Láidir". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  • Webb, Alfred (1878). "Desmond, James, 13th Earl". Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son. p. 140. OCLC 122693688.
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl of Desmond
1534–1540 		Succeeded by

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