Title:

Prince

Military Rank:

Colonel

First Name:

James

Last Name:

Stuart

Memorial Type:

Memorial - Funerary

Does the monument still exist?

Yes

Installation Date:

1824-40

Inscription:

Two plaques on exterior of building
Plaque 1: ‘In this church is the shrine to the memory of James II the last Stuart King of England who died in exile at the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 16th 1701. The monument was erected by Her Majesty Queen Victoria’.

Plaque 2: 'HERE LIES/KING JAMES VII/OF SCOTLAND/II OF ENGLAND/1633-1701/LOYAL PARTNER IN THE/FRANCO-SCOTTISH AULD ALLIANCE"

Mausoleum:
The Central inscription reads:

REGIO CINERI PIETAS REGIA
FERALE QUISQUIS HOC MONUMENTUM SUSPICIS
RERUM HUMANARUM VICES MEDITARE
MAGNUS IN PROSPERIS, IN ADVERSIS MAJOR
JACOBUS II ANGLORUM REX
INSIGNES AERUMNAS DOLENDAQUE FATA
PIO PLACIDOQUE OBITU EXSOLVIT
IN HAC URBE
DIE XVI SEPTEMBRIS ANNI MDCCI
ET NOBILES QUAEDAM CORPORIS EJUS PARTES
HIC RECONDITAE ASSERVANTUR.

To royal remains, royal piety.
Whoever you are who look upon this funerary monument
think upon the changes of human fortune.
Great in prosperity, greater in adversity,
James II, King of England
loosened the signs of hardship and sad destiny
by a pious and quiet death
in this city
September 16, 1701.
Some of the more noble parts of his body
are here preserved hidden.

The inscription on the left side reads:

QUI PRIUS AUGUSTA GESTABAT FRONTE CORONAM
EXIGUA NUNC PULVEREUS REQUIESCIT IN URNA
QUID SOLIUM QUID ALTA JUVANT?
TERIT OMNIA LETHUM.

The man who formerly wore a crown on his august head
now rests as dust in a small urn
What good is a throne or noble birth?
Death wears away all things.

The inscription on the right side reads:

VERUM LAUS FIDEI AC MORUM HAUD PERITURA MANEBIT
TU QUOQUE SUMME DEUS REGEM QUEM REGIUS HOSPES
INFAUSTUM EXCEPIT TECUM REGNARE JUBEBIS.

But the glory of his faith and character remain forever.
You too, All Highest God, bid reign with you
an unlucky king whom a royal host received.
(See: http://www.jacobite.ca/gazetteer/France/SaintGermain.htm)

Allegiance:

Royalist

Condition:

Good

Condition Description:

Photographic evidence

Memorial Notes:

James II's body was laid to rest in a triple sarcophagus (consisting of two wooden coffins and one of lead) at the St Edmund's Chapel in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris. James was not buried, but put in one of the side chapels. During the French Revolution, James's tomb was raided. In October 1793 the Chapel of Saint Edmund and all the English Benedictines buildings were destroyed by a mob along with the remains of King James II. His viscera were rediscovered and reburied in 1824 at the Parish Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1855, Queen Victoria paid for a memorial to James at the Parish Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England)