I have some more infromation here in my archive about the legal difficulties the Colons had with the Spanish Crown, which began with King Fernando V of Aragón and continued through par tof the reign of Carlos Quinto.
I also have some information on the legal battle the Colon family had with the Berwicks concerning the inheritance of the Duchies of Veragua and de la Vega, although I do not have as much as I wish I had on it.
The male-line descent from Colón became extinct in 1578 when the Duke Consort of Veragua y de la Vega, Diego Colón de Toledo y Pravia died. His wife, and first-cousin, Doña Felipa Colón de Toledo y Mosquera, 3rd Duchess of Vergua y de la Vega had died in 1577 without children.
Upon her death, the dual ducal title of the Colón family passed to don Nuño Colón de Portugal y Córdoba, second son of the Count of Gelves and a grandson of the late Isabel Colón de Toledo (d. 1549), an elder sister of the 2nd Duke of Veragua y de la Vega. I have often times wondered why the Colón de Portugals got the ducal title and not other cousins like the Folch de Cardona y de Colón or the de Luna y de Colón, both lines descending from elder sisters of doña Isabel de Colón de Toledo. However, that is how it was done.
The line of the Colón de Portugal held the dual ducal titles of Veragua y de la Vega until the lifetime of the IXth Duchess, doña Catalina Ventura Colón de Portugal (1690-1739), who had married in 1716 James Francis Fitzjames Srtuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick, Liria and Jérica. James Francis was himself the son of the 1st Duke of Berwick.
The Duke of Berwick, James FitzJames, Marshal of France, was born at Moulins in the Bourbonnais, France, on August 21, 1670. He was the illegitimate son of Arabella Churchill and King James II. His mother was a daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, descended from the Councils of Anjou, Poictou and Normandy. His uncle was the famous John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.
The Xth Duke of Veragua y de la Vega, Jacobo Francisco Fitzjames Stuart (1718-1785), faced a lawsuit from distant Colón descendants concerning the inheritance of the dual duchies. This was begun by don Pedro Colón de Larreátegui (1695-1770) and later continued by his son, don Mariano Colón de Larreátegui (1742-1821), who in 1790 obtained a judicial victory against the Fitzjames Stuarts, causing them the loss of the dual duchies of de Veragua y de la Vega, which went to don Mariano and have thus remained among his descendants until today.
Mariano Colón de Larreátegui (1742-1821), Duke of Veragua y de la Vega, was a first cousin of don Pedro Antonio Colón de Larreátegui y Jiménez de Embrún, who in turn was the great-grandfather of doña Evarista Arana y Dávila Colón de Larreátegui (1803-1862). Doña Evarista was my great-great-great-great grandmother.
Arturo Beéche
