The Dukedom of Albany was first granted in 1398 by King
Robert III of Scotland to his brother,
Robert Stewart, the title being in the
Peerage of Scotland. "
Albany" was a broad territorial term representing the parts of Scotland north of the
River Forth, roughly the former Kingdom of the
Picts. The title (along with the
Dukedom of Rothesay) was one of the first two dukedoms created in Scotland. It passed to Robert's son
Murdoch Stewart, and was forfeited in 1425 due to the
attainder of Murdoch. The title was again created in 1458 for
Alexander Stewart but was forfeited in 1483. His son
John Stewart was restored to the second creation in 1515 but died without heirs in 1536. In 1541, Robert, the second son of
James V of Scotland, was styled Duke of Albany, but he died at less than a month old. The fourth creation, along with the Earldom of Ross and Lordship of Ardmannoch, was for
Mary, Queen of Scots' king consort
Lord Darnley, whose son, later
James VI of Scotland, I of England and Ireland, inherited the titles on his death. That creation merged with the Scottish crown upon James's ascension. The title, along with the title of
Duke of York, with which it has since been traditionally coupled, was created for a fifth time in 1600 for
Charles, son of
James VI and I. Upon Charles's ascent to the throne in 1625, the title of Duke of Albany merged once again into the crown. The title was next granted in 1660 to Charles I's son,
James, by
Charles II. When James succeeded his elder brother to the throne in 1685, the titles again merged into the crown. The cities of
New York and
Albany, New York were thus both named after James, as he was the Duke of York and of Albany. The Jacobite pretender
Charles Edward Stuart gave the title Duchess of Albany to his illegitimate daughter
Charlotte; she died in 1789. The title "
Duke of York and Albany" was granted three times by the Hanoverian kings. , the last person to hold the title, was deprived thereof in 1919. The title of "Albany" alone was granted for the fifth time, this time in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom, in 1881 to
Prince Leopold, the fourth son of
Queen Victoria. Prince Leopold's son,
Prince Charles Edward (who had succeeded as reigning
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900), was deprived of the peerage in 1919 for bearing arms against the United Kingdom in
World War I. ==Dukes of Albany==