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Henrietta Maria of France

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Henrietta Maria
 
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(born Nov. 25, 1609, Paris, France — died Sept. 10, 1669, Château de Colombes, near Paris) French-born English queen, wife of Charles I and mother of Charles II and James II. The daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de Médicis, she was no stranger to political intrigue. By openly practicing Roman Catholicism at court, she alienated many of Charles's subjects. As the English Civil Wars approached, she sought without success to instigate a military coup to overthrow the Parliamentarians. Her further efforts to enlist support for Charles from the pope, the French, and the Dutch infuriated many Englishmen. Deterioration of the Royalist position caused her to flee to France in 1644, and she never again saw her husband, who was executed in 1649.

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British History: Henrietta Maria
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Henrietta Maria (1609-69), queen of Charles I. Charles married Henrietta Maria, youngest daughter of Henri IV of France, in May 1625 after his Spanish marriage plans had come to naught. She was aged 15, small and vivacious, with dark curly hair, large brown eyes, and protruding teeth. Her husband was rather solemn and there was a very sharp quarrel in 1626 when he sent all her servants packing. But her relations with her husband became close, particularly after the death of Buckingham in 1628. The 1630s she looked backon as halcyon days but increasingly Charles's political troubles darkened their lives. She fled to Holland in February 1642 with the crown jewels to raise men and money. Returning in July 1643 she joined Charles at Oxford. Heavily pregnant, she fled once more in 1644, giving birth to her youngest daughter at Exeter in June en route for France. She never saw her husband again. During the Cromwellian years she remained in France, returning to England at the Restoration in 1660. She left England for good in 1665.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Henrietta Maria
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Henrietta Maria (mərī'ə) , 1609–69, queen consort of Charles I of England, daughter of Henry IV of France. She married Charles in 1625. Although she was devoted and loyal to her husband, her Roman Catholic faith made her suspect in England. By her negotiations with the pope, with foreign powers, and with English army officers, she added to the suspicions against Charles that helped to precipitate (1642) the English civil war. After 1644 she lived in France, making continual efforts to secure foreign aid for her husband until his execution in 1649. She returned (1660) to England after the Restoration, but resumed living in France in 1665. Her influence may have affected the religious beliefs of her sons Charles II and James II, although she herself was unsuccessful in her attempts to convert them to Catholicism.

Bibliography

See biography by E. Hamilton (1976); study by Q. Bone (1972).

 
Wikipedia: Henrietta Maria of France
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This article is about the Queen. For the slave ship, see Henrietta Marie.
Henrietta Maria of France
Queen consort of England and of Scots
Tenure 13 June 1625 – 30 January 1649
Spouse Charles I
Issue
Charles II
Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
James II & VII
Elizabeth of England
Princess Anne of England
Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester
Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans
House House of Stuart (by marriage)
House of Bourbon (by birth)
Father Henry IV of France
Mother Marie de' Medici
Born 25 November 1609(1609-11-25)
Louvre, Paris
Died 10 September 1669 (aged 59)
Château de Colombes, France
Burial Saint Denis Basilica, Paris

Henrietta Maria (25 November[1] 1609 – 10 September 1669), was Princess of France and Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (13 June 1625 – 30 January 1649) through her marriage to Charles I. She was the mother of two kings, Charles II and James II, and was grandmother to Mary II, William III, and Anne of Great Britain. She was also, through her daughter Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans, the ancestor of Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVII, Louis XVIII & Charles X. Through the illegitimate children of Charles II, she is a direct ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales , Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Contents

Early life

Henriette-Marie de France was born the daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de Medici. As the daughter of the king, she was a Fille de France. She was the youngest sister of the future King Louis XIII of France. Her father was killed before she was a year old; her mother was banished from the royal court in 1617.

She was born at the Palais du Louvre on 25 November 1609, but some historians give her a birthdate of 26 November. In England, where the Julian calendar was still in use, her date of birth is often recorded as 16 November. Henrietta Maria was brought up as a Roman Catholic. This made her an unpopular choice of wife for the English King Charles I of England, whom she married by proxy on 11 May 1625, shortly after his accession to the throne.

Marriage

They were married in person at St. Augustine's Church, Canterbury, Kent, on 13 June 1625. However, her religion made it impossible for her to be crowned with her husband in an Anglican service. Initially their relationship was rather frigid. Henrietta Maria had brought a large and expensive retinue with her from France, all of them Roman Catholic. It is said that eventually Charles sent them home to France, only allowing his teenage bride to retain her chaplain and confessor, Robert Phillip, and two ladies in waiting. Finding her sadly watching the retinue depart for France at the window of a palace, Charles angrily and forcibly dragged his wayward queen away.[citation needed]

Charles had intended to marry Maria Anna, a daughter of Philip III of Spain, but a mission to Spain in 1623 had failed. Perhaps this earlier disappointment explains why relations with his French bride were strained; every time the couple met, they started arguing and would separate, not seeing each other for weeks. When next they met, again they had to separate, because they could not stop arguing.[citation needed]

Henrietta Maria took an immediate dislike to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, the King's favourite. However, after Buckingham's death in August 1628, her relationship with her husband, Charles I, improved and they finally forged deep bonds of love and affection. Her refusal to give up her Catholic faith alienated her from many of the people and certain powerful courtiers such as William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. Charles, on the other hand, had definite leanings towards Catholicism, and, once he had reached maturity, did not share his father's sexual ambivalence.

English Civil War activities

Henrietta Maria increasingly took part in national affairs as the country moved towards open conflict through the 1630s. She despised Puritan courtiers to deflect a diplomatic approach to Spain and sought a coup to pre-empt the Parliamentarians. As war approached she was active in seeking funds and support for her husband, but her concentration on Catholic sources like Pope Urban VIII and the French angered many in England and hindered Charles' efforts. She was also sympathetic to her fellow Catholics and even gave a requiem in her private chapel at Somerset House for Father Richard Blount, S.J. upon his death in 1638.

In August 1642, when the conflict began, she was in Europe. She continued to raise money for the Royalist cause, and did not return to England until early 1643. She landed at Bridlington in Yorkshire with troops and arms, and joined the Royalist forces in northern England, making her headquarters at York. She remained with the army in the north for some months before rejoining the King at Oxford. The collapse of the king's position following Scottish intervention on the side of Parliament, and his refusal to accept stringent terms for a settlement led her to flee to France with her sons in July 1644. Charles was executed in 1649, leaving her almost destitute.

Widow

Henrietta Maria

She settled in Paris, appointing as her chancellor the eccentric Sir Kenelm Digby. She angered both Royalists in exile and her eldest son by attempting to convert her youngest son, Henry, to Catholicism. She returned to England following the Restoration in October 1660 and lived as 'Dowager Queen' and 'Queen Mother' at Somerset House in London until 1665 when she returned permanently to France. Her financial problems were resolved by a generous pension. She founded a convent at Chaillot, where she settled.

Henrietta Maria died at Château de Colombes, and was buried in the royal tombs at Saint Denis Basilica near Paris.

Commemoration

The U.S. state of Maryland was named in her honour by her husband, Charles I. George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore submitted a draft charter for the colony with the name left blank, suggesting that Charles bestow a name in his own honor. Charles, having already honored himself and several family members in other colonial names, decided to honor his wife. The specific name given in the charter was "Terra Mariae, anglice, Maryland". The English name was preferred over the Latin due in part to the undesired association of "Mariae" with the Spanish Jesuit Juan de Mariana.[2] Cape Henrietta Maria, at the western meeting of James Bay and Hudson Bay in Northern Ontario, is also named for her.

The slave ship Henrietta Marie (which carried slaves to what is now the United States and sank 35 miles off the coast of Key West after selling 190 slaves to Jamaica in 1701) is also named after Henrietta Maria.

Ancestors

Henrietta Maria's ancestors in three generations
Henrietta Maria of France Father:
Henry IV of France		 Paternal Grandfather:
Antoine of Navarre		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Françoise of Alençon
Paternal Grandmother:
Jeanne III of Navarre		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Henry II of Navarre
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Marguerite de Navarre
Mother:
Marie de' Medici		 Maternal Grandfather:
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Eleonora di Toledo
Maternal Grandmother:
Johanna of Austria		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

Issue

Name Birth Death Notes
Charles James, Duke of Cornwall 13 March 1629 13 March 1629 Stillborn
Charles II 29 May 1630 6 February 1685 Married Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705) in 1663. No legitimate issue.
Mary, Princess Royal 4 November 1631 24 December 1660 Married William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650) in 1641. Had issue.
James II, King of England 14 October 1633 16 September 1701 Married (1) Anne Hyde (1637–1671) in 1659; had issue
(2) Mary of Modena (1658–1718) in 1673; had issue
Elizabeth, Princess of England 29 December 1635 8 September 1650 Died young; no issue. Buried Newport, Isle of Wight
Anne, Princess of England 17 March 1637 8 December 1640 Died young; no issue. Buried Westminster Abbey
Catherine, Princess of England 29 January 1639 29 January 1639 Stillborn; buried Westminster Abbey.
Henry, Duke of Gloucester 8 July 1640 18 September 1660 Died unmarried; no issue. Buried Westminster Abbey
Henrietta Anne, Princess of England 16 June 1644 30 June 1670 Married Philip I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701) in 1661; had issue

See also descendants of Henrietta Maria de Bourbon, which maps how the Medici became part of the European Royal families, eventually leading to Prince William of Wales, future King of the United Kingdom Descendents of Charles I and Henrietta Maria

References

  1. ^ Burke's Peerage and Gentry
  2. ^ Stewart, George R. (1967) [1945]. Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (Sentry edition (3rd) ed.). Houghton Mifflin. pp. 42–43. 
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House of Bourbon

External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France
Cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty
Born: 25 November 1609 Died: 10 September 1669
British royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Anne of Denmark		 Queen consort of England
Queen consort of Ireland
Queen consort of Scots
June 13, 1625 – January 13, 1649		 Vacant
Title next held by
Catherine of Braganza
Vacant
Title last held by
Elizabeth Woodville
in England and Ireland
Mary of Guise
in Scotland		 Queen mother of England, Scotland, and Ireland
January 13, 1649 – 1669		 Vacant
Title next held by
Alexandra of Denmark
v • d • e
English Royal Consorts
George of Denmark (1702–1707) · Mary of Modena (1685–1688) · Catherine of Braganza (1662–1685) · Henrietta Maria of France (1625–1649) · Anne of Denmark (1603–1619) · (Lord Guilford Dudley?) (1553) · Catherine Parr (1543–1547) · Catherine Howard (1540–1542) · Anne of Cleves (1540) · Jane Seymour (1536–1537) · Anne Boleyn (1533–1536) · Catherine of Aragon (1509–1533) · Elizabeth of York (1486–1503) · Anne Neville (1483–1485) · Elizabeth Woodville (1464–1483) · Margaret of Anjou (1445–1471) · Catherine of Valois (1420–1422) · Joanna of Navarre (1403–1413) · Isabella of Valois (1396–1399) · Anne of Bohemia (1383–1394) · Philippa of Hainault (1328–1369) · Isabella of France (1308–1327) · Marguerite of France (1299–1307) · Eleanor of Castile (1272–1290) · Eleanor of Provence (1236–1272) · Isabella of Angoulême (1200–1216) · Berengaria of Navarre (1191–1199) · Eleanor of Aquitaine (1154–1189) · Matilda I of Boulogne (1135–1152) · (Geoffrey V of Anjou?) (1141) · Adeliza of Louvain (1121–1135) · Matilda of Scotland (1100–1118) · Matilda of Flanders (1066–1083)
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Scottish Royal Consorts
Elizabeth de Burgh (1306–1327) · Joan of The Tower (1329–1362) · Margaret Drummond (1364–1369) · Euphemia de Ross (1371–1386) · Anabella Drummond (1390–1401) · Joan Beaufort (1424–1437) · Mary of Guelders (1449–1460) · Margaret of Denmark (1469–1486) · Margaret Tudor (1503–1513) · Madeleine of Valois (1537) · Mary of Guise (1538–1542) · Francis II of France (1558–1560) · Henry, Duke of Albany (1565–1567) · James, Duke of Orkney (1567) · Anne of Denmark (1589–1619) · Henrietta Maria of France (1625–1649) · Catherine of Braganza (1662–1685) · Mary of Modena (1685–1688) · George, Duke of Cumberland (1702–1707)

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