The Context of Henriette Marie

The 17th century was a fulsome one. It gave us the Age of Reason, but yet was extremely unreasonable when it came to religion. The enlightenment was budding as science became a bit more steady on its legs, with the likes of Newton. Yet it gave us religious wars. As for the politics of the era, now this is my opinion, nonetheless, let it be said: The 17th century, politically speaking, gave us a new kind of stupid.

Why do I address the 17th century in this week’s essay? I was given a historical fiction novel to read and review. The novel is titled, My Queen, My Love. It is by Elena Maria Vidal. The novel, well researched and constructed, reminded me of my own love for the century. Indeed, my favorite historical fiction is The Three Musketeers series. And yes, I have read them all. I also harbor a love of the fashions of that era. Especially, the first half of the century, when men’s and women’s garment were much the same though men wore the pant like breeches, which remind us of the peddle pushers.

My Queen… gives the history of  Henriette Marie of France, usually referred to as Henrietta Maria. Why the Latinized version of her name is used, mystifies me. She was never Italian or Spanish, but French. And the English, beginning with her husband, changed her name to Mary. Which makes no sense either, however, the Catholic girl, no matter what she may have been called, would not be accepted by a majority of the English. The English royal family eventually became German, because Germans also became protestants.

Now back to our storyline.

Henriette Marie married Charles I of England in 1625. She became his queen but was never crowned, formally. When she married Charles, she was 15. Our modern perspective tells us that is a mere girl. Nevertheless, previous ages were practical in these matters. Henriette died when she was 59. That too, is young in our eyes.  Nonetheless, she lived to a ripe age, because the average, back in the day, was 35 years.

Vidal structures the story as one of those perfect circles, wherein she begins with Marie di Medici, Henriette’s mother, and then closes the story with Marie. What is given to us, in between the Marie sections, is the story of her daughter, who lived during a crucial development era in the history of the Western world.

Marie’s story is fascinating all on its own. Marie was an old maid of 25 before she was married. But what a marriage! Her guy was Henry IV, perhaps one of the smartest men to hold the French crown for centuries. His grandson was Louis XIV. But after that, for the French royal houses, it was all downhill. Marie was Henri’s second wife. Louis XIII, of Musketeer fame, was their first child. Henriette their last. When Henriette was still in infancy, her father was assassinated. That was an event that truly changed the trajectory of history. Henri would be considered a rather liberal thinker, in the traditional sense of the word; live, and let live. Indeed, the French coined the phrase, laissez faire; leave it alone. Wherein we get the phrase, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Henri gave us the Edict of Nance, which ended the religious wars in France. The essence of the Edict was toleration of the protestants, i.e., leave them alone.

The bullies didn’t like that. Because bullies must bully. No matter what label you hang on to an issue, this was not about the Catholics or the Protestants. This was, and still is, about control. If you want to think of Henri’s assassination with thoughts of JFK, go right ahead. Both were riding in an open air vehicle when their assassins struck. With Henri gone, enter Louis XIII, and Cardinal Richelieu and the fight between Dowager Queen Marie, and those who would control the young king who was a 9 year old boy in 1610.

Henriette’s story begins 13 years later, when she is but that mere girl. The Prince of Wales comes to town on his way to Spain, to seek a bride. He sees Henriette, but it is not one of those looks across the room, and love at first sight. No. These are royals, and royals are practical about their goals in marriage. Nonetheless, it is fate, because this is to be his bride when the Spanish excursion fails. More on that later.

After Henriette is married to Charles, the storyline segues away from Marie, to Henriette’s. It is a smooth transition.

The details of Henriette’s situation are as follows: She is a Roman Catholic, and England, Scotland and Ireland,  officially, are Church of England. Stir into this mix the Puritans, and other Calvinists. What we have here is a hodgepodge of theories and bullies pushing their religious ideas onto others. Which means constant conflict. It is the high end of stupid, and this young woman must deal with them. All the while having this monster, also known as Buckingham, in her face.

Whilst reading the story, my blood began to boil every time Buckingham made an appearance. His assassination in 1628 is a marvelous occurrence. A sense of release fills Henriette, and the reader. However, Charles grieves for his wayward muse. No matter that Buckingham had his own agenda. Vidal makes you feel the angst Buckingham causes the queen, and the hidden agenda he holds, using the king to further Buckingham’s goals. Not the kingdom’s.

Charles is not known for his smarts. In many ways he’s the typical second son that was given the crown when the older brother dies. No matter how many wrong decisions Charles makes, his queen stands firmly beside him, especially after the children begin arriving. Reading the story Vidal has written, I get a true sense of family happening in the royal Stuart house, in spite of the madness that surrounds them.

Back in France, dowager queen Marie has problems. Of state. With the powerful Richelieu, the cardinal who controls the young king, Louis XIII. Who else? Marie is political, with that Medici gene running through her veins, she is bound to make enemies. She can also take care of her enemies. And protect her young. Her reach is long, and so too is her love. In one of those twists of fate, the Medici descendants will send their DNA all the way down to the few remaining kingdoms in the Western World, in 2023.

Vidal’s novel comes full circle when Marie comes to England to visit her daughter, in 1638. Eleven years after that visit, Charles will be dead, and his family in exile.

What a wretched state of affairs.

The same can be said presently, for our own country. We don’t argue religion, but politics. Which has become the new religious discourse. As the Puritans, Church of England and the Calvinists did, we argue, we bully, we declare our own set of beliefs as the belief and all others, heresy. And, parallel to these beliefs are a fantastic headways in technology, including the desire to explore the universe. Not with a telescope, but with cameras that sit on satellites that roam the universe. Men on Earth, aside from NASA, have put their own fortunes to use so that humanity can get off this planet.

That will take a change of perspective for it to happen.

The clue to our own future lies in the 17th century, when explorers sailed hither and thither in spite of the dichotomies of the countrymen they left behind, fighting over their narrow perspectives on their god. The explorers expanded the world, opened it up. It is they that provide a passage to new lands, with resources for making product. The New Worlds have wood for carpenters, land for growing flax, and the grazing of sheep. Iron ore is discovered, and later on, gold, silver, and then oil. The downside is that those with a narrow perspective pushed aside the native populations.

The religious wars provided something else. Something that no Catholic or Protestant could foresee: A history for the founders of the United States to draw on when forming their constitution. Religious freedom, that is, no one man telling another how he must believe, made it into the document because the religious wars of the 17th century were to the Founders, like the Civil War is to us. Any history with a reach of less than 200 years, is recent history. The religious wars were recent in the later 18th century. What no one foresaw was how religion would be diminished in the New World.

My Queen, My Love gives us a more recent context, because the story has such a personal feel to it.  Several times as I read it, I kept asking, what were they thinking, to make this marriage? Charles did not pursue a protestant princess, they were available, but the Catholic princesses of Spain and France? Charles had that sighting of Henriette in Paris when on his way to Spain to pursue Philipe IV daughter, Maria Anna. Charle’s memory was short when it came to the history of the royal family of England. He was a Stuart, not a Tudor, so it can be forgiven. Still, I doubt that Philipe would ever ignore the facts of England’s treatment of its other princess, Catalina. She had been a sought after princess, until Arthur had died, and she married Henry, the obsessive. His insulting ways could not, would not, be forgiven. The marriage of Henry VIII and Catalina would forever change the world. And Philipe was not stupid, nor forgetful.

Whilst reading this novel, I realized that Charles I was the wrong individual at the wrong time to be king of England, Scotland and Ireland. There was too much turmoil that required finesse of thought and action. Charles would need critical thinking skills, along with the ability to analyze his situation, to be successful. No matter how lovely this Daughter of France was, how it was supposed to be a beneficial alliance is beyond me. At one point in the story, Henriette wonders this herself. “What was the use of marital alliances if they did not bring peace?”

A most useful question to ask.

After the failure of the wars with Spain and France, both long lasting enemies, England itself became a battle ground. We know this era’s conflict as the English Civil War. The war ended badly, and Charles lost his head, in 1649.

Stupid. Just stupid.

Are you listening America. Because we too carry on the same kind of stupid.

The call to action here is to not participate in this current stupidity. At the same time, pointing in both directions, call out the ignorance of the most vocal bullies. In an allegorical way, assassinate the obsessive, stale old folk that preach their message as the way, the light and the truth. Like Buckingham, they all have their agenda, and they expect you to follow them. No matter where that agenda leads. None are saviors. Because saviors put their life on the line. Now who, in this line up of politicians we have today, who will put their life on the line?

That was the redeeming value of Charles Stuart. In the long run, he saved his country because of the lessons learned from the tragedy that was his life. His death was a cleansing. A true break with the past. As Cromwell is credited with say, “Cruel necessity…” when referring to the execution of his king, for once, I will agree with Cromwell. However, from that point forward, England would heave some more, before it settled into the present day royal family.

Read the book. Like all good historical fiction, it relays context.  That context gives you a feel for the times in which Charles and Henriette lived. Because the part of the past that teaches us, is context.