Charles I & Henrietta Maria
Charles I (1600 – 1649 )- was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649.
Charles, the second son of King James VI of Scotland moved to England when his father inherited the English throne in 1603. His elder brother died in 1612 and this made him heir apparent to the three thrones. An attempt to marry him to a Spanish Habsburg princess, Maria Anna failed and in 1625 he married Henrietta Maria of France instead.
Charles believed in the Divine Right of Kings meaning he should govern according to his own conscience, and his own conscience alone. In 1626, he acceded to the throne, and many in the House of Commons were worried by his marriage to a Roman Catholic fearing that he would undermine the Church of England. Although he promised he would not lift religious restrictions, he had done just that in a secret marriage treaty with Louis XIII of France. Beset by financial difficulties from the outset, Charles and Parliament were at loggerheads over a series of issues, including religion, taxes and war plans. Things went from bad to worse when Charles attempted to raise taxes without Parliamentary consent and imprison without trial those who refused to pay them. He failed to help Protestant forces during the Thirty Years War and attempted to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices (seen by Puritans and Calvinists as ‘popish’). This led to a war with Scotland.
He ended up fighting the English Civil War against Parliamentary forces in 1642 and was defeated in 1645. He continued to refuse demands for a constitutional monarchy and was finally executed for high treason in 1649, ushering in a republic, the Commonwealth of England for ten years. His son, Charles II was restored to the English throne in 1660.
Henrietta Maria of France (1609 – 1669) was queen consort of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland and was the mother of his two immediate successors, Charles II and James II.
As a Catholic she was very unpopular and remained uncrowned as she was not allowed to participate in an Anglican service. She and Charles’ marriage got off to a rocky start when Charles dismissed most of her French household, but they eventually forged and extremely close partnership. She never learned to speak English properly and was distrusted by the English particularly over her continued and very public support for Catholics.
When the Civil War broke out in August 1642, Henrietta Maria was in The Hague raising money for the Royalist cause using the crown jewels as security, which did nothing for her popularity at home. She returned to England but was forced to flee to France in 1644 after the birth of her daughter Princess Henrietta whom she had to leave in Exeter.
After Charles was defeated in 1645, she set up a Royal Court in exile near Paris where she continued to try to raise money and military support for her husband with not much success.
She was left impoverished and in shock when her husband was executed in 1649. She eventually returned to England when her son was restored to the throne at Charles II, but died in Paris in 1669 having returned there four years earlier for the sake of her health.