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Tag Archives: King James II-VII of England and Scotland

Painting of the French Royal Family

27 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by liamfoley63 in Art Work, Featured Monarch

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Charles II of England and Scotland, King August II of Poland, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, Madame de Ventadour, Nicolas de Largillière, Renaissance, Royal Portrait

The painting at the top of this board was painted by Nicolas de Largillière of the French Royal Family. It is a composite portrait of the Bourbon succession, made in the period 1715-1720.

At the centre of the portrait is the Sun King, Louis XIV (seated) with his son Prince Louis, Le Grand Dauphin (to the left), his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy (to the right), his great-grandson Louis Duke of Anjou, and Madame de Ventadour, Anjou’s governess, (and the only non-royal in the painting) was the one that commissioned this painting. Her presence references her role in “saving” the dynasty in the measles epidemic of 1712. Busts of Henri IV and Louis XIII are in the background. The King displays a sense of slight uneasiness unlike the other figures especially. In the painting, Largillière used the Renaissance technique of structured disposition.

About the Artist

Nicolas de Largillière (10 October 1656 – 20 March 1746) was a French portrait painter, born in Paris. A painting by de Largillière caught the attention of Charles II, who wished to retain Largillière in his service, but the controversy aroused by the Rye House Plot against Roman Catholics alarmed Largillière. Largillière left for Paris, where he was well received by the public as a painter.

Upon ascending to the throne in 1685, James II requested Largillière to return to England. James II offered Largillière the office of keeper of the royal collections, but he declined due to being uneasy about Rye House Plot. However, during a short stay in London, he painted portraits of the king, the queen Mary of Modena, and the prince of Wales James Francis Edward Stuart. The portrait of the Prince of Wales could not have been painted during Largillière’s stay in London because the prince was not born until 1688.

The three portraits painted by Largillière of the prince in his youth must have been executed in Paris, where he returned sometime before March 1686. The portrait of King James II was painted in 1686. King James is portrayed in golden armor with a white cravat and is positioned in front of a watercolour-like background set in a round frame.

In Paris, during the year 1686, Largillière produced a portrait of the painter Charles Le Brun for admittance to the French Academy. The portrait shows Le Brun, then the chairman of the academy, at work on an entombment, surrounded by classical busts and figurines scattered upon the floor and table within the picture. Le Brun, impressed by Largillière’s portrait, accepted him to the academy.

In 1690, Largillière was documented by the French Academy as a historical painter, which was a prominent artistic trend of the academy until the introduction of Édouard Manet.Towards the end of his life, Largillière painted a repetition of anonymous male portraits of Parisian nobles. One example was painted in 1710, of a man standing with spread fingers that conceal a letter held in the other hand. Another portrait from about 1715 shows a frontal three quarter view of a man dressed in similar clothes and wig with a Doric column in the background.

In 1714, Largillière painted King Augustus II of Poland. Largillière also painted the artist Jacques-Antoine Arlaud in a red robe in a similar fashion to Largillière’s portrait of the painter Charles Le Brun, as well as the sculptor Nicolas Couston. Around the next year, Largillière painted The Study of Different Types of Hands, which currently resides in the Louvre.In 1718, Largillière painted the French poet and essayist Voltaire.The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem was a landscape painting that Largillière painted in 1720.

Largillière made his last self-portrait in 1725. This portrait displays the artist at his easel staring toward the audience. Largillière was appointed as chancellor of the French Academy in 1743.

Death

Nicolas de Largillière died on 20 March 1746 at the age of 89. Upon his death, he donated to France several small landscapes and still life pictures he had created.

November 25, 1638: Birth of Catherine of Braganza, Queen Consort of England, of Scotland and of Ireland.

25 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, This Day in Royal History

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Catherine of Braganza, House of Braganza, John IV of Portugal, King Charles II of England, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, King Pedro II of Portugal, King William III and Queen Mary II, Kings and Queens of England, Regent of Portugal, Roman Catholic Church

Catherine of Braganza (November 25, 1638 – December 31, 1705) was queen consort of England, of Scotland and of Ireland from 1662 to 1685, as the wife of King Charles II.

Catherine was born at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, as the second surviving daughter of John, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King John IV of Portugal, on December 1, 1640.

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With her father’s new position as one of Europe’s most important monarchs, Portugal then possessing a widespread colonial empire, Catherine became a prime choice for a wife for European royalty, and she was proposed as a bride for Johann of Austria, François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, Louis XIV and Charles II.

The consideration for the final choice was due to her being seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in which Portugal was arguably abandoned by France. Despite her country’s ongoing struggle with Spain, Catherine enjoyed a happy, contented childhood in her beloved Lisbon.

Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I, were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on June 23, 1661, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed. England secured Tangier (in North Africa) and the Seven Islands of Bombay (in India), trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal, and two million Portuguese crowns (about £300,000).

In return Portugal obtained British military and naval support (which would prove to be decisive) in her fight against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. She arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of May 13-14,1662, but was not visited there by Charles until 20 May 20, The following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service.

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Owing to her devotion to the Roman Catholic faith in which she had been raised, Catherine was unpopular in England. She was a special object of attack by the inventors of the Popish Plot. In 1678 the murder of Edmund Berry Godfrey was ascribed to her servants, and Titus Oates accused her of an intention to poison the king.

These charges, the absurdity of which was soon shown by cross-examination, nevertheless placed the queen for some time in great danger. On November 28, Oates accused her of high treason, and the English House of Commons passed an order for the removal of her and of all Roman Catholics from the Palace of Whitehall.

Several further depositions were made against her, and in June 1679 it was decided that she should stand trial, which threat however was lifted by the king’s intervention, for which she later showed him much gratitude.

She produced no heirs for the king, having suffered three miscarriages. Her husband kept many mistresses, most notably Barbara Palmer, whom Catherine was forced to accept as one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber. By his mistresses Charles fathered numerous illegitimate offspring, which he acknowledged.

Catherine is credited with introducing the British to tea-drinking, which was then widespread among the Portuguese nobility.

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At Charles’ final illness in 1685, she showed anxiety for his reconciliation with the Roman Catholic faith, and she exhibited great grief at his death. When he lay dying in 1685, he asked for Catherine, but she sent a message asking that her presence be excused and “to beg his pardon if she had offended him all his life.” He answered, “Alas poor woman! she asks for my pardon? I beg hers with all my heart; take her back that answer.

Catherine remained in England, living at Somerset House, through the reign of James and his deposition in the Glorious Revolution by William III and Mary II. She remained in England partly because of a protracted lawsuit against her former Lord Chamberlain, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, over money that she claimed as part of her allowance and that he claimed was part of the perquisite of his office. Catherine’s fondness for money is one of the more unexpected features of her character: her brother-in-law James, who was himself notably avaricious, remarked that she always drove a hard bargain.

Initially on good terms with William III and Mary II, her position deteriorated as the practice of her religion led to misunderstandings and increasing isolation. A bill was introduced to Parliament to limit the number of Catherine’s Catholic servants, and she was warned not to agitate against the government.

She finally returned to Portugal in March 1692. In 1703, she supported the Treaty of Methuen between Portugal and England. She acted as regent for her brother, Pedro II, in 1701 and 1704–05. She died at the Bemposta Palace in Lisbon on December 31, 1705 and was buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora Lisbon

June 8, 1671: Death of Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge.

08 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Death, Royal Genealogy, Royal House, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Duke of Cambridge, Edgar Atheling, Edgar of Scotland, Edgar Stuart, Edgar the Peaceful, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Lady Anne Hyde

Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge (September 14, 1667 – June 1671) was the fourth son of James, Duke of York (later James II-VII of England) and his first wife Anne Hyde. He was second in the line of succession to the English and Scottish thrones.

James II and VII (October 14, 1633O.S. – September 16, 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII.

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James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

In 1629, Edward Hyde married his first wife, Anne Ayliffe of Grittenham. Six months into the marriage Anne caught smallpox, miscarried and died. Three years later, Hyde married Frances Aylesbury. In 1637, Anne, the couple’s eldest daughter, was born at Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor. Almost nothing except that she was named after Edward Hyde’s first wife is known of her life before 1649, when her family fled to the Netherlands after the execution of the deposed King Charles I.

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Lady Anne Hyde

Edgar was born on 14 September 1667 at St James’s Palace and baptized there with the Duke of Albemarle, the Marquis of Worcester, and the Countess of Suffolk as sponsors. The name “Edgar” had ancient roots in both the English (Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English, c. 943-975) and Scottish (Edgar, King of Scotland c. 1074-1107) monarchies. Continuing with the reference of the name Edgar: Edgar, King of Scotland was the son of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Margaret of Wessex. Margaret of Wessex was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile, and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, King of the English, and sister of the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the uncrowned Anglo-Saxon claimant on the throne of England after the death of Harold II when William II of Normandy conquered England in 1066.

On October 7, 1667 Edgar was created Duke and Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey. His elder brother Charles had died at the age of six months in 1661 before the patent for the title of Duke of Cambridge was passed and another brother, James was formally created Duke of Cambridge before his death in 1667 at the age of three. Edgar’s titles became extinct until the birth of another son, also named Charles, in 1677.

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James and Anne

His mother was ill for months following his birth and never fully recovered, though she gave birth twice more to daughters who died before their first birthdays; Anne, Duchess of York, died on March 13, 1671. Edgar died at Richmond Palace on June 8, 1671 and was entombed in the royal vault in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey on June 12, 1671, his coffin placed atop that of his mother.

The Sancy Diamond

17 Sunday May 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Crowns and Regalia, From the Emperor's Desk

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Cardinal Mazarin, Charles I of England, Charles the Bold, Crown of Louis XV, Duke of Burgundy, fleur-de-lis, French Revolution, Henry IV of France, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Louis XV of France., Mazarin Diamonds, The Louvre, The Sancy Diamond

The Sancy Diamond, a pale yellow diamond of 55.23 carats (11.046 g), was once reputed to have belonged to the Mughals of antiquity, but it is more likely of Indian origin owing to its cut, which is unusual by Western standards.

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The Sancy Diamond

The shield-shaped stone comprises two back-to-back crowns (the typical upper half of a stone) but lacks any semblance to a pavilion (the lower portion of a stone, below the girdle or midsection).

History

The Sancy’s known history began circa 1570. Several sources state it belonged to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1433-1477) In 1495 the diamond passed to Charles the Bold’s cousin King Manuel I of Portugal (1469-1521 When Portugal was threatened to come under Spanish rule, claimant António, Prior of Crato fled the country with the bulk of the Portuguese Crown Jewels. He spent his life trying to get allies to regain the Portuguese throne in the French and English courts, and sold the diamond to Nicolas de Harlay, Seignure de Sancy.

Other sources claim that the diamond was purchased in Constantinople by de Sancy. He was popular in the French Court and was later French Ambassador to Turkey. Something of a gem connoisseur, de Sancy used his knowledge to prosperous advantage.

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Henri IV, King of France and Navarre

Henri III of France (1551-1589) suffered from premature baldness and tried to conceal this fact by wearing a cap. As diamonds were becoming increasingly fashionable at the time, Henri arranged to borrow de Sancy’s diamond to decorate his cap. Henri IV (1553-1610) also borrowed the stone, for the more practical purpose of using it as security for financing an army. Legend has it that a messenger carrying the jewel never reached his destination, but de Sancy (by then Superintendent of Finance) was convinced that the man was loyal and had a search conducted until the site of the messenger’s robbery and murder was found. When the body was disinterred, the jewel was found in the faithful man’s stomach.

De Sancy later sold the diamond to James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland (1566-1625) in March 1605 when it is thought the Sancy acquired its name. It weighed 53 carats and cost 60,000 French crowns. It was described in the Tower of London’s 1605 Inventory of Jewels as “…one fayre dyamonde, cut in fawcetts, bought of Sauncy.” James had it set into the Mirror of Great Britain, with diamonds from the Great H of Scotland.

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James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

The Sancy was briefly possessed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1600-1649) and then by his third son James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1633-1701). Beleaguered after a devastating defeat, James took shelter under Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1638-1715) fickle host who tired of his exiled guest. Facing destitution, James had no choice but to sell the Sancy to Cardinal Mazarin in 1657 for the reported sum of £25,000. The cardinal bequeathed the diamond to the king upon his death in 1661.

The Sancy was thus domiciled in France. In 1722 a new crown was created for King Louis XV (1710-1774). It was used at his coronation and was embellished with diamonds from the Royal Collection. The new crown was made by Laurent Ronde, the French Crown jeweller.

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Crown of Louis XV

It originally contained a collection of Mazarin Diamonds, Including the Sancy diamond in the fleur-de-lis at the top of the arches, and the famous ‘Regent’ diamond, which was set in the front of the crown, as well as hundreds of other precious diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

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Louis XV, King of France and Navarre

The Sancy Diamond disappeared during the French Revolution when brigands raided the Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury). As well as the Sancy, other treasures stolen were the Regent diamond, and the French Blue diamond which is known today as the Hope diamond.

The Sancy was in the collection of Vasiliy Rudanovsky until 1828 when purchased by Prince Demidoff for £80,000. It remained in the Demidov family collection until 1865 when sold to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, an Indian prince, for £100,000. He sold it only a year later, creating another gap in its history. It reappeared in 1867, displayed at the Paris Exposition, carrying a price tag of one million francs; the gem then vanished again for forty years.

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The Sancy Diamond with the French Crown Jewels

The Sancy next surfaced in 1906 when bought by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, from famous Russian collector A.K.Rudanovsky. The prominent Astor family possessed it for 72 years until the 4th Viscount Astor sold it to the Louvre for $1 million in 1978. The Sancy now rests in the Apollo Gallery, sharing attention with the likes of the Regent and the Hortensia Diamonds.

April 26, 1721: Birth of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland & the Battle of Culloden

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal House, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Battle of Culloden, Charles Edward Stuart, Duke of Cumberland, George II, Highlanders, House of Hohenzollern, James Francis Edward Stuart, King George II of Great Britain, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Prince William Augustus of Cumberland

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, (April 26, 1721 – October 31, 1765), was the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, the daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. Her father, a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, was the ruler of one of the smallest German states; he died of smallpox at the age of 32, when Caroline was three years old.

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William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

William was born in Leicester House, in Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square), Westminster, London, where his parents had moved after his grandfather, George I, accepted the invitation to ascend the British throne. His godparents included the King Friedrich Wilhelm I and Queen Sophie in Prussia (his paternal aunt, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover the sister of George II, King of Great Britain, and the mother of Friedrich II, King of Prussia). The Prussian Monarchs apparently did not take part in person and were presumably represented by proxy.

On July 27, 1726, at only five years old, he was created Duke of Cumberland, Marquess of Berkhamstead in the County of Hertford, Earl of Kennington in the County of Surrey, Viscount of Trematon in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of the Isle of Alderney.

The young prince was educated well; his mother appointed Edmond Halley as a tutor. Another of his tutors (and occasional proxy for him) was his mother’s favourite Andrew Fountaine. At Hampton Court Palace, apartments were designed specially for him by William Kent. William’s elder brother Frederick, Prince of Wales, proposed dividing the king’s dominions. Frederick would get Britain, while William would get Hanover. This proposal came to nothing.

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George II, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Imperial Elector of Hanover.

He had several mistresses but never married. He served in the army and for a short while in the navy and was wounded at the battle of Dettingen.

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he became commander of the allied forces (1745) and was severely defeated by France’s Marshal Maurice de Saxe at the Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745). His subsequent military failures led to his estrangement from his father, King George II (reigned 1727–60).

The lead to the Battle of Culloden: Background

In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first on June 10, was the birth of a son and heir, James Francis Edward, to King James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, threatening to create a Roman Catholic dynasty and excluding his Anglican daughter Mary and her Protestant husband William IIII of Orange. The second was the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England and their acquittal on June 30 destroyed his political authority in England. Anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland now made it seem only Jame’s removal as monarch could prevent a civil war.

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Prince James Francis Edward, The Prince of Wales.

Leading members of the English political class invited Prince William III of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on November 5, 1688, James’s army deserted, and he went into exile in France on December 23. In February the Convention Parliament grave the crown jointly to Prince William III of Orange and his wife Prince Marry eldest daughter of King James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland.

James Francis Edward was raised in Continental Europe. After his father’s death in 1701, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish crown as James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland, with the support of his Jacobite followers and his cousin Louis XIV of France. Fourteen years later, he unsuccessfully attempted to gain the throne in Britain during the Jacobite rising of 1715.

Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuart, died in 1714, with no living children. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, she was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, a daughter of James VI-I. Many, however, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, continued to support the claim to the throne of Anne’s exiled half-brother James Francis, excluded from the succession under the Act of Settlement due to his Roman Catholic religion.

On July 23, 1745 James Francis’ eldest son Charles Edward Stuart landed on Eriskay in the Western Islands in an attempt to reclaim the throne of Great Britain for his father, accompanied only by the “Seven Men of Moidart”. Most of his Scottish supporters advised he return to France, but his persuasion of Donald Cameron of Lochiel to back him encouraged others to commit and the rebellion was launched at Glenfinnan on August 19, 1745.

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Charles Edward Stuart “Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

The Jacobites won a battle at Falkirk between Edinburgh and Sterling in January 1746. The triumph was not followed up and counted for nothing as the Jacobites were being pursued by the Teutonic figure of William Augustus Duke of Cumberland. His temperament made him cruel by nature even to his own troops and had only genocidal contempt for Scott and I’ll Highlanders. The Duke of Cumberland preserved the strictest discipline in his unit. He was inflexible in the execution of what he deemed to be his duty, without favour to any man. In only a few cases he exercised his influence in favour of clemency.

Cumberland’s army at Culloden comprised 16 infantry battalions, including four Scottish units and one Irish. The bulk of the infantry units had already been defeated by the Jacobites in January at Falkirk, but had been further drilled, rested and resupplied since then.

On 8 April 1746, the Duke of Cumberland set out from Aberdeen for Inverness, and, on 15 April, the government army celebrated Cumberland’s twenty-fifth birthday by issuing two gallons of brandy to each regiment. That evening the Jacobites tried to carry out a night attack on the government encampment.

Night attack at Nairn

Jacobite lieutenant-general Lord George Murray was to cross the River Nairn and encircle the town, and confront Cumberland’s forces but there was only one hour left before dawn. After a heated council with other officers, Murray concluded that there was not enough time to mount a surprise attack and that the offensive should be aborted. Charles Edward Stuart was not told of the change of plan.

Not long after the exhausted Jacobite forces had made it back to Culloden, an officer of Lochiel’s regiment, who had been left behind after falling asleep in a wood, arrived with a report of advancing government troops. By then, many Jacobite soldiers had dispersed in search of food or returned to Inverness, while others were asleep in ditches and outbuildings; several hundred of their army may have missed the battle.

The Battle of Culloden

The morning of April 16, 1746 camel the decisive Battle of Culloden, in which the Stuart forces were completely destroyed.

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Prince Charles ignored the advice of general Lord George Murray and chose to fight on flat, open, marshy ground where his forces would be exposed to superior government firepower. He commanded his army from a position behind his lines, where he could not see what was happening. He hoped that Cumberland’s army would attack first, and he had his men stand exposed to the British Royal artillery.

The battle, which lasted only 40 minutes, resulted in bitter defeat for the heavily outnumbered Jacobites. Some 1,000 of the Young Pretender’s army of 5,000 weak and starving Highlanders were killed by the 9,000 Redcoats, who lost only 50 men.

The morning following the Battle of Culloden the Duke of Cumberland ordered his troops to show no quarter against any remaining Jacobite rebels (French Army personnel, including those who were British-or Irish-born, were treated as legitimate combatants). His troops traversed the battlefield and stabbed any of the rebel soldiers who were still alive.When Cumberland learned that a wounded soldier lying at his feet belonged to the opposing cause, he instructed a major to shoot him; when the major (James Wolfe) refused to do so, Cumberland commanded a private soldier to complete the required duty.

The British Army then embarked upon the so-called “pacification” of Jacobite areas of the Highlands. All those troops believed to be ‘rebels’ were killed, as were non-combatants; ‘rebellious’ settlements were burned and livestock was confiscated on a large scale. Over a hundred Jacobites were hanged. Women were imprisoned, and droves of people were sent by ship to London for trial; as the journey took up to 8 months, many of them died on the way.

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While in Inverness, Cumberland emptied the jails that were full of people imprisoned by Jacobite supporters, replacing them with Jacobites themselves. Prisoners were taken south to England to stand trial for high treason. Many were held on hulks on the Thames or in Tilbury Fort, and executions took place in Carlisle, York and Kennington Common.

The common Jacobite supporters fared better than the ranking individuals. In total, 120 common men were executed, one third of them being deserters from the British Army. The common prisoners drew lots amongst themselves and only one out of twenty actually came to trial. Although most of those who did stand trial were sentenced to death, almost all of these had their sentences commuted to penal transportation to the British colonies for life by the Traitors Transported Act 1746.

Flight of Bonnie Prince Charlie

Murray managed to lead a group of Jacobites to Ruthven, intending to continue the fight. Charles thought that he was betrayed, however, and decided to abandon the Jacobite cause.

Charles hid in the moors of Scotland, always barely ahead of the government forces. Many Highlanders aided him, and none of them betrayed him for the £30,000 reward. Charles was assisted by supporters such as pilot Donald Macleod of Galtrigill, Captain Con O’Neill who took him to Benbecula, and Flora MacDonald who helped him escape to the Isle of Skye by taking him in a boat disguised as her maid “Betty Burke”.

He ultimately evaded capture and left the country aboard the French frigate L’Heureux, arriving in France in September. The Prince’s Cairn marks the traditional spot on the shores of Loch nan Uamh in Lochaber from which he made his final departure from Scotland. With the Jacobite cause lost, Charles spent the remainder of his life on the continent.

Charles’s subsequent flight is commemorated in “The Skye Boat Song” by Sir Harold Edwin Boulton and the Irish song “Mo Ghile Mear” by Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill.

Butcher Cumberland

Following Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland was nicknamed “Sweet William” by his Whig supporters and “The Butcher” by his Tory opponents the latter being a taunt first recorded in the City of London and used for political purposes in England. Cumberland’s own brother, the Prince of Wales (who had been refused permission to take a military role on his father’s behalf), seems to have encouraged the virulent attacks upon the Duke.

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Butcher Cumberland

The Duke’s victorious efforts were acknowledged by his being voted an income of £25,000 per annum over and above his money from the civil list. A thanksgiving service was held at St Paul’s Cathedral, that included the first performance of Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, composed especially for Cumberland, which contains the anthem “See the Conquering Hero Comes”.

After Culloden

The Duke of Cumberland then returned to the war against the French; in July 1747 he lost the Battle of Lauffeld to Saxe. During the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) he was defeated by the French at the Battle of Hastenbeck (July 1757) in Hanover, one of George II’s possessions. Because he signed the Convention of Klosterzeven (September 1757), promising to evacuate Hanover, he was dismissed by his father, who repudiated the agreement. His refusal to serve as commander in chief unless William Pitt was dismissed as prime minister led to Pitt’s fall in April 1757. Following the Convention of Klosterzeven in 1757, he never again held active military command and switched his attentions to politics and horse racing.

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Cumberland’s final years were lived out during the first years of the reign of his nephew, George III, who acceded to the throne on the death of William’s father on October 25, 1760: Cumberland became a very influential advisor to the King and was instrumental in establishing the First Rockingham Ministry.

Cabinet meetings were held either at Cumberland Lodge, his home in Windsor, or at Upper Grosvenor Street, his house in London. The Duke of Cumberland never fully recovered from his wound at Dettingen, and was obese. In August 1760, he suffered a stroke and, on October 31, 1765, he died at his home on Upper Grosvenor Street in London at the young age 44. He was buried beneath the floor of the nave of the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey. He died unmarried, without an heir and his titles reverted back to the crown.

The reign of Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland (1689-1694)

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, From the Emperor's Desk, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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Glorious Revolution, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, Mary II of England, William III and Mary II

From the Emperor’s Desk: A few days ago I compared the joint rule of Mary I of England and Felipe II of Spain with that of William III and Mary II. Today I’d like to examine the reign of Mary II as co-sovereign with her husband.

Mary II (April 30, 1662 – December 28, 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, King William III-II, from 1689 until her death. Popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary.

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Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Although their father James, Duke of York, was Roman Catholic, Mary and her younger sister Anne were raised as Anglicans at the wishes of their uncle, King Charles II. Charles lacked legitimate children, making Mary second in the line of succession.

William and Mary were first cousins. Her father, James, Duke of York (later King James II-VII) and William’s mother, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange were siblings, the son and daughter of King Charles I of England.

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William and a tearful Mary were married in St James’s Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on November 4, 1677. The bedding ceremony to publicly establish the consummation of the marriage was attended by the royal family, with the King himself drawing the bedcurtains. Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands later that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather. Rotterdam was inaccessible because of ice, and they were forced to land at the small village of Ter Heijde, and walk through the frosty countryside until met by coaches to take them to Huis Honselaarsdijk.

She was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Mary’s family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. Within months of the marriage Mary was pregnant; however, on a visit to her husband at the fortified city of Breda, she suffered a miscarriage, which may have permanently impaired her ability to have children. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679, and early 1680. Her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life.

Charles II died in 1685 and James took the throne as James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, making Mary heir presumptive. James’s attempts at rule by decree and the birth of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, led to his deposition in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights.

Mary was upset by the circumstances surrounding the deposition of her father, and was torn between concern for him and duty to her husband, but was convinced that her husband’s actions, however unpleasant, were necessary to “save the Church and State”.

William and Mary became king and queen regnant. The Bill of Rights also confirmed the succession to the throne. Following the death of either William III or Mary II, the other was to continue to reign. Next in the line of succession would be any children of the couple, to be followed by Mary’s sister Anne and her children. Last in the line of succession stood any children William III might have had from any subsequent marriage. Mary completely refrained from interfering in political matters, as had been agreed in the Declaration and Bill of Rights, and as she preferred. However, she did act on her own accord when William III was out of the country.

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William III and Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland

Mary mostly deferred to William, a renowned military leader and principal opponent of Louis XIV, when he was in England. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler.

From 1690 onwards, William was often absent from England on campaign, each year generally from the spring until the autumn. In 1690, he fought Jacobites (who supported James) in Ireland. William had crushed the Irish Jacobites by 1692, but he continued with campaigns abroad to wage war against France in the Netherlands.

Whilst her husband was away, Mary administered the government of the realm with the advice of a nine-member Cabinet Council. She was not keen to assume power and felt “deprived of all that was dear to me in the person of my husband, left among those that were perfect strangers to me: my sister of a humour so reserved that I could have little comfort from her.”

Anne had quarrelled with William and Mary over money, and the relationship between the two sisters had soured. When her husband was away, Mary acted on her own if his advice was not available; whilst he was in England.

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Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland

However, she proved a firm ruler, ordering the arrest of her own uncle, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, for plotting to restore James II to the throne. In January 1692, the influential John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough, was dismissed on similar charges; the dismissal somewhat diminished her popularity and further harmed her relationship with her sister Anne (who was strongly influenced by Churchill’s wife, Sarah). Anne appeared at court with Sarah, obviously supporting the disgraced Churchill, which led to Mary angrily demanding that Anne dismiss Sarah and vacate her lodgings.

Mary was tall (5 foot 11 inches; 180 cm) and apparently fit; she would regularly walk between her palaces at Whitehall and Kensington. In late 1694, however, she contracted smallpox. She sent away anyone who had not previously had the disease, to prevent the spread of infection. Anne, who was once again pregnant, sent Mary a letter saying she would run any risk to see her sister again, but the offer was declined by Mary’s groom of the stole, the Countess of Derby.Mary died at Kensington Palace shortly after midnight on the morning of December 28, at the young age of 32.

William, who had grown increasingly to rely on Mary, was devastated by her death, and told Burnet that “from being the happiest” he was “now going to be the miserablest creature on earth”. While the Jacobites considered her death divine retribution for breaking the fifth commandment (“honour thy father”), she was widely mourned in Britain.

Joint sovereigns of England: Differences between Felipe II of Spain and William III of Orange.

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Consort, Convention Parliament, Glorious Revolution, King Consort, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Mary I of England, Mary II of England, Philip II of Spain, Queen Consort, Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, William III and Mary II, William of Orange

On April 11, 1689 William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland, the only time in British history when two sovereigns sat upon these thrones.

Generally when a Queen Regnant mounts the British throne her husband will not share her royal title. Elizabeth I never married and the husbands of sovereign queens Anne, Victoria and the current reigning monarch, Elizabeth II, were never made King Consorts. Although Scotland is different where Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was made King Consort of Scotland upon his marriage to Queen Mary I of Scotland.

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Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland

However, twice in English history the husbands of a reigning Queen Regnant were granted the title “King of England” but there were differences. One was a full sovereign and the other was a consort. Ironically, these were the spouses of Queen Mary I of England and Ireland and Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Let me explain further….

In 1554, Mary married the future King Felipe II of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556.

Under the English common law doctrine of the day, jure uxoris, the property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband’s upon marriage, and it was feared that any man she married would thereby become King of England in fact and not just in name. An Act of Parliament was passed to address this issue. The Act that was passed was the Queen Mary’s Marriage Act and it was given Royal Assent in April of 1554.

While Mary’s grandparents, Fernando II-V and Isabella I of Castile and Aragon (Spain) had retained sovereignty of their own realms during their marriage, there was no precedent to follow in England. Under the terms of Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, Felipe was to be styled “King of England” on all official documents (including Acts of Parliament) and all such Acts of Parliament were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. However, Felipe was not granted the title of King of England for his lifetime, it was for Queen Mary’s lifetime only.

Further stated in the Act, England would not be obliged to provide military support to Felipe in any war, and Felipe could not act without his wife’s consent or appoint foreigners to office in England. Felipe was unhappy at the conditions imposed, but he was ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage. He had no amorous feelings toward Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; Felipe’s aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels, “the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries.”

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Felipe II, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Milan. King Consort of England and Ireland.

In reality, Queen Mary’s Marriage Act seems to have served as a business contract between England and Spain; it specifies what Spain could expect from the union, while at the same time assuring the English that England would not become a satellite of Spain.

Although Felipe was a King Consort of England and Queen Mary was the sovereign, his position was not the same as other husbands of reigning queens. The arrangement under Queen Mary’s Marriage Act did give Felipe some limited power and authority.

The Act stated that King Felipe (Philip) would take part in governing Mary’s realms while reserving most authority for Mary herself. Formally, King Philip was to co-reign with his wife according to the Act, which nevertheless ensured that the new king would not become too powerful by prohibiting him from appointing foreigners to any offices, taking his wife or any child that might be born to them outside her realm and claiming the crown for himself should he outlive his wife. (Montrose 2006, p. 46).

William III and Mary II.

James II-VII inherited the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from his elder brother Charles II with widespread support in all three countries, largely based on the principle of divine right or birth. In June 1688, two events turned dissent toward the Catholic king into a crisis; the first on June 10 was the birth of James’s son and heir James Francis Edward, threatening to create a Catholic dynasty and excluding his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband Willem III of Orange.

The second was the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England and their acquittal on June 30, destroyed James’s political authority in England. Anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland now made it seem that only his removal as monarch could prevent a civil war.

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William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. Prince of Orange, Stadholder of the Netherlands

Representatives of the English political elite invited Willem III of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on November 5, 1688, James’s army deserted and he went into exile in France on December 23. In February 1689, Parliament held James II-VII had ‘vacated’ the English throne.

Willem (William) summoned a Convention Parliament in England, which met on January 22, 1689, to discuss the appropriate course of action following James’s flight. William desired the throne but felt insecure about his position; though his wife preceded him in the line of succession to the throne, William wished to reign as king in his own right, rather than as a mere consort. William further demanded that he remain as king even if his wife were to die. As mentioned above, the only precedent for a joint monarchy in England dated from when Queen Mary I married Felipe II of Spain. Felipe II remained king only during his wife’s lifetime, and restrictions were placed on his power.

The English Convention Parliament was very divided on the issue. The radical Whigs in the Lower House proposed to elect William as a king (meaning that his power would be derived from the people); the moderates wanted an acclamation of William and Mary together; the Tories wanted to make him regent or only acclaim Mary as queen. Furthermore, Mary, remaining loyal to her husband, refused to reign on her own without her husband.

8BF5B889-9678-42AD-9489-F650EDD7BA72Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The House of Commons, with a Whig majority, believed that the throne was safer if the ruler were Protestant. The Commons made William accept a Bill of Rights, and, on February 13, 1689, Parliament passed the Declaration of Right and the Crown was offered to William III and Mary II as joint sovereigns. It was, however, provided that “the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the names of the said Prince and Princess during their joint lives.” In other words, even though both monarchs were sovereigns (and neither a consort of the other) William was given the majority of executive power.

William III and Mary II were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on April 11, 1689 by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton. Normally, the coronation is performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the Archbishop at the time, William Sancroft, refused to recognise James’s removal.

William also summoned a Convention of the Estates of Scotland, which met on March 14, 1689 and sent a conciliatory letter, while James sent haughty uncompromising orders, swaying a majority in favour of William. On April 11 the day of the English coronation, the Convention finally declared that James was no longer King of Scotland. William II and Mary II were offered the Scottish Crown; they accepted on May 11.

February 6: A busy day in Royal History

06 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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King Charles II of England, King Constantine II of Greece, King George VI of the United Kingdom, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, Queen Anne of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Frederica of Greece

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February 6, 1665. Birth of the future Queen Anne. Anne was born at 11:39 p.m. on February 6, 1665 at St James’s Palace, London, the fourth child and second daughter of the Duke of York (afterwards James II and VII), and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Her father was the younger brother of King Charles II, and her mother was the daughter of Lord Chancellor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. was the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland between March 8, 1702 and May 1, 1707. On May 1, 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death. Anne remained Queen of Ireland in the form of a personal union with the British Crown and wouldn’t be politically united with Great Britain until 1801.

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February 6, 1685. Death of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of February 2, 1685, and died aged 54 at 11:45 am four days later at Whitehall Palace. The suddenness of his illness and death led to suspicion of poison in the minds of many, including one of the royal doctors; however, a more modern medical analysis has held that the symptoms of his final illness are similar to those of uraemia (a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction). In the days between his collapse and his death, Charles endured a variety of torturous treatments including bloodletting, purging and cupping in hopes of effecting a recovery. Charles was succeeded by his brother, the Duke of York, who became James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland.

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February 6, 1840. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and granted the style of Royal Highness by an Order in Council, four days before his marriage to Queen Victoria. The British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, advised the Queen against granting her husband the title of “King Consort”; Parliament also objected to Albert being created a peer—partly because of anti-German sentiment and a desire to exclude Albert from any political role. Albert claimed that he had no need of a British peerage, writing: “It would almost be a step downwards, for as a Duke of Saxony, I feel myself much higher than a Duke of York or Kent.” For the next seventeen years, Albert was formally titled “HRH Prince Albert” until, on June 25, 1857, Victoria formally granted him the title Prince Consort.

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February 6, 1899. Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (October 15, 1874 – February 6, 1899), was the son and heir apparent of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He died aged 24 under circumstances still not entirely clear. The exact circumstances of Alfred’s death are not known, and varying accounts have been published. His sister Marie’s memoirs simply say his health “broke down”, and other writers have said that he had “consumption”. The Times published an account stating he had died of a tumor, while the Complete Peerage gives the generally accepted account that he “shot himself”. He was a first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and brother of Queen Maria a Romania.

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February 6, 1952. George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland died and was succeeded by his elder daughter as Queen Elizabeth II. On the morning of February 6, at 07:30 GMT, George VI was found dead in bed at his Sandringham House in Norfolk. He had died from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at the age of 56. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of the King and consequently Elizabeth’s immediate accession to the throne. This marks her 68th year on the throne.

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February 6, 1981. Queen Frederica of Greece, was born Her Royal Highness Princess Frederica of Hanover, and of Great Britain and Ireland, and of Brunswick-Lüneburg on April 18, 1917 in Blankenburg am Harz, in the German Duchy of Brunswick, she was the only daughter and third child of Ernst August, then reigning Duke of Brunswick, and his wife Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, herself the only daughter of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Both her father and maternal grandfather would abdicate their crowns in November 1918 following Germany’s defeat in World War I, and her paternal grandfather would be stripped of his British royal dukedom the following year. As a descendant of Queen Victoria, she was, at birth, 34th in the line of succession to the British throne.

Prince Paul of Greece (future King of Greece) proposed to her during the summer of 1936, while he was in Berlin attending the 1936 Summer Olympics. Paul was a son of King Constantine I and Frederica’s grand-aunt Sophia. Accordingly, they were maternal first cousins once removed. They were also paternal second cousins as great-grandchildren of Christian IX of Denmark. Their engagement was announced officially on September 28, 1937, and Britain’s King George VI gave his consent pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act 1772 on December 26, 1937. They married in Athens on January 9, 1938. Frederica became Hereditary Princess of Greece, her husband being heir presumptive to his childless elder brother, King George II.

Frederica died on February 6, 1981 in exile in Madrid of heart failure, reportedly following eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), although a biographer has claimed the surgery was cataract removal. She was interred at Tatoi (the Royal family’s palace and burial ground in Greece). Her son, King Constantine II, and his family were allowed to attend the service but had to leave immediately afterwards.

This date in history: December 24, 1660. Death of Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange.

24 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Charles I of England, Charles II of England, Elector of Brandenburg, Elector of Hanover, Frederick William I of Brandenburg, George I of Great Britain, Henry IV of France, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Mary of England, Prince of Orange, Princess Royal, Republic of the Netherlands, Restoration, Stadthouder of the Netherlands, William II of Orange

Mary, Princess Royal (Mary Henrietta; November 4, 1631 – December 24, 1660) was Countess of Nassau by marriage to Prince Willem II of Orange and co-regent for her son during his minority as Sovereign Prince of Orange from 1651 to 1660.

Mary Henrietta was born at St. James’s Palace, London to Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the eldest daughter of the youngest daughter of King Henri IV of France (Henri III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici.

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Mary, Princess Royal

Princess Mary was named after her mother. Her father, King Charles I, liked to call his wife Henrietta Maria simply “Maria”, with the English people calling her “Queen Mary.”

Charles I designated Mary Princess Royal in 1642, thus establishing the tradition that the eldest daughter of the British sovereign might bear this title. The title came into being when Queen Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henri IV of France to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the French king was styled (Madame Royale). Until that time, the eldest daughters of English and Scottish kings were variously titled lady or princess (The younger daughters of British sovereigns were not consistently titled Princess of England/Scotland or Great Britain with the style Royal Highness until the accession of George I in 1714). George I of Great Britain codified styles and titles using the German system and this code is still in effect today.

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Betrothal portrait of Princess Mary and Prince Willem of Orange

Her father, Charles I, wished that Mary should marry her first cousin Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, the son of Felipe IV of Spain. The Prince of the Asturias died on October 9, 1646 (aged 16) before succeeding to the throne. Mary’s first cousin, Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine, was also a suitor for her hand. Both proposals fell through and she was betrothed to Willem of Orange, the son and heir of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces, and of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. The marriage took place on May 2, 1641 at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London.

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The Prince and Princess of Orange

The marriage was reputedly not consummated for several years because the bride was nine years old. In 1642, Mary moved to the Dutch Republic with her mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, and in 1644, as the daughter-in-law of the stadtholder, Frederik Hendrik she became more engaged in courtly and public events.

In March 1647, Mary’s husband, Willem II, succeeded his father as stadholder. However, in November 1650, just after his attempt to capture Amsterdam from his political opponents, he died of smallpox.

Co-regency

The couple’s only child, Willem III Prince of Orange and Stadthouder of the Netherlands (later William III of England, Scotland and Ireland), was born two weeks after his father’s death. Mary, now a Dowager, was obliged to share the guardianship of her infant son with her mother-in-law, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, and brother-in-law, Friedrich Wilhelm I, Elector of Brandenburg. They had more power over the young Prince’s affairs than she, as evidenced by his being christened Willem, and not Charles as she had desired.

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Prince Willem II of Orange, Stadthouder of the Netherlands

She was unpopular with the Dutch because of her sympathies with her own family, the Stuarts. She lived in the palace of the Stadthouder at the Binnenhof in the Hague, the building complex that now houses the Senate of the Netherlands. Her boudoir is still intact. At length, public opinion having been further angered by the hospitality that she showed to her brothers, the exiled Charles II and the Duke of York (later James II-VII) she was forbidden to receive her relatives.

Her moral reputation was damaged by rumours that she was having an affair with (or had been secretly married to) Henry Jermyn, a member of her brother James’ household. The rumours were probably untrue, but Charles II took them seriously, and tried to prevent any further contact between Jermyn and Mary. From 1654 to 1657, Mary was usually not in Holland. In 1657, she became regent on behalf of her son for the principality of Orange, but the difficulties of her position led her to implore the assistance of her first cousin Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

Death

The restoration of Mary’s brother, Charles II in England and Scotland greatly enhanced the position of the Princess of Orange and her son in Holland. In September 1660, she returned to England. She died of smallpox on December 24, 1660, at Whitehall Palace, London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
I

This date in History. September 16, 1701: Death of King James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland.

16 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Duke of York, Glorious Revolution, King James II of England, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Louis XIV of France, Mary II of England, Saint Germaine-en-Laye, William III and Mary II, William III of England

James II-VII (October 14, 1633 – September 16, 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from February 6, 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland, his reign is now remembered primarily for struggles over religious tolerance.

However, it also involved the principles of absolutismand divine right of kings and his deposition ended a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown.

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King James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland.

James inherited the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from his elder brother Charles II with widespread support in all three countries, largely based on the principle of divine right or birth. Tolerance for his personal Catholicism did not apply to it in general and when the English and Scottish Parliaments refused to pass his measures, James attempted to impose them by decree; it was a political principle, rather than a religious one, that ultimately led to his removal.

In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first on June 10 was the birth of James’s son and heir James Francis Edward, threatening to create a Catholic dynasty and excluding his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange. The second was the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England and their acquittal on June 30, destroyed his political authority in England. Anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland now made it seem only his removal as monarch could prevent a civil war.

Representatives of the English political elite invited Willem III of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on November 5, 1688, James’s army deserted and he went into exile in France on December 23. In February 1689, Parliament held James II-VII had ‘vacated’ the English throne and installed Willem III of Orange and Princess Mary as joint monarchs, establishing the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth.

James landed in Ireland on March 14, 1689 in an attempt to recover his kingdoms but despite a simultaneous rising in Scotland, in April a Scottish Convention followed their English colleagues by ruling James had ‘forfeited’ the throne and offered it to William III and Mary II. After defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James returned to France where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by Louis XIV of France and Navarre (who was also his first cousin).

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In France, James was allowed to live in the royal château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. James’s wife, Maria of Modena, and some of his supporters fled with him, including the Earl of Melfort; most, but not all, were Roman Catholic. In 1692, James’s last child, Louisa Maria Teresa, was born. Some supporters in England attempted to assassinate William III to restore James to the throne in 1696, but the plot failed and the backlash made James’s cause less popular. Louis XIV’s offer to have James elected King of Poland in the same year was rejected, for James feared that acceptance of the Polish crown might (in the minds of the English people) render him incapable of being King of England. After Louis concluded peace with William III in 1697, he ceased to offer much in the way of assistance to James.

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The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, James’s home during his final exile

During his last years, James lived as an austere penitent. He wrote a memorandum for his son advising him on how to govern England, specifying that Catholics should possess one Secretary of State, one Commissioner of the Treasury, the Secretary at War, with the majority of the officers in the army.

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He died aged 67 of a brain haemorrhage on 16 September 1701 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Had James remained king this entire time he would have reigned in all three kingdoms for 16 years, 7 months, 10 days. James’s heart was placed in a silver-gilt locket and given to the convent at Chaillot, and his brain was placed in a lead casket and given to the Scots College in Paris. His entrails were placed in two gilt urns and sent to the parish church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the English Jesuit college at Saint-Omer, while the flesh from his right arm was given to the English Augustinian nuns of Paris.

The rest of James’s body was laid to rest in a triple sarcophagus (consisting of two wooden coffins and one of lead) at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris, with a funeral oration by Henri-Emmanuel de Roquette. James was not buried, but put in one of the side chapels. Lights were kept burning round his coffin until the French Revolution. In 1734, the Archbishop of Paris heard evidence to support James’s canonisation, but nothing came of it. During the French Revolution, James’s tomb was raided.

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