Queen Henrietta Maria born

410 years ago today, Princess Henrietta Maria was born in Paris in 1609. She was the youngest child of King Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici, and was named after both of her parents. Henry IV’s first marriage had produced no children and, desperately in need of a legitimate heir, he sought an annulment after 27 years in order to marry Marie de’ Medici – 21 years younger and the daughter of a key ally to whom Henry owed a small fortune. Though this union proved fertile, it was not a happy one – Marie constantly quarrelled with Henry’s mistresses who took great pleasure in describing her as ‘the fat banker’s daughter’.

Before Henrietta Maria was born, her father Henry IV had finally brought about the end of the French Wars of Religion – a deeply unsettled time of unrest between Protestant Huguenots and Catholics. Henry IV had made the pragmatic decision to convert to Catholicism to secure his crown and gain the allegiance of much of France, but it caused resentment among the Huguenots, as well as with his former ally the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England. Henry had survived numerous attempts on his life, but when Henrietta Maria was less than six months old, he was finally assassinated by a Catholic fanatic who stabbed him when his carriage was slowed by congestion due to his wife’s coronation ceremony.

Henrietta Maria was raised Catholic and like her father, she would face struggles due to her religion. At fifteen she married Charles I of England – a Protestant king, meaning that their marriage required a special papal dispensation. It was a marriage for an alliance and not for love, and the two had a rocky start. It was only after the murder of Charles’ closest friend, the Duke of Buckingham, that he begin to grow closer to his wife, and eventually it became a marriage of true affection. They had nine children, of whom five survived to adulthood – including the future Charles II and James II.

But Henrietta Maria was immediately unpopular in England due to her Catholic faith, and would remain so despite doing her duty as queen and providing heirs to the kingdom. Her religion was an issue often used against Charles. She was blamed for many things – including a Catholic rebellion in Ireland, and Charles’ religious reforms. Despite this, Henrietta Maria remained a devout Catholic throughout her life, even refusing to be crowned Queen as the ceremony required swearing a Protestant oath.

Henrietta Maria was known to be lively and sophisticated, with expensive tastes. She and Charles amassed an impressive art collection, and both were fond of putting on masques. Indeed, Henrietta Maria had spent so much money on her clothing, entourage and entertainment that only two years after becoming Queen and despite generous gifts from Charles I, Henrietta Maria was forced to secretly borrow money.

Despite appearances, Henrietta Maria was not in fact a frivolous queen and was heavily politically involved as Charles’ closest friend and advisor. She helped him raise funds for the Bishops’ War by appealing to English Catholics, and remained devoted to his cause when the English Civil War broke out. In 1642, she travelled to The Hague where she spent months raising funds by selling her jewels to buy weapons and recruit troops. The following year she reunited with Charles, and they remained together at Oxford for several months. Henrietta Maria fell pregnant again, and decided to leave for the safety of herself and her unborn child. She parted from Charles in April 1644 – unknown to both of them, it would be the last time they ever saw each other.

Fearful of being captured and used as leverage against Charles, Henrietta Maria kept moving until she gave birth to her youngest daughter, named Henrietta, in Exeter. Very soon after the birth and in considerable pain and distress, the queen fled to France, leaving her newborn baby behind. Once safe from capture, she tirelessly continued to support her husband, trying to raise money and aid. But Charles was defeated and in 1649 he was executed – the shock of which Henrietta Maria never recovered from.

Her attempts to convert her son Charles to Catholicism were unsuccessful, and only managed to alienate him from her. However, after Charles II retook the throne in 1660, she was invited to move back to England, which she did for a time but returned permanently to France in 1665, hoping it would help her ailing health. She died in 1669 near Paris.

One of Henrietta Maria’s most enduring legacies exists in the United States of America – with a mid-Atlantic state named after her. Hoping it would be a safe haven for English Catholics, the English colony known as the Province of Maryland was named in Henrietta Maria’s honour. 

Images: Queen Henrietta Maria as a child, by Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1611, via Wikimedia Commons. Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffery Hudson, by Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1633, via Wikimedia Commons.