Henrietta of England

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Henrietta of England
Basilica of St Denis, France
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1661)​
Issue
more...
Names
Henrietta Anne Stuart
Roman Catholicism
prev. Church of England

Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644

Henrietta Maria. She was Duchess of Orléans through her marriage to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
.

Fleeing England with her mother as an infant in the midst of the

Louis XIV of France, where she was known as Minette.[1] She married her cousin Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and became a fille de France,[2] but their relationship was marked by frequent tensions over common suitors.[3]

Henrietta played an instrumental role in negotiating the Secret Treaty of Dover between France and England against the Dutch Republic in June 1670, the same month as her unexpected death at the age of 26. Jacobite claims to the British throne after Henry Benedict Stuart's death descend from her daughter Anne Marie.

Infancy in England

Henrietta was born on 16 June 1644, on the eve of the

Henrietta Maria. Her connections with the French court as niece of Louis XIII and cousin of Louis XIV
proved very useful later in life.

Shortly before Henrietta's birth, her mother had been forced to leave

convulsions, from which she recovered. On 26 July, Henrietta met her father, Charles I of England, for the first time. Before his arrival, he had ordered that Henrietta be baptised in accordance with the rites of the Church of England, and she was baptised Henrietta at Exeter Cathedral on 21 July.[7] A canopy of state was erected in honour of her dignity as a princess of England.[8] Henrietta was moved to Oatlands Palace outside London, where she and her household lived for three months before fleeing secretly in June 1646; Lady Dalkeith ensured Henrietta's safe arrival in France, where she was reunited with her mother.[9]

Life and marriage in France

While living at the French court, Henrietta was given the name Anne in honour of her aunt, the French queen

Fronde, the civil war that raged in France from 1648 to 1653, Henrietta and her mother stayed at the Louvre
.

In February 1649, Henrietta's mother was informed of the

Catholic.[11] With the arrival of Henrietta's brother, Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester
, in 1652, their small court was increased.

Henrietta as Minerva holding a painting of Monsieur by Antoine Mathieu

After the Fronde was over, the French court made it a priority to find a bride for the young king of France. Queen Henrietta Maria hinted at the idea of a union between Henrietta and Louis, but Queen Anne rejected the idea, preferring instead her niece by blood,

Grand Prince of Tuscany, but nothing came of them as a result of her status as an exile.[14]

The impatient Philippe was eager to make sure he married Henrietta as soon as possible, but Queen Henrietta Maria was intent on going to England to sort out her debts, secure a dowry for Henrietta, and prevent the

livres[17] and a further 20,000 towards other expenses. She was also given, as a personal gift, 40,000 livres annually and the Château de Montargis as a private residence.[18]

Henrietta's return to France was delayed by the death from

Palais des Tuileries.[20] As she had married Monsieur, Henrietta was styled Madame, la duchesse d'Orléans.[21]

The marriage started well and Philippe seems to have been a doting husband. A year into the marriage, Henrietta gave birth to a daughter later baptised

Marie Louise. The child's paternity was doubted by some of the court, who insinuated Louis XIV or the Count of Guiche was the father. Henrietta and Guiche may have started an affair early in her marriage, despite his having been an alleged former lover of Philippe.[22]
These flirtations made the once-adoring Philippe intensely jealous, and he complained to Queen Anne.

Soon after, Louis started an affair with one of Henrietta's

convulsions after being baptised Philippe Charles hours before death. The loss of the little Duke of Valois affected Henrietta greatly.[23] She gave birth to a stillborn daughter in July 1665,[24] but another daughter was born in 1669 who was baptised Anne Marie
in 1670.

In 1666, her husband's most prominent alleged lover, the

Chevalier de Lorraine, became attached to the Orléans household.[25]
Lorraine often vied for power within Philippe's household, an unusual arrangement for the time.

Portrait of Henrietta holding a dog, possibly painted in 1665.

Henrietta has often been praised as a cultured princess, and her correspondence with

Corregio.[28] Her active personality has caused historians to think that she showed signs of anorexia nervosa.[29]

Late in 1669, Queen Henrietta Maria died after taking an excessive quantity of opiates as a painkiller.[30] Henrietta was devastated, and the situation was not helped by Philippe's immediate rush to claim all her possessions before she had even been buried.

Secret Treaty of Dover

Henrietta was instrumental in diplomatic negotiations between her native England and adopted France. Her brother

Catholic and bring England back to Catholicism. Henrietta was eager to visit her homeland and Louis XIV encouraged her in order for the treaty to take place. Philippe, annoyed with Henrietta for flirting with Guiche and his previous lovers, remained adamant that she should not be allowed to go, complaining to Charles II that she should remain at his side in France. Appealing to Louis XIV, she managed to arrange to travel to England, where she arrived in Dover on 26 May 1670, remaining there until 1 June, the day the treaty was signed.[31]

Charles abandoned England's Triple Alliance with Sweden and the Dutch Republic in favour of assisting Louis XIV in conquering the Dutch Republic, which he claimed for his wife Queen Maria Theresa as part of her unpaid dowry. Provided that the conquest was successfully completed, England was promised several very profitable ports along one of the major rivers that ran through the Dutch Republic. The treaty did not become public until 1830.[32] After Henrietta's time in England, she returned to France on 18 June.[33]

Death, burial and aftermath

A posthumous painting by Peter Lely of Henrietta commissioned by her brother Charles II and presented to Exeter Guildhall, in which it still hangs, in recognition of her birth in the city

In 1667, Henrietta began complaining of intermittent, intense pain in her side. Beginning in April 1670, according to reports, she began having digestive problems so severe that she could consume only milk.

Chevalier de Lorraine and the Marquis d'Effiat were rumoured by many to be accomplices in poisoning Henrietta,[29] among them Philippe's second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine,[37] and the Duc de Saint-Simon.[38] Seventeen French and two English physicians, the English ambassador, and roughly 100 other onlookers observed the autopsy, and though the official report stated "death from cholera morbus (gastroenteritis) caused by heated bile," many observers disagreed.[34] Despite the suspicions surrounding her death, the expert consensus since the 20th century is that she died of peritonitis from a ruptured ulcer, not poison.[39]

Depiction of the death of Henrietta by Auguste Vinchon

Henrietta was interred at the

princes of the blood were present as well as masses of the nobility. Her funeral oration by Bishop Bossuet
became a famous piece of French oratory.

"Last of all came the members of Monsieur and Madame's household, bearing torches in their hands. A mausoleum, surrounded with altars and silver urns, and adorned with a crowd of mourning allegorical statues, among which Youth, Poetry and Music were conspicuous, had been erected in the centre of the choir. There the coffin rested, covered with cloth of gold, edged with

James VI of Scotland and I of England as a common ancestor.[41]
Monsieur and the "new Madame" had a further two surviving children.

Henrietta's eldest daughter,

king of Spain, the king of the Belgians, the grand duke of Luxembourg, and the pretender to the Italian throne.[45]

Issue

See also: Jacobite succession
Henrietta's arms as Duchess of Orléans with the coronet of a daughter of France
  1. Marie Louise d'Orléans (26 March 1662 – 12 February 1689) married Charles II of Spain
    , no issue.
  2. Miscarriage (1663).[46]
  3. Philippe Charles d'Orléans, Duke of Valois (16 July 1664 – 8 December 1666) died in infancy.
  4. Stillborn daughter (9 July 1665).
  5. Miscarriage (1666).[46]
  6. Miscarriage (1667).[46]
  7. Miscarriage (1668).[47]
  8. Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy
    (future king of Sardinia) and had issue.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Barker 1989, p. 75.
  2. ^ Barker 1989, p. 72.
  3. ^ Barker 1989, p. 78.
  4. ^ Cartwright 1900, pp. 1–3.
  5. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 3.
  6. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 4.
  7. ^ a b Fraser 2006, p. 32.
  8. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 5.
  9. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 13.
  10. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 18.
  11. ^ Cartwright 1900, pp. 25–28.
  12. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 67.
  13. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 68.
  14. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 62.
  15. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 67.
  16. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 69.
  17. ^ Barker 1989, p. 125.
  18. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 70.
  19. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 81.
  20. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 90.
  21. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 321.
  22. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 106.
  23. ^ Barker 1989, p. 115.
  24. ^ Mitford 1966, p. 87.
  25. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 239.
  26. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 179.
  27. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 76.
  28. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 77.
  29. ^ a b c Fraser 2006, p. 155.
  30. ^ White, Michelle A. (2006). Henrietta Maria and the English Civil Wars. Ashgate Publishing. p. 193.
  31. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 151.
  32. ^ Fraser 1979, p. 276.
  33. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 336.
  34. ^
    PMID 9659312
    .
  35. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 153.
  36. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 345.
  37. ^ H. F. Helmolt, Elisabeth Charlottens Briefe an Karoline von Wales (Elisabeth Charlotte's letters to Caroline of Wales), German edition, Annaberg 1909, p. 289-291, letter of 13 July 1716
  38. ^ Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de (1888). The Memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon on the Reign of Louis XIV. and the Regency. Vol. 1. Translated by St. John, Bayle (Second ed.). London: Swan, Sonnenschein, Lowrey.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ Taylor, Andrew. The Royal Secret. London: Harper Collins. pp. 366–367.
  40. ^ Cartwright 1900, p. 383.
  41. ^ Barker 1989, p. 123.
  42. ^ Fraser 2006, p. 277.
  43. ^ Baron 1998, p. 215.
  44. ^ Barker 1989, p. 234.
  45. ^ Barker 1989, p. 239.
  46. ^ a b c Weir 2011, p. 254.
  47. ^ Weir 2011, p. 255.
  48. ^ a b Louda & Maclagan 1999, p. 27.
  49. ^ a b Louda & Maclagan 1999, p. 50.
  50. ^ a b c d Louda & Maclagan 1999, p. 140.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henrietta of England.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Orleans, Henrietta, Duchess of".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henrietta_of_England&oldid=1216709087"