Henrietta Maria

Henrietta Maria (mərī`ə), 1609–69, queen consort of Charles I of England, daughter of Henry IV of France. She married Charles in 1625. Although she was devoted and loyal to her husband, her Roman Catholic faith made her suspect in England. By her negotiations with the pope, with foreign powers, and with English army officers, she added to the suspicions against Charles that helped to precipitate (1642) the English civil war. After 1644 she lived in France, making continual efforts to secure foreign aid for her husband until his execution in 1649. She returned (1660) to England after the Restoration, but resumed living in France in 1665. Her influence may have affected the religious beliefs of her sons Charles II and James II, although she herself was unsuccessful in her attempts to convert them to Catholicism.

Bibliography

See biography by E. Hamilton (1976); study by Q. Bone (1972).

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Henrietta Maria

 French Henriette-Marie

(born Nov. 25, 1609, Paris, France—died Sept. 10, 1669, Château de Colombes, near Paris) French-born English queen, wife of Charles I and mother of Charles II and James II. The daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de Médicis, she was no stranger to political intrigue. By openly practicing Roman Catholicism at court, she alienated many of Charles's subjects. As the English Civil Wars approached, she sought without success to instigate a military coup to overthrow the Parliamentarians. Her further efforts to enlist support for Charles from the pope, the French, and the Dutch infuriated many Englishmen. Deterioration of the Royalist position caused her to flee to France in 1644, and she never again saw her husband, who was executed in 1649.

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Henrietta Maria

1609--69, queen of England (1625--49), the wife of Charles I; daughter of Henry IV of France. Her Roman Catholicism contributed to the unpopularity of the crown in the period leading to the Civil War