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Henrietta Maria Biography

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HENRIETTA MARIA (1609-66). The queen consort of Charles I of England and daughter of Henry IV of France. She was married to Charles in 1625. The early years of their married life were unhappy because Charles failed to relieve the English Catholics, as he had promised in the marriage contract. The children of the marriage were Charles II; Mary, Princess of Orange; James II; Elizabeth; Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans. Although at first the Queen occupied her time with amusements and plays, later she was very active in political intrigues and in efforts to promote her religion in Great Britain. Protestants were alarmed by her activity. She advised Charles to coerce Parliament, endeavored to save Strafford from his fate, and raised a considerable sum to aid her husband against the Scots. Her attempts to gain support on the Continent, especially from the Pope, were but partly successful. She was in France when Charles was executed (1649) and did not return to England until the Restoration (1660). In 1665 she went back to France and died there the next year Consult I. A. Taylor, The Life of Henrietta Maria. (2 vols., London, 1905), and H. Haynes, Henrietta Maria (New York, 1912).