Tea at Trianon: "Henrietta Maria’s Incredible Story"

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

"Henrietta Maria’s Incredible Story"

A lovely review from Andrea Zuvich, the Seventeenth Century Lady:

Those who do know about her tend to fall into one of two camps: those who loathe her and those who love her. I very rarely have come across people who have a nuanced opinion on this subject. Much of what we think about Henrietta Maria comes from the heavily biased accounts and propaganda from the civil wars. In short, she was one of the daughters of Henri IV of France and his second wife, Maria de’ Medici, and was born in 1609. A sister to King Louis XIII of France, Henrietta Maria wed Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1625 and she was a rather unpopular and controversial choice because she was both Roman Catholic and French. (As an aside, historian Leanda de Lisle is writing a much-needed biography about Henrietta Maria and, as she did with Charles I, I am sure it will be a fascinating and illuminating read).

As for Vidal’s novel, I found the peripheral characters are well-formed, I really enjoyed the developing love story between Charles & Henrietta Maria, and I particularly liked the characterisation of Anne Villiers. I don’t remember having previously read a historical fiction work which centres on Henrietta Maria herself, although she is found often enough as a secondary character in some books, so this was interesting as well in that light. Of course, this being the beginning of the ‘Henrietta of France’ trilogy, there is scope for much more character development and story to come and I do look forward to seeing what Vidal does with Henrietta Maria’s incredible story. I enjoyed this book. (Read more.)

I am honored. Thanks, Andrea!