Tea at Trianon: Margaret Beaufort Maligned

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

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Margaret Beaufort Maligned

From Royal History Geeks:

No one expects historical fiction to be completely accurate. Or at least, they shouldn’t.

But the ‘Spanish Princess’, now in its second season, has crossed a line.

Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and grandmother of Henry VIII, is one of England’s most fascinating figures. In her own time she was revered and respected. Those that have really studied her are fascinated by her courage, conviction and compassion. But historical fiction continues to muddy her name.

In both ‘the White Queen’ and the ‘White Princess’ – the predecessors to the ‘Spanish Princess’ – she is presented unfavourably. I don’t agree with either presentation. But I recognise that script writers must be allowed to make creative choices.

But in the ‘Spanish Princess’ it has reached new levels. Margaret is depicted as the pantomime baddie, the orchestrator of every horrible event. This is not just a case of rearranging events to fit the narrative. They have placed her at the heart of crimes that we can prove she had nothing to do with.

Here are just five of the most noteworthy distortions. (Read more.)

Also from Royal History Geeks:

We will never know Margaret’s inner feelings during the wars of the roses. But we can have a pretty good guess. The Beaufort cause was intrinsically tied up with that of the house of Lancaster. They were close kin and the Beauforts had been the most stringent supporters of their mainline cousins. Margaret’s sympathies almost certainly lay with her Beaufort cousins and Lancastrian kin.
When Margaret did rise to power, as the mother of the King, she celebrated the memory of Henry VI and campaigned for him to be recognised as a saint. This might, in part, have been an attempt to emphasise her Lancastrian heritage and build credibility for the new Tudor regime. But it was more than that. Margaret had likely always been a great supporter of the pious King. She would have extended that loyalty to his son. Not seen her own boy as a rival. (Read more.)