It is always amazing how certain books come our way at the proper times. In my case, I discovered Mark Turnbull and his extensive writings on the Wars of the Three Kingdoms just as I was working on Volume 2 of the Henrietta of France Trilogy entitled Generalissima. In Generalissima the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland finds herself in the midst of a most savage civil war. Not being a military-minded historian, the various accounts of the various battles were running together in my mind. So when I found Mark's biography of Charles I it was like a gift from Heaven for the highly readable prose and clarity in explaining the progression of the War. Plus it offers penetrating insight into the often inscrutable personality of Charles I. Mark is the author of his own trilogy about the Wars of the Three Kingdoms called The Rebellion Series as well as the award-winning novel Allegiance of Blood, also about the English Civil Wars. I find the English Civil Wars and the divided loyalties and the switching of sides much more difficult to follow than even the Wars of the Roses. Therefore I am in awe of an author like Mark who is at ease in explaining the ins and outs of the conflict which devastated the British Isles, leaving almost 200,000 dead.
From the Amazon page of Charles I's Private Life by Mark Turnbull:
The execution of King Charles I is one of the well-known facts of British history, and an often-quoted snippet from our past. He lost the civil war and his head. But there is more to Charles than the civil war and his death. To fully appreciate the momentous events that marked the twenty-four years of his reign, and what followed, it’s important to understand the man who was at their epicenter.
Both during his lifetime, and in the centuries since, opinion of Charles is often polarized; he is either Royal Martyr or Man of Blood. Amidst these extremes, what is frequently overshadowed is the man himself. Propaganda still clouds his personality, as do the events of his last seven years of life.
The first half of his life has not been explored in detail. As a sickly second son of the first King of Great Britain, these years shed light on the development of Charles’s character. Key elements of his final days also remain lost to us, such as certain identification of his executioners. Investigating new evidence, an entirely new candidate is proposed. Persistent myths surrounding his health and supposed unwillingness to compromise are also addressed.
There are many biographies, but this most intimate work draws upon fresh viewpoints and contemporary letters, some never before used. Penetrating the veil of monarchy and getting to the heart of the man through his relationships, the reader is brought closer than ever to the real Charles Stewart.
A brave, principled and dutiful man, he was politically flawed and lacked the ruthlessness needed to steer his three kingdoms beyond the crossroads at which they arrived. Above all, he is a character who shares much in common with us all.
"This is the story of the spare who became the heir: what shaped him - and what became of him. Mark Turnbull helps us understand Charles the king as Charles the man" - Leanda de Lisle
Charles I's Private Life takes a fresh look at the primary sources concerning the childhood and youth of Charles Stuart. Some biographies give the impression of Charles being ignored by his parents James I and Anna of Denmark as he grew up in the shadow of his older brother Henry Prince of Wales. Mark, however, offers examples of Charles being a beloved child of his parents, who saw him as their "jewel." He was a precocious little boy who faced severe health problems which he overcame with the help of his caregivers as well as with his own determination to be fit and strong. His Christian faith was always a strong part of his life as he learned from his father about how the hierarchy of the earthly kingdom should represent the hierarchy of the heavenly kingdom. Like his father he saw the Calvinist creed and its various offshoots, with its lack of bishops and of ritual, as disrupting the ordered hierarchy of both ecclesiastical and secular government. His insistence on ritual and beauty in liturgical worship was a hill he was prepared to die on.
For those who have viewed the series Mary and George it would be worthwhile to read Mark's take on the rise of the Villiers family at the English court. Whatever James I and the Duke of Buckingham were or were not doing in their private moments, the Duke attained enormous wealth and power, which continued into the reign of Charles I. As the best friend of Charles I, who called his sovereign the family nickname of "Baby Charles", Buckingham obstructed the relationship between Charles and his bride Henrietta Maria, as is described in my novel My Queen, My Love. Buckingham also brought the kingdoms to the brink of disaster with his encouraging Charles to fight with the Spanish and the French, wars in which the English were humiliated.
I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Charles I and his Queen. Some biographies blame Henrietta Maria for everything that went wrong but Mark's book, being balanced, shows where the mistakes were made and by whom. Henrietta Maria really should not be blamed since she risked her all for her husband's sake and lost husband, home, children, country. While Charles was labelled a "Man of Blood" for making war on his own people, there is plenteous evidence that Charles was left with no other choice, after exhausting every attempt at diplomacy. Even at the Battle of Edge Hill, the first major conflict of the war, Charles did not order a single shot fired until he and his children were fired upon and almost killed.
I encourage everyone interested in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to read Charles I's Private Life. My own respect for Charles as been deepened by reading it while at the same time I now have a greater sense of his personality and human foibles. I also have a greater sense of the era and of the magnitude of the Civil Wars, the impact of which would shape the centuries to come.
Please visit Mark Turnbull's website, HERE.
A review of the television series Mary and George from Mark Turnbull at Historia:
But wild fabrication is employed in painting both Mary and George as illegitimate, which is then used as a motive for Mary murdering two men. She also begins a relationship with a female prostitute, Sandie Brooks, despite no evidence of any lesbian liaisons. A particularly ludicrous claim is that the purpose of James’s visit to Scotland in 1617 was to dig up the embalmed heart of his first love, Esme Stewart. George is, surprisingly, a rather passive character; two-dimensional, plain, and naive. One of his later lines is ‘I am the king, I am England’ but his character on screen seems barely a shadow of the real man – who was shrewd and devious, and obtained practically every significant political office.
The real George knew how to manipulate James and was overconfident, overbearing, and all-powerful. The clothes of Nicholas Galitzine (George) were barely adorned, whereas portraits of the real duke record his penchant for ropes of pearls. Instead, Mary is by far the dominant character, though much of what makes this so is based on fiction. That said, Julianne Moore acts the part very well.
Crucially for me, with the key exception of King James (Tony Curran), it was hard to feel connected to most of the characters. This was partly down to an extremely dark and overtly violent undertone throughout, which made for few endearing scenes. The first four episodes focus on the years 1614–1617. Following Queen Anna’s death in 1619, the series accelerates through the next 11 years, so can’t do enough justice to the Madrid venture or James’s decline.
In 1624, we see George single-handedly turn Parliament to war with Spain. In reality, the duke suffered a bout of illness at the time, and it was Prince Charles (later Charles I) who managed Parliament so adeptly. The twist of irony here is that in the series, Prince Charles is portrayed as a snivelling and immature, emotional wreck. Historical accuracy goes into freefall when George ends the reign of Rex Pacificus (as James liked to be called) in a startling manner — murder. If this blatant falsification is not bad enough, the show powers to a similarly abrupt ending.
Fast forwarding to 1628, George bumps into his assassin at Portsmouth. As if attempting to squeeze in one last sex scene, George ridiculously attempts to seduce John Felton, only to be penetrated by Felton’s cheap dagger – though almost as if it was an afterthought. As a result, this pivotal scene is robbed of gravitas and dramatic effect. (Read more.)
Purchase Charles I's Private Life, HERE.
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