Henrietta Maria of France | |
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Portrait by Anthony van Dyck
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Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland | |
Tenure | 13 June 1625 – 30 January 1649 |
Born |
Palais du Louvre, Paris, France |
25 November 1609
Died | 10 September 1669 Château de Colombes, Colombes, France |
(aged 59)
Burial | 13 September 1669 Royal Basilica of Saint Denis |
Spouse | Charles I, King of England |
Issue more... |
Charles II, King of England Mary, Princess of Orange James II, King of England Elizabeth of England Anne of England Catherine of England Henry, Duke of Gloucester Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans |
House | Bourbon |
Father | Henry IV, King of France |
Mother | Marie de' Medici |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Henrietta Maria of France (French: Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I. She was mother of his two immediate successors, Charles II and James II.
Her Roman Catholicism made her unpopular in England, and also prohibited her from being crowned in an Anglican service; therefore she never had a coronation. She began to immerse herself in national affairs as civil war loomed on the horizon, and was compelled to seek refuge in France in 1644, following the birth of her youngest daughter, Henrietta, during the height of the First English Civil War. The execution of King Charles in 1649 left her impoverished. She settled in Paris, and then returned to England after the Restoration of her eldest son, Charles, to the throne. In 1665, she moved back to Paris, where she died four years later.
The North American Province of Maryland was named in her honour, and the name was carried over into the current U.S. state of Maryland.
Henrietta Maria was the youngest daughter of King Henry IV of France (Henry III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. She was born at the Palais du Louvre on 25 November 1609, but some historians give her a birth-date of 26 November. In England, where the Julian calendar was still in use, her date of birth is often recorded as 16 November. Henrietta Maria was brought up as a Catholic. As daughter of the Bourbon king of France, she was a Fille de France and a member of the House of Bourbon. She was the youngest sister of the future King Louis XIII of France. Her father was assassinated on 14 May 1610, in Paris, before she was a year old.