Notes
Epigraphs
1. “Nor shall less joy”: Green, Elizabeth, 22.
2. “She has bin long admir’d”: Toland, An Account of the Courts of Prussia and Hanover, 58–59.
Introduction
1. “Please do not accuse me of”: Lettres, Instruction, et Mémoires de Marie Stuart, Tome Sixième, 479. In the original: “Ne m’accusez de présomption sy, abandonnant ce monde et me preparant pour ung meilleur, je vous ramentois que ung jour vous aurés à responder de vostre charge.”
2. “like those with which”: Maxwell-Scott, The Tragedy of Fotheringay, 199.
3. “Lord Jesus, receive my soul”: Calendar of the State Papers Relating to Scotland, vol. 9, “A Papist’s Report of the manner of the Scot. Q. Death,” 275.
4. “Such be the end”: Fraser, Mary, Queen of Scots, 540. The ceremony terminated with a final gruesome incident: When the executioner held up his prize, the queen’s head fell out of her wig.
Chapter 1. A King’s Daughter
1. “That princess rare”: Green, Elizabeth, 15.
2. “moving them to great triumph”: Moysie, Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 113. I have modernized the language to make it easier to understand.
3. “God’s silly vassal”: The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, 370. In the original text: “God’s sillie vassal.”
4. “Alas, it is a far”: Correspondence of King James VI of Scotland with Sir Robert Cecil, 31.
5. “a cupboard of silver”: Williams, Anne of Denmark, 50.
6. “to play her with”: Green, Elizabeth, 3.
7. “What if Fawdonside’s pistol”: Herries, Historical Memoirs of the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots, 79.
8. “My Lord, God has given you”: Ibid., 79.
9. “rockers”: Willson, King James VI and I, 19.
10. “My Lady Mar was wise”: Ibid., 20.
11. “They made me speak Latin”: Beavan, King James VI of Scotland and I of England, 13.
12. “I heard him discourse”: The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, vol. 1, 48.
13. “he dislikes dancing”: Willson, King James VI and I, 53.
14. “malicious actions… as cannot”: Herries, Historical Memoirs of the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots, 82.
15. “That year [1579] arrived Monsieur d’Aubigny”: The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, 76.
16. “At this time his Majesty”: Moysie, Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 26.
17. “At that time it was a pity”: The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, 119.
18. “The king came riding into”: Calderwood, The History of the Kirk of Scotland, vol. 5, 297.
19. “And so the King and the Duke”: The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill, 134.
20. “I am murdered”: Lang, James VI and the Gowrie Mystery, 24.
21. “If war should ensue”: Gray, Letters and Papers, 135.
22. “made many fair promises”: Calderwood, The History of the Kirk of Scotland, vol. 5, 282.
23. “that she could rather have wished”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 1, 169.
24. “the sending… of such Jewels”: Ibid., 122.
25. “Royal Entertainment”: Ibid., 170.
26. “The young princess came [into Windsor]”: Green, Elizabeth, 6.
27. “There was such an infinite company”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 1, 195.
28. “I heard the Earls of Nottingham and Northampton”: Ibid., 193–94.
29. staff of 70 domestics: Ibid., 203–4.
30. “Whereas ourself and our dear Wife”: Ibid., 443.
31. He must have found his duties light: For evidence of John Bull’s version of the British national anthem, see Cummings, God Save the King, and Krummel, “God Save the King.”
32. “The Mayor and Aldermen”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 1, 429.
33. “With God’s assistance”: Ibid., 591.
34. “Liberty of Conscience”: Thou, A True Narration of that Horrible Conspiracy, 5.
35. “the King himself might by many ways”: Ibid., 11.
36. “Such was the opportuness”: Ibid., 14.
37. “Therefore the Conspirators”: Ibid., 17.
38. “For although no signs of troubles”: Ibid., 20.
39. “that the Palace with the places”: Ibid., 21.
40. “hath confessed their design”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 1, 592.
41. “this poor Lady hath not yet”: Ibid.
42. “What a Queen should I”: Ibid.
Chapter 2. (An Almost) Royal Wedding
1. “speaks French very well”: Green, Elizabeth, 16. See also La Fèvre de La Boderie, Ambassades, 7.
2. Elizabeth likely was introduced: For evidence that Elizabeth was exposed to recent developments in the natural sciences, see Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 15–20.
3. “This is only my desire”: Ibid., 29.
4. “she is handsome, graceful”: Green, Elizabeth, 16. See also La Fèvre de La Boderie, Ambassades, 7.
5. “a princess of lovely beauty”: Green, Elizabeth, 15–16.
6. “of a comely, tall, middle Stature”: Cornwallis, An Account of the Baptism, Life, Death and Funeral, 50.
7. “He studies two hours a day”: Birch, The Life of Henry Prince of Wales, 65. See also La Fèvre de La Boderie, Ambassades, 400.
8. “not able to go”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 1, 460.
9. “The King was desirous”: Ibid., 461.
10. “As the King is by nature”: Willson, King James VI and I, 174.
11. “Good Mr. Jowler”: Ibid., 184.
12. “We all saw a great change”: The Diary of the Lady Anne Clifford, 5–6.
13. “I perceive, my cousin”: Birch, The Life of Henry Prince of Wales, 82–83.
14. “Will he bury me alive?”: Willson, King James VI and I, 281.
15. “Then will I make him”: Chancellor, The Life of Charles I, 14.
16. “My dear and worthy brother”: Green, Elizabeth, 11.
17. her guardian complained: Ibid., 18.
18. “have proceeded so far with me”: Ibid., 28.
19. “The prince hath publicly”: Ibid., 29.
20. “His Majesty is well pleased”: Winwood, Memorials of Affairs of State, 222.
21. “if the Princes”: Ibid., 223.
22. “Prince Henry gave the first”: Cornwallis, The Life and Character of Henry-Frederick, 29.
23. “straight and well-shaped”: Winwood, Memorials of Affairs of State, 404.
24. “He is very handsome”: Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, vol. 12, 444.
25. “Bending himself with”: Winwood, Memorials of Affairs of State, 403.
26. “He plies his Mistress so hard”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 466.
27. “The Princess, who maybe begins to feel”: Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, vol. 12, 444.
28. “And ’tis certain”: Coke, A Detection of the Court and State of England, 68.
29. “she would rather be”: Ibid.
30. “The Palatine has surpassed expectation”: Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, vol. 12, 441.
31. “Above all the rest”: Cornwallis, An Account of the Baptism, Life, Death and Funeral, 30.
32. “He (the Match being ended)”: Ibid., 31.
33. “great thirst”: Ibid., 33.
34. “Pigeons and Cupping-Glasses”: Ibid., 37.
35. “saying that it should never”: Ibid., 39.
36. “Our Rising Sun is set ere scarce”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 490.
37. “When the women in Scotland”: Ibid., 504.
38. “The King is doing all he can”: Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, vol. 12, 472.
39. “The Princess has gone two days”: Ibid., 449.
40. “The Lady Elizabeth”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 489.
41. “The Succession to this Crown”: Brown, Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, vol. 12, 448.
42. “He [Henry] meant to have conducted”: Letters to King James the Sixth, 39–40.
43. “On Tuesday I took occasion”: Ibid., 40.
44. “for bigness, fashion, and beauty”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 515.
45. “The Affiancy of the Palsgrave”: Ibid., 514.
46. “a black velvet cloake”: Ibid., 513.
47. “The Queen is noted”: Ibid., 515.
48. “that he doubted not”: Green, Elizabeth, 35.
49. “gowne of white satin”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 542.
50. “gold-spangles, pearls”: Ibid., 543.
51. “adorned with many”: Ibid.
52. “God give them joy”: Ibid., 548.
Chapter 3. Goodwife Palsgrave
1. “The commissioners that accompany her”: Smith, The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Wotton, vol. 2, 18.
2. “to make Heaven and Earth”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 2, 613.
3. “costly shows”: Ibid., 614.
4. Elizabeth was showered: For a complete list of these gifts and their value, see ibid., 614–15.
5. “the people of the country report”: Ibid., 616.
6. “that Castle in which”: Ibid.
7. “all Gentlemen of the country”: Ibid., 617.
8. “fell plainly to tell me”: Smith, The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Wotton, vol. 2, 89.
9. “that my Lady [Elizabeth] was not”: Ibid., 90.
10. “Being desirous by all means I can”: Letters to King James the Sixth, 185.
11. English musk roses: Frederick hired a special landscape architect to create a terraced garden in the English fashion; Elizabeth also had crown imperials, flowers-de-luce, and carnations. See Godfrey, Heidelberg: Its Princes and Its Palaces, 258.
12. “Prague, unthankful Prague”: Vickers, History of Bohemia, 571.
13. Letter of Majesty: Schiller, The History of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany, 33.
14. “it would be well for them”: Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 1, 37.
15. “Let us follow the ancient custom”: Vickers, History of Bohemia, 578.
16. “Noble lords, another awaits”: Ibid.
17. “Jesus! Mary!”: True, The Thirty Years’ War, 27.
18. “Let us see whether”: Ibid.
19. “Behold, his Mary”: Ibid., 28.
20. “I have heard nothing”: Green, Elizabeth, 126. For the full letter in French, see Bromley, A Collection of Original Royal Letters, 1.
21. And then came word that: For an exact account of Frederick’s election in Bohemia, see Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 1, 148–50.
22. When Elizabeth’s mother: For an account of the jewels and property given to Buckingham out of Anne’s estate, see Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 3, 546.
23. “This worthy bearer”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 2.
24. “It is much debated here”: Ibid., 7.
25. “God forbid he [Frederick] should refuse it”: Ibid., 12–13.
26. “The greater number of the councilors”: Ibid., 23.
27. “The hope of making his daughter”: Ibid., 27.
Chapter 4. Queen of Bohemia
1. “The Prince and Princess Palatine”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 55.
2. some three thousand foot soldiers: For an estimate of the size of the entourage, see the letter of the Venetian ambassador to the doge in ibid., 81.
3. “The queen’s free and gracious demeanor”: Carleton, Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, 419.
4. “Their Majesties are very cheerful”: Ibid., 409.
5. “The queen appeared very joyous”: Green, Elizabeth, 142.
6. “Bethlen Gabor hath made a great progress”: Carleton, Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, 403.
7. “By your Highness’s letter”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 87.
8. “I have resolved and given orders”: Ibid., 118.
9. “I have wished here apart”: Ibid., 155.
10. “This last week’s letters”: Carleton, Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, 422.
11. “In our neighboring provinces”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 110.
12. “This last week”: Ibid., 182.
13. “For commonly he that is first”: Carleton, Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, 403.
14. “All of his Majesty’s ministers”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 148.
15. “his belief that”: Ibid., 142.
16. “He is a strange fellow”: Nichols, The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 3, 585.
17. “that his subjects were as dear”: Ibid., 568.
18. “If the cause had been good”: Gardiner, Letters and Other Documents, 137.
19. “doth still profess”: Ibid., 181.
20. “he was glad of it”: The Processes, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James I, vol. 4, 617.
21. “My only dear brother”: Green, Elizabeth, 154.
22. “My Lord, seeing the necessity”: Ibid., 153.
23. “I cannot conceal from your Imperial Majesty”: Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 1, 240–41.
24. “swept with a broom”: Ibid., 239.
25. “Spinola is still in the Low Palatinate”: Green, Elizabeth, 158.
26. “His Majesty coming to court”: Ibid., 163.
Chapter 5. The Winter Queen
1. managed to slay only about 1,600 Bohemian soldiers: See Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 1, 250.
2. “I have learned from the English agent”: “Venice: December 1620, 4–15,” in Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 16, item 648, December 8, 486–99.
3. “who truly saw the state”: Green, Elizabeth, 167.
4. “They shall find neither food”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 107.
5. “This be the fifteenth day”: Smith, The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Wotton, vol. 2, 198.
6. “Everyone laments the misfortunes”: “Venice: December 1620, 4–15,” in Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 16, item 652, December 11, 486–99.
7. “Whereas, on the preceding days”: Ibid.
8. “and had never offended anyone”: Ibid., item 733, February 12, 1621.
9. “to imperil his three kingdoms”: Ibid.
10. “have to be a warrior”: Green, Elizabeth, 171.
11. “The Lady Elizabeth, we hear”: Williams and Birch, The Court and Times of James I, vol. 1, 456.
12. “So great is our mislike”: Green, Elizabeth, 174–75.
13. “I think they have reason there”: Halliwell-Phillips, Letters of the Kings of England, 178.
14. “You speak to me of Italy”: Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 16, item 680, January 8, 1621.
15. “His Majesty fears the troubles”: Ibid., item 759.
16. “they were met by the Prince of Orange”: Green, Elizabeth, 178.
17. “I have seen a genuine letter”: Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 17, item 40.
18. “You will have heard of the death”: Ibid.
19. “would rather cherish”: Green, Elizabeth, 191.
20. “Madam, I will give it you”: Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War, 127.
21. “The commandment I have”: Green, Elizabeth, 189.
22. “Fire! Fire! Blood! Blood!”: Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War, 129.
23. “Be it known to all”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 161–62.
24. “My poor Heidelberg taken”: Green, Elizabeth, 207–8.
25. “We have here at present”: Smith, The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Wotton, vol. 2, 245.
26. “The king, my father”: Green, Elizabeth, 214.
27. “Ye shall present her with”: Halliwell-Phillips, Letters of the Kings of England, 180–81.
28. “was the prettiest child”: Green, Elizabeth, 234.
29. “I like not to marry”: Dalton, Life and Times of General Sir Edward Cecile, 42.
30. “There is nothing but trickery”: Gregg, King Charles I, 85.
31. “Since my dear brother’s return”: Dalton, Life and Times of General Sir Edward Cecile, 48.
32. “I remember Mr. French”: Jesse, Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts, 105.
33. “Yet now, being grown toward sixty”: Ibid.
34. “He enjoyed life for fifty-nine years”: Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 18, item 879, April 6, 1625.
Chapter 6. Queen of Hearts
1. “You may easily judge”: Green, Elizabeth, 242.
2. “The comforte of my deare brother’s love”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 231–32. Charles was in fact heavily committed to his sister’s cause. According to a report that the Venetian secretary in Germany sent to the doge, “A league [had been] made at Paris for thirty years for the recovery of the Palatinate and the Valtelline… in the presence of the Most Christian king and all the ambassadors of princes allied against the King of Spain and the House of Austria and their adherents and supporters… [by which] The King of England… shall pay 300,000 crowns yearly to the Palatinate until the recovery of his states… [also] 12,000 foot and 2,000 horse for the Palatinate during the war… He shall pay Mansfelt [Mansfield] 20,000 crowns yearly as the Palatinate’s general and… on the completion of the Palatinate affair… Mansfelt… shall go against the empire and the Spanish dominions as France and the Venetians require.” This treaty also called for “Obligations of France for undertakings in the Valtelline, Flanders, Milan and Naples.” Hinds, Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs, vol. 18, item 857, March 15, 1625.
3. “Though I have cause enough to be sad”: Green, Elizabeth, 218.
4. “I know not so great a lady in the world”: Ibid., 206.
5. “The Queen of Bohemia is accounted”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 84.
6. “I send you herewith letters”: Halliwell-Phillips, Letters of the Kings of England, 271.
7. “I wish for nothing so much”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 256–57.
8. “Alack… if I had known”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 1, 281.
9. “Who rules the kingdom”: Ibid., 368.
10. “in the sight of the English fleet”: Ibid., 422.
11. “There died in this siege”: Ibid., 424.
12. “The great prize taken”: Ibid., 440.
13. “The murthering boat, having a fair wind”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 2, 7.
14. “Save me, father, save me”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 261.
15. “his cheek fastened by the frost”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 2, 8.
16. “hath been such a wind”: Ibid., 8.
17. “for that he [Frederick] was not able to put bread”: Green, Elizabeth, 274.
18. “They say the French king”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 2, 159.
19. “the Golden King”: Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War, 234.
20. “the Lion of the North”: Ibid.
21. “A conflagration arose during the storming”: Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 2, 66.
22. “great fury”: Ibid., 83.
23. “a letter from him [Gustavus] to his Majesty”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 2, 138.
24. “They talk much of a letter”: Green, Elizabeth, 282.
25. “I am this week to present you”: Gamache, The Court and Times of Charles I, vol. 2, 145.
26. “When the King of Sweden first sent for him”: Ibid., 160.
27. “My Lord of Canterbury”: Ibid., 173.
28. “Wonderful welcome, was this prince”: Green, Elizabeth, 289.
29. “I think that the King [Charles I]”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 39.
30. “The setting sun rises again”: Green, Elizabeth, 290.
31. “My dearest heart”: Ibid., 291.
32. “The appetite has been so sharpened”: Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 2, 99–100.
33. “I never did think”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 125–26.
34. “I will be miserable at Alsheim”: Ibid., 132.
35. “The loss… doth not a little”: Ibid., 145.
36. “his majesty of Bohemia”: Green, Elizabeth, 298.
37. “I will not make this”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 145.
Chapter 7. A Royal Refugee
1. Princess Elizabeth was too easily swayed: For her mother’s letter, see Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 376–77.
2. For her part, Princess Elizabeth: For Princess Elizabeth’s complaints about her mother, see Karl Ludwig’s letter of May 5, 1636, in Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 422–23.
3. “had black hair, a dazzling complexion”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 14.
4. “she hid herself from the world”: Ibid.
5. “It was the first time that ever”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 177.
6. “Never did I rail”: Green, Elizabeth, 301.
7. “I think he cannot too soon”: Ibid., 312.
8. “It is meant… only for a show”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 201.
9. “When he has had his official audience”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 145–46.
Chapter 8. Child of Light and Dark
1. “Louisa was lively and unaffected”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 14–15.
2. “She devoted herself to painting”: Ibid., 15.
3. “While painting others she neglected”: Ibid.
4. “Gherardo delle Notti”: Gower, The Figure Painters of Holland, 6–7.
5. “He never left off working”: Bréal, Rembrandt: A Critical Essay, 44–45.
6. “he had not only to be paid”: Ibid., 82.
7. “Charles Lodowicke, by the Grace of God”: The Manifest of the Most Illustrious and Soveraigne Prince. There are no page numbers in this illuminating document.
8. “Le Diable”: Green, Elizabeth, 323.
9. Certainly Elizabeth always believed this to be the case: For the queen of Bohemia’s reaction to rumors of the poisoning of Frederick William, see Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 722–23, 1003–4. For a more in-depth analysis of this incident, see Tuttle, History of Prussia, vol. 1, 139.
10. “Both the brothers went away”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 1, 76.
Chapter 9. Lilies and Roses
1. Specifically, he had stepped out: For more on this incident, see van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Court Life in the Dutch Republic, 27.
2. “fair flaxen hair, a complexion”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 16.
3. “Her talents, by which I chiefly profited”: Ibid.
4. “I am so much overjoyed”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 568.
5. “The king my dear brother”: Green, Elizabeth, 338.
6. “Sacrément! You are a young one”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 1, 90.
7. “I am glad to hear”: Green, Elizabeth, 340.
8. “It will be in vain”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 1, 93.
9. “My son writes that the king”: Green, Elizabeth, 342.
10. “I do pity, and shall pity all my life”: Ibid., 344.
11. “the most high and sacred order”: Gardiner, The Fall of the Monarchy of Charles I, vol. 1, 362.
12. “God Save the King”: Ibid., 359.
13. “The distractions of my own country”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 940.
14. “died soon afterwards”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 8.
Chapter 10. A Royal Education
1. “I was born, they tell me”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 2.
2. “the Queen my mother”: Ibid., 3.
3. “At Leyden we had a court”: Ibid., 3–4.
4. “I was obliged to go every day”: Ibid., 4-5.
5. “I learned the Heidelberg catechism”: Ibid., 4.
6. “They kept me busy”: Ibid., 5–6.
7. “so arranged that we knew”: Ibid., 6.
8. “believed that I should turn out”: Ibid.
9. “having said my prayers”: Ibid., 7.
10. “Suffice it to say”: Ibid.
11. “as one would a stud of horses”: Ibid., 8.
12. “‘she is thin and ugly’”: Ibid.
13. “the bearing of a princess”: Ibid., 17.
14. “I was… ten years of age”: Ibid., 9.
15. “I made it my business”: Ibid.
16. “in order to amuse the Queen”: Ibid., 10.
17. “I see that all these”: Gardiner, The Fall of the Monarchy of Charles I, vol. 2, 332.
18. “I am ready to obey”: Ibid., 220.
19. “I cannot see what the king can gain”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 943. Elizabeth’s contact in England was Sir Thomas Roe, one of her oldest and dearest friends. It was Roe who, as ambassador to Vienna, would help arrange Rupert’s release.
20. “‘If my own person were only’”: Gardiner, The Fall of the Monarchy of Charles I, vol. 2, 174.
21. “The Queen doth all”: Taylor, The Life of Queen Henrietta Maria, vol. 1, 245. This is Elizabeth to Roe again.
22. “Prince Rupert arrived here”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 56.
23. “he received the proposal”: Ibid., 45.
24. “one of the brightest beauties”: Ibid., 44.
25. “the Prince’s former favors”: Ibid.
26. “never named her after”: Ibid.
27. “beloved by all”: Ibid., 46.
28. “There were few persons of quality”: Ibid., 55.
29. “Go, you coward”: Taylor, The Life of Queen Henrietta Maria, vol. 1, 250.
30. “Let my faithful subjects”: Gardiner, The Fall of the Monarchy of Charles I, vol. 2, 392.
31. “Parliament! Privilege of Parliament”: Ibid., 398.
32. “Never did he treat me for a moment”: Ibid., 407.
33. “in such post-haste”: Taylor, The Life of Queen Henrietta Maria, vol. 1, 257.
34. “The Queen my mother”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 13.
35. “The fine portraits of Van Dyck”: Ibid.
36. “After careful inspection”: Ibid., 13–14.
37. “very kind, one to another”: Taylor, The Life of Queen Henrietta Maria, vol. 1, 261.
38. “I find by all the Queen’s”: Ibid.
Chapter 11. The Visiting Philosopher
1. “In my time, which was 1642”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 111–12.
2. “The life which I am obliged to lead”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 131.
3. “Wonders were told”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 112–13.
4. “Desire for knowledge”: Pope-Hennessy, Anna van Schurman, 54.
5. “My deep regard for learning”: Ibid., 69–70. The treatise was published in France and Holland and later translated into English under the title The Learned Maid, or, Whether a Maid may Be a Scholar.
6. “la Grècque”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 281.
7. “Despising the frivolities”: Ibid., 119.
8. “his golden fetter”: Ibid., 60.
9. “This town [The Hague] can certainly compare”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 180–81.
10. “I had been taught”: Haldane, Descartes, His Life and Times, 18.
11. “the great book of the world”: Ibid., 32.
12. “As for the opinions which”: Ibid., 68.
13. Cogito, ergo sum: Ibid., 174–75.
14. “like one walking alone”: Ibid., 70.
15. “I could hardly have believed”: Mahaffy, Descartes, 59.
16. “Monsieur Descartes,… from its action, thought”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 129–30.
17. “The favor with which your Highness”: Nye, The Princess and the Philosopher, 16.
18. “entirely satisfactory”: Ibid., 19.
19. “Your kindness is shown”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 130–31.
20. “For the rest, I have much”: Nye, The Princess and the Philosopher, 31.
21. “as a young angler”: Ibid., 32. For Descartes’s proof and his and Princess Elizabeth’s complete correspondence on the kissing circles, see Adam and Tannery, Oeuvres de Descartes, 38–50.
22. “I have never met anyone”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 133.
23. “Bless the good man”: Ibid., 92.
24. “I pray God to condemn me”: Lodge, Richelieu, 219.
25. “A great politician has departed”: Ibid.
26. “That brave Prince and hopeful soldier”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 61–62.
27. “Your friend, Rupert”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 1, 394.
28. “If any disaffected persons”: Ibid.
29. “and ask the commanders”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 90.
30. “when the Prince broke up his quarters”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 1, 383.
31. “The two young Princes”: Ibid., 389.
31. “We were at times”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 27.
32. “M. de Guise had the figure”: Mémoires d’Anne de Gonzagues, 47. As it appeared in the French: “M. de Guise avoit la figure, l’air & les manières d’un Héros de roman.”
33. “This princess did not despise”: Menzies, Political Women, vol. 1, 196.
34. “She had so much intelligence”: Ibid.
35. “where were only to be found”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 231.
36. “It is with shame”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 151–52.
37. “I cannot deny”: Adam and Tannery, Oeuvres de Descartes, 351. This is my translation; the French reads “Je ne puis nier que ie n’aye este surpris d’apprendre que vostre Altesse ait eu de la fascherre, jusqu’a en estre incommodée en sa santé, pour une chose que la plus grande part du monde trouvera bonne, & que plusieurs fortes raisons peuvent rendre excusable envers les autres.”
38. “It is with the ingenuousness”: Ibid., 357. In French: “Cest avec cette ingenuité & cette franchise, laquelle ie fais profession d’observer en toutes mes actions, que ie fais aussi particulierement profession d’etre, etc.”
Chapter 12. A Scandal in Bohemia
1. “I will acquaint you with a business”: Akkerman, The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. 2, 1021.
2. “Princesse Loysa Drawing… then they destroy’d before”: Phelps, Lucasta: The Poems of Richard Lovelace Esquire, 107–9. This poem is undated, but Richard Lovelace was in Holland from 1646 to 1648. See the biographical note in Songs and Sonnets by Richard Lovelace.
3. “the most amiable”: Phelps, Lucasta, 10.
4. “Your troops”: Gardiner, The First Two Stuarts and the Puritan Revolution, 133.
5. “My troops increase”: Ibid., 135.
6. “Wherefore I command”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 2, 437–39.
7. “Had not [the king]… this year given”: Ibid., 436.
8. “Ironsides”: Ibid., 464.
9. “Whereupon followed a very hot encounter”: Hamilton, Calendar of State Papers Domestic, 295–387.
10. “escaping narrowly, by the goodness”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 150.
11. “Here also was slain”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 2, 465.
12. “Your Highness is to know a romance story”: Ibid., vol. 3, 82.
13. “One charge more, gentlemen”: Ibid., 109.
14. “My Lord, it is now”: Ibid., 149.
15. “Slander just then”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 18.
16. “bonnes fortunes”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 156.
17. “bowed weeping from her high sphere”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 208.
18. “Madam, give me leave”: Benger, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, vol. 2, 384–85.
19. “that Philip needed no apology”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 209.
Chapter 13. Honor and Duty
1. “I could wish my brother”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 211.
2. “I must remind you of the promise”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 181.
3. “My sister Henriette has been so ill”: Ibid., 191.
4. to be referred to as “Excellency”: Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 2, 344.
5. “any probability of relief”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 3, 180.
6. “can any rational man”: Ibid.
7. “Having received information”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 205.
8. “His Majesty, upon occasion”: Ibid., 207.
9. “As the Church can never flourish”: Gregg, King Charles I, 409.
10. “As soon as we had the letter”: Gardiner, History of the Great Civil War, vol. 4, 29.
11. And so the war ended: For these statistics, see Gindely, History of the Thirty Years’ War, vol. 2, 398.
12. “that the King be forthwith sent for”: Gardiner, History of the Great Civil War, vol. 4, 278.
13. “It is not my case alone”: Ibid., 301.
14. “as a tyrant, traitor, murderer”: Ibid., 308.
15. “Sweetheart, now they will”: Ibid., 319.
16. “Behold the head of a traitor”: Ibid., 323.
17. “since I saw you”: Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, vol. 3, 248.
18. “The bloody and inhumane murder”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 237.
19. “Dearest brother”: Ibid., 240.
20. “I should die happy”: Ibid., 238.
21. “I wish your Highness”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 229.
22. “Since the conditions appear”: Ibid., 230.
23. “If she sacrifices herself”: Ibid.
24. “The highly honored Elector”: Ibid., 232.
25. “I envy the fate of this letter”: Ibid., 233.
26. “keeps always two hundred men-at-arms”: Ibid., 234.
27. “not consent out of crossness”: Ibid., 229.
28. “Your daughter [Henrietta] says”: Ibid., 237.
29. “Because your Highness has bidden me”: Ibid., 242.
30. “I found no fault in him”: Ibid., 244.
31. “I hold my life”: Ibid.
Chapter 14. Royal Sense and Sensibility
1. “Unworthy pantaloons”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 212.
2. “Lord Craven was a very valuable friend”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 26.
3. “An old Englishman”: Ibid., 18.
4. “very well made”: Airy, Charles II, 38.
5. “My manners and behavior”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 18.
6. “a prince richly endowed”: Ibid., 21.
7. “much courted by the English”: Ibid.
8. “notice other signs of weakness… by such means”: Ibid., 23–24.
9. “All these circumstances”: Ibid., 25.
10. “it was agreed that”: Ibid., 29–30.
11. “As I had never”: Ibid., 30–31.
12. “There is hardly a corner”: Godfrey, Heidelberg: Its Princes and Palaces, 302.
13. “The Elector, with his hearty manner”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 35–36.
14. “I was so pleased”: Ibid., 36.
15. “A grimace on the part of Madame”: Ibid., 36–37.
16. “My sister-in-law is very stupid”: Ibid., 37.
17. “I found her with all her fine clothes”: Ibid., 38.
18. “On our return”: Ibid.
19. “The Elector on his part”: Ibid., 39.
20. “I wished myself a thousand times”: Ibid., 38–39.
21. “I could see that he idolized her”: Ibid., 39–40.
22. “loved to attract attention”: Ibid., 40.
23. “I leave it to be imagined”: Ibid.
Chapter 15. A Lesson on the Passions
1. “Know then that I have a body”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 163–64.
2. “The difference between great souls”: Ibid., 165.
3. “I remark always in your letters”: Ibid., 169.
4. “Monsieur Descartes,” she wrote: Ibid., 167.
5. “For the special use of”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 204.
6. “I only try to put in practice”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 186.
7. “The people of this country”: Ibid., 189.
8. “I employ the little time”: Ibid., 190.
9. “Happiness is dependent”: Haldane, Descartes, 261.
10. “I examined the number code”: Nye, The Princess and the Philosopher, 106.
11. “the property of allowing”: Haldane, Descartes, 303.
12. “The portrait which Chanut”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 210.
13. “I had the honor”: Haldane, Descartes, 325.
14. “Had a letter come to me”: Ibid., 331.
15. “It seems to me”: Ibid., 306.
16. “I confess that a man”: Ibid., 334.
17. “I have put off this journey… I shall never cease to devote to you”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 280–82.
18. “Though the fever has left me”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 194.
19. “Although the death we speak of”: Ibid., 197.
20. “Assuring myself that”: Ibid., 214.
21. “He reminds me”: Haldane, Descartes, 340.
22. “As to the time”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 284.
23. “He taught me more”: Haldane, Descartes, 343.
24. “I have been in Stockholm”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 283.
25. “She is extremely devoted”: Haldane, Descartes, 343–44.
26. “Nevertheless, though I have so great”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 216.
27. “It is proof of the continuance… to serve you, Elizabeth”: Ibid., 218.
28. “It seems to me that men’s thoughts”: Haldane, Descartes, 349.
29. “Madame Elizabeth Palatine… hinder his decease”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 219–22.
30. “On the eighth day”: Ibid., 221-222.
31. “We thought her much changed”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 42.
Chapter 16. A Desperate Plan
1. “Being a good general”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 22.
2. “He either fears his fate”: Napier, Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose, vol. 1, 61.
3. “The perpetual cause of the controversies”: Ibid., 286.
4. “Do ye not know”: Ibid., 288.
5. “Heard ye not”: Napier, Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose, vol. 2, 483.
6. “before God, angels, and men”: Ibid., 692.
7. “I never had passion on earth”: Ibid., 422.
8. “abandon the Marquis of Montrose”: Ibid., 696.
9. “in the name of the whole kingdom”: Ibid., 729.
10. “My Lord, I have found”: Ibid., 711.
11. “I do not desire you should quit”: Ibid., 713.
12. “I give you many thanks”: Ibid., 711.
13. “Montrose: Whereas the necessity”: Ibid., 706.
14. “I pray God keep the King”: Ibid., 714.
15. “to proceed vigorously”: Buchan, The Marquis of Montrose, 230.
16. “otherwise, to give him”: Napier, Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose, vol. 2, 729.
17. “The 7th of May, 1650”: Ibid., 773–74.
18. “I am sorry if this manner”: Ibid., 806.
19. “where, having freely pardoned”: Ibid., 808.
20. “I saw his arm”: Ibid.
21. “a letter from the King’s Majesty”: Ibid., 764.
22. “Montrose meanwhile”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 23.
23. “rascals and dogs”: van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Court Life in the Dutch Republic, 164.
24. “It was England”: Green, Elizabeth, 371.
25. “a better tongue”: Ibid.
26. “You will have heard of the high business”: Ibid., 370.
27. “I have now received”: Green, Lives of the Princesses of England, vol. 6, 213–14.
28. “as no parable but the certain truth”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 218.
29. “although she supposed he [Karl Ludwig] meant”: Ibid., 219.
30. “I have not before taken the liberty”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 270–71.
31. “My sister could wait”: Ibid., 273.
32. “Madam, the respect which I have”: Green, Elizabeth, 391.
33. “highly prejudicial to her honor”: Ibid., 393.
34. “The king and my niece… were at Antwerp”: Ibid., 394.
35. “Madam, I received yours”: Ibid., 431.
36. “Your sister Louisa is arrived”: Ibid., 394.
Chapter 17. The Electress, Two Dukes, and the Lady-in-Waiting
1. “His Majesty [Ferdinand] received him”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 47.
2. “The Electress, whose one thought”: Ibid., 49.
3. “such a bad temper”: Ibid.
4. “Your Belovedness”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 290.
5. “She tried to forbid”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 51.
6. “His manner was good”: Ibid., 52.
7. “The Elector was devoted”: Ibid.
8. “heard the report of my engagement”: Ibid., 54.
9. “while in treaty with his subjects”: Ibid.
10. “which served to show off”: Ibid., 46.
11. “I infinitely preferred the Duke”: Ibid., 56.
12. “at once attached himself… said ‘Yes’”: Ibid.
13. “I knew also that the Elector”: Ibid.
14. “The Elector did not wait”: Ibid.
15. “enjoined the strictest secrecy”: Ibid., 57.
16. “the greatest gentleness”: Ibid., 58.
17. “the state of affairs was changed”: Ibid.
18. “even were his sister”: Ibid., 58–59.
19. “laden with fine presents”: Ibid., 59.
20. “The idea that he was to possess”: Ibid.
21. “Sometimes he wept”: Ibid.
22. “determined to go himself”: Ibid., 60.
23. “plunged in the dissipations… was very uneasy”: Ibid.
24. “stolen from out of her [Charlotte’s] drawer”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 300.
25. “On entering the chamber”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 55. For more on this interesting event and Charlotte’s later long letter to the emperor outlining her grievances (in which she admits to securing a gun and breaking into Louise’s room), see Le Vie et les Amours de Charles-Louis, 153–87.
26. “send a bullet through”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 301.
27. “if everybody could quit their husbands”: Ward, The Electress Sophia and the Hanoverian Succession, 58.
28. “The Duke of Hanover”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 61.
29. “proposing to retain… with pleasure to this proposition”: Ibid., 61–62.
30. “Duke John Frederick by no means”: Ibid., 62.
31. “The Duke of Hanover was so enraged”: Ibid.
32. “George William announced to his Council”: Ibid., 64.
33. “to avoid disturbances”: Ibid., 66.
34. “I should be mistress at Hanover”: Ibid., 66–67.
35. “assured that he need entertain”: Ibid., 67.
36. “that a good establishment was all”: Ibid., 68.
37. “Having perceived the urgent necessity”: Ibid., 73–74. This solemn declaration may be read in its entirety in both German and English in Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 72–75.
38. “I was dressed”: Ibid., 76–77.
39. “we danced in German fashion”: Ibid., 78.
40. “I, being resolved to love him”: Ibid., 76.
41. “the Duke my husband, taking my hand”: Ibid., 83.
42. “I take pleasure in remembering”: Ibid., 83–84.
43. “He took part”: Ibid., 84–85.
44. “He actually told me”: Ibid., 89.
45. “I took pleasure even”: Ibid., 90.
46. “I now hardly ever saw”: Ibid., 91.
47. “he assured me”: Ibid.
48. “I have already ousted X”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 22.
49. “I carry with me”: Ibid., 52.
50. “The tables were dressed”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 65–66.
51. “I shall watch over her”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 33.
52. “I look for your sister”: Ward, The Electress Sophia and the Hanoverian Succession, 92.
53. “After his departure”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 92.
54. “Her shape and humor”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 226.
55. “Great was the joy”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 93.
56. “perfectly hated the Presbyterians”: Scott, The King in Exile, 137.
57. “so that he may be in a capacity”: Ibid., 141.
58. “I think I must repent too”: Gardiner, History of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate, vol. 1, 385.
59. “God bless King Charles”: Guizot, History of Richard Cromwell and the Restoration, vol. 2, 166.
60. “We do assure you”: Ibid., 212.
61. “the house upon reading”: The Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. 1, 121–22.
62. “Must not a queen”: van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Court Life in the Dutch Republic, 179.
63. “You sent me one seven thousand”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 265.
64. “I very well remember”: Ibid., 266.
65. “to kiss the Queen of Bohemia’s hands”: The Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. 1, 136.
66. “who used us very respectfully”: Ibid., 142.
67. “dined in a great deal”: Ibid., 151.
68. “This place is very dull”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 268.
69. “I found the poor woman”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 297.
70. “When your Majesty is here”: Green, Elizabeth, 401.
71. “Sure your Majesty hath forgot”: Ibid.
72. “was already shipped”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 273.
73. “I am glad your Majesty”: Ibid., 275.
74. “I love you ever”: Ibid., 273.
75. “My royal tenant”: Green, Elizabeth, 410.
76. “On His Mistress”: Wotton, Poems, 14.
Chapter 18. Abbess of Herford
1. “If I came to the Institution”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 288–89.
2. “If you knew me aright”: Ibid., 290.
3. “As your Grace has assured me”: Ibid., 291.
4. “I am heartily sorry”: Ibid., 291–92.
5. “If your Grace”: Ibid., 293–94.
6. “The Elector is very docile”: Ibid., 303.
7. “La Grecque”: Ibid., 281.
8. “Princess and Prelatess”: Ibid., 302.
9. “An opportunity occurs”: Pope-Hennessy, Anna van Schurman, 161.
10. “In all this, we can desire only”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 338–39.
11. “so long as the sectaries showed”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 310.
12. “The Princess wrote to me”: Ibid., 308.
13. “All made merry”: Pope-Hennessy, Anna van Schurman, 150.
14. “We learned quickly enough”: Ibid.
15. “Although much has been spread”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 337.
16. “I hear that all manner”: Ibid., 341–43.
17. “Next morning, as soon as we”: Ibid., 363.
18. “As though he had been the Delphian”: Ibid., 364.
19. “judge of his eloquence”: Ibid., 366.
20. “So forth we repaired”: Ibid., 366–67.
21. “Whilst he delivered all this”: Ibid., 368.
22. “But to this the Electress”: Ibid., 369.
23. “Tell the King”: Dixon, History of William Penn, 84–85.
24. “I did indeed discover”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 313.
25. “Prince’s metal”: Ibid., 337.
26. “faithful great black dog”: Ibid., 342.
27. “the best players at tennis”: Ibid., 335.
28. “He is as merry”: Diary of Samuel Pepys, vol. 2, 14.
29. “Oath of Allegiance”: Janney, The Life of William Penn, 109.
30. “worshipping God after another manner”: Ibid.
31. “I have received your two letters”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 374-75.
32. “She would constantly”: Ibid., 398.
33. “Though she kept no sumptuous”: Ibid.
34. “I related… the bitter mockings”: Janney, The Life of William Penn, 32.
35. “the sense she had”: Ibid., 130.
36. “‘I cannot speak’”: Ibid.
37. “Dear Friend—Your tender care”: Ibid., 136–37.
38. “I must wait till God”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 334–35.
39. “I will execute thy commission”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 384.
40. “that he was quite comfortable at Windsor”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 353–54.
41. “my sister was in bed”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 344.
42. “It is a great consolation to me”: Ibid., 346.
43. “I am still alive”: Ibid., 347.
44. “Elizabeth fails more and more”: Ibid., 348.
45. “The late blessed Princess Elizabeth”: Ibid., 397–400.
46. “God hath given it to me”: Dixon, History of William Penn, 191.
Chapter 19. Abbess of Maubuisson
1. the indomitable Blanche of Castile: For the history of the abbey, see Depoin and Dutilleux, Cartulaire de l’Abbaye de Maubuisson. For more on Blanche of Castile and Louis IX, later Saint Louis, see my earlier book Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters Who Ruled Europe.
2. “L’État, c’est moi”: Hassall, Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy, 81.
3. descended from the same line as Henri IV: For an account of Henri IV’s early life, and his importance to France, see my earlier book The Rival Queens.
4. “Voilà un Huguenot”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 73.
5. “War of the Queen’s Rights”: Martin, Martin’s History of France: The Age of Louis XIV, vol. 1, 302.
6 For more on Henrietta’s death: The case against poisoning is highly persuasive. One of Henrietta’s physicians reported to Louis XIV that she had had a frequent cough and been unwell for years. In the months preceding her death she had complained of digestive problems so severe that often she could tolerate only milk. She lost so much weight that a courtier who saw her at Versailles before her death observed that she looked like a corpse with rouge on its cheeks. According to Dr. Greg Soloway, a renowned gastroenterologist, these symptoms were much more likely to indicate intestinal tuberculosis, which was prevalent in France during this period (two of Catherine de’ Medici’s sons died of TB) or peptic ulcer disease, both of which could have led to the intestinal perforation and peritonitis that Henrietta likely experienced and that caused the terrible pain and her rapid demise. The chicory water (which in any event was sampled by both the lady-in-waiting who had prepared the drink and another duchess who was present, to no ill effect) was in this case an unfortunate red herring. “Acute poisoning would not account for her previous history of symptoms,” Dr. Soloway confirmed by e-mail.
7. “As I reached this town… orders on all matters”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 64.
8. “Those who think that Monsieur”: Ibid., 65.
9. “Her peculiar characteristic”: Menzies, Political Women, vol. 1, 198.
10. “the marriage of Liselotte”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 68.
11. “My marriage contract”: Ibid., 74.
12. “He was a little round man”: Ibid., 81.
13. “jewels, rings, and precious stones”: Ibid., 73.
14. he be allowed to wear them: For this condition of the marriage contract, see The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Charlotte, 12.
15. “It was cold; she wore no mask”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 86–87.
16. “All my life, since my earliest youth”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 2, 185.
17. “I was very glad when… Monsieur”: Ibid., 142.
18. “One cannot believe how pleasant”: Scott, Rupert, Prince Palatine, 347–48.
19. “Her happy temper”: Godfrey, A Sister of Prince Rupert, 342–43.
20. “Since I have been a nun professed”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 325.
21. “ruined and destroyed their country”: Hassall, Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy, 175.
22. “Do not look upon”: Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of the Princess Palatine, 307.
23. “I have wept so much”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 1, 42–43.
24. “Unfortunately the Chevalier”: Ibid., 47.
25. “I became so melancholic”: Ibid., 51–52.
26. “You can judge whether I have good reason”: Ibid., 55–56.
27. “Get the idea out of your head”: Ibid., 57.
28. “If they were to kill me for it”: Ibid., 83.
29. “What really grieves me”: Ibid., 84.
30. “Now the King is the sole master”: The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Charlotte, 32.
31. “the Maintenon woman”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 1, 131.
32. “the old bawd”: Ibid., 116.
33. “the old wretch”: Ibid., 139.
34. “the dirty old slut”: Ibid., 140.
35. “The Great Man [Louis XIV] is incredibly simple”: Ibid., 135.
36. Catherine would turn on her former Huguenot allies: For more on this and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, see my earlier work The Rival Queens.
37. “Reunion”: Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, vol. 2, 34.
38. “A day was appointed”: Agnew, Protestant Exiles from France, Chiefly in the Reign of Louis XIV, vol. 2, 4.
39. “Men and women”: Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, vol. 2, 48.
40. “This new grandeur, Sire”: Ibid., 7.
41. “Soldiers are strange apostles”: Ibid., 67.
42. “What I am going to relate”: The Letters of Madame de Sévigné to Her Daughter and Friends, 260.
43. “It must be owned”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 355.
44. “I pray to God”: Strickland, Leibniz and the Two Sophies, 163.
45. “the tranquility of mind”: Ibid., 167.
46. “What gives me a very bad idea”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 158–59.
47. “I have again visited my aunt”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 1, 186–87.
48. “The greater part of our manufacturing”: Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, vol. 2, 77.
49. “Never in my life”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 2, 23.
50. “I have received the sad news”: Ibid.
51. “the Abbesse de Maubuisson, Louise Hollandine”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 2, 108.
Chapter 20. A Scandal in Hanover
1. “Three days ago I arrived here”: Barine, Madame, Mother of the Regent, 44–45.
2. “the Bishopess”: Ward, The Electress Sophia and the Hanoverian Succession, 159.
3. “One cannot live more than once”: Ibid., 160.
4. “was much addicted to laughing”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 316.
5. “Ma tante”: Ibid., 309.
6. “The bonds of holy matrimony”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 101.
7. “The Duke asked me”: Ibid., 107–8.
8. “As I should have been mortified”: Ibid., 110.
9. “play basset”: Ibid., 125.
10. “I should have been very dull”: Ibid., 125–26.
11. “returning alone in the carriage”: Ibid., 132.
12. “a party to go to the country”: Ibid.
13. “in a state of utter consternation”: Ibid., 146.
14. “reflecting that a civil war”: Ibid.
15. “She was grave and dignified”: Ibid., 150.
16. “anti-contract of marriage”: Ibid., 152.
17. “Hoping to touch the Duke”: Ibid.
18. “Though it will be said”: Ibid., 154.
19. “He died as a true German”: Wilkins, The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, 28.
20. “At school I… should”: Mackie, Life of Godfrey William Von Leibnitz, 19.
21. “Having experienced the good fortune”: Ibid., 86–87.
22. “I suspect that what Newton”: Ibid., 99.
23. “Madam [Sophia]… is a great genius”: Strickland, Leibniz and the Two Sophies, 2.
24. “Monsieur Leibniz must have”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 1, 256.
25. “It does both [Sophia and Figuelotte] a disservice”: Strickland, Leibniz and the Two Sophies, 3.
26. “I do not concern myself”: Ibid., 170.
27. “I cry about it all night long”: Ward, The Electress Sophia and the Hanoverian Succession, 201.
28. “enter into Christian matrimony”: Wilkins, The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, 23.
29. “The Duke of Celle would no longer”: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 187–88.
30. “He remembered you”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, 79–80.
31. “does not care much”: Wilkins, The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, 57.
32. “This is a fair and beautiful princess”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 324.
33. “Here is my day”: Wilkins, The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, 226.
34. “No, I mean to die”: Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, 28.
35. “You have given your daughter”: Ibid., 51.
36. “It is a melancholy prospect”: Ibid., 140.
37. “God help me”: Ibid., 176.
38. “This court is as splendid”: Wilkins, The Love of an Uncrowned Queen, 102. I have translated from the French: “The Duchess Sophia is une personne incomparable d’un esprit, d’une bonté, et d’une civilité à charmer.”
39. “To show us he doth not”: Ibid., 113.
40. “A courier is come hither”: Ibid., 254.
41. “I am in the depths of despair”: Ibid., 142.
42. “Why do not the hours”: Ibid., 155.
43. “My greatest grudge”: Ibid., 241.
44. “The Electress talks about you”: Ibid., 269.
45. “Marshal Podevils was the first”: Ibid., 322.
46. “bathed in milk”: Ibid., 334.
47. “I have been told his sister”: Ibid., 366.
48. “had often gone away”: Ibid., 365.
49. “They would never have believed”: Ibid., vii.
50. “as to the Question whether”: Ibid., 369.
Chapter 21. The Triumph of the Winter Queen
1. “Be it enacted and declared”: Historical Association of Great Britain, Constitutional Documents, 2–3.
2. “You may be sure”: Toland, An Account of the Courts of Prussia and Hanover, 53–54.
3. “The Electress is three and seventy”: Ibid., 58.
4. “I was the first”: Ibid., 60.
5. “What makes it worse for me”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 175.
6. “I am afraid to contemplate”: The Letters of Madame, vol. 1, 249.
7. “she herself would be”: Somerset, Queen Anne, 290.
8. “I thank God, I am in good Health”: Sophia of Hanover, A Letter from Her Royal Highness, 1.
9. “It is from the heart”: Macpherson, Original Papers, vol. 2, 31.
10. “Madam, my sister and aunt”: Rait, Five Stuart Princesses, 329–30.
11. “I believe I am more ill”: Ibid., 330.
12. “This affair will certainly”: Ward, The Electress Sophia and the Hanoverian Succession, 431.
13. “Not only did she dine in public”: Rait, Five Stuart Princesses, 331.
14. “I am very ill”: Ibid.
15. “for another hour… die in tranquility”: Duggan, Sophia of Hanover, 189.
16. “The death of Madam the Electress”: Strickland, Leibniz and the Two Sophies, 28.
17. “Without her”: The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Charlotte, 254.