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| | | From: ForeverAmber (Original Message) | Sent: 6/14/2002 7:38 PM |
Charles II.....the Merry Monarch. (Go see his nice swarthy handsome self in the Kingly Presences Photo Album, btw.) From an early age his exploits with women were legendary. In fact, so much attention is paid to his infamous mistresses like Nell Gwyn & Barbara Castlemaine that the picture of the man threatens to overwhelm that of the monarch. The relation of him working side by side with Londoners to put out the Great Fire in September 1666 gives one the picture that he was probably the most acccessible, "regular guy" to sit upon the English throne. He always seemed to make time for audiences with the common people, & not one of his wenches ever had to come after him for child support! Pity Catherine of Braganza was unable to carry a legitmate heir to term. Enter the German Hanovers through Charles' sister Elizabeth & the entire Pretender phase. Sigh. I would have likjed to have seen a vigorous bloodline such as his continue on the throne. |
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I agree! The Merry Monarch certainly brough pizazz to the role. And he always seemed to be nice to Catherine, despite all the affairs. But there were James II, William and Mary, and Anne on the throne before the Hanovers, though I suppose you could say it was Charles' failure to produce an heir that got us to that sorry state. Lady Grace. |
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Bless you for your reply.....poor Charles was dying of loneliness on this board lol. Neither Charles nor especially James ever expected to be king; it was the demise of older brother Henry that made Charles the heir. James certainly expected Charles to breed up the requisite heir & a few spares. But the majority of the later Stuart queen wombs did not seem to be built for that! Catherine had a series of miscarriages; Mary to my knowledge never conceived at all; & Anne, poor thing, with her 17 ill-fated pregnancies! Yikes! How simpler things would have been had Charles & Catherine been able to have a child together. But really, I guess you can blame the Hanoverians on James & his stubborn clinging to Catholicism, because that line of the family had all the male heirs! Wasn't it Henri IV who said, "Paris is worth a Mass" when converting from Protestantism to assume the French throne? |
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Ah, the "what ifs" of history - what if Catherine's children had survived; or if James had preferred the glory of his throne to glory in Heaven; or if either Mary or Anne had bred successfully? We'll never know - but speculation, anyone? Lady Grace |
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And what if Charles I had not been so arrogant? |
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Why, then, Princess, he would have kept his head! Then the kingdom would not have rent asunder with civil war (don't you just hate those Roundheads?)......the royal treasury would not have been so sadly depleted......Catherine of Braganza with her rich dowry & poor womb would have gone to a different needy princeling......& Charles would perhaps have attained his heir & a spare with a more fecund royal brood mare. Ahh.....the possibilities! How tantalizing. |
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Hmmmmmm : those Roundheads ! My Warren ancestor , reputed of the de Warrenne line ( though obviously from a minor branch of a minor branch - possilbly from a bastard line ... ) fell out with the ruling church men of New England , one of his daughters was accused of which craft for daring to disown her sons and marry a man formerly bound to her in service ( after freeing him ! ) - another ( female ) ancestor was put out of the church ... One might think the protestants of the Puritan line went a little too far ! - In other news , as I understand it , Coel hen ( i.e. , the old ) got his name attached to Charles II through a famous nurcery rhyme .... |
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What I enjoy best about the Merry Monarch are some of the crazy things he'd say! My two favorites "God never dammned a man for allowing himself a little pleasure!" and the classic one, when he stuck his head into the marriage bed of William and Mary and told William "To your work, son! St George for England!" I can only imagine how distressing this had to be for poor Mary! |
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Methinks twas interesting how Charles was furious at the treatment his beloved sister Minette received at the hands of her philandering, rumored to be bisexual & a transvestite, husband, Philippe d'Orleans; yet he didn't have a problem at all when it was himself doing the philandering. He even asked Minette on her last visit to leave Louise de Kerouaille behind for him to play with LOL |
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