Hello everyone! Welcome to my blogspot!
I'm better known as
LNor19 on the web, but here I'm just Kiki. My blog is all about history, mainly European. I'll post paintings, facts, videos, people, and much more in the hopes of hearing what you're opinion on the subject is.
My hope is to have a diverse group of thoughts and conversations on historical interests between myself and posters but also between those commenting.
I'll do my best to cover all countries and time periods, but expect to see Tudor England to come up a bit ;)
So without further ado, let me post my first tidbit!
King Charles II of England, the first of many philandering Kings we shall discuss,
Charles was the eldest surving son of the doomed Charles I and his French-Catholic wife, Princess Henrietta Maria of France.
Before and after the restoration, Charles had an exceptional libido and as such had numerous mistresses; wikipedia lists 13 known and suspected ladies (all of whom I hope to discuss later on).
But the charming woman he never tired of was probably the woman he slept with the least: his wife Catherine of Braganza
This pretty Portuguese princess would never give Charles the heir he needed. She became pregnant once (perhaps twice) but it ended in a miscarriage. One would expect a bitter unhappy marriage or at least an end to the marriage, but neither was the case.
Originally overshadowed by Charles' most prominent mistress Barbara Villiers, Catherine becaming a charming and endearing reprieve to Charles. Here was a woman who wanted only to please and asked no titles and riches in return.
Even after her miscarriage, Charles continued to have a stable relationship with Catherine. And admist a succession crisis Charles stayed firm to his wife's side.
There was clearly something about Catherine that envoked such tenderness from Charles. In an incident of sickness and delusion, Charles comforted Catherine, even going so far to calm her by saying they had children. He defended her position and demanded his mistresses to respect Catherine as Queen. And probably most telling was when Charles stood before the House of Commons and defended his Catholic Queen from Protestant propaganda that threaten to destroy her reputation and relationship with Charles.
I find Charles somewhat redeemable as faithless husband, somewhere in history he defied the often distant King who lost his love for or never loved his wife. The Kings who treated their mistresses with more respect than their wives and queens. The Kings who abandoned or divorced wives to satisfy their own desires.
Charles was not one of these Kings, and Catherine was more than relatively happy with her philandering husband.
What's your take on Charles relationship with Catherine?
