Throughout history, many civil wars have altered the course of the history of the countries where they occurred. While we think about the American Civil War, the French Revolution, and the Wars of the Roses, another civil war often overlooked outside of England is the English Civil Wars. A series of conflicts between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists led to the execution of King Charles I and the rise of the English Republic under Oliver Cromwell. We often view the conflict from either Charles’ or Oliver’s perspective, but we have to consider the family that Charles left behind. How did the English Civil Wars mold the children of Charles I and his Catholic Queen Henrietta Maria? Linda Porter explores the lives of the royal children in her book, “Royal Renegades: The Children of Charles I and the English Civil Wars.”
I am a relative novice when it comes to the Stuart dynasty, especially the English Civil Wars. I have seen Linda Porter’s books but have not read any of them yet. I like a challenge so when I saw this book, I decided to give it a try.
Before we explore the lives of the children of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, we must understand how their relationship began in the 1620s. A Protestant English king married a French Catholic princess, the daughter of King Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici. To say that the English did not like having a Catholic queen would be an understatement. Charles I and Maria had nine children in total, but only five would survive into adulthood; Charles II, Princess Mary, James II, Prince Henry, and Henriette Anne. It is through the lives of these five children that we can get a grasp of what kind of impact Charles I’s decisions had on his family as the English Civil Wars took place.
The most difficult part of this book for me was understanding the conflict of the English Civil Wars themselves as it was not an area that I normally study. I think Porter does an admirable job of explaining the causes of the English Civil Wars and how Charles and his family dealt with the anti-royalist resentment. We see the children and Henrietta Maria escape to other countries like France and the Netherlands by any means necessary while Charles I stayed behind. Porter shows her audience that Charles I was a good father until his execution on January 30, 1649. The death of Charles I left a mark on his children. Charles II and James II would have to bid their time and fight for their right to rule after Oliver and Richard Cromwell with a few scandals mixed in. Henriette Anne and Mary would get used to married life with their husbands Philippe Duke of Orleans and William II of Orange respectively.
This is a story of a resilient family who fought for what they believed in, even if it meant that their father died in the process and their country hated them for a time. It is a story of how love and endurance brought the monarchy back from the brink to survive another few centuries. I now want to dive deeper into the Stuart dynasty and read more books by Porter. If you are like me and you want to learn more about the Stuarts and the English Civil Wars, I recommend you read, “Royal Renegades: The Children of Charles I and the English Civil Wars” by Linda Porter.
I am pleased to welcome Elizabeth St John to my blog to share a guest post about her latest novel, The King’s Intelligencer. I want to thank Elizabeth St John and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.
The timing of the discovery raised questions about whether the bones were used to manipulate public opinion and strengthen Charles’s position. Further research revealed more secrets. I explored the details of the Secret Treaty of Dover, a clandestine agreement between Charles II and Louis XIV of France. In this treaty, Charles promised to declare himself a Catholic in exchange for financial support. This hidden agreement, uncovered years later, underscores the precarious balance of power in 17th-century England and allowed me to link national concerns to my family history.
In this climate of political maneuvering, espionage became crucial. Intelligencers gathered information covertly, often operating unofficially, and reported back to their patrons the news and gossip that was circulating. This secretive world provided the perfect backdrop for my protagonist, Franny Apsley, who navigates the hidden loyalties, treaties, and espionage of 17th-century England. A friend remarked that these intelligencers hung around coffee shops and eavesdropped on other people…which sounded just the kind of thing Franny would have done. 
Blurb:
Author Bio
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 