HENRIETTA MARIA

   1) wife of Charles I., born at the Louvre; daughter of Henry IV. of France and of Marie de Medicis; a beautiful and able woman, much beloved, and deservedly so, by her husband, but from her bigotry as a Roman Catholic disliked and distrusted by the nation, not without good reason; by her imprudent conduct she embroiled matters more seriously than they were; menaced with impeachment by the Commons, had to flee the country; returned, indeed, with a supply of money and ammunition "purchased by crown jewels," but in 1644 was obliged to seek refuge again in France; revisited the country for a short time after the Restoration, and died near Paris at her retreat there (1609-1669).

   2) daughter of Charles I., and wife of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV., born at Exeter; she had an itch for political intrigue like her mother, and was successful in persuading her brother, Charles II., into league with France by signing the treaty of Dover; on her return to France she died suddenly, by poison it is believed (1644-1670).