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THE STUARTS IN LOVE by Maurice Ashley

THE STUARTS IN LOVE

By

Pub Date: May 18th, 1964
Publisher: Macmillan

Love and marriage is always a topic of interest, and the loves and marriages of Britain's Stuart monarchs present a wide spectrum of intriguing and influential behavior. Maurice Ashley sets the stage for his royalty by reviewing the nature of marriage in the nobility and monied classes, among the less favored commoners (freer to marry for passion since they had no money), and the Puritans in the 16th and 17th centuries. Then on to the stories of Mary of Scotland who risked all for love and lost; James I, a good husband and father who had his male favorites as well; Charles I, whose uxoriousness contributed to the overthrow of the English monarchy in 1649; Charles II, whose numerous mistresses and free ways brought court notoriety; James II, who took his mistresses, according to his brother, as ""penances"", but whose wives abetted his absorption in religion which cost him his throne and promoted the revolution of 1688; William and Mary, whose love was seemingly unequal yet proved to be constant after Mary's death; Queen Anne, whose famous friendship with Sarah Marlborough was cast aside as Prince George lay dying. Neatly interlarded between allies are the main facts of the reign which pertain...lively.