Henrietta Maria : piety, politics and patronage

Compiled by art historians, literary scholars, musicologists, and historians, this essay collection is an innovative and interdisciplinary study of Queen Henrietta Maria and her multi-faceted roles and responsibilities. Elements of the queen's popular biography - her European identity and devout Catholic faith - are only a part of the backdrop against which Henrietta Maria is re-considered. Drawing on the expertise of an international group of scholars from different disciplines, these essays explore and shed new light on the Queen's various roles: a patron of performing and visual arts with taste and influence comparable to her husband's, her salient political position between the French and English courts, and her political sentiments at the outbreak of the English Civil War. Through cutting-edge archival research that includes investigations into household accounts and personal correspondence, this collection ultimately presents a new assessment of female power and influence at the early modern court. What becomes strikingly evident is that Henrietta Maria had a distinct and profound influence on material and political culture that deserves the attention of art history, literature, theatre, and musicology scholars.

• Contents: Preface
• Introduction, Erin Griffey
• Religion, European politics and Henrietta Maria's circle, 1625-41, Malcolm Smuts
• The Secretary of Ladies and feminine friendship at the court of Henrietta Maria, Diana Barnes
• Queen Henrietta Maria's theatrical patronage, Karen Britland
• 'The rare and excellent partes of Mr Walter Montague': Henrietta Maria and her playwright, Sarah Poynting
• The 3 Marys: the Virgin, Marie de Medicis and Henrietta Maria, Jessica Bell
• 'By our direction and for our use': the Queen's patronage of artists and artisans seen through her household accounts, Caroline Hibbard
• Merely ornamental? Van Dyck's portraits of Henrietta Maria, Gudrun Raatschen
• Devotional jewellery in portraits of Henrietta Maria, Erin Griffey
• Sounds of piety and devotion: music in the Queen's chapel, Jonathan P. Wainwright
• Select bibliography
• Index.