Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena
A pale, dark-eyed, black-haired young lady wears a dress with matching pearl earrings and a necklace.
Portrait by Peter Lely, 1673
Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland
Tenure6 February 1685 – 11 December 1688
Coronation23 April 1685
Born(1658-10-05)5 October 1658
Ducal Palace, Modena
Died7 May 1718(1718-05-07) (aged 59)
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France
Burial
Convent of the Visitations, Chaillot, France
SpouseJames II
Issue
among others
James Francis Edward Stuart
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
Full name
Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este
HouseHouse of Este
House of Stuart
FatherAlfonso IV, Duke of Modena
MotherLaura Martinozzi

Mary of Modena (Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; 05 October [O.S. 25 September] 1658 – 7 May [O.S. 26 April] 1718) was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland. She was the second wife of King James II. Mary was a very firm Catholic. She married James, Duke of York, (the future James II) in 1673. He was the younger brother of Charles II.[1][2] Mary was not interested in politics. Instead, she was devoted to James, and gave birth to two children who lived to become adults. They were Louise Mary and the Jacobite James Francis Edward Stuart, who became known in history as "The Old Pretender".[3]

Mary was born as a princess of the Italian Duchy of Modena. She is mostly remembered for the birth of James Francis Edward. Most of the English people thought he was not really Mary's son. They believed he had been secretly brought into the birth-room in a warming-pan to continue King James II's Catholic rule. The privy council investigation declared that the story was false. However, James Francis Edward's birth was one of the reasons why the Glorious Revolution happened. In the Glorious Revolution, King James II was deposed by his daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange.

The "Queen over the water"—as Jacobites (followers of James II) called Mary—was exiled to France. She lived with her family in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which Louis XIV of France had given her. Louis XIV's courtiers liked Mary, but thought James was not interesting. When James died, Mary spent a lot of time with the nuns at the Convent of Chaillot. When James II died in 1701, the Jacobites saw James Francis Edward as king. Because he was too young to rule, Queen Dowager Mary acted as regent until he became 16. Later, "James III" was forced to leave France because of the Treaty of Utrecht. This left Mary without any family in France (Princess Louise Mary had died of smallpox). Mary died of breast cancer in 1718.[4] She was kindly remembered by the people in France at that time.

  1. Oman, p 30.
  2. Cite error: The named reference BrittanicaMaryofModena was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  3. Oman, p.40
  4. "Mary of Modena (1658-1718)". Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2012-03-29.

Mary of Modena

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