It is not rare in History to observe that presumed heirs to determined realms did not take the crown. Death took them away with no warning, leaving the monarchs to look upon their second children and afterwards what most historians come to wonder that is: what would have happened had such heirs lived instead? Would the course of certain historical events be different? What would have changed?
Henry Stuart was one of these heirs who did not live long enough to be crowned the king his father expected him to be. Instead, the crown passed to his younger brother, the duke of York Charles who reigned as King Charles I. It is not often that comparisons between the two brothers are made, especially considering the fiasco that was Charles' reign, marked by conflicts that resulted in the loss of his head, the exile of his family and a brief experience with republicanism under the command of Oliver Cromwell. No wonder then why people ask themselves if the history of Britain would have changed had Henry lived longer, but it seems every course is meant to be, for good or worse.
Born Henry Frederick Stuart on the 19th day of February, 1592, at the Stirling Castle, Scotland, he was the first child of the King of Scots James VI and his consort, Queen Anne of Denmark. Upon his birth, he received the titles of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Placed under the care of the Earl of Mar, a decision King James did for fearing the Catholic ideas of Queen Anne would influence their son, which might be the reason for their later strangement, Henry was instructed to have a Protestant and proper education for the heir of the King.
In 1603, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, the English crown was inherited by the Scottish monarch and it would not be until 1610 that Henry were to be acknowledged as Prince of Wales; before he was best adressed as Duke of Rothesay. It's also said that the young prince's household was directed to follow a College rather than court, with James VI/I always writing academic texts to his children, "as Sir Thomas Chaloner wrote in 1607, 'Hiss Highness household [...] was intended by the King for a courtly college or a collegiate court"."
Other habits of Henry Frederick included hawking, hunting, jousting, swimming, fencing, and above all, tennis. As said below:
"He loved tilting and swimming, and (...) tennis. (This was the old game called Royal Tennis). He often played for three or four hours non-stop."
Henry also "from a young age studied naval and military affairs and national issues, about which he often disagreed with his father." As he developed his character, one shaped to a pious man, attracted to the Puritan ideas, of serious semblance and reserved nature, the prince of Wales' popularity grew to the point to surpass his own father's: he was thus the embodiment of the hopes of many Protestants due to his religious nature. This being said, differences with the king in conduct and politics can be explained, for he "disapproved of the way his father conducted the royal court, disliked Robert Carr, a favourite of his father, and esteemed Sir Walter Raleigh, wishing him to be released from the Tower of London." In addition, he's presumably said "Only my father would keep such a bird in such a cage." And it's with no surprise to note that whilst King James lived at Whitehall Palace, Prince Henry lived at St James's Palace, where he picked intelectual courtiers at court, and apparently he fined them if they were seen swearing.
If his relationship with his father was quite tense, with reports of public arguments, the same cannot be said of the relationship he had with his sister. Princess Elizabeth, whom we have already discussed on this blog, and him were always attached to one another. When they were living in different households in Scotland, the children would exchange letters with Henry writing in Latin and Elizabeth, to please her dearest brother, in Italian. We can better perceive their closeness below:
"Prince Harry had a close personal relationship with his sister Princess Elisabeth, who was two years younger. At times they lived in the same household at Nonsuch. When she was residing at Coombe Abbey near Coventry, he missed her company and wrote to her regularly."
When she came of age in marrying, it was her brother who chose her betrothed, the Protestant Elector Palatinate Frederick. The two young men became friends and it was reported that, even after his death, Elizabeth was married to Frederick not only because she eventually grew to love her betrothed but because she wished to obey her brother's wishes. Naturally, Henry Stuart left his mark in his sister: when she was elected Queen of Bohemia, she was the Protestant symbol of Europe, fighting away the Catholics, something Henry would do had he lived, considering his strong anti-Catholic views.
As for the younger brother, Charles, despite it being said the two princes barely got along at all, this can be argued not only by the difference of their ages and the fact they lived in different households, but because "they maintained a brotherly correspondence, much of it in Latin, and none which suggests anything but a normal and affectionate relationship of brothers. When Henry Frederick fell ill in the auturmn of 1612, Charles took him a miniature gold sculptured horse which had been given him by one of the Medici relatives of the French consort, an item Charles treasured." And also, the most famous portrait of the Stuart prince was later comissioned by Charles as King.
Surprisingly, he had a good relationship with the French king, Henry IV, the leader of the Huguenotes who ended up converting to Catholicism to settle the War of Religions. It is possible to assume that, considering the constant conflicts a normal teenager boy had with his father back then, he saw Henry IV as an idealistic father he did not have. Nonetheless, le bon roi Henry "sent his young friend some highly prized specimens to add to his stable."
As stated before, the character of the young prince was shaped as an idealistic Protestant would be, though difficultly compared to the boy king Edward Tudor. Henry openly criticized his mother's sympathies for Catholicism, the Papist teachings of his brother Charles and the Catholic tomb of his grandmother, Mary, Queen of Scots, for apparently it would be an "endorsment of her Catholic faith, and he refused to permit his father to negotiate a marriage for him with a French or Spanish Catholic princess stating there would only be one religion in his marriage bed."
Despite this religious militance and the strictness of his personality, Henry was an admirer and a patron of arts; he also "commissioned explorers to investigate the Northwest Passage. He built libraries and a picture gallery for the works by Hilliard and Holbein (...) He was intent on constructing the first bridge across the Thames at Westminster when he died."
It was hardly predictable that such a handsome and popular prince, who had outlived childhood, died in his 18 years. The illness was likely to have been typhoid fever, and the symptons apparently came before with the constant headaches, sore throats, that got worse after playing tennis, but who knew those were the symptons that would take him away? On the 6th day of November, 1612, Henry Frederick Stuart departed this world, leaving two kingdoms and a family mourning deeply for him, for the king he never would be and the person he would be missed.
Sources:
http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/princehenry.htm
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/stuarts/death-prince-henry-and-succession-crisis-1612-1614
http://www.historytoday.com/roy-strong/henry-prince-wales-englands-lost-stuart-king
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/henry-frederick,-prince-of-wales
http://www.npg.org.uk/business/publications/the-lost-prince-henry-prince-of-wales-1594-1612.php
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com.br/2015/02/the-children-of-englands-first-stuart.html
http://thepeerage.com/p10138.htm
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/the-lost-prince-the-life-and-death-of-henry-stuart-national-portrait-gallery-wc2-review-8389565.html
http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/26679/henry-stuart-prince-of-wales-would-have-been-henry-ix-had-he-lived/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Frederick,_Prince_of_Wales
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/oct/21/lost-prince-henry-stuart-review
In 1603, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, the English crown was inherited by the Scottish monarch and it would not be until 1610 that Henry were to be acknowledged as Prince of Wales; before he was best adressed as Duke of Rothesay. It's also said that the young prince's household was directed to follow a College rather than court, with James VI/I always writing academic texts to his children, "as Sir Thomas Chaloner wrote in 1607, 'Hiss Highness household [...] was intended by the King for a courtly college or a collegiate court"."
Other habits of Henry Frederick included hawking, hunting, jousting, swimming, fencing, and above all, tennis. As said below:
"He loved tilting and swimming, and (...) tennis. (This was the old game called Royal Tennis). He often played for three or four hours non-stop."
Henry also "from a young age studied naval and military affairs and national issues, about which he often disagreed with his father." As he developed his character, one shaped to a pious man, attracted to the Puritan ideas, of serious semblance and reserved nature, the prince of Wales' popularity grew to the point to surpass his own father's: he was thus the embodiment of the hopes of many Protestants due to his religious nature. This being said, differences with the king in conduct and politics can be explained, for he "disapproved of the way his father conducted the royal court, disliked Robert Carr, a favourite of his father, and esteemed Sir Walter Raleigh, wishing him to be released from the Tower of London." In addition, he's presumably said "Only my father would keep such a bird in such a cage." And it's with no surprise to note that whilst King James lived at Whitehall Palace, Prince Henry lived at St James's Palace, where he picked intelectual courtiers at court, and apparently he fined them if they were seen swearing.
If his relationship with his father was quite tense, with reports of public arguments, the same cannot be said of the relationship he had with his sister. Princess Elizabeth, whom we have already discussed on this blog, and him were always attached to one another. When they were living in different households in Scotland, the children would exchange letters with Henry writing in Latin and Elizabeth, to please her dearest brother, in Italian. We can better perceive their closeness below:
"Prince Harry had a close personal relationship with his sister Princess Elisabeth, who was two years younger. At times they lived in the same household at Nonsuch. When she was residing at Coombe Abbey near Coventry, he missed her company and wrote to her regularly."
When she came of age in marrying, it was her brother who chose her betrothed, the Protestant Elector Palatinate Frederick. The two young men became friends and it was reported that, even after his death, Elizabeth was married to Frederick not only because she eventually grew to love her betrothed but because she wished to obey her brother's wishes. Naturally, Henry Stuart left his mark in his sister: when she was elected Queen of Bohemia, she was the Protestant symbol of Europe, fighting away the Catholics, something Henry would do had he lived, considering his strong anti-Catholic views.
As for the younger brother, Charles, despite it being said the two princes barely got along at all, this can be argued not only by the difference of their ages and the fact they lived in different households, but because "they maintained a brotherly correspondence, much of it in Latin, and none which suggests anything but a normal and affectionate relationship of brothers. When Henry Frederick fell ill in the auturmn of 1612, Charles took him a miniature gold sculptured horse which had been given him by one of the Medici relatives of the French consort, an item Charles treasured." And also, the most famous portrait of the Stuart prince was later comissioned by Charles as King.
Surprisingly, he had a good relationship with the French king, Henry IV, the leader of the Huguenotes who ended up converting to Catholicism to settle the War of Religions. It is possible to assume that, considering the constant conflicts a normal teenager boy had with his father back then, he saw Henry IV as an idealistic father he did not have. Nonetheless, le bon roi Henry "sent his young friend some highly prized specimens to add to his stable."
As stated before, the character of the young prince was shaped as an idealistic Protestant would be, though difficultly compared to the boy king Edward Tudor. Henry openly criticized his mother's sympathies for Catholicism, the Papist teachings of his brother Charles and the Catholic tomb of his grandmother, Mary, Queen of Scots, for apparently it would be an "endorsment of her Catholic faith, and he refused to permit his father to negotiate a marriage for him with a French or Spanish Catholic princess stating there would only be one religion in his marriage bed."
Despite this religious militance and the strictness of his personality, Henry was an admirer and a patron of arts; he also "commissioned explorers to investigate the Northwest Passage. He built libraries and a picture gallery for the works by Hilliard and Holbein (...) He was intent on constructing the first bridge across the Thames at Westminster when he died."
It was hardly predictable that such a handsome and popular prince, who had outlived childhood, died in his 18 years. The illness was likely to have been typhoid fever, and the symptons apparently came before with the constant headaches, sore throats, that got worse after playing tennis, but who knew those were the symptons that would take him away? On the 6th day of November, 1612, Henry Frederick Stuart departed this world, leaving two kingdoms and a family mourning deeply for him, for the king he never would be and the person he would be missed.
Sources:
http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/princehenry.htm
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/stuarts/death-prince-henry-and-succession-crisis-1612-1614
http://www.historytoday.com/roy-strong/henry-prince-wales-englands-lost-stuart-king
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/henry-frederick,-prince-of-wales
http://www.npg.org.uk/business/publications/the-lost-prince-henry-prince-of-wales-1594-1612.php
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com.br/2015/02/the-children-of-englands-first-stuart.html
http://thepeerage.com/p10138.htm
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/the-lost-prince-the-life-and-death-of-henry-stuart-national-portrait-gallery-wc2-review-8389565.html
http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/26679/henry-stuart-prince-of-wales-would-have-been-henry-ix-had-he-lived/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Frederick,_Prince_of_Wales
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/oct/21/lost-prince-henry-stuart-review
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