Exploring the 1625 marriage of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, this volume reveals the differences and misunderstandings beneath the outward celebration of union and concord, showing how an alliance which promised well for future relations between Britain and France could soon turn to tensions and acts of hostility. A relatively low-key affair by early modern standards, the controversial union between a Protestant king and a Catholic princess was nonetheless celebrated in a variety of events in Paris and London, and in the small towns along the route between. There were triumphal entries; masques and court ballets were planned (if not actually performed) and there were banquets, balls and fireworks. Henrietta Maria was met by Charles at Dover and they entered London in a river procession up the Thames to Whitehall. In the following days the wedding festivities continued with banquets, dancing and jousting until the spread of the plague forced Charles and Henrietta Maria to flee London.
Whilst there have been recent studies of Stuart court culture, this is the first volume to deal specifically with the 1625 wedding. The fifteen chapters in the collection analyse the various celebrations in both England and France from an interdisciplinary perspective, putting them into their intellectual, cultural and political contexts. As well as filling an important gap in the scholarship of this period, the book also complements recent publications on other comparable dynastic marriages, such as the 1613 Palatine wedding celebrations, 1615 Hapsburg-Bourbon union and the failed Spanish match of 1623. As such it will be of interest to students and scholars working in the field of early modern festivals, as well as historians, art and theatre historians, literature and material culture specialists, and musicologists.