I said in my last post that I would read my character sketches, tracing the connections and conflicts. It struck me this morning, that a key conflict is that between mother and son, Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. The conflict between Marie and Richelieu demands attention too. The rebellion of the grands, and the meeting of the Estates General in 1614, have drawn my attention so far. But the conflict between Marie and Louis reaches a crisis in 1617.
I have read biographies of both Louis and Richelieu, but if I am to write confidently about the conflict between mother and son, then I must know as much about Marie, as I do about Louis. Therefore I have just purchased the kindle edition of Julia Pardoe’s biography of Marie, for the princely sum of £0.99. It was published in London in 1852. I’ve just finished reading the preface and it sounds promising.
Readers of The Suggested Assassin will know how fond of Marie Sir Anthony Standen is. They (you, I hope) will also know how close Maria, Sir Anthony’s eldest daughter, is to Louis. I can imagine a scenario in which father and daughter may find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict between mother and son. We shall see. First I must read Pardoe’s biography.
Julia Pardoe is a very interesting woman, who I feel a connection to already. Her father fought at the Battle of Waterloo. My 3rd great-grandfather, Elias Standen, was a sergeant farrier in Major Bull’s Troup of the Royal Horse Artillery. Elias was at Waterloo too. In 1842 Julia left London suffering from overwork, and lived with her parents in Northfleet for a while. I have family living near Northfleet.
She wrote prolifically, and her travelogue about Hungary, City of Magyr, was described by Elizabeth Barrett Browning as, “word painting”. I can only hope that reading her biography will not only enrich my knowledge of Marie de Medici, but that some of her word painting may rub off on me too.