Research is where I start my writing process. It’s also one of the most enjoyable and educational parts of the writing process. I have been reading about Henri II, Prince de Condé recently. He had a rather unfortunate start in life, having been born in prison. His mother, Charlotte, had been accused of poisoning his father, who died six months before Henri was born. Henri’s father, who was also a Henri, had been severely injured at the Battle of Coutras. He was recuperating at Saint-Jean-D’Angely when he died. It was believed that Charlotte had poisoned her husband because she was having an affair with her page, Prémhilac de Belcastel.
The affair does seem quite plausible since if the husband had fathered Henri, he must have done so whilst badly injured in what turned out to be his deathbed. One of Charlotte’s servants by the name of Brilliant was arrested and tortured, but didn’t give any evidence that would have implicated Charlotte. Brilliant was then put to death for failing to provide the required evidence. Charlotte was finally released six years after her arrest.
Henri II Prince de Condé was heir to the throne of France until the birth of Louis, son of Henri IV and Marie de Medici in 1601, when Henri was thirteen. Perhaps his unfortunate start in life accounts for the incessant demands for recognition and reward that he plagued Queen Marie with throughout much of her regency.
Condé is an important character in my work in progress, The Favourite Murder (working title), the fifth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. The start that we have in life is a major theme of the book, hence my interest in Condé’s unfortunate start. If you’re confused by father and son both being named Henri (french spelling), this was absolutely normal for the period. People seem to have been very uninventive with names in those days. Sir Anthony’s father’s name was Edmund, and Sir Anthony had two brothers, one also named Anthony, and the other named Edmund. The latter Edmund was my 10th great-grandfather. As if the repetition of names wasn’t already confusing enough, Henri II Prince de Condé went on to marry another Charlotte.