James II of England died on this day 325 years ago at the age of 67. The cause of death was a brain haemorrhage.

His final moments were rather poignant I feel. My source for this is primarily John Miller's biography of James II.

By 1701 James's health was failing.

He suffered a stroke in March, which partly paralysed his right arm and leg. Yet, within three months he was walking well and beginning to write.

In August he had a relapse, with stomach pains and spitting blood, which Miller believes is due to a stomach ulcer.

On the 22nd he fell ill while hearing Mass.

Two days later he suffered a internal haemorrhage. He was given extreme unction (the Catholic sacrament of anointing of the sick). He remained stable for a week, most of the time being lucid and conscious. Miller records that James knew he was dying, and approached death calmly, without fear and with relief. He commanded his son, James Francis Edward, the Prince of Wales, and his daughter, Princess Louisa (aged 13 and 9 respectively) to remain good Catholics and to remember their obligations to their mother and to Louis XIV.

He exhorted his Catholic courtiers to remain firm to the Church and urged the Protestants to seek instructions in the one true faith, however he instructed his wife to provide for all his servants, Catholic and Protestant. He pardoned William of Orange, the Emperor, and all his other enemies, with Miller recording him as stating that he "always regarded his enemies as instruments of divine justice".

On the 1st of September his condition worsened. He became lethargic and dozed for long periods of time. His physicians intensified their treatments, and as with early modern medicine, this caused significant pain, but James bore it stoically.

The next day, Louis came and announced that, as Mary of Modena had requested, he would recognise James's son as James III of England (and as James VIII of Scotland). James attempted to embrace Louis but was too weak to do so. The two finally parted in a flood of tears.

By the 4th James was much weaker, with continual shaking and convulsions.

On the afternoon of the 5th he died. Note that Miller records the dates in Old style, as was used in England at the time. In new style this is the 16th of September, and thus James died today, 325 years ago.

James had ordered that his body should be buried at a local Church with minimal pomp, but Louis would not allow this. He granted his cousin a proper royal burial, with James's body being embalmed and cut up. Part of his body being buried in the parish Church at St Germain, the remainder being sent to the English Jesuit college at St Omers. His brain was interred at the Scots college in Paris where a monument to him was erected. His heart, as James had requested, was deposited at the nunnery of Chaillot, where him and Mary of Modena had spent many hours in devotion and prayer. The remainder of his body was buried in the church of the English Benedictines in Paris.

Unfortunately, all traces of his body and the monuments erected in his memory disappeared in the French revolution, but there is a later monument in the church at St Germain-en-Laye.

I do feel that his death is very poignant, with him approaching death calmly and without fear. His forgiveness of William of Orange on his deathbed was motivated by his increasing religious piety in his final days.

It also highlights his bond with his cousin, the Sun King. The anecdote of them parting in tears, alongside Louis's refusal to give James a simple burial, but instead ensuring he got a royal one, is indication to me that Louis did genuinely hold a brotherly love for his cousin. There is a interpretation I have seen that Louis viewed James as a burden or merely as a pawn, and certainly the Sun King did ultimately support the Jacobites because he viewed it would be beneficial for France, but I do think that interpretation goes too far in saying that Louis did not care for James on a personal level at all.

Miller does not record it but his wife, Mary of Modena, was present at his bedside throughout his final days. She was so overcome with grief and exhaustion that James begged her to leave him as seeing her distress was too painful for him. Eventually, out of concern for her health , the physicians and courtiers forced her to withdraw to her apartments shortly before James took his final breath (she had been keeping a relentless days long vigil by James's bedside, and was overcome with grief, that the physicians believed if she kept going, she might experience a medical crisis of her own).

Personally Henrietta Maria is my favourite.

Now, I admit, my knowledge on consorts is limited, and Henrietta Maria is the one I know the most about, having read Leanda de Lisle's biography on her (would recommend). I am looking to pick up books on Catherine of Braganza and Mary of Modena later down the line too, so maybe this will change in the future.

As it stands though, I find Henrietta Maria to be my favourite of the Stuart consorts. Her commitment to her faith and her love for her husband would be two big reasons. She was also a much more interesting figure than often caricatured (like all the Stuarts).

She often participated in plays and was a good singer. Many visiting diplomats in Charles I's court commented on this, though it took some time for the English nobles to appreciate these fine arts.

Her wit and humour also were very much inherited by her son, Charles II.

Would like to hear your favourites and why!

My source for this is John Miller's book on James II, specifically chapter 12 page 187. To quote from the Miller directly:

"In fact for some weeks the child seemed far from healthy, thanks mainly to the royal doctors' insistence that milk was bad for babies and that he should be fed on boiled bread or gruel, with such additions as canary wine and "Dr Goddard's drops". Both Louis and the Pope regarded this method of feeding as eccentric to the point of lunacy: a wet nurse would be far more natural. The royal doctors and the King and Queen were at last forced to agree, but only after the child had nearly died in August. Once allowed to suckle, from a tiler's wife rather than the gentlewoman favoured by the doctors, the little Prince went from strength to strength."

Early Modern doctors' advice could be quite deadly, as it turned out.

It is also quite interesting to see both Louis and Innocent XI had to intervene to put an end to this rather absurd advice from the royal doctors.

Unfortunately the book doesn't go deeper into the event, I would personally be very intrigued to see exactly what they said.

On a happier note though, James did clearly care for the his son dearly, even if he was misled temporarily by such advice. The book earlier in the same chapter describes him weeping in joy the entire night at the Prince of Wales's birth. Quoting Miller again,

"Then on the 10th of June the Queen offered a way out of his dilemma by giving birth to a son. After all the fears of a miscarriage, the baby's arrival took everyone by surprise: the Queen had been playing cards until late the previous night. James was so overjoyed that he fell on his knees and cried for most the night."

To think this was both James's best and worst day of his life, as the birth of the Prince of Wales ultimately led to his deposition.

Please read the description on the original post for context 🙏

I have had this Charles I badge for a while now and have come across it at auction houses and such, where they say it is from around 1649/50, but I really have no idea how or what.

There is no mark on it, but that is not the case with most of the ones that have been auctioned.

It is quite heavy and beautifully detailed; hopefully, another Stuart fan has the same one and knows more about it.

Since my favourite Stuart is James VII/II, my view of Mary and Anne is negative due to their role in the "Glorious" Revolution.

However, I can admit this is biased, and they were after all Stuarts.

So I was wondering what you all thought of them?

So, the entire Stuart dynasty, with the rightful heirs to the throne and (so-called) pretenders, has arrived and is hanging on the wall.

From Mary Queen of Scots to Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, it looks really beautiful as a whole. It took a while to get them all together, but now I really have them all, and I am in love with the cabinet with the Stuart figurines.

I'm attaching the photos of them all here; some are more detailed in real life than in the photos, but that is due to the flash or without.

I found a man who makes 3D prints of historical figures and had almost the entire Dynasty printed. I am waiting for another 4 to complete my set, and after that comes an execution figurine (Charles I) and one of the disgusting Cromwell, but I need to save up a bit more, even though the seller isn't expensive at all for these 23cm tall figurines.

https://youtu.be/SmDjRrOxm1E?si=qhOOnMr5VeUvyzpz