The Pleasures of Love: The Story of Catherine of Braganza

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Summary: THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF BEING QUEEN...
Review: Jean Plaidy, also known to her legion of fans as Victoria Holt, was a prolific writer of historical fiction. In this, her ninth volume in her "Queens of England" series of books, she relates the first person narrative of a little known Queen, Catherine of Braganza, who married Charles II of England. Together, they led England during the restoration of the monarchy, after the death of Oliver Cromwell saw the end of Puritan rule in England.

The marriage of Catherine of Braganza, who was from Portugal, to the newly restored King of England, Charles II, was a purely political alliance. Catherine was the daughter of King Juan IV of Portugal, who had previously been known as the Duke of Braganza, a vassal of Spain, as Spain had invaded Portugal in his father's time. When Catherine was five, after sixty years under Spanish rule, her father drove out the Spaniards and assumed his rightful role. His rule was a tenuous one, however, as the only foreign countries who recognized Juan IV as King of Portugal were France and England, who were enemies of Spain, at the time. The Pope, however, under the thumb of the Spaniards, did not, and other countries followed suit.

When Catherine, the Infanta of Portugal, was about eighteen years of age, her father died, leaving her mother, Donna Luiza, Queen Regent, of Portugal, as her brother, Alfonso, was only thirteen years old. Shortly thereafter, in the year 1658, Cromwell died, and within two years, Charles II of England was restored to his throne. Donna Luiza sought the marriage of her daughter, Catherine, to Charles II, as a way of being able to shore up her defenses against the ever pervasive threat of Spanish subjugation. By the time Catherine was twenty two, she was married to the thirty year old King of England.

Catherine was a Catholic Queen in a Protestant England that had never forgotten the cruelties of their last Catholic ruler, Mary Tudor, also known as "Blody Mary", for her excesses againt those of the Protestant faith. Consequently, the English were cool in their reception of Catherine. Moreover, she was married to a King who was a natural philanderer and whose amorous escapades with the beautiful, though notorious, Lady Castlemaine, as well as with the cockney actress, Nell Gwynne, among others, would cause her much heartache.

When Catherine failed to produce an heir, and it became clear that she was barren, there was much political intrigue in hopes that Charles II would divorce her and marry someone with whom he could beget an heir. That the King was capable of doing so was evident from the number of children he begat with his mistresses. Still, this merry monarch, much beloved by his people who viewed his amorous escapades with amusement, refused to discard his faithful and loyal wife, despite the fact that the public reviled her.

The author weaves a compelling, first person narrative of a Queen whose personal travails are little known. Against a backdrop of historical events, political intrigues, and well known personages, her story artfully unfolds, capturing the imagination of the reader. Hers is a story all too familiar. It is the story of a young noblewoman whose personal happines is subjugated to matters of state. Well written, it is a somewhat romaticized account of a life lived in the shadow of political expediency, and its pathos will keep the reader turning the pages.