DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0075
QUEEN CATHERINE OF BBAGANZA. -59
provided, by selling* her jewels and much of her plate, and borrow-
ing* the jewels and plate of several churches and monasteries, had
been employed on some sudden emergency in fitting* out forces
against Spain, and was not forthcoming. The Queen-mother
made the best apology she could for a step to which she had been
driven by the cruel necessity of her situation: she proposed to put
on board the fleet the amount of one-half the portion in jewels,
sugar, cotton, silk, and other commodities, and pledged herself to
the payment of the other half within a year. Lord Sandwich was
much embarrassed j but found it necessary to acquiesce, having no
instructions provided against such a dilemma : and the King*, who
expected the arrival of half a million in gold, with at least as much
impatience as that of his bride, was equally enraged and disappointed
at the non-payment. Even Catherine herself was made to feel
the effects of his ill-humour on this occasion.
The other circumstance above alluded to, was more important
in its effects. Though Catherine assumed state in Portugal, and
held a court as Queen of England, she was suffered to embark
without the performance of any of the rites of marriage, or any
of the ceremonies usual among crowned heads on such occasions.
The cause of this extraordinary, and even unparalleled proceeding
was thisThe power of Spain at the court of Rome was so pre-
dominant, that the title of the Braganza family to the throne of
Portugal had never yet been acknowledged there. Without a
dispensation from the Pope, the Infanta could not be married to
a heretic in her own country, and the papal dispensation, if granted
at all, would have styled her simply the daughter and sister to a
Duke of Braganza. Rather than submit to this apprehended
insult, her proud and jealous relatives chose to trust unreservedly
in the honour of England.* The fleet, with the princess and her
retinue, sailed from Lisbon the 13th of April, and arrived at
* Secret History, vol. i. In the Stuart Papers it is said, that Catherine
“ would not be married by a Protestant proxy.” Was she then in the secret
that her husband was a Catholic ?
provided, by selling* her jewels and much of her plate, and borrow-
ing* the jewels and plate of several churches and monasteries, had
been employed on some sudden emergency in fitting* out forces
against Spain, and was not forthcoming. The Queen-mother
made the best apology she could for a step to which she had been
driven by the cruel necessity of her situation: she proposed to put
on board the fleet the amount of one-half the portion in jewels,
sugar, cotton, silk, and other commodities, and pledged herself to
the payment of the other half within a year. Lord Sandwich was
much embarrassed j but found it necessary to acquiesce, having no
instructions provided against such a dilemma : and the King*, who
expected the arrival of half a million in gold, with at least as much
impatience as that of his bride, was equally enraged and disappointed
at the non-payment. Even Catherine herself was made to feel
the effects of his ill-humour on this occasion.
The other circumstance above alluded to, was more important
in its effects. Though Catherine assumed state in Portugal, and
held a court as Queen of England, she was suffered to embark
without the performance of any of the rites of marriage, or any
of the ceremonies usual among crowned heads on such occasions.
The cause of this extraordinary, and even unparalleled proceeding
was thisThe power of Spain at the court of Rome was so pre-
dominant, that the title of the Braganza family to the throne of
Portugal had never yet been acknowledged there. Without a
dispensation from the Pope, the Infanta could not be married to
a heretic in her own country, and the papal dispensation, if granted
at all, would have styled her simply the daughter and sister to a
Duke of Braganza. Rather than submit to this apprehended
insult, her proud and jealous relatives chose to trust unreservedly
in the honour of England.* The fleet, with the princess and her
retinue, sailed from Lisbon the 13th of April, and arrived at
* Secret History, vol. i. In the Stuart Papers it is said, that Catherine
“ would not be married by a Protestant proxy.” Was she then in the secret
that her husband was a Catholic ?