h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello Bob

Did you know I'm subbing your entry on Louis XIII? See: A87871729

I've never actually subbed an entry before – I've always felt I'd not be very suitable as I love to change things too much, and as soon as I start tugging on a thread I'd end up unravelling everything, but rest assured I won't be making drastic changes without letting you know first. If you have any questions about what I'm doing, let me know.

<BB<

I'm reading through and feel there are some areas where key information is glossed over, and could perhaps benefit from a couple of short sentences to help join up the dots.

Are you able to write for me below:

A sentence stating that Henri IV was a direct male descendant of Louis IX and cousin of Henri III, and so heir to the throne.

Another sentence stating that as Protestants could not become king, Henri became Catholic to inherit the throne but ended the Wars of Religion with the Edict of Nantes in 1598.

I can then add these to the entry so that it stays in your words, rather than mine. Any questions, feel free to shout.

<BB<

Dont worry its in good hands probably

A sentence stating that Henri IV was a direct male descendant of Louis IX and cousin of Henri III, and so heir to the throne.

The amendment below

Born in 1553 Henri IV was destined to a place in history. As a direct descendant of the kings Louis IX and cousin of Henri III, and so potential heir to the thrones of France and Navarre. Henri had been originally baptised into the Catholic faith, however Henri's mother Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, brought him up as a member of the Huguenot faith and as leader of the Protestant cause. He became the King of Navarre in 1572 when his mother Jeanne d'Albret died. As King of Navarre he fought in the French Wars of Religion, a series of religious conflicts in France between 1562-1592.

granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots)


until his reversion to the Catholic faith in 1589. This meant as King of Catholic France, he could not remain a leader of a Protestant Huguenot army, so in effect he was forced to change his faith and as a Catholic. He could then fight a series wars from 1589 to 1593 against the armies of rival Protestant states to keep his throne. The conflict was only settled in 1598, when Henri signed the Edict of Nantes that granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial legal rights in the nation. This change of faith was not without cost, he became regarded by many as a man who abandoned his faith for his own advancement he became widely distrusted.

Part 2

Insert the first sentence in the paragraph if you think it needs it

Let me know if you're happy with the entry up to the end of the Ravaillac section so far.

<BB<

A87842361 - Louis XIII Of France (Original)
A87871729 - Louis XIII of France (version I'm mucking up)

Okay, I'm not sure if this is the best approach, but I'll list your original version of a section here, followed by what I propose to tweak it to. That way you can decide whether you agree to the proposed changes, and if not write your own proposed version underneath if you want to change what I've written.

So, your original version:

Louis of France and Anne of Austria
Henry had secured the succession with two children, Louis destined to be King Louis XIII of France, and Henrietta Maria who was to become the wife of Charles I of England.
Louis had a difficult childhood, there is some evidence that he became the victim of his father Henri's sexual attentions3 and this was to allow his mother and others to manipulate him. In November 1615, at the age of 14 Louis married the 14 year old daughter of Philip III of Spain, Anna María Mauricia, known to history as Anne of Austria4.
The wedding day was a torment for Louis was so terrified that he needed to be carried to the alter. During the ceremony Louis could hardly speak through fear. The couple’s first night was a farce, including the inspection of the sheets from their bed, on the following morning.
After the wedding night it was customary to inspect the sheets of a newly married couple. Any stains found on sheets were normally regarded as proof of consummation. When they were displayed to the court by Marie, no one in the court however regarded these as genuine. Louis found the whole thing so distasteful that the royal couple did not take meals together for months. All this was seen as a blow to Cardinal Richelieu's plans to secure a Catholic successor for the French throne.
Louis ignored his new bride, his mother, Marie de' Medici5 now put great pressure on the couple to consummate the marriage, as Maries parents could use a legal precedent and force an annulment of the marriage if unconsummated.
It was during this period of the young king's life he begun to fall under influence of the first minister of France, Cardinal de Richelieu

My tweaked version:

Louis of France and Anne of Austria
Henri had secured the succession with two children; Louis, destined to be King Louis XIII of France, and Henrietta Maria who was to become the wife of Charles I of England.
Louis had a difficult childhood. There is evidence that he was the victim of his father's sexual attentions. Henri beat and abused his son; this treatment rendered Louis impotent and indifferent to women. He also allowed his mother and others to manipulate him. In November 1615, at the age of 14, Louis married the 14-year-old daughter of Philip III of Spain, Anna María Mauricia, known to history as Anne of Austria2. Although a Spanish princess, Anne held the title Archduchess of Austria from birth, as her mother was an Austrian princess.
The wedding day was a torment for Louis. He was so terrified that he needed to be carried to the altar and, during the ceremony, could hardly speak through fear. The couple's first night as man and wife was a farce, starting from the inspection of the sheets from their bed the following morning.
After the wedding night it was customary to inspect the sheets of a newly married couple, with any stains found on the sheets regarded as proof of consummation. When the sheets were displayed by Marie, no-one in the court regarded them as genuine. Louis found the whole ordeal so distasteful that the royal couple did not take meals together for months. All this was seen as a blow to Cardinal Richelieu's plans to secure a Catholic successor for the French throne.
Though Louis ignored his new bride, his mother, Marie de' Medici now put great pressure on the couple to consummate the marriage; Marie's parents could use a legal precedent and force an annulment of the marriage if unconsummated.

Main changes I'm proposing:
Incorporating the footnote on Henri's treatment of him into the text.
Explaining about Anne of Austria's title here in the section about Louis and Anne, rather than at the start CV section.
I moved the Cardinal Richelieu section into the end of the 'The Children of Louis and Anne'.

Let me know if you're happy with those changes or not.

<BB<

That looks fine to me a fresh view works well.

One change I've just made is to cut out a lot of the bits about Dumas and Dickens' view of Buckingham and instead I've added them to your entry on George Villiers, as they fitted there better than in an entry on Louis XIII. Would you like to write anything on how Dumas portrays Louis XIII?

<BB<

Just letting you know the changes I've made to the 'The Children of Louis and Anne' section.

1.) I changed the header to a subheader as I felt it was a continuation of the Louis of France and Anne of Austria section, rather than a wholly new topic.
2.) I moved the information in footnote 6 into the main body of the text.
3.) I added the paragraph mentioning Cardinal de Richelieu here from the previous section.

Any questions about the above, or anything you disagree with, let me know.


Original:

The Children of Louis and Anne
The marriage Louis XIII and Anna María Maurici continued unhappily. Royal Louis duties kept them separated for long periods. In the little time they spent together they tried to discharge their royal duty to provide an heir. It was to take nearly 24 years eventually the couple finally produced an heir on 5 September 1638, Named Louis Dieudonné6 the future Louis XIV. In gratitude the devout Queen Anne decided to build the Benedictine abbey of the Val-de-Grâce in thanks for the birth. his father Louis XIV was not sure of the miracle but despite his doubts he laid the cornerstone of the new building.
The royal couple had suffered several stillbirths, fortunately they eventually had 2 surviving children.
Louis XIV of France, 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715.
Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans, who lived 21 September, 1640 – 8 June, 1701.


Tweaked version:

The Children of Louis and Anne
The marriage of Louis XIII and Anna María Maurici continued unhappily. Royal duties kept them separated for long periods. In the little time they spent together they tried to discharge their royal duty to provide an heir. It took nearly 24 years, and sadly several stillbirths, but eventually the couple finally produced an heir on 5 September 1638. Named Louis Dieudonné or Given by God, the birth of the future Louis XIV was seen as a miracle. In gratitude to God the devout Queen Anne decided to build the Benedictine abbey of the Val-de-Grâce in thanks for the birth. Though Louis XIV was not sure of the miracle, despite his doubts he laid the cornerstone of the new building.
Despite the royal couple's stillbirths, they eventually had 2 surviving children.
Louis XIV of France, 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715.
Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans, 21 September, 1640 – 8 June, 1701.
It was during this period of the young king's life that he began to fall increasingly under the influence of the first minister of France, Cardinal de Richelieu.

<BB<

Its difficult

This chap met him in 1619

He was the ambassador of King James I
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury.

I presented to the King Louis a letter of credence from the King James my master: the King Louis assured me of a reciprocal affection to the King James my master, and of my particular welcome to his Court: his words were never many, as being so extream, a stutterer that he would sometimes hold his tongue out of his mouth a good while before he could speak so much as one word he had besides a double row of teeth, and was observed seldom or never to spit or blow his nose, or to sweat much, 'tho he were very laborious, and almost indefatigable in his exercises of hunting and hawking, to which he was much addicted.

Can we fit this in

They are his words so Dumas may have seen this

I've added that quote (and a bit after too) so let me know if you're happy with where I put it.

<BB<

That is placed very well well done.

Dont use quotes often as hootoo's policy is not that clear and there are possible copyright issues.

This all appears to be in the public domain now

Yep, 400 years is definitely out of copyright

<BB<

Next Section: Louis, Marie de' Medici and Cardinal de Richelieu

Did you want to compare this section? I've made a few tweaks:

In paragraph one I've added a little more.
I've moved the paragraph about religious discord up as it seemed to flow better.
The information about Louis battling his mother in 1630 that was in the La Rochelle section I've moved into the Day of Dupes paragraph.
I've moved some of the detail about Richelieu into the text from the footnote, and mentioned his name too.
(I had previously moved the marriage of Louis XIII and Anna Maria Mauricia paragraph into the Louis of France and Anne of Austria section.)

So let me know what you think, and whether there's anything you’d like me to change out of what I've done in that section.


At the moment I do have a big question. The information about the inspiration for Milady is very interesting and I definitely enjoyed learning that there is a historical basis for the character, but as this entry is on Louis XIII I have to ask, 'what does it tell me about Louis XIII?'

<BB<

Thanks BB

In paragraph one I've added a little more.
I've moved the paragraph about religious discord up as it seemed to flow better.
The information about Louis battling his mother in 1630 that was in the La Rochelle section I've moved into the Day of Dupes paragraph.
I've moved some of the detail about Richelieu into the text from the footnote, and mentioned his name too.
(I had previously moved the marriage of Louis XIII and Anna Maria Mauricia paragraph into the Louis of France and Anne of Austria section.)

Nice re shuffle well done

The information about the inspiration for Milady is very interesting and I definitely enjoyed learning that there is a historical basis for the character, but as this entry is on Louis XIII I have to ask, 'what does it tell me about Louis XIII

There is evidence that The Three Musketeers had a grounding in fact, and there were factions trying to cause disruption for their own ends.
Most people have been influenced by modern media and think none of it happened and its just a good yarn.

A Milady did probably exist and there was very likely a very sophisticated plot to disrupt personal Louis XIII life to make him easy to control giving others to opportunity to seize power without going to war.

And all this court intreaguea was all part of what made Louis who he was

A slight edit may help to make it clearer



Louis XIII and the novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

Like many authors of classic novels Alexandre Dumas used some historical fact as inspiration.
There some evidence that Lady de Winter to have existed. It is possible that she was inspired by Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle (1599–1660). She is mentioned in the diaries of François de La Rochefoucauld, written while in the service of Queen Anne of Austria. Various aliases are mentioned; Lady Clarick de Winter, Lady de Clarick and Lucy Percy or Lucy Hay the Countess of Carlisle.

The activities of Lucy Percy, however, were more involved in the intrigues of the English Civil War. Working for the Royalist cause as the Queen's messenger, she passed news between bands of royalists. She was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London from 21 March 1649 to 25 September 1650. Royalist handbills stated she was almost put to the rack to gain information about her activities.