In September, 1714, seven weeks after Queen Anne died, the first king of a new royal House landed in England. Sophia of Hanover, daughter of the Elizabeth Stuart who was once for a few months Queen of Bohemia, had been named by the Act of Settlement (1701) as successor to her cousin Anne. And ever after Sophia longed to outlive Anne, if only for one day, so that she might call herself Queen of England before she died. But she had been dead already some four months; so it was not to her but to her son George Lewis, now King George I, that the English crown descended...
In September, 1714, seven weeks after Queen Anne died, the first king of a new royal House landed in England. Sophia of Hanover, daughter of the Elizabeth Stuart who was once for a few months Queen of Bohemia, had been named by the Act of Settlement (1701) as successor to her cousin Anne. And ever after Sophia longed to outlive Anne, if only for one day, so that she might call herself Queen of England before she died. But she had been dead already some four months; so it was not to her but to her son George Lewis, now King George I, that the English crown descended. George I was a foreigner by birth, connected with the old royal line only because his grandmother Elizabeth had been a daughter of James I. Nearly sixty persons, it was said, had a better title to the throne by descent. He was a foreigner, too, by breeding and education. The jealous Anne, indeed, had never allowed him to enter England. Thus he knew hardly more of English ways and English institutions than he knew of the English language, which was practically nothing at all. Further, having ruled Hanover for sixteen years with almost absolute power, he had had no training for the task of ruling England as a "constitutional king," that is, a king with limited power, strictly controlled by Parliament. And he knew that few, if any, of his new subjects felt even the slightest liking for him. Already, indeed, they were violently jealous of his foreign friends and interests. And, till the very moment of Anne's last illness, Bolingbroke had been working, with every hope of success, to put a different king upon the throne. Even now Bolingbroke still hoped, and George himself feared, and foreign statesmen quite expected, that "the fickle English" would soon send back their new ruler to his little German State...
The four Hanoverian King Georges may have become fixed in history as 'faintly absurd, certainly unattractive, figures' but in this colourful account of their lives and times, families and courts, Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson restores a sprinkling of credit where it has been due. His account does not neglect the marital discords of George I, the towering paternal disdain of George II or the tragically misunderstood 'madness' of George III. But the reader is also encouraged to consider how the Hanoverian monarchs reacted to the climate of art and fashion in their times, from George II's espousal of Handel to George IV's patronage of Beau Brummell. By its own admission not a comprehensive history, Blood Royal is nevertheless an elegant and shining string of linked vignettes and short studies.
Covers a wide range of English royal history: from George I, who ascended the throne in 1714, to Queen Victoria, whose death in 1901 closed the Hanoverian chapter in English history. A character study of the six Hanoverian monarchs is included along with the outline of the social, industrial, and political movements that changed their world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
A detailed critique of the eighteenth-century German family and their reign on the British throne includes coverage of such topics as the language barrier that impacted George I's controversial rule, George III's loss of the American colonies and bouts with mental instability, and George IV's scandalous marriage and attempted divorce.
This two-volume history of the Hanoverian dynasty is a masterpiece of scholarship and research. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including contemporary accounts, letters, and official documents, the author provides a comprehensive overview of the reigns of George I and George II, as well as their impact on British politics, society, and culture. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of the British monarchy. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
