Description

Charles I. 1625-1649. Cast Silver Medal n. d. (1649), 21.31 g. Royalist Badge. Charles I and Henrietta Maria. By T. Rawlins. Bust, crowned and draped. CAROLVS . D . G MAG . BRITAN FRAN ET . HIB . REX . FI . D. Rv. Henrietta Maria draped. HENRETTA . MARIA . D . G MAG . BRITAN FRAN ET . HIB . REX. Wreath borders on edge. 39.9 x 55.5 mm. Eimer 166a. MI i 355/216. Gutes sehr schön / Good Very Fine. Späterer überarbeiteter Guss mit verziertem Laubrand und Henkel / Later tooled cast, with wreath border, loop attached.

The couple first met in 1623 at a court entertainment in Paris, when he was on his way to Spain with the Duke of Buckingham to discuss a possible marriage with Maria Anna of Spain, which failed for a variety of reasons.

Searching elsewhere for a bride, Charles sent a close friend to Paris in 1624 who, a Francophile and a godson of Henry IV of France, strongly favoured a marriage with Henrietta Maria, the terms of which were negotiated by James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle.
Henrietta Maria was aged fifteen at the time of her marriage, which was not unusual for royal princesses of the period.