Introduction

By the end of her life, Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705) (Figure 10.1) was under no illusions about the nature of royal marriage. She bitterly resented being sent to England in 1662 ‘solely for the advantage of Portugal, & for this cause & for the interests of our House I was Sacrific’d’. While her family might have sacrificed her, Charles II (1630– 1685) hurt her more by his infidelity in spite of his intentions to be a ‘good’ husband. The firm rebuke that Charles received from his sister Henriette Anne, otherwise known as Minette, is telling. She wrote ‘Here people say that she is in the deepest distress and to speak frankly I think she has only too good reason for her grief.’ While Catherine came to forgive her husband, as a Catholic bride from Portugal, she received a mixed reception in England, ranging from Lancelot Reynolds's description of her as a ‘blest soul’ and ‘a gracious queen’ to an anonymous poet's far less flattering ‘Ill-natured little goblin’. In keeping with her image as ‘a gracious queen’, Catherine has traditionally been presented as politically and personally passive. However, this chapter offers an alternative view of Catherine, arguing that she played the part of a ‘good wife’ to assert – quietly but firmly ‒ her position as queen and thereby came to represent normative, virtuous, women at court and in the country at large. Using clothing, furnishings, portraiture, and other material goods, Catherine fashioned her legitimate place as queen consort, a role that others were keen to promote on her behalf.