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Henrietta of England

Exeter, 16 Jun 1644 – Château de Saint-Cloud, 30 Jun 1670

9 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 16 Jun 1644

    Born in Exeter

  2. 1662–1669

    2 children are born

  3. 30 Jun 1670

    Dies in Château de Saint-Cloud, aged 26

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During her lifetime

She lived through 4 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Exeter.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1640s · Henrietta is born in Exeter

In the news1642

English Civil Wars begin

Beginning in 1642, the English Civil Wars caused approximately 200,000 deaths and led to heavy weekly taxes to fund the fighting.

Getting around

Transport via packhorses

Travelers often used packhorses to transport goods, and humble passengers sometimes rode on packsaddles between baskets.

In the news1649

Execution of King Charles I

King Charles I was publicly executed for treason, marking the first time a monarch was beheaded by his own people.

Daily life

Few children could afford school

Many children in the 1640s did not go to school, and families often could not afford it; many adults also could not read or write. Where schooling happened, girls often attended only until about age 10, while boys might continue to grammar school if their parents could pay.

What people wore

Identical left and right shoes

Women's shoes had no distinction between left and right feet at this time. Both were identical.

Music

The Popularity of the Viol

The viola da gamba, a fretted instrument with six strings played with a bow, became very popular for domestic music-making because of its shimmering sound and relative ease of learning.

At the table

Beer and ale safer than water

Most people avoided water because it was rarely clean and could spread disease, so they drank beer or ale made from malted barley and water. Beer was the cheapest drink because its higher alcohol helped it last; some beers were aged for up to two years.