Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

For other people known as Henry, Prince of Wales see Henry, Prince of Wales.

Henry Frederick
Prince of Wales; Duke of Rothesay
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
House	House of Stuart
Father	James I of England
Mother	Anne of Denmark
Born	19 February 1594 Stirling Castle, Scotland
Died	6 November 1612(1612-11-06) (aged 18)
Burial	Westminster Abbey, London, England

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612) was the eldest son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne. However, at the age of 18, he predeceased his father when he died of typhoid fever. Subsequently, the heirship to the English and Scottish thrones passed to his younger brother Charles.

Contents 1 Life 2 Death 3 Literature occasioned by the prince's death 3.1 Sermons 3.2 Prose memorials 3.3 Verses 4 Legacy 5 Ancestry 6 Titles, styles, honours and arms 6.1 Titles 6.2 Honours 6.3 Arms 7 References 8 Bibliography

Life

Henry was born at Stirling Castle and became Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland automatically on his birth. His father placed him in the care of Alexander Erskine, Earl of Mar, and out of the care of the boy's mother, because James worried that the mother's tendency toward Catholicism might affect the son. Although the child's removal caused enormous tension between Anne and James, Henry remained under the care of Mar's family until 1603, when James became King of England and his family moved south.^[1]

His tutor until he went to England was Sir George Lauder of The Bass, a Privy Counsellor — described as the King's "familiar councillor"^[2] — and he was also tutored in music by Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger.

The king "much preferred the role of schoolmaster than that of father", and wrote texts for the schooling of his offspring. James directed that Henry's household "should rather imitate a College than a Court",^[3] or, as Sir Thomas Chaloner wrote in 1607, His Highness's household [...] was intended by the King for a courtly college or a collegiate court"^[4] In 1605, Henry entered Magdalen College, Oxford, where the witty, outgoing, popular young man became interested in sports. His other interests included naval and military affairs, and national issues, about which he often disagreed with his father. He also disapproved of the way his father conducted the royal court, disliked Robert Carr, a favorite of his father, and esteemed Sir Walter Ralegh, wishing him released from the Tower of London.^[1]

The prince's popularity rose so high that it threatened his father. Relations between the two could be tense and on occasion surfaced in public. At one point, they were hunting near Royston when James I criticized his son for lacking enthusiasm for the chase, and Henry initially moved to strike his father with a cane but rode off. Most of the hunting party then followed the son.^[3]

"Upright to the point of priggishness, he fined all who swore in his presence", according to Charles Carlton, a biographer of Charles I, who describes Henry as an "obdurate Protestant".^[3] In addition to the alms box that Henry forced swearers to contribute to, he made sure his household attended church services. His religious views were influenced by the clerics in his household who were largely from a tradition of politicized Calvinism. Henry listened humbly, attentively and regularly to the sermons preached to his household, and once told his chaplain, Richard Milbourne, that he esteemed most the preachers whose attitude suggested, "Sir, you must hear me diligently: you must have a care to observe what I say."^[4]

Henry is said to have disliked his younger brother, Charles, and teased him, although is derives from only one anecdote: when Charles was nine years of age, Henry snatched off the hat of a bishop and put it on the younger child's head, then told his younger brother that when he became king he would make Charles Archbishop of Canterbury, and then Charles would have a long robe to hide his ugly rickety legs. Charles stamped on the cap and had to be dragged off in tears.^[3]

Following his father's accession to the throne of England in 1603, Henry became automatically Duke of Cornwall, and was invested Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in 1610, thus uniting the six automatic and two traditional Scottish and English titles held by heirs-apparent to the throne(s) ever since that date.

As a young man, Henry showed great promise and was beginning to be active in leadership matters. He was a friend of Sir Walter Ralegh. Among his activities, he was responsible for the reassignment of Sir Thomas Dale to the Virginia Company of London's struggling colony in North America.

Death

Henry died from typhoid fever at the age of 18. (The diagnosis can be made with reasonable certainty from written records of the post-mortem examination.) He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Prince Henry's death was widely regarded as a tragedy for the nation. According to Charles Carlton, "Few heirs to the English throne have been as widely and deeply mourned as Prince Henry." His body lay in state at St. James's Palace for four weeks. On the 7th of December, over a thousand people walked in the mile-long cortege to Westminster Abbey to hear the two-hour sermon delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As Henry's body was lowered into the ground, his chief servants broke their staves of office at the grave. An insane man ran naked through the mourners, yelling that he was the boy's ghost.^[3]

Charles immediately fell ill after Henry's death, but was the chief mourner at the funeral, which James I (detesting funerals) refused to attend.^[3] All of Henry's automatic titles passed to Charles, who, until then, had lived in Henry's shadow. Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester four years later. Charles was not as well-regarded as Henry had been, and after he assumed the throne following the death of his father in 1625 as King Charles I, his reign was marked by controversies, most notably conflicts with the English Parliament. Following several years of the English Civil War, he was tried and convicted of treason and was beheaded in 1649.

Literature occasioned by the prince's death

Sermons

Henry's chaplain, Dr. Daniel Price, delivered a series of sermons about the young man's death. (Price borrowed from John Donne's unrelated The first Anniversary, published in 1611, and The second Anniversary, published in 1612, for some of his language and ideas.):^[5]

• Lamentations for the death of the late illustrious Prince Henry [...] Two Sermons (1613; see 1613 in literature): "Oh, why is there not a generall thaw through-out all mankinde? why in this debashed Ayre doe not all things expire, seeing Time looks upon us with watry eues, disheveld lockes, and heavie dismall lookes; now that the Sunne is gone out of our Firmament, the ioy, the beautie, the glory of Israel is departed?"^[5]
• Spirituall Odours to the Memory of Prince Henry. In Four of the Last Sermons Preached in St James after his Highnesse Death (Oxford, 1613; see 1613 in literature) From "Meditations of Consolation in our Lamentations": "[...] his body was so faire and strong that a soule might have been pleased to live an age in it [...] vertue and valor, beauty and chastity, armes and arts, met and kist in him, and his goodnesse lent so much mintage to other Princes, that if Xenophon were now to describe a Prince, Prince HENRY had been his Patterne. [...] He hath gon his Passover from death to life, where there is more grace and more capacity [...] where earthly bodies shalbe more celestiall, then man in his Innocency or Angels in their glory, for they could fall: Hee is there with those Patriarchs that have expected Christ on earth, longer then they have enjoyed him in heaven; He is with those holy Penmen of the holy spirit, they bee now his paterns, who were here his teachers [...]"^[5]
• Teares Shed over Abner. The Sermon Preached on the Sunday before the Prince his funerall in St James Chappell before the body (Oxford, (1613; see 1613 in literature): "He, He is dead, who while he lived, was a perpetuall Paradise, every season that he shewd himselfe in a perpetuall spring, eavery exercise wherein he was scene a special felicity: He, He is dead before us [...] Hee, Hee is dead; that blessed Model of heaven his face is covered till the latter day, whose shining lamps his eyes in whose light there was life to the beholders, they bee ecclipsed untill the sunne give over shining. [...] He, He is dead, and now yee see this [...]"^[5]

Prose memorials

Price also wrote two prose "Anniversaries" on the death:

• Prince Henry His First Anniversary (Oxford, 1613; see 1613 in literature): "in HIM, a glimmering light of the Golden times appeare, all lines of expectation met in this Center, all spirits of vertue, scattered into others were extracted into him [...]"^[5]
• Another "Anniversary", published in 1614^[5]

Verses

Within a few months of the prince's death, 32 poets versified on it. In addition to those listed below, the writers included Sir Walter Ralegh (a friend), Edward Herbert, Thomas Heywood and Henry King.^[3]

These poems were published in 1612 (see 1612 in poetry):

• Sir William Alexander, An Elegie on the Death of Prince Henrie^[6]
• Joshua Sylvester, Lachrimae Lachrimarum; or, The Distillation of Teares Shede for the Untimely Death of the Incomparable Prince Panaretus, also includes poems in English, French, Latin and Italian by Walter Quin^[6]
• George Wither, Prince Henries Obsequies; or, Mournefull Elegies Upon his Death^[6]

These poems and songs were published in 1613 (see 1613 in poetry):

• Thomas Campion, Songs of Mourning: Bewailing the Untimely Death of Prince Henry, verse and music; music by Giovanni Coperario (or "Copario"), said to have been John Cooper, an Englishman^[6]
• George Chapman, An Epicede or Funerall Song, On the Most Disastrous Death, of the Highborne Prince of Men, Henry Prince of Wales, &c., the work states "1612" but was published in 1613^[6]
• John Davies, The Muses-Teares for the Losse of their Hope^[6]
• William Drummond of Hawthornden, Tears on the Death of Moeliades^[6]

Legacy

Both Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley, West Yorkshire, and Prince Henry's High School in Evesham, Worcestershire in England are named after him.

The developments in North America were at an important stage as Henry grew up. In the southern portion of the Colony of Virginia, three important locations were named in his honor:

• Cape Henry, the southern point at which the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean was named on 26 April 1607 by the expedition led by Christopher Newport which established Jamestown on 14 May. Cape Henry Memorial is now located at the City of Virginia Beach adjacent to First Landing State Park.

• Henricus, the ill-fated successor colony to Jamestown, was established in 1612 by Sir Thomas Dale, who had been recruited for the Virginia Colony through the efforts of Prince Henry. Henricus became the major point of Henrico Cittie (sic) in 1619. It was destroyed during the Indian Massacre of 1622. The long-lost site of Henricus was rediscovered in the late 20th century in Chesterfield County, and is now part of an historical park.

• Present-day Henrico County was established by order of Henry's younger brother, King Charles I, in 1634, as one of the original eight shires of Virginia. Henrico County remains extant today in its original political form.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

16. John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox               8. Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox                       17. Elizabeth Stewart               4. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley                             18. Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus               9. Margaret Douglas                       19. Margaret Tudor               2. James I of England                                   20. James IV of Scotland               10. James V of Scotland                       21. = 19. Margaret Tudor               5. Mary, Queen of Scots                             22. Claude, Duke of Guise               11. Marie de Guise                       23. Antoinette de Bourbon               1. Henry Frederick                                         24. Frederick I of Denmark               12. Christian III of Denmark                       25. Anna of Brandenburg               6. Frederick II of Denmark                             26. Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg               13. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg                       27. Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg               3. Anne of Denmark                                   28. Albert VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow               14. Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin                       29. Anna of Brandenburg               7. Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow                             30. Frederick I of Denmark               15. Elizabeth of Denmark                       31. Sophie of Pomerania

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

• 19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612: The Duke of Rothesay (Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles)
• 24 March 1603 – 6 November 1612: The Duke of Cornwall
• 4 June 1610^[7] – 6 November 1612: The Prince of Wales (Earl of Chester)

Honours

• KG: Knight of the Garter, 14 June 1603 – 6 November 1612

Arms

As Prince of Wales, Henry Frederick bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points.^[8]

References

Bibliography

• J. W. Williamson, The Myth of the Conqueror: Prince Henry Stuart, a Study in 17th Century Personation (New York, AMS Press, 1978)
• Roy Strong - Henry, Prince of Wales and England's Lost Renaissance (London, Pimlico, 1986, 2000)
• Prince Henry Revived: Image and Exemplarity in Early Modern England, ed. Timothy Wilks (Southampton Solent University & Paul Holberton Publishing, 2007)

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales House of Stuart Born: 19 February 1594 Died: 6 November 1612
British royalty
Preceded by James VI of Scotland	Heir to the English and Irish Thrones as heir apparent 1603–1612	Succeeded by Charles Stuart, Duke of York
Preceded by James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran	Heir to the Scottish Throne as heir apparent 1594–1612
Vacant Title last held by Edward Tudor	Prince of Wales 1610–1612
Peerage of England
Vacant Title last held by Edward Tudor	Duke of Cornwall 1603–1612	Succeeded by Charles Stuart, Duke of York
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by James Stuart	Duke of Rothesay 1603–1612	Succeeded by Charles Stuart

Princes of Wales HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (1958–Present) Edward II (1301–1307) · Edward, the Black Prince (1343–1376) · Richard II (1376–1377) · Henry V (1399–1413) · Edward of Westminster (1454–1471) · Edward V (1471–1483) · Edward of Middleham (1483–1484) · Arthur Tudor (1489–1502) · Henry VIII (1504–1509) · Edward VI (1537–1547) · Henry Frederick Stuart (1610–1612) · Charles I (1616–1625) · Charles II (1641–1649) · James Francis Edward Stuart (1688) · George II (1714–1727) · Prince Frederick (1729–1751) · George III (1751–1760) · George IV (1762–1820) · Edward VII (1841–1901) · George V (1901–1910) · Edward VIII (1910–1936)

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Dukes of Rothesay Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay (1952–present) David (1398–1402) · James I (1402–1406) · Alexander (1430) · James II (1430–1437) · James III (1452–1460) · James IV (1473–1488) · James (1507–1508)  · Arthur (1509–1510) · James V (1512–1513) · James (1540–1541) · James VI (1566–1567)  · Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (1603–1612) · Charles I (1612–1625) · Charles James (1629) · Charles II (1630–1649) · Prince James (1688–1689) · George II (1714–1727) · Prince Frederick (1727–1751)  · George IV (1762–1820) · Edward VII (1841–1901) · George V (1901–1910) · Edward VIII (1910–1936)