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All
the
King's
Women:
Love,
Sex
and
Politics
in
the
Life
of
Charles
II.
by
Derek
Wilson.
Publ.
by
Pimlico,
2004.
Paperback.
448
pages.
b
and
w
illustrations.
The
image
of
Charles
II
as
a
randy
monarch
who
dragged
the
crown
through
the
moral
mire
and
irredeemable
weakened
its
position
has
persisted
throughout
the
three
centuries
since
John
Evelyn
gave
his
judgement.
That
judgement,
Derek
Wilson
argues,
is
OK
as
far
it
goes.
The
Restoration
court
did
set
an
example
of
cynical
libertinism
that
provoked
opposition
not
only
from
outraged
preacher,
but
also
satirical
journalists
and
angry
mobs
who
pelted
royal
mistresses
and
burned
down
brothels.
But
Charles'
bedroom
antics
are
symptoms
and
not
causes
of
social
decadence.
Why
did
Pepys
complain
'there
is
nothing
almost
but
bawdry
at
court
from
top
to
bottom'
or
Bishop
Burnet
observe
that
throughout
the
three
kingdoms
people
were
'throwing
of
the
very
professions
of
virtue
and
piety'?
The
answers
must
be
sought
in
the
traumatic
upheaval
of
the
Civil
War
and
its
aftermath
in
the
life
of
Charles
Stuart
and
his
people.
In
a
society
that
was
shaken
loose
by
violent
conflict
the
position
of
women
changed
radically.
Many
experienced
a
new
freedom
and
an
enhanced
power
to
influence
men
and
events.
Charles
grew
up
with
and
actually
enjoyed
the
company
of
strong
women.
Ministers
complained
of
his
'effeminate
conversation'.
As
well
as
the
notorious
grasping
mistresses
-
the
leach-like
Lady
Castlemaine,
'dearest
Fubs'
Keroualle,
the
outrageous
Nell
Gwynn
-
Charles
was
influenced
by
his
domineering
mother,
Henrietta
Maria,
his
'pushy'
nurse,
Christabella
Wyndham,
his
much
love
sisters,
Mary
and
'Minette',
and
his
only
great
love,
Lucy
Walter,
his
long-suffering
wife,
Catherine
of
Braganza
and
a
cavalcade
of
devoted
royalist
ladies,
actresses,
whores,
and
ambitious
gold-digger
who
surrounded
him
throughout
his
exile
and
after
his
restoration.
It
is
this
miscellany
of
relationships
that
Derek
Wilson
explores
and
helps
us
to
understand
in
All
the
King's
Women'.
CONDITION:
a
good
secondhand
copy.
All
pages
clean.
Unmarked
cover.
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