In about 1669, Charles II opened secret negotiations with the French king Louis XIV (whose aunt was Charles's mother Henrietta Maria). As go-between, they used Charles's youngest sister Henrietta, who was married to Louis' brother, Philippe duc d'Orléans. Intelligent and pretty, she was one of Louis' firm favourites and became a powerful conduit between the English and French courts.
The purpose of the negotiations was a renversement d'alliances that would see France and England joining together to make war on the Dutch. Charles's apparent resolution to convert to Catholicism drove discussions forward, but it still took over a year to reach agreement.
Finally, in May 1670, under cover of a flying visit by the duchesse d'Orléans to her brother, the secret Treaty of Dover was signed. In it, Charles reaffirmed his 'plan to reconcile himself with the Roman Church', while Louis promised the English king a large subsidy of two million livres to help him suppress any armed resistance to his conversion, as well as, if needed, 6,000 French troops. The two kings were then to coordinate an attack on the Netherlands, with Louis bearing the brunt of the land warfare and Charles the naval.
Despite attempts to keep the treaty a secret, rumours began to surround the private arrangement, which then threatened to polarise English politics.
|
|
 Secret Treaty of Dover
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_D
over
This Wikipedia article describes the treaty and its consequences.
Channel 4 Television takes no responsibility for the content of third-party sites. |
|
