The Material World of a Restoration Queen Consort: The Privy Purse Accounts of Catherine of Braganza

This book provides you with the chance to explore the world of Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese wife of Charles II, by the means of a full transcript of the surviving four volumes of her privy purse accounts. Kept by the keeper of her privy purse, Barbara, countess of Suffolk, the account books cover the period from the time of Catherine's marriage to the merry monarch in 1662, to Barbara's death in 1680. The accounts offer a glimpse of key events in Charles II's reign including the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. They also reveal how Catherine, with Barbara's help spent her money. The accounts take us further, offering insights into the women in Catherine's household and her wider social circle, her health, and her itinerary. Her love of flowers and gardens is also revealed, along with her engagement with music, and how ambassadors and the court elite presented her with gifts of food, many of which were intended to remind her of her Portuguese home.