Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena (Italian: Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; 5 October [O.S. 25 September] 1658 – 7 May [O.S. 26 April] 1718) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younger brother and heir presumptive of Charles II. She was devoted to James and their children, two of whom survived to adulthood: the Jacobite claimant to the thrones, James Francis Edward, and Louisa Maria Teresa.Born a princess of the northwestern Italian Duchy of Modena, Mary is primarily remembered for the controversial birth of James Francis Edward, her only surviving son. It was widely rumoured that he was smuggled into the birth chamber in a warming pan in order to perpetuate her husband's Catholic Stuart dynasty. James Francis Edward's birth was a contributing factor to the "Glorious Revolution", the revolution which deposed James II and VII, and replaced him with Mary II, a Protestant, James II's eldest daughter from his first marriage to Anne Hyde (1637–1671). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Mary of Modena has received more than 888,096 page views. Her biography is available in 41 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 37 in 2019). Mary of Modena is the 279th most popular companion (down from 255th in 2019), the 1,169th most popular biography from Italy (down from 1,111th in 2019) and the 30th most popular Italian Companion.

Mary of Modena was the wife of James II and the daughter of the Duke of Modena. She is most famous for being the mother of James Francis Edward Stuart, who became known as the Old Pretender.