How Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was Queen Anne Stuart's favorite and ruled the fate of the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For one of the most influential women in English history, Sarah Churchill, it seemed that fate itself helped her move towards success. But upon closer examination, it turns out that fate was also often directed by the skillful hands of the Grand Duchess - as they also directed the English Queen Anne Stuart.

Personal charm and lively mind as tools on the path to success

The era in which Sarah Jennings was born could not be called favorable for a talented ambitious woman. Sarah was born to politician Richard Jennings and his wife Frances Thornhers in 1660. The girl grew up pretty, with reddish hair and blue eyes, she was described as intelligent, unpredictable and sharp-tongued. Thanks to her friendship with the king's brother, the Duke of York, Sarah's father arranged for her the position of maid of honor at the Duchess's court.

Despite her closeness to the Stuart dynasty, Miss Jennings was not one of the eligible brides, since she was not the heiress of her father's fortune. Therefore, the love that broke out between her and the young John Churchill, it seemed, was doomed to remain unhappy.

The death of Sarah's brother Ralph in 1677 made the girl the heir to her father's fortune, but the Churchillies and Jennings were still against this union. Therefore, Sarah decided that her marriage would be concluded in secret. This ability to take fate into your own hands and use circumstances to move towards the goal will become the main feature of the future duchess. In addition to the Duchess of York, her stepdaughter, daughter of the Duke Anne, who had been friends with Sarah since childhood, was also devoted to the details of the secret wedding.

In the kingdom, meanwhile, continued unrest associated with the claims to the throne of the Catholics and the opposition of Protestants to them. The Duke of York, whose daughters Mary and Anne were raised in the Protestant faith, became a Catholic after the death of his first wife and was forced to retire into exile in Scotland. The Churchill couple followed him. The bet was made correctly - after a while the duke became King James II and fully rewarded John and Sarah for their support in difficult times.

Sarah managed to win Anna's sympathy and trust. She kept the future ruler of the country from rash acts, persuaded to make the right decisions - including with regard to applicants for her hand, receiving in return the patronage of the royal family and expensive gifts. In 1683, Anna married the future King of England George, at the same time Sarah and her husband received the title of Baron and Baroness Churchill.

To avoid formalism in their correspondence, both girls used their invented pseudonyms - Anna was called Morley, and Sarah was Freeman. They called their husbands "Mr. Morley" and "Mr. Freeman," respectively, and Anna's relatives were given their nicknames.

Women at the helm

The Catholic king was soon overthrown and fled to France. The English throne - not without the help of Sarah and John Churchill - was taken by the husband of Anna's elder sister, William of Orange. The influence of Sarah Churchill, by then already the Countess of Marlborough, continued to grow. John successfully fought for England in military conflicts with neighbors, over the course of his long career, seriously strengthening the position of the British army.

As an illustration of Sarah Churchill's entrepreneurial spirit, we can mention the fact that, along with the granted title, she convinced the king to assign her a large maintenance from the state budget - the maintenance that went to the construction of the Marlborough residences. The husband was knighted of the Order of the Garter, and Sarah became the first lady at court and concentrated in her hands all the threads of influence on Anna, who became queen in 1702.

"Keeper of the queen's purse" - this was the name of one of the positions of the court lady of the Duchess of Marlborough. Friendship with her opened the way to big politics - after all, the queen did not take a single important decision without the participation of her old favorite. The Duke of Marlborough, who actually headed the Cabinet of Ministers during the reign of Anna, was considered the most powerful man in the country.

Sarah has been careful about choosing a party for her children, arranging successful and politically forward-looking marriages. Her friend Queen Anne did not have such an opportunity. Of the seventeen pregnancies, only five ended in the birth of living children, four of whom did not live to be two years old. The seventh attempt to produce an heir resulted in the birth of Prince William, a sickly and weak boy who died at the age of 11. It was his death that became the reason for the adoption of the Succession Act by Parliament, the provisions of which are still applied in Great Britain. According to this document, Catholics were denied access to the royal throne.

The Duchess, the queen's closest friend, invariably providing that support, nevertheless, more and more engaged in her own affairs, which included both the construction of her residence - Blenheim Palace, and opposition activities - Sarah supported the Whig party and sought to strengthen their political influence. Apparently, this was one of the main reasons for the cooling that arose between the queen and her favorite. Anna befriended the Tories, who disapproved of Marlborough's military ambitions.

In addition, after the death of Prince George, Anna's husband, in 1708, Sarah did not show what Anna believed to be worthy of respect for his memory, and from that time on, the relationship between the two women was practically terminated.

Sarah was replaced by a new favorite - her distant relative Abigail Hill, married to Masham. Taking advantage of the patronage that Sarah once gave her, Abigail became a maid of honor at the Queen's court, and then her favorite. Miss Hill's ambitions were much more modest than the Duchess of Marlborough, but nevertheless she took over from the Queen all the court positions previously held by Sarah.

About the period of Anna's reign they spoke differently, it is only necessary to note that the so-called "female" government, or "petticoat government", turned out to be beneficial for the cultural development of England - at this time, among others, D. Dafoe received success and recognition. J. Swift, A. Pope. Economically and politically, Anna's reign also benefited the country - England and Scotland were united into the Kingdom of Great Britain, which contributed to the development of free trade in the state.

Historical parallels

The history of England would not have been so distinctive if it had not traced the similarities and coincidences that are possible only in a country with deeply conservative foundations. The granddaughter of the Duchess of Marlborough, Diana Spencer, who lost her mother early and became Sarah's pupil and her favorite, almost became the Princess of Wales. Grandmother arranged for Diana to marry Prince Frederick, promising a dowry of one hundred thousand pounds. But the Duchess's plans were thwarted by Prime Minister Walpole, a political opponent of Marlborough, and Diana was married off to another.

A direct descendant of Diana's brother, John, was another Diana Spencer, who was born in 1961 and became the wife of the Prince of Wales, Charles. Both Dianes lost their mothers early, grew up on the Elthorp estate, both died at a young age. Another famous relative of the Duchess of Marlborough was the English politician Winston Churchill, who was born in 1874 in the very castle of Blenheim, which was so dear to Sarah.

It was there, in the Blenheim Chapel, that the Duchess of Marlborough was buried next to her husband. Sarah survived the queen by three decades, passing away at the age of 84 and leaving behind a huge fortune.

History is sometimes created not by laws and objective processes, but by the actions, emotions and attachments of individuals, sometimes by the very logic of time not intended for great achievements, but still taking a place in the world chronicle, like Pope John.