"Andre Norton & Rosemary Edghill - Carolus Rex 1 - The Shadow of Albion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!
н Macbeth




AUTHOR'S FOREWORD:
 A Regency That Never Was

The ,,If Theory" of history is that oftentimes in world history distinct and radical
changes rest upon a single event or person. From that particular point two worlds
then come into existence, one in which the matter goes one way and one wherein it
goes the other.
The point of divergence here is the affair of the Duke of Monmouth in the days of
Charles II. The majority of the English people at that time were bitterly opposed to
the return of a Catholic ruler. Unfortunately, Charles II had not been able to produce
a living heir by his Portuguese wife, though he had a number of illegitimate children
by various mistresses, upon whom he settled dukedoms and other major honors.
Charles's brother and heir presumptive, James, was a Catholic and was
narrow-mindedly determined to return England to the Catholic fold. James was a
severe, arrogant man, unlike Charles, who had all the Stuart charm in rare abundance.
There has always been a rumor that the Duke of Monmouth, the eldest known of
Charles's by-blows, was actually legitimate н that Charles, while in exile, did marry
Mistress Waters, the Duke's mother.
Monmouth had much of his father's charm and was strongly Protestant in his
religious views. In the real world, following Charles's death Monmouth led an
uprising against his uncle, King James II, failed, and was beheaded.
In this ,,If-World," Charles II, during his protracted dying, realizes that James's
inheritance of the throne would mean trouble for all, and finally admits to a selected
body of his strongest council that the rumor was true, that he had in fact made a
marriage (there was no Royal Marriage Act in those days!) with Mistress Waters and
thus the Duke of Monmouth was the legitimate heir of his body. Thus, upon Charles
H's death, the Duke of Monmouth is crowned Charles III.
The new king has difficulties with a diehard group of strong Catholic lords, and
with James, his uncle, who believes the throne of England should be his. This will
have a bearing on the events of later years н even centuries н but immediate events
are similar to those in the real world. The strongly Whig-Protestant English fight
against France. The Duke of Marlborough comes to center stage as a military leader
н he is also a bosom friend of the Duke of Clarence, the late king's illegitimate
second son and Charles His half-brother. (The Stuarts continue their merry custom
of producing bastards and granting them tides so the highest grades of the English
peerage are frequently expanded.)
After the reign of three more Stuart kings (Charles IV, James II, and Charles V)
we reach the 1800s, and a world like н and unlike н our own. The English
government is strongly Whig and the King depends on that party for backing.
Without the weak and unpopular Hanovers on the throne, political relations with the