Hello and welcome to Life of the Week, where leading historians delve into the lives of some of history's most intriguing and significant figures.

From ancient Egyptian pharaohs and medieval warriors to daring 20th century spies.

Imagine being forced to give birth to a baby in front of as many as 80 witnesses,

amidst a climate of suspicion and fear in which many are calling for your husband's head.

This was the fate of Maria or Mary of Modena, the second wife of the man crowned, King James

II of England and Seventh of Scotland, a Catholic Italian princess shipped to England to marry James

when she was just 15. Maria's faith and foreigners later became lightning rods for xenophobia and misogyny

in Restoration Era England, eventually leading to the glorious revolution. In this episode,

you'll hear from historian and author Breeze Barrington, whose new book, The Graces, tells the story of Maria and the women who

surrounded her in the merry courts of Charles II. She was speaking to Eleanor Evans.

Her life is so often a little bit lost in terms of stories about succession and restoration

and revolution. And I'm so pleased that we're

going to be bringing her and her legacy to our listeners today. Before we do dive into her life,

I wondered if we could give a bit of context about the England that she finds herself in,

where we sort of meet her in your book. Who's on the throne? What's happening?

And why is her role so important in this story of succession? So when Maria arrived in England,

it was 1673. So at this point, it was Charles II on the throne. He'd been on the throne

since 1660, so about 13 years. And this is the kind of

the big moment of restoration after the English Civil War, after a sort of 10-year period of

the protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. And Charles II comes back as king. And when he came back,

there was a huge amount of celebrating and a lot of hope of

what this new reign might look like and a real sort of sense of positivity. By the time at 1673,

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