30YearsWar #30: 'Will They, Won't They?'

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.

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Stop me if you think you've heard it. Guy travels incognito to a girl in far off land. Confirms girl will marry him. Girl's father agrees to marriage. Girl's father is actually the King of Spain. Incognito guy is actually King Charles I of Britain, before he lost his head. The whole unbelievable scheme was the kind of brainchild of the Prince of Wales, who wanted to force Spain's hand and hurry up the marriage negotiations for Princess Maria. The Spanish Match was King James I and VI's ultimate plan, not only because it would tie England to Catholicism's most serene dynasty, but also because his family could ensure peace.

But peace was far from the life of the OTHER side of King James' plan. The marriage of Elizabeth Stuart into the Electoral Palatine Protestant family hadn't gone so well. Caught up in Frederick's whirlwind scheme for the Crown of Bohemia, her and her husband Frederick were now outlaws in the Holy Roman Empire. The pair lived in Dutch exile, but Frederick, the former King of Bohemia, and the dispossessed Elector of the Palatinate, continued to scheme. As he did so, he worked to keep King James and his Spanish Match apart. Foiling that scheme, Frederick believed, was the least a man could do hen Spain had destroyed and occupied his Rhineland home.

The marriage between Princess Maria and Prince Charles hung in the balance, and Britain was perched on the edge of war with Spain. Sounds like Episode 30 of the Thirty Years War! Sounds like the perfect time to stop by and escape into this incredible world!

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