London. The Court of England must choose a second wife for James Stuart, Duke of York, who had been widowed the previous March. His first wife, Catherine of Braganza, was sterile. The English court considered Maria Beatrice d’Este, of the Duchy of Modena. In the spring of 1673, Lord Peterborough, who had been charged with finding his future wife, had spoken in Paris with Jesuit Father Alexander Conn, who had introduced him to the Modenese abbot Gaspare Rizzini, from whom he had learned of Laura Martinozzi’s daughter: very young, beautiful, lively, highly cultured, a brilliant conversationalist, and a lover of art and music. Unfortunately, Maria Beatrice was not entirely on board: she wanted to become a nun instead. Initially, her response was negative, but after much pressure, including a crucial letter from the Pope, Maria Beatrice accepted.
