Dominic Pearce

When researching my book on Henrietta Maria I found the Marquess of Montrose, who went to his execution dressed in silver and scarlet, as if he were about to be married. I thought this is someone to know better.

I found a poet, a leader, a dreamer, a victim.

My work on the seventeenth century has unearthed people who are not history headliners, but are interesting. I write about people neglected by mainstream historians. They often made huge contributions.

I like the links between Britain and the continent of Europe. In the modern day that recently changed. All the more reason to learn about the past. Henrietta Maria was a French princess who became Queen of England. The Scottish Montrose was also foreign to the English of the time.

My interest in history was catalysed by a walk in downtown Madrid, where I worked in the early 1990s. I stumbled upon the Palacio Liria, a white palace in a green park behind ancient walls which still now protect the inhabitants - it is privately owned - from the surrounding traffic.

It took me a few days to work out the family name, which I read in an inscription on a plinth by the gate. Apparently, as you would expect, a Spanish name, if rather an odd one: Fitzjames Estuarda. It was a jolt when I saw this was FitzJames Stuart. A purely English (or Scottish?) name. And in fact the Duke of Alba, who owns the Liria Palace, descends from the Stuart kings of Scotland and England.

That is another story but it started my trip towards writing about the people in history and the connections one finds.