Editing Constantijn Huygens (section)

===English knighthood and marriage===
In 1622, when Constantijn stayed as a [[diplomat]] for more than one year in England, he was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by [[King James I of England|King James I]].<ref name=EB1911/> This marked the end of Constantijn's formative years, and of his youth. During his time in England, in December 1622, he was robbed of his papers and £200 in gold from his coach as he set out on the way to [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]].<ref>John Nichols, ''Progresses of James the First'', (London, 1828), p. 782.</ref>

Huygens was employed as a [[secretary]] to [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange]], who—after the death of Maurits of Orange—was appointed as ''[[stadtholder]].'' In 1626 Constantijn fell in love with [[Suzanna van Baerle]] after earlier [[courtship]] by the Huygens family to win her for his brother Maurits had failed. Constantijn wrote several [[sonnets]] for her, in which he calls her ''Sterre'' (Star). They wed on 6 April 1627.

Huygens describes their marriage in ''Dagh-werck'', a description of one day. He worked on this piece, which contains almost 2000 lines, during the entire time they were married. In one of the preserved manuscripts of this work it appears Suzanna transcribed (or wrote herself) a substantial portion of the work, suggesting a close collaboration between husband and wife.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Held|first=Julius S.|date=December 1991|title=Constantijn Huygens and Susanna van Baerle: A Hitherto Unknown Portrait|journal=The Art Bulletin|volume=73|issue=4|pages=653–668|doi=10.2307/3045835|jstor=3045835}}</ref>

The couple had five children: in 1628 their first son, [[Constantijn Huygens, Jr.|Constantijn Jr.]], in 1629 [[Christiaan Huygens|Christiaan]], in 1631 [[Lodewijck Huygens|Lodewijk]] and in 1633 Philips. In 1637 their daughter Suzanna was born; shortly after her birth their mother died.