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Monthly Archives: October 2019

Vlad III the Impaler/Count Dracula

31 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, In the News today..., Principality of Europe

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Bela Lugosi, Bram Stoker, Count Dracula, Dracul, Dracula, Halloween, Ottoman Empire, Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, Voivode of Wallachia

Vlad III Dracula, known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania. He was born
circa 1428/31 and died circa 1476/77.

Vlad was the second legitimate son of Vlad II Dracul, who was an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia. Vlad II had won the moniker “Dracul” for his membership in the Order of the Dragon, a militant fraternity founded by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. The Order of the Dragon was dedicated to halting the Ottoman Empire’s advance into Europe.

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Vlad III, Voivode of Wallachia

Vlad and his younger brother, Radu, were held as hostages in the Ottoman Empire in 1442 to secure their father’s loyalty. Vlad’s father and eldest brother, Mircea, were murdered after John Hunyadi, regent-governor of Hungary, invaded Wallachia in 1447. Hunyadi installed Vlad’s second cousin, Vladislav II, as the new voivode. Hunyadi launched a military campaign against the Ottomans in the autumn of 1448, and Vladislav accompanied him. Vlad broke into Wallachia with Ottoman support in October, but Vladislav returned and Vlad sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire before the end of the year. Vlad went to Moldavia in 1449 or 1450, and later to Hungary.

The Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II, ordered Vlad to pay homage to him personally, but Vlad had the Sultan’s two envoys captured and impaled. In February 1462, he attacked Ottoman territory, massacring tens of thousands of Turks and Bulgarians. Mehmed launched a campaign against Wallachia to replace Vlad with Vlad’s younger brother, Radu. Vlad attempted to capture the sultan at Târgoviște during the night of 16–17 June 1462. The sultan and the main Ottoman army left Wallachia, but more and more Wallachians deserted to Radu. Vlad went to Transylvania to seek assistance from Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, in late 1462, but Corvinus had him imprisoned.

Vlad was held in captivity in Visegrád from 1463 to 1475. During this period, anecdotes about his cruelty started to spread in Germany and Italy. He was released at the request of Stephen III of Moldavia in the summer of 1475. He fought in Corvinus’s army against the Ottomans in Bosnia in early 1476. Hungarian and Moldavian troops helped him to force Basarab Laiotă (who had dethroned Vlad’s brother, Radu) to flee from Wallachia in November. Basarab returned with Ottoman support before the end of the year. Vlad was killed in battle before 10 January 1477. Books describing Vlad’s cruel acts were among the first bestsellers in the German-speaking territories. In Russia, popular stories suggested that Vlad was able to strengthen central government only through applying brutal punishments, and a similar view was adopted by most Romanian historians in the 19th century.

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Count Dracula portrayed by Bela Lugosi

Vlad’s reputation for cruelty and his patronymic inspired the name of the vampire Count Dracula, for whom, however, he did not serve as the general inspiration, in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.

According to “Dracula: Sense and Nonsense” by Elizabeth Miller, in 1890 Stoker read a book about Wallachia. Although it did not mention Vlad III, Stoker was struck by the word “Dracula.” He wrote in his notes, “in Wallachian language means DEVIL.” It is therefore likely that Stoker chose to name his character Dracula for the word’s devilish associations. 

The theory that Vlad III and Dracula were the same person was developed and popularized by historians Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally in their 1972 book “In Search of Dracula.” Though far from accepted by all historians, the thesis took hold of the public imagination, according to The New York Times. 

In Stoker’s novel, Jonathan Harker is having a conversation with Dracula in Chapter 3, where he refers to his own background, and these speeches show elements which Stoker directly copied from An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: With Various Political Observations Relating to Them by William Wilkinson. Stoker mentions the Voivode of the Dracula race who fought against the Turks after the defeat in the Battle of Kosovo, and was later betrayed by his brother, historical facts which unequivocally point to Vlad III, described as “Voïvode Dracula”.

This indeed encourages the reader to identify the Count with the Voivode Dracula first mentioned by him in Chapter 3, the one betrayed by his brother: Vlad III Dracula, betrayed by his brother Radu the Handsome, who had chosen the side of the Turks. But as noted by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, in Chapter 25, Van Helsing and Mina drop this rudimentary connection to Vlad III and instead describe the Count’s personal past as that of “that other of his race” who lived “in a later age”. By smoothly exchanging Vlad III for a nameless double, Stoker avoided that his main character could be unambiguously linked to a historical person traceable in any history book.

A Brief history of the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein: Part III

31 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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Beck, Christian IX, Holy Roman Empire, House of House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, House of of Glücksburg, John the Younger of Denmark, King Christian III of Denmark, King Constantine II of Greece, King Harald V of Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Greece, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark., Queen Sofia of Spain

The House of Glücksburg

The House of Glücksburg (also spelled Glücksborg), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a Dano-German branch of the House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times in Denmark, Norway, Greece and several northern German states.

The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark. In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian VII of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.

Older Line

History

In 1564, Christian I’s great-grandson, King Frederik II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein’s fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke Johann II the Younger (1545-1622), along with Sonderburg, in appanage. Both King Frederik II and Johann II the Younger were sons of King Christian III of Denmark and his wife, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg.

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Johann II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg

This line was founded by the duke Philip of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1584–1663) a son of Johann II the Younger of Denmark. Johann’s heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg dukes at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark’s kings.

The line was named after Glücksburg Castle, where he had his headquarters. Members of this line bore the title of Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. However, they had limited powers in ruling their territory, since it was not an estate of the Realm, but a fief of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. Later, the family gave up these rights altogether and continued as titular dukes.

The last duke of this line, Frederik Henrik Wilhelm, died in 1779 without any hires and this older line of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg became extinct.

Younger Line

By 1825, the castle of Glücksburg had returned to the Danish crown and was given that year by King Frederick VI, along with a new ducal title, to his kinsman Frederich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. Friedrich suffixed the territorial designation to the ducal title he already held, in lieu of “Beck” (an estate the family had, in fact, sold in 1745). Thus emerged the extant Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

The Danish line of Oldenburg kings died out in 1863, and the elder line of the Schleswig-Holstein family became extinct with the death of the last Augustenburg duke in 1931. Thereafter, the House of Glücksburg became the senior surviving line of the House of Oldenburg. Another cadet line of Oldenburgs, the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, consisted of two branches which held onto sovereignty into the 20th century. But members of the Romanov line were executed in or exiled from their Russian Empire in 1917, while the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was abolished in 1918, although its dynastic line survives.

Neither the Dukes of Beck nor of Glücksburg had been sovereign rulers; they held their lands in fief from the ruling Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein, i.e. the Kings of Denmark and (until 1773) the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp.

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Christian IX, King of Denmark.

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark. He became King of Denmark as Christian IX on November 15, 1863.

Christian IX’s older brother inherited formal headship of the family as Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. It is his descendants who now represent the senior line of the Schleswig-Holstein branch of the House of Oldenburg.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofía of Spain and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (and his eldest son and heir to the British throne Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince George of Cambridge) are patrilineal members of cadet branches of the Glücksburg dynasty, via their descent from Christian IX of Denmark.

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Prince Julius of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (younger brother Christian IX of Denmark).

A Brief history of the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein: Part II

29 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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Christian I of Denmark, Christian III of Denmark, Duchy of Holstein, Duchy of Schleswig, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig

Duchy of Holstein

Origins

After the Migration Period of the Early Middle Ages, Holstein was adjacent to the Obotrites on the coast of the Baltic Sea and the land of the Danes in Jutland.

With the conquest of Old Saxony by Charlemagne circa 800, he granted the land north of the Eider River (Schleswig) to the Danes by the Treaty of Heiligen signed in 811. The ownership of what would late become eastern Holstein (districts of Plön and Ostholstein) was given to the Obotrites, namely the Wagrians, and the Saxon elite was deported to various areas of the empire.

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Coat of Arms of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

After 814, however, the Saxons were restored to Western Holstein. The Wagrians were pushed out of the Limes Saxoniae – the new border running from the Elbe River near Boizenburg northwards along the Bille River to the mouth of the Schwentine at the Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea. For the following 300 years, Holstein continued to be a part of Saxony.

The new county of Holstein was established in 1111; it was first a fief of the Duchy of Saxony, then of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, and finally of the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck. With the establishment of the new territorial unit, expansion to the East began and the Wagrians were finally defeated in 1138.

The County of Holstein was ruled by the House of Schaumburg; Adolf I (died November 13, 1130) was the first Count of Schauenburg from 1106 and the second Count of Holstein from 1111. He made an important contribution to the colonisation and Germanisation of the lands north of the Elbe. Holstein was temporarily occupied by Denmark after the Battle of Stellau (1201), but was reconquered by the Count of Schauenburg and his allies in the Battle of Bornhöved (1227).

Partitions of the County of Holstein (1111–1474)
The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein partitioned Holstein several times among the inheriting sons into up to six lines, named after their towns of residence:
* Holstein-Itzehoe, branch county between 1261 and 1290, partitioned from Holstein, repartitioned into Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Rendsburg
* Holstein-Kiel, branch county between 1261 and 1390, partitioned from Holstein, in 1273 Holstein-Segeberg (first) was partitioned from Holstein-Kiel, but reverted in 1308, but then lost to Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Rendsburg in 1316; Holstein-Kiel acquired Holstein-Plön in 1350, and merged itself into Holstein-Rendsburg
* Holstein-Pinneberg, branch county between 1290 and 1640, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg in 1316, merged into the Duchy of Holstein
* Holstein-Plön, branch county between 1290 and 1390, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg in 1316, merged into Holstein-Kiel
* Holstein-Rendsburg, branch county between 1290 and 1474, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg (first) in 1316, and Holstein-Kiel in 1390, in 1381/1384 Holstein-Segeberg (second) was partitioned from Holstein-Rendsburg, but reverted in 1403, elevated to ducal rank in 1474
* Holstein-Segeberg (first), branch county between 1273 and 1308, partitioned from and reverted to Holstein-Kiel, but seized by allied Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön, and Holstein-Rendsburg, partitioning Segeberg in three shares, each merged into one of the lines in 1316
* Holstein-Segeberg (second), branch county between 1381/1384 and 1403, partitioned from and reverted to Holstein-Rendsburg

In 1386 King Olaf II of Denmark and his mother-regent, Queen Margarethe I, elevated Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg and his cognatic successors with the Duchy of Schleswig. He thus became as Gerhard II, Duke of Schleswig. Until 1390 the Rendsburg branch united by inheritance all branches except of that of Holstein-Pinneberg.

When the Holstein-Rendsburg line of the Schauenburg counts became extinct with the death of Adolf VIII, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in 1459, (who was also Adolf I, Duke of Schleswig and in personal union with Holstein), King Christian I of Denmark, inherited the Duchy of Schleswig (a Danish fief) as next in line from Adolf I-VIII who was his maternal uncle. The next year, through the Treaty of Ribe (1460), Christian was elected Count of Holstein-Rendsburg, then still a Saxe-Lauenburgian within the Holy Roman Empire.

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Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.

In 1474 Lauenburg’s liege lord, the German Emperor Friedrich III, elevated Christian I as Count of Holstein-Rendsburg to Duke of Holstein, thus become an immediate imperial (reichsunmittelbar) vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy of Holstein retained that status until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.

Partitions of the Duchy of Holstein (1474–1866)

In 1490, the Duchy of Holstein was divided into Holstein-Segeberg and Holstein-Gottorp. Holstein-Segeberg remained with the Danish king and was also known as Royal Holstein; later it came to be known as Holstein-Glückstadt. Holstein-Gottorp, also known as Ducal Holstein, was given to a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, to which the kings of Denmark belonged.

Between 1533 and 1544 King Christian III of Denmark ruled the entire Duchies of Holstein and of Schleswig also in the name of his then still minor half-brothers John the Elder and Adolf. In 1544 they partitioned the Duchies of Holstein (a fief of the Holy Roman Empire) and of Schleswig (a Danish fief) in an unusual way, following negotiations between the brothers and the Estates of the Realm of the duchies, which had constituted in 1460 by the Treaty of Ribe and strictly opposed a factual partition. The elder three brothers determined their youngest brother Frederick for a career as Lutheran administrator of an ecclesiastical state within the Holy Roman Empire.

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Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.

So the revenues of the duchies were divided in three equal shares by assigning the revenues of particular areas and landed estates to each of the elder brothers, while other general revenues, such as taxes from towns and customs dues, were levied together but then shared among the brothers. The estates, whose revenues were assigned to the parties, made Holstein and Schleswig look like patchworks, technically inhibiting the emergence of separate new duchies, as intended by the estates of the duchies. The secular rule in the fiscally divided duchies thus became a condominium of the parties. As dukes of Holstein and Schleswig the rulers of both houses bore the formal title of “Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Ditmarsh and Stormarn”. The three shares are usually called:

* Gottorp ducal share in Holstein and Schleswig, partitioned from ducal Holstein in 1544, acquired half of Haderslev share in 1581 (thus thereafter simply called ducal share), merged into the royal share in 1773 with its ruler receiving in return the prior Danish-held County of Oldenburg.
* Haderslev ducal share in Holstein and Schleswig, partitioned from ducal Holstein in 1544, halved between Gottorp and royal share in 1581
* Royal share in Holstein and Schleswig, acquired half of Haderslev share in 1581, the County of Holstein-Pinneberg in 1640 and the Gottorp share in 1713 (northern part) and 1773 (southern part), thus then comprising all of Holstein. Between 1648 and 1773 the royal share used to be called Holstein-Glückstadt after its capital Glückstadt. Parts of the former County of Holstein-Pinneberg were transformed 1649/50 into the Imperial County of Rantzau, which fell back to the Danish Crown in 1726.
*
The dynastic name Holstein-Gottorp comes as convenient usage from the technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp. Adolf, the third son of King Frederik I of Denmark and his second wife, Sophie of Pomerania, and the second youngest half-brother of King Christian III, founded the dynastic branch called House of Holstein-Gottorp, which is a cadet branch of the then royal Danish House of Oldenburg. The Danish monarchs and the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp ruled both duchies together as to general government, however, collected their revenues in their separate estates. John the Elder conveniently called Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev produced no issue, so no branch emerged from his side.

Similar to the above-mentioned agreement Christian III’s youngest son John the Younger gained for him and his heirs a share in Holstein’s and Schleswig’s revenues in 1564, comprising a third of the royal share, thus a ninth of Holstein and Schleswig as to the fiscal point of view. John the Younger and his heirs, however, had no share in the condominial rule, so they were not ruling but mere titular dukes.

The share of John the Elder, who died in 1581, was halved between Adolf and Frederik II, thus increasing again the royal share by a fiscal sixth of Holstein and Schleswig. As an effect the complicated fiscal division of both separate duchies, Holstein and Schleswig, with shares of each party scattered in both duchies, provided them with a condominial government binding both together, partially superseding their legally different affiliation as Holy Roman and Danish fiefs.

The County of Holstein-Pinneberg, which had remained a separately ruled territory in Holstein until its line was extinct in 1640, was merged into the then royal share of the Duchy of Holstein. The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp became emperor of Russia in 1762 as Peter III and was planning an attack on Denmark to recover the Holstein-Gottorplands possessions in Schleswig, which were seized by the Danish king in 1713. Although Peter was soon overthrown by his wife, Catherine II the Great, the Danes determined to rid themselves of this problem. In 1773, they exchanged the County of Oldenburg for the Gottorp lands in Holstein, bringing all of Holstein under their control. Thus, Holstein was again united in one state.

The territory of Holstein was enlarged by the conquest of the independent Republic of Dithmarschen in 1559, which was divided among the three ducal houses. After 1581 the southern part remained to the Danish Crown, the northern part was ruled by the House of Gottorp until 1773.

United Holstein

With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 Holstein’s imperial vassal status turned void. It thus became a sovereign state. Because of its personal unionwith Denmark, the Duchy of Holstein did not come under French occupation during the Napoleonic era (however, the neighboring duchy of Lauenburg was annexed by France in 1811 and became a part of Bouches-de-l’Elbe). From 1815 to 1864 it was a member of the German Confederation, though still in personal union with Denmark (the King of Denmark being also Duke of Holstein).

A Brief history of the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein: Part I

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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Adolph III, Charlemagne, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, Duchy of Holstein, Duchy of Schleswig, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Denmark, London Protocol 1852, Scandinavia, Valdemar II of Denmark

Duchy of Schleswig

Early history

Roman sources place the homeland of the tribe of Jutes north of the river Eider and that of the Angles south of it. The Angles in turn bordered the neighbouring Saxons. By the early Middle Ages, the region was inhabited by three groups:
* Danes (including assimilated Jutes), who lived north of the Danevirke and the Eckernförde Bay,
* North Frisians, who lived in most of North Frisia, including on the North Frisian Islands, and
* Saxons (including Germanized Wagrians and Wends), who lived in the area south of the Danes and the Frisians.

During the 14th century, the population on Schleswig began to speak Low German alongside Danish, but otherwise the ethno-linguistic borders remained remarkably stable until around 1800, with the exception of the population in the towns that became increasingly German from the 14th century onwards.

During the early Viking Age, Haithabu – Scandinavia’s biggest trading centre – was located in this region, which is also the location of the interlocking fortifications known as the Danewerk or Danevirke. Its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of the emergence of a unified Danish state. Towards the end of the Early Middle Ages, Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries in the wake of Viking expansion.

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The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River and the Danevirke was a source of continuous dispute. The Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne, by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century, there were several wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II of Germany and Canute the Great again fixed their mutual border at the Eider.

In 1115, King Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard – a son of his predecessor Eric I – Earl of Schleswig, a title used for only a short time before the recipient began to style himself Duke.

Valdemar II was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophia of Minsk, the daughter of Richeza of Poland, Queen Dowager of Sweden and Volodar Giebovich, Prince of Minsk. When his father died, young Valdemar was only twelve years old. He was named Duke of Southern Jutland (Latin: dux slesvicensis, literally Duchy of Schleswig).

Young Duke Valdemar of Schleswig (prior to becoming King of Denmark) faced a threat from Adolph III, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein. The Count tried to stir up other German Counts to take southern Jutland from Denmark, and to assist Bishop Valdemar’s plot to take the Danish throne. With the Bishop again in prison, Duke Valdemar went after Count Adolph, and with his own troop levies, he marched south and captured Adolph’s new fortress at Rendsburg. He defeated and captured Count Adolph III at the Battle of Stellau in 1201, and imprisoned him in a cell next to Bishop Valdemar. Two years later, due to an illness, Count Adolph III was able to buy his way out of prison by ceding all of Schleswig, north of the Elbe, to Duke Valdemar. In November 1202, Duke Valdemar’s elder brother, King Canute VI, died unexpectedly at the age of 40, leaving no heirs.

In the 1230s, Southern Jutland (the Duchy of Schleswig) was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen (1218 – June 29, 1252) was Duke of Schleswig from 1232 to 1252 and King of Denmark from 1250 until his death in 1252. He was the son of Valdemar II by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal, and brother to Eric IV and Christopher I, and Canute’s great-grandson.

Abel, having wrested the Danish throne for himself for a brief period, left the Duchy of Schleswig to his sons and their successors, who pressed claims to the throne of Denmark for much of the next century, so that the Danish kings were at odds with their cousins, the Duke of Schleswig.

Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a close connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a fief subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire, while Schleswig remained a Danish fief. These dual loyalties were to become a main root of the dispute between the German states and Denmark in the 19th century, when the ideas of romantic nationalism and the nation-state gained popular support.

Early modern times

The title of Duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the hereditary kings of Norway, who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously, and their sons (unlike Denmark, which was not hereditary). This was an anomaly– a king holding a ducal title of which he as king was the fount and liege lord. The title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the king’s sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20, the ducal reign had become a condominium, with the royal House of Oldenburg and its cadet branch House of Holstein-Gottorp jointly holding the stake. A third branch in the condominium, the short-lived House of Haderslev, was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder.

Following the Protestant Reformation, when Latin was replaced as the medium of church service by the vernacular languages, the diocese of Schleswig was divided and an autonomous archdeaconry of Haderslev created. On the west coast, the Danish diocese of Ribe ended about 5 km (3 miles) north of the present border. This created a new cultural dividing line in the duchy because German was used for church services and teaching in the diocese of Schleswig and Danish was used in the diocese of Ribe and the archdeaconry of Haderslev. This line corresponds remarkably closely with the present border.

In the 17th century a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically. However, the nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the sort common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany. The manors were large holdings with the work done by feudal peasant farmers. They specialized in high quality dairy products. Feudal lordship was combined with technical modernization, and the distinction between unfree labour and paid work was often vague. The feudal system was gradually abolished in the late 18th century, starting with the crown lands in 1765 and later the estates of the nobility. In 1805 all serfdom was abolished and land tenure reforms allowed former peasants to own their own farms.

19th century and the rise of nationalism

From around 1800 to 1840, the Danish-speaking population on the Angeln peninsula between Schleswig and Flensburg began to switch to Low German and in the same period many North Frisians also switched to Low German. This linguistic change created a new de facto dividing line between German and Danish speakers north of Tønder and south of Flensburg. From around 1830, large segments of the population began to identify with either German or Danish nationality and mobilized politically. In Denmark, the National Liberal Party used the Schleswig Question as part of their agitation and demanded that the Duchy be incorporated into the Danish kingdom under the slogan “Denmark to the Eider”.

This caused a conflict between Denmark and the German states over Schleswig and Holstein, which led to the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the 19th century. When the National Liberals came to power in Denmark in 1848, it provoked an uprising of ethnic Germans who supported Schleswig’s ties with Holstein. This led to the First War of Schleswig. Denmark was victorious and the Prussian troops were ordered to pull out of Schleswig and Holstein following the London Protocol of 1852.

October 28, 1449: Election of Count Christian VII of Oldenburg as King Christian I of Denmark.

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Christian I of Denmark, Christian VI of Oldenburg, Christoper III of Denmark, Count Dietrich of Oldenburg, Election, Eric of Pomerania, Kalmar Union, King Eric IV of Denmark, King of Norway, King of Sweden, Kingdom of Denmark, Union of Kalmar

Christian I (February 1426 – May 21, 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within Denmark) and count (after 1474, duke) of Holstein (within the Holy Roman Empire). He was the first king of the House of Oldenburg.

Christian I was born in February 1426 in Oldenburg in Northern Germany as the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg (or Theoderic of Oldenburg) by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein (died 1436). Christian had two younger brothers, Maurice (1428–1464) and Gerhard (1430–1500), and one sister Adelheid.

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Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Through his father, he belonged to the House of Oldenburg, a comital family established since the 12th century in an area west of the River Weser in north-western Germany. Based on the two strongholds of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, the family had gradually expanded its rule over the neighbouring Frisian tribes of the area. Christian’s father was called the Fortunate as he had reunited and expanded the family’s territory. Also through his father, Christian was a cognatic descendant of King Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter Sophia. Christian of Holstein thus descended from the three surviving sons of Valdemar II of Denmark and his second wife Berengaria of Portugal.

Christian’s mother, Helvig, was a daughter of Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein, and a sister of Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig. Through his mother, Christian was also a cognatic descendant of King Eric V of Denmark through his second daughter Richeza and also a cognatic descendant of King Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie.

At the death of their father in 1440, Christian and his brothers jointly succeeded Dietrich as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Christian, or Christian VII of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst as he then became, was raised by his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein (1401–1459) as the childless duke wished for his young nephew to become his heir, and also succeeded in having Christian elected as his successor in the Duchy of Schleswig.

In January 1448, King Christopher III of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. Before I discuss how Count Christian VII of Oldenburg became King of Denmark let me briefly explain how his predecessor became king and how Christian VII became his heir.

Christopher III was the son of Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1383–1443 and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric of Pomerania. Eric was numbered Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and Eric XIII as King of Sweden(1396–1434, 1436–39). Today, in all three countries he is more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania.

Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Rupert of Germany (1352–1410) a member of the House of Wittelsbach, who was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death. Christopher III was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany. In 1445, Christopher married Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430 – 25 November 1495) in Copenhagen.

Eric of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. As Eric’s nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish State Council as the successor to his uncle, first as regentfrom 1439, and then proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish landsting) on April 9, 1440. He was meant to be a puppet king, as evidenced by the saying: “Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it.” He was later elected king of Sweden in 1441, and Norway in June 1442.

The death of Christopher III resulted in the break-up of the union of the three kingdoms, as Denmark and Sweden went their separate ways and Norway’s affiliation was unclear. Sweden elected Carl VIII of Sweden (1408–1470) king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish king. Carl was elected king of Norway in the following year. The vacant Danish throne was first offered by the Council of the Realm to Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, being the most prominent feudal lord of Danish dominions. The duke declined and recommended his nephew, Count Christian VI of Oldenburg.

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Coat of arms as King of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Wends and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey to the Constitutio Valdemariana, a provision in the ascension promissory of King Valdemar III of Denmark, that promised that in the future, the same person could never be both ruler of the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark simultaneously.

The council also demanded that Christian should marry dowager queen Dorothea of Brandenburg (ca 1430–1495), widow of his predecessor King Christopher III. On September 1, 1448, after signing his ascension promissory, count Christian VI was elected to the Danish throne as king Christian I at the assembly in Viborg. His coronation was held on October 28, 1449, in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, at which occasion his marriage with dowager queen Dorothea was also celebrated.

Happy 18th Birthday HRH Princess Elisabeth of the Belgians, Duchess of Brabant.

25 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Happy Birthday, In the News today..., Kingdom of Europe

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Duchess of Brabant, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brabant, King Albert II of the Belgians, King of the Belgians, Philippe of Belgium, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians

Happy 18th Birthday HRH Princess Elisabeth of the Belgians, Duchess of Brabant.

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HRH Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena), is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, Elisabeth was delivered by Caesarean section at 21:58 CET on October 25, 2001 at the Erasmus Hospital, the teaching hospital of Université libre de Bruxelles in Anderlecht, Brussels.

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She was baptized on December 9, 2001 in the chapel of Ciergnon Castle in the Belgian Ardennes, by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. Her godparents are Archduke Amedeo of Austria-Este (paternal cousin), and Countess Hélène d’Udekem d’Acoz (maternal aunt).

An official stamp on the occasion of the eighteenth birthday of Princess Elisabeth has been released. The photos was taken by King Philippe in the garden of the Castle of Laeken.

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Princess Elisabeth studied at Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in the Marollen district of Brussels, which had been attended by her older cousins, the children of her paternal aunt, the Archduchess of Austria-Este. This is a significant change in the habits of the royal family, as it is the first time that a future Belgian monarch’s education has begun in Dutch. Elisabeth speaks Dutch, French, German and English.

On 21 July 2013, once her father had taken the oath of office as King of the Belgians(his father, King Albert II, having abdicated shortly before), Princess Elisabeth became heir apparent to the throne and as such bears the title of Duchess of Brabant.

Elisabeth is currently studying at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, with the goal of completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the May 2020 session.

Position

Ten years prior to Elisabeth’s birth, a new act of succession was put into effect which introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that Elisabeth comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Belgium’s first queen regnant.

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Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brabant, age 12, in 2014.

Styles and Titles

* 25 October 2001 – 21 July 2013: Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth of Belgium
* 21 July 2013 – present: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brabant

Though the eldest son of an heir apparent was traditionally titled Count of Hainaut, Elisabeth was not granted the title by royal decree following her birth. Instead the title was abolished, as French “Hainaut” was not considered linguistically neutral for the title to be conferred on her.

History of Styles and Titles, Part II: Tudor & Stuart Period.

24 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Succession

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House of Stuart, House of Tudor, James I of England, James VI of Scotland, King Henry VIII of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, kings and queens of Scotland, Philip II of Spain, Pope Leo X, Pope Paul III, Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, styles, titles

After 1422 the royal title remained unchanged for almost a century. For these many years the title was, Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland). Numerous amendments, however, were effected during Henry VIII’s reign.

Here are the different ways Henry VIII was styled throughout his reign.

1535–1536
By the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and of the Church of England in Earth Supreme Head.
1536–1542
By the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and of the Church of England and of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head.
1542–1555
By the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and of the Church of England and of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head.

After Henry wrote a book against the Protestant Martin Luther, Pope Leo X rewarded him by granting the title “Defender of the Faith”.

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Henry VIII, King of England, France and Ireland

After disagreements with the Papacy over his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, establishing the Church of England in 1533. Pope Paul III rescinded the grant of the title “Defender of the Faith”, but Henry continued to use it. In 1535 Henry added “of the Church of England in Earth, under Jesus Christ, Supreme Head” to his style in 1535; a reference to the Church of Ireland was added in 1536.

Meanwhile, advised that many Irish people regarded the pope as the true temporal authority in their nation, with the king of England acting as a mere representative, Henry VIII changed “Lord of Ireland” to “King of Ireland” in 1542. All changes made by Henry VIII were confirmed by an English Act of Parliament passed in 1544.

Mary I of England, Henry VIII’s Catholic daughter, omitted “of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head” in 1553, replacing it with “etc.”, but the phrase remained part of the official style until an Act of Parliament to the contrary was passed in 1555. In the meantime Mary had married the Spanish prince Felipe, son of King Carlos I of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor Karl V).

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Mary I & Felipe II, King and Queen of England and France, Naples, Jerusalem and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, King and Queen of Spain and Sicily

The monarchs adopted a joint style, “King and Queen of England and France, Naples, Jerusalem and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, Count and Countess of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol”, acknowledging both Mary’s and Felipe’s titles. Further changes were made after Felipe became King of Spain and Sicily (Felipe II) upon his father’s abdication.

England’s Parliament enacted Queen Mary’s Marriage Act to regulate the marriage. According to the Act, Felipe II was granted the title King of England and Ireland and it was stipulated that as long as their marriage lasted Felipe was considered co-sovereign along with his wife but with Mary retaining the majority of authority.

When the Protestant Elizabeth I ascended the Throne, she used the simpler “Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc.”. The “etc.” was added in anticipation of a restoration of the supremacy phrase, which never actually occurred.

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James VI-I, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland (King of Great Britain).

After James VI, who was already King of Scotland, ascended the English Throne, the official style changed to “King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc.”; his mother Mary I, Queen of Scots, had already laid claim to these titles (in a different order, jointly with François II of France, then with the King’s father, Lord Darnley), but she was beheaded by her Protestant opponent, Elizabeth I.

In 1604 James VI made a proclamation permitting the use of “King of Great Britain” instead of “King of England and Scotland”. This new style, though commonly used to refer to the King, was never statutory; (it was never approved by Parliament) therefore, it did not appear on legal instruments. It did, however, appear on the inscriptions on coins. England and Scotland remained separate political bodies until 1707.

These dates in History: October 22nd…

22 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk, This Day in Royal History

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Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Charles Martel, Emperors of Russia, England, German Empress & Queen of Prussia., Ireland, October 22nd, Peter the Great, Prince of Orange, Willem IV

Today, October 22, is my birthday and these are the Royal events that occurred on this date.

1383 – King Fernando of Portugal dies without a male heir to the Portuguese throne, sparking a period of civil war and disorder.

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Peter I the Great, Emperor of Russia

* 1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.

* 1727 – George II and Caroline of Ansbach were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.

* 1923 – The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d’état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic.

* 1978 – Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II.

Births
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Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, The German Empress, Queen of Prussia

* 1071 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1126)
* 1197 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (d. 1242).
* 1689 – John V, Portuguese king (d. 1750)
* 1701 – Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1756)
* 1781 – Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (d. 1789).
* 1858 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1921)
* 1859 – Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (d. 1949)

Deaths

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Willem IV, Prince of Orange

* 741 – Charles Martel, Duke and Prince of the Franks, Mayor of the Palace, (b. 688)
* 842 – Abo, Japanese prince (b. 792)
* 1383 – Ferdinand I of Portugal (b. 1345)
* 1751 – Willem IV, Prince of Orange (b. 1711)
* 1761 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1702)
* 2002 – Geraldine, Queen of Albania (b. 1915)

John_V_of_Portugal_Pompeo_Batoni.jpg

John V, Portuguese king

This date in History: October 21, 1209, Coronation of Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

21 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Empire of Europe, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, Henry the Lion, Holy Roman Empire, King Richard I of England, Matilda of England, Otto IV Holy Roman Emperor, Philip II of France, Philip of Swabia, Pope Innocent III., Third Crusade


Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was one of two rival kings of Germany from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until he was forced to abdicate in 1215. The only German king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1210.

Otto was the third son of Heinrich XII the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Duke of Saxony, (as Heinrich III) by his wife and Matilda of England, the eldest daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. His exact birthplace is not given by any original source. He grew up in England. in the care of his grandfather King Henry II. Otto was fluent in French as well as German. He became the foster son of his maternal uncle, King Richard I of England. In 1190, after he left England to join the Third Crusade, Richard appointed Otto as Earl of York.

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Coat of Arms of Otto IV as Duke of Bavaria

The authenticity (or authority) of this grant was doubted by the vassals of Yorkshire, who prevented Otto taking possession of his earldom. Still, he probably visited Yorkshire in 1191, and he continued to claim the revenues of the earldom after becoming king of Germany, although he never secured them. Neither did he succeed in getting the 25,000 silver marks willed to him by his uncle in 1199.

In 1195, King Richard I of England began negotiations to marry Otto to Margaret of Scotland, daughter and heir presumptive of King William the Lion of Scotland Lothian, as Margaret’s dowry, would be handed over to Richard for safekeeping and the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland (Carlisle) would be granted to Otto and turned over to the king of Scotland. The negotiations dragged on until August 1198, when the birth of a son and heir to William rendered them unnecessary. Having failed in his efforts to secure Otto an English earldom or else a Scottish kingdom, in September 1196 Richard, as duke of Aquitaine, enfeoffed Otto with the county of Poitou. There is some disagreement over whether Otto received Poitou in exchange for or in addition to the earldom of York.

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Coat of Arms of Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Otto was in Poitou from September 1196 until mid-1197, when he joined Richard in Normandy to confer over the appointment of bishops to the vacant sees of Poitiers, Limoges and Périgueux. He then participated in the war against Philippe II of France on the side of Richard. In October he returned to Poitou. The German historian Jens Ahlers, taking into account Otto’s life prior to 1198, considers that he might have been the first foreign king of Germany.

After the death of Emperor Heinrich VI, the majority of the princes of the Empire, situated in the south, elected Heinrich VI’s brother, Philip, Duke of Swabia, as German King in March 1198, after receiving money and promises from Philip in exchange for their support. Those princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf. Otto’s elder brother, Heinrich, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized throughout the northwest and the lower Rhine region, was elected German by his partisans in Cologne on June 9, 1198.

Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne, on July 12, 1198. This was of great symbolic importance, since the Archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the King of the Romans. The coronation was done with fake regalia, because the actual materials were in the hands of the Staufen.

After Philip’s death, Otto made amends with the Staufen party and became engaged to Philip’s daughter Beatrix. In an election in Frankfurt on November 11, 1208, he gained the support of all the electoral princes, as he promised he would not make hereditary claims to the imperial crown on behalf of any children he might father.

Now fully reconciled with Pope Innocent III, Otto made preparations to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. To secure Innocent’s support, he promised to restore to the Papal States all territory that it had possessed under Louis the Pious, including the March of Ancona, the Duchy of Spoleto, the former Exarchate of Ravenna, and the Pentapolis.

Travelling down via Verona, Modena, and Bologna, he eventually arrived at Milanwhere he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy and the title of King of Italy in 1208. He was met at Viterbo by Pope Innocent and was taken to St. Peter’s Basilica, where he was crowned emperor by Pope Innocent on October 21, 1209, before rioting broke out in Rome, forcing Otto to abandon the city.

Second Marriage of Isabella of Angoulême.

21 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Principality of Europe

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England, Henry III of England, Hugh X of Lusignan, Isabella of Angouleme, John Lackland, Kings and Queens of England, Léa Seydoux, Queen Mother, Raymond VII of Toulouse

On the 19th of October I posted about the life of King John of England. In that entry I included information on his marriage to Isabella of Angoulême (c. 1186/1188 – June 4, 1246). What I found interesting was her second marriage and her life after King John.

Second Marriage

Isabella was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople and granddaughter of King Louis VI of France.

When King John died on October 19, 1216, Isabella was 28/30 years of age and her first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son as King Henry III at the city of Gloucester on October 28. As the royal crown had recently been lost in The Wash, along with the rest of King John’s treasure, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown. The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of
Angoulême.

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Isabella of Angoulême

In the spring of 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, “le Brun”, Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancé, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. It had been previously arranged that her eldest daughter Joan should marry Hugh, and the little girl was being brought up at the Lusignan court in preparation for her marriage. Hugh, however, upon seeing Isabella, whose beauty had not diminished, preferred the girl’s mother. Joan was provided with another husband, King Alexander II of Scotland, whom she wed in 1221.

Isabella had married Hugh without the consent of the king’s council in England, as was required of a queen dowager. That council had the power not only to assign to her any subsequent husband, but to decide whether she should be allowed to remarry at all. That Isabella flouted its authority moved the council to confiscate her dower lands and to stop the payment of her pension.

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Isabella of Angoulême

Isabella and her husband retaliated by threatening to keep Joan, who had been promised in marriage to the King of Scotland, in France. The council first responded by sending furious letters to the Pope, signed in the name of young King Henry, urging him to excommunicate Isabella and her husband, but then decided to come to terms with Isabella, to avoid conflict with the Scottish king, who was eager to receive his bride. Isabella was granted the stannaries in Devon, and the revenue of Aylesbury for a period of four years, in compensation for her confiscated dower lands in Normandy, as well as the £3,000 arrears for her pension.

Isabella had nine more children by Hugh X. Their eldest son Hugh XI of Lusignansucceeded his father as Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême in 1249.

Isabella’s children from her royal marriage did not join her in Angoulême, remaining in England with their eldest brother Henry III.

Rebellion and death

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Isabella of Angoulême portrayed by actress Léa Seydoux in the 2010 film Robin Hood.

Described by some contemporaries as “vain, capricious, and troublesome,” Isabella could not reconcile herself with her less prominent position in France. Though Queen mother of England, Isabella was now mostly regarded as a mere Countess of La Marche and had to give precedence to other women. In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France’s brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her.

This so infuriated Isabella, who had a deep-seated hatred of Blanche for having fervently supported the French invasion of England during the First Barons’ War in May 1216, that she began to actively conspire against King Louis. Isabella and her husband, along with other disgruntled nobles, including her son-in-law Raymond VII of Toulouse, sought to create an English-backed confederacy which united the provinces of the south and west against the French King. She encouraged her son Henry in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.

In 1244, after the confederacy had failed and Hugh had made peace with King Louis, two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella’s pay. Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she fled to Fontevraud Abbey, where she died on 4 June 1246.

By Isabella’s own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the Abbey’s churchyard, as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the Abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

Issue

* With King John of England: 5 children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:
*
1. King Henry III of England (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272). Married Eleanor of Provence, by whom he had issue, including his heir, King Edward I of England.
2. Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (January 5, 1209 – April 2 1272). Married firstly Isabel Marshal, secondly Sanchia of Provence, and thirdly Beatrice of Falkenburg. Had issue.
3. Joan (July 22, 1210 – 1238), the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. Her marriage was childless.
4. Isabella (1214–1241), the wife of Emperor Frederick II, by whom she had issue.
5. Eleanor (1215–1275), who would marry firstly William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; and secondly Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, by whom she had issue.

* With Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche: nine children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:
*
1. Hugh XI of Lusignan (1221–1250), Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême. Married Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet, by whom he had issue.
2. Aymer of Lusignan (1222–1260), Bishop of Winchester
3. Agnès de Lusignan (1223–1269). Married William II de Chauvigny (d. 1270), and had issue.
4. Alice of Lusignan (1224 – 9 February 1256). Married John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue.
5. Guy of Lusignan (c. 1225 – 1264), killed at the Battle of Lewes. (Tufton Beamish maintains that he escaped to France after the Battle of Lewes and died there in 1269).
6. Geoffrey of Lusignan (c. 1226 – 1274). Married in 1259 Jeanne, Viscountess of Châtellerault, by whom he had issue.
7. Isabella of Lusignan (c.1226/1227 – 14 January 1299). Married firstly before 1244 Maurice IV, seigneur de Craon (1224–1250), by whom she had issue; she married secondly, Geoffrey de Rancon.
8. William of Lusignan (c. 1228 – 1296). 1st Earl of Pembroke. Married Joan de Munchensi, by whom he had issue.
9. Marguerite de Lusignan (c. 1229 – 1288). Married firstly in 1243 Raymond VII of Toulouse; secondly c. 1246 Aimery IX de Thouars, Viscount of Thouars and had issue

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