June 8, 1376: Death of Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince & Prince of Wales

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Battle of Crecy, Battle of Poitiers, Edward III of England, Edward of Woodstock, Hundred Years War, Imperial State Crown., Jean II of France, Joan of Kent, Peter of Castile, Philippa of Hainault, Philippe III of France, Prince of Wales, Richard of Bordeaux, The Black Prince

From the Emperor’s Desk: I will address Prince Edward’s appellation “The Black Prince” in its own post later today.

Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (June 5, 1330 – June 8, 1376), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England.

Early life (1330–1343)

Edward of Woodstock, was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, Lord of Ireland and ruler of Gascony, and Philippa of Hainault, daughter of Count Willem II of Hainault and French princess Joan of Valois second eldest daughter of the French prince Charles, Count of Valois, and Margaret, Countess of Anjou and Maine. As the sister of King Philippe VI of France and the mother-in-law of King Edward III of England, Joan was ideally placed to act as mediator between them.

Edward of Woodstock was born at Woodstock in the County of Oxfordshire, on June 15, 1330. His father, Edward III, had been at loggerheads with the French over English lands in France and also the kingship of France; Edward III’s mother and the Prince’s grandmother, Queen Isabella of France was a daughter of the French king Philippe IV of France, thus placing her son Edward, in line for the throne of France.

England and France’s relations quickly deteriorated when the French king threatened to confiscate his lands in France, beginning the Hundred Years War.

His father, Edward III of England, became king at the young age of fourteen years in 1327, when his father (and the Black Prince’s grandfather) Edward II of England was deposed by his wife Isabella of France, daughter of Philippe IV of France, and by the English nobility due to his ineffectiveness and weakness to assert his control over the government and his failed wars against Scotland.

The marriage between his mother and father was arranged by his grandmother, Isabella of France, to get financial and military aid from the Count of Hainault for her own benefit to depose her husband, Edward II. The marriage of Edward III and Phillippa of Hainault produced thirteen children; Edward was the eldest child and eldest son.

Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father’s absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. He was created Prince of Wales in 1343 and knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346.

In 1346, Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy, his father intentionally leaving him to win the battle. He took part in Edward III’s 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355, he was appointed the king’s lieutenant in Gascony, and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée, during which he pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary, sacked Carcassonne, and plundered Narbonne.

The next year (1356) on another chevauchée, he ravaged Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry but failed to take Bourges. He offered terms of peace to King Jean II of France, who had outflanked him near Poitiers, but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers, where his army routed the French and took King Jean II prisoner.

The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. In 1360, he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny. He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles. He was directed by his father to forbid the marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He entered into an agreement with Kings Pedro of Castile and Charles II of Navarre, by which Pedro covenanted to mortgage Castro Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366 a passage was secured through Navarre.

This the time in which Prince Edward came into possession of what is known as the
Black Prince’s Ruby, which he forced Pedro of Castile to give to him after the Castilian campaign. It is actually a large red spinel, now set at the front of the British Imperial State Crown.

On October 10, 1361 the prince, now in his 31st year, married his cousin Joan, Countess of Kent, daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, younger son of Edward I, and Margurite daughter of Philippe III of France, and widow of Thomas Lord Holland, and in right of his wife Earl of Kent, then in her thirty-third year, and the mother of three children.

As the prince and the countess were related in the third degree, and also by the spiritual tie of sponsorship, the prince being godfather to Joan’s elder son Thomas, a dispensation was obtained for their marriage from Pope Innocent VI, though they appear to have been contracted before it was applied for. The marriage was performed at Windsor, in the presence of King Edward III, by Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury.

According to Jean Froissart the contract of marriage (the engagement) was entered into without the knowledge of the king. The prince and his wife resided at Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire and held the manor of Princes Risborough from 1343; though local history describes the estate as “his palace”, many sources suggest it was used more as a hunting lodge.

They had two sons, both born in Aquitaine:

Edward of Angoulême, born at Angoulême on July 27, 1364 and Richard of Bordeaux, born January 6, 1367.

In 1367 he received a letter of defiance from Enrique of Trastámara, Pedro’s half-brother and rival. The same year, after an obstinate conflict, he defeated Henry at the Battle of Nájera. However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles.

The death of Prince Edward’s eldest son, Edward of Angoulême, in 1371, caused Edward a great deal of grief. His health continued to deteriorate and the prince’s personal doctor advised him to return to England. Edward left Aquitaine with the Duke of Lancaster, and landed at Southampton early in January 1371. Edward met his father at Windsor. At this meeting, Prince Edward interceded to stop a treaty Edward III had made the previous month with Charles of Navarre because he did not agree to the ceding of lands King Charles demanded in it. After this, the Black Prince returned to his manor in Berkhamsted.

Prince Edward returned to England in 1371, and the next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony. He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376.

From the period of the Good Parliament, Edward knew that he was dying. His dysentery had become so violent on occasion, causing him to faint from weakness, that his household believed he had died. He left gifts for his servants in his will and said goodbye to his father, Edward III, whom he asked to confirm his gifts, pay his debts quickly out of his estate, and protect his son Richard.

His death was announced at the Palace of Westminster on 8 June 1376. In his last moments, he was attended by the Bishop of Bangor, who urged him to ask forgiveness of God and of all those he had injured. He “made a very noble end, remembering God his Creator in his heart”, and asked people to pray for him.

Edward was buried with great state in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 September. His funeral and the design of his tomb were conducted in accordance to the directions contained in his will. It has a bronze effigy beneath a tester depicting the Holy Trinity with his heraldic achievements – his surcoat, helmet, shield and gauntlets – hung over the tester; they have been replaced with replicas, and the originals now reside in a glass-fronted cabinet within the Cathedral.

Since the Black Prince died before his father his second surviving son, Richard of Bordeaux, succeeded to the throne upon the death of Edward III instead, becoming King Richard II of England and Lord of Ireland. Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years’ War, being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age. His reputation in France, on the other hand, was one of brutality.

June 7, 879 ~ Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia as an independent state.

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Byzantine Empire, Carolingian Empire, Dalmatia, Doge Tradonico of Venice, Duke Branimir, Emperor Lothair I, House of Domagojević, Mislav of Croatia, Pope John VIII

The Duchy of Croatia was located between two major powers of the Middle Ages: the Eastern Roman Empire in the East which controlled the Dalmatian cities and islands and aimed to extend their rule over the entire former Roman province of Dalmatia, and the Carolingian Empirein the West seeking to control the northern and northwestern lands. The Byzantine influence on Croatia was also reflected on the creation of Croatian law and in trade with the Byzantine coastal cities.

In the second quarter of the 9th century the Croats began developing a navy. Along with the Narentines, who were still pagan at the time and occupied the territory of the river Neretva mouth, they were active in the Adriatic Sea and made shipping and traveling in the area hazardous, especially for Venice. Therefore, in 839 the Venetians under Doge Pietro Tradonico attacked the eastern coast of the Adriatic, including Croatia, but during the assault they signed peace with their ruler, princeps Mislav who ruled from Klis near Split.

The peace treaty was signed at a place named St. Martin. The Doge also attacked Narentine islands, but failed to defeat them and made peace with their leader, who is mentioned as count Drosaico by the chronicler John the Deacon. However, the peace treaty was short-lasting and next year the Venetians were defeated by the Narentines under count Diuditum. Piracy continued in the Adriatic, as well as hostility towards Venice, which is seen from the contract between Emperor Lothair I and Doge Tradonico, in which the Doge committed himself to defend the cities in Italy and Istria from Slavic attacks.

Duke Mislav was succeeded around 845 by Trpimir I, who continued the formal legacy of being the vassal of the Frankish king Lothair I (840–855), although he managed to strengthen his personal rule in Croatia. Arab campaigns thoroughly weakened the Byzantine Empire and Venice, which was used in the advance of the Croatian duke in 846 and 848.

In 846 Trpimir successfully attacked the Byzantine coastal cities and their patricius. Between 854 and 860, he successfully defended his land from the Bulgarian invasion under Knyaz Boris I of Bulgaria, somewhere in Northeastern Bosnia, concluding a peace treaty with Boris and exchanging gifts. Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentions the traditional friendship between the Bulgarians and Croatians, who coexisted peacefully up to that time.

In a Latin charter preserved in a rewrite from 1568, dated to March 4, 852 or, according to a newer research, about 840, Trpimir refers to himself as “leader of the Croats with the help of God” (Latin: dux Croatorum iuvatus munere divino); his land, called “Kingdom of the Croats” (Latin: regnum Croatorum), can simply be interpreted as the “Realm of the Croats”, since Trpimir was not a king. The term regnum was also used by other dukes of that time as a sign of their independence. This charter also documents his ownership of the Klis Fortress, from where his rule was centered, and mentions Mislav’s donations to the Archbishopric of Split.

In the proximity of his court in Klis, in Rižinice, Trpimir built a church and the first Benedictine monastery in Croatia. Trpimir’s name is inscribed on a stone fragment from an altar screen of the Rižinice monastery church. He is more expressly remembered as the founder of the House of Trpimirović, a native Croat dynasty that ruled, with interruptions, from 845 until 1091 in Croatia.

In 864 Duke Domagoj, founder of the House of Domagojević, usurped the throne after the death of Trpimir and forced his sons, including Zdeslav, to flee to Constantinople. During the rule of Domagoj piracy was a common practice in the Adriatic. The pirates attacked Christian sailors, including a ship with papal legates returning from the Eighth Catholic Ecumenical Council, thus forcing the Pope to intervene by asking Domagoj to stop piracy, but his efforts were of no avail. Domagoj waged wars with the Arabs, Venetians and Franks.

In 871 he helped the Franks, as their vassal, to seize Bari from the Arabs, but later actions of the Franks under the rule of Carloman of Bavaria led to a revolt by Domagoj against the Frankish rule. The revolt succeeded and Frankish overlordship in Dalmatia ended, but was to continue a little longer over Lower Pannonia. Domagoj’s rule also saw increased Byzantine influence in the area, especially reflected in the establishment of Theme of Dalmatia. After the death of Domagoj in 876 Zdeslav, who had close ties to Byzantium, returned from exile, usurped the throne from an unnamed son of Domagoj and restored peace with Venice in 878.

Duke Zdeslav’s reign was short and ended in 879 when Branimir of the House of Domagojević killed him and usurped the throne. Branimir was unlike Zdeslav a proponent of Rome and returned the country to the Roman fold. He had regular contacts with Pope John VIII, to whom he sent a letter revealing his intentions to entrust his people and his country to the Apostolic See. The Pope replied to his requests, praising his initiative and on June 7, 879 the Duchy under Branimir, now free of Frankish suzerainty, received papal recognition as a state.

The second half of the 9th century marked a significant increase in papal influence in the Southeastern Europe. Pope John VIII complained to Domagoj about the obstinacy of Patriarch Ignatius who denied his jurisdiction over Bulgaria and appointed a new Archbishop. The Pope also requested from Dukes Zdeslav and Branimir assistance and protection for his legates who were crossing Croatia on their way to Bulgaria. Although the exact geographical extent of the Duchy is not known, these requests confirm geographical contiguity between Croatia and Bulgaria, which bordered probably somewhere in Bosnia.

June 2, 1489: Birth of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme

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Battle of Pavia, Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, François I of France, House of Bourbon, House of Capet, House of Valois, House of Valois-Alençon, Kingdom of France, Louis IX of France, Philippe III of France, Prince Du Sang, Robért of Claremont

Charles de Bourbon (June 2, 1489 – March 25, 1537) was a French Prince du Sang (Prince of the Blood) and military commander at the court of King François I of France.

Charles was born at the Château de Vendôme, eldest son of François de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme and Marie of Luxembourg, was the elder daughter and principal heiress of Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Soissons, and Margaret of Savoy, a daughter of Louis I, Duke of Savoy. She belonged to the French, cadet branch of a dynasty which had reigned as Dukes of Luxembourg, and whose senior line provided several Holy Roman Emperors, before becoming extinct in 1437.

Charles de Bourbon was a direct male-line descendant of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, son of Robért, Count of Clermont and Beatrix of Burgundy, heiress of Bourbon and a granddaughter of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. Robért, Count of Clermont was a son of King Louis IX of France.

Charles succeeded his father as Count of Vendôme in 1495. Charles’s first military service was in Italy, under King Louis XII of France. In 1514, he was created Duke of Vendôme when the county of Vendôme was elevated into a duchy.

He fought at the Battle of Marignano (1515) and participated in the Flemish campaign. Because of his loyalty to the King, he was appointed head of the council when King François I was captured at the Battle of Pavia.

Charles de Bourbon was the grandfather of King Henri IV of France and Navarre.

Marriage and issue

On May 18, 1513, Charles married Françoise d’Alençon, eldest daughter of René, Duke of Alençon and Margaret of Lorraine.

René Duke of Alençon, was a Prince du Sang and born in 1454 to the House of Valois-Alençon. He was the son of Jean II of Alençon and Marie of Armagnac.

The House of Valois succeeded the House of Capét (or “Direct Capetians”) to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans, Anjou, Burgundy, and Alençon.

The House of Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philippe III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian Salic law) which excluded females (Joan II of Navarre), as well as male descendants through the distaff side (Edward III of England), from the succession to the French throne.

After holding the throne for several centuries the Valois male line became extinct and the House of Bourbon succeeded the Valois to the throne as the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty.

René, Duke of Alençon was a direct male-line descendant of Charles II, Count of Alençon (1297 – 1346) and a grandson of King Philippe III of France.

The children Charles de Bourbon and Françoise d’Alençon had:

1. Louis de Bourbon (1514–1516), died in infancy.
2. Marie de Bourbon (1515–1538), unmarried, prospective bride of King James V of Scotland in 1536.
3. Marguerite de Bourbon (1516–1559), married in 1538, Francis I, Duke of Nevers (1516–1561)
4. Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1518–1562), King of Navarre through his marriage (jure uxoris) to Queen Jeanne III. He died of wounds sustained during the Siege of Rouen. He was the father of King Henri IV of France and Navarre.
5. François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien (1519–1546), unmarried.
6. Madeleine de Bourbon (1521–1561), Abbess of Sainte-Croix de Poitiers.
7. Louis de Bourbon (1522–1525), died in infancy.
8. Charles de Bourbon (1523–1590), Archbishop of Rouen
9. Catherine de Bourbon (1525–1594), Abbess of Soissons.
10. Renée de Bourbon (1527–1583), Abbess of Chelles.
11. Jean de Bourbon, Count of Soissons and Enghien (1528–1557), married in 1557, his first cousin, Marie, Duchess of Estouteville (1539–1601)
12. Louis I de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), married Eléonore de Roye, daughter of Charles de Roye, Count of Royce.
13. Léonore de Bourbon (1532–1611), Abbess of Fontevraud.

June 1, 1819: Birth of Francis V, Duke of Modena

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Duke Francis V of Modena, Grand Duchess of Hesse and By Rhine, House of Habsburg, House of Savoy, King Ludwig I of Bavaria, King Otto of Greece and Luitpold, King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia, Mathilde, Maximilian II of Bavaria, Prince Regent of Bavaria., Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, William Ewart Gladstone

Francis V, Duke of Modena, Archduke of Austria-Este (June 1, 1819 – November 20, 1875) was a reigning prince. He was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Guastalla from 1847 and Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara from 1846 to 1859.

His parents were Francis IV of Modena and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. She was the eldest daughter of Prince Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, Duke of Aosta, and his wife Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este. Her father became King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia unexpectedly in 1802 when Charles Emmanuel IV abdicated.

The maternal grandparents of Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy were Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este. Ferdinand was the third son of Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Maria Beatrice was the eldest daughter of Ercole III d’Este and Maria Theresa, Princess of Carrara.

Francis vwas the last reigning Duke of Modena before the duchy was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.

Francis was baptised 5 days after birth by the local archbishop in the local cathedral; Emperor Franz I of Austria, the former Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, acted as his godfather, but his uncle Archduke Ferdinand acted as proxy for the emperor.

In 1826 Francis IV of Modena appointed Count Clemente Coronini as tutor to Francis, with Don Pietro Raffaelli, who would later become Bishop of Carpi and Reggio, as his assistant. In 1829, Baron Ernest Geramb became Francis’ new tutor.

On September 15, 1836, Francis became a Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece, and 3 years later he received the Grand Cordon of the Dutch Order of the Lion.

After the death of his mother in 1840, Francis was considered the legitimate heir to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland by Jacobites as King Francis I. At his death his younger brother’s daughter Maria Theresia of Austria-Este became Jacobite claimant.

On March 30, 1842, in the Allerheiligen-Hofkirche at the Munich Residenz., Francis married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavara and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. She was born in Würzburg on March 19, 1823. Included among her siblings were Maximilian II of Bavaria, Mathilde, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, King Otto of Greece and Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria.

The Archbishop of Munich-Freising was the chief officiant of the wedding. The couple had only one child, Princess Anna Beatrice (October 19, 1848 – July 8, 1849).

In 1842, Francis received another order: the Savoy Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation.

At the death of his father Francis IV of Modena on January 21, 1846, Francis succeeded as reigning Duke Francis V of Modena. As member of a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine he also bore the titles of an Archduke of Austria and a Prince Royal of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia from birth; from his father he inherited also the title of Duke of Reggio and Mirandola, Duke of Massa, Prince of Carrara and Lunigiana. At the death of his cousin the Empress Marie-Louise on December 18, 1847, he succeeded as Duke of Guastalla.

During the revolutions of 1848, Francis was forced to flee his Duchy by a popular uprising and was restored by Austrian troops in the following year.

In 1855, Francis established his own new order: the Order of the Eagle of Este, of which he acted as Grand Master.

In 1859 the Duchy of Modena was invaded by armies of France and Piedmont. On June 14, Francis fled. On March 18, 1860, King Victor Emanuel II of Sardinia ordered Modena to be incorporated into the new kingdom of Italy. Francis protested against this four days later.

After the loss of his duchy, Francis withdrew to Vienna, where he lived in the Palais Modena. He also had a summer residence at Schloss Wildenwart in Bavaria. Although he spent most of his time in Austria he occasionally traveled and in 1864 he visited the Middle East.

On March 7, 1861, William Ewart Gladstone, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a verbal attack against Francis in the House of Commons, primarily accusing Francis of having violated criminal procedure by imposing excessive punishments. Constantine Phipps, Marquis of Normanby published a book later that year rebutting all of Gladstone’s charges against Francis.

Francis died at Vienna on November 20, 1875. He left most of his huge estate to his 1st cousin twice removed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, who subsequently used the title Archduke of Austria-Este. His remains were kept at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Duchess Adelgunde of Modena survived her husband for many years and died in Munich at the age of 91. She never remarried and is interred in Vienna.

May 31, 1740: Death of King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg. Part I.

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Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony, Emperor Leopold I, House of Hohenzollern, King Frederick I of Prussia, King Frederick William I of Prussia, King of Poland, Margrave of Brandenburg, Peter the Great of Russia, Polish-Lithuanian Diet, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, Treaty of Wehlau

Friedrich Wilhelm I (August 14, 1688 – May 31, 1740), known as the “Soldier King,” was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel.

Friedrich Wilhelm was born in Berlin to King Friedrich I in Prussia and Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, the only daughter of Elector Ernst August of Hanover and his wife Sophia of the Palatinate. Her eldest brother, Prince Georg Ludwig succeeded to the British throne in 1714 as King George I of Great Britain.

During his first years, Friedrich Wilhelm was raised by the Huguenot governess Marthe de Roucoulle. When the Great Northern War plague outbreak devastated Prussia, the inefficiency and corruption of the king’s favorite ministers and senior officials were highlighted.

Leading minister Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and his cronies were found being corrupt following an official investigation that exposed Wartenberg’s huge-scale misappropriation and embezzlement. His close associate August David zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was imprisoned at Spandau Citadel, fined 70,000 thalers and banished subsequently.

The incident exerted great influence on Friedrich Wilhelm, making him resent corruption, wastage and inefficiency and realize the necessity of institutional reform. It also became the first time he actively participated in politics. From then on, King Friedrich I began to let his son take more power.

Reign

Friedrich Wilhelm’s father had successfully acquired the title of King in Prussia for the Margraves of Brandenburg.

Friedrich I crowned himself on January 18, 1701 in Königsberg. Although he did so with the consent Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, he also had the formal acknowledgement from Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony, who held the title of King of Poland. However, the Polish-Lithuanian Diet (Sejm) raised objections, and viewed the coronation as illegal.

In fact, according to the terms of the Treaty of Wehlau and Bromberg, the House of Hohenzollern’s sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia was not absolute but contingent on the continuation of the male line (in the absence of which the duchy would revert to the Polish crown). Therefore, out of deference to the region’s historic ties to the Polish crown, Friedrich I made the symbolic concession of calling himself “King in Prussia” instead of “King of Prussia”.

King Friedrich I died in Berlin February 25, 1713 and is entombed in the Berliner Dom.

On ascending the throne on that date in 1713, King Friedrich Wilhelm I did much to improve Prussia economically and militarily. He replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, and he established schools and hospitals.

The king encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times. He dictated the manual of Regulations for State Officials, containing 35 chapters and 297 paragraphs in which every public servant in Prussia could find his duties precisely set out: a minister or councillor failing to attend a committee meeting, for example, would lose six months’ pay; if he absented himself a second time, he would be discharged from the royal service.

In short, King Friedrich Wilhelm I concerned himself with every aspect of his relatively small country, ruling an absolute monarchy with great energy and skill.

Friedrich Wilhelm’s I intervened briefly in the Great Northern War, allied with Peter the Great of Russia, in order to gain a small portion of Swedish Pomerania; this gave Prussia new ports on the Baltic Sea coast. More significantly, aided by his close friend Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, the “Soldier-King” made considerable reforms to the Prussian army’s training, tactics and conscription program—introducing the canton system, and greatly increasing the Prussian infantry’s rate of fire through the introduction of the iron ramrod.

Friedrich Wilhelm I’s reforms left his son Crown Prince Friedrich with the most formidable army in Europe, which Friedrich used to increase Prussia’s power.

May 24, 919: Heinrich I the Fowler, Duke of Saxony is elected King of East Francia

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Battle of Lenzen, Battle of Riade, Conrad I of Germany, Duke of Franconia, Duke of Saxony, Henry the Fowler, Hugh Capet, King Rudolph of the Franks, Kingdom of East Francia, Kingdom of Germany, Liudolfing, Matilda of Ringelheim, Pope Leo VII, Stem Duchies

Heinrich I the Fowler (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emperors, and he is generally considered to be the founder of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet “the Fowler” because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.

Heinrich was born into the Liudolfing line of Saxon dukes in Memleben, what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Heinrich was the son of Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Hedwiga, who was probably the daughter of Heinrich of Franconia.

In 906 he married Hatheburg of Merseburg, daughter of the Saxon count Erwin. She had previously been a nun. The marriage was annulled in 909 because her vows as a nun were deemed by the church to remain valid. She had already given birth to Heinrich’s son Thankmar. The annulment placed a question mark over Thankmar’s legitimacy.

Later that year he married Matilda, daughter of Dietrich of Ringelheim, Count in Westphalia. Matilda bore him three sons and two daughters, Hedwige and Gerberga, and founded many religious institutions, including the Quedlinburg Abbey where Heinrich and Matilda are buried. She was later canonized.

His father Duke Otto I of Saxony died in 912 and was succeeded by Heinrich. The new duke launched a rebellion against the King of East Francia, Duke Conrad I of Franconia, over the rights to lands in the Duchy of Thuringia. They reconciled in 915 and on his deathbed in 918, Conrad recommended Heinrich as the next king, considering the duke the only one who could hold the kingdom together in the face of internal revolts and external Magyar raids.

On May 24, 919 the nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Heinrich I the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as King of the East Francia. He went on to defeat the rebellious dukes of Bavaria and Swabia, consolidating his rule. Through successful warfare and a dynastic marriage, Heinrich acquired Lotharingia as a vassal in 925. Unlike his Carolingian predecessors, Heinrich did not seek to create a centralized monarchy, ruling through federated autonomous stem duchies instead.

Heinrich built an extensive system of fortifications and mobile heavy cavalry across the Kingdom of East Francia to neutralize the Magyar threat and in 933 routed them at the Battle of Riade, ending Magyar attacks for the next 21 years and giving rise to a sense of German nationhood.

Heinrich greatly expanded German hegemony in Europe with his defeat of the Slavs in 929 at the Battle of Lenzen along the Elbe river, by compelling the submission of Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia through an invasion of the Duchy of Bohemia the same year and by conquering Danish realms in Schleswig in 934.

Heinrich’s hegemonic status north of the Alps was acknowledged by King Rudolph of West Francia and King Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy, who both accepted a place of subordination as allies in 935. Heinrich planned an expedition to Rome to be crowned Emperor by Pope Leo VII but the design was thwarted by his death. Heinrich prevented a collapse of royal power, as had happened in West Francia, and left a much stronger kingdom to his successor Otto I. He was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey, established by his wife Matilda in his honour.

His son Otto I, traditionally known as Otto the Great, continued his father’s work of unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom and greatly expanded the king’s powers. He installed members of his family in the kingdom’s most important duchies, subjected the clergy to his personal control, defeated the Magyars and conquered the Kingdom of Italy and was crowned Emperor by Pope John XII in 962.

King Heinrich’s daughter, Hedwige of Saxony (c. 910 – after 958), was Duchess consort of the Franks by her marriage to the Robertian Duke Hugh the Great of the Franks. Upon her husband’s death in 956, she acted as a regent during the minority of their son Hugh Capét, the founder of the senior line of the House of Capét who became King of West Francia and a forerunner of the Kingdom of France.

May 19, 1744: Birth of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Great Britain

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Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Hanover, Kew Gardens, King George III of the United Kingdom, Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Regent, Queen of Württemberg

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (May 19, 1744 – November 17, 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on September 8, 1761 until her death in 1818. Both kingdoms were in a personal union under King George III until the Acts of Union 1800 merged them on January 1, 1801. Charlotte then became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As George’s wife, she was also Electress of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) until becoming Queen of Hanover on October 12, 1814. Charlotte was Britain’s longest-serving queen consort, serving for 57 years and 70 days.

Sophia Charlotte was born on May 19, 1744. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow (1708–1752), and his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1713–1761). Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north-German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire.

The children of Duke Charles were all born at the Untere Schloss (Lower Castle) in Mirow. According to diplomatic reports at the time of her engagement to George III in 1761, Charlotte had received “a very mediocre education”. Her upbringing was similar to that of a daughter of an English country gentleman. She received some rudimentary instruction in botany, natural history, and language from tutors, but her education focused on household management and religion – the latter taught by a priest. Only after her brother Adolphus Frederick succeeded to the ducal throne, in 1752, did she gain any experience of princely duties and of court life.

When George III succeeded to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his grandfather George II, he was 22 years old and unmarried. His mother and advisors were eager to have him settled in marriage. The 17-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz appealed to him as a prospective consort partly because she had been brought up in an insignificant north German duchy, and therefore would probably have had no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues. That proved to be the case; to make sure, he instructed her shortly after their wedding “not to meddle”, a precept she was glad to follow.

The King announced to his Council in July 1761, according to the usual form, his intention to wed the Princess, after which a party of escorts, led by the Earl Harcourt, departed for the Holy Roman Empire to conduct Princess Charlotte to England. They reached Strelitz on August 14, 1761, and were received the next day by Duke Adolph Friedrich IV, Charlotte’s brother, at which time the marriage contract was signed by him on the one hand and Lord Harcourt on the other.

Three days of public celebrations followed, and on August 17, 1761, Charlotte set out for Britain, accompanied by Adolph Friedrich IV and the British escort party. On August 22, they reached Cuxhaven, where a small fleet awaited to convey them to England. The voyage was extremely difficult; the party encountered three storms at sea, and landed at Harwich only on September 7. They set out at once for London, spent that night in Witham, at the residence of Lord Abercorn, and arrived at 3:30 pm the next day at St. James’s Palace in London. They were received by the King and his family at the garden gate, which marked the first meeting of the bride and groom.

At 9:00 pm that same evening (September 8, 1761), within six hours of her arrival, Charlotte was united in marriage with King George III. The ceremony was performed at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker. Only the royal family, the party who had travelled from Germany, and a handful of guests were present.

The marriage lasted 57 years and produced 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood. They included two future British monarchs, George IV and William IV; as well as Charlotte, Princess Royal, who became Queen of Württemberg; and Prince Ernest Augustus, who became King of Hanover.

Charlotte was a patron of the arts and an amateur botanist who helped expand Kew Gardens. She introduced the Christmas tree to Britain, after decorating one for a Christmas party for children from Windsor in 1800. She was distressed by her husband’s bouts of physical and mental illness, which became permanent in later life.

She maintained a close relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and the French Revolution likely enhanced the emotional strain felt by Charlotte. Her eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, was appointed as Prince Regent in 1811 due to the increasing severity of the King’s illness. Charlotte died in November 1818 with her son George at her side. George III died a little over a year later, likely unaware of his wife’s death.

May 18, 1152: The future King Henry II of the English marries Eleanor of Aquitaine

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Annulment, Archbishop of Canterbury, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Empress Matilda, Henry II of England, King Robért II of the Franks, Louis VI of France, Louis VII of France, Pope Eugene III, Theobald of Bec, William X of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122 – April 1, 1204)

Eleanor was the daughter of Guillaume X, Duke of Aquitaine, and Aénor de Châtellerault. She became duchess upon her father’s death in April 1137, and three months later she married Louis, son of her guardian King Louis VI of the Franks. A few weeks later, Eleanor’s father-in-law died and her husband succeeded him as King Louis VII of the Franks

Eleanor and Louis VII had two daughters, Marie and Alix. Soon afterwards, she sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. Eventually, Louis agreed to an annulment, as fifteen years of marriage had not produced a son.

On March 21, the four archbishops, with the approval of Pope Eugene III, granted an annulment on grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree; Eleanor was Louis’ third cousin once removed, and shared common ancestry with King Robért II of Franks. Their two daughters were, however, declared legitimate. Custody of the daughters was awarded to King Louis VII. Archbishop Samson received assurances from Louis that Eleanor’s lands would be restored to her.

As Eleanor travelled to Poitiers, two lords—Theobald V, Count of Blois, and Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, brother of Henry II, Duke of Normandy—tried to kidnap and marry her to claim her lands. As soon as she arrived in Poitiers, Eleanor sent envoys to Henry II Duke of Normandy and future King of the English, asking him to come at once to marry her.

King Henry II of the English (March 5, 1133 – July 6, 1189)

Duke Henry II of Normandy was born in Maine at Le Mans on March 5, 1133, the eldest child of the Empress Matilda, and her second husband, Geoffrey V, Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.

His mother, Empress Matilda, was born to Henry I, King of the English and Duke of Normandy, and his first wife, Matilda of Scotland, a daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and the Anglo-Saxon Princess Margaret of Wessex, the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile and his wife Agatha, and also the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, King of the English.

King Henry I of the English was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who had invaded England in 1066.

Marriage

On May 18, 1152 (Whit Sunday), eight weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry “without the pomp and ceremony that befitted their rank.”

Eleanor was related to Henry even more closely than she had been to Louis: they were cousins to the third degree through their common ancestor Ermengarde of Anjou, wife of Robért I, Duke of Burgundy and Geoffrey, Count of Gâtinais, and they were also descended from King Robért II of the Franks.

A marriage between Henry and Eleanor’s daughter Marie had earlier been declared impossible due to their status as third cousins once removed. It was rumoured by some that Eleanor had had an affair with Henry’s own father, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, who had advised his son to avoid any involvement with her.

On 25 October 1154, Henry became King Henry II of the English. A now heavily pregnant Eleanor, was crowned Queen of the English by Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on December 19, 1154. She may not have been anointed on this occasion, however, because she had already been anointed in 1137.

Over the next 13 years, she bore Henry five sons and three daughters: William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. Historian John Speed, in his 1611 work History of Great Britain, mentions the possibility that Eleanor had a son named Philip, who died young. His sources no longer exist, and he alone mentions this birth.

Eleanor’s marriage to Henry was reputed to be tumultuous and argumentative, although sufficiently cooperative to produce at least eight pregnancies. Henry was by no means faithful to his wife and had a reputation for philandering; he fathered other, illegitimate, children throughout the marriage.

Eleanor appears to have taken an ambivalent attitude towards these affairs. Geoffrey of York, for example, was an illegitimate son of Henry, but acknowledged by Henry as his child and raised at Westminster in the care of the Queen.

Was He A Usurper? King Richard III. Part V.

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Canon Law, Duke of Gloucester, Elizabeth Woodville, King Edward IV of England and Lord of Ireland, King Richard III of England and Lord of Ireland, Lady Eleanor Butler Talbot, Parliament, Prince Richard, Richard III Society, Titulus Regius, Usurper

When I began examining whether or not King Richard III was a usurper it seemed pretty cut and dried given the fact that Richard’s reputation as a usurper is well known. I’d even go as far to say that Richard III is the best known super in history.

As I’ve researched this topic I’ve realized that it’s isn’t as cut and dried as generally thought. I actually could drag this topic out over many more entries. In this entry I will examine the “pro-Richard III” stance. Then in the following entry next week I will examine the “anti-Richard III” stance. After that I will give you my assessment.

As I said in previous entries the legality of Richard III’s reign, as mentioned in the Titulus Regius document, rests on the core claim that when Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville, he was already promised in marriage to Lady Eleanor Butler. This pre-contract, according to the laws of the day, would make his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville null and void.

However, the issues that Titulus Regius outlines which make King Edward IV’s reign illegal stretch beyond the pre-contract with Lady Eleanor Butler (Talbot). The issues which Titulus Regius claims makes Edward IV’s reign illegitimate are:

1) The kingdom was badly ruled and the laws and customs of the land flouted
2) The Queen (Elizabeth Woodville) was guilty of witchcraft
3) Edward got married secretly against the customs of the church
4) Edward was already bethrothed – so the marriage and its offspring were illegitimate
5) George, Duke of Clarence was attainted by parliament- so his son is also illegitimate
And so in conclusion, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester and his line has the only rightful claim to the throne.

Were these claims valid? If based on fact, the petition had a case to be answered.

In my research I’ve read a considerable amount of information from the Richard III Society.

The Richard III Society was founded in 1924 by Liverpool surgeon Samuel Saxon Barton (1892-1957) as The Fellowship of the White Boar, Richard’s badge and a symbol of the Yorkist army in the Wars of the Roses. Its membership was originally a small group of interested amateur historians whose aim was to bring about a re-assessment of the reputation of Richard III.

The Fellowship of the White Boar was renamed The Richard III Society in 1959.

In 1980, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became the society’s Patron. (Richard III was Duke of Gloucester before ascending the throne, therefore he was before his accession (Prince) Richard, Duke of Gloucester).

In 1986, the society established the Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, a registered charity, to advance research and publication related to the history of late medieval England.

The society publishes a scholarly journal, The Ricardian.

The Richard III Society supports the Titulus Regius document along with validity of the pre-contract. However, the Society does admit that the historical accuracy of the pre-contract cannot be proven:

“The fact of the pre-contract cannot now be proved, although it could have been known to many persons in 1483, but there is no doubt that Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth was clandestine.”

Marriage and betrothal was easy in the middle ages – no need for priests, banns all the rest of it – you just had to tell each other you married each other. So, secret or not, a pre-contract was valid. However, the process of banns being proclaimed did work in favor of those that supported Richard III.

Despite that, Edward’s secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was held against them; because it suggested bad faith by the king and/or Queen – they went ahead and got married without the light of publicity that might have exposed the existence of an impediment, namely, the pre-contract.

Although Lady Eleanor Butler was dead by the time the Queen Elizabeth gave birth, that didn’t matter back then; for if Edward IV was in fact a bigamist, this stain on his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville could have been cleared and forgiven if reviewed in some way by an ecclesiastical court, which hadn’t happened.

The fact that an ecclesiastical court did not address the marriage could help the pro-Richard III” stance with their claim that the pre-contract remained was valid. The fact that an ecclesiastical court did not address the marriage could help the pro-Richard III” stance by claiming there was no need for the examination of the Royal marriage because the pre-contract was a work of fiction.

The Richard III Society also states that the fact that the marriage between King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville was Clandestine is another factor in the establishment of the illegality of the union.

Although a clandestine marriage (a marriage conducted in secret) was deemed legal in many cases and the children born of such a marriage were considered legitimate; what made a clandestine union like the marriage between King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville suspect was because it blocked the legal repercussions in case there were pre-existing impediments such as the aforementioned pre-contract which would mean any such marriage was made in error and would be considered fraudulent.

If such a clandestine union that covered up legal impediments occurred any children produced by the union would be illegitimate.

Back in the day pre-contractual unions had the ritual of the “calling of banns” which aimed to publicise a proposed marriage and prevent such misfortunes, and to proclaim the good faith of the contracting parties. Edward’s hasty and secret marriage to Elizabeth proclaimed his bad faith: if the banns had been called and his councillors informed, the impediment of the pre contract might have been revealed and circumvented.

It is theorized that had their marriage obeyed the church’s laws and had not been clandestine, their many years which Edward IV and Elizabeth lived together openly as man and wife would have been in favour of the legitimacy of the children of their union.

But because of the Clandestine nature of their union, Canon Law allowed questions of legitimacy to be raised after the parent’s deaths. Immoral or wrong behavior, such as adultery or bigamy, was not excused by the passage of time. Medieval Canon Law allowed Richard, Duke of Gloucester to raise the question of the children’s legitimacy as late as 1483.

April 23 1744: Birth of Charlotte Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön

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Augustenborg Castle, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Charlotte Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön, Christian VII of Denmark-Norway, Countess Louise Frederikke af Danneskiold-Samsøe, Duke Friedrich Christian I of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, King Christian VI of Denmark-Norway, King Frederik V of Denmark, Kingdom of Denmark and Norway

Charlotte Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (April 23, 1744 – October 11, 1770), was a Princess of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (or Holstein-Plön), a cadet branch of the Danish royal family. She was born at Plön to Friedrich Charles, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön and his wife Countess Christiane Armgard von Reventlow, the fourth of their five children.

As her only brother died an infant in 1740 the small, partitioned-off Danish duchy of Plön was destined to revert to the royal domain of King Christian VI of Denmark-Norway on their father’s death. Thus her parents were freed from the custom of stinting their daughters’ dowries to maximize the patrimony of a male heir.

Consequently and unusually only one of the four sisters was enrolled in a nunnery: the eldest, Sophie (1732-1757), became canoness in 1753, and a year later deaconess of Quedlinburg Abbey, while the other three princesses were all allowed to marry.

Charlotte Amalie was the first of her sisters to wed, marrying at Reinfeld on May 26, 1762 her cousin, Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. He was the eldest son of Christian August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1696–1754) and his wife Countess Louise Frederikke af Danneskiold-Samsøe (1699–1744).

In 1754, his father died and Friedrich Christian inherited Augustenborg Castle and Gråsten. However, these estates were deeply in debt. He waived his claims on the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein and in return King Frederik V of Denmark (who was also Duke of Schleswig and Holstein) granted him a favourable settlement.

Two years later, as a near, agnatic kinsman of his father-in-law, Friedrich Christian renounced any claim he might have had to the Plön duchy and in return received from the Danish crown the castle of Sonderburg, the domain of Gammelgaard with Gundestrup and the fiefs of Ronhave, Langenvorwerk, Kekinisgaard and Maibullgaard, all located on the isle of Ahlsen or nearby on that of Sundeved in the Sonderburg region.

They had seven children:

1. Louise Christine Caroline (February 16, 1763 – January 27, 1764).

2. Louise Christine Caroline (February 17, 1764 – August 2, 1815).

3. Friedrich Christian II (September 28, 1765 – June 14, 1814), married Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark. Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway (July 7, 1771 – January 13, 1843) was the daughter of the Queen of Denmark-Norway, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, it is widely accepted that her biological father was Johann Friedrich Struensee, the king’s royal physician and de facto regent of the country at the time of her birth. She was referred to sometimes as “la petite Struensee”; this did not, however, have any effect on her position.

4. Friedrich Charles Emil (March 8, 1767 – June 14, 1841), Danish general, married in Leipzig September 29, 1801 without the consent or recognition of either the Duke or the King, Sofie Eleonora Fredericka von Scheel (1776–1836), daughter of Jürgen Eric von Scheel and Anna Drothea von Ahlefeldt.

5. Christian August (July 9, 1768 – May 28, 1810), Danish general, and later selected Crown Prince of Sweden and changed his name to Carl August, however, he died before inheriting the throne.

6. Sophie Amelie (August 10, 1769 – October 6, 1769).

7. Charles Wilhelm (October 4, 1770 – February 22, 1771).

The couple spent some of her wealth to build the new Augustenburg Palace.

Charlotte Amalie died in Augustenburg on October 11, 1770 aged 26, seven days after the birth of her last child.