May 24, 1819: Birth of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Empress of India

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Duke of Clarence, Duke of Kent, Empress of India, Kensington Palace, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, King George III of the United Kingdom, King George IV of the United Kingdom, King William IV of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Edward, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Prince Regent, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days is known as the Victorian Era and was longer than any of her predecessors. She is the second longest reigning British Monarch. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria’s father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of see Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Until 1817, King George’s only legitimate grandchild was Edward’s niece Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV).

Charlotte’s death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818, the Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. Her brother Leopold was Princess Charlotte’s widower and later the first King of Belgium. The Duke and Duchess of Kent’s only child, Victoria, was born at 4:15 a.m. on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace in London.

Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on June 24, 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of Kent’s eldest brother, the Prince Regent.

At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria’s father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so the two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children.

William and Edward married on the same day in 1818, but both of William’s legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on March 27, 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria’s father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather, King George III, died and was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William’s second daughter, Princess Elizabeth, lived, from December 10, 1820 to March 4, 1821.

After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father’s three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet “the grandmother of Europe” and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died in 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son King Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

May 22, 1581: Birth of Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria

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Archduchess Anna of Austria, Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, Emperor Ferdinand I, House of Habsburg, King Philip III of Spain, King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland, Prince of Asturias, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria

Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria (May 22, 1581 – September 20, 1597) was a member of the House of Habsburg.

She was the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and his wife/niece, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Her father was Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria was the son of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) from his marriage with the Jagiellonian princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547).

Her mother was Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria daughter of Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Archduchess Anna of Austria. Archduchess Anna of Austria was one of the fifteen children of Emperor Ferdinand I and Princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. As mentioned, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria and her husband, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, were uncle and niece.

Archduchess Anna of Austria’s paternal grandparents were King Felipe I of Castile (Archduke Philipp of Austria, Duke of Burgundy) and his wife Queen Joanna of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale.

Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana’s elder brother, Archduke Ferdinand, succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II in 1619.

Life

Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria was born in Graz, her godparents were Pope Gregory XIII and her maternal aunt, Princess Maximiliana Maria of Bavaria. Named after both godparents, Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana was described as an extremely pious Princess that had the closest relationship to her mother among her siblings.

Amongst her siblings was the aforementioned Emperor Ferdinand II, Archduchess Margaret and Archduchess Anna and Archduchess Constance, who through their subsequent marriages to King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland, became Queens of Poland.

In addition to the Habsburg inferior lip, Gregoria Maximiliana suffered from a deformed shoulder and a scarred face.

In 1596, the Admiral of Aragon arrived to Graz and had deliver to the Spanish court portraits of Gregoria Maximiliana and her two younger sisters in marriageable age, Archduchess Eleanor and Archduchess Margaret.

Shortly after, Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana was betrothed to the Prince of Asturias, future King Felipe III of Spain. Although the Prince, after seeing the portraits, preferred her sister Archduchess Margaret, his father King Felipe II of Spain chose Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana as his bride, mainly because she was the older sister.

On September 17, 1597, the Prince of Asturias made a visit to the Imperial court in Graz. At this time, Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana was seriously ill and she compared her suffering to the prisoners of the Turkish sultan. Three days later, she died aged sixteen, and was in buried in Seckau Abbey. Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana’s fiancé (future King Felipe III of Spain) married her sister Archduchess Margaret, and his first choice, in 1599.

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

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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 12, 1670: Birth of Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland

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Augustus II the Strong, Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony, John George IV of Saxony, Order of the Golden Fleece, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, War of the Polish Succession

Augustus II (May 12, 1670 – February 1, 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in the years 1697–1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine line of the House of Wettin.

Early life

Augustus was born in Dresden on May 12, 1670, the younger son of Johann Georg III, Elector of Saxony and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark, the eldest daughter of King Frederik III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

As the second son, Augustus had no expectation of inheriting the electorate, since his older brother, Johann Georg IV, assumed the post after the death of their father on September 12, 1691. Augustus was well educated, and spent some years in travel and in fighting against France.

Augustus married Cristiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in Bayreuth on January 20, 1693, the firstborn child of Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and his second wife, Princess Sophie Luise of Württemberg, daughter of Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg. She was named for her father, Christian, and her mother’s father, Eberhard. As the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, she was margravine by birth. She had five younger siblings, only two of whom survived infancy. She remained close to her relatives in Bayreuth and continued to visit them after her marriage.

While in Venice during the carnival season, his older brother, the Elector Johann Georg IV, contracted smallpox from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz. On 27 April 1694, Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became Elector of Saxony, as Friedrich August I.

Augustus’ great physical strength earned him the nicknames “the Strong”, “the Saxon Hercules” and “Iron-Hand”. He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing by holding the end of his sling with just one finger while two of the strongest men in his court held the other end. He is also notable for fathering a very large number of children.

To be eligible for election to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697, Augustus had to convert to Roman Catholicism. The Saxon dukes had traditionally been called “champions of the Reformation”. Saxony had been a stronghold of German Protestantism and Augustus’ conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant Europe. Although the Prince-Elector guaranteed Saxony’s religious status quo, Augustus’ conversion alienated many of his Protestant subjects.

As a Catholic, he received the Order of the Golden Fleece from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction. As Elector of Saxony, he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He transformed the Saxon capital of Dresden into a major cultural centre, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces in Dresden and Warsaw. In 1711 he served as the Imperial vicar of the Holy Roman Empire.

His reigns brought Poland some troubled times. He led the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Great Northern War, which allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence in Europe, especially within Poland. His main pursuit was bolstering royal power in the Commonwealth, characterized by broad decentralization in comparison with other European monarchies.

He tried to accomplish this goal using foreign powers and thus destabilized the state. Augustus ruled Poland with an interval; in 1704 the Swedes installed nobleman Stanisław Leszczyński as king, who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus’ death in 1733 which sparked the War of the Polish Succession.

Augustus’ body was buried in Poland’s royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral. His only legitimate son, Augustus II and his wife, Cristiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth had a son, Friedrich August II (1696–1763), who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland as Augustus III.

May 6: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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Charles III of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, May 6, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Along with today’s coronation of King Charles III, May 6th was the birthday of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, the date of the death of his wife, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the date of the death of King Charles III’s great-great grandfather King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Also, on Monday I will post my thoughts and feelings about the coronation.

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Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death on May 6, 1910.

Prince Albert Edward was born at 10:48 a.m. on November 9, 1841 in Buckingham Palace. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on January 25, 1842. He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on December 8, 1841, Earl of Dublin on January 17, 1850.

Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on March 10, 1863. He was 21; she was 18. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later King Christian IX of Denmark) and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward VII played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised.

He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called “Peacemaker”, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward’s reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism.

He died on May 6, 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. King Edward VII was succeeded by his only surviving son, King George V.

Edward VII’s great-nephew was…

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (May 6, 1882 – 20 July 1951)

Wilhelm was born on May 6, 1882 as the eldest son of the then Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, and his first wife, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He was born in the Marmorpalais of Potsdam in the Province of Brandenburg, where his parents resided until his father acceded to the throne. When he was born, his great-grandfather Wilhelm I was the German Emperor and his grandfather Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was the heir apparent, making Wilhelm third in line to the throne.

As Emperor Wilhelm II’s heir, he was the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather German Emperor Friedrich III died and his father became Emperor. He was Crown Prince for 30 years until the fall of the empire on November 9, 1918. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war.

Wilhelm married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (September 20, 1886 – May 6, 1954) in Berlin on 6 June 1905. After their marriage, the couple lived at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin in the winter and at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam, later on at Cecilienhof in Potsdam. Cecilie was the daughter of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851–1897) and his wife, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860–1922). Their eldest son, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, was killed fighting for the German Army in France in 1940.

After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship soured.

Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern on June 4, 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on July 20, 1951.

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

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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.

April 22, 1518: Birth of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre

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Antoine de Bourbon, Catherine de Médici, French Wars of Religion, Jeanne d'Albret, jure uxoris, King Charles IX of France, KIng François II of France, King Henri II of France, King of Navarre, Kingdom of Navarre, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, Regent of France, Siege of Rouen

Antoine de Bourbon, (jure uxoris) King of Navarre (April 22, 1518 – November 17, 1562)

Antoine was born at La Fère, Picardy, France, the second son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1489–1537), and his wife, Françoise d’Alençon (died 1550). He was the older brother of Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), who would lead the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion.

Antoine found himself in a disadvantageous position in the court of King Henri II of France due to the disgrace that had befallen his house after the defection of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon to Emperor Charles V in 1523.

On October 20, 1548, at Moulins, Antoine married Jeanne d’Albret, the daughter of King Henri II of Navarre and his wife Marguerite de Navarre. After his father-in-law’s death in May 1555, Antoine was able to secure the kingship of Navarre through jure uxoris (by right of his wife) and he became King of Navarre, Count of Foix, of Bigorre, of Armagnac, of Périgord, and Viscount of Béarn. It was reported that Jeanne was much in love with him. His reconversion to Catholicism separated him from his wife and he threatened to repudiate her.

In the same year, 1555, the critical border governorship of Picardy was removed from him and given to Admiral Coligny arousing significant protest. However, he was bought off with the rich southern governorship of Guyenne. In 1556, upon hearing that Jacques, Duke of Nemours had made his cousin-by-marriage pregnant, he threatened bloody consequences for Savoie and his family, causing the man to take the excuse of a campaign into Italy to leave France.

In February 1557, Antoine, Jeanne and their son Henri travelled to the French court in Paris; while there Henri suggested a betrothal between his daughter Margaret and Henri. Desiring to reverse the Spanish occupation of much of his kingdom, he entered into negotiations with Emperor Charles V; however these went nowhere and compromised his position at court still further. Navarre demonstrated early sympathy towards the reformation.

In 1558 he attended the psalm singing at the Pré-aux-Clercs to the considerable fury of Henri. He fought for the crown in the last stage of the Italian wars in 1558. The Huguenot leadership were animated by the prospect of bringing Navarre into their camp causing Calvin and Beza to devote considerable efforts to the project.

When in 1559 King Henri II of France died, and was succeeded by his eldest son as King François II of France. Opponents of the Guise Family, including Anne de Montmorency flocked to meet Navarre in Vendôme hoping he would establish himself in the government. The Guise were however able to neutralise him by buying him off with the governorship of Poitou and sent him off to escort Elisabeth of Valois to the Spanish border.

To further isolate Antoine of Navarre, Louis, Prince de Condé and the house of Bourbon-Vendôme, the Guise created two super governorships, giving them to their cousins Charles, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon and Louis, Duke of Montpensier, separating the princes of blood from each other. On August 31, the Guise wrote Navarre they had 40,000 troops ready to move into the south, and to present themselves at court. Navarre and Condé, possessing only around 6000 foot, were unable to resist, and came north without a fight. Upon their arrival Condė was detained and sentenced.

In December 1560 the young King François II died and was succeeded by his brother as King Charles IX of France. Charles, being too young to rule, required a regent, a position Antoine was entitled to as first prince of the blood. His mother, Catherine de Medici, however possessed considerable leverage over him due to the imprisonment of his brother Louis for treason. The two agreed that in exchange for Catherine being regent while Navarre would become Lieutenant General of the kingdom and Condé would be brought back into favour.

Collapse of the regency

Antoine found himself increasingly in opposition to the religious policy of Catherine’s administration, finally breaking with her concerning the Edict of Saint-Germain, writing urgently to Guise to return to court so they could present a united front against the edict. On his way to Paris, Guise’s men committed the Massacre of Vassy, plunging France into civil war. Navarre in his role as Lieutenant General would be the supreme commander of the crown’s forces in the coming conflict.

First French War of Religion

In May he issued a decree expelling all Protestants from Paris, much to the delight of radicals in the capital. His army and that of Condé faced off against each other in June near Orléans. The sides only came to light skirmishing however, as negotiations between the sides to avoid bloodshed continued.

With Louis, Prince de Condé now retreating, Antoine of Navarre and the other leaders began retaking rebel towns, capturing Blois, Tours and Amboise. In August the main royal force under Navarre besieged and overcame the rebel garrison in the key town of Bourges. When his wife, Jeanne d’Albret, allowed the Huguenots to sack the chapel and the churches of Vendôme, he threatened to send her to a convent.

Having reduced Bourges the royal army was faced with a choice, to march on the Huguenot capital of Orléans immediately, or first strike at the northern town of Rouen, which Aumale was currently unsuccessfully trying to besiege with his small force. Navarre counselled immediately pushing on Orlėans, but the plague in the town, the threat of the English and the hopes of Catherine that he might yet prevail on his brother to abandon rebellion persuaded the court against this policy.

Navarre’s army invested the city of Rouen on September 28, and began trying to reduce the town. On October 13 while inspecting the trenches of the Siege of Rouen, Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre was mortally wounded by a musket shot to the shoulder. Despite the efforts of the famed surgeon Ambroise Paré he could not be saved, and died of his wounds on November 17, 1562.

It was rumoured that his last rites were taken in the Lutheran custom, compounding long-held suspicions of his religious unorthodoxy.

Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre was the father of King Henri IV of France and Navarre.

April 20, 1544: Birth of Renata of Lorraine, Duchess of Bavaria

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Archduchess Isabella of Austria, Archduke Philipp of Austria, Charles I of Spain, Christian II of Denmark-Norway, Christina of Denmark, Duke of Burgundy, Duke William V of Bavaria, Emperor Charles V, Francis I of Lorraine, House of Austria, House of Habsburg, House of Lorraine, House of Wittelsbach, King Philip I of Castile, King Philip II of Spain, Queen Joanna of Castile, Renata of Lorraine

Renata of Lorraine (April 20, 1544 – May 22, 1602) was a French noblewoman who became a Duchess of Bavaria by her marriage to Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria

Early life

By birth a member of the House of Lorraine born in Nancy, she was the second child and eldest daughter of François I, Duke of Lorraine and his wife, Christina of Denmark, younger surviving daughter of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Archduchess Isabella of Austria, herself the daughter of Archduke Philipp of Austria, ruler Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Felipe I) for a brief time in 1506 as the husband of Queen Joanna of Castile. Archduchess Isabella of Austria was the sister of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King Carlos I of Spain.

Renata was described as a beauty and a desirable match. In 1558, after the death of his first wife Prince Willem I the Silent of Orange expressed a desire to marry Renata. Her mother, Christina, liked the idea, and it was further cemented after the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. This match was however prevented by King Felipe II of Spain. Christina declined the plan of Cardinal of Lorraine to arrange a marriage between Renata and Henri I, Duke of Guise and Prince of Joinville, and also a match proposed by the Spanish king to marry Renata to Juan d’Austria, the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his mistress Barbara Blomberg.

In 1561, Renata’s mother planned to marry her to King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway. However, the outbreak of the Nordic Seven Years’ War between Denmark and Sweden in 1563, interrupted these plans. From 1565 to 1567, Christina negotiated with King Eric XIV of Sweden to create an alliance between Sweden and Denmark through his marriage to Renata. The plan was for Christina to conquer Denmark with the support of Sweden, a plan Eric supported.

However, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I opposed the plan due to the destructive effect it could have on the balance of power among the German states of the Empire, if Saxony (being strongly allied with Denmark) opposed Christina’s claims. Neither did she manage to acquire the support of King Felipe II of Spain. The planned marriage alliance between Lorraine and Sweden was finally ended when King Eric XIV married his non-noble lover Karin Månsdotter in 1567.

Duchess consort of Bavaria

Finally, on February 22, 1568, Renata married her paternal second, but maternal first cousin Wilhelm, hereditary Duke of Bavaria, in a large, elaborate ceremony and celebration in Munich that lasted 18 days. The event was described in detail by Massimo Troiano in his Dialoghi (1569). Approximately 5,000 riders took part in it, and the music was composed by Orlande de Lassus.

Despite their large wedding and status, Renata, along with her husband, led a life of charity and humility. They left the Munich Residenz and lived in the Jesuit Kollegienbau west of Munich. Renata cared for the sick, the poor and religious pilgrims. In this task, she was completely supported by her husband. They had ten children, but only six of them lived to adulthood.

After her husband inherited the duchy in 1579 as Wilhelm V of Bavaria, Renata spent much of her time in the Herzogspitalkirche in Munich, founded in 1555 by her father-in-law. She died in Munich, aged 58. Her grave is located in the St. Michael’s Church in Munich, the consecration of which was the last high point in both her and her husband’s lives. She was revered as a saint by the people, but never canonized. Her husband, who abdicated in 1597, survived her by twenty-four years, dying in 1626.

All current monarchs of the three Scandinavian countries (Harald V of Norway, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Margrethe II of Denmark) are Renata’s direct blood descendants. Other direct descendants included Josephine of Leuchtenberg, who married the future King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway in 1823; Carl XV of Sweden and Norway who ascended the throne in 1859; Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria; his brother Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico; and King Christian X of Denmark, who ascended the throne in 1912, among other numerous descendants.

The Life of Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia (1874 – 1940)

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Evangelical Church of the Holy Cross, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Homosexuality, House of Hohenzollern, King Frederick William III of Prussia, Prince Albert of Prussia, Prince Frederick Henry of Prussia, Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia

Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia (April 15, 1874 – November 30, 1940) was a Prussian officer, member of the house of Hohenzollern, and a great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. He was persecuted for being homosexual.

Prince Friedrich Heinrich was the oldest son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837–1906) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg (1854–1898), the only surviving child of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau. Prince Friedrich Heinrich he stood over six feet tall.

He studied law at Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn. In 1895, he became a member of the fraternity “Corps Borussia Bonn,” and later became an honorary member of the Burschenschaft Vandalia Berlin. He traveled to Italy, Norway, and Sweden.

Military career

After university, he took up a career as a commissioned officer. He began as a major in the 1st Guard Dragoon Regiment “Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,” and then was called to the command of the German General Staff in 1902.

In 1904, he became the commander of the 1st Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment Number 2; he would rise to colonel on May 21, 1906.

Homosexuality

He was relieved of his post as Commander of the Regiment at the beginning of 1907 and expelled from the Prussian Army because of his homosexuality. He was allowed to reenlist at the beginning of World War I as a private, but was denied promotion.

At the end of 1906, at the wishes of German Emperor Wilhelm II and as the heir of his deceased father, Friedrich Heinrich was voted the Herrenmeister of the Order of Saint John. However, due to increasing knowledge of his homosexuality, Prince Eitel Friedrich became the Herrenmeister instead. Journalist Maximilian Harden published an article on April 27, 1907 that this change in leadership was because the prince “suffers from an inherited version of inverted sex drive.” This is likely a reference to his homosexual ancestor Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802).

His ancestor, Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802), was a son of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, and the younger brother of King Friedrich II the Great. Prince Heinrich led Prussian armies in the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years’ War, having never lost a battle in the latter. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States.

In response to this publicity, Prince Friedrich Heinrich left Berlin on the advice of Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. He spent time in the south of France and Egypt before returning to Germany, where he lived in seclusion on his estates in Silesia.

At the beginning of 1910, he gave up his presidency of the Academy of Charitable Sciences at Erfurt to his brother Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (July 12, 1880 – March 9, 1925) .

Later years

His inheritance included the towns of Kamenz and Zawidów in the southeastern area of Province of Lower Silesia; his contributions to the economic development of the area and care for the townsfolk made him locally popular. With his own money, he established the Evangelical Church of the Holy Cross in Wölfelsgrund in 1911 and the Church of the Resurrection in Zawidów in 1913, and brought in deaconesses for local nursing homes. He also promoted local forestry and dispensed honors to locals.

He was never married and died without descendants, ending the paternal line of his grandfather, Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809–1872) youngest child of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Two of Albrecht’s elder brothers were Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia from 1840 till 1861, and Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from 1861 to 1888 and German Emperor from 1871 until 1888.

Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia died on November 13, 1940 in Zawidów and was buried in the mausoleum there.

After his death, Waldemar, son of Prince Heinrich and the grandson of German Emperor Friedrich III inherited the castle in Kamenz.

April 14, 1578: Birth of Felipe III, King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan

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Archduchess Margaret of Austria, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, Duke of Lerma, Emperor Charles V, Emperor Maximilian II, King Carlos I of Spain, King Felipe III of Spain, King of Portugal

Felipe III (April 14, 1578 – March 31, 1621) was King of Spain. As Felipe II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621.

A member of the House of Habsburg, Felipe III was born in Madrid to King Felipe II of Spain and his fourth wife and niece Archduchess Anna of Austria the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and Infanta Maria of Spain, the daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King Carlos I of Spain, and Infanta Isabella of Portugal.

Although also known in Spain as Felipe the Pious, Felipe’s political reputation abroad has been largely negative. Historians C. V. Wedgwood, R. Stradling and J. H. Elliott have described him, respectively, as an “undistinguished and insignificant man,” a “miserable monarch,” and a “pallid, anonymous creature, whose only virtue appeared to reside in a total absence of vice.”

In particular, Felipe’s reliance on his corrupt chief minister, the Duke of Lerma, drew much criticism at the time and afterwards. For many, the decline of Spain can be dated to the economic difficulties that set in during the early years of his reign. Nonetheless, as the ruler of the Spanish Empire at its height and as the king who achieved a temporary peace with the Dutch (1609–1621) and brought Spain into the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) through an (initially) extremely successful campaign, Philip’s reign remains a critical period in Spanish history.

Early life

After Felipe III’s older half-brother Don Carlos died insane, their father Felipe II had concluded that one of the causes of Carlos’ condition had been the influence of the warring factions at the Spanish court. He believed that Carlos’ education and upbringing had been badly affected by this, resulting in his lunacy and disobedience, and accordingly he set out to pay much greater attention to arrangements for his later sons.

King Felipe II appointed Juan de Zúñiga, then Infante Diego’s governor, to continue this role for Felipe, and chose García de Loaysa as his tutor. They were joined by Cristóbal de Moura, a close supporter of Felipe II. In combination, Felipe II believed, they would provide a consistent, stable upbringing for Infante Felipe, and ensure that he would avoid the same fate as Carlos.

Felipe III’s education was to follow the model for royal princes laid down by Father Juan de Mariana, focusing on the imposition of restraints and encouragement to form the personality of the individual at an early age, aiming to deliver a king who was neither tyrannical nor excessively under the influence of his courtiers.

King Felipe III appears to have been generally liked by his contemporaries: ‘dynamic, good-natured and earnest,’ suitably pious, having a ‘lively body and a peaceful disposition,’ albeit with a relatively weak constitution. The comparison with the memory of the disobedient and ultimately insane Carlos was usually a positive one, although some commented that King Felipe III appeared less intelligent and politically competent than his late brother.

Indeed, although King Felipe III was educated in Latin, French, Portuguese and astronomy, and appears to have been a competent linguist, recent historians suspect that much of his tutors’ focus on Felipe III’s undeniably pleasant, pious and respectful disposition was to avoid reporting that, languages aside, he was not in fact particularly intelligent or academically gifted. Nonetheless, Felipe III does not appear to have been naive—his correspondence to his daughters shows a distinctive cautious streak in his advice on dealing with court intrigue.

Philip married his cousin, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, on April 18, 1599, a year after becoming king. Archduchess Margaret the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Her elder brother was the Archduke Ferdinand, who succeeded as Emperor Ferdinand II in 1619. Two of her sisters, Anna and Constance, through their subsequent marriages to King Sigismund III Vasa, became Queens of Poland.

Queen Margaret would be one of three women at Felipe III’s court who would apply considerable influence over the King. Margaret was considered by contemporaries to be extremely pious—in some cases, excessively pious, and too influenced by the Church—’astute and very skillful’ in her political dealings, although ‘melancholic’ and unhappy over the influence of the Duke of Lerma over her husband at court. Margaret continued to fight an ongoing battle with Lerma for influence up until her death in 1611. King Felipe III had an ‘affectionate, close relationship’ with Margaret, and paid her additional attention after she bore him a son in 1605.

Margaret, alongside Felipe’s grandmother/aunt, Empress Maria—the Austrian representative to the Spanish court—and Margaret of the Cross, Maria’s daughter—formed a powerful, uncompromising Catholic and pro-Austrian voice within Felipe’s life. They were successful, for example, in convincing Felipe to provide financial support to Ferdinand from 1600 onwards.

King Felipe III died in Madrid on March 31, 1621, and was succeeded by his son, Felipe IV, who rapidly completed the process of removing the last elements of the Sandoval family regime from court. The story told in the memoirs of the French ambassador Bassompierre, that he was killed by the heat of a brasero (a pan of hot charcoal), because the proper official to take it away was not at hand, is a humorous exaggeration of the formal etiquette of the court.[citation needed]

King Felipe III has generally left a poor legacy with historians. Three major historians of the period have described an ‘undistinguished and insignificant man’, a ‘miserable monarch’, whose ‘only virtue appeared to reside in a total absence of vice’. More generally, Philip has largely retained the reputation of ‘a weak, dim-witted monarch who preferred hunting and traveling to governing’.