June 1, 1424: Birth of King Ferdinand I of Naples

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Alfonso I of Naples, Alfonso II of Naples, Duke of Calabria, Ferdinand I of Naples, Isabella of Taranto, Pope Eugene IV, Pope Nicholas V, René of Anjou-Valois, Treaty of Lodi

From the Emperor’s Desk: Not to be confused with Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies.

King Ferdinand I of Naples (June 2, 1424 – January 25, 1494), was the only son, illegitimate, of King Alfonso I of Naples. He was king of Naples from 1458 to 1494.

His mother, Gueraldona Carlino, was probably a woman of Neapolitan origin who in December 1423 had accompanied Alfonso on his return to Spain, where she later married a certain Gaspar Reverdit of Barcelona.

In order to ensure a good future for his illegitimate son, his father Alfonso had called him to Naples. At the behest of the king, on July 26, 1438 the governor de Corella, the bishop Borgia and the young Ferdinand, with their entourage of young Catalan gentlemen, set sail from Barcelona for Italy. Alfonso’s purpose was to prepare his only son, albeit illegitimate, for the role of heir to the kingdom he was conquering. The whole company landed in Gaeta on August 19, where Ferdinand was reunited with his father, whom he hardly knew.

A strong emotional bond soon developed between father and son, as Alfonso appreciated the young man’s acute intelligence and courage, while Ferrante showed complete reverence for his parent. Alfonso on September 9, 1438 created Ferdinand a knight on the Maddaloni field where René of Anjou-Valois, challenged to battle, did not appear.

In Naples he had as teachers Valla, Panormita, Borgia and Gabriele Altilio, who taught him for many years. He also had as tutor Paris de Puteo who taught him law. When the Sacro regio consiglio, judicial authority of the kingdom, was established by Alfonso, he was assigned the position of president.

Following the death of his uncle Peter, in April 1439 Ferdinand was appointed lieutenant general of the kingdom. On February 17, 1440, King Alfonso, by his own authority, legitimized and declared his son his heir to the throne of Naples and then, in January 1441, he secured the approval of the parliament of the barons of the kingdom that he had summoned in Benevento and which was then transferred to Naples.

Still in parliament, Alfonso, worried about the succession, promoted a petition, in which the barons, knowing they were doing the king a great pleasure, proposed to establish Ferdinand as his future successor, with the title of Duke of Calabria, usually given to the first-born of the king of Naples.

The recognition of the rights of succession Ferdinand was sealed by the Papal bull Regnans in altissimis issued by Pope Eugene IV in July 1443, and later confirmed in 1451 by Pope Nicholas V.

In 1444 Ferdinand married the heiress Isabella of Taranto, daughter of Tristan of Clermont and Catherine of Taranto, designated heir of Prince Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo of Taranto, his maternal uncle, who had no children. Isabella was also the niece of Queen Mary of Enghien who, having married Ladislaus I of Anjou, had therefore been queen of Naples, Sicily and the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1406 to 1414.

Ferdinand was solemnly crowned on February 4, 1459, in the Cathedral of Barletta and to thank the Pope Pius II, in 1461, he wanted Maria, his natural daughter, to marry Antonio Piccolomini nephew of Pius, giving her as a dowry the Duchy of Amalfi, the county of Celano and the office of Great executioner for her husband. The problems, however, were not over yet, in fact Ferdinand’s rival, Jean of Anjou, aspired to regain the throne of Naples, lost by his father in the war against Alfonso.

As King, Ferdinand was one of the most influential and feared monarchs in Europe at the time and an important figure of the Italian Renaissance. In his thirty years of reign he brought peace and prosperity to Naples.

Its foreign and diplomatic policy aimed at assuming the task of regulating the events of the peninsula in order not to disturb the political balance given by the Treaty of Lodi, to affirm the hegemony of the Kingdom of Naples over the other Italian states and to tighten through its diplomats and marriages of his numerous legitimate and natural children, a dense network of alliances and relationships with Italian and foreign sovereigns, earned him the fame and the nickname of Judge of Italy, in addition to being recognized as a generous patron.

Ferdinand I was succeeded on the Neapolitan throne by his eldest son the Duke of Calabria as King Alfonso II (November 14, 1448 – December 18, 1495) and ruled as King of Naples from January 25, 1494 to January 23, 1495. He was a soldier and a patron of Renaissance architecture and the arts.

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 29th: Birthday (1630) and Restoration (1660) of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

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Catherine of Braganza, Charles II of England, Clarendon Code, Commonwealth, King Charles I of England, King John IV of Portugal, Oliver Cromwell, Poppish Plot, Restoration, Scotland and Ireland, the Duke of York, Titus Oates, Treaty of Dover

Charles II (May 29, 1630 – February 6, 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. After Charles I’s execution at Whitehall on January 30, 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on February 5, 1649. However, England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, with a government led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe.

Cromwell became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. The political crisis that followed Cromwell’s death in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On May 29, 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649.

Marriage

Catherine of Braganza was born November 25, 1638 at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa as the second surviving daughter of João, 8th Duke of Braganza, and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King João IV of Portugal on December 1, 1640.

Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I and were renewed immediately after the Restoration. On June 23, 1661, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed. England secured Tangier (in North Africa) and the Seven Islands of Bombay (in India), trading privileges in Brazil and the Portuguese East Indies, religious and commercial freedom for English residents in Portugal, and two million Portuguese crowns (about £300,000).

In return, Portugal obtained English military and naval support (which would prove to be decisive) in her fight against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. She arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of May 13–14, 1662, but was not visited there by Charles until May 20th. The following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service.

Charles’s English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin King Louis XIV of France. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.

In 1679, Titus Oates’s fabrication of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles’s brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, had become a Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and after the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile. Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685.

Following his restoration, he became known for his affability, friendliness and for allowing his subjects easy access to his person. However, he also showed an almost impenetrable reserve, especially concerning his political agendas. His court gained a reputation for moral laxity. Charles acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses, but left no legitimate children and was succeeded by his brother, James.

May 22, 1629: Treaty of Lübeck, Peace Treaty during the Thirty Years’ War.

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Albrecht von Wallenstein, Battle of Wolgast, Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Empire, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, Kingdom of Denmark and Norway, Peace of Lübeck, Thirty Years War, Treaty of Lübeck

Treaty or Peace of Lübeck ended the Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War (Low Saxon or Emperor’s War, Kejserkrigen). It was signed in Lübeck on May 22, 1629 by Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, and on June 7, by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Catholic League was formally included as a party. It restored to Denmark–Norway its pre-war territory at the cost of final disengagement from imperial affairs.

Background

The treaty of Lübeck ended a stage of the Thirty Years’ War referred to as the Lower Saxon or Emperor’s War which had begun in 1625. Initial success was with the Danish armies, commanded by King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway and Ernst von Mansfeld. Then, in 1626, their opponents, a Catholic League army commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, and an army of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, commanded by Albrecht von Wallenstein, turned the tide in the battles of Dessau Bridge and Lutter am Barenberge. Mansfeld moved his army toward Silesia and Hungary, but that campaign failed in 1627, and Mansfeld deserted and later died of plague.

Wallenstein and Tilly subsequently gained central and northern Germany, joined their forces during the summer of 1627, invaded Danish Holstein in September, and advanced through the Jutland peninsula as far as Limfjord. While Christian IV’s control of the western Baltic Sea and the Danish isles was unchallenged, Wallenstein was given the Duchy of Mecklenburg vis-a-vis Denmark in January 1628, and was preparing to construct a navy of his own at the occupied ports of Ålborg, Wismar, Rostock and Greifswald starting in late 1627.

Christian responded with an amphibious campaign in 1628, using his fleet to make landfalls along the occupied coastlines, and destroying the naval facilities in Ålborg, Wismar, and Greifswald. Wallenstein, who had nevertheless managed to build thirteen vessels in Wismar under Philipp von Mansfeld, was unable to use them, because Swedish ships were blockading that port.

Christian concluded an alliance with Gustaf II Adolphus of Sweden in April, and both supported Stralsund in her successful resistance against Wallenstein. In August, an attempt to secure another bridgehead on the southern Baltic shore failed with Christian’s defeat in the Battle of Wolgast. After this battle, the final one in the Kejserkrigen, Christian was ready to negotiate—and so was Wallenstein, whom the Scandinavian alliance seriously threatened.

Both Christian and Wallenstein were aware that neither of them would be able to get all their demands through, thus they resorted to secret negotiations in Güstrow, Mecklenburg.

Treaty

The treaty was concluded by Wallenstein and King Christian IV on May 22 1629, and ratified by Emperor Ferdinand II on June 7. The Catholic League was formally added as a party. The treaty restored to Christian his pre-war possessions, and obliged him to cede his claims to Lower Saxon bishoprics, to discontinue his alliances with the North German states, and to not interfere with further imperial affairs in the future.

Tilly had not succeeded in implementing a compensation of the imperial war costs on Christian. Also not included in the treaty’s text was that Christian stop supporting Friedrich V, Elector Palatine, as demanded by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.

Consequences

The treaty marked a turning point in Denmark–Norway’s status, subsequently reduced from that of a major European power to a politically insignificant state. The new Nordic power would be Sweden, who was to turn the tide of the Thirty Years’ War after its forces landed in Pomerania in 1630, and, starting with the Torstenson War, subsequently deprived Denmark of her trans-Kattegat provinces.

The treaty further divided Christian and the Rigsraadet, for Christian argued that if the latter had been in charge, it would have accepted the initial imperial territorial and financial demands.

Ferdinand had hoped for more favourable terms, and was surprised and disappointed of what Wallenstein had negotiated. While he had arranged for imposing his war costs on Christian, this was no longer an option.

Deprived of Danish-Norwegian protection, the North German states faced the Edict of Restitution, issued by Ferdinand already during the negotiations. It aimed at a re-Catholization of northern Germany, and the restitution of former ecclesial possessions that had been secularized during the Protestant Reformation.

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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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.

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’.

March 26, 1027: Coronation of Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor

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coronation, Emperor Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of East Francia, King of Germany, Pope John XIX

Conrad II (c. 989/990 – June 4, 1039), also known as Conrad the Elder and Conrad the Salic, was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms of Germany (from 1024), Italy (from 1026) and Burgundy (from 1033).

The son of Franconian count Henry of Speyer (also Henry of Worms) and Adelaide of Metz of the Matfriding dynasty, that had ruled the Duchy of Lorraine from 959 until 972, Conrad inherited the titles of count of Speyer and Worms during childhood after his father had died around the year 990. He extended his influence beyond his inherited lands, as he came into favor of the princes of the kingdom.

In 1016 Conrad married the twice widowed duchess Gisela of Swabia, daughter of Duke Herman II of Swabia who, in 1002, had unsuccessfully claimed the German throne upon Emperor Otto III’s death, and had lost the election to Emperor Heinrich II. Gisela had first been married to Count Bruno I of Brunswick the same year.

Following Bruno’s death around 1010, Gisela had married Ernst I of the House of Babenberg. Through this marriage, Ernst I inherited the Duchy of Swabia upon the death of Gisela’s brother Duke Herman III of Swabia in 1012. The marriage produced two sons: Ernst II and Herman. After the death of Ernst I in 1015, Emperor Heinrich II named Ernst II as Duke of Swabia.

As Gisela’s new husband, Conrad hoped to serve as regent for his minor stepson in the administration of the duchy, seeing it as an opportunity to increase his own rank and subsequently make a claim for his own duchy. Emperor Heinrich II blocked this attempt by placing the guardianship of Ernst II, and regency over Swabia, in the hands of Archbishop Poppo of Trier in 1016. This action further strained the already rough relationship between the imperial House of Otto and the Salian family.

On September 4, 1024, the German princes gathered at Kamba, a historical name for an area on the east banks of the Rhine opposite the modern German town of Oppenheim. Now the location of Kamba is marked with a small equestrian statue of Conrad II. The chronicler and Conrad’s chaplain, Wipo of Burgundy, attended the meeting and documented the event. Archbishop Aribo presided over the assembly.

Conrad presented himself as a candidate for election, as did his younger cousin Conrad. Both were descendants of Emperor Otto I by their common grandfather Otto of Worms, son of Liutgarde, one of Otto’s daughters. Although further members of the Ottonian dynasty existed, none were seriously considered eligible.

The Duchy of Saxony adopted a neutral strategy while the Duchy of Lorraine favored the younger Conrad. A majority of the assembled princes favored the elder Conrad, as the father of a seven-year-old son implied a more stable dynastic future for the kingdom. As president of the assembly, Archbishop Aribo cast the first vote and supported the elder Conrad. He was joined by the other clerics in support of him. The secular dukes then cast their votes for the elder Conrad as well. Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne, Duke Gothelo I of Lower Lorraine and Duke Friedrich II of Upper Lorraine did not support him.

Conrad was crowned King of Germany by Archbishop Aribo in Mainz Cathedral on September 8, 1024 at the age of 34. To mark his election, Conrad commissioned the construction of Speyer Cathedral, near his ancestral home of Worms. Construction began in 1030. Archbishop Aribo, as archbishop of Mainz, was already the chancellor of Germany. Conrad wanted to reward the archbishop for his electoral support, so he made Aribo chancellor of Italy as well, making Aribo the second most powerful man in the Holy Roman Empire as the imperial chancellor.

Aribo refused to crown Conrad’s wife Gisela as queen as their marriage violated canon law. Conrad refused to accept Archbishop Aribo’s position. Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne saw the situation as an opportunity to restore his relationship with the king, after refusing to support Conrad’s election, and he crowned Gisela queen on September 21, 1024. The political reorientation of Pilgrim also weakened the opposition towards the new king.

On March 26, 1027, Pope John XIX crowned Conrad and his wife Gisela as Emperor and Empress, respectively, in Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The event lasted seven days and was attended by Conrad’s son and heir Heinrich; Canute the Great, King of the English, Denmark and Norway; Rudolph III of Burgundy and around 70 senior clerics, including the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Trier, Magdeburg, Salzburg, Milan and Ravenna.

Rudolph III of Burgundy’s attendance suggested surprisingly good relations between Burgundy and the Holy Roman Empire. During the festivities a power struggle between the archbishops of Milan and Ravenna ensued and was settled in favor of Milan. Subsequently, Conrad left Rome and toured south to receive homage from the Southern Italian principalities of Capua and Salerno and the Duchy of Benevento.

March 17, 1473: Birth of King James IV of Scotland

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Battle of Flodden, Duke of Rothesay, Edinburgh Castle, Emperor Maximilian I, King Fernando II of Aragon, King James IV of Scotland, King Louis XII of France, Linlithgow Palace, Margaret Tudor of England, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Pope Alexander VI, Pope Julius II, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Stirling Castle, Treaty of Perpetual Peace

James IV (March 17, 1473 – September 9, 1513) Born at Stirling Castle, James was the eldest son of King James III of Scotland and Margrethe of Denmark, the daughter of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and Dorothea of Brandenburg.

As heir apparent to the Scottish crown, James became Duke of Rothesay at birth.

James was King of Scotland from June 11, 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, King James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, following a rebellion in which the younger James was the figurehead of the rebels. King James IV is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs. He was responsible for a major expansion of the Scottish royal navy, which included the founding of two royal dockyards and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including the Michael, the largest warship of its time.

Spanish monarchs Fernando II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile were appointed to arbitrate future disputes and unresolved issues such as redress for damages caused by the recent invasions. The possibility was also raised of strengthening the peace between both kingdoms with the marriage of James IV to Henry VII’s eldest daughter, Margaret.

King James IV of Scotland

Scottish and English commissioners met at Richmond Palace on 24 January 24, 1502, where they agreed on the marriage between James IV and Margaret, with a dowry of £35,000 Scots, and a peace treaty between the two kingdoms.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, there was to be “good, real and sincere, true, sound, and firm peace, friendship, league and confederation, to last all time coming” between England and Scotland, neither king or their successors were to make war against the other, and if either king broke the treaty, the Pope would excommunicate them.

In a ceremony at the altar of Glasgow Cathedral on December 10, 1502, King James IV confirmed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with King Henry VII, the first peace treaty between Scotland and England since 1328.

The marriage was completed by proxy on January 25, 1503 at Richmond Palace in the presence of the King and Queen of England, the Earl of Bothwell standing as a proxy for the Scottish king. Margaret left Richmond for Scotland on June 27 and, after crossing the border at Berwick upon Tweed on August 1, 1503, was received at Lamberton by the Archbishop of Glasgow and the Bishop of Moray.

On August 8, 1503, the marriage of the 30-year old Scottish king and his 13-year old English bride was celebrated in person in Holyrood Abbey. The rites were performed by Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow and Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York.

Their wedding was commemorated by the gift of the Hours of James IV of Scotland, and was portrayed as the marriage of The Thrissil and the Rois (the thistle and rose – the flowers of Scotland and England, respectively) by the poet William Dunbar, who was then resident at James’ court.

It is possible that the consummation of the marriage was delayed. This was not uncommon when young medieval brides were married, with the couple maintaining separate households or simply avoiding consummation until the bride was a more acceptable age. Margaret did not bear her first child until she was 17, so it is likely that James IV respected this convention.

Margaret of England

King James IV’s marriage to Margaret meant that only the future King Henry VIII stood between the Scottish king and the English succession, as Henry’s lack of an heir made it possible that either James or one of his successors might succeed if the Tudors failed to produce heirs.

Margaret’s first pregnancy resulted in the birth of James, Duke of Rothesay at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in February 1507. However, this heir to the throne died a year later in February 1508. At this point Margaret was already pregnant with a second child, a daughter whose name is unknown, and who was born and died in July 1508. In October 1509, a second son was born and named Arthur, a name recalling Margaret’s late brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, and reminding the still heirless Henry VIII that, if he were unable to produce a legitimate son to succeed him, it might be a son of Margaret Tudor who would succeed.

James was a patron of the arts and took an active interest in the law, literature and science, even personally experimenting in dentistry and bloodletting. With his patronage the printing press came to Scotland, and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen were founded. He commissioned the building of the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Falkland Palace, and extensive building work at Linlithgow Palace, Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle. The education act passed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1496 introduced compulsory schooling.

During James’s 25 year reign, royal income doubled, the crown exercised firm control over the Scottish church, royal administration was extended to the Highlands and the Hebrides, and by 1493 James had overcome the last independent Lord of the Isles.

Relations with England were improved with the Treaty of Perpetual Peace in 1502 and James’s marriage to Margaret Tudor in 1503 (the marriage led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when Elizabeth I of England died without heirs and James IV’s great-grandson James VI succeeded to the English throne).

The long period of domestic peace after 1497 allowed James to focus more on foreign policy, which included the sending of several of his warships to aid his uncle, King Hans of Denmark, in his conflict with Sweden; amicable relations with Pope Alexander VI, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Louis XII of France; and James’s aspiration to lead a European naval crusade against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. James was granted the title of Protector and Defender of the Christian Faith in 1507 by Pope Julius II.

When Henry VIII of England invaded France in 1513 as part of the Holy League, James chose the Auld Alliance with the French over the ‘Perpetual Peace’ with the English, and answered France’s call for assistance by leading a large army across the border into England. James and many of his nobles were killed at the Battle of Flodden on September 9, 1513. He was the last monarch in Great Britain to be killed in battle, and was succeeded by his son James V.