A change in a name on this blog.

Tags

Carl, Charles, Charles XII of Sweden, Cyrillic Alphabet, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Karl, Nicholas II of Russia

Ever since I began this blog back on Thursday May, 3rd 2012 I have tried to use the names of Royals in their native tongue. The name Philip is a good example. For English Royalty with that name I use Philip. In French I render it as Philippe and in Spanish it’s Felipe and in German it’s Philipp.

Cyrillic Alphabet

The only exceptions where I prefer the English is with the Eastern European Monarchies. For example, Russian is an East Slavic language that uses the Cyrillic script or alphabet. The last Emperor of Russia was named Nicholas in English. In Russian, with the Cyrillic Alphabet Nicholas, is rendered Николай which can also be translated as Nikolai. Nicholas is a name that is derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος (Nikolaos), a compound of νίκη nikē ‘victory’ and λαός; laos ‘people’. Instead of using Nikolai II for the spelling the name of last Russian Emperor, I’ve chosen the common English interpretation, Nicholas. I do this for all Russian, Greek and Polish royals.

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia

In German I prefer Wilhelm to William and Friedrich to Frederick and Ludwig to Louis. However, this is where I want to make a slight adjustment based solely on my personal preference. This change has to do with the name Charles. In German it’s generally rendered as either Karl or Carl. It’s just a preference and no disrespect toward anyone named Karl or Carl, I simply prefer the name Charles.

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King of Spain.

Therefore from now on in German and Danish royalty I’ll use Charles in replace of Karl or Carl. An exception will be, or in other words, where I’ll continue the usage of Carl is with Sweden to be consistent with the fact that Carl is the name the current of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. It would seem odd, at least for me, to refer to previous kings as Charles, Charles XII or Charles XV for example, then to refer to the current king as Carl XVI Gustaf.

King Carl XII of Sweden

November 15, 1498: Birth of Archduchess Eleanore of Austria, Queen Consort of Portugal and France.

Tags

Birthday, Carlos I of Spain, Eleanore of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Empire, King François I of France, King Henry VIII of England, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Queen Consort of Portugal and France

Eleanor of Austria (November 15, 1498 – February 25, 1558), also called Eleanor of Castile, was born an Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and subsequently became Queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and Queen Consort of France (1530–1547).

Eleanor was born in 1498 at Leuven, the eldest child of Philipp of Austria (King Felipe I of Castile) and Joanna of Castile, who would later become co-sovereigns of Castile. Her father was also the son of the reigning Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and his deceased consort Mary of Burgundy, while her mother was the daughter of the Catholic Monarchs; namely Fernando II-V of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

Her siblings were Holy Roman Emperor Karl V (King Carlos I of Spain), Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Queen Isabella of Denmark (wife of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway), Queen Mary of Hungary (wife of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia), and Queen Catherine of Portugal (wife of King João III of Portugal). She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress (the consort of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III and the mother of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I).

Eleanore of Austria, Queen Consort of Portugal and France

When she was a child, Eleanor’s relatives tried to marry her to the future King of England, Henry VIII, to whom she was betrothed. However, when Henry’s father died and he became King, Henry decided to marry Eleanor’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon, who was the widow of King Henry’s older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Her relatives also tried to marry her to the French Kings Louis XII or King François I, or to the Polish King Sigismund I, but nothing came of these plans. Eleanor was also proposed as a marriage candidate for Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, in 1510.

In 1517 Eleanor may have had a love affair with Friedrich II, Elector Palatine. Her brother King Carlos I of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor Karl V) who had succeeded their elderly grandfather King Fernando II-V of Castile and Aragon as King of a United Spain the year before, once discovered her reading a love letter from Friedrich. Carlos forced Eleanor and Friedrich to swear in front of an attorney that they were not secretly married, after which he expelled Friedrich from court. She then followed her brother to Spain in 1517.

Holy Roman Emperor Karl V (King Carlos I of Spain).

Eleanor married her uncle by marriage, King Manuel I of Portugal, on July 16, 1518 after a proposed marriage with her cousin, the future King João III of Portugal did not occur. Her brother Carlos arranged the marriage between Eleanor and the King of Portugal to avoid the possibility of Portuguese assistance for any rebellion in Castile. Manuel had previously been married to two of Eleanor’s maternal aunts, Isabella of Aragon and Maria of Aragon.

Manuel and Eleanor had two children: the Infante Carlos (born February 18, 1520 – died April 15, 1521) and the Infanta Maria (born June 8, 1521, and who was later one of the richest princesses of Europe). She became a widow on December 13, 1521 when Manuel died of the plague. As Queen Dowager of Portugal, Eleanor returned to the court of Carlos in Spain. Eleanor’s sister Catherine later married Eleanor’s stepson, King João III of Portugal.

King François I of France

In July 1523, Eleanor was engaged to Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, in an alliance between Charles and Bourbon against France, but the marriage never took place. In 1526, Eleanor was engaged to King François I of France during his captivity in Spain.

In 1529, by the treaty called “La Paz de las Damas” (The Ladies’ Peace), it was stipulated that the marriage should take place. She was married to François on July 4, 1530. They had no children.

Eleanor left Spain in the company of her future stepsons, who were now to be released having been held hostage by her brother. The group met François at the border, where Eleanor and François were married, and then departed for an official entrance to Bordeaux. Eleanor was crowned Queen of France in Saint-Denis on May 31, 1531. She was dressed in purple velvet at her coronation. Eleanor was ignored by Francis, who seldom performed his marital obligations and preferred his lover Anne de Pisseleu d’Heilly.

At the official entrance of Eleanor to Paris, François displayed himself openly to the public in a window with his lover Anne for a period of two hours.

Queen Eleanor performed as the queen of France at official occasions, such as at the wedding between her stepson Henri and Catherine de’ Medici in 1533. She also performed charity and was praised for this. She also took her stepdaughters, Madeleine and Margaret, into her household to raise them further.

As the French queen, Eleanor did not have any political power; however, she was used as a contact between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Queen Eleanor was present at the peace negotiations between and Carlos in Aigues-Mortes in 1538. In 1544, she was given the task of entering peace negotiations with Charles and their sister Mary. In November 1544, she visited Carlos in Brussels.

Later life

François died at the Château de Rambouillet on March 15, 1547, on his son and successor’s 28th birthday. It is said that “he died complaining about the weight of a crown that he had first perceived as a gift from God.” He was interred with his first wife, Claude, Duchess of Brittany, in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his son, Henri II.

As a queen dowager, Eleanor left France for Brussels in 1548. She witnessed the abdication of Carlos I of Spain in October 1555 and left for Spain with him and their sister Mary in August 1556. She lived with her sister in Jarandilla de la Vera, where they often visited their brother, who retired to a monastery nearby. In 1558, she met her daughter Maria in Badajoz for the first time in 28 years. Eleanor died in 1558 on the return trip from Badajoz. Her brother Carlos, former Holy Roman Emperor Emperor and King of Spain, died in September of the same year.

November 4, 1677: Marriage of Princess Mary of England and Prince William of Orange.

Tags

Glorious Revolution, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Mary II of England, Parliament, William III and Mary II, William III of England

Mary II (April 30, 1662 – December 28, 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, King William III-II England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1689 until her death. Popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary.

Princess Mary of York

Mary, born at St James’s Palace in London on April 30, 1662, was the eldest daughter of the Duke of York (the future King James II-VII), and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Mary’s uncle was King Charles II, who ruled the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland; her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, served for a lengthy period as Charles’s chief advisor. She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St James’s, and was named after her ancestor, Mary I, Queen of Scots. Her godparents included her father’s cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, and King Charles II had no legitimate children. Consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father.

James II-VII, King of England, Scotland and Ireland

At the age of fifteen, Mary became betrothed to her cousin, the Protestant Stadtholder of Holland, William III of Orange (November 4, 1650 – March 8,1702). William was the son of Willem II of Orange and Mary, Princess Royal, King Charles II’s late sister, and thus fourth in the line of succession after James, Mary, and Anne.

At first, Charles II opposed the alliance with the Dutch ruler—he preferred that Mary wed her second cousin Louis, the Grand Dauphin, the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France, and his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain, thus allying his realms with Catholic France and strengthening the odds of an eventual Catholic successor in Britain. However, pressure from Parliament and with a coalition with the Catholic French no longer politically favourable, he approved the proposed union.

The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister Lord Danby and the King, who incorrectly assumed that it would improve James’s popularity among Protestants. When James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, “she wept all that afternoon and all the following day”.

William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, Stadtholder of the Netherlands and Prince of Orange.

William III of Orange and a tearful Mary were married in St James’s Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on November 4, 1677 (William’s 27th birthday). Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands later that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather in Rotterdam was inaccessible because of ice, and they were forced to land at the small village of Ter Heijde, and walk through the frosty countryside until met by coaches to take them to Huis Honselaarsdij. On December 14, they made a formal entry to The Hague in a grand procession.

Mary’s animated and personable nature made her popular with the Dutch people, and her marriage to a Protestant prince was popular in Britain. She was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Mary’s family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. Within months of the marriage Mary was pregnant; however, on a visit to her husband at the fortified city of Breda, she suffered a miscarriage, which may have permanently impaired her ability to have children. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679, and early 1680. Her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life.

Although their father James, Duke of York, was Roman Catholic, Mary and her sister Anne were raised as Anglicans at the wishes of their uncle, King Charles II. He lacked legitimate children, making Mary second in the line of succession as James’s eldest child. After coming to the throne King James II-VII attempted to rule by decree and the birth of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, led to his deposition in the Glorious Revolution and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights.

Mary II, Queen of England, Scotlano and Ireland, Princess of Orange.

William and Mary both became King and Queen as William III and Mary II of England (William II) of Scotland and Ireland She wielded less power than him when he was in England, ceding most of her authority to him, though he heavily relied on her. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Her death left William as sole ruler until his own death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Mary’s sister Anne.

This date in History, August 17, 1786: Birth of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent.

Victoria was born in Coburg on August 17, 1786 in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. She was the fourth daughter and seventh child of Franz-Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf. One of her brothers was Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and another brother, Leopold, future king of the Belgians, who married, in 1816, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate daughter of the future King George IV of the United King of Great Britain and heiress presumptive to the British throne.

First Marriage

On December 21, 1803 at Coburg, a young Victoria married (as his second wife) Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), whose first wife, Henrietta of Reuss-Ebersdorf, had been her aunt. The couple had two children, Prince Carl, born on September 12, 1804, and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, born on December 7, 1807.

Through her first marriage, she is a direct matrilineal ancestor to various members of royalty in Europe, including Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Felipe VI of Spain, and Constantine II of Greece.

Regency

After the death of her first spouse, she served as regent of the Principality of Leiningen during the minority of their son, Carl.

Second marriage

The death in 1817 of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the wife of Victoria’s brother Leopold, prompted a succession crisis. With Parliament offering them a financial incentive, three of Charlotte’s uncles, sons of George III, were prepared to marry. One of them, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820) proposed to Victoria and she accepted. The couple were married on May 29 1818 at Amorbachand on 11 July 1818 at Kew, a joint ceremony at which Edward’s brother, the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Princess Victoria was 32 and the Duke of Kent was 51 at the time of their marriage.

Shortly after their marriage, the Kents moved to Germany, where the cost of living would be cheaper. Soon after, Victoria became pregnant, and the Duke and Duchess, determined to have their child born in England, raced back. Arriving at Dover on April 23, 1819, they moved into Kensington Palace, where Victoria gave birth to a daughter on May 24, 1819, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, later Queen Victoria. An efficient organiser, Sir John Conroy’s planning ensured the Kents’ speedy return to England in time for the birth of their first child.

The Duke of Kent died suddenly of pneumonia in January 1820, six days before his father, King George III. His widow the Duchess had little cause to remain in the United Kingdom, since she did not speak the language and had a palace at home in Coburg where she could live cheaply on the revenues of her first husband. However, the British succession at this time was far from assured – of the three brothers older than Edward, the new king, George IV, and the Duke of York were both estranged from their wives, who were in any case past childbearing age. The third brother, the Duke of Clarence, had yet to produce any surviving children with his wife. The Duchess of Kent decided that she would do better by gambling on her daughter’s accession than by living quietly in Coburg and, having inherited her second husband’s debts, sought support from the British government. After the death of Edward and his father, the young Princess Victoria was still only third in line for the throne, and Parliament was not inclined to support yet more impoverished royalty.

In 1831, with George IV dead and the new king, William IV, over 60 and without legitimate issue, the young princess’s status as heir presumptive and the Duchess’s prospective place as regent led to major increases in British state income for the Kents. A contributing factor was Leopold’s designation as King of the Belgians, upon which he surrendered his British income.

Conroy had high hopes for his patroness and himself: He envisaged Victoria succeeding the throne at a young age, thus needing a regency government, which, following the Regency Act 1830, would be headed by the princess’s mother (who had already served in that capacity in Germany following the death of her first husband). As the personal secretary of the Duchess, Conroy would be the veritable “power behind the throne”. He had not counted on William IV surviving long enough for Victoria to succeed to the throne as an adult and consequently, while cultivating her mother, had shown little consideration for Victoria.

When Victoria succeeded as Queen of the United Kingdom, Conroy risked having no influence over her. He tried to force Victoria to agree to make him her personal secretary once she succeeded, but this plan, too, backfired. Victoria resented her mother’s support for Conroy’s schemes and being pressured by her to sign a paper declaring Conroy her personal secretary. The result was that when Victoria became queen, she relegated the Duchess to separate accommodations, away from her own.

Duchess of Kent with her grandson, Prince Alfred.

When the Queen’s first child, the Princess Royal, was born, the Duchess of Kent unexpectedly found herself welcomed back into Victoria’s inner circle. It is likely that this came about as a result of the dismissal of Baroness Lehzen at the behest of Victoria’s husband (and the Duchess’s nephew), Prince Albert. Firstly, this removed Lehzen’s influence, and Lehzen had long despised the Duchess and Conroy, suspecting them of an illicit affair. Secondly, it left the Queen wholly open to Albert’s influence, and he likely prevailed upon her to reconcile with her mother. Thirdly, Conroy by now lived in exile on the Continent and so his divisive influence was removed. The Duchess’s finances, which had been left in shambles by Conroy, were restored thanks to Victoria and her advisors. By all accounts, the Duchess became a doting grandmother and was closer to her daughter than she ever had been.

The Duchess died at 09:30 on 16 March 1861 with her daughter Victoria at her side, aged 74 years. The Queen was much affected by her mother’s death. Through reading her mother’s papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for “wickedly” estranging her from her mother. She is buried in the Duchess of Kent’s Mausoleum at Frogmore, Windsor Home Park, near to the royal residence Windsor Castle.

On this date in History. July 17, 1918. Murder of the Czar and his family.

On the 101st Anniversary of the assassination of the Czar and his family I am re blogging last years entry.

European Royal History

Today is the 100th Anniversary of the Murder of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his entire family. My apologies for being a day late.

Late on the night of July 16, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five childre, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia and Alexei and four servants, personal physician Eugene Botkin, his wife’s maid Anna Demidova, and the family’s chef, Ivan Kharitonov, and footman, Alexei Trupp, were ordered to dress quickly and go down to the cellar of the house in which they were being held. There, the family and servants were arranged in two rows for a photograph they were told was being taken to quell rumors that they had escaped. Suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the imperial family in a hail of gunfire. Those who were still breathing when the smoked cleared were stabbed to death.

View original post

June 28, 1914. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary.

On this date in History…..

European Royal History

98 years ago today came the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary an act which precipitated the first World War. I cannot do justice in this blog to all the complexities that lead to the start of World War I. I don’t view the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the cause of World War I but merely the spark that set off a ticking time bomb. The roots of the war go back a long way in European history. Throughout the 19th century a weakened Ottoman Empire began losing its European territories. As territories were lost they were gobbled up by the larger European powers which often disregarded the ethnic and nationalistic make up of the population. This happened when Austria-Hungary annexed the Bosnian region which had a large population of Serbian nationals.

What also was a large factor was the alliance system that reached its peak during…

View original post 565 more words

June 20, 1837, Princess Alexandrina Victoria becomes Queen

On this date in History: June 20, 1837. Death of William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the accession of his niece as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

European Royal History

With the death of King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover, on June 20, 1837, his 18 year old niece ascends the throne as Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria was christened as Alexandrina Victoria and for a while was known as “Drina” in her youth. The first official documents prepared for her on her first day as queen named her Queen Alexandrina Victoria. However the queen requested it to be changed and stated she wanted to be known as Victoria.

Queen Victoria was the only daughter of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and   Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Her father was the fourth son of King George III and he died in 1820. With both George IV and William IV leaving no legitimate offspring Victoria was heir to the throne. Her accession to the throne also witnessed the separation of the personal union between the United Kingdom…

View original post 198 more words

On this date in History: June 8, 1042. Accession of Edward the Confessor as King of England.

Tags

Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, Harthacnut, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Norway, Kings and Queens of England, Magnus the Good

On this date in History: June 8, 1042. Death of Harthacnut, King of Denmark and England and the accession of Magnus I Olafsson the Good as King of Denmark and Edward the Confessor as King of England.

Arms of the Kingdom of England

Harthacnut (c. 1018 – June 8, 1042), sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. He was the son of King Canute II the Great of Denmark, Norway, and England and Emma of Normandy. When Canute II died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father’s possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot. Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus I of Norway in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Scandinavian to rule England.

Magnus Olafsson (c. 1024 – 25 October 1047), better known as Magnus the Good, was the King of Norway from 1035 and King of Denmark from 1042, ruling over both countries until his death in 1047. Magnus I was an illegitimate son of Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother when his father was dethroned in 1028. He returned to Norway in 1035 and was crowned king at the age of 11. In 1042, he was also crowned king of Denmark. Magnus ruled the two countries until 1047, when he died under unclear circumstances. After his death, his kingdom was split between Harald III Hardrada in Norway and Sweyn Estridsson in Denmark.

Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 – 5 January 1066), also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.

Edward was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeeded Canute II the Great’s son – and his own half brother – Harthacnut. He restored the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Canute II conquered England in 1016.

During his childhood, England was the target of Viking raids and invasions under Sweyn Forkbeard and his son, Canute. Following Sweyn’s seizure of the throne in 1013, Emma fled to Normandy, followed by Edward and Alfred, and then by Æthelred. Sweyn died in February 1014, and leading Englishmen invited Æthelred back on condition that he promised to rule ‘more justly’ than before. Æthelred agreed, sending Edward back with his ambassadors.

King Æthelred the Unreadydied in April 1016, and he was succeeded by Edward’s older half-brother Edmund Ironside, who carried on the fight against Sweyn’s son, Cnut. According to Scandinavian tradition, Edward fought alongside Edmund; as Edward was at most thirteen years old at the time, the story is disputed. Edmund died in November 1016, and Cnut became undisputed king. Edward then again went into exile with his brother and sister; in 1017 his mother married Canute II. In the same year Canute had Edward’s last surviving elder half-brother, Eadwig, executed, leaving Edward as the leading Anglo-Saxon claimant to the throne.

Following Harthacnut’s death on June 8, 1042, Godwin, the most powerful of the English earls, supported Edward, who succeeded to the throne. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the popularity he enjoyed at his accession – “before he [Harthacnut] was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London.” Edward was crowned at the cathedral of Winchester, the royal seat of the West Saxons, on April 3, 1043.

When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Edgar the Ætheling, who was of the House of Wessex, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but never ruled and was deposed after about eight weeks.

About a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the king. Saint Edward was one of England’s national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint in about 1350. Saint Edward’s feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Death of Kaiser Wilhelm II: June 4, 1941.

On this date in History….

European Royal History

On this date in History: June 4, 1941. Death of former German Emperor and King of Prussia Wilhelm II at his home in exile, Huis Doorn, the Netherlands.

Wilhelmina II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern; January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from June 15, 1888 to his abdication November 9, 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe, most notably King George V of the United Kingdom and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.

Wilhelm was born on January 27, 1859 at the Crown Prince’s Palace, Berlin, to Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Friedrich III) and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria. At the time…

View original post 355 more words

Charles II: Anniversary of his birth and restoration.

Written last year, Anniversary of the Birth and Restoration of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

European Royal History

On this date in history: May 29, 1630. The birth of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. On this date in history, May 29, 1660 the restoration of Charles II.


The future Charles II was born at St James’s Palace on May 29, 1630. His parents were Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland) and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre and Marie de’ Medici. This made Henrietta Maria the sister of the French king Louis XIII and aunt of Louis XIV. Charles was their second child. Their first son was Charles James, Duke of Cornwall born and died on March 13, 1629.


Charles was baptized in the Chapel Royal, on June 27, 1630 by the Anglican Bishop of London, William Laud. The three kingdoms were experiencing great religious diversity at this time. England was predominantly…

View original post 487 more words