Topics

31

Having Fun! / The Name Game!

« on: March 01, 2006, 04:34:43 PM »

Ok, here's a new game. The first poster posts a name (it could be a member here, it could a historical figure - you get the idea). The second poster has to post another name beginning with what the last name ended with.

For example:
George V, King of England.

Elizabeth II, Queen of England.

Or maybe:

Prince Lieven.

Nadjeda, Countess de Torby.

See?

32

The Windsors / Love matches in Victoria's family

« on: February 26, 2006, 07:49:45 AM »

Hello everyone! I was just wondering if maybe we could list the marriages of Victoria's children and grandchildren that were genuine love marriages and those that were somewhere in between.

Please correct me if I'm wrong!


Love Matches
*Vicky and Fritz.
*Henry of Prussia and Irene of Hesse.
*Sophie of Prussia and Tino of Greece.
*Mossy of Prussia and 'Fischy' of Hesse-Kassel.
*George V and Queen Mary.
*Louise of Wales and 'Macduff' of Fife.
*Maud of Wales and Carl of Denmark.
*Victoria of Hesse and Louis of Battenberg.
*Ella of Hesse and Serge of Russia.
*Alix of Hesse and Nicky of Russia.
*Ducky of Edinburgh and Kyrill of Russia.
*Helena and Christian.
*Arthur and Luise Margarete.
*Daisy of Connaught and Gustaf of Sweden.
*Arthur of Connaught and Alexandra of Fife.
*Patsy of Connaught and Alexander Ramsay.
*Leopold and Helen.
*Alice of Albany and Alexander of Teck.
*Beatrice and Henry.

Possibly in love, or in love at one time?
*Wilhelm II and Dona.
*Viktoria of Prussia and Adolf of Schaumberg Lippe.
*Charlotte of Prussia and Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen.
*Edward VII and Alexandra.
*Alice and Louis.
*Ernie of Hesse and Ducky of Edinburgh.
*Ernie of Hesse and Eleonore of Solms
*Affie and Marie.
*Missy of Edinburgh and Nando of Romania.
*Sandra of Edinburgh and Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
*Bea of Edinburgh and Alfonso of Galliera.
*Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein and Aribert of Anhalt.
*Louise and Lorne.
*Charles Edward of Saxe Coburg and Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
*Drino Mountbatten and Irene Denison.

33

The Tudors / Edward IV and Elizabeth as a Couple

« on: February 05, 2006, 10:41:23 AM »

Hi guys.   It's generally accepted that Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville because he was madly in love with her and she refused to be his mistress. However, after their marriage there is little reference to them as being a particularly loved up couple. Edward had plenty of affairs, though he was kind to Elizabeth, and to her huge family. That said, is it possible that after the wedding his ardour faded? But if he regretted marrying her, surely arranging an annulment would have been easy? There we no reliable witnesses to his marriage with Elizabeth. So many people were upset by it I doubt there would have been much objection to getting the marriage dissolved.

So did Edward love Elizabeth throughout their marriage in spite of his affairs? Indeed, did Elizabeth love Edward or was she just looking to 'bag herself a rich one'?

If he didn't love her, why did Edward marry her?

If he loved he at first, then it faded later, why didn't he divorce her? Of course, he would never have endangered the legitimacy of his son and heir, but this son wasn't born until 1470.

Thoughts?

34

The Tudors / Lettice Knollys

« on: January 29, 2006, 05:16:28 PM »

I thought this woman deserved her own thread. Cousin to Elizabeth, wife to one of her favourites and mother to another, and she also lived to be 95!!  

Lettice must have been either extremely stupid or just determined to get her way when she married Robert Dudley (Her second husband) in 1578, Dudley being the Queen's acknowleged favourite.

What do you guys think?

I'm always struck by her resemblance to Elizabeth.

35

The Stuarts of Scotland / Stuart Godparents

« on: January 23, 2006, 04:44:26 PM »

Hi everyone.  

Can anyone fill me on some Stuart godparents? The only ones I know are :

-Elizabeth I was godmother to James I, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Elizabeth, the Winter Queen.
-The Winter Queen was godmother to James II.
-Prince Rupert of the Rhine was godfather to Mary II.
-Catherine of Braganza and the Pope of the day were godparents to the old Pretender.

Thanks!

36

The Stuarts of Scotland / Arbella Stuart and her father

« on: January 21, 2006, 12:33:36 PM »

Hello guys, here's a thread to discuss Arbella Stuart (1575-1615) and her father Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox (1555-1576). Did Arbella have porphyria, as has been rumoured? Also, what kind of man was Charles? Was he like his brother Darnley?

I have a bio on Arbella, 'England's Lost Queen' and tried reading it once, but gave up before long. I just found it very heavy reading and far too dominated by Bess of Hardwick, who doesn't interest me very much.  :-/

37

The Tudors / Henry Fitzroy

« on: January 19, 2006, 11:13:33 AM »

Hi everyone.  

Henry VIII's parliament passed an act giving him the power to choose as his successor anyone of his blood - it was speculated at the time that he was about to choose his bastard son Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Somerset. Do you think Henry ever considered this? Also, how much credence do you give to the rumours that Henry VIII intended to marry Fitzroy to his half sister Mary?  

38

The Stuarts of Scotland / George III and the Jacobites

« on: January 17, 2006, 07:09:25 AM »

Hi everyone.  

I've heard that King George III gave Cardinal York an allowance to support himself? Is this true? Did George give him much? Also, does anyone know George's reactions to the deaths of the Jacobites during his reign?

Thanks!

39

Having Fun! / Say it in 4!

« on: January 16, 2006, 09:59:05 AM »

Here's a new game (that's likely to bomb   ). The first poster pics someone and describes them using only four words, then they pick another person that the second poster has to describe in 4 words.

E.g

First poster:
Alexandra Feodorovna: Introverted, shy, pretty, regal.

Queen Victoria

Second poster:
Queen Victoria: [they pick 4]

Maria Nicolaenva (sp?)
------------
Get it? You can even describe yourself if you like.  

I'll start off.

Mary, Queen of Scots: Beautiful, impulsive, passionate, luckless.

Kaiser Wilhelm II:

40

The Tudors / Henry VIII & Anna of Cleves

« on: January 11, 2006, 02:43:35 PM »

Hi everyone.

I was just thinking about Henry and Anna's divorce, and something struck me. Obviously the offical reason for divorcing her was the precontrat to the Duke of Lorraine, but we all know the unofficial reason was that Henry thought her too ugly. But surely in those days Henry would hardly be the first royal man - or woman - to have to marry someone whom they didn't find physically attractive? It seems an awfully weak excuse to divorce her, even given Henry's character. Could there possibly be another reason that he wanted to rid himself of her? Can anyone suggest anything?

41

The Tudors / Who's Garter was it?

« on: January 05, 2006, 08:22:49 AM »

Hi all.   We all know the story of Edward III's founding of the Order of the Garter - the whole 'evil be on him who thinks ill of it' (i.e - keep your dirty thoughts to yourself  ). But my question is, do we actually know who the woman was dropped the garter was?

I've heard it was either the Countess of Salisbury, or Joan, Fair Maid of Kent. The Countess has sometimes been described as Edward's mistress. Can anyone confirm this? If it indeed the Countess' garter, who was she? Was she Edward's mistress in reality?

42

The Tudors / John of Gaunt's Children

« on: December 31, 2005, 10:19:18 AM »

Hi everyone. I'd like to know more about John of Gaunt's children by his three wives. Philippa already has her own thread on the Iberian board.

By Blanche of Lancaster:
1. Philippa, Queen of Portugal (1360-1415)
2. Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter (1363-1425)
3. Henry IV (1367-1413)

By Constanza of Castile:
1. Catalina, Queen of Castile (1372-1418 )

By Katherine Swynford:
1. John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset (1371-1410)
2. Henry, Cardinal Beaufort (1375-1447)
3. Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (1377-1426)
4. Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (1379-1440)

How did these siblings relate to each other? Does anyone know? Was Henry IV close to his sisters, or his Beaufort siblings? Did any of the family keep in touch with Catalina after she went to Spain? I think she was raised by her mother, though, wasn't she?

43

Iberian Royal Families / Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal

« on: December 31, 2005, 10:14:12 AM »

Hey everyone!  

I adore the Plantagenet family of England, but I just realised that this is one Plantagenet I know very little about. She was the daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III, and his wife Blanche of Lancaster. She was born on March 13 1360 and married Joao I of Portugal on February 11 1387. They had these children:

1. Blanca (1388-1389)
2. Alfonso (1390-1400)
3. Duarte I (1391-1438)
4. Pedro (1392-1449)
5. Henrique ('the Navigator' 1394-1460)
6. Isabel (1397-1471)
7. Joao (1400-1442)
8. Fernando (1402-1443)

Was Philippa a popular queen of Portugal? Why did she get married so late in life? Did she keep in touch with her relatives in England - her siblings, Henry, Elizabeth and the Beauforts - or her half-sister in Spain, Catalina of Lancaster?

Thanks!  

44

The Tudors / The Hollands

« on: December 30, 2005, 11:39:16 AM »

Hi everyone.   I was just thinking today about Elizabeth Woodville, and the power and influence that her queenship brought to her Woodville and Grey relations. I was trying to think of another example of a widow with children marrying into the royal family and thinking of comparing the results. There's the example of Isabelle of Angouleme's Luisingan children at Henry III's court, but a little later, there's the Hollands, descendants of Joan of Kent, Princess of Wales.

1. Thomas Holland (1350-1397), Earl of Kent. He married Alice Fitzalan:
-Alianore Holland (1373-1405). She married Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and secondly Edward de Cherlton.
-Thomas Holland (1374-1399), Earl of Kent. He married Joan Stafford.
-Joan Holland (1380-1434). She married firstly Edmund, Duke of York, then William Willoughby and finally Henry Bromflete.
-Elizabeth Holland (d. 1422). She married John Neville, Lord Neville.
-Edmund Holland (1382-1407), Earl of Kent. He married Lucia Visconti.
-Margaret Holland (1385-1429/39). She married John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and secondly Thomas, Duke of Clarence, brother of Henry V.
-Eleanor Holland. She married Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.

2. Joan Holland (1350-1384). She married Jean IV of Brittany.

3. John Holland (1358-1399), Duke of Exeter. He married Elizabeth of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's daughter:
-Constance Holland (1387-1437). She married Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Norfolk, and then John Grey.
-Alice Holland (1392-1406). She married Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford.
-John Holland (1395-1447), Duke of Exeter. He married Anne Stafford, Beatrice of Portugal and thirdly Alice de Montacute.
-Edward Holland (1399-1413).

4. Maud Holland (1359-1391). She married Hugh Courtenay, and secondly Waleran III de Luxembourg, Count of St Pol:
-Jeanne de Luxembourg (d. 1407). She married Antoine, Duke of Limbourg.

As you can see, some of the Hollands made sensational marriages. Was this due to their relationship with Richard II? During his reign, was Thomas Holland, for example, ever referred to - or treated as - 'the King's brother'? Did the Princess of Wales attempt to aid the Hollands advancement?

45

The Stuarts of Scotland / Why did Charles I marry a French princess?

« on: December 29, 2005, 04:25:28 PM »

This is probably an extremely stupid question but it's been bothering me for a while. In 1625 Britain was undoubtedly Protestant. So why did Charles, the young king, marry a Catholic French princess? Surely a Protestant Dane or German would have been more ideal? I know Charles had considered marrying a Spanish infanta to seal peace with Spain, and that turned out to be a fiasco. But surely Henrietta Maria was an astonishingly bad choice?