All About Royal Families

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit the Rubens House (in Dutch: Rubenshuis) in Antwerp. Rubens House Antwerp, Belgium This was the former house and studio of the famous artist Pieter Paul Rubens. Now it is a museum. On this link you'll find more information about the museum.  Pieter Paul Rubens was born on June 28th. 1577 in Siegen (now Germany). His parents were Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelincks.  Jan Rubens became a legal advisor of Anna of Saxony  (wife of William of Orange) and later he was her lover.  When this was discovered Jan was captured. Later the family moved to Cologne and in 1589, two years after his father's death Rubens mother took her family to Antwerp There Pieter Paul Rubens learned his craft by Tobias Verhaecht. In 1600 Rubens made his 'Grand Tour' and traveled to Italy. In 1603 Rubens had a diplomatic mission. He had to offer gifts from the court of the Gonzaga family to the Royal Court of Philip...

Maria Theresa of Spain was born on September 10th. 1638 at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, as a daughter of  King Philip IV of Spain and his wife Elisabeth of France.  Maria Therese of Spain, Source picture: Wikipedia Maria Theresa was a member of the House of Habsburg and she could use the titles Infanta of Spain and Archduchess of Austria as well.  In 1658 Anne of Austria, the mother of King Louis XIV of  France (who was born in Spain) wanted to end the hospitalities between her native country and her adopted one, France, so she  desired a marriage between her son and Maria Theresa of Spain. The negotiations for this marriage contract were very hard. There was a fear that France would overrule Spain.... Finally on June 7th. 1660 Maria Theresa of Spain left her native country and on June 9th the wedding took place. On August 26th. 1660 the Royal Couple made their  traditional Joyous Entry into Paris. It ...

Ludovico Sforza was born on July 27th. 1452 at Vigevano (now located in Lombardy). He was a younger son of Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti. Due to his mother he received a proper education and he learned inter alia the classical languages, the instruction in the beauties of painting, sculpture and letters. He also was taught the methods of government and warfare. painting of Ludovico Sforza : Source picture: Wikipedia In 1466 his father Francesco died (the famous painting the last Supper was painted next to his burial place). Ludovico's older brother, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, became the new Duke of Milan. He ruled over the Duchy till his assassination in 1476. Then he left the throne to his son, who was at that moment 7 years old! Ludovico and the boy's mother, Bona of Savoy, moved into a bitter struggle for the regency and in 1481 Ludovico seized control of the government of Milan, despite attempts to keep h...

July 24th. 1561 marks the birth of Maria of the Palatinate. This event took place in Heidelberg (Germany). Her parents had been Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse. Mary of the palatinate - Source picture: wikipedia In April 1578 Prince Charles of Sweden, who was Duke of Södermanland too,  visited her home and proposed Maria. In this marriage proposal, religion played a huge role. Maria was Lutheran and Charles was sternly Protestant. On May 11th. 1579 the wedding took place and Maria followed Charles to Sweden. There they lived in his Duchy. Although there were no portraits of Mary, she was described as beautiful, gentle and diplomatic and her marriage to Charles IX of Sweden was happy.  She accompanied him around the Duchy as long as her pregnancies made it possible. The Royal Couple would have 6 children. Mary died on July 29 -th. 1589 in Eskilstuna. She was buried in the Strängnäs Cathedral. It was said that then Duke Char...

On July 21st. 1843, the Antwerp Zoo was established, which makes it one of the oldest animal parks of the world. engraving of the Antwerp Zoo -Source picture: Wikipedia In 1844 King Leopold I of Belgium inaugurated the building and the predicate 'Royal' was added to its name for this occasion. During the Olympic Games of 1920 the Antwerp Zoo was the host for boxing and wrestling games. In 1969 the Antwerp Zoo emphasized his role in education with the Zoo Classes. Several decades later even my husband and I went on a schooltrip to the Antwerp Zoo.  On January 1st. 1983, the animal park was classified as monument. In fact there are besides the animals a lot of beautiful buildings like: - the entrance; - Egyptian temple; - Moor temple; - Aquarium (made in 1910 and designed by Emile Thielens); - Winter garden.

No, this blogpost isn't written too early. Indeed July 21st. marks the National Day of Belgium, but today there also are a lot of festivities.  Belgian monument in Spa Already this evening, a concert will take place at the BOZAR palace  in Brussels.The concert will be attended by King Philippe of the Belgians  and his wife, Queen Mathilde and other members of the Royal Family. Each year the King of the Belgians gives a speech on the occasion of the National Day. In his speech King Philippe warned about the superficial relations on the Internet. Meanwhile since now the Belgian Monarchy has an official page on Facebook.  Will there be one on Google+ too? :-)  On July 21st. there will be several Te Deums, inter alia in Brussels, Antwerp and Mons. Te Deum is a remembrance of the enthronement of King Leopold I of Belgium.   On the Twitter section of my blog, you can  see some lovely pictures of   King Ph...

A pink façade and some history... That's the least that I can tell about the Neo-Baroque Posthof in Trier. It was used as Post office and it showed the representation of the Post as an Imperial Institution in a very impressive way. Posthof Trier - own picture With this post, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Weekend. Thank you for reading my blog, the likes and the reshares on Google+ and on  Twitter as well!

16 July 1715 marks the birth of Charles de Rohan. This event took place at the Palace of Versailles near Paris in France. Youth His parents were Jules, Prince of Soubise, a lieutenant captain of the gendarmes of the Royal Guard and Anne Julie de Melun. Charles was styled by birth as Prince of Epinoy till his father's death  in 1724. That year in fact, both of his parents died due to smallpox. The young orphan was then entrusted to his grandfather: Hercule Mériadec, Duke of Rohan-Rohan. Charles grew up at the Royal Court and there he became a companion of Louis XV. They had the same age... In the army At the age of 18, Charles became a Musketeer and soon he had a great carreer. In 1757 at Rossbach, the Prince of Soubise, hadn't much luck he was defeated by the Prussian army.He stayed in military service until the Peace of 1763. After Charles left the army he lived a normal life as a man of fashion in Paris. Love & Marriage Charles married 3 ...

Amalie Christiane of Baden was born on July 13th. 1766 in Karlsruhe as the eldest daughter of Charles Louis of Baden and his wife Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Amalie of Baden - Source picture: Wikipedia Family Amalie was the twin sister of Caroline of Baden, who became later Queen consort of Bavaria. She also was the sister of Elizabeth Alexeievna, Empress of Russia and Frederica, who became Queen consort of Sweden. Wedding negotiations First of all Amalie 's aunt, Frederika Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen consort of Prussia, wanted that her son, the later Frederick William III of Prussia married her niece. However he didn't show any interest in his cousins of Baden. Against the will of his mother Frederick William III of Prussia married Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Meanwhile there were other candidates like: Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau; William, who became later William IV of the United Kingdom. In 1811 Amalie, who was already 35...

It is no secret that I love Antwerp. That city located near the Scheldt in the Flamish region of Belgium, really has everything: special shops, nice restaurants and a lot of historical buildings. One of the most beautiful buildings according to me is the Cathedral of Our Lady. It also is listed at the list of the World Heritage Sites. Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp, Belgium Some history Of course this building has a great history. It was built between 1352 and 1521, so 170 years of construction works... But then in 1533 a large fire took place. In 1566 protestants destroyed a big part of the interior during the Iconoclasm. In 1585 Antwerp came  again under Roman Catholic Authority. That wasn't the end of its misery. In 1794 French Revolutionaries who conquered the region, plundered the cathedral again. Finally between 1965 and 1993 a complete renovation took place. So the cathedral can shine again over its city: Antwerp. Some facts T...

The Last Post will celebrate a very special occasion. It has been blown 30.000 times under the Menin Gate in Ypres. Menin Gate in the evening  Queen Mathilde of the Belgians will attend this event. On this link you can read some more information. On this youtube link you can see a short movie. Under the imposant Menin Gate In many places around the world (inter alia London, India, Australia and Canada) notable people attended a similar event. 

9 July 1511 marks the birth of Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. This event took place at Lauenburg Castle (a place in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Source picture: Wikipedia Her parents were Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and his wife Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. On October 29th. 1525, Dorothea married Christian of Denmark, although they had their own courts. The couple would have 5 children. In 1533 Dorothea became queen, however her coronation took not place until 1537! Dorothea liked politics but it was unclear if she had any influence over it. She also never learned to speak Danish. Dorothea was described as a strict person with a lot of discipline. She had a strong control over her ladies-in-waiting and over her children even if they were adults. She protected her younger children against their older relatives and she hadn't a good relationship with her eldest son. When she became a widow in 1559, she visited her children in Germany regularly (onc...

On 6 July 1789 a noble girl was born in Madrid. The girl received the name Maria Isabella of Spain. Her parents were King Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. However at the moment of the birth of Maria Isabella there were a lot of court rumors that King Charles IV of Spain wasn't her father at all. According to the rumors her mother would have a relationship with the young Godoy, who became later Prime Minister of Spain.  Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain - picture: Wikipedia The negotiations for Maria Isabella's marriage started soon. First she was offered as a bride for Lucien Bonaparte (younger brother of Napoleon), but Napoleon wasn't keen that he should marry someone from the Bourbon family. Then her mother tried to find another husband for her daughter. She wanted someone who could become a King. On July 6th. 1802, on Maria's 13th. B-Day, she married her 25 years old cousin Francis of the Two Sicilies by proxy in Madrid. The ...

Tegerensee, a beautiful and royal spa town is located in Bavaria, southern Germany. Bahnhof Tegerensee Bavaria Germany The recorded history of the town started in the 6th century AD with the arrival of the Bavarians. The region was ruled by the noble family of the Agilofings. Later the Tegerensee was known for his abbey. This was founded in 746, by the brothers Adalbert and Ottokar. They were members of the family Huosi. In the 10th. century the abbey received from Pope Paul I the relics from St.Quirinus.  Summer Residence of the Bavarian Royal Family Tegerensee in Germany In the 19th century this abbey was acquired by the Bavarian Royal Family.  The Wittelsbachs made it their summer residence. This is called: Schloss Tegerensee. The present owner is Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Many important members of the Bavarian Royal family were buried here, inter alia: Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (father of Sisi); Princess Ludovika o...

July 3rd. 1676 marks the birth of Leopold of Anhalt- Dessau. Leopold was born as the ninth of tenth sons of John George II of Anhalt-Dessau and Henriette Catherine of Nassau, daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. From his early youth Leopold was fascinated by the army. In 1693 he entered the Prussian army, in the same year he inherited his principality. His first campaign (1695) took place in The Netherlands with the Siege of Namur. Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau- picture: Wikipedia The young prince fell in love with Anna Louise Föhse, a daughter of a pharmacist. His mother tried to break up their relationship by sending her son abroad. This didn't help, the two were married on September 8th. 1698 and they would have ten children. First their marriage was considered as morganatic (lower stand). Later, on December 29th. 1701, it was made official by imperial decree. Leopold and his wife - source picture: wikipedia In 1702 the War on the S...