All About Royal Families

March 31st. 1718 marks the birth of Mariana Victoria of Spain. This took place at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid. Family Her parents were King Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnesse. Mariana Victoria received her names from her paternal grandmother, Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. Love & Marriage First Mariana Victoria of Spain was engaged to her cousin, Louis XV of France. She left Spain and traveled to France on March 2nd. 1721 According to the mother of the Regent, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Mariana Victoria was: The sweetest and prettiest little thing. However it was not meant to be and on March 11th. 1725 Mariana Victoria traveled back to Spain. Her arrival in Spain was considered as a great insult and caused a diplomatic rift between France and Spain. On January 19th. 1729 Mariana Victoria of Spain married Joseph of Portugal. Husband and wife became very close, they both liked hunting and music. However Joseph of Portugal had sever...

March 28th. 1737 marks the birth of Francois-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny. This took place in Paris, France. Family He was the son of Jean Marquis de Coigny and the grandson of a Marshal of France: François de Franquetot de Coigny. Love & Marriage According to some sources Francois-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny was married. His wife was Marie Jeanne de Bonnevie. They would have 2 children Career Already at the age of fifteen, François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny entered the Musketeers. He served the first time during the Seven Year's War as a cavalry general and he took part in the conquest of Hanover. In 1771 François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny was promoted as Colonel- General of the Dragoons. In 1772 he was appointed as governor of Cambrai. In 1789 the revolution broke out and François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny decided to emigrate. Later he entered the Portuguese army. After the abdication of Emperor Napoléon I he finally returned to ...

March 26th. 1554 marks the birth of Charles of Lorraine. This took place in Alençon in France. Parents His parents were Francis, Duke of Guise and Anna d'Este. Charles of Lorraine,  was thus a member of the noble house of Guise. Duke of Mayenne In 1573, Charles became Duke of Mayenne and governor of Burgundy. Career In 1585 Charles of Lorraine became chief of the Catholic League in France Love & Marriage On August 6th. 1576 Charles married Henriette of Savoy, who was then Marquise of Villars. They would have four children. Death Charles of Lorraine died on October 3rd. 1611 in Soissons, northern France. Source pictures: Wikipedia

March 25th. 1345 (or 1347) marks the birth of Blanche of Lancaster. This took place at the Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, England. Parents Her parents were Henry of Grosmont, 1st. Duke of Lancaster and Isabel de Beaumont. Love & Marriage On May 19th. 1359 Blanche married her third cousin, John of Gaunt,at the Reading Abbey in  Berkshire. They would have seven children. This marriage has been considered to be happy, although there were not many evidences for that. The Duke of Lancaster The title Duke of Lancaster ended when Blanche's father died without male heirs in 1361. Blanche's husband inherited in 1362 (after the death of Blanche's elder sister) a lot of titles like: - Earl of Lancaster; - Earl of Derby; - Earl of Lincoln; - Earl of Leicester etc... This made from John of Gaunt "Lord High Steward of England". Death Blanche of Lancaster died On September 12th. 1368, at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. This happened w...

World Poetry Day March 21st. was declared by UNESCO as World Poetry Day. This happened in 1999. Why The purpose of this day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry through the world. Like UNESCO said: "To give the fresh recognition and impetus of national, regional and international poetry movements."  History However this day generally was held on October the 5th. or the 15th. This tradition still stands in the United Kingdom. In Canada the National Poetry month is held in April. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of the most prominent English poets Source picture: Wikipedia

On March 20th. 1811, Napoleon was born at the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. Parents His parents were Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France and Empress Marie Louise. Childhood in France On June 9th. 1811 Napoleons baptism was held.in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. As a son of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon already held the titles Prince Imperial and heir apparent but Napoleon Bonaparte gave his son the title: King of Rome. On April 4th. 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated and the three- year-old became Emperor of the French under the name Napoleon II. On April 6th. 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte fully abdicated and renounced not only his rights but also those for his descendants. On April 23rd. 1814 mother and son were escorted by an Austrian regiment and they left France forever, for their exile in Austria. Youth in Austria In 1815 after the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon abdicated for the second time. Meanwhile Napoleon II was raised in A...

March 19th. 1851 marks the birth of Frederick Francis III. This took place at the Ludwiglust Palace in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. His parents were Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Augusta of Reuss Köstritz. Already from an early age, Frederick Francis III suffered from asthma. He couldn't live in the north European climate. So he lived most of the time in Cannes, France. Anastasia and her children There his homosexuality was an open secret. However, on January 24th. 1879 Frederick Francis III married Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia in St. Petersburg. They would have 3 children: * Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, married King Christian X of Denmark. * Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, married Princess Alexandra of Hanover * Duchess Cecile of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, married Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Germany On April 15th. 1883 Frederick Francis III became the new Grand Duke ...

March 17th. 1605 marks the birth of George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. This took place in Darmstadt . Darmstadt is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part  of the Rhine-Main-Area (near Frankfurt) . Family His parents were Ludwig V and Magdalene of Brandenburg. His maternal grandfather was Johan Georg Elector of Brandenburg. Love & Marriage On April 1st. 1627 George II married Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. They would have 15 children. Hessenkrieg From 1645 till 1648 George led the Hessenkrieg or the war against Amalie Elisabeth of Hesse-Kassel over the inheritance of the extinct line of Hesse-Marburg. Source picture: Wikipedia

On March 14th. 1866 the birth took place of Alexey Troitsky. This happened in St. Petersburg, then located in Imperial Russia. Troitsky is considered to be one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies. He also is widely regarded as the founder of the modern art of composing chess studies. Troitsky published more than 750 studies and 50 cases. He also wrote several books about chess. In 1928 Troitsky was honored by the Soviets and in 1934 he received the title Master of Sports. On August 14th. 1942 Troitsky died in Leningrad. It is considered that he died of starvation during World War II during the Siege of Leningrad. Source picture: Wikipedia

On March 13th. 1763, Guillaume Brune was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France. Parents His parents were Étienne Brune and Jeanne de Vielbans. Étienne Brune was a lawyer. Jeanne de Vielbans belonged to the lower nobility. Love & Marriage In 1793 Guillaume Brune married Angélique Pierre. They would have no children, however the couple adopted two daughters. Career In 1793 Guillaume Brune was appointed as brigadier general. On November 5th. 1795, he took part in the fighting of the 13 Vendémiaire against Royalist insurgents in Paris. In 1796 he fought under Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian Campaign. He was promoted to général de division for his good service in the field. In 1798 Guillaume Brune commanded the French Army which occupied Switzerland. In 1799 he commanded the French troops in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, against the Anglo-Russian invasion of the Duke of York. In 1802, Napoleon dispatched Brune to Constantinople. There he became ambas...

Philip August Frederick was born on March 11th. 1779 in Homburg, now located in Germany. Parents His parents were Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt. Timeline In 1794 Philip entered the Hesse-Darmstadt brigade, which was stationed in The Netherlands. He had the rank of captain. Philip was taken captive by the French, however his family bought his freedom back. In 1796 Philip joined the Austrian Army. He fought in several battles and he received the Military Order of Maria Theresa. In 1818 and 1820 Philip traveled to Russia and England to carry out diplomatic missions. In 1829, England proposed to make Philip King of the new independent country: Greece. But Russia rejected this proposal. Instead Otto I became the first modern King of Greece (1832). In 1838, Philip married morganatically with Rosalie Antonie. She received the title Countess by marriage. However Philip's family rejected her because she wasn...

On March 7th. 1872, Piet Mondrian was born in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. He became a very famous painter See also my Today in History on this link .  One of his most beautiful paintings is a portrait that he made from Queen Wilhemina of The Netherlands when she was 16 years old. Piet Mondrian Painting of Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands The beautiful portrait is located at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. To know more about this amazing palace:   https://www.paleishetloo.nl/en/#2016-03-01 This picture was taken in 2014 during a visit in Apeldoorn The Netherlands.  I made this visit together with my husband and Oscar Meijer, creator of the Dutch blog "De Staat van Oranje"  http://destaatvanoranje.blogspot.nl/  .

On March 5th. 1512 Gerard de Cremer was born in Rupelmonde, Belgium. He became famous under the name Gerardus Mercator and was one of the most important cartographers, philosophers and mathematicians of his time. See my Today in History on this link . Gerardus Mercator - Source picture: Wikipedia Nowadays his legacy continues. A lot of places were named in his honor. For me, one of the most interesting places to visit is the Mercator Museum in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Since 1962, the Mercator Museum offers a huge collection of the  history of cartography and of course it puts Gerard Mercator in the picture. A rare earth globe (1541) and heaven globe (1551) are the most amazing items of this Museum. Mercator Museum in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

King Ludwig I of Bavaria died on February 29th. 1868 and one of his most famous legacy is his Gallery of Beauties or in German: Schönheitengalerie. Gallery of Beauties Munich Bavaria, Germany This Gallery of Beauties is located at Nymphenburg Palace near Munich in Bavaria, Germany. Gallery of Beauties in Munich Bavaria - Germany Most of the portraits were painted by Joseph Karl Stieler. He was known for his Neoclassical style. Gallery of Beauties in Munich Bavaria Germany The Gallery of Beauties contains of 36 portraits of the most beautiful women from the nobility and the Middle Class in Munich Germany. The portraits were painted between 1826 and 1850. So, King Ludwig I of Bavaria really had a special hobby to collect portraits of beautiful women :-) . All these pictures were taken by me during a holiday in Munich in 2014.