All About Royal Families

O, 26 November 1436, Infanta Catarina was born in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Family Infanta Catarina was a daughter of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon. Her siblings were: - King Afonso V of Portugal; - Infante Ferdinad of Portugal, Duke of Viseu; - Eleanor of Portugal, who married Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III; - Joan of Portugal, who married King Henry IV of Castile. Catarina of Portugal and her family were members of the noble House of Aviz. Character Like her sisters, Catarina was considered ambitious, shrewd and willful. Love Catarina was promised to marry Charles IV of Navarre but he died before the marriage could take place, and her brother, after securing the marriages of her sisters had no future need of marriage alliances with other royal houses. A nun Catarina turned to a religious life in the convent of Saint Claire. She was very educated and she wrote many books about morality and religion. Death...

On 24 November 1394, Charles of Orléans was born in Paris as the son of Louis I, Duke of Orléans and Valentina Visconti. He was a member of the noble House of Valois. His mother was a daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. A murder On 23 November 1407, Louis I, Duke of Orléans was assassinated commissioned by John the Fairless, Duke of Burgundy. The later was never punished for his role in Louis' assassination. When Charles mother, Valentina Visconti died on 4 December 1408, Charles and the other boys of the family were made to swear the traditional oath of vengeance for their father's murder at their mother's deathbed. Love and Marriage On 29 June 1406, Charles of Orléans married to his cousin, Isabella of Valois. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabella of Bavaria. They had one child, Joan of Valois On 15 August 1410, Charles of Orléans married Bonne of Armagnac, the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Armagna...

At the invitation of their Majesties the King and Queen, His excellency Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic and   Ms. Brigitte Macron make a state visit to Belgium on 19 and 20  November 2018.  This programm includes a ceremonial reception on Monday at the Place the Palais in Brussels, a visit to Ghent, and the State Banket at Laeken. On Tuesday they will visit Molenbeek and Ittre. On the occasion of this important State Visit (which is actually the first president of France who comes to Belgium since 1971!), so I made an alternative top 10 of the must sees in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. 1/ Brussels Park - Warandepark (in Dutch) In front of the Royal Palace of Brussels, this lovely park is located. It is a very nice place to walk in the middle of a busy city. Brussels Park More on this link 2/ Grand Place of Brussels According to me, one of the most splendid places of the world, certainly is the Grand Place of B...

The Real or Royal Alcázar is situated near the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, which is one of Andalusia's most splendid areas. In 1987 it was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site and in fact it is really worth to be on the list. Alcázar in Seville own picture taken in 2018 The Real Alcázar still has a royal function, it is the home of the royal family of Spain when they visit Seville! Besides that the Real Alcázar really has a very nice royal history. Alcázar in Seville Spain - own picture taken in 2018 Some royal history The Alcázar in Seville probably is the oldest royal palace of Europe, which is still used for that purpose. Originally there was a Roman and later a Visigotic fortress on the place of the Alcázar. In 913, Abd-ar-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Al-Andalus (Gordoba) ordered to build a castle on the site of the fortress. In the 11th. century, Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, the last ruler of the Abbadid- ...

On 15 November 1498, Eleanor of Austria was born in Leuven (nowadays a part of Belgium then a part of the Habsburg Netherlands) as the eldest daughter of Philip I of Castile (Philip the Handsome) and Joanna of Castile (Joanna the Mad). Family Eleanor was a granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Mary of Burgundy, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Her siblings were: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Queen Isabella of Denmark, Queen Mary of Hungary, Queen Catherine of Portugal. Eleanor of Austria was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of Portugal, the Holy Roman Empress. She was a prominent member of the noble House of Habsburg. Love & Marriage Eleanor's relatives tried to marry her to the future King of England, Henry VIII, but he married Eleanor's aunt, Catherine of Aragon instead. Her relatives also tried to marry her to the King Louis XII and King Francis I of France...

The Royal Music Chapel of the Guides of Belgium - screenshot On 9 November 2018, their majesties the King and the Queen of the Belgians offered a gala concert on the occasion of the centenary of the end of the first World War. The concert was graced by the Royal Music Chapel of the Guides of Belgium and commemorated the key moment in European and global history with a tribute to all victims. The guests of the concert were mainly compatriots who have dedicated themselves during the past memorial year to the theme of war, peace and memory. The program contained pieces of music that were  composed around the theme  of the first World War by prominent Belgian and foreign composers.  This Gala Concert took place at the Royal Palace in Brussels. It was attended by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians and Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium (more pictures see the Allaboutroyalfamilies facebook page or on the Twitter section on this blog)...

On 20 September 2009, the amazing beautiful M-Museum at Leuven was opened by then Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium (now queen) and by then Crown Princess Máxima of the Netherlands (now a queen too). Picture see this link .  M-Museum at Leuven, Belgium On 8 November 2018, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians visited the exhibition: Power & Beauty - The Arenbergs at her M-Museum in Leuven. She was guided by the Duke of Arenberg. Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of the Belgians screenshot taken on the National Day of Belgium in 2018 In 2017, I had the chance to visit this rather quirky M-Museum. The entrance already is very special with a splendid mix of old and modern architectural designs. It was created by the Belgian architect Stéphane Beel. It felt very big and spacious, outside and indside as well. So, I really like this original mix of architecture. M-Museum at Leuven, Belgium Beside that, a part of the museum was the former private residence...

The noble family of Arenberg was already mentioned in the 12th century and it was named after the village of Aremberg in the Ahr Hills, located in what's nowadays the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. On this blog 'Allaboutroyalfamilies', I mentioned the House of Arenberg a few times, but the most significant blog post was the one of the Arenberg Castle near Louvain, Belgium. See this link . The noble house of Arenberg spread their wings in Europe, as many important families. They also have a very interesting history. Some royal history At the beginning Aremberg was originally a county with counts as its rulers. In 1549 it became a state of the Holy Roman Empire and it was raised to a princely county in 1576 and then in 1645 it became a duchy. Around 1789 the duchy of Arenberg was located in the Eifel region on the west side of the Rhine and contained amongst others, Aremberg, Schleiden and Kerpen. But back in time, from the 15th. century o...

One of the oldest and most beautiful planned squares in Paris, France, located in the Marais district, between the 3rd and the 4th arrondissements, is the Place des Vosges. During the 17th. and 18th. centuries it was a fashionable and expensive square to live for the Parisian nobility due to the location. But the Place des Vosges also had an amazing royal history. Place des Vosges, Paris, France Some Royal History At the beginning the Place des Vosges was known as the Place Royale. It even was built in order of King Henry IV of France between 1605 and 1612. This square of 140 meters by 140 meters emboided the first European program of royal city planning. It was built on the site of Hôtel des Tournelles and its gardens: it was there on a tournament at the Tournelles, a royal residence, that King Henry II was wounded and died. His wife, Catherine de' Medici gave the order to demolish the Gothic complex and she moved to the Louvre Palace. In 1612, on the...