All About Royal Families

The Basilica San Lorenzo in Florence is situated in the heart of the city, near the main market. It is surrounded by excellent restaurants with the nicest food and beverages. However the Basilica San Lorenzo was the parish church of the de' Medici family. So, let's take a look at the very interesting royal history of this amazing royal destination. Royal History The Basilica of San Lorenzo is one of the oldest churches in Florence, originally consecrated in 393 AD. Over centuries, it underwent multiple reconstructions, with the most significant transformation beginning in 1419, under the direction of Filippo Brunelleschi, a pioneer of Renaissance architecture.  Commissioned by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici , the rebuilding of San Lorenzo marked the start of a centuries-long relationship between the church and the Medici family. The Medici family, renowned patrons of art and politics, played a pivotal role in the evolution of the Basilica. Giovanni di Bicci’s contributions la...

During our stay in Florence (Firenze) in Italy we saw the coat of arms of the de Medici family regularly. The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici during the first half of the 15th century.  The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century. However they had the official title Grand Duke from 1569. However in this post we will not talk about the family members, but about their interesting and beautiful coat of arms, which you will see almost everywhere in Florence. The blazon of the de' Medici family is a golden shield with five red balls, and a blue one decorated with three golden ...

In June 2024, we had the chance to travel to Florence in Italy (Firenze).  We expected a lot from this amazing city but it more than lived up to the high expectations. We "knew" Florence a bit because of the royal family de' Medici, but the city offered much more royal destinations and royal history. I will tell about this in the coming weeks and months on this blog. In Firenze we saw interesting portraits and we "met" important figures in royal history. I'm still sorting out the many pictures we took. So, I hope you will enjoy my coming posts and video's!  By the way, let's hope the summer will last a bit longer. 

The Start The House of Bourbon - Two Sicilies descends from Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou . He was a grandson of King Louis XIV of France. He  founded the Bourbon dynasty of Spain. It was Philippe's grandson, Ferdinand who became in 1759 King of Naples and Sicily. His descendants occupied the joint throne, merged as the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" in 1816, until 1861, claimed it thereafter from exile, and constitute the extant Bourbon-Two Sicilies family. A dispute The succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has, since 1960, been disputed between the senior Calabrian line, which is currently being represented by Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria (born 1968) and the junior Castro line, which is currently being represented by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro (born 1963).  Since Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, has only daughters, in accordance with the traditional male-line succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the succession in theory should go to the senio...

In November 2022 there was a lot to do about an article in the French newspaper Le Parisien. It stated that there was a robbery in the appartment of Queen Paola of Belgium in Paris.  Not much later, the newspaper retracted that report and reported that there was "ambiguity about the identity of the owner".  picture taken in November 2022 in Rome After which the spokesman for the royal palace also responded and reported that Queen Paola has no apartment at all in the district where the theft took place.  "The original article of 'Le Parisien' that linked the theft to an apartment of the Queen is therefore incorrect," the palace concluded. However Queen Paola of Belgium and King Albert II of  Belgium have other properties than their Belvédère Castle in Laeken, Brussels.  They would have residences in Châteauneuf-Grasse (France) and in Villers-sur-Lesse (Belgium). But also an apartment in Oostende (Belgium) and an apartment in Rome.  picture taken in...

The House of Habsburg, its dynasty, its ties and its different branches always have interested me. In this blogpost, the creation and the history of the House of Austria-Este is deepened out.  The start It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. It also is known as the House of Habsburg-Este . Some history Ercole III d'Este , the last Este duke of Modena and Reggio in the direct male line, was deposed in 1796 by the French, and his Italian principality was incorporated into the Cisalpine Republic, later the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.  In 1814, French rule in Italy ended. Modena was to be returned to his daughter Maria Beatrice and her son Francis of Austria-Este after Ercole's death.  Previously, Ercole had been compensated with the duchy of Breisgau in south-western Germany; the Habsburgs ceded this province to him in anticipation of it fall...