All About Royal Families

Infanta Maria Anna of Spain was born on August 18th. 1606 in El Escorial near Madrid. Maria Anna of Spain - Source picture: Wikipedia Her parents were King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. With such a genealogy the search of a proper wedding partner started early. On February 20th. 1631, Maria Anna of Spain married her first cousin, Ferdinand III, the future Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary. The festivities around the wedding lasted a month! Although it was an arranged marriage, the history books described it as friendly. Maria Anna became happy in her new home country Austria. The same history books mentioned her as: tempered and intelligent. Sometimes she even acted as advisor for her spouse. They had 6 children. In 1646 the Royal Family moved to Linz because of the Thirty Year's War. There Maria Anna was poisoned while she was pregnant of a child. She died on May 13th. 1646 only 39 years old. The child, also a Maria,

On my blog I have a lot of pages about Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom  and her descendants. It interests me very much how her children and grandchildren and their descendants are spread through Europe. My Today in History is traveling back in time because on August 17th. 1786 a little girl was born in Coburg (Germany).  She received the name: Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld -  Source picture: Wikipedia Her brothers were inter alia Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Leopold,  who married in 1816 Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate daughter of  King George IV and heiress to the British throne. In 1803, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld married Charles, Prince of Leinigen. They had 2 children: a girl and a boy. Her husband died in 1814. When Princess Charlotte of Wales died in 1817, a succession crisis for the  British throne became an important issue. Three

On August 16th. 1876 the first performance of the opera Siegfried took place in the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth (now Germany). Portrait of Richard Wagner taken in Nymphenburg palace Siegfried was written by Richard Wagner and based on a legendary hero of the Norse Mythology. one of the many pictures of Siegfried - Source: Wikipedia On this link you can listen to a piece of the opera Siegfried. 

George of Bavaria (nicknamed The Rich) was born on August 15th. 1455 in Landshut, a beautiful place in Bavaria (south east Germany). George of Bavaria - Source picture: Wikipedia In 1475 he married Princess Hedwig Jagiellon, daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland. This fantastic event was celebrated in the Landshut wedding. The Landshut wedding is re-enacted in the place Landshut with medieval processions. On next link you can find more information.   The couple had 5 children, two sons and three daughters. Unfortunately none of their sons survived childhood. George, Duke of Bavaria tried to appoint his eldest daughter Elisabeth as his successor but the Salic Law made this impossible. George died on December 1st. 1503. After his death a war of succession broke out. Finally the Duchy went to Albert IV of Bavaria, which united the several Duchies of Bavaria.

On August 14th. 1688 a brilliant boy was born in Berlin. He had the name: Frederick William (in German: Friedrich Wilhelm). Frederick William I of Prussia - Source picture: Wikipedia His parents were Frederick I of Prussia and Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. On November 28th. 1706 he married his first cousin Sophia Dorothea of  Hanover (daughter of King George I of Great Britain). They had 14 children. This time I won't tell more about their marriage but about his rather special reign. In 1713 Frederick William became King of Prussia and Elector of  Brandenburg and he really took his tasks seriously. He imposed strict rules for officials and described their jobs clearly.  When a minister wasn't present  at a meeting the King didn't pay his salary . Already in 1717 King Frederick William I introduced mandatory schooling, and the taxes were reformed. He lived very sober and didn't spend much of money except for the Prussian army.