Historia Magistra Vitae.

Andrea ~ girl ~ 27 ~ art historian ~ in love with English history.

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Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

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Favorite costumes: {6/?} Guinevere [BBC Merlin]

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Queen Victoria {The Young Victoria vs Victoria’s portrait by Franz Xavier Winterhalter}

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Pre-asoiaf: younger Luthor Tyrell and Olenna Tyrell, née Redwyne

Craig Parker as Luthor Tyrell Anna Popplewell as Olenna Tyrell

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Happy 90th birthday Your Majesty.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, Mayfair (London) 21 april 1926

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Favorite costumes: {5/?} Mary Stuart [Reign, 2x04]

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“The best part of Tywin died with her.”

Lady Joanna Lannister was a Lady of Casterly Rock, the wife of Lord Tywin Lannister, and the mother of Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion. Joanna was born into a branch of House Lannister. Went to King’s Landing for the coronation of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen, and would remain as a lady-in-waiting for the future queen, Princess Rhaella Targaryen. Joanna married her first cousin, Tywin. On their wedding day, Tywin smiled, a very rare occurrence. Joanna’s marriage to Tywin was reportedly a happy one. Joanna became Tywin’s trusted counselor and companion. She died giving birth to Tyrion.

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“Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings. Thus Aragon for the first time in the full light of day beheld Eowyn, lady of Rohan, and thought her fair, fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood.”

Favorite characters: Eowyn, the White Lady [Lord of the Rings]

{I’ve loved her from the first time I’ve saw her on the screen, her beauty, her strength, her unhappiness. I wish we could see more of her, especially with Faramir.}

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Favorite costume: {4/?} Catherine of Aragon [The Tudors]

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Aegon I Targaryen, the Conqueror.

Was the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and king on the Iron Throne, having conquered six of the Seven Kingdoms during the Conquest. He was the founder of the ruling Targaryen dynasty of Westeros. Aegon was tall, broad shouldered and powerful in appearance, with purple eyes and short-cut silver-gold hair. He was very charismatic and commanding. He was a great warrior who wielded a sword called Blackfyre but only rode his dragon, Balerion, for battle or travel and never entered tourneys. His crown was a simple circlet of Valyrian steel, set with big square-cut rubies. According to Targaryen tradition, Aegon married within the family; however, instead of just one sister, he married both of them: his elder sister, Visenya, and his younger sister, Rhaenys.

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Catherine De Medici (13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589), daughter of Lorenzo II de’ Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime, she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France. For a time she ruled France as its regent. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favours on his chief mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wielded much influence over him. Henry’s death thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life. On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at the age of sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy.

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Franz Xavier Winterhalter, Countess Olga Shuvalova (detail), 1858

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Visenya Targaryen, queen & warrior.

Was the older of King Aegon I Targaryen’s sisters. She was also one of his two wives, the other being her sister Rhaenys. During the War of Conquest, she rode her dragon, Vhagar, to battle. She was a passionate, sensual and temperamental woman. She was a warrior, more comfortable in ringmail than in silk, she was apt to dress as a warrior, with her long silver-gold hair in braided coils or bound in rings. She wielded the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. She was described as having a “harsh beauty” and was reputed to have dabbled in sorcery.

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Favorite Costumes: {3/?} Elizabeth Woodville [The White Queen]

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Isabella of France (1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France, was Queen of England as the wife of Edward II. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. Queen Isabella was notable at the time for her beauty, diplomatic skills, and intelligence.

Isabella arrived in England at the age of 12 during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite, Piers Gaveston, but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward later turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the younger, and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point.

Travelling to France under the guise of a diplomatic mission, Isabella began an affair with Roger Mortimer, and the two agreed to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England. The King’s forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her son, Edward III. Many have believed that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II. Isabella and Mortimer’s regime began to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolved long-running problems such as the wars with Scotland.

In 1330, Isabella’s son Edward III deposed Mortimer in turn, taking back his authority and executing Isabella’s lover. The Queen was not punished, however, and lived for many years in considerable style—although not at Edward III’s court—until her death in 1358. Isabella became a popular “femme fatale” figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel, manipulative figure.

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Rhaenys Targaryen, the beautiful queen.

Was the younger of Aegon I Targaryen’s sister-queens. Rhaenys was Aegon’s favourite sister-wife. Rhaenys was a year or two younger than Aegon. She had the silver-gold Targaryen hair which she kept long and wore loose. Physically she was more slender and graceful than her sister. She was known as less stern and more playful and curious than her older sister, Visenya. She was also interested in music and poetry. She loved to ride her dragon Meraxes and spent twice as much time riding than her siblings. She surrounded herself with comely young men and she may have dabbled with other bed-mates.

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“Trust me. Trust me and let me help you. Trust that I can get you through this because I swear to you that I can.”

This scene intensely b r o k e my heart.