if you were church

Christina. 30. History nerd. Chasing eternity, stardust, and the truth.

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Famous Women of the Byzantine Empire

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...but my heart longs for the lake house, for the trees around it. I miss these trees so much.

Lake house, 2006

Pictures by dochka_ohotnika

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HISTORY MEME | five queens: juana of castile  

“Juana defended Charles from the comuneros, not because she believed in the holy imperial project but because Charles was her son and heir. She saved his political life in Spain at the expense of her own, but there is not a shred of evidence to support the view that she intended to immolate herself upon the dynastic altar. Juana was often conflicted and suffered from mood swings, but this did not extend to a wish for pious withdrawal from the world. Isabel was always her true north. As the daughter of the Catholic Kings, she too had hoped to share in government and longed to engage with political affairs, which she invariably referred to as ‘hers’. In public protective of her father and her son, she was, in private, disillusioned, enraged and embittered. Until her death, she struggled for her freedom, understood in terms of the rights to preside an independent royal household and to consult with her subjects on her own account." – Gillian B. Fleming, Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile

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Women of German Principalities (10/?): Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

Feodora was born as the youngest of six children to Ernst I., The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and his wife Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria. Feodora’s older sister is Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, who was the mother of the German Empress Augusta Victoria, who then again married the oldest son of Feodora’s and Adelheid’s cousin German Empress Victoria, Princess Royal.

Feodora was to married George II, The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen on October 23rd, 1858 at the age of only 17. She was completely unprepared for the role of a duchess and was also in constant competition with the deceased first wife of the duke, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, who by the way had also been a daughter of Feodora’s cousin Victoria, Princess Royal. Unlike Charlotte, Feodora was described as a spoiled girl that showed no interest at all in art or any other form of education. Her husband tried to educate her what was encouraged by Feodora’s mother as well but the duke soon realised that Feodora would never be as clever or witty as his first wife had been.

The Duke mainly married Feodora to provide his already existing children with a mother but the couple themselves would have three sons of their own. But after Prince Viktor’s, the youngest, death shortly after birth, Feodora preferred to stay away from Meiningen as much as possible.

Feodora died on February 10th, 1872, at the age of only 32. She had contracted scarlet fever in January the same year. Although she and her husband never had led a marriage of love, he was geniunely distraught when she got sick and sent telegrams to her family, often twice per day.

It can be theorized that Feodora’s sister Adelheid named her youngest daughter Princess Feodora of Schleswig-Holstein, who was born in 1874, after her. Two of her other nieces were called Feodora/e as well but as they were born years before her death it is more likely that they were named after their grandmother Princess Feodora of Leiningen .

// Nina Dobrev in The Vampire Diaries

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HISTORY MEME | six families / dynasties / houses: house of sforza, ruling house of the duchy of milan 

“Milan, since the death of her last Visconti prince in 1447, had been controlled by the Sforza family, originally professional soldiers (condottieri) employed by the Visconti for their protection. […]  The Holy Roman Emperor never officially recognized Francesco [Sforza] and Bianca Maria [Visconti], but they ruled Milan as grandly as any duke and duchess the city had ever known. Boasting one of the largest urban populations in fifteenth-century Europe—about 200,000 inhabitants—the city enjoyed the products of its fertile farmlands as well as thriving commerce, particularly in the production of silk and armor.” – T. A. Morris, Europe and England in the Sixteenth Century // Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy’s Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de’ Medici

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favorite ladies from history: anne boleyn I have only a little neck. 

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19 July 1553 - Mary I is Proclaimed Queen of England

At last, Mary was acclaimed as “Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and all dominions, as the sister of the late King Edward VI and daughter unto the noble King Henry VIII.”

London went wild. A foreign observer noted, “As not a soul imagined the possibility of such a thing, when the proclamation was first cried out the people started off, running in all directions and crying out ‘The Lady Mary is proclaimed queen!’”

“There was such a shout of the people that the style of the proclamation could not be heard,’ reported Henry Machyn. ‘All the citizens made great and many fires through all the streets and banqueting also, with all the bells ringing in every parish church, till ten of the clock at night. The inestimable joys of the people cannot be reported!’

Foreigners looked on in amazement as the people celebrated. One Italian reported, ‘I am unable to describe to you, nor would you believe, the exultation of all men.’ They ran ‘tither and thither, bonnets flew into the air, shouts rose higher than stars, fires were lit on all sides, and all the bells were set a-pealing, and from a distance the Earth must have looked like Mount Etna.’ It was said that no one could remember there ever having been public rejoicing such as this. ‘Great was the triumph here,’ wrote one anonymous Londoner. ‘For my time I never saw the like, and by report of others the like was never seen. The number of caps that were thrown up at the proclamation were not to be told. I saw myself money thrown out of windows for joy. The bonfires were without number, and what with shouting and crying of the people, and ringing of the bells, there could no one hear almost what another said, besides banqueting and singing in the streets for joy.’ Nearly every citizen was on the streets, celebrating in one form or another, and - as was customary on such occasions - the city fathers hastily made arrangements for the fountains and conduits to run with wine. Even the dignified aldermen and wealthy merchants, despite ‘being men in authority and in years, could not refrain from casting away their garments, leaping and dancing as though beside themselves,’ and joining in the common people’s sing-songs for joy. The feasting, dancing and drinking continued throughout the night and into the next morning… Nor did the church bells cease their pealing until the following evening. ‘It seemed,’ wrote one Spaniard, ‘as if all had escaped from this evil world and gone to Heaven.’

“The Children of Henry VIII,” Alison Weir

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Queen Consorts of England (04/?) & Women of German Principalities (11/?): Princess Caroline of Ansbach aka Princess Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach

Caroline was born as the oldest of three children of John Frederick, The Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach’s second marriage to Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. Her full name was Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline but she was simply referred to as Caroline.

Her father died when she was three and her mother when she was thirteen. Her new guardians became The Elector and Electress of Brandenburg that would later become the first King and Queen in Prussia. Before her arrival the Brandenburg court, Caroline had received only little formal education which was about to change. Throughout her years at this court, she became a scholar of considerable ability and like a daughter to Electress Sophia Charlotte.

As an intelligent and bright woman, she was a bride desired all over Europe. A marriage to Charles VI - then only an Archduke of Austria and later father of the famous Empress Maria Theresia - but Caroline declined as she did not intend to convert to Catholicism. In June 1905, Sophia Charlotte’s nephew Prince George Augustus of Hannover, better known as King George II of Great Britain, visited the Prussian court incognito and was fascinated by Caroline. They married on August 22nd the same year in Hanover. Over the next seven years, Caroline bore four children in Hanover. Overall, the marriage of George and Caroline can be described as a happy one, although not a completely faithful one on his side. But Caroline kept his mistresses as her ladies-in-waiting to keep a close eye on them.

In June 1714, her mother-in-law and heir presumptive to the British throne after Queen Anne died in Caroline’s arms at the age of 83, and Caroline’s father-in-law assumed her place in the British line of succession. Just weeks later, Anne died and The Elector of Hanover was proclaimed as her successor, becoming George I of Great Britain. Caroline followed her father-in-law and husband to Britain in October 1714. She took two of her daughters with her but left the heir in Hanover which would lead to a complicated relationship with him later on.

Caroline and her husband tried to become as English as possible while George I kept his German courtiers and customs around. This lead to two different and competing courts. At the baptism of Prince George William in November 1717, her husband fell out with his father over the choice of godparents, leading to the couple’s placement under house arrest at St. James’s Palace prior to their banishment from court. Caroline was originally allowed to stay with their children, but refused as she believed her place was with her husband. She and her husband moved into Leicester House, while their children remained in the are of the King.Caroline fell sick with worry, and fainted during a secret visit to her children made without the King’s approval. By January, the King had relented and allowed Caroline unrestricted access. Unfortunately the prince died in February. Caroline would go on to have three more children: William, Mary and Louise.

Caroline became queen consort on the death of her father-in-law in 1727. As Queen consort, she had an impacable influence over The King, not only because of their successful marriage but because of her superior intellect over him. But over the next years, Caroline and her husband would repeatedly get into conflict with their heir Frederick, The Prince of Wales. He joined them in England as an adult with mistresses, debts and a gambling addiction. He opposed his father’s political standpoint and complained about his own lack of influence over him. What bothered him most was that his mother was made regent during his father’s absences from England to visit Hanover instead of him. In 1736, his parents arranged his marriage to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.

However much trouble her son made Caroline, she still enjoyed to surround herself with artists and intellectuals. For example, when an early form of vaccination against the small pox was researched, she offered prisoners that were sentenced to death to help the cause. After all of them survived the treatment, she had some of her children vaccinated too. Additionally she corresponded with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz as a young woman.

Caroline died on November 20th, 1737, after suffering 11 days from complications that had arose with her umbilical hernia that she had suffered at the birth of her final child thirteen years prior. She rests at Westminster Abbey. Her son Frederick was not allowed to attend her funeral.

// Emma Stone in The Favourite (2018)

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the surviving children troublemakers of Catherine de Medici

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Ermengarde d’Anjou, Duchess Consort and Regent of Brittany (c. 1068-1147):

“She was clearly an astute politician, who grasped the importance of creating and maintaining connections with powerful elites – secular and sacred. These skills and abilities were recognized, and praised, by her contemporaries. Her husband and son often followed her counsel and advice.”

-Amy Livingstone, ‘You will dwell with barbarous and uneducated men’: Countess Ermengarde and Political Culture in Twelfth-Century Brittany

Ermengarde was born in Anjou as the daughter of Fulk IV “le Rechin” by his first wife, Hildegarde de Beaugency.  

According to some sources, she was married to William IX of Aquitaine in 1088 but were separated only a few years after as Ermengarde and William shared little in common and could not reconcile personalities.  However, due to the inaccuracies of the original account and little evidence of Ermengarde ever living in Aquitaine, it is possible that this marriage never even took place.

By 1093, Ermengarde was married to Duke Alan IV of Brittany.  Ermengarde was active in Breton government and is mentioned as a witness in charters by her husband and son as well as present at the passing of judgement in affairs.  Ermengarde served as an ambassador not only between Anjou and Brittany but between the secular Breton aristocracy and Church.  Ermengarde was intrigued by Cistercian monasticism and was responsible for bringing the Order into Brittany.  Over her lifetime she made many donations to various abbeys, including Fontrevard and St. Sulpice.

Alan was often abroad fighting in the crusade, and in his absence left Ermengarde as Regent of Brittany.  In addition to overseeing a relatively peaceful period in the duchy, Ermengarde was in charge of the education of her two sons, Jafrez and the future Konan III.  

Contrary to her husband’s pious but fiery personality, Ermengarde was more level-headed and aided her husband and son in uniting Brittany under singular ducal authority as well as helping to reform the Breton law code.  Ermengarde was popular in Brittany, not only for her political competency but her kind disposition.

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Master Post of German & Austrian Nobles and Royals

Royal and Noble Houses

House of Coburg (Cadet branch of the House of Wettin)

Princess Charlotte of Belgium, The Empress of Mexico

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, (1st marriage)

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, The Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia

Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess Royal

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, The Princess of Leiningen, The Duchess of Kent

House of Habsburg

Princess Charlotte of Belgium, The Empress of Mexico, Archduchess of Austria

Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress, The Archduchess of Austria

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress

Elisabeth in Bavaria, The Empress of Austria

Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress

Queen Joanna of Castile, León and Aragon (Consort of Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria and The Duke of Burgundy)

Archduchess Johanna of Austria, The Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Kunigunde of Austria, The Duchess of Bavaria-Munich

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Princess of Lorraine and Bar

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, The Electress of Bavaria

Archduchess Maria Antonia “Marie Antoinette” of Austria, The Queen of France

The Archduchess Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia) of Austria, Holy Roman Empress

Mary, The Duchess of Burgundy

Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria 

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, The Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia

House of Hanover (cadet branch of the House of Welf)

Princess Adelaide (Adelheid) of Saxe-Meiningen, The Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover

Princess Caroline of Ansbach, The Queen of Great Britain

Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, The Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover

Frederica (Friederike) of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Queen of Hanover, The Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale (3rd marriage)

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, The Duchess of Kent (2nd marriage)

House of Hesse

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine aka Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia

House of Hohenzollern

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, The German Empress

Princess Augusta Victoria (Auguste Viktoria) of Schleswig-Holstein, The German Empress 

Princess Caroline of Ansbach, The Queen of Great Britain

Princess Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, The Queen of Prussia

Frederica (Friederike) of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess Louis Charles of Prussia (1st marriage)

Princess Hermine Reuß, “German Empress”

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Queen of Prussia

Princess Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, The Queen of Sweden

Princess Marie of Prussia, The Queen of Bavaria

Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess Royal, The German Empress

House of Liechtenstein

Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, Countess Esterházy

House of Oldenburg

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

Princess Augusta Victoria (Auguste Viktoria) of Schleswig-Holstein, The German Empress

Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, The Empress of Russia aka Catherine the Great

House of Romanov (incl. Romanov-Holstein-Gottrop)

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine aka Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, The Empress Regnant of Russia aka Catherine the Great

House of Welf (without the British Hanover branch)

Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

House of Wettin (without the Coburg branch)

Princess Adelaide (Adelheid) of Saxe-Meiningen, The Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover

Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Sibylle of Cleves, The Electress of Saxony

House of Wittelsbach

Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress

Elisabeth in Bavaria, The Empress of Austria

Princess Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, The Queen of Prussia

Helene in Bavaria, The Hereditary Princess of Thurn and Taxis

Kunigunde of Austria, The Duchess of Bavaria-Munich

Princess Louise d’Orléans, Princess of Bavaria

Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, The Duchess in Bavaria

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Marie in Bavaria, The Queen of Two Sicilies

Princess Marie of Prussia, The Queen of Bavaria

Baroness Marie Louise of Wallersee, The Countess Larisch

Mathilde in Bavaria, The Countess of Trani

Sophie in Bavaria, The Duchess of Alençon

Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria

The Ottonians

Adelaide of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Italy

Theophanu, Holy Roman Empress

Other (Minor) Nobles and Royals

Anna Constantia of Brockdorff, Imperial Countess of Cosel

Anne of Cleves, The Queen of England

Dunkelgräfin [Dark Countess] aka Sophia Botta

Princess Feodora of Leininigen, The Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Helene Baltazzi, The Baroness of Vetsera

Katharina von Bora, Mrs Luther

Baroness Louise Lehzen

Baroness Marie “Mary” of Vetsera

Marie Karoline of Mollard, Imperial Countess of Fuchs to Bimbach

Richenza of Northeim

Tropes

German Empresses

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Augusta Victoria (Auguste Viktoria) of Schleswig-Holstein

Princess Hermine Reuß [Claimed titled without right]

Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess Royal 

Holy Roman Empresses

Adelaide of Burgundy, Queen of Italy

Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, The Archduchess of Austria

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg

Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Elizabeth of Pomerania

The Archduchess Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia) of Austria

Richenza of Northeim

Theophanu

Ladies-in-waiting

Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, Countess Esterházy

Mistresses

Anna Constantia of Brockdorff, Imperial Countess of Cosel

Fatima Kariman aka Maria Aurora (von) Spiegel

Maria “Mizzi” Kaspar

Baroness Marie “Mary” of Vetsera

Period Drama Fashion

see Master Post: Period Drama Fashion

Queen Consorts of England/The United Kingdom/Great Britain

Princess Adelaide (Adelheid) of Saxe-Meiningen

Anne of Cleves

Princess Caroline of Ansbach

Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 

Queens of the Iberian Peninsula

Queen Joanna of Castile, León and Aragon

Siblings

The Children of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 

The Daughters of Caroline of Baden, The Queen of Bavaria 

The Daughters of Princess Ludovika of Bavaria

Significant Non-Nobles

Sophie Scholl