Tag Archives: Lichtenstein Royalty

August 9th

20 Tuesday Aug 2013

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Events:
1588 – Queen Elizabeth I of England gave a rousing speech to troops assembled at Tilbury, ready to defend against a possible invasion of the Spanish Armada. However, the Spanish ships would never make it to English shores.

1902 – King Edward VII of Great Britain was crowned at Westminster Abbey in England, alongside his wife, Queen Alexandra. He was the eldest son of Queen Victoria, who had died the previous year. Initially, the ceremony was to take place on June 26th, but on the 24th, the King developed appendicitis and had to undergo surgery.

Births:
1669 – Tsarina Eudoxia Lopukhina is born in Moscow. She was married to Peter I of Russia in 1689, and would have three children by him, with only one surviving. In 1698, they would be divorced, and she was banished to a convent. She remained in exile, and became the focus of Peter’s opposition until his death, and her later return to Moscow, under the reign of her grandson, Peter II.

1696 – Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Lichtenstein is born in Prague to Prince Phillip Erasmus and Countess Christina Theresa. He was an active military man, and actually ruled the small nation three times. His reigns spanned from 1712-1718, 1732-1745, and finally 1748-1772. In 1718, he married Princess Anna Maria Antoine and they had five children, none surviving infancy.

1722 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia is born in Berlin to Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. He was married to Louise of Brunswick, with whom he had four children, including the future Frederick William II. He died suddenly at age 35, of a tumor.

1783 – Russian Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna is born in St. Petersburg. She was a daughter of Paul I, and a granddaughter of Catherine the Great. Her brothers would go on to be Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. When she was about 13, her grandmother negotiated a marriage contract for her with the young Swedish King Gustav IV. He even visited Russia, and they both claimed to have fell in love, however when he noticed the contract stated she would not have to convert to Lutheranism, he refused to sign and went back to Sweden, leaving Alexandra heart broken. She would later marry Austrian Archduke Joseph, brother of Emperor Franz II, but the Austrian court was not kind to her. Sadly, she died in 1801, when at age 17, she gave birth to a baby girl, who also died.

1847 – Maria Vittoria dal Pozza is born in Paris and was Italian noblewoman and Countess in her own right. In 1863, she married Prince Amadeo of Italy, a younger son of Victor Emmanuel II. In 1870, Amadeo was elected to take over the throne of Spain, but was only able to rule for 3 years, before his abdication in 1873. They had three children, all boys, the youngest born the same year as his father’s abdication. Three years later, at age 29, Maria died of tuberculosis.

Deaths:
1250 – Eric IV of Denmark was executed by the Duke of Jutland in response to atrocities Eric had committed when they had been fighting years before. He was in his early 30’s, and had ruled on his own since 1241, but had also been Duke of Schleswig since 1216. Eric’s reign was also marred with civil wars with his brothers. He left no male heirs, but two of his daughters would be Queen consorts of Sweden and Norway.

Have a great day!

June 11th

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Events:
1509 – The new king of England, Henry VIII, marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was the wife of his deceased brother, Arthur, who died some years before. The marriage would last until 1533, when Henry had it annulled, so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

1917 – Alexander I of Greece assumes the throne after the forced abdication of his father, Constantine I, by the Triple Entente powers of Britain, France, and Russia.

Birthdays:
1456 – A girl named Anne was born into the powerful Neville family of England. She was born into a world of turmoil, namely, the Wars of the Roses, which her father, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was a key player. In 1470, she was married to Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, who was the son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. The marriage only lasted a year, when Edward was killed in battle. In 1472, she married Richard of Gloucester, and became Queen consort in 1483, when Richard was named king after the death of his brother, Edward IV died, and his nephews, the Princes in the Tower were declared illegitimate. Their only child died in 1484, and Anne herself died in 1485, at age 28.

1726 – Maria Theresa Rafaela of Spain is born in Madrid to King Phillip V and Elizabeth Farnese. In 1744 she was married by proxy to the Dauphin of France, Louis, son of Louis XV. In early 1745, she arrived in France, and the official marriage took place at Versailles. Her wedding was a diplomatic alliance which was supposed to cool tensions between France and Spain. Sadly when she was only 20 years old, she died just three days after giving birth to a girl, who would not see her second birthday.

1928 – In not so dead royalty, Queen Fabiola of Belgium is born today in Spain to an aristocratic family. In 1960, she married Baudouin, King of the Belgians. They had no surviving children, and her husband died in 1993, to be succeeded by his brother, Albert II. She is still active in social issues and said to be fluent in six languages.

1934 – Also in not so dead royals, Prince consort of Denmark, Henrik, is born in France. In 1967, he married the future Margrethe II of Denmark, and is the father of the heir presumptive, Crown Prince Frederik.

1968 – More not so dead royals; Alois, Hereditary Prince of Lichtenstein was born today in Zurich. He is the eldest son of Prince Hans-Adam II and is the current heir presumptive and regent for his father.

Deaths:
1183 – Henry the Young King, eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, died in France while rebelling against his father. He was 28 years old and died of dysentery. He had been crowned as joint king with his father in 1170, as was the French tradition at the time. He wanted more power and political involvement in the Angevin Empire, but his father would have none of it. This was Henry’s second rebellion against the elder Henry.

1488 – King James III of Scotland dies at the Battle of Sauchieburn. He had been king since 1460 and was highly unpopular due to his indecisiveness and his alliance with England. In 1482, the king had to defend himself against a group of English-backed nobles and was ousted from power for a short time. He was only 36 at his death, and was succeeded by his son, James IV.

1557 – John III of Portugal dies in Lisbon at age 55 of apoplexy. His parents were Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon, making him a grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He continued to extend Portugal’s reach around the world, and under him, Portugal was the first country to make contact with China and Japan. He became king in 1521 and at his death in 1557 the Portuguese Empire spanned over 1 billion acres.

1727 – George I of the United Kingdom died of a stroke while on a trip to his native Hanover, in Germany. He had been King since 1698. He succeeded to the British throne as he was a descendant of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James VI and I. He was Protestant as well, as Catholics were now barred from the throne. He was not popular in Britain, as he was seen as an outsider. It was believed for sometime the he never bothered to learn English, but it was found later that he did read and write in English at least. And despite being an absolute monarch in Hanover, he worked well with Parliament and his ministers.

1879 – William, Prince of Orange, died in France at age 38 of a combination of exhaustion and typhus. He was the eldest son of William III of the Netherlands and Queen Sophie. He was living in Paris in a self-imposed exile after a falling out with his parents over his choice in a bride. His younger brother would also predecease their father, leaving his half-sister, Wilhelmina as the heir to the throne.

1903 – Alexander I of Serbia was assassinated alongside his wife, Draga in their palace in Belgrade. He was just 26 years old and had been king since 1889. In 1898, he threw out the constitution his father implemented in 1888, in favor of a more conservative one. His popularity had waned greatly since he had married Draga, a commoner and a widow. Also in his dealings with the Senate, and his arbitrary suspensions of the constitution in order to change laws as he saw fit, led to his assassination.

Have a great day!

May 24th

24 Friday May 2013

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Events:
1487 – Lambert Simnel a ten year old pretender to the English throne is crowned in Ireland. It was believed that the boy was Richard, Duke of York, the younger son of Edward IV. Henry VII was newly on the throne, and it was previously believed that Richard and his older brother Edward were dead. The boy was captured and the rebellion in his name was crushed. Henry pardoned him and gave him a job in his kitchens.

1832 – The Convention of London establishes the First Kingdom of Greece. It marked the first independent Greek state since the break up of the Byzantine Empire.

Birthdays:
1819 – The future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Empress of India is born in London today, and was christened as Alexandrina Victoria. She was the only daughter on Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and she was a granddaughter of King George III. Being the child of a fourth son, she should not have been Queen. But with the only legitimate offspring of her elder uncles dying young, she became Queen at age 18. She went on to reign for 63 years and is the longest serving British monarch and the longest reigning Female monarch in European history. Her nine children with her husband, Prince Albert went on to marry into various European royal houses, giving her the nickname the “Grandmother of Europe.”

1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine was born today in 1874. She was one of the younger children of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Hessian Grand Duke Louis IV. Her elder sister Alix was the ill-fated Empress Alexandra of Russia. Sadly little “May” would die from diphtheria at age 4 in a breakout that also killed her mother, whom she shares a tomb with.

1995 – In not so dead royalty, Prince Joseph Wenzel of Lichtenstein is born today in London. He is currently second in the line of succession behind his father and grandfather. He is also a claimant to the Jacobite succession of Britain, through his mother, Bavarian Duchess Sophie.

Deaths:
1153 – King David I of Scotland died today. When he was young, he spent time in exile during the reign of his uncle, Donald III. David was a younger son of Malcolm III. His brother was Alexander I, whom David would succeed. During the Anarchy in England, he was a supporter of Empress Matilda, who’s father he had spent time before becoming King. He instituted several reforms in Scotland, and is even credited with introducing feudalism to the Scots.

Have a good day!