December 2025 - History of Royal Women

Empress Yuanjing – Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty’s beloved posthumous Empress

Thursday, 11 December 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Empress Yuanjing was the posthumous empress of Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, very little is known about her.[1] She had a loving marriage with Emperor Yuan when he was still a vassal prince.[2] She was also barren.[3] Empress Yuanjing was often in conflict with her husband’s imperial concubine, Imperial Consort Xun.[4] Eventually, Imperial Consort [read more]

Karin Månsdotter – Sweden’s first royal fairytale

Wednesday, 10 December 2025, 6:00 Sophie 0

Karin Månsdotter is the real Cinderella. Her story is like something out of a ballad — the kind that begins in a candlelit tavern and ends in a palace. Born in 1550 to a common soldier and a maid, Karin had none of the connections that usually paved the way to power. Yet, she became [read more]

Imperial Consort Xun – The expelled Imperial Consort of Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who was forced to remarry a commoner

Tuesday, 9 December 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Imperial Consort Xun was once an imperial concubine to Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.[1] She was also the mother of Emperor Ming and the grandmother of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.[2] However, Imperial Consort Xun was often in conflict with the future Emperor Yuan’s principal wife, Princess Yu Mengmu (the posthumous Empress [read more]

Women who were passed over – Sweden

Monday, 8 December 2025, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Sweden introduced absolute primogeniture in 1980 and immediately gained a Crown Princess. Before this change, the Swedish monarchy used agnatic-cognatic primogeniture, which only allowed women to rule if there were no more male dynasts. Sweden was originally an elective monarchy, but it became hereditary during the reign of King Gustav I. Between 1810 and 1980, [read more]

Book News Week 50

Saturday, 6 December 2025, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

*contains affiliate links* Book News week 50 – 8 December – 14 December 2025 Queen Elizabeth II: A Concise Biography of an Exceptional Sovereign Hardcover – 11 December 2025 (US) Cleopatra: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works (Significant Figures in World History) Hardcover – 11 December 2025 (US) Marie-Antoinette’s Garden: An Eighteenth-Century Herbarium [read more]

Parysatis II – The Babylonian Princess who was King Alexander the Great’s wife and was murdered by his other wife, Queen Roxane

Saturday, 6 December 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Queen Parysatis II was the third wife and queen to King Alexander the Great.[1] She was also the daughter of King Artaxerxes III of the Achaemenid Empire.[2] After the Battle of Issus, Queen Parysatis II was a hostage under King Alexander the Great.[3] He eventually married her for political reasons.[4] The birthdate of Queen Parysatis II is unknown.[5] Her [read more]