france Archives - Page 22 of 32 - History of Royal Women

The Bonaparte Women – Zénaïde Bonaparte

Friday, 22 March 2019, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte was born on 8 July 1801 as the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Julie Clary. She had a younger sister named Charlotte. Her father became King of Naples and Sicily in 1806, and later also King of Spain and the Indies in 1808 but Zénaïde and her sister Charlotte [read more]

Sophie Okonedo as Margaret in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses

Margaret of Anjou – The warrior Queen

Saturday, 5 January 2019, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

This article was written by Ezgi Özcan. Margaret of Anjou was born on the 23rd of March 1429 in the Duchy of Lorraine. She was the daughter of Rene, Duke of Anjou, and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Margaret’s father was the titular King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem, known as “a man of many crowns [read more]

The Bonaparte Women – Mathilde Bonaparte (Part two)

Wednesday, 2 January 2019, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part one here. Despite her joy at being in Paris, it was clear that her marriage was a disaster. They quarrelled violently and then made up, sometimes in public. It became a series of scenes. Mathilde accepted his affair with Princess Schouwaloff, but when Valentine de Dino also came into the picture, she was [read more]

Marie Louise of Orléans – The first wife of Charles the Bewitched

Friday, 7 December 2018, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

After many years of inbreeding, King Charles II of Spain was destined to die childless. He was described as, “short, lame, epileptic, senile and completely bald before 35, always on the verge of death but repeatedly baffling Christendom by continuing to live.” We are dealing with a man who died of poison two hundred years [read more]

Bathilde of Orléans – Citoyenne Vérité

Wednesday, 28 November 2018, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Bathilde of Orléans was born on 9 July 1750 as the daughter of Louis Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres and Louise Henriette de Bourbon at the Château de Saint-Cloud. She lost her mother when she was just eight years old and was then sent to be raised at a convent. She would remain there until [read more]

Elisabeth of France – Martyr and Servant of God

Wednesday, 21 November 2018, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Elisabeth was born on 3 May 1764 as the daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France and Marie-Josèphe of Saxony in the Palace of Versailles. She was a frail child, and there were fears that she would die in infancy. When her father died the following year, her brother Louis Auguste became the new Dauphin. She [read more]