British Honours: The M.B.E., O.B.E. and C.B.E. Explained

What Are M.B.E.s, O.B.E.s and C.B.E.s?

In order, lowest to highest, the three awards are:

• M.B.E.: Member of the British Empire.
• O.B.E.: Officer of the British Empire.
• C.B.E.: Commander of the British Empire.

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’s M.B.E., O.B.E and C.B.E. were created by King George V (1865-1936) to honour people who had made invaluable contributions in non-military roles throughout World War One. For example, nurses and doctors toiling in the U.K. as their military counterparts worked on the front line.

The order and the awards are still popular and widely respected over 100 years later (except by people who deem them elitist or outdated), but today the honours extend to celebrities, from actors to dancers, writers to musicians and sportspeople to entertainers.

People do not have to accept the award offered, and there have been notable refusals in the order’s history, including author C.S. Lewis, Beatle George Harrison and author Roald Dahl (both allegedly wanted knighthoods) and artist L.S. Lowry who refused every honour offered to him.

A Different Kind of Honour

The order was markedly different from other honours in that civilians and women were eligible to receive awards from its inception. Holders have proved themselves in the face of adversity.

Today, nominations for awards can be made to officials at St. James’ Palace. A committee makes its selection of proposed awards, and this list is forwarded to the Prime Minister for approval and, lastly, to King Charles III.

The M.B.E., O.B.E. and C.B.E. are bestowed at new year and the monarch’s official birthday annually. Investitures then take place at a royal palace, often Buckingham Palace, where the recipients receive their awards. Details are published by the government and in the official register in The London Gazette; this publication has been in operation since Charles II's reign (1630-1685, r. 1660-1685).

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire has other ranks, including Companion of Honour, knights and dames. These rank higher than M.B.E., O.B.E and C.B.E.

Any recipient of an award in the order can apply to the Royal College of Arms to have a bespoke coat of arms created for them.

Member of the Order of the British Empire: M.B.E.

This honour recognises a significant achievement or outstanding service, very often at a local community level. It is a sign that the person has positively motivated and contributed to the neighbourhood, for example, through a youth club or fundraising. It is also given to public figures who have achieved and can inspire others. Olympians are frequently given these awards after a successful event at the iconic games.

There is no limit to the number of members in the order at any time, but a maximum of one thousand four hundred and sixty-four may be created during one year.

The badge is a cross patonce of plain silver. It is worn on the left breast by males and from a decorative bow on the left shoulder by females. A lapel pin is available for everyday wear.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire: O.B.E.

The Officer of the British Empire award is given to people who make major contributions in a particular activity or area. These people would normally be known to the nation for their endeavours, for example an explorer or an actor.

The House of Commons Select Committee suggested in 2004 that the name should be altered to Order of British Excellence to make it sound less militaristic. This did not happen and no further mention has been made of a name change.

There isn’t a limit to the number of O.B.E. holders but a maximum of eight hundred and fifty eight are permitted to be created in one year. There are over one hundred thousand people alive who have received an O.B.E.

The badge for officers is a plain gold cross patonce. The O.B.E. is worn on a ribbon on the left breast by men and on a bowed ribbon on the left shoulder by women. A lapel pin is available for everyday use. The pins were introduced in 2006.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire: C.B.E.

Commander of the British Empire is awarded to a person who deserves recognition for their innovations, efforts and achievements at a national or regional level. Internationally recognised sportspeople, writers, directors and actors are frequently awarded this after a significant role or project. Although in 2004, the House of Commons Select Committee submitted that the word Commander should be changed to Companion, this did not occur.

There is a limit of 8,960 holders of this honour at any time.

The badge is worn by males on a ribbon around their neck and females wear it from a bow on their left shoulder. The circlet of the order with the badge suspended from it may be shown on a recipient’s coat of arms.

A lapel pin is available for everyday use.

In a nutshell, trying to make the world a better place, either on your doorstep or further afield can lead to the bonus of a prestigious honour. Love the idea or loathe the allusion to historic empire days, the Order of the British Empire seems here to stay.

Sources

• The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire | British order of knighthood | Britannica
  
• Receiving an honour - UK Honours System
  
• https://www.gov.uk/honours/types-of-honours-and-awards

Napoleon's Ex, Desiree Clary: Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway

Desiree Clary, Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Desiree Clary: Youngest Child of Francois and Francoise

Bernadine Eugenie Desiree Clary was born on the 8th of November 1777 in Marseille, southern France. She was the youngest of nine children born to wealthy silk merchant Francois Clary and his second wife, Francoise. Francois' first marriage produced four children. She was known as Eugenie within the family, as Desiree to the French and, from 1810, as Desideria to the people of Sweden and Norway.

She received a traditional convent education away from her relations until the French Revolution erupted and all convents were closed. She returned to the Clary home aged eleven years old, and from this time, she was home-schooled. Later commentators referred to her education as "shallow." Mademoiselle Clary was amiable but often unpunctual, a habit that she retained throughout her life.

In 1794 Francois Clary passed away. It was discovered that he had asked to be raised to the nobility prior to the French Revolution. No longer able to punish Francois, the authorities imprisoned Desiree's eldest half-brother and guardian, Etienne Clary. Desiree bravely petitioned notable figures to secure Etienne's release from prison, and during the process, she met Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon.

Engaged to Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte and General Duphot

Joseph Bonaparte pursued Desiree, and he proposed to her, but at Napoleon's suggestion, Joseph married her elder sister (Marie) Julie Clary. Napoleon and Desiree were engaged in April 1795, but their marriage never took place because he met Josephine de Beauharnais and discarded Desiree in September 1795. The following year he married Josephine.

Joseph Bonaparte was appointed the French Ambassador to the Papal States in 1797. Julie accompanied her husband to Rome, and they took Desiree with them. They lived at the opulent Palazzo Corsini.

French soldier and poet General Mathurin-Leonard Duphot was on Joseph's staff, and they plotted to incite a republican rebellion in Rome. Desiree was soon engaged to Duphot, who was tempted by her wealth and enviable closeness to the mighty Bonaparte family. He set aside his long-term lover and child to enable a union with Desiree. It's believed that Napoleon engineered the match as a form of compensation to Desiree.

On 30th December 1797, the day before their wedding, Duphot was assassinated during an anti-French riot in the city. His death gave Napoleon an excuse to occupy the Papal States, which he renamed the Roman Republic. In her later years, Desiree denied that a relationship and engagement with Duphot ever took place.

Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden

Desiree, Julie and Joseph returned to Paris when Napoleon established his Roman Republic. She met the noted French soldier and politician Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, and they married on the 17th August 1798. Their son Joseph Francois Oscar was born on 4th July 1799. Napoleon was his godfather.

In 1804 Napoleon appointed Jean Baptiste one of the eighteen Marechal's de France, and he was sent to govern Hanover, which had recently come into Napoleon's possession. He awarded his former fiancée a grand Parisian townhouse which she retained for her lifetime, and a generous allowance.

Desiree became one of the great hosts of the Paris elite. Jean Baptiste was often absent, so she basked in her popularity and said she only felt at home and accepted in the city. She infrequently visited her husband.

In August 1810, Jean Baptiste was elected the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway. He settled in Sweden, but it took until December 1810 for Desiree to join him because she dreaded bidding farewell to her beloved Paris.

Desideria, Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway

Crown Princess Desideria (the Swedish form of Desiree) discovered quickly that she detested Sweden. She and reigning Queen Hedwig had a fraught relationship. The queen found the new crown princess's endless complaints tiresome. Desiree abhorred the court formalities, and the Scandinavian weather was too severe for her. Desiree was soon back in Paris "for her health", and in France, she used her subsidiary title Countess of Gotland. Jean Baptiste and Oscar (Oskar in Swedish) remained in Stockholm.

She acted as a conduit for news between Napoleon and Jean Baptiste. When Napoleon was exiled, Desiree ingratiated herself with King Louis XVIII of France. Using this friendship, she ensured that her sister Julie, former queen consort of Spain, the Indies and Naples, was not exiled from the country. Joseph fled to America. Julie relocated to Brussels in Belgium.

On 5th February 1818, Jean Baptiste ascended to the throne as King Carl XIV Johan (Charles XIV John) of Sweden and Norway. He was the first Bernadotte ruler; the dynasty still rules in Sweden today. Desiree was an absent queen consort.

Josephine de Beauharnais' Granddaughter

Desiree finally returned to Sweden in 1823 when Crown Prince Oskar, who she had not seen between 1811 and 1822 was due to marry the granddaughter of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife. Through her grandmother, the bride Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg could trace her ancestry back to Gustav I of Sweden from the former ruling house of Vasa, so the marriage was seen as a way of solidifying the position of the Bernadotte line in Swedish history.

She took on the Swedish form of her name Josefina, and the couple were married by proxy on 22nd May 1823 and in person in Stockholm on 19th June 1823. Their marriage was generally happy, and it produced five children. Oscar's affairs were tolerated in silence by his wife.

Josefina took some of Josephine de Beauharnais' jewels with her to Sweden in 1823. The pieces, including the cameo tiara, have been worn by several generations of Bernadotte women.

The Working Queen Consort

Desiree planned to go home to Paris as soon as the wedding festivities were over, but she probably surprised herself by remaining in Sweden, where she undertook the responsibilities of queen consort. She soon tired of the royal treadmill, refused to learn Swedish or Norwegian, and she wasn't keen to embrace her subjects.

On the 21st August 1829, she finally had her Swedish coronation. As a Roman Catholic, she was not given a coronation in Lutheran Norway. However, she was more popular in Norway than in Sweden.

One suggested reason for her reluctance to leave Sweden despite longing for the old days in France was that she was petrified of sea travel. Fear outweighed courage and desire.

The king died in 1844, and Oskar and Josefina took the throne. She became Queen Dowager Desideria, and she spent the rest of her life moving between the Haga, Drottningholm and Stockholm palaces.

She died on 17th December 1860 in Stockholm. She was buried adjacent to her husband in the Bernadotte Chapel in Riddarholm Church, Stockholm.

Through Desiree and Julie Clary, five European royal families have Clary ancestors: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Sources

• Clary, Désirée, Napoleon's fiancee, marshal Bernadotte's wife | Napoléon & Empire
  
• Desideria – queen from a distance | The Royal Palaces
  
• Désirée Clary, Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway | Unofficial Royalty

Fort Belvedere, Windsor: Home of King Edward VIII Before Abdication

 

Fort Belvedere, King Edward VIII's home prior to his 1936 abdication.

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Fort Belvedere, 1936: The Scene of King Edward VIII's Abdication

Fort Belvedere is set within 59 acres of Windsor Great Park, close to Windsor Castle and the village of Sunningdale. It is a Grade II listed building, which means that it has a protected status. It is best known as the country residence of King Edward VIII (1894-1972) prior to his abdication.

The fort was where he signed the Instrument of Abdication on the evening of 10th December 1936 so that he could marry Wallis Simpson. On the 11th of December, he addressed the nation by radio from Windsor Castle, and at 13:52 that day, he officially ceased to rule. His reign lasted for 325 days.

This remains the property's strongest claim to fame in royal and British history. It is referred to today as the forgotten royal residence. In 2022, William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales, selected their new Windsor home. There were rumours that Fort Belvedere was a contender, but they chose Adelaide Cottage, built for and named after Adelaide, the wife and consort of King William IV (1765-1837). It's rather more substantial than a quaint English cottage.

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland's Summer House

Windsor Castle is in the county of Berkshire, but Fort Belvedere sits just over the county boundary in Surrey. From Fort Belvedere's flagstaff tower, seven English counties can be seen on a clear day.

Situated at the south end of Windsor Great Park, the original and smaller property that became known as Fort Belvedere was constructed between 1750 and 1755 for King George II's (1683-1760) youngest son William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765). Designed by eminent architect Henry Flitcroft and shielded from onlookers by a cluster of trees, it was called Shrubs Hill Tower.

William Augustus used the triangular construction for pleasure; it was his summer house and folly. He commissioned a manmade lake, Virginia Water, to enhance his view. This work was completed by Thomas and Paul Sandby.

Fort Belvedere as a Hunting Lodge, Tea House and Tourist Attraction

In 1828 the summer house was converted into a gothic-style hunting lodge by Sir James Wyattville, who had previously worked on Windsor Castle's renovations for King George IV (1762-1830). The tower was made taller, and extensions included an octagonal dining room. The total cost of the project was approximately £4000.

Between 1840 and 1907, Queen Victoria ordered that all gun salutes at Windsor marking royal births, deaths and any official events were to be fired from an 18th-century gun parked at Fort Belvedere. The man charged with the task of firing the salutes lived in the three-storey Bombardiers Cottage adjacent to the fort. The queen frequently used Fort Belvedere as a tea house, and from the 1860s, she opened the property to the public.

Grace and Favour Home and The Prince of Wales

In 1910, the beginning of King George V's (1865-1936) reign the property was again renovated and repurposed as a seven-bedroom "grace and favour" residence for Arthur, Duke of Connaught's (1850-1942) Comptroller of the Household Sir Malcolm Murray and his family. The Duke, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, resided at nearby Bagshot Park. (Today, this is the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh's residence).

In 1929 George V's eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales, known as David to the family, was given Fort Belvedere as his official Windsor residence. Edward remodelled the property to his tastes. A central heating system and a steam room were installed, and extensive stables were built.

Edward hosted lavish and hedonistic parties with enviable (or inadvisable) guest lists and entertainment. He courted the disapproval of his father by stubbornly refusing to behave as George V believed that an heir to the throne should. Edward stated that he spent some of his happiest days at Fort Belvedere.

It was at the fort that Edward's brother George, Duke of Kent (1902-1942), was weaned off drugs (cocaine and morphine) by his worried and guilt-ridden big brother.

A Bitter Duke of Windsor Loses Fort Belvedere

George V died on 20th January 1936. During his final years, he had become convinced that his son and heir would fail as a king. It was a position with a workload that the trendsetting, golf-playing, partying, Wallis Simpson-infatuated prince had no appetite for.

As a king, Edward used the fort as his home because he preferred it to the official royal residences. Wallis Simpson moved in with him in 1936 after she received death threats.

It was at the fort that the Instrument of Abdication was signed and witnessed by his three brothers, including the new king George VI, previously Albert, Duke of York. Edward and Wallis married in France in 1937, and they were titled the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. (She was never permitted the style of Her Royal Highness).

The Duke of Windsor hoped to return to England when the proverbial dust settled, so he continued to pay the insurance and maintenance costs for Fort Belvedere for four more years. In 1940 he was informed that his abdication had effectively ended his right to reside in the property. It was a possession of the crown. It is still in the Crown Estate's portfolio today.

Crown Estate Leases to Royal and Private Tenants

During World War II, Fort Belvedere was requisitioned for office space. Virginia Water Lake, the Duke of Cumberland's water feature, was drained because it could be identified by enemy aircrews easily.

The property lay empty for almost a decade after the war.

George V and Queen Mary's only daughter Mary, Princess Royal, Viscountess Lascelles, had two sons, and the younger one The Honourable Gerald Lascelles, and his wife Angela leased the property on a 99-year agreement in 1953. They lived there between 1956 and 1976, and they carried out extensive renovations. Their divorce in 1976 necessitated the sale of the remainder of the lease.

The next resident was a son of the Emir of Dubai. In the early 1980s, a friend of the royal family, Canadian billionaire Galen Weston and his wife Hilary, the 26th Lieutenant-General of Ontario, took over the lease, and they used Fort Belvedere as their U.K. base. When he died in Toronto in April 2021, the property lease was returned to Crown Estates.

Sources

• Fort Belvedere, Surrey
  
• Fort Belvedere: The forgotten royal residence of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson | Express.co.uk
  
• Fort Belvedere, Windsor Great Park | Unofficial Royalty

Richard Roose: The Cook That King Henry VIII Boiled to Death

Richard Roose cooked for John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (above) and his guests. He was boiled to death on King Henry VIII's orders. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Richard Roose: Tudor Poisoner?

Welcome to a Tudor whodunnit.

Richard Roose, Rose or Cooke may not have been born with any of those names and he might not have been the full-time cook at the Lambeth (London) property of John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester; well known as King Henry VIII's enemy.

At lunchtime on the 18th February 1531, Richard Roose was in the bishop's kitchen. Before nightfall he was infamous. Several of the bishop's guests and the poor of London were victims of poisoning, allegedly at his hands, and two of them were dead. As conspiracy theories swirled about who, if anyone, asked Roose to poison the diners Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and her family were implicated.

Henry VIII was paranoid about being poisoned. He was not the first ruler in history to use boiling as a method of execution (Emperor Nero was fond of boiling Christians) but he was the first to change the law so that poisoning was classed as treason punishable by boiling. 

How John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester Knew Henry VIII

Yorkshire-born John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (c.1469-1535) studied at Cambridge University and he was employed by Margaret Beaufort, Henry VIII's grandmother, as her chaplain and confessor.

In October 1504 he was awarded the role of Bishop of Rochester by the pope and Fisher helped to educate the future King Henry VIII. In 1509 he officiated at the funerals of Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry VII.

When Henry VIII decided to rid himself of Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, John Fisher was Catherine's main supporter. As Henry attacked the Catholic church and subsequently declared himself the head of the Church of England, Fisher accepted the new church but only "so far as God's law permits." (He wanted to keep his head on his shoulders and not compromise his principles).

In early 1531 the Bishop of Rochester was secretly plotting with his church colleagues to overthrow Henry VIII. Did Henry know about this?

The 18th February 1531: Two Die, Numerous Left Sick

At lunchtime on the 18th February 1531, Richard Roose prepared some porridge (other records state pottage) for the bishop and his guests, the household staff and for Lambeth's poor. When the guests ate the porridge all sixteen became ill. One, Bennett Curwen, died.

Meanwhile, a beggar named Alice knocked at the kitchen door asking for food. She was an unlucky recipient of the porridge and she too died. John Fisher ate nothing for lunch, we don't know why.

The bishop's brother Richard, in charge of the household, swiftly drew the conclusion that Roose was to blame for the apparent poisoning. Roose ran from the house only to be captured later in another part of London.

He was tortured on the rack and he confessed to adding a powder to the porridge. The powder was passed to him by an unknown man and Roose believed that it was a laxative so that he could play a practical joke. The deed was intended to incapacitate the diners not to kill them. A lie or an odd sense of humour?

The Boleyn Connection to the Bishop of Rochester

While Roose awaited his fate, cannonballs were fired at Fisher's house and the trajectory suggested that they were fired from Anne Boleyn's father's property Durham House.

Anne Boleyn and the Boleyn family also found themselves under suspicion regarding the poisonings. Had one of them or their staff given the "laxative" to Roose? Fisher was unpopular with the Boleyns because he supported Catherine of Aragon. It was mooted that one of the family fired the cannonballs when the poison didn't deliver the desired deadly result.

Another theory emerged that cited King Henry VIII as the instigator of the poisoning. He and Fisher had a long and strained relationship so were the king's faithful servants, spies or courtiers sent to Fisher's Lambeth property to remove an enemy?

Was Roose a pawn in royal or Boleyn's plans? There was never any proof that Roose acted with or for someone else or that he knowingly added poison to the porridge.

The "Acte of Poysonyng" Rapidly Passed

Henry VIII was always suspicious about what his enemies might do. He was paranoid about his food being meddled with and the Richard Roose case apparently heightened his fears. Alternatively, was he worried that his guilt would be determined?

On 28th February 1531, King Henry spoke for well over an hour in the House of Lords. He intoned against the act of poisoning and he stressed the need for the meting of justice to be increased. The Spanish envoy Chapuys wondered if the king was concentrating on Roose's harsh punishment to divert attention from himself.

The speech achieved its goal. The "Acte of Poysonyng" was hastily passed. It made poisoning an act of treason punishable by boiling to death. Richard Roose was found guilty without a trial and he was told that he could not offer a defence. Part of the new law meant that no clergy were permitted at executions by boiling.

Why was Henry VIII so keen to accept Roose's guilt without any evidence and why did he petition for a swift change in the law?

"He roared mighty loud, and divers women who were big with child did feel sick at the sight of what they saw, and were carried away half dead; and other men and women did not seem frightened by the boiling alive, but would prefer to see the headsman at his work."

Two Hour Execution: Roose Boiled to Death

The public agreed with their great king about Roose's depravity and on the 15th April 1532 a crowd gathered in Smithfield, London to watch him die.

Roose was placed on a gibbet, hung but kept alive, and then at intervals he was lowered three times into a pot of boiling water. Contemporary records show that it took two hours for him to die. The punishment was intended to last as long as it would have taken him to prepare the poisoned porridge.

So, whodunnit? I'll let you decide whether Roose was guilty, a pawn in a powerful game or innocent.

Sources

• Boiling | Execution, History, Cruelty | Britannica
  
• Richard Roose Boiled to Death - 5 April 1531 - The Anne Boleyn Files
  
• Prankster or Assassin? How Richard Roose Made Henry VIII Change the Law - Historic Mysteries

Famous Historical Battles: The One Shot Battle of the Soup Kettle

A depiction of the Battle of the Soup Kettle. Image: Wikipedia/Rijksmuseum CC0. 

The Marmite War/Marmietenoorlog

On the 8th of October 1784 an infamous historical battle occurred. This day marked the Battle of the Soup Kettle, also called the Marmite War (a marmite in this instance being a kettle, not a yeast product), the Kettle War, and the Boiler War. The Dutch refer to it as both Keteloorlog and Marmietenoorlog.

On one side was the Spanish Netherlands backed by the massively powerful Holy Roman Empire, and on the other was the much smaller Republic of the Seven Netherlands, the northern Dutch provinces. This was one of the shortest and most baffling European battles to ever take place and it was utterly bloodless. Only one shot was fired and it hit a soup kettle.

Why Did The Battle Occur?

We need to go back to 1585 to find the root of the problem, and that was, as is often the case, money. The House of Habsburg ruled Spain as part of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain had control of all of the Netherlands until seven states rebelled and formed a republic. Surprisingly they were permitted to do so by the Habsburgs who soon wished that they’d thought their decision through.

The new Dutch Republic’s rulers closed the 270-mile-long River Scheldt to the Spanish Netherlands. As the river led to the busy ports of Antwerp and Ghent in modern-day Belgium and into the North Sea via Dutch Zeeland this barrier to a key trade route limited the Spanish Netherlands' opportunities and revenues.

Resentment festered as the Scheldt and its ports remained out of reach. The Spanish Habsburgs were unsuccessful in gaining access to the waterway in the 1648 treaty, the Peace of Westphalia, which upheld the closure of the River Scheldt by the republic.

In 1714, after the thirteen-year-long War of the Spanish Succession’s conclusion, the Spanish Netherlands was transferred to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. They were as keen as their Spanish relatives to have the Scheldt opened to them. All requests were denied, the war had left the republic almost bankrupt and so every florin they could get into their coffers was vital.

Finally, in 1784, Emperor Joseph II took his chance to secure access to the Scheldt.

The Habsburgs Challenge Stadtholder William V

The Dutch Republic's ruler Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange. was not universally loved because the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780 placed great strain on the republic and it brought defeats. His leadership and pro-British stance were questioned.

William’s chief adviser Field Marshal Ludwig Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel-Bevern (1718-1788) also happened to be Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor’s (1741-1790) great uncle. He was partly culpable for the losses of the Anglo-Dutch War but in the press, he was vilified. The people believed that William V’s errors were due to the duke’s incompetency in raising and guiding him. The duke was stripped of his duties and, in disgrace, he left the republic on October 14th, 1784. William was unable to recover. He eventually fled to exile in Britain in 1795.

Joseph II, the first of the Habsburg-Lorraine rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, was known as an “enlightened despot” and with the destabilisation in the Dutch provinces, he ordered that the River Scheldt be opened to the empire’s ships so his merchants could trade. He also lobbied for the territories of Overmass and States Flanders to be returned to the empire and for Maastricht to be evacuated. Words brought no reward so Joseph sent three ships including his shiny new flagship Le Louis onto the River Scheldt to provoke a response from the republic.

The Blink-And-You-Miss-It Kettle War

The Dutch sent one ship, De Dolfijn. The ships met at the point the Scheldt gives way to the North Sea, near the lost village of Saeftinghe in Zeeland. De Dolfijn fired one shot towards Le Louis which hit and destroyed the soup kettle on board. The captain of Le Louis surrendered immediately. Why he did this remains a mystery. Whilst he may have been alarmed, Le Louis was a far greater threat to De Dolfijn than the other way around.

In a one-on-one battle, there would have been few bets on De Dolfijn and the Dutch republic’s victory. Le Louis had two support ships. This was a David and Goliath moment. In case you were wondering, the only casualty, the soup kettle, didn’t survive the battle.

8 Years Later...

Unsurprisingly, Emperor Joseph was incandescent when he learned that his mighty empire had capitulated to one ship from a small republic and with just one shot. He declared war on the Dutch Republic and on land he had greater success. Dykes were shattered and mass flooding killed and ruined the Dutch, William V agreed to negotiate. The resulting agreement left the River Scheldt closed to the Austrian Netherlands but with generous compensation. The several million florins paid helped fund the Austrian army’s expansion. (No news about a replacement soup kettle for Le Louis.)

As the Europe we know today became more clearly defined, so too were the access rights to the numerous trade routes. In 1792, just eight years later, the Dutch Republic was forced by the French to reopen the river. The French had been in an alliance with Austria since 1756 and the French empire was ruled by Louis XVI and his Austrian-born wife Marie Antoinette, Joseph II’s youngest sister.

The Low Countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were established with their own monarchies in the wake of Napoleon Bonaparte’s insurgences and eventual downfall.

Sources

• De Keteloorlog (Marmietenoorlog) | Kunst en Cultuur: Oorlog
  
• A Brief History of: The Kettle War - YouTube
  
• 4 More of the Stupidest Wars in World History | Military.com