History Facts: 2025

31.3.25

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and the awards are still popular and widely respected over 100 years later (except by people who deem them elitist or outdated), but today the honours extend to celebrities, from actors to dancers, writers to musicians and sportspeople to entertainers.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

27.3.25

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

26.3.25

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

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

Richard Roose cooked for John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. Image: Public Domain.

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

17.3.25

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

Amazing History Fact: In 1593 Ruthless Irish Pirate Grace O' Malley Charmed Queen Elizabeth I

Irish female pirate Grace O'Malley Met Queen Elizabeth I. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Irish female pirate Grace O'Malley met Queen Elizabeth I in 1593. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Grace O' Malley, Grainne Ni Mhaille

Formidable Grace O' Malley (Grainne Ni Mhaille) was born in 1530 in Umhaill on the west coast of Ireland in todays County Mayo. She was the well educated daughter of the seafaring clan chief Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máille and his wife Me Ni Mhaille.

She was primarily raised on Clare Island, then called Inishcleer, three miles west of Clew Bay. Its castle became one of Grace's strongholds during her reign and it was called Caisleán Ghráinne meaning Grace's Castle.

Legend has it that a young Grace was not permitted to accompany her father on a voyage to Spain. He told her that her hair would get caught in the ships ropes. So, determined to set sail she hacked off her hair. This was when another of her names Grainne Mhaol was born; in Irish maol meant bald or cropped hair.

She became an unforgiving chief of Clan O'Maille and the "Pirate Queen." Passing ships crews felt her might as she demanded their treasures and money. She commandeered coastal castles from rival clans and she was content to spill blood to achieve her goals.

There were no contemporary portraits or sketches of her so her appearance remains a mystery to us. Yet those who met her and survived probably remembered her vividly.

Grace Marries Donal an Chogaidh O' Flaithbheartaigh

In 1546 Grace was dynastically married to neighbouring clan heir Donal an Chogaidh O' Flaithbheartaigh of Clan Ó Flaithbheartaigh or Clan O'Flaherty. Their lands lay in what is County Galway today.

The couple had three children. Eoghan or Owen, Meadhdh or Maeve and Murchadh or Murrough.

As an adult Eoghan was murdered by Tudor statesman Sir Richard Bingham, more about him later. Spirited Meadhdh emulated her mother and Murchadh refused to listen to or respect Grace because she was a mere female. He betrayed his family by allying himself with Bingham.

From 1542 the English monarch was also the ruler of Ireland according to Tudor law. By 1564 this was the fiery haired and strong willed Elizabeth I. The queen vetoed Donal's succession as clan chief and she placed his relative Murrough na dTuadh Ó Flaithbheartaigh in his place. Donal's dynastic hopes were destroyed.

Clan O'Maille Defeats Clans Joyce and MacMahon

His luck did not improve. The following year Donal was assassinated in an ambush staged by Clan Joyce. He had been engaged in a land dispute that Clan Joyce must have believed was over when Donal was slain but Grace shed few tears and set to work defending her property. She secured the defeat and retreat of Clan Joyce's army.

Grace took a sailor from a shipwrecked craft as her lover although this liaison was unexpectedly short because members of Clan MacMahon murdered him. Grace's revenge was to seize the MacMahon's Castle Doona and she slayed her lovers killers. She was known after this bloody assault as the Dark Lady of Doona.

Grace's second marriage in 1565/1566 was to Risdeárd an Iarainn (Iron Richard) Bourke, 18th Mac William Íochtar (of the Mayo Bourkes). Their son TIbbot na Long Bourke (Theobald) became the 1st Viscount Mayo in 1627.

The Tudor Conquest of Ireland

By 1576 Elizabeth I's Tudor armies had gained power in Ireland. The clans and their chiefs fell under the control of Elizabeth's Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney. Grace was often onboard ship conducting her lucrative piracy business and she seemed to accept the new order but it was claimed by the queen's Governor of Connacht Sir Richard Bingham that Grace plotted or participated in countless rebellions against Tudor rule.

Bingham loathed Grace and all that she stood for. In 1886 he had her incarcerated and she narrowly escaped the death sentence.

In 1593 Grace sailed to England to arrange an urgent meeting with Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich Palace, London. In the days before Grace set sail her son Eoghan was murdered by Bingham and her youngest son Tibbot and her half brother Donal na Piopa were imprisoned by him.

She was determined to inform the queen in person that this was the latest episode in Bingham's long campaign of victimisation and that she wanted Elizabeth to order him to stop immediately.

"There came to mee a most famous femynyne sea captain called Grace Imallye, and offred her service unto me, wheresoever I woulde command her, with three gallyes and two hundred fightinge men ..."

Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy in a 1577 letter to his son Philip.

Grace O'Malley and Elizabeth I Unite

Grace gained access to the queen through her cousin and court favourite the Earl of Ormond and Elizabeth's chief advisor William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Cecil asked Grace to complete a long questionnaire referred to as the Articles of Interrogatory before he consented to her audience with Elizabeth.

Grace O'Malley must have charmed the queen. Elizabeth recorded that Grace "departeth with great thankfulness and with many more earnest promises that she will, as long as she lives, continue a dutiful subject, yea and will employ all her power to offend and prosecute any offender against Us."

Sir Richard Bingham received his orders from Elizabeth through Grace face to face. Inevitably he didn't believe Grace when she ordered him to release the prisoners, restore her lands and award her a pension in the queen's name. He delayed and was rebuked by Elizabeth. Grace took the queen's support in this matter as permission to return to piracy.

Sir Richard Bingham's Fall From Grace

Bingham had no intention of allowing Grace to terrorise the sailors passing through local waters into the Atlantic. He installed soldiers on her ships and he used her vessels to suppress his enemies and her allies. Grace was soon destitute. Again, she sought redress through the Earl of Ormond, Lord Burghley and Elizabeth I. The queen supported Grace's claim for freedom on her own ships. Bingham received another royal rebuke. This time he took note.

Two years into the Nine Year's War, an Irish revolt led by the Earl of Tyrone against English rule that began in May 1593, Bingham fled from Ireland and he was imprisoned in England. He died in 1599. His replacement Sir Conyers Clifford caused Grace less trouble.

Grace died in 1603, the same year as Queen Elizabeth I. Although the date and location of Grace's death have been disputed it's thought that she was buried in Clare Island Abbey which was the O'Maille dynasty's traditional burial place.

Sources

15.3.25

Napoleon's Waterloo #1: The Rabbits That Took on Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte took on a battle with rabbits.

Napoleon Bonaparte faced an unexpected battle with rabbits.

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

The Mighty Napoleon Bonaparte

Most people think that the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was the most crushing defeat that the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte suffered, but there was another battle in 1807 that arguably ranks as his most humiliating. Napoleon, then considered to be the most powerful man in Europe, was defeated by a marauding army of rabbits during a rabbit hunt.

Napoleone di Buonaparte (1769-1821) left behind the modest life of an Italian nobleman’s son on the island of Corsica to attend military school in France, where he learned French for the first time, aged ten. He progressed through the ranks of the army, supported the French Revolution, and rose in prominence in the 1790s, achieving great military victories. He was elected the Emperor of the French in May 1804 with 99% of the vote.

Napoleon's Chief-of-Staff Plans a Rabbit Shoot

Summer 1807 brought the end of the War of the 4th Coalition when France defeated Russia at the Battle of Friedland on the 14th of June 1807. The signing of the two-part Treaty of Tilset by Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I of Russia (1777-1825) was completed on the 7th of July, and Prussia’s leader Friedrich Wilhelm III (1770-1840) added his signature on the 9th of July.

The French emperor decided that a celebration was necessary for himself, French dignitaries, and his key military officers. (The rank-and-file soldiers were unsurprisingly not on the guest list.) Napoleon asked his skilled Chief-of-Staff Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815) to arrange a day of rabbit hunting with a luncheon in the open air.

As with most stories, the exact number of rabbits that Berthier gathered on the hunting ground has been exaggerated with its retelling, but Berthier collected several hundred, perhaps thousands, of rabbits and placed them in cages at the edges of a field so that when his emperor took aim, he would find his prey plentiful and enjoy an excellent day’s sport. Napoleon could be difficult, and he wasn’t a renowned shot, so Berthier was meticulous in preparing the way for a jubilant emperor. Or so he believed.

Rabbits Rush Toward Nervous Napoleon

On the day of the shoot, the rabbits were released from the cages as the hunting party with gun bearers and beaters took their positions. The first of the released rabbits acted unexpectedly. Instead of bounding away from the party of gun-toting men, the rabbits bounced merrily towards them. At first, Napoleon and his guests were amused. Why weren’t the rabbits running? Did they want to be rabbit stew?

Their mirth turned to discomfort and then fear as all of the rabbits followed the first few and formed a formidable furry army that moved in a wave towards the world’s most eminent soldier. Many clustered around Napoleon’s feet, some began to clamber up his legs, and a few enterprising rabbits reached his jacket. He tried to swat them away with his riding crop, but the rabbits were undeterred.

Napoleon’s guests picked up sticks and attempted to liberate him. Again, the rabbits did not flee; they stuck close to their man. There was gunfire but no rabbit retreat. No one dared to laugh at the bizarre sight of their besieged emperor. The rabbits grew less friendly. They appeared to be hopping mad that they were being met with resistance.

Napoleon's Waterloo #1

A petrified Napoleon bolted, as quickly as the rabbits would allow him, to his carriage. He left his guests to fend off the bunny army. Cleverly, almost as though they had studied Napoleon’s military techniques, the rabbits divided into two regiments and made determinedly towards Napoleon’s carriage. The coachmen used their whips to scare them but to no avail.

Some adventurous rabbits managed to jump into the carriage with Napoleon, who had presumably seen far too many rabbits already that day. Only when the carriage was set in motion did the rabbits concede. The few invaders in the carriage were thrown out of the window by the emperor.

The Cause of the Emperor's Embarrassment

The explanation for the rabbit hunt debacle was simple, although Berthier did not readily accept blame. He was acclaimed for his organisational skills, but on this occasion, Berthier had made a monumental error. Instead of sourcing wild hares and rabbits in the field, he’d elected to take a less labour-intensive route.

Berthier and his men had approached the local farmers about securing a spectacular array of rabbits. What he hadn’t realised, even as they popped the rabbits in their cages for the shoot, was that the farmed rabbits were tame.

Berthier Dies in Mysterious Circumstances

The furry friends did not comprehend the risk to them when the hunt began. Whenever these rabbits saw a human approaching, it was with food, so when they looked at Napoleon and his party, they supposed that he was delivering food, so why would they not run towards him to secure the tastiest nibbles? Their subsequent pursuit of the man to his carriage where the food might have been was, as it transpired, wishful thinking.

The rabbits and Berthier lived to see another day, but he died in mysterious circumstances on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. The question remains whether he fell, jumped or was pushed out of an upstairs window to meet his end. (Rabbit revenge?)

Napoleon passed away in exile in 1821. Presumably, he never kept a pet rabbit.

Sources

13.3.25

Nell Gwyn: King Charles II's Mischievous Mistress

King Charles II's fun loving mistress Nell Gwyn. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn

Nell Gwyn was born Eleanor Gwyn around the 2nd of February 1650. Her mother Helena worked in a bawdy house in Covent Garden, London, an area full of brothels, prostitutes and unsavoury public houses. Nell's father either died in debtor's prison or disappeared. Nell had an elder sister named Rose.

As children, Nell and Rose served drinks to the customers at the Rose Tavern. It's widely accepted that all three Gwyns' were prostitutes, even as minors. They knew what it was to be poor with no shoes for the winter and to suffer a scarcity of food, and there was no welfare system to save them. Nell was illiterate and unschooled in the conventional sense, but she was certainly not anyone's fool.

Rose persuaded fourteen-year-old Nell to become an orange seller at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which was the permanent home of the King's Company of Actors. The orange sellers had another role; they acted as a conduit between men in the audience and the actresses backstage to arrange assignations.

Nell's wit and mischievousness made an impression on the theatregoers and Charles Hart, the leading actor in the company. She became Hart's mistress and also had a dalliance with her dancing instructor, John Lacy. By the end of 1665, the spirited orange seller was on stage acting, singing and dancing in comedies.

Nell Gwyn Wins Admirers, Including King Charles II

The audiences loved her sharp retorts, rebellious nature and indiscretion. In that era, the stage and the most sought-after theatre boxes were on the same level so she happily went off script to enjoy some banter with the rich and titled inhabitants of the boxes.

She was less adept at tragedy so she played in fewer of these roles and became acclaimed for her comic characters and romantic heroines. She originated roles for John Dryden and "pretty, witty Nell" was subject to a lot of attention from her male audience, including Lord Buckhurst, to whom she became mistress in 1667. Her time with Lord Buckhurst led to a short break from the theatre, but she returned to the London stage full of vivacity.

She was watching a play at a theatre one night when King Charles II noticed her, and he subsequently ignored the play.

Charles regularly visited the Theatre Royal after that meeting, and she engaged in jokes and unguarded comments with him as she performed. He was no stranger to either having mistresses or actresses as mistresses.

Nell became Charles II's mistress. She had haughty Louise de Kerouaille and the dominating, passionate and fading Barbara, Lady Castlemaine, as her rivals. Nell was the only one of Charles' mistresses that the public liked.

Charles II and Nell Gwyn's Sons: The Beauclerk Line

Charles gave her the use of an opulent property at 79 Pall Mall near St. James's Palace, and she arranged for her mother to have a nice house in Chelsea. Tragically, under the influence of brandy, Nell's mother fell into a stream and drowned in July 1679.

King Charles sneaked from the gardens at St. James's to Nell's bed unseen. Nell remained faithful to the king, and she lived a life of extravagance, hosting parties and living a life that she could only have imagined as an impoverished child. She accumulated huge debts, but her position as the king's mistress protected her from debt collectors.

Her last stage performance was given in January 1670. On 8th May 1670, Nell gave birth to Charles' son Charles Beauclerk. Legend has it that when Nell called to her toddling son, "come here you little b*****d" and the king objected, she rebuked him by saying that she had no other title to call her son by. Shortly afterwards Charles Beauclerk received his titles Baron Hetherington, Earl of Burford, and later 1st Duke of St. Albans. A second son, James, Lord Beauclerk, was born in 1671. He died in 1680.

"Let not poor Nelly starve."

Nell was an exceptional mimic and would regularly impersonate her rivals. Louise de Kerouaille would thunder out of the room as Charles laughed broadly at Nell's impressions of her. Memorably, one day when Nell was mistaken for the unpopular Louise as she stepped out of her carriage, she answered the jeers with the words, "Pray good people, be civil. I am the protestant whore."

It's thanks to Nell that the iconic Royal Hospital in Chelsea was established in the 1680s. She was appalled that a soldier who had fought bravely for Charles was begging on the street, and she asked (nagged) him to do something for heroes.

When Charles II lay on his deathbed in February 1685, Nell was not permitted to see him, but he implored his brother James to "let not poor Nelly starve." He knew that with his death, protection from her creditors would end.

James obliged. He paid off the majority of her debts and he gave her an annual allowance of £1500. However, Nell was not allowed to wear mourning after Charles' death or to attend his funeral.

Nell suffered two strokes, possibly triggered by syphilis, in March and May 1687. She was left partially paralysed. She passed away after a third stroke on 14th November 1687 at the pitiably young age of 37 years old.

Descendant Charles Beauclerk: Nell's Spirit Lives On

Nell and Charles' bloodline continues to this day. The 14th Duke of St. Albans is named Murray Beauclerk, born in 1939. His son and heir is the author Charles Beauclerk, born 1965. He refuses to be called the Earl of Burford, and he was banned for life from the House of Lords in 1999, suggesting that the rebellious streak in Nell has travelled well in the DNA through the centuries. You can read more about him here:

"A lord's last stand", published in The Guardian.

Sources

Nell Gwyn, Mistress of King Charles II of England | Unofficial Royalty
Nell Gwyn | English actress | Britannica
Nell Gwyn: A Biography by Charles Beauclerk. (Recommended, an excellent book).

Elizabeth Bathory: The Most Prolific Female Murderer in History

Remorseless serial killer Elizabeth Bathory. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

A Serial Killer With Royal Links

Serial killer Elizabeth Bathory has been accused of being a vampire, as notable as Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Count Dracula. She retains the record as the most prolific female murderer of all time in the Guinness Book of Records.

Elizabeth was born into a privileged and prominent family on 7th August 1560 at Bathory Castle, Nyirbator, in the east of Hungary. Her uncle, Stephen Bathory, was the King of Poland. Prince of Transylvania and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Elizabeth's father, Baron George VI Bathory's brother Andrew, controlled Transylvania as its voivode or governor. Her mother, Anne, was the daughter of a former voivode of Transylvania.

She was raised at Ecsed Castle, approximately 75km from Budapest. According to History Hit, she suffered from seizures as a child, perhaps epilepsy.

Intelligent and acclaimed as a beauty, Elizabeth was betrothed at eleven or twelve years old, and in 1575, at age fourteen, she was dynastically married to a fellow Hungarian, Count Ferencz Nadasdy. He was twenty years older than his bride and served in the Hungarian military.

Count Ferencz Nadasdy

There was a persistent rumour that Elizabeth had borne a daughter allegedly fathered by a peasant lover before her marriage. Nadasdy was said to have castrated the lover and fed his body to a pack of wild dogs. The daughter was secreted away.

Elizabeth was of a higher status than her husband, so Nadasdy added her surname to his own. The Bathory and Nadasdy families gave the newlyweds Cachtice Castle in the Carpathian Mountains (today, the castle ruin lies in Slovakia) and seventeen surrounding villages.

Ferencz Nadasdy was wealthy, aristocratic and an ambitious soldier. He was rarely at home. He was eventually rewarded with an elevation to Earl of Pozsony Pressburg, Bratislava. He was notable throughout his career for his cruelty towards enemy Ottoman prisoners, even in those bloodthirsty times.

Between 1585 and 1595, Elizabeth bore Ferencz five children, Anna, Orsolya, Katalin, Andras (who died in infancy) and Pal. Governesses raised them as Elizabeth entertained a series of lovers at Cachtice Castle and sometimes at Sarvar Castle, which later fell under the ownership of the kings of Bavaria.

Elizabeth Bathory's Chilling Quest for Eternal Youth

After the death of the count on the battlefield in January 1604, horrifying suspicions of torture, murder and vampirism were voiced against Elizabeth. She was forty-three at the time of Ferencz's death and was known to be terrified of growing old and losing her beauty.

She studied the occult, and she was familiar with her husband's torture devices in the castle. He used them on invading Turks, and she utilised them on debtors. Then Elizabeth realised they could be used to aid her quest for perpetual youth.

Between 1590 and 1610, Elizabeth tortured and murdered in excess of six hundred virgin peasant girls and noble women, some of whom were just ten years old. She reputedly drank and possibly bathed in her victims' blood, and she tore or bit at their flesh as they hung upside down from chains, their throats slit.

"The Blood Countess"

Known to history as "the Blood Countess", Elizabeth believed that the stream of young girls' unspoiled blood must be replenished frequently to afford her eternal youth. With the total approval of her sorcerer and alchemist, she offered girls jobs at the castle from which they never returned home, and she ordered abductions. Her staff did not refuse her.

In 1609, Elizabeth had what she thought was an excellent idea. She established an all-female academy at the castle under the pretence of preparing twenty-five genteel girls at a time for a life in the nobility. This offered her a new source of young blood to ward off old age.

All too quickly, her pupils began to die or disappear in her care, and when four blood-drained bodies were thrown from an upstairs window and seen by suspicious villagers, they reported her to the authorities.

Bathory's Lack of Remorse for Her Crimes

King Matthias of Hungary instructed Elizabeth's cousin Gyorgy Thurzo, the Count Palatine of Hungary, to deal with the accusations. He led an investigation, took statements from approximately three hundred people in the local area, and implemented legal measures. Thurzo held no doubts about the depravity of the vile countess.

Elizabeth's servants were arrested as 1609 drew to a close. Her entire staff stood trial, and three servants were executed in 1611. Elizabeth Bathory was protected from arrest by her aristocratic position until the law was changed at Thurzo's request. In 1610, she was arrested and sat through a hearing that detailed her serial killing tendencies and estimated how many girls she had slain.

Her punishment for her unconscionable deeds was confinement in a small walled-up room in her castle. In Hungary, aristocrats could not be lawfully executed. During the four remaining years of her life, she offered not one word of remorse.

She died on 21st August 1614. Her descendants were banished from Hungary and emigrated to Poland. Some of them returned to Hungary in the mid-1600s, but the position of the Bathory-Nadasdy's was less significant but ever notorious.

Footnote:

The Bathory von Simolin line of Elizabeth's dynasty continues. The Ecsed branch expired several centuries ago. In 2013, Ferencz Nadasdy, the last male descendent of the Nadasdy dynasty, died without issue. The dynasty became extinct after over six hundred years.