Where Were Galicia and Lodomeria? Forgotten in History

 

A 1782 medal commemorating Galicia and Lodomeria's new constitution. Image: Wikipedia. Johann Nepomuk Wurth. CC3.0.

Halych and Volhynia

The Rurik dynasty established the Principality of Volhynia in Ruthenia in 987 A.D. It was populated by Eastern Slavs, and the capital Volodymyr-Volynskyi was named in honor of Saint Vladimir the Great, Prince of Novgorod, and Grand Prince of Kyiv (c. 958-1015).

His descendant, Roman the Great (c. 952-1205), united Volhynia and Halych, another principality ruled by the dynasty in 1198-9, to create the Duchy of Halych and Volhynia. In Latin, Halych translates to Galicia, and Volodymyr-Volynskyi becomes Lodomeria.

The duchy was also historically referred to as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, which on today’s maps is comprised of parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland. Roman's successors often referred to the united territory simply as Galicia.

Eastern Europe in 1911. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Rival Claimants to Galicia-Lodomeria's Rule

Roman the Great was initially an ally of the Poles but after shifting allegiances, he was killed in a battle against the Polish in 1205. Without his leadership, the Duchy of Galicia and Lodomeria became the cause of disputes between Poland and Hungary. Their rulers, Leszek I “The White” and King Andrew II, each believed that their claim to the duchy was greater. King Andrew of Hungary was the first of his line, the House of Arpad, to proclaim himself the King of Halych and Lodomeria in 1208.

The Rurik dynasty's claimant Danylo Romanovich, Roman the Great’s third son, born in 1201, was forced to wait until 1221 before he could secure power in Volhynia and 1235 for rulership of Halych. Rival rulers included Mstislav Mstislavich, Coloman of Hungary, King Andrew’s second son, and Leszek I, Coloman’s father-in-law. Danylo Romanovich was recognized as the undisputed King of Galicia and Lodomeria and in 1253 he was proclaimed the first King of all Rus by Pope Innocent IV. Danylo’s sons Shvarn and Lev ruled after him but with Lev’s death came more chaos..

Civil War and a Power Split

Civil war terrorized the kingdom for over fifty years in the 1300s. In 1323 after the direct line of descent from Roman the Great was left without any survivors, Casimir III “The Great” of Poland claimed Galicia-Volhynia for the Kingdom of Poland. Casimir declared that he was King of Ruthenia and took control of Galicia and West Volhynia.

East Volyhnia and Kyiv were awarded to Mindaugas, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from 1253 the Kingdom of Lithuania. In 1434 Ruthenia became a province with its capital in Lviv, under a Ruthenian Voivodeship(governorship). Galicia-Volhynia became entirely Polish in the 1569 Treaty of the Union of Lubin.

The Partitions of Poland

During the three Partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795 huge tranches of Poland and Lithuania were purloined by Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Catherine the Great of Russia had installed her lover Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1764 and this helped Catherine, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and King Frederick the Great of Prussia to avoid excessive bloodshed.

As king, Stanislaw II August was heavily criticized for his lack of conviction when defending his kingdom. By the time of the 1795 partition Poland no longer had a standing army to defend itself and Stanislaw abdicated. He was incarcerated in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg for the remainder of his life which ended in 1798. He was given a state funeral by Catherine the Great’s son and successor Paul I.

The Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria

Ironically, under the Habsburg’s the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Poland and Austrian Galicia did not include the former power base of Volodymyr-Volynskyi.

A succession of Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna controlled Galicia with a firm hand and took vast amounts of money from their new lands so the kingdom became poorer and was considered less developed than the rest of Austro-Hungary. A great number of Galician men were conscripted into the army, more than in other areas of the empire.

According to historian Jacek Purchla, the Austrians viewed Galicia as "a barbaric place inhabited by strange people of questionable personal hygiene." However, the kingdom’s people were renowned for their sense of humour according to historian Norman Davies in his book Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe.

The Kingdom of Bareness and Starvation

As Napoleon and revolutions hit Europe in the 19th century Galicia was permitted more rights by Vienna including the abolition of serfdom in the late 1840s and its own legislative powers, a diet or sejm in 1861. Political uprisings were short-lived and unpopular with the Galicians. The people were more concerned with achieving equality between the Polish and Ruthenians within the kingdom rather than gaining autonomy from Vienna.

Unfortunately for them, the Ruthenians were significantly outnumbered by the Podolians, Polish aristocrats, landowners, and conservatives in the sejm so their needs were overlooked. The Galicians who aspired to Russian rather than Austrian rule were deemed to be traitors. From 1895 Galicia’s elections were called “bloody” as votes were rigged by Austrian officials and policemen were given free rein to batter voters who were against the status quo.

As repeated famines brought disaster for the people of Galicia mass emigration occurred. In the 1880’s Germany, the U.S.A., Canada, and Brazil offered fresh hope for the downtrodden and cash-strapped Galicians who saw the hopelessness in their homeland. It was estimated that the migration totalled several hundred thousand people. The Galician peasants who remained renamed it “The Kingdom of Bareness and Starvation.”

The Swift End of the Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria

The First World War was as brutal to Galicians, fighting for the axis powers with Austria, as it was to all nations. Under the terms of the Peace of Riga in 1921, Galicia was subsumed into Poland. The east was later attached to the U.S.S.R but the west remained Polish.

It’s a sorry fact that if you Google “Galicia” the results take you to Spain’s Galicia and not Poland's.

Sources

• Daniel Romanovich | ruler of Galicia and Volhynia | Britannica
  
• Galicia | historical region, Eastern Europe | Britannica

What Was the Western Schism and Why Does It Matter in History?

The Catholic Church's Western Schism Took Over 40 Years To Resolve. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain. 

Popes and Power Struggles 

The Western Schism of 1378-1417 was a cataclysmic episode in Roman Catholic history. It rocked Europe, and it split the church for almost 40 years. During the schism, also called the Papal Schism, the Schism of 1378 and the Great Occidental Schism, power struggles and politics took precedence over ecclesiastical concerns, and the church's reputation plummeted.

When Pope Gregory XI died in Rome on 27th March 1378, Bartolomeo Prignano, the Bishop of Rome, and Robert of Geneva, the Bishop of Avignon, France, were elected as popes within six months of each other, and the Western Schism was created.

Avignon's bishops had provided popes for the previous seventy years, but there were calls in Rome for a Roman pope to be appointed. Pope Gregory XI had travelled to Rome in 1377, and he died there. That was Rome's claim over Avignon.

Pope Urban VI Makes Enemies of His Cardinals

On 8th April 1378, Neapolitan (a person from Naples) Bartolomeo Prignano was unanimously elected Pope Urban VI by the church's Council of Cardinals. Roman citizens were furious that he wasn't from Rome. A large number of cardinals fled the city to avoid a feared devastating rebellion that did not occur.

The French king and his court were loathed to acknowledge Urban as their pope, and they started to plot his removal. The plotters could have spared themselves the effort; contemporary reports tell us that the power very quickly went to Urban VI's head. The cardinals discovered that he was angry and arrogant, and soon it was whispered that he was mad with power. Pope Urban VI brought in changes that left the cardinals poorer, and he offended the French king when he refused to reside in or visit Avignon.

Pope Urban VI Dismissed, Pope Clement VII Elected

The disillusioned cardinals met in Anagni on 9th August 1378. They issued a manifesto of grievances. It claimed that Pope Urban VI was chosen in haste as the Roman mob bayed at the door and that he was not what they'd envisioned for their church. He was no longer the pope. Queen Joanna of Naples withdrew her support for the Neapolitan pope.

Within two weeks, missives were sent by the cardinals present at the meeting to cardinals who were absent, advising them that the role of pope was vacant.

Pope Urban VI refused to slink off into the shadows. He excommunicated Queen Joanna of Naples, and he ingratiated himself with her eventual successor Charles III of Naples.

On 20th September 1378 in Fondi, Robert of Geneva, Bishop of Avignon, was elected as the new pope, Clement VII. King Charles V of France and the powerful Gaetani family in Fondi championed the new pope. Clement VII promptly excommunicated Urban VI.

The Western Schism Continues: Popes Boniface IX and Benedict XIII

Pope Clement VII was disinclined to repair the schism in the Roman Catholic church unless he was to remain as pope; of this, he was not assured.

He returned to the papal palace in Avignon, and the French court supported him financially. French royal Louis, Duke of Anjou, led an army to defend Clement's papal supremacy and to forge a path to Rome so that his rival could be banished. This proved unsuccessful. Pope Clement resorted to extortion, land sales and seizures to finance further inconclusive incursions.

King Charles III of Naples and his people grew disenchanted as the costs of defending their land and Urban VI's papacy from Clement VII mounted. Support for Urban VI dwindled in northern Italy. When formerly faithful cardinals turned on Urban, he ordered their torture and deaths.

In 1388 he led an army out of Perugia. He fell from his mule, and he died from his injuries. Rumours circulated that he was dispensed with poison.

Urban VI was succeeded by Pope Boniface IX, born Pietro Tomacelli in Naples.

Clement VII died in Avignon on 16th September 1394. His successor was Pope Benedict XIII, Aragonese-born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor.

1409: Three Popes at the Same Time

Despite several conferences over the years of crisis with Europe's leaders and scholars the Roman Catholic Church was unable to resolve the Western Schism. In 1409 the Council of Cardinals aimed once again to end the multi-pope confusion.

A new pope was elected, and it was hoped that the other two popes could be persuaded to step aside. Avignon and Rome's popes refused to accept Pope Alexander V (Peter of Candia) from Pisa's authority. The result? Greater bemusement and three popes at the same time.

The Rome-based pope Boniface IX died in 1404, and he was succeeded by Innocent VII, who died in 1406. He was replaced by Gregory XII.

Pope Benedict XIII maintained control from Avignon.

Pisan Pope Alexander V died within a year of taking office.

On 16th November 1414, Alexander V's successor Pope John XXIII convened the Council of Constance in Germany to bring an end to the schism. The council sat until 22nd April 1418, and it was attended by six hundred or more Roman Catholic ministers.

1414-1418: The Council of Constance

The Council of Constance delivered the following results:

All of the popes elected during the period of the Western Schism were labelled Antipopes. This is how we saw Pope Clement VII in the 16th century and Pope John XXIII in the 20th century. These were not duplications, as their namesakes were not regarded as legitimate popes.

In 1415 Antipopes John XXIII and Gregory XII accepted that they were deposed. Benedict XIII refused, and he was excommunicated by the council on 27th July 1417.

The Council of Constance selected their new pope on 11th November 1417. Pope Martin V, born Odonne (Otto) Colonna, began his papacy three days later. His tenure ended with his death in 1431.

Antipope Benedict XIII believed that he was the true pope until his death in 1423. He organised the selection of his successor from his deathbed. Aragon-born Antipope Clement VIII finally abdicated in favour of Pope Martin V on 26th July 1429, and he accepted a new role as the Bishop of Mallorca.

The Western Schism was officially over, and the Roman Catholic church's wounds from the breach healed slowly.

Sources

• The Western Schism | Western Civilization
  
• The Western Great Schism: Two Popes at One Time
  
• Western Schism | History, Background, & Resolution | Britannica

France's King Louis XIV, Madame de Montespan and "L'affaires des Poisons"

 

King Louis XIV's mistress Athenais, Madame de Montespan was implicated in L'affaires des Poisons. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Fear and Paranoia at the French Court

L’affaire des Poisons consumed the French royal court in the late 1670s and early 1680s during King Louis XIV’s reign. Accusations abounded of witchcraft, the use of potions and poisons known as “inheritance powders,” suspicious deaths and seemingly improbable passions and alliances.

In 1675, Marie-Madeleine, Marquise de Brinvilliers, was placed on trial and found guilty of poisoning her father and brothers so that she and her lover, Godin de Saint-Croix, would inherit all of the family’s wealth.

Her assertion that “[h]alf the people of quality are involved in this sort of thing, and I could ruin them if I were to talk” created fear and paranoia in aristocratic circles. She was exaggerating, but there was merit to her statement.

La Chambre Ardente: The Burning Chamber

Towards the end of the 1670s, King Louis installed Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie (1625–1709) as Le Premier Lieutenant Général De Police De Paris and as the leader of a special new commission, La Chambre Ardente (in English, The Burning Chamber) to establish how much truth lay in the rumours of foul play that included a death threat against the king.

During the three years that La Chambre Ardente operated, the commission sat in an oppressive chamber that had black cloths over the windows and limited torchlight under which suspects were questioned and quaked.

It was a busy commission. During the 1600s, it was not uncommon for magic to be suspected as a device for self-advancement. Murdering the courtiers in your path who blocked access to the king and his favour was not as unbelievable as it is today.

Women were charged with using magic, normally love charms and potions, much more often than men. Even the less honourable priests of the era sold potions and spells. Superstitions controlled actions to a bewildering degree.

A Royal Mistress Murders Her Rival?

King Louis XIV’s long-term term chief-mistress (maitresse-en-titre) Athénaïs, Francoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan (1740–1707) was often called Madame de Montespan or La Montespan. She did not make it through the scandal unscathed.

Athénaïs had felt threatened at first by a rival for the king’s affections named Marie-Angélique de Scorailles de Roussille, Duchesse de Fontanges. When Marie-Angélique died aged 19, many in court believed that Athénaïs had arranged or carried out a murder, probably using poison. However, there was a flaw in their theory.

By the time of her death, Marie-Angélique had lost her initial allure and was ailing. Louis was frustrated that she refused to accept her moment, as the Sun King’s favourite, was over. He expected her to remove herself from the court.

No proof was ever uncovered of Athénaïs’ involvement in Marie-Angélique or anyone else's death, but what damned her was her connection, as a client, to the love potion maker, abortionist, poisoner and alleged witch Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin, La Voisin.

A Life and Reputation at Stake

La Voisin’s associate Adam Couret, "Lesage", identified Madame de Montespan as La Voisin’s client. Marguerite, La Voisin’s daughter, testified that La Montespan’s former servant Claude de Vin des Œillets was the woman who collected the poison.

Later, she contradicted herself by saying that it was Athénaïs. Mademoiselle des Œillets suggested that the person who had paid the visits to La Voisin’s premises must have resembled her.

Françoise Filastre, the late Duchesse de Fontanges’ servant was a friend of La Voisin and a known poisoner named La Filastra. She accused Athénaïs of employing her to murder Marie-Angélique and claimed that Abbé Etienne Guibourg (1610–1686) was the priest who carried out black masses for her.

The abbé confessed that he officiated at three black masses, but he had no recollection of when these took place. He conceded that he never saw the face of his female client. Françoise Filastre subsequently retracted her statement.

Athénaïs and the Regicide of the King of France

It was claimed that in 1665, La Voisin had concocted love potions for Athénaïs so that Louis XIV would fall in love with her. As the king and Athénaïs’ relationship began in earnest in 1667, this was seen by some contemporaries as proof enough that she was guilty of her rival's murder.

As Athénaïs was accused of placing ground infant bones in Louis’ food, taking black masses and committing infanticide to achieve her objective, Louis was shaken. He banned all public attendance at Athénaïs' hearing. Fortunately, Athenaïs had never shown a desire to commit regicide, so the accusation of attempting to kill Louis was dismissed.

La Voisin was arrested for poisoning the king for over a decade. The absence of Athénaïs’ arrest or a trial suggested to more cynical onlookers that there was a cover-up.

King Louis XIV Delivers Punishments

La Filastra and La Voisin were burnt at the stake in 1680. Allegedly, La Voisin pushed the priest away at the execution site. The abbé was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his possessions were claimed by the state. Thirty-six people were executed by the conclusion of the La Chambre Ardente’s proceedings in 1682. Several key courtiers were saved by the king from trials.

Louis XIV created incontestable lettres de cachet issuing fines, imprisonment terms, galley service orders, exiles and banishments from France. He passed a new law in 1682 that all magic was fraudulent and the sale of poisons was to be state-governed but not outlawed.

Louis XIV Moves On From Madame de Montespan

Louis XIV regarded Athénaïs in a different light after L'affaires des Poisons, and his passion faded. She was dismissed from his side, but he still paid her frequent visits.

In her memoirs written during her retirement, she noted that “[t]he king...did not, on that account, return to that sweet and agreeable intimacy which had united us for the space of eleven or twelve years. He approached me as one comes to see a person of one's acquaintance...”

Louis was concerned about his popularity, and the sensible Françoise de Maintenon became his new maîtresse-en-titre. The king secretly married Françoise in either October 1683 or January 1684 after the death of his wife, Queen Maria Theresa.

Athénaïs committed herself to charitable and virtuous causes, as she grew uncertain in her twilight years whether her past behaviour had cost her her chance in heaven. To some people, she was still guilty of murder.

She passed away on the 27th May 1707. 

Sources

• Madame de Montespan and the Affair of the Poisons | History Today
  
• Scandal, Conspiracy and the Affair of the Poisons: Inside the Court of Louis XIV | HistoryExtra
  
• Affair of the Poisons | French history | Britannica
  
• Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, marquise de Montespan | French mistress | Britannica
• Athénaïs de Montespan, King Louis XIV of France's Mistress

The Princes in the Tower, King Henry VII and the Lambert Simnel Rebellion of 1487

 

The Princes in the Tower and Lambert Simnel share a page in English history. 

Image: Wikipedia/John Everett Millais. Public Domain.

Richard III and the Princes in the Tower

The story of the Princes in the Tower has become legend. Many people believe that the dastardly King Richard III (1452-1485) had his nephews—12-year-old Edward and 10-year-old Richard—murdered so that he could reign unchallenged after the death of his brother and the princes’ father, King Edward IV (1442-1483).

King Edward V was a ruler in name only from the 9th of April 1483; Uncle Richard was entrusted with Edward and Richard’s care, but he utilised the long-standing story that Edward IV had married Eleanor Talbot before he and Elizabeth Woodville met and married. If so, and he had no proof, Edward IV and Elizabeth's children were illegitimate and ineligible for the throne.

Richard postponed Edward's coronation and moved the brothers into the Tower of London, then still a palace and a prison. Their maternal uncle and strongest ally, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, was executed on Richard’s orders. Richard held his coronation on the 6th of July 1483 after the unexplained disappearance of his nephews on the night of 25th/26th June 1483.

The Battle of Bosworth Field Begins the Tudor Era

The new king arranged for 8-year-old Edward, Earl of Warwick, the only son of his executed brother George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel Neville, to be installed at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire.

Richard III’s reign was short-lived. On the 22nd of August 1485, Lancastrian Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, was the victor at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and he was proclaimed King Henry VII. Richard III was slain. Henry solidified his claim to the throne by marrying Princess Elizabeth of York, a sister of the missing princes.

The absence of the princes’ bodies led to theories that Edward and Richard, or perhaps only one of them, had somehow survived.

Lambert Simnel's Resemblance to King Edward IV

The story of a 10-year-old boy named Lambert Simnel (Symnell) and his link to the throne of England begins with a conniving clergyman in Oxford named Richard Symonds. He discerned a likeness between Lambert, the son of a local tradesman, and the late King Edward IV. He decided to exploit the opportunity and set to work schooling Lambert so that he could take on one of the lost princes’ identities in a spectacular return.

Approximately one year after Lambert Simnel and Richard Symonds met one another, Edward, Earl of Warwick, was inaccurately reported dead. Edward had been imprisoned in the Tower of London since Henry VII’s arrival on the throne because he was the strongest York claimant to England's throne.

The Earl of Warwick was very much alive, and he had not, as other murmurings suggested, escaped from his incarceration.

King Edward VI

Richard Symonds and Lambert Simnel made haste to Dublin, where on the 24th May 1487, Simnel was proclaimed King Edward VI under the guise of escapee Edward, Earl of Warwick, not one of the princes in the tower as he’d been preparing for.

In response to this act of treason, Henry VII displayed the real Edward, Earl of Warwick, to the people of London. However, declaring that Lambert Simnel was an imposter did not solve the problem. The imposter was believed by many to be the real Edward or at least allowed to persist in the lie.

On 4th June 1487, Lambert Simnel or King Edward VI arrived on the Lancashire shore with around 2000 mercenaries provided by Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy (1446-1503). Margaret was married to Charles the Bold and was the sister of Edward IV and Richard III.

She made no secret of her opposition to the usurping Tudors. Her nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, had initially shown loyalty to Henry VII, but presumably, Margaret convinced him to switch his allegiance so that a “York” figure could reclaim the throne of England.

The Battle of Stoke Field

At the ensuing Battle of Stoke Field, the Earl of Lincoln lost his life, and Lambert Simnel and Richard Symonds were incarcerated. Their cohorts Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and Viscount Lovell, Richard III’s former chamberlain, managed to flee. Fitzgerald was pardoned, but Lovell was never heard of again. In 1708, a secret room and a male skeleton were uncovered in his home, Minster Lovell, in Oxfordshire. The bones were presumed to belong to the 15th-century Viscount Lovell.

Henry VII did not release Symonds. He realised that the child Lambert Simnel was being used to achieve Symonds’ goals. The king was verbally dismissive about the threat that Lambert posed to his hold on power, but in the spirit of keeping your friends close and your potential enemies closer, he gave him a job in the royal kitchens. Lambert worked in the palace kitchens until his death in either 1534 or 1535 in Henry VIII's reign.

The real Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, was executed in 1499 for allegedly trying to escape captivity. He was 22 years old.

In the 17th century, building work was carried out at the Tower of London, and two bodies were found. King Charles II believed that they were probably the hidden remains of Edward and Richard, and he gave them a suitable reinternment. The whole truth about their demise remains a mystery.

Sources

• Lambert Simnel | English pretender | Britannica
  
• Lambert Simnel: Who Was The Pretender Who Challenged Henry VII? | HistoryExtra
  
• United Kingdom - Dynastic threats | Britannica

Napoleon Bonaparte's Son Napoleon II, Duke of Reichstadt

Napoleon II's deathbed portrait. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's Son, Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte was born on the morning of the 20th March 1811 at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The city's residents were notified by the firing of one hundred cannons that Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was finally a father and that his issue was male.

The newborn's mother, Napoleon's second wife, was Marie-Louise of Austria, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, Franz I of Austria. She fulfilled Napoleon's wishes for an heir; his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, had disappointed him in that regard, so he divorced her in 1809. He called Joséphine his true love (though he had a number of other relationships throughout his life), and reputedly, his last word was "Josephine."

Baby Napoleon was invested with the titles of Prince Imperial and King of Rome. He was christened on the 9th of June 1811 at the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, and a week of celebrations followed.

His governess between 1811 and 1814 was the affectionate and sensible Louise Charlotte Françoise de Montesquiou, "Maman Quiou."

Emperor Napoleon left his wife and son and marched off to fight for dominance over his enemies on the 24th of January, 1814. This was the last time that the ruler saw them.

Emperor Napoleon II's Disputed Reigns

Paris fell to Napoleon's enemies, and his military commanders mutinied, so on 4th April 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to abdicate in his son's favour and accept exile on the island of Elba. For two days, his three-year-old son served as his replacement, on paper at least, before Napoleon reworded the abdication to include his heirs.

Marie-Louise and the young Napoleon relocated to the Austrian court of her childhood instead of travelling to Elba. Mother and son lived at the Schonnbrun Palace in Vienna, and from this time, he was known as Franz, the German version of his second Christian name. The French awarded him the title of Duc de Parme or Duke of Parma.

In February 1815, Emperor Napoleon escaped from Elba, and he reclaimed power in France as he ousted King Louis XVIII. After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 1815, Napoleon abdicated for a second time, and he was banished to St. Helena where he suffered poor health and died on 5th May 1821.

The emperor had stepped aside so that his son could succeed him, although he knew that a deposed monarch waited in the shadows. The disputed rule of four-year-old Napoleon II occurred between 22nd June 1815 and 7th July 1815. The government did not recognise him as ruler, and the monarchy under King Louis XVIII was formally restored. Napoleon II remained in Austria throughout.

Napoleon II: Like Father, Like Son?

From an early age, Napoleon II suffered from difficulties breathing, but when he was twelve years old, this was not deemed an impediment to a military career, so he embarked on his training as a cadet. He was noted for his intelligence and dedication.

There was a problem. Most European leaders were reluctant to allow Napoleon's son to pursue a military career because they feared that, like his father, he would wreak havoc and deliver bloodshed if he returned to France. The Bonapartists still regarded him as their absent ruler.

His grandfather Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, Franz I of Austria, shared their opinion. In 1818 he gave Franz/Napoleon the Austrian title of Duke of Reichstadt, but he prevented him from taking a political role, and he refused him meaningful positions in the Austrian Army despite promoting him through the ranks. He was placed in command of a battalion, but the role shielded him from consequential campaigns.

Tuberculosis, Burial and Adolf Hitler

The problems with his lungs that he'd endured since childhood developed into tuberculosis. On the 22nd July 1832, aged twenty-one Napoleon II, Duke of Reichstadt, passed away at the Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna.

He was laid to rest in the House of Habsburg tradition. His heart was placed in the family's Heart Vault (herzgruft) in the Augustinian church a short distance from the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. His entrails were interred in the Ducal Crypt in St. Stephen's Church in the city, and the rest of Napoleon II, Duke of Reichstadt was buried in the Imperial Crypt (kaisergruft) in the Viennese Capuchin church.

His story was not over. In 1940 Adolf Hitler ordered that Napoleon II's body should be relocated to Paris. His remains from the Imperial Crypt were transported to the French capital, but oddly, his heart and entrails remained in Austria. Hitler's insistence was apparently a signal of honour to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been moved from his St. Helena grave to Paris in 1840.

The two Napoleon Bonapartes lay side by side at Les Invalides, Paris, for twenty-nine years until the son was moved to the lower church at Les Invalides.

Despite disputes about whether Napoleon II's two rules truly occurred, when Napoleon III rose to power in France, he elected to call himself "the third" as a mark of respect to his ancestor.

Sources

• NAPOLEON II - napoleon.org
  
• Napoléon-François-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte, duke von Reichstadt | Austrian-Italian noble | Britannic
  
• Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, Napoléon II | Unofficial Royalty

The Historic Saxon Duchies of Germany and the House of Wettin

Arguably the best known member of the House of Wettin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria's husband.  Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

1485: Saxony Divided Between 2 House of Wettin Brothers

The Saxon duchies, the Sächsische Herzogtümer, were also known as the Ernestine and Albertine duchies after the ruling House of Wettin's Elector Frederick II of Saxony divided his lands between his two sons in the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig.

The newly established Ernestine duchies in the electorate were ruled by Ernst (Ernest) Frederick's elder son, and his younger son Albrecht (Albert) took control of the area designated as Ducal Saxony. The Ernestine line was senior to the Albertine one until fortunes shifted in 1547, see below. The former duchies are in modern-day Thuringia and part of Bavaria in Germany.

Ernest, Prince-Elector of Saxony, based himself in Leipzig, and his lands were in the north of the March of Meissen and Saxony. Albert, Duke of Saxony, was based in Dresden with lands in the south of the March of Meissen and Thuringia.

Notable Members of the House of Wettin

Notable members of the House of Wettin include Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, his mother Princess Louise of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen Victoria's mother Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Victoire's brother Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. His first marriage was to Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of Britain's King George IV. Leopold was invited to be the King of the Belgians in 1831.

King William IV of Britain's wife was Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen; Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohary reigned as King of Bulgaria between 1908-1918, and his descendant Simeon II was the last reigning monarch of Bulgaria between 1943-1946. He was the 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2001-2005), using the name Simeon Sakskoburggotski.

The Division of Erfurt and Saxe-Altenburg's Creation

In the wake of the Schmalkaldic War (1541-1547), the Ernestine line lost their electoral dignity or supremacy on the orders of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Albertine line's Maurice, Duke of Saxony, became Elector of Saxony.

In the mid-1550s, John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, split the Ernestine lands into three duchies for his three sons. This gave John-Frederick Saxe-Eisenach and Saxe-Coburg, John William ruled Saxe-Weimar and John Frederick III controlled Saxe-Gotha. John William added the districts of Coburg, Altenburg and Meiningen to his Weimar lands.

The 1572 Division of Erfurt resulted in the duchies of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and Saxe-Weimar. In 1596 Saxe-Eisenach and Saxe-Coburg were separated. They merged again in 1633 as Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach.

In Saxe-Weimar, the death of John William's son Frederick William created a regency under John William's brothers led by the eldest, John. In 1603 Uncle John refused to give way to his nephew John who was by then at an age to rule in his own right.

Negotiations resulted in a new division of the duchy. Uncle John claimed Saxe-Weimar and Jena. Nephew John reigned over the newly created Saxe-Altenburg.

1826: A Saxon Grand Duchy and 3 Duchies Remain

In 1807 all of the Ernestine duchies joined Napoleon Bonaparte's Confederation of the Rhine and in 1815 they became sovereign members of the German Confederation.

By 1826 there were four Ernestine duchies:

• The Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. (The senior line).
• The Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen.
• The Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.
• The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

During the Seven Weeks War of 1866 between Prussia and Austria Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen was the only Ernestine duchy to fight for the losing side, Austria. It joined the other duchies in the North German Federation the following year, and the duchies were part of the newly proclaimed German Empire in 1871.

In 1918 as the First World War drew to a close, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled to the Netherlands. The German Revolution led the rulers of the duchies to step down. Two years later, the former duchies, with the exception of Coburg, were merged into the new Thuringia. Coburg became part of Bavaria.

The House of Wettin continued.

The Saxe-Altenburg line became extinct in 1991 when Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Altenburg, died. His title passed to Prince Michael of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach, but this line is also predicted to become extinct because his daughter cannot inherit under primogeniture. Other males in the Eisenach branch of the family do not have legitimate or non-morganatic children.

Unmarried Konrad of Saxe-Meiningen was born in 1952, and he has no issue.

With Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and Saxe-Meiningen's end, it's likely that the most senior remaining member of the House of Wettin, Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha would become nominal prince of Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and Saxe-Altenburg.

British Royalty and the Ernestine Duchy Titles

Through Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert, the British monarchy changed from the House of Hanover or Guelph to the Wettin family and the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

In 1917 King George V rebranded the royals from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the thoroughly British name of Windsor at the suggestion of his private secretary Arthur Bigge, Lord Stamfordham.

The Mountbatten-Windsor royals are not considered Ernestine descendants because, unlike their German cousins, they enjoy cognatic—male- and female-line—descent.

In 1917 George V renounced any claims that British royalty had to German titles and lands so King Charles III can't claim the Saxon duchies. He has enough titles and estates already, so he won't miss them.

Sources

• Saxon duchies | historical region, Germany | Britannica
  
• The Wettin Dynasty of Saxony | Emperor Charles V
  
• The Ernestine Line's Saxon Duchies

Who Was Queen Victoria's Father?

Queen Victoria's father Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

The House of Hanover's Prince Edward Augustus

Queen Victoria’s father, Edward Augustus, was King George III (1738-1820) and Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz’s (1744-1818) fourth son and fifth child. He was born on the 2nd November 1767 at Queen's House, now Buckingham Palace, and he was named after the king’s recently deceased brother, Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (1739-1767.) He was baptised on the 30th November 1767.

As a younger royal son, Edward was destined to pursue a military career. His training began in 1785 as a cadet in the Hanoverian Guard. He was accompanied by his tutor, the “mercenary tyrant” Lieutenant Colonel Baron von Wangenheim, as he studied in Lüneburg, Hanover and Geneva.

In Geneva, Edward fathered an illegitimate daughter, Adelaide Victoria Augusta Dubus, born in December 1789. Her mother, Adelaide Dubus, died in childbirth. The baby was to be raised by her maternal aunt, Victoire. Edward promised to pay fifty guineas per annum for his daughter’s care. Adelaide died in 1790, but the Prince’s household paid an allowance to Victoire until her 1832 death. Although Victoire declined to become his mistress, Edward fathered a son named Edward (1789-1853) by Anne Gabrielle Alexandrine Moré.

Disgrace, Julie de Saint-Laurent and Canada

As well as creating two children, Edward became a Colonel with the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) in the British Army in 1789. Unwisely, he decided to take a holiday without obtaining permission, and he was duly punished. George III ensured that Edward’s rank was reduced and he was transferred to Gibraltar. Edward was not permitted to return to England until 1798, when he had sustained a riding injury and needed somewhere to convalesce.

Edward had met his long-term mistress, Madame Alphonsine-Thérèse-Bernadine-Julie de Mongenêt de Saint-Laurent, known as Julie, the wife of French Colonel Baron de Fortission, in Geneva. She was seven years older than Edward and an attractive, petite and dark-haired vision. He was smitten. Julie secretly travelled to Gibraltar with him.

Edward did not cope with the soaring temperatures, and he requested a transfer. Canada was suggested. The king, aware of Julie’s presence in Edward’s life, hoped that this would end their relationship. He was mistaken. Edward and Julie arrived in Quebec, Canada, in August 1791. He introduced her as a widow. Edward was stationed at the Royal Navy's North American Station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a Major-General.

Edward was the first member of the British royal family to visit Upper Canada. On the 27th June 1792, he invented the term Canadian whilst asking for concord between rioting French and English immigrants in Charlesbourg, Quebec. Edward was also the first Prince of Great Britain to enter America after its independence when he visited Boston in 1794.

The Duke of Kent and Strathearn

Edward returned to Britain in the autumn of 1798, and on 23rd April 1799 (St. George’s Day), he was created the Duke of Kent and Strathearn and the Earl of Dublin. With these titles, he also received a useful increase in his allowance to £12000 per annum. That May he was promoted to General, and he briefly became the Commander In Chief of British Forces in North America.

In May 1802, the British War Office appointed Edward as the Governor of Gibraltar. The soldiers there mutinied on Christmas Eve 1802. As Sir Spencer Walpole commented, Edward "was unpopular among his troops; and the storm which was created by his well-intentioned effort at Gibraltar to check the licentiousness and drunkenness of the garrison compelled him finally to retire from the governorship of this colony." Actually, his second eldest brother Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), was Commander in Chief of the British Army, and he made the awkward decision to allow Edward to continue to hold the title of Governor, but he was instructed never to visit the country again under any circumstances.

Edward acted as an Honorary Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot (The Royal Scots) until his death, but his active military career ended in Gibraltar. In September 1805, he became the Ranger of Hampton Court Park, and he took possession of The Pavilion, the home that accompanied the role. Edward and Julie moved to Brussels in Belgium in 1815 because Britain was too expensive for their lifestyle.

The Royal Baby Race

When Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) and her son passed away in November 1817 during a protracted birth, Edward and his brothers were told that their duty was to produce at least one legitimate heir between them so that the Hanoverian dynasty would not die out. To fulfil his role in the "royal baby race" he reluctantly separated from Julie after 28 years together. She was devastated. Unproven claims that Edward and Julie had married in Quebec and had children were always refuted by Queen Victoria.

Julie read in a newspaper at breakfast one day that Edward was engaged. She became hysterical but publicly acted with great dignity. Her only request was for a portrait of Edward to remember him by. She spent the remainder of her life in Paris, France. He paid her an annuity until his death. The French King Louis XVIII (1755-1824) gave her the title of Comtesse de Montgenêt. She died in August 1830.

Queen Victoria's Parents

Edward’s bride was Princess Marie Louise Victoire, known as Victoire, of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786-1861.) She was the widow of Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen and she had a son and daughter from this marriage. They married on 29th May 1818 at the Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg in a Lutheran ceremony and a Church of England ceremony was carried out at Kew Palace on the 11th July 1818. To economise, the newlyweds made their home in Victoire's dower house, Amorbach Castle in Germany. Victoire fell pregnant in the late summer of 1818. They were determined that their child would be born on British soil. She was: Alexandrina Victoria of Kent arrived on the 24th May 1819 at Kensington Palace, London.

Edward died on 23rd January 1820, just six days before his father, at the unfortunately damp Woolbrook Cottage in Devon, when his severe cold developed into pneumonia. He was buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Victoire survived him by forty-one years. His daughter, then known as Drina, was less than a year old.

Sources

• Queen Victoria’s first Holiday in Devon | British Heritage
• Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent | Unofficial Royalty

• Prince Edward, Duke of Kent | Unofficial Royalty

• Edward Augustus, duke of Kent and Strathern | British military officer | Britannica
• Biography | Montgenet, Therese-Bernadine | Volume VI (1821-1835)

• Earls and Dukes of Kent - 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

  
  

Sir Thomas Bloodworth and the Great Fire of London: Villain or Scapegoat?

 

The Great Fire of London. Ludgate and St. Paul's. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

The Spark of the Great Fire of London

The summer of 1666 was so hot in England that the earth was scorched, and wood and straw were tinder dry. The disaster that became known forever as the Great Fire of London was triggered during the early hours of the 2nd of September at Thomas Farriner's (c.1615-1670) bakehouse on Pudding Lane. A flying spark from the bread oven may have appeared commonplace and dismissible, but the forgotten spark turned into a fire after Farriner went to bed. Smelling smoke, the family escaped, but an employee was lost to the flames.

The fire spread slowly at first until the wind grew stronger. Its acceleration through the city’s timber and tar structures in a warren of narrow streets with overhanging roofs left the city dwellers in great danger.

Sir Thomas Bloodworth, Mayor of London's Tragic Misjudgment

In his house on Gracechurch Street, the wealthy merchant, Mayor of London and member of parliament for Southwark, Sir Thomas Bloodworth or Bludworth (1620-1682,) born Thomas Bildward, was awoken by his servant and told of a fire. His approval was required to pull down some properties to halt the progress of the travelling flames. His response that night has damned him in history. He refused to allow any buildings to be pulled down and claimed that the blaze was insignificant enough that, "Pish, a woman might **ss it out."

Whilst Bloodworth wouldn’t permit the destruction of the buildings, and the aldermen of the city were against him allowing it, he was also bound by protocol. He couldn’t approve demolition without Charles II’s (1630-1685) permission, and presumably, no one, Bloodworth included, decided that the fire was serious enough to wake the king of the realm. If Bloodworth had made the decision to destroy property before consulting the king, he would have been liable for the cost of rebuilding.

Bloodworth and the aldermen were not alone in underestimating the fire. Naval clerk and diarist Samuel Pepys went back to bed after being awoken at 3 a.m. by his servant to view the fire, and, unmoved by the scene, he went back to bed and rose at 7 a.m. to realise his error.

75% of London Swallowed by Flames

Bloodworth was blamed for the fire’s extensive destruction. Approximately 75% of London burned throughout the four days and three nights of fire. It was acerbically commented when parliament met to discuss the damage that the mayor took quick action to fight the fire by adding the contents of his chamber pot to the effort.

In the 21st century, we have the benefit of hindsight, but if only the Mayor of London had been bold and broken the rules, perceiving the potential damage to the rest of the city, history might have recorded that he was the hero and not the villain of the event.

As many Londoners formed into chains, passing buckets of water from the River Thames to vanquish the flames and set to work on demolishing buildings in the fire’s path, others fled to the safety of the fields surrounding the city. They had a harrowing view. The fire could be seen over thirty miles away.

The merchants based around St. Paul's Cathedral threw their stock and valuable items into the vaults of the cathedral to safeguard them, but St. Paul’s was lost above ground, and its vaults suffered fire damage which is still visible today to the few allowed to enter the vaults.

Warehouses and timber stored for the forthcoming winter were greedily consumed by the flames. Samuel Pepys famously and ingeniously buried his cheese in his garden to save the expensive delicacy. The mayor was faced with a personal crisis. His house was consumed by the fire. The rescue efforts across London could not match the fire’s intensity.

Royal Firefighters Join the Rescue Efforts

From Samuel Pepys' Diary: “The king command him [Bloodworth] to spare no houses, but to pull down before the fire every way. The Duke of York bid me tell him that if he would have any more soldiers he shall ...” Pepys found Bloodworth in Cannon Street and informed him of the king and duke’s instructions. “... he cried, like a fainting woman, ‘Lord, what can I do? I am spent: people will not obey me. I have been pulling down houses, but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it.’”

Pepys later referred to the mayor as “a silly man, I think,” and “a very weak man.” As his diaries have been a primary source of information from the era, Bloodworth may never be free/ of ignominy.

King Charles II and James, Duke of York (1631-1701) earned admiration when they didn't flee the city for a safe refuge but instead took control of the firefighting, gathered food for the people, and were seen working side by side with the population of London. The king laboured for over thirty hours without taking a break. On the 3^rd of September, Pepys wrote of the mile-long blaze, “It made me weep to see it …”

The Aftermath of the Great Fire of London

As the wind fell, the fire lost its fervour. By its conclusion, the Great Fire of London had destroyed over thirteen thousand houses and eighty-five churches, part of London Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and approximately fifty city company halls. The official death toll was low, estimated as sixteen people, perhaps less. Charles II started a relief fund for the victims.

Bloodworth asked his influential friends to spread the word that he was not in disgrace with the king and that he had acted well throughout the Great Fire of London. A Frenchman named Robert Hubert confessed to setting the fire which we know was a false confession. He wasn't in London when the fire began. However, he was hanged. The people needed someone to blame for their misfortune, and he was cast as a convenient scapegoat.

An official enquiry concluded in January of 1667 that “... nothing hath yet been found to argue it to have been other than the hand of God upon us, a great wind, and the season so very dry.” The memorial monument took six years to build from 1671 and it remains at Monument Street and Fish Street Hill in the City of London. Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) wished to erect a statue with Charles at the top but the king dismissed this idea by saying, “I did not start the fire.”

An Inglorious End

Bloodworth continued his career as a politician, but he did not enjoy popularity. Charles II’s close advisor Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), allegedly called him “thrice vile.” During the Popish Plot of 1678, in which fear of Catholic uprisings and Charles II’s assassination escalated, Titus Oates (1649-1705) spectacularly accused James, Duke of York, of ordering the fire of 1666 for the good of Catholics and said that Bloodworth, as his agent, secured the destruction of most of London for him.

Sir Thomas Bloodworth died in Leatherhead, Surrey, in May 1682. He was 62 years old. His initial words about the fire have long survived him.

Sources

• Sir Thomas Bludworth (Lord Mayor 1665-6) |The Diary of Samuel Pepys
  
• Bludworth, Thomas (1620-82) | History of Parliament Online
  
• https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/great-fire-of-london/