An interesting illustrated poster was published in about 1715 for distribution to the people of Great Britain that celebrated the health and vitality of their new royal family: the Hanoverians. At the top is the prosperous looking King George I, a former war hero in Europe and a symbol of the ongoing stability of theContinue reading “Dukes of Brunswick II: Lüneburg, Hanover, and the Queen-Consort who never was”
Author Archives: Jonathan Spangler
The Princes of the Isles: From Viking Warlords to the Great Clan MacDonald
I’ve been watching ‘Vikings’ on television again this summer, and always find it fascinating to see how Norwegian and Danish seafaring culture impacted the culture of the British Isles in the early medieval period. But this series, or the series ‘The Last Kingdom’, focuses almost entirely on the eastern and southern realms of Anglo-Saxon England:Continue reading “The Princes of the Isles: From Viking Warlords to the Great Clan MacDonald”
Kinsky Princes: From Bohemian Forests to Viennese Palaces
Once upon a time, in a far-off forest in Bohemia, a princess was attacked by a ferocious wolf. Her attendant bravely fought off the wild beast, and in gratitude, the princess ennobled her hero and granted him a coat-of-arms depicting the bold swipe of wolf’s claws on a blood-red field (some modern descriptors call theseContinue reading “Kinsky Princes: From Bohemian Forests to Viennese Palaces”
Schönburg, Schönberg, Schomberg: Beautiful Princes from Dresden to Dublin
If a beautiful fortress in French-speaking lands gave its name to a dynasty or two of dukes and princes (‘Beaufort’), then attractive castles in German-speaking lands can too. There are certainly a number of castles in Germany and Austria named schön burg, or the similar yet different schön berg, referring to a mountain, not aContinue reading “Schönburg, Schönberg, Schomberg: Beautiful Princes from Dresden to Dublin”
Beaufort: the last of the Plantagenets
Who is a current British duke whose surname is that of another ducal title, but whose ancestors’ surname was the one that is now the title of the current dukedom? Confused? What British dukes are royal yet not royal? Peers fifth in precedence amongst English non-royal dukes? The dukes of Beaufort. Whose house gave itsContinue reading “Beaufort: the last of the Plantagenets”
Dukes of Beaufort-Spontin: Belgians who went Bohemian
On the northern edge of the deep forested valleys of the Ardennes in what is now eastern Belgium was an ancient fortress overlooking a bend in the River Meuse, not far from the town of Huy between Namur and Liège. It seems to have had an attractive aspect so was called the bellum forte or Beaufort. TheContinue reading “Dukes of Beaufort-Spontin: Belgians who went Bohemian”
Marshals in France, dukedoms in Italy: Napoleon’s dukes and princes—the one-offs
In June 1790, Revolutionary France abolished the use of titles of nobility. While France was still a kingdom—for now—its Second Order no longer had a hereditary place at the top of society. Legally, there were no more dukes or princes in France. A decade later, in May 1804, First Consul Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor ofContinue reading “Marshals in France, dukedoms in Italy: Napoleon’s dukes and princes—the one-offs”
The Prince of Wedel: Last one in, shuts the door
The northernmost kingdoms of Europe never had much of a high aristocracy; in marked contrast to Naples, which had hundreds of ducal and princely titles, Norway, Sweden, Denmark had almost none. Neither did the northern German principalities like Brandenburg or Pomerania. At most, nobles were junkers, barons, and occasionally counts. What this northern domain didContinue reading “The Prince of Wedel: Last one in, shuts the door”
The Lieven Princes: How minor nobles from the Baltic spread their wings on the currents of Swedish and Russian empires
The Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia were long dominated by German nobles who settled in the wake of conversion crusades led by military orders in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Over the centuries that followed, they formed a fairly closed set of families, intermarrying and retaining their authority over the local native populations (Estonians,Continue reading “The Lieven Princes: How minor nobles from the Baltic spread their wings on the currents of Swedish and Russian empires”
Two Royal Favourites for the Price of One: George Villiers and George Villiers, the Dukes of Buckingham
It is rare for any aristocratic family to place one of its members so high in the court hierarchy as to be known as ‘the royal favourite’, but for one family to produce two in as many generations, and both with the same name—George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham—is really extraordinary. Many aristocratic families spend decadesContinue reading “Two Royal Favourites for the Price of One: George Villiers and George Villiers, the Dukes of Buckingham”
Dukes and Princes 