Genealogical Histories

Lamballe and Penthièvre: Riches upon Riches

One of the most prominent characters in the recent television drama about Marie-Antoinette is her loyal friend and the superintendent of her household, the Princess of Lamballe. There was no actual principality of Lamballe, but the bearer of the name was indeed a princess, by virtue of her birth into the royal house of Savoy,…

House of the Dragon: The Basarab Princes of Wallachia and the Legend of Count Dracula

One of the most persistent and popular legends in the history of eastern Europe, and in the steep Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, is the story of an undead prince, a vampire, the ultimate blood-sucker, Count Dracula. His purported residence, Bran Castle, is the top tourist destination of Romania, with hundreds of thousands of visitors per…

The Anglo-Dutch Moment: the Bentinck dukes of Portland

The year 1688-1689 has been called by historians the ‘Anglo-Dutch Moment’, as the year when the ideas of English and Dutch limited monarchy came together in the person of William, Prince of Orange: King William III. Over three centuries later, one family, the Bentincks, still benefit from this relatively brief merging of national interests. Hans…

A Highland fling with the Dukes of Gordon

If you visit the northeast corner of Scotland, Aberdeenshire or the Moray Coast, you cannot help but bump into castles built or towns founded by some member of Clan Gordon. Today they are represented in the Scottish peerage by the marquesses of Huntly and of Aberdeen, but in the 18th century the clan was led…

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