The new Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, born Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, comes from an old noble family from the Low Countries. The House of Lannoy is one of the most distinguished noble houses in Belgium, yet nether of the two princely titles they held at different parts of their history—Sulmona and Rheina-Wolbeck—were located in Belgium.Continue reading “Lannoy: A Quintessentially Belgian Noble House”
Category Archives: Low Countries
Nassau-Weilburg and Luxembourg: one of Europe’s oldest princely dynasties on one of its newest thrones
On 3 October 2025, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, abdicated his throne in favour of his eldest son, Crown Prince Guillaume. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as an independent sovereign state has only had its own ruling family since 1890, though the Duchy of Luxembourg itself (and before that the County) is far more ancient,Continue reading “Nassau-Weilburg and Luxembourg: one of Europe’s oldest princely dynasties on one of its newest thrones”
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”
Anatomy of a British Queen: Scotland, the Netherlands, and beyond
September 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of the reign of Charles III in the United Kingdom, and in the list of British queen consorts, adds the name of Camilla Shand. In the history of royal consorts, in Britain or elsewhere in Europe, or indeed at the top of the European aristocracy—the dukes and princes—a familyContinue reading “Anatomy of a British Queen: Scotland, the Netherlands, and beyond”
Princes of Orange, Part II
At the end of Part I, in 1530 the Prince of Orange, Philibert de Chalon, left his possessions, including the principality of Orange in Provence, and lands in the Free County of Burgundy, to his sister’s son, René of Nassau, whose family–later called the House of Orange-Nassau, would dominate the history of the Low CountriesContinue reading “Princes of Orange, Part II”
Princes of Orange: a Franco-German-Dutch family (part I)
If you had to choose the most trans-national princely dynasty in all of European history, who would you choose? I’d certainly go for the House of Orange-Nassau, the current royal family of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who, if their history is looked at from a long perspective, are revealed to be a blended FrenchContinue reading “Princes of Orange: a Franco-German-Dutch family (part I)”
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. HansContinue reading “The Anglo-Dutch Moment: the Bentinck dukes of Portland”
Dukes of Cleves, with Jülich, Berg and the Mark
‘Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived’. Possibly the most successful mnemonic in history; people who love Tudor history can even remember that Number Four (‘divorced’) was Anne of Cleves. But where on earth was Cleves? A misleading clue is in one of her historical nicknames, the ‘Flanders Mare’, though in the sixteenth century, Englishmen oftenContinue reading “Dukes of Cleves, with Jülich, Berg and the Mark”
Dukes and Princes 