lochiels:

On this day in history, the 16th July 1557 (some sources say the 15th), Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves died at her home, Chelsea Old Manor, the former home of Catherine Parr. She was only 41 but she was the last surviving wife of Henry VIII and on the 3rd August 1557 Anne was taken from Chelsea to Westminster to be buried. She is the only one of Henry VIII’s wives to be buried at Westminster Abbey and her tomb is on the south side of the High Altar. It is decorated with carvings of a crown and her initials, AC, skulls and crossed bones, and a lion’s head. It is a sad fact that Anne, as Elizabeth Norton points out, “is often portrayed as the least significant of Henry’s wives” but that she was actually “an international figure of some prominence” and a woman who used her intelligence to survive the English court and become an independent woman. Just like Catherine of Aragon, she did not accept the annulment of her marriage and still thought of herself as Henry’s wife and Queen, and subsequently his widow, but she made the best out of the situation. [x]

edithcrushing:

H I S T O R I C  O T P S // Matilda of Flanders + William the Conqueror

She was an extremely well-educated and beautiful high-borne lady, the niece and granddaughter to kings of France. Her features, according to chroniclers, were refined, delicate, her body graceful, and her head well-set. He, on the other hand, was the bastard son to the Duke of Normandy, a descendent of vikings, rugged, tall, and rough albeit healthy and handsome. His voice was said to be guttural and his skill as a horseman and a fighter unmatched. Medieval writers criticized William for his greed and cruelty, his relentless onslaughts, but universally praised him for his personal piety; while hard and unforgiving on the outside with his wife Matilda - and only her - he was by all accounts an affectionate and devoted husband, never recorded to have taken a mistress or fathered any children but that of the ten he sired with Matilda. 

According to legend, William had fallen deeply in love with Matilda when he first saw her at the French court. He was said to have been so passionately enamored by her that he would’ve done anything to obtain her, and his pride  was greatly slighted when his marriage proposal was rejected due to his “bastard” origins. After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse by her long braids, and threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants before riding off. Another version of the story states that William rode to Matilda’s father’s house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by her braids), and hit her (or violently battered her) before leaving. Naturally, Matilda’s father took offense at this but, before they could draw swords, Matilda settled the matter by refusing to marry anyone but William; even a papal ban by Pope Leo IX at the Council of Reims on the grounds of consanguinity did not dissuade her.  Despite the rather violent nature of their meeting, William and Matilda went on to have a successful and happy marriage. William was especially proud of his wife. He made sure that he would take her with him on royal tours of his dominions, showing her off to his subjects. 

Matilda’s death plunged William into deep depression. It was said that after her death, he became tyrannical, and people blamed it on his having lost her. He no longer went hunting, which was his favorite sport. After four long years of mourning and grief, he too died, and was buried next to his wife for eternity. (x) (x)

lochiels:

There is no doubt that the prince’s affections were deeply engaged. Froissart and Chandos Herald, both contemporaries who knew the prince and Joan personally, record the prince’s great love for Joan, the latter succinctly stating that ‘he loved her greatly’. His fondness for his cousin was long-standing, as is evident from the gift noted in his accounts in 1348 where she is described in affectionate terms as ‘Jeanette’, and the strength of his love is evident from the letter he wrote to her in 1367 after six years of marriage, addressing her as ‘my dearest and truest sweetheart and well beloved companion’.

kirgiakos:

Negroli, Filippo (fl.1532-51)

Armoured breastplate (metal),  Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy

The Bridgeman Art Library

“I never felt more sensibly for the death of a person whom I knew only by sight, and had heard converse, than I did for Major André. He was a most amiable character. General Clinton was inconsolable for some days; and the army in general and inhabitants were much exasperated, and think that General Washington must have been destitute of feeling, or he would have saved him. I believe General Washington felt sincerely for him, and would have saved him if it could have been done with propriety.” — Robert Townsend to Benjamin Tallmadge on the death of John André

amazingeugenie:

history + regicides.

Reserve some hours daily to examine yourself and fortune; for if you embark yourself in perpetual conversation or recreation, you will certainly shipwreck your mind and fortune.

lochiels:

Philippa of Hainault was born in Valenciennes, in the Low Countries, on the 24th of June, most likely 1314-1315. She was the second daughter of William the Good, graaf van Hainaut (modern Belgium) and Holland, and her mother, Jeanne de Valois, was the granddaughter of King Philip III of France. She spent her early years at her father’s court, renowned for its culture. At a young age she found learning appealing and was an enthusiastic reader.

She was married to Edward III in October 1327, nine months after he ascended the English throne. Philippa accompanied him on his expeditions to Scotland and sometimes to France during The Hundreds Years’ War. At times she ruled as regent when he went off to fight. She raised twelve children, including five sons who were renowned warriors and three who were also intellectuals, and daughters who were reputedly well educated and beautiful. The queen provided a necessary contrast to Edward, a great king, but one whose impulsiveness and tendency towards violence and vengefulness needed her calm, rational influence. 

Philippa was a kind and generous woman, highly intelligent and a competent administrator, with an impeccable pedigree (four of her great-grandfathers were kings), she appears in some ways the ideal queen. She won universal respect for her gentleness, compassion and her patronage making her a popular queen, something that she used to help maintain peace in England and elsewhere.

lizzywhimsy:

Senator Charles Sumner lined the walls of his stairway with engravings of stairways. Moral of this story: Humans have always been dorks. 

amazingeugenie:

THE SUN AND ITS RAYS - LOUIS XIV AND HIS MISTRESSES. 
Many women of the upper echelons became mistresses for almost any reason other than financial benefit. Often they were married, socially well-placed and with a certain degree of independance. Once started, tact and iscretion were essential to the smooth running of the affair, especially in retaining a domestif status quo. And no one would deny that intrigue added glamour - and the thrill of danger - to the liaison.

Today in history → July 4^th 1826 // On the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other. Adams’ last words were, ‘Thomas Jefferson still survives,’ unaware that his friend had died hours earlier.

thestandrewknot:

Empress Eugénie of the French’s Fringe Tiara, known as the ‘Diadème Russe’, by Bapst (1863).

amazingeugenie:

history + successful coups (requested by anonymous).

Dolley Madison would pick James Madison up and force him into piggyback rides to show she was both larger and stronger than James and to“impress him with a due sense of man’s inferiority”

charliebrown1234:

A Slave in the White Hosue, Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, 122