Ludwig I (August 25, 1786 – February 29, 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. Crown Prince Born in the Zweibrücker Hof in Straßburg as Prince Ludwig Karl August of Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken, he was the son of Prince-Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of Zweibrücken (later King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria) by his first wife Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, the fourth daughter and ninth child of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt (second son of Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt) and Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Lei ..read more

Carlos IV (November 11, 1748 – January 20, 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. Early life Carlos IV was the second son of King Carlos III of Spain and his wife, Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, the daughter of King Augustus III of Poland, (Prince-Elector Friedrich August II of Saxony) and Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria, herself daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her mother was the first cousin of Empress Maria Theresa. Infante Carlos was born in Naples (November 11, 1748), while his father was King of Naples and Sicily. His elder brother, Don ..read more

By early 1917, in the midst of World War I, the Russia Empire was on the verge of total collapse of morale. An estimated 1.7 million Russian soldiers were killed in World War I. The sense of failure and imminent disaster was everywhere. The army had taken 15 million men from the farms and food prices had soared. An egg cost four times what it had in 1914, butter five times as much. The severe winter dealt the railways, overburdened by emergency shipments of coal and supplies, a crippling blow. On March 12, the Volinsky Regiment mutinied and was quickly followed by the Semenovsky, the Ismailovs ..read more

Frederik Hendrik (January 29, 1584 – March 14, 1647) was the sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last seven years of his life, he was also the stadtholder of Groningen (1640-1647). Early life Frederik Hendrik was born on January 29, 1584 in Delft, Holland, Dutch Republic. He was the youngest child of Prince Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange and Louise de Coligny. His father Prince Willem of Orange was Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland. His mother Lou ..read more

Gustaf IV Adolph (November 1, 1778 – February 7, 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. Gustaf Adolph was born in Stockholm. He was the son of King Gustaf III of Sweden by his wife Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, she was eldest daughter of King Frederik V of Denmark-Norway and his first wife Princess Louise of Great Britain, the youngest surviving daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach. His reign was ill-fated and was to end abruptly. In 1 ..read more

From The Emperor’s Desk: in the blog post about King Conrad III of the Romans, there was a mention of Emperor Lothair III. He is also known as Lothair II. Those who follow this blog know that how monarchs are numbered is an interest of mine. Today, I will examine how Lothair of Supplinburg came to be known by two different Regnal Numbers. Lothair of Supplinburg was the second Emperor named Lothair, but is often numbered “Lothair III” by those who count King Lothair II of Lotharingia as his predecessor, of whose kingdom (Lotharingia) became a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Lothair III, sometime ..read more

Mary of Woodstock (March 11, 1278 – before July 8, 1332) was the seventh named daughter of Edward I of England and Infanta Eleanor of Castile, daughter of King Fernando III of Castile and Countess Joan of Ponthieu. Infanta Eleanor of Castile was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of England, the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England. Mary of Woodstock was a nun at Amesbury Priory, but lived very comfortably thanks to a generous allowance from her parents. Despite a papal travel prohibition in 1303, she travelled widely around the country. Early life Mar ..read more

From The Emperor’s Desk: I meant to post this yesterday but I took the day off. Conrad III (1093 or 1094 – February 15, 1152) of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of the Romans of his predecessor Emperor Lothair III, and from March 7, 1138 until his death in 1152 he held the King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Duke Friedrich I of Swabia and Agnes of Waiblingen, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Heinrich IV and Bertha of Savoy, a daughter of Otto, Count of Savoy and his wife Adelaide of Susa. Conrad’s father ..read more

Charles (March 6, 1823 – October 6, 1891) was King of Württemberg from June 25, 1864 until his death in 1891. Charles was born on March 6, 1823 in Stuttgart as the only son of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and his third wife Pauline Therese of Württemberg (1800–1873), one of the five children of Duke Ludwig of Württemberg and his wife, Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg. Her siblings included Maria Dorothea, Archduchess of Austria; Amelia, Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen; Elisabeth Alexandrine, Princess of Baden, and Duke Alexander of Württemberg himself the founder of the Teck branch of the ..read more

Queen Ulrica Eleonora’s reign occurred just before the end of the Great Northern War. During the Russian Pillage of 1719–1721 in August of the summer of 1719, the Russian Fleet attacked the capital of Stockholm. Despite the ongoing attack, Queen Ulrica Eleonora forced her courtiers to attend a previously accepted reception at the British ambassador’s, “being so untouched as if there had been no enemies present for hundreds of miles”, which was considered to be an impressive act of courage. Her favorite courtier was Emerentia von Düben (1669–1743), her old nurse, who had been ennobled and made ..read more