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With Prince Philip heading for his century, the Battenberg/Mountbatten dynasty is well worth examining. Who were they? Why were they related to everybody? How did a penniless, sharp-witted and seriously good-looking youth collar the future queen of England?
Franz-Joseph of Austria when young
Essential knowledge for students of European history, this was the agreement between the Austrian government in Vienna, led by Beust, and two moderate Hungarian politicians, Deák and Andrassy, leading to the transformation of what was then the Austrian Empire into the dual monarchy of ‘Austro- or Austria/Hungary’. As this signified the combination of the considerable powers of two influential nations, neither known as ‘homely’ or even peace-loving, the Compromise was witnessed with some scepticism and not a little alarm by the rest of Continent, starting with France, Russia and Great Britain.
Territories of the Emperor Franz or Francis Joseph (Austria) were divided into what was technically called ‘Austria’ (lands represented in the Imperial Parliament), and the Kingdom of Hungary. In the latter state the Magyars were allowed to dominate their subject peoples.
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Vlad 'the impaler' V, of Wollachia
It seems more than likely that Bram Stoker was inspired to write Dracula by this fifteenth century ruler in Transvylvania, whose father bore the nickname ‘Dracul’ (which simply means Dragon). On his shield when he went into battle (which was often) was a dragon. The suffix ‘a’ was later added by Orthodox scribes, making a Slavonic genitive into Latin to create a surname equivalent to ‘son of Dracul’. The eager student must travel to Transylvania where he/she can see many documents signed Dragwyla, Voivoda partium Transalpinorum.
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Elisabeth Báthory
In a recent post on this blog, Gilles de Retz or Rais was discussed. France has its Gilles de Retz, and Hungary has its Elisabeth Báthory. The connection is that both were wealthy aristocrats, and both were found guilty of murdering children, very much in the plural sense. De Retz had a proper trial, but Elisabeth did not, though sentence of death was passed on both.
Britain has had its Moors Murderers of course, and Imperial Rome had captured foreign ladies stripped in public and later raped and eaten by savage animals as part of the day’s entertainment. The Japanese soldiery, during the Second World War, would use live prisoners for bayonet practice for conscripts. The list is endless. Man’s inhumanity to man is insatiable. Do you remember a picture on the front page of Time Magazine showing a Serbian civilian, smoking a cigarette while shooting a young Bosnian to death on the pavement?
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'Dean Swift'
I apologise to this website’s watchers for the fact that I have not posted anything for a couple of days. I and my family have been struck down by Madame Grippe, a tenacious and painful lady whom nobody wants to sleep with, though anyone struck by her – must. Today I hope to write about a lady who must be a relative of La Grippe, in that both females are extremely disagreeable, though myths about both have been around for centuries. Today or tomorrow I write about Elizabeth Báthory, Countess (or ‘Blood Countess’) of Nádasdy.
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The US Senate
The Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress. The first, or lower is called the House of Representatives; both represent all States of the Union. Senators first met officially in 1789, by coincidence at the beginning of the French Revolution. The powers and composition of the Senate are to be found in Article I of the US Constitution.
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Sir Walter Raleigh, always frustrated by something or someone
He was an explorer, courtier, navigator, cartographer and part-time corsair. Young Walter took part in privateering expeditions to the West Indies, an increasingly important staging post between the newly opened-up North America and Britain, hub of the fledgling empire.
He was sent by Queen Elizabeth I to suppress rebellion in Ireland. On his return from this mostly unsuccessful sortie he became a favourite with the Queen, though he had failed in Ireland. The Queen knew her history; all English attempts to sort out the Irish Question had failed, sometimes spectacularly. Always had, always have and always will. So Elizabeth, never lacking in a sense of humour, rewarded Raleigh for what he had done in Ireland with a gift of land – in Ireland.
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James, King of England and Scotland, by Daniel Mytens
This King of England was also King of Scotland. He had a French wife, seven children, a mother who was beheaded, a father murdered, a son executed and several favourites, all male and famous for one reason or other.
James’s mother was Mary, Queen of Scots, who came from France to Scotland, then famously escaped from Scotland to England seeking protection and friendship with Queen Elizabeth I. Sadly, she was a natural plotter, and much used by other plotters of lesser rank. One of the things no Tudor could allow was plotting. James was young when they cut off his mother’s head.
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King John signing Magna Carta at Runnymeade
A ‘Baron’ indicates the lowest rank in the British peerage*, though the title itself is one of the oldest. A Barony meant land that went with the title. Barons were originally the military tenants-in-chief of the Crown. The name is French, and came with the Norman Conquest that began (and triumphed under William, Duke of Normandy) in 1066.
The word means ‘vassal of the Lord’. If it had any limitation – that limitation was confined to those who held (or were awarded) land directly from the King in return for military allegiance and service.
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Oliver Cromwell, the gentleman from Cambridgeshire
The history of Britain includes only one genuine civil war. The Wars of the Roses (q.v.) do not come into this category because they were a private struggle between families, including dethroning of kings, usurpation of the throne, terrible violence, vengeance, and settling of accounts. Warlords sought to put their favourite in the Number One Spot, and thousands died as a result, but they were not necessarily civilians. In fact usually they were foreign mercenaries hired by the barons. The people of Britain watched with horror as the flower of the aristocracy tore into each other like wolves.
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