Events -
1509 - King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon, thus beginning Henry's checkered marital history. Catherine was the widow of Henry's older brother Arthur, but claimed that the marriage had never been consummated. Soon after Arthur died, marriage between Henry and Catherine was already being discussed between Henry VII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Henry having already spent a good portion of Catherine's dowry, which he would have had to return if her second marriage wasn't made to another member of his family. There was even talk that Henry VII was thinking of marrying her himself, since he had only one living son. Henry VII dithered on the proposed marriage, and died before matters could be resolved. Henry VIII, who seemed to truly love Catherine at the time, married her as soon as feasible after his father's death (less than two months). Catherine had no problem getting pregnant, but out of six pregnancies, she had two stillbirths (one boy, one girl), three babies of whom the longest lived was just under two months (two boys, one girl), and one surviving girl, Mary. By the time of her last pregnancy, Catherine was already into her thirties. Since England had never "technically" had a queen regnant (Empress Matilda was hardly in power long enough to count in the 1140s), Henry was obsessed with having a son. In the mid-1520s, one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, caught his eye and he began to look for ways to get out of his marriage. He claimed he was being punished with no living sons because he had sinned in marrying his brother's widow, as well as suggesting the marriage was invalid because Catherine had consummated her marriage to Arthur. Finally, after much protesting on Catherine's part and the reluctance of the Catholic Church to sanction an annulment, Henry's new Archbishop of Canterbury declared the marriage invalid - even though he had secretly married a pregnant Anne Boleyn four months earlier. Catherine was more or less kept imprisoned in two castles, forbidden to see her daughter Mary, until she died, probably of cancer, in January 1536. Ironically, the woman she had been tossed away for only survived her by four months.Born on this date -
1456 - Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Anne Beauchamp. Along with her older sister Isabella, Anne would spend her childhood as a marriage pawn in her father's desire for power. Warwick first encouraged relationships to develop between his daughters and the younger brothers of King Edward IV, George and Richard. When Edward refused to grant permission for the marriages, Warwick had Isabella married to George, who remained on Warwick's side when he rebelled against Edward with the intent of putting George on the throne. Richard, who remained on Edward's side in the conflict, was separated from Anne. When it became obvious that putting George on the throne would not work, Warwick made a deal with Margaret of Anjou to help her regain the throne for her husband Henry VI, and offered his daughter Anne as wife for Margaret and Henry's son Edward. Warwick did succeed in driving Edward IV and Richard from the kingdom and install Henry VI back on the throne, but Edward and Richard invaded England in the spring of 1470. Warwick was killed in the Battle of Barnet on Easter Sunday, 1471. The Lancastrians made a last stand at Tewkesbury at the beginning of May, but they were defeated and Edward, Prince of Wales, was killed, leaving Anne a widow. Anne was taken into her sister and brother-in-law's home shortly afterwards, but disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Theories behind the disappearance include George hiding her away to prevent Richard from marrying her, or Anne running away because George was threatening her, again to prevent her marriage to Richard. The Neville sisters were their parents' only heirs and George didn't want to split the inheritance with Richard and Anne. Richard eventually found her and took her to sanctuary, where George could not get to her. Richard and Anne finally married in July 1472 and settled at their mutual childhood home of Middleham. They lived contentedly there for 11 years with Richard as Lord of the North, trying to reconcile northern Lancastrians to Yorkist rule. About a year after their marriage, Anne gave birth to their only son, Edward of Middleham. After Richard became King of England when the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville was declared invalid (making all their children bastards, and thus ineligible for the throne), Anne, who had been Princess of Wales through her first husband, was now Queen of England through her second. Anne would not enjoy her time as Queen. In April 1484, her only child died suddenly of what seems to be appendicitis. Anne would die the following year at the age of 28, likely of tuberculosis. There were rumors that Richard poisoned his wife so that he could take another who would give him sons, but Anne had been ailing for some time and contemporary reports indicate Richard was very grieved when she died.1726 - María Teresa Antonia Rafaela of Spain, the second daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese. Relations were tense between the French and Spanish royal courts, largely due to a broken engagement between Louis XV and Maria Teresa's older sister Mariana Victoria. Maria Teresa was engaged to Louis XV's son Louis, while her brother Felipe of Spain was married to Louis' sister Louise Elisabeth of France. Five years after her engagement was announced, Maria Teresa married Louis, the Dauphin by proxy in December 1844 and arrived in France two months later. Although the marriage did not start off well - it went unconsummated for seven months - Louis and Maria Teresa seem to have fallen in love. Nine months later, Maria Teresa gave birth to a daughter and died 3 days later in July 1746. The Dauphin was so devastated that the King had to drag his son away from his wife's deathbed. When the Dauphin died 19 years later, he requested that his heart be buried by his first wife.
1897 - Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova (Татьяна Николаевна), second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Alix of Hesse. For the second time, Alix had given birth to a daughter instead of the son Russia wanted, since girls could not inherit the throne. Two more daughters followed after Tatiana's birth before the long-awaited heir was finally born. Her sisters gave her the nickname "The Governess" as she was the practical and organized one. They also said that if they needed a favor from their parents, Tatiana should be the one to ask for it. After World War I began, Tatiana trained as a Red Cross nurse with her mother and older sister Olga. At the outbreak of the revolution, Tatiana was sick at Alexander Palace with the rest of her siblings - that had all contracted measles. Nicholas returned to the family soon after the abdication, and the family lived in fairly comfortable captivity at their home until August, when they were taken to Tobolsk in Siberia for protection. While they were in Tobolsk, the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government in the October Revolution. Soon, life became more difficult for the Romanovs, and they were told they were being moved to Moscow, presumably for trial. However, Alexei was suffering a hemorrhage and was unable to travel. Afraid of what might happen to Nicholas, Alix decided to travel with him and took Maria along to help take care of her. Tatiana was left behind in charge of the household. Nicholas and his party was diverted to Ekaterinburg by a bloodthirsty Ural Soviet which was anxious to take revenge on Nicholas. The rest of the family joined them a few weeks later in Ekaterinburg. Two months later, on July 17, 1918, Tatiana was murdered at the age of 21, along with her parents, four siblings, and four servants. The bodies remained missing until a grave containing nine of the eleven bodies was excavated in 1991. Tatiana's body was finally given a proper burial with the rest of the recovered bodies on July, 17, 1998, the 80th anniversary of the murders.
1928 - Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, daughter of Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández and Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz. Fabiola married King Baudouin of Belgium on December 15, 1960. Unfortunately, the new queen was unable to provide an heir to the throne, as all five of her pregnancies ended in miscarriage. As a result, when her husband died in 1993, his younger brother Albert succeeded to the throne. Although she reduced her appearances after her husbands death, she still does make appearances on behalf of the Royal Family.
1934 - Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat, son of André de Laborde de Monpezat and Renée Doursenot. In June 1967, he married the heiress presumptive to the Danish throne, Princess Margarete. The couple have two sons and eight grandchildren.
1968 - Alois Philipp Maria von und zu Liechtenstein, the son of Prince Hans Adam II and Marie Aglaë Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau. Their oldest son, Alois is the heir apparent to the Lichtenstein throne. In preparation for his future responsibilities, Hans Adam II handed the day-to-day governmental power over to his son, although he remains head of state. In July 1993, Alois married Duchess Sophie in Bavaria. The couple has four children, the oldest of whom is second in line to the throne after his father.
Died on this date -
1183 - Henry of England, "the Young King", aged 28. Henry was born on February 28, 1155 as the son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. In June 1170, Henry was crowned king during his father's lifetime, following the custom on the continent. Two years later, Henry married Margaret of France, daughter of Louis VII of France by his second wife. Henry, who wanted his father to share the power, and not just the title, of king, rebelled against his father in 1173. The civil war which resulted from this rebellion led to Eleanor of Aquitaine being kept a prisoner for the remainder of her husband's life. Henry would predecease his father, contracting dysentery in Jun 1183 while on a campaign against his father and brother Richard. Near the end, he asked for is father, but Henry II, suspecting a trick, refused to meet his son. Henry did send men to ascertain his son's condition and to pass on a ring as a sign of the father's love. Henry predeceased his own son William, who lived for a few days in 1177. As a result, Richard became heir to the throne - although Henry kept him in suspense over whether he wasn't going to be bypassed - and became King when their father died.1216 - Henry of Flanders, Emperor of the Latin empire of Constantinople, aged about 42. He was born around 1174 as the son of Baldwin V of Hainault (also Baldwin VIII of Flanders) and Margaret I of Flanders. He distinguished himself during the Fourth Crusade and was named regent of Constantinople when his older brother Baldwin was captured after the Battle of Adrianople. Once word of Baldwin's death reached him, he ascended to the throne. By his first wife, Agnes of Montferrat, he only had a stillborn child. His second marriage, to Maria of Bulgaria, was childless. Henry's death was allegedly caused by poison, possibly supplied by his second wife.
1488 - James III of Scotland, aged 36. He was the son of King James II of Scotland and Mary of Guelders and was born on July 10, 1451. He was nine when he ascended the throne after his father was killed by a misfiring cannon. James married Margaret of Denmark in 1469 and had three sons, the oldest of whom would succeed his father as James IV. James died at the Battle of Sauchieburn, fighting against a rebellious group of Scottish nobles, leading to the succession of yet another child king.
1557 - João III of Portugal, aged 55. He was born the son of King Manuel I of Portugal and Maria of Aragon on June 7, 1502. He succeeded his father as King in 1521 when he was 19. Portugal during his reign was the first western country to make contact with China and Japan. He married Catherine of Austria, a marriage which produced nine children. None of his sons followed him as king, as they all predeceased him. His successor was his grandson Sebastião I, son of his fifth son João, who ascended to the throne at three when João died of a stroke.
1727 - King George I of Great Britain, aged 67. He was the son of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, and Sofia von der Pfalz. Sofia was the heir to the throne of Great Britain under the 1701 Act of Settlement, which barred Catholics and those married to Catholics from the throne. Sofia predeceased Queen Anne by two months, leaving her claim to the British throne to her son, George. George went back and forth between his two kingdoms, spending about a fifth of his time in Hanover. It was while on a trip to Hanover that he had a stroke and died, being succeeded by his only son, George II.
1879 - Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik, Prince of Orange, aged 38. He was born on September 4, 1840, the son of King Willem III of the Netherlands and Sophie of Württemberg. Willem was originally looked at by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a possible husband for their second daughter, Alice. After those plans fell through, Willem fell in love with the non-royal Mathilde van Limburg-Stirum. Even though she was from a noble family, his parents refused to allow the marriage, not seeing her as a suitable bride for their son. Willem planned to marry Mathilde without permission, but since she was under 21, her parents still had to approve. After her parents' lack of approval, Willem moved to Paris, where he led a dissipated life.. He died of typhus and liver problems. After both Willem and his brother predeceased their father, the succession law in the Netherlands was changed to allow their half-sister Wilhelmina to succeed to the throne, which she did in 1890.
1903 - Alexander I of Serbia, aged 26 and Queen Draga of Serbia, aged 38. He was the son of King Milan I of Serbia and Natalija Keşco and was born on August 14, 1876. He unexpectedly came to the throne in 1889 when his father abdicated, with his mother as regent until he came of age. When he was 16, he overthrew the regency and declared himself of age. The following year, he made his father commander-in-chief of the army, in essence making him the country's ruler again. Alexander's engagement to the widowed Draga Mašin (born September 11, 1864) in 1900 was very unpopular, both with his family and the country at large. The marriage weakened the king in everyone's eyes. When Alexander wished to name his wife's brother as his heir if their marriage was childless, a group of Army officers revolted and invaded the palace, murdering the King and Queen. Eyewitnesses said that their mutilated bodies were thrown out a window onto a manure pile. Alexander was replaced on the throne by Peter I, from the rival family of Karađorđević, which had ruled Serbia before the Obrenović family.
1914 - Adolf Friedrich V of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, aged 65. He was born on July 22, 1848, the son of Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg and Augusta of Cambridge (granddaughter of King George III of Great Britain). He became the grand duke on the death of his father in 1904, and at the time of his death, he was the second richest person in Germany after Kaiser Wilhelm II. By his wife, Elisabeth of Anhalt, he had four children, including his heir Adolf Friedrich VI, who committed suicide four years later, a few months before the abolition of the monarchy.
