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WOMEN’S HISTORY † AGNÈS DE COURTENAY (c. 1136 – c. 1184)
AgnĂšs de Courtenay was the daughter of Josselin II de Courtenay, comte d'Édesse and BĂ©atrice de SaĂŽne. In 1144, Edessa was besieged by Imad ad-Din Zengi, the ataberg of Mosul and Aleppo and finally captured on December 24 of that year and her father was captured, blinded, and imprisoned in Aleppo. BĂ©atrice sold what remained of their domains to the Byzantines and took AgnĂšs and her brother, Josselin III, back to SaĂŽne. At some point, AgnĂšs married Renaud, seigneur de Marach, but he died in battle in 1149. Afterwards, AgnĂšs was betrothed to Hugues d'Ibelin, but he was captured in battle. In 1157, AgnĂšs married again to Amaury, comte de Jaffa, the younger of the two sons of Foulques V d'Anjou and MĂ©lisende de JĂ©rusalem. According to Lignages d'Outremer, their marriage occured after AgnĂšs was abducted by Amaury. Either way, AgnĂšs had two children with Amaury: a son, Baudouin and a daughter, Sibylle. Queen MĂ©lisende died in 1161 and Amaury’s older brother, Baudouin III, he died as well in 1162. He had no children, so the throne was to pass to Amaury. Amaury and AgnĂšs’ marriage then came under attack. With Edessa still in the hands of the Zengids, she had no political value. It is also possible that her betrothal to Hugues d'Ibelin had actually been a marriage. The chronicler Guillaume de Tyr later implied that the reason was because AgnĂšs was a harlot, but he was personally hostile to her. Such an explanination also ignores the fact she had no trouble remarrying to other men, which would have been unlikely if her reputation was as bad as all that. Amaury and AgnĂšs’ marriage was annulled, though their children were declared legitimate and he remarried to Maria Komnēnē. Afterwards, AgnĂšs left court and had no influence in her children’s lives. She married Hugues d'Ibelin in 1163, but had no children by him. He died sometime between 1169 and 1170 and then AgnĂšs married a final time to Renaud Granier, seigneur de Sidon. Amaury died in 1174, leaving AgnĂšs’ young son, Baudouin IV, as king. Baudouin had been infected with leprosy as a child and was not expected to live long nor father any children. Raymond III de TripoliÂč served as regent for the young Baudouin with the support of AgnĂšs and her fourth husband. Though they’d previously had no real relationship with each other, AgnĂšs came into conflict with Maria Komnēnē, who wanted to see her daughter, Isabelle, as Baudouin’s heir. In 1176, Baudouin arranged for Sibylle to marry Guglielmo Lungaspada degli Aleramici di Monferrato. He lived long enough to impregnate Sibylle before dying from malaria. Shortly after Philippe d'Alsace arrived in Outremer and demanded that he be recognized as regent as the closest male relative of Foulques V d'AnjouÂČ present and that Sibylle and Isabelle marry his vassals. His attempted power grab failed and Baudouin shortly after came of age. In 1180, AgnĂšs appointed Eraclius, Archbishop of Caesarea the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. This is most likely the source of Willelmus Tyrensis’ grudge against her. The Old French Continuation of Willelmus Tyrensis (written about a century after the fact) claimed that she was having an affair with Eraclius. The Chronicle of Ernoul also claims that AgnĂšs had an affair with the Potievin knight, Aimery de Lusignan, after having him appointed Constable of Jerusalem. Both are probably untrue; while AgnĂšs supported Eraclius and Aimery politically, that is not the same thing as having sex with them. In 1180, Baudouin arranged for Sibylle to marry Guy de Lusignan, the younger brother of Aimery. Though the Old French Continuation of Willelmus Tyrensis claims that AgnĂšs was responsible for Sibylle’s marriage , it’s more likely that Baudouin was thinking politically. Guy and Aimery were both vassals of Baudouin’s wealthy Plantagenet cousins, who had every reason to want to keep the Lusignan brothers overseas and furthemore, Henry II of England had promised to take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as peintence for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket. Guy de Lusignan turned out to be a disappointment in virtually every way however. He allowed Renaud de ChĂątillon to attack trade caravans and proved to be an ineffective military leader. Baudouin then chose to remove Guy as regent and appointed Sibylle’s young son by her first husband, Baudouinet, as his heir. By this point, AgnĂšs was in ill health and retired from court. She died sometime in 1184. After her death, her widower remarried to Helvis d'Ibelin, the daughter of Maria Komnēnē and her second husband, Balian d'Ibelin. AgnĂšs has not fared well in historical fiction. Taking the claims of Guillaume de Tyr, Old French Continuation of Willelmus Tyrensis and Chronicle of Ernoul at face value (the latter two of which suffer horribly from hindsight bias), most authors consistently depict her as stupid, promiscuous, ugly, and singularly responsible for the downfall of Jerusalem.
Âč Son of Raymond II de Tripoli and Hodierne de JĂ©rusalem. ÂČ Philippe was the son of Sibylle d’Anjou.
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histoireettralala · 20 hours
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Madame Louison
Woman’s Hat, c. 1910
Plaited straw, metallic lace, silk velvet ribbon, and ostrich and egret feathers
This extravagant summer hat is made from meticulously plaited braids of straw that have been sewn together in a spiral. High quality straw generally came from Italy, although England was also an important supplier of straw for the Paris millinery trade. Here, designer Madam Louison trimmed her hat with ostrich and egret plumes dyed rust-orange, a color echoed in the dyed straw on the underside of the hat.
Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade
St. Louis Art Museum
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histoireettralala · 20 hours
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The first of what will probably be many posts translating Napoleon's letters to Murat (a project made infinitely easier thanks to the Fondation Napoléon's recent online publication of Napoleon's entire correspondence).
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histoireettralala · 20 hours
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ChĂąteau de Vaux-le-Vicomte - FRANCE
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histoireettralala · 20 hours
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Beast of GĂ©vaudan
In the mid 18th century women and children were found torn apart, dismembered, or decapitated in the quiet French province of GĂ©vaudan. These were the first of nearly a hundred attacks perpetrated by a mysterious animal dubbed as the Beast of GĂ©vaudan.
From 1764 to 1767, in the historical region of GĂ©vaudan, located in southern France, and in adjacent areas, about one hundred children, youths, and women were killed by a so-called “Beast”. Numerous other humans survived the attacks, many of them seriously injured. The series of attacks has been confirmed by a great variety of historical documents and is not called into question by scientists.
Historians claim that wolves, or a hybrid of a wolf and a domestic dog, had attacked the victims; the “hybrid-assumption” is based on the description of a canid, shot in June 1767, that was said to have strange morphological characteristics. However, a critical evaluation of historical texts, including the publications of the French abbots François Fabre and Pierre Pourcher, revealed that neither this animal, nor any other wolf killed in GĂ©vaudan, had anything to do with the attacks of the Beast.
Descriptions of the time vary, and reports may have been greatly exaggerated due to public hysteria, but the Beast was generally described as a wolf-like canine with a tall, lean frame capable of taking great strides. It had an elongated head similar to that of a greyhound, with a flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop a broad chest. The Beast’s tail was also said to have been notably longer than a wolf’s, with a tuft at the end. The Beast’s fur was described as tawny or russet in colour but its back was streaked with black and a white heart-shaped pattern was noted on its underbelly.
About 95 percent of the carnivore attacks on humans in GĂ©vaudan during the years 1764 to 1767 can be attributed to that single animal that was referred to as la bĂȘte: The Beast. There is no doubt that the remaining attacks were executed by rabid and non-rabid wolves. Wolves were a common species at that time and therefore easily recognized by the rural population.
The Beast of GĂ©vaudan committed its first recorded attack in the early summer of 1764. A young woman named Marie Jeanne Valet, who was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest near the town of Langogne in the eastern part of GĂ©vaudan, saw the Beast come at her. However, the bulls in the herd charged the Beast, keeping it at bay. They then drove it off after it attacked a second time. Shortly afterwards the first official victim of the Beast was recorded: 14-year-old Janne Boulet was killed near the village of Les Hubacs near Langogne.
Throughout the remainder of 1764, more attacks were reported across the region. Very soon terror gripped the populace because the Beast was repeatedly preying on lone men, women, and children as they tended livestock in the forests around GĂ©vaudan. Reports note that the Beast seemed only to target the victim’s head or neck regions.
On January 12, 1765, Jacques Portefaix and seven friends were attacked by the Beast. After several attacks, they drove it away by staying grouped together. The encounter eventually came to the attention of King Louis XV, who awarded 300 livres to Portefaix and another 350 livres to be shared among his companions. The livre was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. The king also directed that Portefaix be educated at the state’s expense. He then decreed that the French state would help find and kill the Beast.
The killing of the creature that eventually marked the end of the attacks is credited to a local hunter named Jean Chastel, who shot it at the slopes of Mont Mouchet, now called la Sogne d’Auvers, during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d’Apchier, on June 19, 1767.
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Ladies of French history by George S. Stuart
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Hersend (fl. 1249-1259) was a physician known for accompanying King Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade.
A skilled and trusted doctor
The document mentioning Hersend calls her magistra (the feminine form of magister, "master" or "teacher" in Latin), which could mean that she was university educated. This would be surprising since women technically couldn't attend universities at that time. 
Hersend was a valued member of the royal household. A royal act dating from August 1250 promises her a lifelong pension of twelve Parisians deniers a day. Even if it can’t be known if she was the king’s personal physician, she likely took care of him during the expedition. Since Queen Margaret of Provence gave birth in 1250, Hersend could also have acted as a midwife. 
Going back home 
Hersend survived the dangers of the crusade (which saw the king captured and ransomed). She returned to Paris at the end of 1250, married an apothecary named Jacques and continued practice her profession. They bought a house together in 1259. Hersend was likely dead by 1299 and her house was bought by lady PĂ©tronille, apothecary to the King of France.
Further reading:
"Hersende" - Les guerriers du Moyen-Âge
Kostick Conor, The Crusades and the Near East - Cultural histories
Le Goff Jacques, Saint Louis
Whaley L., Women and the Practice of Medical Care in Early Modern Europe, 1400-1800
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Montmorillon by Formosa Wandering on Flickr.
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Partition of the Carolingian Empire after the Treaty of Verdun, 843
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histoireettralala · 3 days
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Murat is not truly known even by his compatriots, even to the greatest number of his companions in arms. His story as it is found in the writings with which we are inundated, and as it spread among the people, is practically a fable or a romance. It appears that the imagination of our century also wanted to create a new Roland alongside another Charlemagne. We meet more people inclined to believe that his sword, like Durandal, could cut giants or rocks in two, than disposed to persuade themselves that he knew how to make himself loved through the sweet virtues of a good king, and that he applied himself in ten years, with constancy, to making the happiness of the peoples he governed.
-Jean-Michel Agar, Count of Mosbourg
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A great many myths have grown up around Caroline, chiefly because the rabid Bonapartists could never forgive her for betraying Napoleon in 1814, and the rabid royalists were out to prove how immoral, disgraceful, and extravagant the Bonapartes had been. These myths have been perpetuated by later historians until the general picture has been distorted out of all recognition.
-Joan Bear, Caroline Murat (1972).
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Tell the whole truth, it alone can win a lasting trust; the heart of man has many contrasts, and it is often these apparently incompatible opposites which give to portraits the stamp of plausibility.
-Caroline Murat to the Count of Mosbourg, 4 September 1838.
***
Happy birthday to my favorite Napoleonic couple, both of whom happened to be born on the 25th of March (Murat in 1767, Caroline in 1782).
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More Joan of arc renderings
I’m enjoying trying this new collage style but its versy strange still to be working on the computer and not by hand
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C A R C A S S O N N E
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“Catherine de’ Medici changed the face of France, sculpting its gardens, constructing its chñteaus, building its monuments. Clad perpetually in black, she became an emblematic figure of the realm, known across Europe simply as ‘the Queen Mother.’..For almost thirty years, she ruled France in all but name.
For the duration of her reign as Queen Mother, her enemies wanted to send her back to the fold of domesticity, her chief task to care for her children. But Catherine decided her place was next to the king, her son.” - young queens, leah redmond chang
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histoireettralala · 3 days
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Headdress
Paul Poiret
c.1920
MET
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LĂ©on Gimpel’s Autochromes of Kids during WWI, Paris, September 1915.
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HĂŽtel de Ville Ă  PARIS
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Ages of French Queens at First Marriage
I have only included women whose birth dates and dates of marriage are known within at least 1-2 years, therefore, this is not a comprehensive list.
This list is composed of Queens of France until the end of the House of Bourbon; it does not include Bourbon claimants or descendants after 1792.
The average age at first marriage among these women was 20.
Ermentrude of Orléans, first wife of Charles the Bald: age 19 when she married Charles in 842 CE
Richilde of Provence, second wife of Charles the Bald: age 25 when she married Charles in 870 CE
Richardis of Swabia, wife of Charles the Fat: age 22 when she married Charles in 862 CE
Théodrate of Troyes, wife of Odo: age 14 or 15 when she married Odo in 882 or 883 CE
Frederuna, wife of Charles III: age 20 when she married Charles in 907 CE
Beatrice of Vermandois, second wife of Robert I: age 10 when she married Robert in 990 CE
Emma of France, wife of Rudolph: age 27 when she married Rudolph in 921 CE
Gerberga of Saxony, wife of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine, and later of Louis IV: age 16 when she married Gilbert in 929 CE
Emma of Italy, wife of Lothair: age 17 when she married Lothair in 965 CE
Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, wife of Stephen, Viscount of GĂ©vaudan, Raymond III, Count of Toulouse, and later Louis V: age 15 when she married Stephen in 955 CE
Bertha of Burgundy, wife of Odo I, Count of Blois, and later Robert II: age 19 when she married Odo in 984 CE
Constance of Arles, third wife of Robert II: age 17 when she married Robert in 1003 CE
Anne of Kiev, wife of Henry I: age 21 when she married Henry in 1051 CE
Bertha of Holland, first wife of Philip I: age 17 when she married Philip in 1072 CE
Bertrade of Montfort, wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, and second wife of Philip I: age 19 when she married Fulk in 1089 CE
Adelaide of Maurienne, second wife of Louis VI: age 23 when she married Louis in 1115 CE
Eleanor of Aquitaine, first wife of Louis VII and later Henry II of England: age 15 when she married Louis in 1137 CE
Adela of Champagne, third wife of Louis VII: age 20 when she married Louis in `1160 CE
Isabella of Hainault, first wife of Philip II: age 10 when she married Philip in 1180 CE
Ingeborg of Denmark, second wife of Philip II: age 19 when she married Philip in 1193 CE
Agnes of Merania, third wife of Philip II: age 21 when she married Philip in 1195 CE
Blanche of Castile, wife of Louis VIII: age 12 when she married Louis in 1200 CE
Margaret of Provence, wife of Louis IX: age 13 when she married Louis in 1234 CE
Isabella of Aragon, first wife of Philip III: age 14 when she married Philip in 1262 CE
Marie of Brabant, second wife of Philip III: age 20 when she married Philip in 1274 CE
Joan I of Navarre, wife of Philip IV: age 11 when she married Philip in 1284 CE
Margaret of Burgundy, wife of Louis X; age 15 when she married Louis in 1305 CE
Clementia of Hungary, second wife of Louis X: age 22 when she married Louis in 1315 CE
Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, wife of Philip V: age 15 when she married Philip in 1307 CE
Blanche of Burgundy, first wife of Charles IV: age 12 when she married Charles in 1308 CE
Marie of Luxembourg, second wife of Charles IV: age 18 when she married Charles in 1322 CE
Joan of Évreux, third wife of Charles IV: age 14 when she married Charles in 1324 CE
Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of John II: age 17 when she married John in 1332 CE
Joan I, Countess of Auvergne, wife of Philip of Burgundy, and later John II: age 12 when she married Philip in 1338 CE
Joanna of Bourbon, wife of Charles V: age 12 when she married Charles in 1350 CE
Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI: age 15 when she married Charles in 1385 CE
Marie of Anjou, wife of Charles VII: age 18 when she married Charles in 1422 CE
Charlotte of Savoy, second wife of Louis XI: age 9 when she married Louis in 1451 CE
Anne of Brittany, wife of Maximilian I, HRE, Charles VIII and later Louis XII: age 13 when she married Maximilian in 1490 CE
Joan of France, first wife of Louis XII: age 12 when she married Louis in 1476 CE
Mary Tudor, third wife of Louis XII: age 18 when she married Louis in 1514 CE
Claude of France, first wife of Francis I: age 15 when she married Francis in 1514 CE
Eleanor of Austria, wife of Manuel I of Portugal and later second wife of Francis I: age 20 when she married Manuel in 1518 CE
Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II: age 14 when she married Henry in 1533 CE
Mary, Queen of Scots, wife of Francis II: age 16 when she married Francis in 1558 CE
Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Charles IX: age 16 when she married Charles in 1570 CE
Louise of Lorraine, wife of Henry III: age 22 when she married Henry in 1575 CE
Margaret of Valois, first wife of Henry IV: age 19 when she married Henry in 1572 CE
Marie de' Medici, second wife of Henry IV: age 25 when she married Henry in 1600 CE
Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII: age 14 when she married Louis in 1615 CE
Maria Theresa of Spain, wife of Louis XIV: age 22 when she married Louis in 1660 CE
Marie LeszczyƄska, wife of Louis XV: age 22 when she married Louis in 1725 CE
Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI: age 15 when she married Louis in 1770 CE
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