#queens of france

[histoireettralala]

About Marie d'Anjou

After losing four children between 1436 and 1439, Marie began to dress all in black. She was devoted to her household, her religious duties and her children. She was admired for her piety, leading a devotional life. Marie appears to have had no chancellor in her household as her seal was kept by one of her ladies-in-waiting, perhaps in an effort to keep her household out of internecine politics at court. She normally resided at Tours or Amboise and did not usually travel with the court.

Marie kept a large menagerie of pets including starlings, parrots, a wild goat, stags and does, in addition to her greyhounds. She also received a porpoise as a gift. Perhaps this is where her son Louis learned to love such exotic pets. Marie was an expert needlewoman. Her account books for the years 1454 and 1455 attest she embroidered every day with gold thread from Cyprus, Genoa and Venice with a cushion stuffed with bulrush and patterns on canvas from Cambrai.

Marie had a musical chapel with fifteen members. Two of these chaplains were composers of polyphonic music. Marie was the first queen to officially have an astrologer in her household according to the account books of 1450. His name was Arnoul de La Palu and he was regularly paid by the queen until Arnoul left to go into the king's service. He was quickly replaced by Jehan de Lormont.

Marie remained very close to her family and frequently kept in touch with her brother René, Duke of Lorraine. René visited her and she borrowed his boats to sail up the Vienne and Loire Rivers for visits. A list of New Year's gifts for 1455 for the most part included gifts to her brothers and sister-in-law Joan of Laval. Marie and the king made a pilgrimage together to Le Puy in 1424. In 1447, Marie made a pilgrimage on her own to Mont St. Michel.

Susan Abernethy - Marie of Anjou, Queen of France

[adelaide-of-versailles]

How badly did Louis xv treat his wife???

Tbh he was more just... Neglectful and ignored her throughout their marriage.

At first, it was very idyllic and they loved each other, but after giving birth the first time to Louise Elisabeth and Anne Henriette, Cardinal Fleury (who absolutely hated her) decided that until she gave birth to a boy, she wouldn't be allowed to leave Versailles. Louis XV did nothing, and it took 3 years for Maria to have a son. Also, what the hell is up with that? She had twin daughters and suddenly she *needs* to have a boy?? Have some patience, she's working on it!

She was very shy, I mean who wouldn't be when faced with the King of France. She wasn't really raised as a Princess- she was raised in a small house with very few servants with her parents, grandmother, and I'm not sure if her sister Anna was dead yet.

Louis XV cheated on her quite a lot, which I know is normal for monarchy but it is worth mentioning. After the birth of Princess Louise (her last child) she almost died, and she was advised to not have anymore children, and after that she refused access to her bedchamber for the King.

One book says,

At certain times, vigils, feasts and days consecrated to the memory of illustrious saints, she demanded- well, let us call it a "respite" from the King's attentions. But gradually new saints of minor importance were invoked, and Louis XV became impatient. He did not chafe at the great elect, but he drew the line at all these petty saintlings. At first he was content with such a device as breathing on a mirror and writing on the fleeting mist, "Your Majesty is a proud minx"; but one night, pleading that it was a saint's day, the Queen refused to admit him to her bedchamber. "Madame," he shouted at her, you shall pay for this," and immediately commanded Lebel to go and fetch a woman, no matter whom. Lebel sped away, and soon returned with an amiable and tantalizing maid of the Princesse de Rohan, who undertook these supplementary duties with the most charming alacrity.

Also after Princess Louise's birth, Cardinal Fleury decided that the budget of Versailles was just too small to handle the extra daughters they had laying around, so obviously something had to be done to them, and not yknow, the king using so much of the budget for frivolous stuff. Adelaide, aged 6, Victoire, 5, Sophie, 4, Felicite, 2, and Louise, under a year old were chosen to leave.

Maria, who had a particular attachment to Adelaide, guided her into running to her father after mass and begging him to let her stay. It worked, but none of her other children were allowed to stay. Despite this, she often sent them gifts, and once they were old enough to yknow, read and write, sent them letters.

One letter from Sophie, which I believe was after Sophie properly met her later on in life, says:

My Dear Mamma, we have been this morning to the Carmelites : they have prayed to God for you, that nothing may happen to you on the road. I am very im- patient to arrive at Versailles ; for I assure you that it concerns me very much not to see you, since I love you, my dear Mamma, with all my heart. Be convinced of this I beg of you.

She loved her children, and they adored her too. Henriette, Louis, Adelaide, and Louis's first wife, Raphaelle particularly defended her against the growing faction of Madame de Pompadour, although their distaste didn't do anything in the eyes of Louis XV. Louis Ferdinand, the Dauphin of France, particularly wasn't very close with his father, seemingly mostly due to Louis XV's treatment of Maria and personality differences.

Louis Ferdinand was a mostly kind-hearted soul who enjoyed gardening, and didn't like hunting or cheating on his wife, which were two things that Louis XV enjoyed very much.

Louis XV comments:

My son is of an indolent disposition, and his temper, like that of most people with Polish blood in their veins, is quick and variable; he has no taste; he cares nothing for hunting, women, or good living. Perhaps he thinks that if he were in my position he would be happy. At first he would change everything, appear to make a fresh start in every particular, and would soon be tired of the position of King as he is now of his own. He is made to live like a philosophe with men of intellect; he likes to do good, he is really virtuous and intelligent.

Unlike what Louis XV thought his son thinks, Louis Ferdinand truly had no desire to reign. Apparently, on a lot of writings to his children, he begins, "If I ever have the misfortune to reign–"

I know this is an abrupt end but I have to leave my house rn- if I have more to add I will reblog!

[emvidal]

A sketch depicting the death of Marie de' Medici, Dowager Queen of France. She died in a brewery in Cologne in a state of destitution, abandoned by her son Louis XIII, who would not allow her to die in France, although he had her buried there. Mercifully the Queen received the ministrations of the local Carmelites, to whom she bequeathed her cherished statue of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel.

[illustratus]

Lancelot crossing the Sword Bridge

Miniature illustration from a four-volume manuscript made for Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours. Workshop of Évrard d'Espinques. Circa 1475.

[vinylattes]

NIMONA (2023) | dir. Nick Bruno & Troy Quane

[diioonysus]

dresses in art

[sir-ballister-boldheart]

POV: You are a citizen of the Kingdom, in the Kingdom's version of Tumblr, getting your news via the memes of the biggest and the most annoying RPF fandom on the website (part 2) (part 1 here)

[midnight-in-town]

Ao no Exorcist is a Shonen series written by a woman and it shows

Since the latest chapter, I've been thinking about how several usual Shonen tropes are written rather differently under Kato-sensei's pen. No judgement or anything, it's just cool to observe. Some examples :

1) Rin's mentor is a woman

2) Rin's secret, despite being the MC, was revealed in ch13 to the entire cast, meanwhile Shiemi, The Main Girl, who was introduced to be so helpless is only starting to be explained.

3) Also, the Mysterious plot-relevant Shonen Parent is actually the twins' mother. (Of course Shiro is super plot-relevant too, but Satan is still angsting over Yuri and she's a huge part of the reason why he's the big bad)

4) Rin also changed his view about his future throughout the story: from dropping out of school, passing by hoping to become the Order's Paladin (probably to cope with Shiro's death and also to antagonize Arthur), to finally showing way more interest and potential in the (less epic and heroic in appearance) field of talismanic cooking.

5) When it comes to arcs, mental illness is a valid reason to build a character arc around...

6) And so is making an arc about girls being "cursed" to basically "get married and have children before they hit 30, the age where their beauty fade thus they become useless" :

7) ANE is a story about women becoming traitors to protect their loved ones, like Mamushi

or becoming overwhelmed because men toyed with their feelings like Tamamo

8) Older women can be absolute badasses like Shiemi's grandma

or Lucy.

9) Complicated mother-daughter relationship and girl friendships are given as much focus as complicated father-son relationships and sweet bro friendships (like Bon and his dad during the Kyoto arc, as well as the complicated but deep bond between the Kyoto Trio)

10) And one of my favorites: full time single dad, asking for help to do the job as well as he can and finding his true purpose in life by doing so :D

Hmm and now that I think about it, the only other Shonen series written by a woman I've been as invested in is Kuroshitsuji, by Yana Toboso, and similar examples can be found in it too, namely:

1) If Ciel ever finally admits needing a mentor, his aunt Frances will probably play that role

2) Girls can be super strong & skilled (Elizabeth, Mey Rin) and clever (Sieglinde)

3) (one part of) the Big Bad is a woman (Queen Victoria)

4) maybe Ciel's entire revenge stems from a conflict between Queen Victoria and Ciel's maternal grandmother, Claudia.

5) the Undertaker has been a continuously freaking pain in the ass because he probably fell in love with that same maternal grandmother and couldn't mourn properly

TL;DR we love our boys and their spectacular growth and development under women's pens a.k.a shonen series written by ladies are hella fun to read. :D

[renonv]

Ever since @/orchid-lanyun blessed us with Ludwig in drag I couldn’t stop thinking about Antonio doing it too…. More to come…

[dailyreigngifs]

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS and FRANCIS II 𓆩♡𓆪 Pilot - 1.01 -

[descendinight]

Marie Antoinette - studies

[histoireettralala]

"A legend almost in her own lifetime"

Like her grandmother Eleanor of Aquitaine and her uncle Richard the Lionheart, Blanche became a legend almost in her own lifetime. For Philippe Mousquès, writing within her lifetime, she was a formidable presence: she was the wise queen, whose son loved her more deeply than any other son could love his mother, and obeyed her in all things. The Ménestrel of Reims wrote in 1262, a mere ten years after her death and long before the image of Blanche became caught up in attempts to declare her son a saint. The Ménestrel has several striking anecdotes featuring Blanche. He tells the story of Blanche blackmailing Philip Augustus into releasing monies to rescue Lord Louis's English campaign by threatening to pawn her children. He tells too the unforgettable story of Blanche disproving the slander that she had been made pregnant by Cardinal Romanus, by jumping on a table in full council and throwing off an enveloping mantle to reveal herself in nothing but a flimsy chemise. "Lords, look at me, all of you: someone has said that I am pregnant with a child", she challenges them, as she twirls on the table to show off her svelte figure. When she died, Matthew Paris called her the "Lady of the ladies of this world", and compared her to the Persian empress Semiramis. Matthew had developed into one of her most ardent admirers, and it is clear from the context that the highest praise is intended.

Lindy Grant- Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

[adelaide-of-versailles]

Currently going through my marie leszczyńska obsession, do you have any books or websites on her???

I thought my answer was no but then I remembered this book!

It's a really interesting read! I don't remember a lot of it- I read it 2 years ago -but I remember being absolutely fascinated

[emvidal]

Tea at Trianon: Bringing Back the Monarchy to France

[trapezequeen]

ZENDAYA at the Paris Photocall Paris, France | April 6, 2024

[browsethestacks]

The Women Of Marvel

Art by Francis Portela