The Birth of a New Era!

The past week has been rather lax. Maxing and relaxing. Chilling and willing. I have been getting some of my marks back, and I am doing better in school than I had ever done before. Something both puzzling and shocking, but I feel satisfied. Sigh. I feel like perhaps, I had found something that I am interested in. A new era has commenced.....and so did the Elizabethan era on this day 454 years ago in 1558.

Elizabeth was born on September 7,1533 to Henry VIII and his second wife, the Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was not the desired boy that Henry VIII fought tooth and nail to divorce his aging wife, the formidable Catherine of Aragon, to conceive. But she was every bit a Tudor, and Henry's daughter. She was a red haired, fiery tempered, pompous and vain woman, exactly like Henry.

But like I said, she wasn't born with the desired appendage. After the execution of her mother when she was not quite three years ago, she fell out of favour and bastardized by her own father. Though, he still maintained that he loved his little princess, hard to believe but true enough. Henry almost immediately married the blonde, demure Jane Seymour after Anne's execution. Jane Seymour died of childbed fever after giving Henry the desired boy, Edward VI. 

Elizabeth and Mary both cared for their brother, but had some resentment between each other. The family didn't really reunite until Henry married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr and through her gentle guidance, Elizabeth and Mary were added to the line of succession should Edward die young. It would be Mary first, followed by Elizabeth.

Henry died in 1547, leaving Edward VI to take the throne at the tender age of nine. His council/Lord Protector effectively ruled the kingdom on behalf, and would do so until the age of majority. However, Edward VI died at the age of fifteen in 1553 and changed the line of succession to disbar his sisters and include his cousin Lady Jane Grey, a granddaughter of Henry's sister Mary. Jane was literally dragged kicking and screaming to the throne, as she did not want any part of it, but through the machinations of her greedy in-laws, the Dudleys, she was forced to claim the throne. Her "reign" lasted a total of nine days, when Mary triumphantly entered London and claimed the throne in her name and Elizabeth was at her side.

Much to the chagrin of Elizabeth, and Edwards fears founded, Mary attempted to turn the newly turned Protestant kingdom back to the old Catholic ways. She did in such a way, that earned her the unfair cognomen of Bloody Mary. A purported 300 heretics died from as a result of her religious edicts, but to be fair Henry and Elizabeth were no angels in this regard, it was almost de rigueur to root out heresy in one's kingdom. Mary became Queen in 1553, and after a series of phantom pregnancies and disappointing infertility, she did not reproduce an heir and died in 1558, declaring Elizabeth I, the Queen of England and one of the most well-known queens in history and thus beginning an era of the flourishing of art, literature, and science.

She is no Beta.

The weather is starting to cool down, and I am anticipating a rather stormy winter. An adequate punishment for leaving for two years, and not having to deal with it. Bad weather seems to follow me like a shadow. My classes are quite interesting, although stressful and I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that I must absorb to do tests and exams well. My nerves usually get the better of me during exams and I persistently doubt myself in the middle and oft go with the second answer/wrong one. But my trials and tribulations do not come close to this historical figure of the day.

Queen Gudit/Judith of Damot (a region of modern Ethiopia)

There is no certainty about her dates of birth and death, but she was to be queen of Ethiopia at around 960 CE. The information about her have been largely gathered through oral tradition of story telling. 
It is believed that Judith was a Beta Israel (an African Jewish person) or  even possibly pagan Hebraic. Though, most scholars believe that she was an African Jewish woman.

Either way, she was believed to have seized the capital city/throne of Axum and proclaimed herself the Queen, and sought to end Christianity in her land. Therefore, many Christian churches, monasteries and lives in the process. Due to her uprisings, Beta Israel enjoyed many years of prosperity and independent rule from neighboring Christian Kingdoms. 

A fascinating thing about Ethiopian Jews is that there were the most isolated Jewish diaspora, and therefore have many different traditions from a lot of other Jewish communities. There are many different theories as to how there came to be a major Jewish community in Ethiopia, there is a belief that the Agau tribe converted to Judaism early on, or Yemeni Jews traveled to Ethiopia and intermarried with the Agau tribe in the First Temple Period. So the community has been in Ethiopia for over 2400 years, for many reasons there are few left in Ethiopia and many now live in Israel citing the Law of Return.

Some things are better left inbred!

It hath been a long time since my previous post. I have been in a flurry of activity since that time, between traveling, working, and schooling. Now I feel as though I can release my breath and write again. The past several months have been a definite wild ride. Ending my life in England was but an easy one, though much to my own chagrin I had become accustomed to some of the English idiosyncrasies and vernacular. Something my friends definitely poke fun at me for and are trying to exorcise out of me. Now I am back in school, something at my age that I had hoped would be done. I am happy to be back in a way, however, the stress of school and midterms have overwhelmed me, such that I had neglected many aspects of my life. Midterms are finally over. Thank goodness, as I feel human again and take care of the neglected ares of my life.

On this day in history about 312 years ago, the death of Charles II of Spain had started the War of the Spanish Succession.


Charles II was born on November 6, 1661, a very long awaited male heir to the throne of Spain. His parents were uncle and niece, Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria. Charles II was unfortunately a very intellectually limited and suffering from many undesirable traits, as a result of centuries of inbreeding, something that Spanish Habsburgs are well-known for. Instead of having 8 great-grandparents, he had 6, instead of 16 great-great grandparents, he had 10, and even worse, instead of having 32 great-great-great grandparents, he had only 10. So much for keeping it in the family.

As a result, poor Charles (contemporarily known as Charles II the Hexed/Bewitched) was very limited and prone to fits of aggression. His jaw was much longer than his teeth giving him an exaggerated piranha look (look up Habsburg jaw, a problem found in Marie Antoinette as well), an extremely long tongue which made it difficult for him to talk and it was hard for him to walk.  He was treated as a babe in arms, until the age of 10, and his tutors did not want to overtax him with schooling or education affairs, so he was largely left uneducated. His mother acted as his regent for much of his reign. Due to Charles' limitations, he was never an effective leader of his country, his mother served as regent for many years, as had his capable illegitimate half-brother John of Austria. Though few had any expectations of him, he was still expected to marry and reproduce.

His first wife, a particularly beautiful French princess, was Marie-Louise of Orleans, a niece of Louis XIV. Charles married her in 1679 in a glittering ceremony. It is very likely that Charles was impotent and could not reproduce, much to Marie Louise's sadness, she died at the age of 26 in 1689.

His second wife,  Maria Anne of Neuberg, was chosen for her family's history of fertility, but she too remained childless.

As the American historians Will and Ariel Durant put it, Charles II was "short, lame, epileptic, senile, and completely bald before 35, he was always on the verge of death, but repeatedly baffled Christendom by continuing to live." (Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Louis XIV (1963))

Charles II died at the age of 38 on November 1, 1700, thus igniting the War of Spanish Succession (which I will continue in the next blog post) 

Give him an Oscar!

Oscar Peterson

Peterson was born to West Indian Immigrants in Montreal, Quebec on August 15, 1925. At the age of five, he was beginning to learn the trumpet and piano, but after a bout with tuberculosis he could no longer play the trumpet and focused upon the piano. His earlier studies focused upon classical piano, but he was interested in jazz music. For many years he would practice the piano about four to six hours a day. In 1940, he won a nationwide music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the age of fourteen. After which he dropped out of school and played in music halls, concerts and weekly radio shows.
Peterson’s career took off when Norman Granz took him under his label. Apparently Granz was in a cab and listening to a radio show, and they were playing a recording of Peterson’s concert. Granz would remain Peterson’s manager for most of his career, and they formed a close friendship. Granz, one of the first music organizers to attempt to desegregate jazz concerts. Peterson also credits Granz with standing up for him and other black musicians against the segregation south.
Peterson soon started the Oscar Peterson trio, which included Ray Brown, Charlie Smith, Herb Ellis, Irving Ashby, Barney Kessel.  But the definitive trio was Ray Brown and Herb Ellis. Herb Ellis, a white musician,  was controversial in the segregationist times. From the late 1950s, he was recognized as one of the most influential jazz pianists of the time.
Over the years, Oscar garnered eight Grammys, many lifetime achievements, Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Juno Music Hall of Fame, an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Peterson died of kidney at his home in Mississauga, Ontario at the age of 82.

Tickle Me Elmo!

The voice and muppeteer of Elmo, Kevin Clash

Kevin Clash was born and raised in Turner Station, Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a welder for metals company and his mother ran a daycare. He began making his own puppets when he was 10 years old and his parents encouraged his interests. As a teenager, he would perform on Baltimore Harbour Front.
His first job was as a pelican character for a local Baltimore show called Zep. He soon moved on to Wake up with the Captainas the puppeteer for Artie.  From 1981-1986, he appeared on the Great Space Coaster, this was where he attracted the attention of Kermit Love, one of the Muppets puppeteers. He officially became a puppeteer on Sesame Street in 1984 (after a few brief stints on the show).  His earliest puppets were Dr. Nobel Price and Hoots the Owl. Soon to include Baby Natasha, and  Kingston Livingston III. Elmo became his main character after taking over from Brian Muehl and Richard Hunt. He changed some things about Elmo and made it his own. Some other notable characters were Baby Sinclar from Dinosaurs (NOT THE MAMA!) and Ambrosios and Fiery from Labyrinth.
Clash won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work as Elmo and Hoots the Owl on Sesame Street in 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
According to IMDB, Due to the merchandising deal he struck with toy manufacturers, he is the highest-paid Muppeteer ever. The "Tickle Me Elmo" doll, for instance, was one of the largest-selling dolls in history.

Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia

The Black Loyalists

Black Loyalist Plaque in Birchtown, Nova Scotia.


            Who were the Loyalists? In broad definitions, they were people from the United States of America, who were supporters of the royalty of Britain and British rule. In more specific terms, there were the Black Loyalists and the White Loyalists, both coming from different areas, different circumstances, and different experiences. They were all united, however,  in that the rest of their lives would be filled with constant fear. For the whites, it was the fear of being sacrificed, yet again, by the British.^[1] For the blacks, it would be losing their freedom, for they were worried that they would be forced back into slavery, kidnapped, or that their former masters would come back to retrieve them.^[2]

               When the United States led some uprisings, the British felt the need to increase their military potential. The British soon looked to the half of a million slaves that were present in America. ^[4] Britain sought to gather supporters from the slaves, and even committed themselves to freeing any slave that was owned by a rebel, and to slaves they would offer them their freedom ^[5]

Many of the Blacks came from Virginia and South Carolina, and not all were slaves. Some were blacksmiths, cooks, waiters, etc. Most of them came from the poor end of the spectrum, as there were few wealthy Blacks. The use of slaves took place on the other side as well, with George Washington allowing owners to make their slaves into soldiers.

             The Blacks left the United States, in order to preserve the freedom and security, that they were promised upon joining the Loyalists. Also, they sought the possibility of equal citizenship, the ability to own land, and possibly equal rights. ^[9]

            Some Loyalists left and went back to England, others, most numbers say about 35 000, ^[12] sought refuge in Canada, particularly Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

            The impact of the Black Loyalists in Canada should not be minimized, or forgotten. Though the Whites outnumbered the Blacks, the Blacks made several contributions, particularly in labour, the construction of towns, and within their own communities.

            Upon arrival in their respective lands, very few Black Loyalists received any land grants, because there were far too many people wanting land, and not enough land to give out. As well, the Blacks were given low priority^[13].  So in order to find work, many would settle in Nova Scotian towns, particularly in Shelburne, where there was about 1 500 out of appr

oximately 3 000 free Blacks that came (and about 1 300 black slaves, that came with their Loyalist masters).^[14] It is claimed, that the Blacks cleared and built most of the town, as they built barracks, jails and jetties. In addition, they settled in their own communities, such as Birchtown and Brindley Town (of which all residents were black, until 1802, when a white schoolmaster and his family moved there). ^[15]The Blacks, also, solved the labour shortage.  The labour shortage occurred after the arrival of the Loyalists because while most were “pioneering their own farms, larger landowners and urban employers were pressed for workers to make their assets productive”. ^[16] Seeing as blacks were unable to obtain land, they had to sell their labour. They would do this by doing construction, sharecropping, sailors, farming, or servitude. However, blacks were not given the same high wages were  whites, and whites would come to depend on the labour of the blacks, much to the dislike of the whites. There were riots in Shelburne against the Blacks, trying to drive them out of town, and tearing down their homes. The Blacks living outside of communities of fellow Blacks, were often forced back into indentured servitude, which again provided labour for the wealthier white people. This was not limited to blacks, however,  and it has to be said, that there were plenty of white indentured servants as well. After years of feeling unequal and not getting what they were promised, many Blacks left to go back to the United States, but more left to go to Sierra Leone.  

            The Blacks did create impact on the province as a whole, but they created a greater impact within their own isolated communities. The most impact occurred was when a great number of them left, and migration caused economic and social problems. Once, they left, the labour excess, again become a shortage, and wages rose, much to the chagrin of landowners and the suppliers.   However, in the research done, there is very little mention of the black Loyalists in many sources, with few exceptions. It is relatively hard to determine, whether this  due to the fact that they had little impact, whether there is little evidence to prove otherwise, or whether their contributions were simply swept under a rug or ignored.  However, the existence of few articles and books suggests, that their contributions were likely minimized by the contemporaries. 

            

^[1]           Neil McKinnon, "The Nova Scotia Loyalists: A Traumatic Community,"  Loyalists and Community in North America, ed. Robert M. Calhoon, Timothy M. Barnes and George A. Rawlyk(London: Greenwood Press, 1994) 202. 

^[1]             James W. St. G. Walker,  The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia

and Sierra Leone 1783-1870 (New York: Dalhousie University Press, 1976) 40.  

^[1]           Wallace Brown and Hereward Senior, Victorious in Defeat: The Loyalists inCanada (New York

: Methuen, 1984) 4. 

^[1]           Walker, 1 

^[1]           Walker, 4

^[1]           Walker , 5 

^[1]             A. G Bradley,  The United Empire Loyalists: Founders of British Canada (London: Thornton Butterworth, 1971) 16.  

^[1]             Bradley, 2 

^[1]           Bradley, 18  

  

We are not Lack(s)ing in vaccine because of Henrietta.

The second post for Black History Month is Henrietta Lacks.

Henrietta Lacks (sometimes erroneously called Helen Lane, Henrietta Leakes, or Helen Larson or a hodgepodge of these names) was unwittingly the donator of HeLa cells, an immortal line of cells that responsible for many advancements in medications.

Henrietta Lacks was born Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920. Her mother died when she was four while giving birth to her tenth child. Henrietta was sent to live with her grandfather on a tobacco plantation in Clover, Virginia. Henrietta (nicknamed Hennie) ended up marrying her cousin Daniel "Day" Lacks. Their cousin soon convinced them to leave the tobacco farm and go work at the steel mills in Turner Station, Baltimore. Turner Station was growing to be one of the largest and young African American communities in the USA.

She gave birth to five children, Lawrence (b. 1935), Elsie (1939–1955), David "Sonny" Jr. (b. 1947), Deborah (1949–2009), and Joseph (b. 1950, later changed name to Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman).

During her pregnancy with Joseph, Henrietta felt knots in her stomach and felt sick, her family thought it was simply pregnancy, which it was but after the birth, Henrietta was bleeding profusely, she was tested for STDs, and when it came back negative, she was referred to John Hopkins.
John Hopkins was the only hospital in Baltimore that treated black patients, and was treated with suspicion by many in the black communities (Though quite rightly as you will see).

Howard Jones was her treating doctor and inspected her cervix and found some abnormal growths, but the growths themselves were not something he'd seen before. Her cut off a piece of her cervix and sent it to testing. It was found that she had Stage 1 Cervical cancer. She was treated with radium tubes, which were sewn into place, after several days they were removed and she was told to return for frequent X-Rays. During her treatments, doctors removed sections of her cancerous cervix and healthy cervix without her permission* These cells became the abnormal immortal line of HeLa cells, one of the most commonly used cell lines in medical research.

Lacks returned for X-Ray treatments and her condition worsened. The doctors believed that she also suffered from venereal diseases and treated those as well with antibiotics. Her pain increased and she asked to be admitted to the hospital on August 8, 1951, she died on October 4 of that year. Henrietta was buried without a tombstone on the Lacks family land in Clover, Virginia.

Her family had no knowledge of this cell line and the research done on it, until an article Michael Rogers wrote for Rolling Stone in 1975 and even then they did not know the extent to which it was used.

George Gey was given a strain of these cells and he discovered their immortality. He then reproduced lots more and starting shipping them to other researchers.

Some advancements made with Henrietta's cells such as: Jonas Salk's polio vaccine, cancer research, AIDS research, radiation poisoning, and gene mapping. Researchers asked the Lacks family for their cells, but none carry the characteristics that make Henrietta's cells unique. Unfortunately, the researchers made no attempt to adequately explain their reasoning for asking their cell material, and Deborah Lacks (the surviving daughter) was let to believe that her mother's cancer could be passed to her. Also, her family never received any compensation for the cells taken from Henrietta.
For more information, I highly recommend Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".

*This was frequently done. Medical ethics had yet to really develop past the Nuremberg trials. A lot of white doctors at John Hopkins believed that since the black patients were receiving free or low cost treatment, it was their "duty" to help further research.

Viv(ien) la Coeur!

Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985)

         Vivien was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on August 29, 1910. He was the grandson of a slave. He attended high school and had wanted to attend college, but the Great Depression set in and his plans were derailed. He briefly worked as a carpenter for Fisk University, but was laid off amidst the stock market crashes. In February 1930, he secured a position as surgical research technician with Dr. Alfred Blalock of Vanderbilt University. Thomas was almost immediately assisting Blalock with experiments on animals and within a short period was doing surgeries on his own.

Though he was doing these surgeries, he was classified and paid as a janitor, and by the mid 1930s he was doing the same work as a postdoctoral researcher.

Thomas and Blalock made incredible advancements in  the field of traumatic shock, and particularly Crush syndrome ( is a medical condition characterized by major shock and renal failure after a crushing injury to skeletal muscle). During World War II, this research is believed to have saved the lives of thousands of soldiers.

When Blalock was offered the position of Chief of Surgery at John Hopkins University, he requested that Thomas go with him, and unfortunately faced a lot of racism and segregation (not that he didn’t before).
They were approached by a pediatric surgeon named Helen Taussig, who was looking for help regarding the solution to “Blue Baby Syndrome”.  Thomas sought to create the symptoms in dogs first, and correct the syndrome.

On November 29, 1944 the first corrective surgery was done on a human, an eighteen month old Eileen Saxon who could only walk a few brief steps before running out of breath. There were not proper surgical instruments for cardiac surgery yet, so Thomas modified them to suit the procedure. During the procedure, Blalock was the surgeon (even though he only performed it ONCE as Thomas’ assistant), but requested that Thomas stand on a stool overlooking and issuing instructions. The infants life was prolonged for several months, though ultimately died. However, the prolonging proved that the surgery worked.  The next operation was more successful on a 11 year old, and was able to leave the hospital a few weeks later. There were another successful surgery, and these three cases were mentioned in May 1945 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Blalock and Taussig were given credit, whereas Thomas was not mentioned.  Thomas trained and mentored many young surgeons, and was credited for teaching them the best techniques of the day.
Unfortunately for Thomas, he was disgustingly underpaid. He was sometimes forced to bar tend on the side at Blalock’s parties. Though in 1946, he became the highest paid African-American and highest paid technician at John Hopkins.

Thomas’ only lost hope at returning to school when he was refused life experience and told to fulfill freshman requirements by Morgan State University.

In 1976, he was finally granted an Honourary Doctorate of Law, not Medicine. Though it did allow him to be called Doctor. He was appointed the Instructor of Surgery. He retired in 1979, and wrote an autobiography Partners of the Heart. He died on November 26, 1985 a few days after the book was published.

Paris. We have a Hugue(not) Problem.

One of my songs of the moment is AC Newman- Prophets. This is due in part to the last scene of the season 4 finale of How I Met Your Mother. I hope that I will get a better job and will find some peace. I booked my tour to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Turkey. It departs at the beginning of May and I am looking forward to it much. After Turkey, I am hoping to go to Romania to see my friend Diana. Before, I am hoping to go to Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I am doing a massive European sweep in about 2 months. I am looking forward to it, and it makes my job a lot more tolerable when I have this goal. I have been at the restaurant for almost 2 months now, and when I started making myself comfortable and more homey I started feeling better about being there.

So I will continue talking about Catherine de Medici.

After the death of the Duc of Guise, Catherine issued the Edict of Amboise which gave some freedoms to Huguenots, though not as much as the Edict of Saint Germain. Nobles could have Protestant services in their private residences, and in certain places in certain cities.
Philip II, her daughter's husband, urged Catherine to rescind the Edict and punish and seek out heretics.
There were plans to place all Huguenots and German Lutherans in the Ottoman controlled Moldavia, which was to no avail.
Unfortunately, the Huguenot forces made plans to ambush the King, the Surprise of Meaux, and Catherine's tolerance of the Huguenots ended. They retreated to La Rochelle on the coast, where they were joined by Jeanne, Queen of Navarre and her son, Henry of Bourbon (future Henry IV of France).
Though, Catherine sought a marriage between Henry and her daughter, Margaret. It was agreed so long as Henry may remain a Huguenot. When Jeanne arrived in Paris, she fell ill and died at the age of forty four, many accusations of poisoning were flung about. However, unexpected noble deaths were frequently received with the same suspicions of poisoning. The wedding finally took place on August 18, 1572.
Three days after the wedding, a highly ranked Huguenot leader, Gaspard Coligny, was shot and needed a finger amputated. The queen visited him, and promised to punish the attacker.
Predictably, the King and Queen knew there was going to be a massive retaliation from the Huguenots against the Catholics. They struck against the Huguenot leaders first, as many were still in Paris for the wedding (including Coligny). It is estimated that about 5,000- 30,000 people were killed as a result of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The new groom converted to Catholicism to avoid being killed. This incident had tainted the reputation of Catherine de Medici.
Two years later, Charles IX died at the age of twenty three and was succeeded by his brother Henry III. His marriage choice, Louise of Lorraine, thwarted Catherine's desire to marry him to another foreign princess.
Unfortunately this was just the beginning of Catherine's problems with controlling the behaviour of her children. Margaret returned to the French court without her husband, and frequently took lovers. Her last son, Francis of Alencon, was seen to ally with Protestant princes against the crown. He forced the hand of his brother to issue the Edict of Beaulieu, which gave Huguenots the right to public worship. He died in 1584, which left Margaret's husband, Henry the heir to the throne. She also had less influence with her son Henry III, than her other sons. He wanted to rule the country and she was left as a diplomat. She traveled around France to get support for her son, and frequently gave him advice.
Catherine de Medici, mother of three kings, died on January 5, 1589 of pleurisy. Eight months after her death, her son was killed by a friar and Henry IV was proclaimed King of France. One of the more kindly things said about her, after her death was by her son in law Henry IV.
`I ask you, what could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown—our own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Was she not compelled to play strange parts to deceive first one and then the other, in order to guard, as she did, her sons, who successively reigned through the wise conduct of that shrewd woman? I am surprised that she never did worse.`

Some people are just a (S)pain in the Ass!

This past week has passed in a blur. Everyday is similar, only the tips are different. Good waitresses are seen and not heard, however, I do not know whose food belongs to who so I (a mere plebeian amongst bourgeoisie) must interrupt their ever so important conversation to ask. I chagrin to be a tad subservient to these twits, but money talks (or doesn't).

We had a staff party and there was much pearl clutching. Some of the waitresses at the other restaurants/pubs were wearing skirts so short that you could be a wildlife photographer. I try to not judge someone based upon sartorial choices, but it is inappropriate to dress like that at any work event no? I chalk up this lack of oversight to the age of most of these people (18-19). I somehow feel like a grandmother in comparison. Oh WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

Today is the day that Philip II was proclaimed King of Spain in 1556, upon the abdication of his father, Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor. In this section, I am merely going to focus upon his familial relationships as to talk about his reign would cause me in talking forever, and you know how much I loathe that :P

Philip II of Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Sicily

Philip II was the first son born to Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Isabella of Portugal in Valladoid, Spain. His father was emperor of one of the largest dominions in the contemporary world, and after years of ruling he abdicated in 1556. He reigned over Spain for over 42 years and thus had a large legacy.

Philip I was first married to Maria Manuela of Portugal, his double first cousin, who gave him his first son, Don Carlos of Asturias, but she died in childbirth in 1445. Carlos was a very unstable child, which is possibly a resultant of the inbreeding that would plague the Spanish Hapsburgs for proceeding centuries. His exploits were stuff of legend, and his father feared for the Spanish crown. He was proposed to marry Elisabeth of Valois, but due to his issues, she was married to Philip II instead. His sadism even shocked the rather austere Spanish court, whom considered auto de fe entertainment. He was known to burn animals alive and tried to rape courtier women. His father had him imprisoned, ostensibly because he was trying to escape to the Netherlands, and he died six months later in confinement. It was oft said that his father arranged to have him poisoned, but it was a frequent accusation thrown in that time. Carlos had particularly bad mood swings, and would wage hunger strikes and then binge on food.

In 1553, Mary Tudor was crowned the Queen of England and a proper husband was sought for the thirty seven year old Catholic virgin. She had remained unmarried until this point through no fault of her own, her father had bastardized her and refused to acknowledge her rights and claims until 1547, however her position was still tenuous due to her rabidly Protestant half-brothers reign. Mary Tudor reportedly fell in love with Philip at the sight of his portrait. Philip, a young twenty six year old, was less than enthused, and this marriage was purely political for him. To elevate Philip to his wife's rank, Charles V relinquished the crown of Sicily and claims to Jerusalem. So upon his marriage, Philip was a king of Sicily. This marriage lasted less than four years, and more time was spent apart ruling their own domains. Philip was seen to treat Mary rather callously, and as a result Mary was heartbroken and upon her death it was said that you will find "(the loss of) Calais and Philip engraved upon her heart".

In 1559, Philip married Elisabeth of Valois, the daughter of Henry II and Catherine de Medici. Elisabeth was originally intended for his son, Don Carlos, but due to his apparent instability and the death of his own wife, Philip married her for himself. Despite the age difference of 18 years, Philip was enamoured with his young wife, and had reportedly given up his mistresses. She had given birth to five children, only which two survived to adulthood, Isabella Clara of Spain (1566-1633) and Catherine Michele of Spain (1567-1597). Unfortunately, her last pregnancy ended in miscarriage and the baby and Elisabeth died in 1568.

Philip's fourth and last wife was his niece, Anna of Austria. This marital relation would become a bit of a habit for future descendants resulting in Charles II. By most accounts, Anna and Philip had a very good marriage and were reportedly were very happy with one another. She gave birth to five children, and died when giving birth to the last one in 1580. Unfortunately, only one of her children reached adulthood, Philip III (1578-1621). Though Philip did not die until 1598, he did not remarry.

Your Argument is inValois!

For most of the past evening and morning, the wind has been howling like a banshee, shaking my windows and doors, causing me to awaken with a start several times. I am sitting in Starbucks yet again, a rather depressing beacon of hope and a sign of normalcy amidst uncertainty. 

Lately, I have good days and bad days, days where I just want to scream and shout and go home, and days where I just dance and cannot wait to travel. A lot of days though are filled with monotony, which is a rather welcome beast. It gives me much time to dream, ponder and think about where my life is headed. It sounds a lot more philosophical than it really is. But working in this dead-end job has caused me to re-think my life, and wonder about where I need to be to settle into a life with a husband and possible children. I find that people are rather surprised to find out that while I lack in some common sense, that when it comes to intellectual intelligence that I am not exactly a freshman. Though, in this job, intellectual intelligence is not necessary, but a lot of common sense is.  Catherine de Medici is evidence of this factoid.

Catherine de' Medici

(13 April 1519- 5 January 1589)

Catherine de`Medici was born in Florence, to Madeleine de La Tour Auvergne and Lorenzo de Medici, the Duke of Urbino, a member of the very powerful de Medici family on April 13, 1519. She was the only child born of this union. The de Medici family had grown very powerful and wealthy via their banking interests and therefore, bankrolling monarchies. In fact a frequent insult thrown at Catherine in her reign was to call her the fat banker.  However, both of her parents died within a few weeks of her birth and she was raised by her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini and then her aunt, Clarice Strozzi.

Though, unfortunately for Catherine, the de`Medicis were hated for their massive power and wealth and there were frequent struggles amongst powerful families for Florence and other parts of Italy. One of her cousins became Pope in 1523, Clement VII and one of her greatest champions. The de Medici were overthrown in 1527 in Florence, and Clement VII offered to crown Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor in exchange for the return of the city. During the siege, Catherine`s life was in danger and there were those who called for her death. In 1530, the city finally surrendered and Catherine was called to Rome, to be under the care of her cousin, who made it a goal of his to find Catherine a spectacular match. 

Due to her wealth, Catherine was coveted bride, and one of her suitors included King James V of Scotland, and Francis I of France offered his second son, Henry of Orleans as a groom. Clement accepted the French groom and organized an extravagant wedding in Marseille in 1533, when both the bride and groom were fourteen. As the Queen, she was treated fairly well by courtiers and her husband, though that was changed when her cousin died in 1534, and was replaced by Paul III who broke his alliance with France and had no intention on paying Catherine`s dowry. In 1536, Catherine became the Dauphine of France upon the death of her brother-in-law, and the pressure was on for her to produce heirs to the throne. In her desperation to produce, she used every contemporary cure, such as drinking mule`s urine, and placing cow dung on her vagina. A rather horrifying prospect to this author. Finally, she produced an heir, the future Francis II, in 1544. Then a flurry of children followed. A grand total of nine births, with seven surviving to adulthood. 

During her time of infertility, Henry II openly took mistresses and frequently claimed the illegitimate children as his own. Though, most were passing infatuations except for Diane de Poitiers, a woman who was twenty years older than her lover, but a reputed beauty and a woman of great intellect. Henry pointedly ignored Catherine in favour of Diane, and gave her gifts that Catherine wanted for herself. Diane wielded spectacular amount of power and dispensed favours with aplomb whilst Catherine was limited in her power and often were mere tokens. Diane`s power came to an abrupt end, when Henry II died of his injuries caused by a jousting accident. 

None of the Queen`s children were old enough to rule without a regent, and upon the death of Henry, she was the regent of France for her child, Francis II, who was married to Marie of Guise's daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. One of her first acts was to force Diane to hand over the crown jewels and give back the Chateau of Chenonceau, which Catherine had wanted for herself. Furthermore, he tried to erase the existence of Diane in the house replacing the monograms of HD with HC. 

The Guises were a powerful family in France, without whose support Catherine would have had a very shaky regency. Though, it wasn`t a marriage made in heaven, but of mere necessity. It was during her regency that the Huguenots and Catholic were fighting and the country was brought to Civil War. Many of her problems were due to the fact that many said that she failed to see religious conviction as something other than a political issue.

Catherine`s regency was extended due to the unfortunate early death of her son, Francis II, and his brother Charles IX was crowned soon after at the age of nine. She wielded immense power over her adolescent son, but not necessarily the nation, where nobles of the locales in different parts tended to rule their respective areas. Even when declared of age, Charles IX did not show much interest in government and preferred to have his mother run most of the government for him. 


Catherine issued the Edict of Saint-Germain in January 1562, which reiterated Roman Catholicism as the primary worship, but gave Protestants rights to PRIVATE worship provided it wasn't in any towns.  But it was to no avail for on March 1, 1562,  Francis the Duke of Guise massacred 72 Huguenots and injured 100 others when he came across them worshiping in a barn. This incident sparked the 30 years of French Wars of Religion. 


Catherine made attempts to appease the revenge seeking (though rightly), which received much disdain from her Catholic League members.

Like most mothers, Catherine sought to further the interests of her children. Her daughter, Elisabeth, married Philip II of Spain. Francis II was married to the future queen, Mary of Scots. Charles IX married Elisabeth of Austria, a daughter of emperor Maximilian I of Holy Roman Empire. Margaret married Henry of Navarre, the future king of France. She sought a match for her son, Francis of Anjou to the Queen Elizabeth I of England, who affectionately referred to him as her "little frog", but that match never materialized.