NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Monarchies · Heritage
Built in the fifteenth century, the Château de Blois, ancestral seat of the Dukes of Orléans, was the residence of Louis XII and later of his son-in-law Francis I. Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, died here
NB! · Faith · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage · Paris
The fate of the golden casket holding the heart of Anne of Brittany was a sorry one: after its desecration by vandals, the reliquary was sent to the melting pot. By a miracle it ended up not as scrap gold but in the National Library in Paris
Aristocracy · Faith · Monarchies · Heritage · People
Besides her political testament, Anne of Brittany left a worldly one: the Duchess asked that her heart be carried home to her native land and buried where her parents lay. The heart was placed in a golden reliquary measuring 15*12 cm, crowned with a coronet of clover leaves and
NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Monarchies · People
Nantes Castle, where Anne of Brittany was born (1). The portal commemorating the wedding of Anne and Louis XII at the Château de Blois (2). A coin minted by Anne in Brittany (3). The royal tomb at Saint-Denis (4). Anne with her son, medal (5)
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · People
The only daughter of Duke Francis II was born in the castle of the Dukes of Brittany at Nantes and in time, the ruler having no sons, became by decision of the nobility the heiress of Brittany. This made her one of the most powerful women of her age and
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Mores
Medal for the wedding of Anne of Brittany and Louis XII, 8 January 1499. This was the third marriage of the Duchess of Brittany and the second of the 37-year-old king. They lived together for 15 years, and she bore 5 children, of whom 2 survived.
NB! · Art · Monarchies · New York
The East · Books · Monarchies · Mores
The lines "and before the younger capital old Moscow paled, as before a new empress the porphyry-clad widow" also mention a derivative of the Ancient Greek πορφυρα, πορφυρεος, "purple, crimson, dark red" The porphyra is an imperial mantle of a characteristic crimson colour. Oddly enough,
NB! · Aristocracy · Geography · Monarchies · Heritage
Sites of the Battle of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. One of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses was fought on 30 December 1460. The Lancastrians (the Red Rose) defeated the Yorkists, and Richard, Duke of York, was killed
NB! · Architecture · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Heritage
One of the finest presents I could have hoped for on my birthday. A new book by my friend, the journalist Stéphane Bern, on the royal châteaux of France
NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies
NB! · Archive · Monarchies · People