If you do any sort of genealogy on royal families in Europe today – the odds are fairly high that four names will show up over and over. In their time, and in history, they’ve received the title of “the grandmother of Europe2, “grandfather of Europe”, “Mother-in-law of Europe”… well, you get the gist. The… Continue reading Europe’s grandparents : 100 things challenge #1
Category: History
Book review: Vanished Kingdoms
Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe by Norman Davies is a collection of historic accounts of several of the former kingdoms of Europe. It is based on the theory that it is the winner of a conflict who get to write the history, so Davies has decided to write the history of the losing part.… Continue reading Book review: Vanished Kingdoms
How old does something have to be to be ruins?
Look at this vista in Kew Gardens. When does the fake Greek ruins become the real English thing?
Book review: Sophia of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover: From Winter Princess to Heiress of Great Britain, 1630-1714 by J.N. Duggan This is the story of Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Honestly, I have been rather curious about her for a while. Looking into genealogy and the line of the British succession, her name seems to crop up quite a bit. Finding this… Continue reading Book review: Sophia of Hanover
Jelling stones defaced
In Jelling, a small town in Jutland, Denmark, two massive rune stones stand on top of a huge hill. The stones are grave stones, or memorial stones. One of the stones was put up by Gorm the Old, as a memorial for his wife, Thyra. The other one was put up their son, Harald Bluetooth,… Continue reading Jelling stones defaced
How well do you know your English dynasties?
Sporcle has a timed quiz going on to see how many of the English royal dynasties you can name. Some of them may be self evident, whilst others may be hidden well within your mind. I got stuck with one remaining for what felt like ages, but eventually perservered. It’s quite entertaining, and at… Continue reading How well do you know your English dynasties?
The mistresses of Danish Kings – book review
The mistresses are the darker side of the royals – they weren’t perfect, the mistresses are proof that they did not stick to their marriage vows. And as the book by Henning Dehn-Nielsen shows, it also happened in the Danish royal history. Repeatedly.
Freud m’a dit – Freud har sagt – a book review
In 2006, Steen Kristensen published a triple biography in Danish on Prince George of Greece and Denmark, Princess Marie Bonaparte and Sigmund Freud. The result was definitely worth a read.
Royal Danish residences – book review
The book on the Danish Royal Family’s residences, through 1000 years was written by Niels Peter Stilling in 2003, and published on Politiken.