Who prays for Satan?

“I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may at this very moment be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed...” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon

“But if you forget to reblog Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity.”

O what will she do, a soul bitten into with wrong?

→ history + favourite iberian queen consorts

I am Sunday’s child, a child of the sun; / Her golden rays she wove into my throne, / With her glow she wove my crown, / It is in her light that I live.

→ Mistresses of Spanish royalty  

 → My favourite queen consorts of Spain (in chronological order)

That good and unoffending lady, the Empress, is killed by a madman, and I am living in the midst of world-history again. The Queen's Jubilee last year, the invasion of the Reichsrath by the police, and now this murder, which will still be talked of and described and painted a thousand a thousand years from now. To have a personal friend of the wearer of two crowns burst in at the gate in the deep dusk of the evening and say, in a voice broken with tears, 'My God! the Empress is murdered,' and fly toward her home before we can utter a question -why, it brings the giant event home to you, makes you a part of it and personally interested; it is as if your neighbor, Antony, should come flying and say, 'Caesar is butchered - the head of the world is fallen!'  — Mark Twain, The Memorable Assassination

On this day in history, 13th September 1598, Philip II of Spain dies at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. → 21 May 1527: the birth of Philip II of Spain

Philip had prayed that he would be fully conscious during his last moments of life and his prayers were answered. On the night of 12 September he underwent a paroxysm so powerful that those around his bed 'thought he had died, but he suddenly opened his eyes with an unusual liveliness'. He began to laugh softly, realizing that he was about to die fully conscious. He asked for his parents’ crucifix 'and held it with a fervour and devotion' that amazed everyone. Then 'he kissed it several times and afterwards he also held a consecrated candle from Our Lady of Montserrat, on which you could see the image of the Virgin herself, and kissed it too'. For two hours he focused on the crucifix and the candle until at five o´clock on 13 September 1598, 'as dawn broke in the east' and 'as the seminary choristers were singing Mass', Lhermite, Sigüenza and several others watched as their king 'gave two or three gasps, and his saintly spirit left him to enjoy eternal life' — Geoffrey Parker, Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II

That good and unoffending lady, the Empress, is killed by a madman, and I am living in the midst of world-history again. The Queen's Jubilee last year, the invasion of the Reichsrath by the police, and now this murder, which will still be talked of and described and painted a thousand a thousand years from now. To have a personal friend of the wearer of two crowns burst in at the gate in the deep dusk of the evening and say, in a voice broken with tears, 'My God! the Empress is murdered,' and fly toward her home before we can utter a question -why, it brings the giant event home to you, makes you a part of it and personally interested; it is as if your neighbor, Antony, should come flying and say, 'Caesar is butchered - the head of the world is fallen!'

On this day in history, 10th September 1898, Elisabeth of Austria is murdered by Luigi Lucheni at Geneva, Switzerland. 

Accompanied by Irma Sztaray, as always dressed in black, her fan in one hand and the parasol in the other, ¨Countess von Hohenembs¨ walked to the landing stage, only a few hundred meters from the hotel. And it was along this path that Luccheni was lying in wait. When the two ladies came abreast of him, he threw himself at them, cast a swift glance under the parasol to make certain, and stabbed. He had earlier consulted an anatomical atlas to learn the precise location of the heart. His aim was accurate. 

Elisabeth fell on her back. But the force of the fall was broken by the weight of her heavy, pinned-up hair. The assasin fled, was captured by passerby, and taken to the police station. At first it was not realized that he was a murderer; for the foreign lady got to her feet immediately after the fall and thanked all those who had helped her, speaking in German, French, and English. Her clothes were dusted off. The hotel porter, who was a witness to the deed, begged the two ladies to return to the hotel, but Elisabeth refused. She wanted to get to the boat. 

Walking quickly, because little time was left before the ship’s departure, the ladies went to the landing stage. Elisabeth, in Hungarian, to Countess Sztaray: ¨What did that man actually want?¨ 

Countess Sztaray: ¨The porter?¨

Elisabeth: ¨No, the other one, that dreadful person.¨

¨I do not know, Your Majesty, surely he is a vicious criminal.¨

¨Perphaps he wanted to take my watch?¨ the Empress conjectured. 

The ladies walked about a hundred meters from the site to the ship. It was not until they were on board the steamer, just departing, that Elisabeth collapsed. It was thought that she had fainted as a result of the fright she had endured. It was only when her bodice was unbuttoned so that her chest could be rubbed that a tiny brownish spot and a hole in her batiste camisole became apparent. Only then was the extent of the tragedy evident. 

The ship’s captain was informed - he was unaware that the Empress of Austria was one of his passengers. The boat turned around and sped back to Geneva. A litter was improvised from oars and velvelt chairs; the Empress was bedded on it and returned to the hotel as quickly as possible. There the doctor could do nothing but pronounce her death. — Brigitte Hammann, The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria

How can you kill a woman who has never hurt anyone. - Franz Joseph.

And when it is time for me to die, lay me down at the ocean’s shore. -Elisabeth of Austria.

What happened to me?- Elisabeth of Austria

Accompanied by Irma Sztaray, as always dressed in black, her fan in one hand and the parasol in the other, ¨Countess von Hohenembs¨ walked to the landing state, only a few hundred meters from the hotel. And it was along this path that Luccheni was liying in wait. When the two ladies came abreast of him, he threw himself at them, cast a swift glance under the parasol to make certain, and stabbed. He had earlier consulted an anatomical atlas to learn the precise location of the heart. His aim was accurate.  

Elisabeth fell on her back. But the force of the fall was broken by the weight of her heavy, pinned-up hair. The assasin fled, was captured by passerby, and taken to the police station. At first it was not realized that he was a murderer; for the foreign lady got to her feet immediately after the fall and thanked all those who had helped her, speaking in German, French, and English. Her clothes were dusted off. The hotel porter, who was a witness to the deed, begged the two ladies to return to the hotel, but Elisabeth refused. She wanted to get to the boat. 

Walking quickly, because little time was left before the ship’s departure, the ladies went to the landing state. Elisabeth, in Hungarian, to Countess Sztaray: ¨What did that man actually want?¨

Sztaray: ¨The porter?¨

Elisabeth: ¨No, the other one, that dreadful person.¨

¨I do not know, Your Majesty, surely he is a vicious criminal.¨ 

¨Perphaps he wanted to take my watch?¨ the Empress conjetured.

The ladies walked about a hundred meters from the site to the ship. It was not until they were on board the steamer, just departing, that Elisabeth collapsed. It was thought that she had fainted as a result of the fright she had endured. It was only when her bodice was unbuttoned so that her chest could be rubbed that a tiny brownish spot and a hole in her batiste camisole became apparent. Only then was the extent of the tragedy evident. 

The ship’s captain was informed - he was unaware that the Empress of Austria was one of his passengers. The boat turned around and sped back to Geneva. A litter was improvised from oars and velvelt chairs; the Empress was bedded on it and returned to the hotel as quickly as possible. There the doctor could do nothing but pronounce her death. 

Elisabeth died without pain. Heart specialists explained the fact that she was not even aware of her fatal wound and could still walk a hundred meters and could still walk a hundred meters at a rapid pace by the smallness of the wound: The blood trickled so slowly into the pericardium that the heart’s action stopped very gradually. Only a single drop of blood escaped. That is also why some of the witnesses thought it was a leech bite.