Blois, France (by Brian)
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Château Royal de Blois
Château Royal de Blois is located in the city of Blois, France. The castle has four wings from the 13th through the 17thcenturies, giving it many design styles. In the 9th century, a medieval fortress and a county palace sat on the site. The castle has a 13th century medieval fortress, a Louis XII Gothic wing added in 1498, an Italian Renaissance wing added in 1515 by Francois I, and the Classical Gaston of Orleans wing erected in 1634 by the brother of Louis XIII and heir to the throne. The Gaston of Orleans wing was never fully completed. Due to the different construction periods and design, the castle interior has columns, pilasters, capitals, buttresses, candelabra-laced décor, stonework, open galleries, a grand spiral staircase, and a great polygonal staircase turret is open to the central courtyard. The Chapel of St Calais was consecrated in 1508. The royal castle was used by seven kings and ten queens of France during the Renaissance, while more than ten counts of Blois and three Dukes of Orleans resided in the royal chateau. The castle has an extensive history. Joan of Arc was blessed at the chateau in 1429 before setting off to defeat the English in New Orleans. The castle fell into disrepair in the 17th century and suffered further degradation. It was used as barracks in 1788. Château Royal de Blois was saved from a demolition order when it was classified as a historical monument in 1845, and restoration work began. Château Royal de Blois is open to the public.
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Château de Saumur, France: The Château de Saumur, originally built as a castle and later developed as a château, is located in the French town of Saumur, in the Maine-et-Loire département. It was originally constructed in the 10th century by Theobald I, Count of Blois, as a fortified stronghold against Norman attacks. Wikipedia
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Charles Schwab House
The Charles M. Schwab House was a 75-room mansion in New York City. It was built for steel magnate Charles M. Schwab and was considered the classic example of a "white elephant", as it was built on the "wrong" side of Central Park, far from the more fashionable Upper East Side.
The house was designed by Maurice Hébert in an eclectic mix of Gothic Revival and Beaux-Arts, inspired by three French castles: Chenonceau, Blois and Azay-le-Rideau. It took four years to build (1902–1906) at a cost of six million dollars.
Schwab was a self-made man who became president of US Steel and later founded the Bethlehem Steel Company. However, he was a venture capitalist and went bankrupt in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Charles died penniless ten years later, in 1939, leaving his home to be the official residence of New York's mayors. Unfortunately for the mansion, Fiorello La Guardia, then mayor, turned it down, saying, "what, 'me' in this?" After years of neglect, the house was demolished in 1947, replaced by a large apartment complex called "Casa Schwab".
In this version for The Sim 4, I made French gardens (I found the ones in the original house a little boring :P). The interiors were a big challenge, as I only found reference images for the staircase hall, but I tried to keep the same eclecticism in all the rooms.
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Hergé & the Chateau de Moulinsart Cheverny
Last year I had the opportunity to visit the Chateau de Cheverny near Blois, France - while the manor stands in a small village in a valley full of magnificent medieval and renaissance-era castles, it stands out from the crowd, as its likeness was popularized in the Tintin comics! The chateau was among the first in the area to open its doors to the public in 1914, which is likely how Hergé stumbled across a travel brochure all the way in Belgium (he never visited the chateau himself). Moulinsart/Marlinspike Hall was first featured in a Tintin comic in 1941, and embedded itself as an iconic setting in the series.
Herge notably removed the two end wings from Moulinsart - I guess he thought that the chateau was too big for the Haddocks! The manor itself hosts a large staircase in the center portion, with straight hallways leading down both wings. The chateau was constructed in the 1620s, although a previous version of the castle had been built 300 years prior, but only a couple of old sketches of the castle remain. Some of my personal research suggests that Cheverny may have been used to secretly store art and artifacts from the Louvre and the National Archaeology Museum during Nazi occupation of France, but that story deserves a whole essay in and of itself!
“The King’s Bedroom”, in the upper East wing of the house. The walls were covered in tapestries depicting various scenes from Homer’s Odyssey
One of the smaller bedrooms in the upper West wing
The gardens in the back of the manor were pretty similar to the gardens of Versailles in terms of geometric patterns - Cheverny underwent large-scale renovations in the 1760s, so it’s not surprising that the owners may have taken a page out of Louis XIV’s book!
Like 60 hunting hounds? Cute and sweet ladies
The manor grounds also had a Tintin-themed exhibition space, where recreations of various rooms in Moulinsart were available to walk through
Some displays from The Secret of the Unicorn
Ye Donjon
Tournesol’s laboratory!
Dining room
Tintin’s room, featuring some of his fits!
A draft from the Castafiore Emerald, the only comic to entirely take place at the chateau
And of course there was a Tintin shop just outside of the grounds as its current main claim to fame - the chateau gets around 350,000 visitors per year, compared to the nearby Chateau de Chambord’s 1,000,000 annual visitors!
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“Now, Bishop Gervais so cherished Hugh, whom he had held on the baptismal font, that he sought for him the hand of the noblest lady Bertha, formerly wife of Alan, Count of Brittany.” This Alain had died in the year 1040. He had had a son from Bertha, the brave Conan, who was poisoned under the walls of Château-Gontier. Bertha was the daughter of Odo II, Count of Blois. "This greatly displeased Count Geoffrey," adds the annalist, "as the event proved. Hugh went with his men-at-arms to Bertha; Geoffrey ran to the Château-du-Loir and set it on fire. "In a charter that we have already mentioned (1), we find some details about the siege of the Château-du-Loir. Geoffrey did not seize it, but he ravaged the streets of the square, the village that surrounded it, and even a church founded in honor of Saint Guingalois, where Gervais had recently established canons. The soldiers of the Count of Anjou dispersed them. These actions,” we read in our manuscript, "now rendered the count to the bishop and the bishop to the count odious to each other. Geoffrey, therefore, seeing that, by the advice of Gervais, who wanted to harm and lose him, Count Hugh had taken a very powerful woman, and carrying Judas in his heart, called the bishop near him, in order to treacherously surprise him. Having seized him, he had him thrown into prison and held him in irons for seven years, hoping to thus make himself master of the Château-du-Loir. But it was of no use to him, because the castle was well defended by the garrison. While these things were going on, Count Hugh died, the bishop Gervais being still a prisoner. This death greatly afflicted the bishop and greatly delighted the Count of Anjou.” Count Geoffrey ruled the province for ten years. Indeed, the inhabitants of Le Mans having driven out the grieving widow of Hugh with her children through one of the gates of the city, had Count Geoffrey enter their walls full of joy.
- Jean-Barthélemy Hauréau, Histoire Littéraire du Maine: Tome 5
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top most iconic/interesting bits in when christ and his saints slept that apparently actually happened in real life:
stephen of blois besieging a castle that empress matilda was in, letting her go out of a misplaced sense of gallantry once she’d surrendered, and therefore causing the entire war to drag on for years longer
empress matilda escaping stephen’s army on a whole separate occasion by dressing in a white cloak and traveling during a blizzard so she couldn’t be seen
the 14 year old future henry ii invading england with an army he put to together himself and stephen paying him to turn around and leave until he was older
john marshal barricading himself in an abbey while under attack by stephen’s forces and outlasting his enemies even when they set the abbey on fire with him inside
eleanor of aquitaine having to evade suitors while traveling through france who wanted to kidnap and forcibly marry her after her divorce from the king, instead managing to successfully marry henry ii of her own choosing
stephen taking john marshal’s youngest son hostage, threatening to hang him if his father didn’t surrender, and john marshal basically saying “go ahead and do it” because (correctly) knew that stephen wouldn’t be able to go through with murdering a child
stephen’s eldest son eustace, who refused to give up his claim to the crown even after peace had been brokered, dying on the same day that henry ii’s first son with eleanor of aquitaine was born
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The Lioness of Brittany
This lady from Brittany lived from 1300-1359 and her real name was Jeanne-Louise de Belleville de Clisson Dame de Montaigu. She was a noblewoman from Brittany who, as heir to her family, took over the estates and the salt trade, and later a Pirate.
She married for the first time at the age of 12, the 19-year-old Geoffrey de Châteaubriant VIII, who died in 1326, and had her first two children with him at 14 and 16. After his death, in 1328, Jeanne married Guy de Penthièvre of the House of Penthièvre, widower of Joan of Avaugour and son of the Duke of Brittany, for the protection of her children. The union was short-lived, as relatives of the ducal family, particularly from the de Blois faction, complained to the bishops of Vannes and Rennes to protect their inheritance, and an investigation was held on 10 February 1330, leading to the annulment of the marriage by Pope John XXII. Then, in the same year 1330, Olivier IV de Clisson married a very wealthy Breton. They had five children together: Maurice, Guillaume, Olivier, Isabeau († 1343) and Jeanne. In 1342, Olivier, joined the Duke of Brittany Charles de Blois in the Breton War of Succession defending Brittany against the English claimants and the forces of English sympathizer John de Montfort.
During the ensuing campaign, Olivier came under suspicion and criticism from Charles de Blois for failing to hold Vannes against the English forces so Clisson defected to the English side. January 1343, the Truce of Malestroit was signed between England and France and under the perceived safe condition of this truce Olivier and fifteen other Breton lords were invited to a tournament on French soil. He was arrested and beheaded for treason against the king. His head was sent to Nantes, where it was presented on a spit on the battlements of Bouffray Castle near Nantes. His widow, Jeanne, swore revenge on the king and Charles de Blois, who had happily supported the death sentence.
A painting of Jeanne in a mock 15th century style, part of a composition by Elsa Millet. (x)
Her revenge consisted of selling her possessions and buying a ship. Dismayed by the death of her liege lord, she quickly found a crew of 400 men and together they hunted down French merchant ships. After several successful battles, including two attacks on two castles, her ship was badly damaged and she had to flee. She found protection and support in England and from King Edward. He and Breton sympathisers gave her money and she was able to buy several war cogs, which she had painted black and fitted with red sails, the flagship was named My Revenge. Because of this appearance, the fleet received the name Black Fleet. The ships of this Black Fleet are said to have first attacked ships in the Bay of Biscay, but then advanced into the English Channel to hunt down French merchant ships, killing entire crews and leaving only a few witnesses to carry the news to the French king. This earned Jeanne the nickname "The Lioness of Brittany" or in French “La Tigresse bretonne” (The breton tigress).
Execution of Olivier IV de Clisson. Painting attributed to Loyset Liédet, Flemish illuminator (v.1420-v.1483) in the Chronicles of Lord Jehan Froissart. (x)
She is sometimes referred to in literature as a privateer of the English, which would imply that she was subject to certain protections and obligations, but there was no known letter of marque.
In 1346, during the Crécy campaign in northern France, Jeanne used her ships to supply the English forces.
In the process, the French eventually succeeded in attacking her fleet and sinking her flagship. Jeanne and her two sons drifted at sea for five days; her son Guillaume died from the effects of the cold. Jeanne and Olivier were eventually rescued and taken to Morlaix. But this did not stop their revenge, on the contrary Jeanne continued her piracy in the Channel for another 13 years.
She probably ended her revenge in 1356, but by 1850 she had married the English nobleman, Walter Bentley, lieutenant to King Edward III until 1353 and captain of the English troops who continued to fight Charles de Blois. For his services and inheritance, both had received lands and castles in Brittany, which they were to relinquish in 1353 in order to finally achieve peace Charles de Blois. Bentley refused and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Jeanne, tired of fighting, gave up and handed over the lands they had wanted. He was then released and in January 1357, the barony of La Roche-Moisan was granted to them. Toward the end of her life, she returned to France and has lived in Hennebont castle until the end of her life in 1359.
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Marie de France
For six years, from March 1181 to May 1187, Marie exercised the comital office as regent for her son Henry (II). She did so vigorously and alone, without restriction by a regency council. In the great hall of her palace in Troyes, which served as the political and administrative center of the county, as well as in her other castle towns, Marie sat with a small council of barons and administrative officers to discharge all the routine business of medieval rulers: receiving petitioners, arbitrating and settling disputes, making benefactions to churches, confirming private transactions, receiving homages, confiscating fiefs and granting new ones. Since her acts continued to be drawn up by the same chancery officials who had served her husband, they remained the same in form and content. With the notable exception of appointing a new marshal, Geoffroy of Villehardouin, in 1185, she made no discernible changes in her husband's officers or policies. Although feudal tenure by women apparently increased precisely during her rule, we cannot say whether she fostered that practice. Her court, however, was perceived as being receptive to women, several of whom sought her confirmations at critical junctures in their lives.
In 1181 Marie found herself widowed with four young children — Henry II was fifteen, Marie seven, Scholastique five or six, and Thibaut III only two. She considered marrying the recently widowed Philip, count of Flanders (1168-91), the son of her husband's old friend and crusade companion count Thierry. Philip and Marie were about the same age and well acquainted: a decade earlier he had sponsored the betrothal of her two oldest children, Henry II and young Marie, to the children of his sister Margaret, countess of Hainaut. Philip went so far as to seek a papal dispensation for his marriage to Marie, since they were indirectly related, but then, for unknown reasons, broke off negotiations. Marie, at thirty-nine, seems not to have sought another marriage. Thereafter she was preoccupied with completing the marriages between her children and the children of Margaret and count Baldwin V, who had renewed, broken, revised, then delayed carrying out the marriage contract between his only son and Marie's daughter. Countess Marie called on her in-laws to force the elusive count to deliver the groom; Gislebert of Mons describes the scene at Sens where the countess, the archbishop of Reims, the counts of Blois and Sancerre, and the duke of Burgundy cornered Baldwin, perhaps threatening him, if he did not follow through with the marriage, which finally did take place (January 1186). Marie then trumped Baldwin at his own game by ignoring the second part of the contract and arranging her own son's marriage to the infant heiress of Namur instead of to Baldwin's daughter.
When Henry II (1187-90) assumed the countship, Marie retired to Meaux, probably with her youngest son Thibaut, then eight. The forty-twoyear-old countess could not have imagined that she would ever rule again. But the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin on October 2, 1187 electrified France, and young Henry II was swept up by the wave of enthusiasm for a new crusade to recover the holy city. In May 1190 the unmarried count departed with a large contingent of barons and knights on the Third Crusade, leaving his mother as regent once again. Marie ruled in his absence (he died overseas in September 1197), then continued to rule until her death in March 1198 at fifty-three. In all, she had ruled the county over fifteen years — in her husband's absence, as guardian for her oldest son and then in his absence, and finally in the last months of her life as guardian for her second son, Thibaut.
Although she was countess of Champagne for over thirty years, half of them as ruler, we know little about Marie's life and personality beyond her official acts. She seems to have been close to her half-brothers Geoffroy Plantagenet, for whom she dedicated an altar in Paris, and Richard the Lionheart, with whom she shared Adam of Perseigne as confessor, as well as with her half-sister Margaret, who spent Christmas 1184 with Marie and queen mother Adèle. Perhaps Marie saw her sister, countess Alix of Blois, and her mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after her parents were divorced in 1152, but there is no firm evidence of any meeting. For her husband Henry she ordered a sumptuous tomb placed in the center of the church of Saint-Etienne of Troyes next to the comital palace, but she herself chose to be buried at Meaux.
Marie's role as literary patron now seems secure. She could read vernacular French and probably Latin as well, given her education at Avenay, and she had a personal library, although its contents are not known. Chrétien de Troyes and Gace Brulé state that they wrote at her request, and she seems also to have patronized Conon de Béthune and Huon d'Oisy. The collegiate chapter of Notre-Dame-du-Val, which Marie founded in Provins with thirty-eight prebends, seems to have supported not only Chrétien but also his continuator Godfrey of Lagny, as well as the earliest known copyist of Chrétien's romances, Guiot of Provins. Perhaps Marie'sinterest in lyric poetry and romances dates from her married years, for the works she is know to have commissioned as a widow in the 1180s are all translations of religious texts: Psalms (Eructavit), Genesis, and possibly a collection of sermons by Bernard of Clairvaux.
Theodore Evergates - Aristocratic Women in Medieval France
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The sea fig, ch. II, Adela.
(second chapter <3)
The sun was setting when Adelaide returned to her room. It had been a week since she first stepped into her aunt’s homestead, and she was still adjusting to how different London was to her homeland. The room was still showered with remnants of twilight, brightened by the light green of the walls. It didn’t have much furniture; by the south side was a bed, supplied with a swan feathered mattress and pillows and furred covers that contrasted nicely with the wood of the headboard. A wardrobe stood by the west well, and where the floor raised in a platform sat a simple bathtub. The north side held most of the windows, and a desk with a looking glass and some parchment alongside it. Though it was different from her room in Normandy, she enjoyed how simple it was.
Had she been in Normandy she would have lulled herself to sleep listening to the crashing waves, or the sounds of the city filling the air. London wasn’t much different, admittedly. While during the day it seemed dull and uninteresting, when darkness set its rule and the moon showed her face the city lit up. The alehouses represented much of the night’s entertainment, and the bustling sounds reached her windows, leaving her longing for something other than the stillness of the castle.
Her aunt and her ladies in waiting provided a good distraction, and quickly she had sparked up a friendship with Gytha, with which she spent the nights in pleasant conversation. Sometimes they were joined by Aelfwynn, though she appeared busier than Gytha.
Adela undressed and put on her nightgown, waiting for Gytha’s company as she brushed her hair by the desk. After a few minutes of silence finally the door opened, and she smiled as she saw Gytha enter her room.
“I am sorry if I couldn’t wait for you, I just needed to get out of that dress”.
Gytha let out a soft chuckle as she closed the door and she sat on her bed, her blonde hair now goldened by the candle’s lights.
“I imagined, sorry if I was late, your aunt needed me and Aelfwynn to sort out some fabrics.”
In a moment Gytha and Adela were deep in conversation, talking about each other and their lives until then. Gytha had much to tell about Denmark, how different it was from England and its people, and Adela in return talked about Normandy and how different they were from Frankia as a whole, how her people lived in relative peace and convivence.
“Of course it isn’t all sunshine, admittedly many Frankish Lords dislike us, but we also have some powerful allies like our cousins in Aquitaine”.
“Oh, so I guess there are Earls like Godwin everywhere”.
Adelaide’s interest was sparked when Gytha mentioned that name, and she couldn’t help but want to satisfy her curiosity.
“Isn’t he the right hand of the Queen and King alike?”
Gytha scrunched up her nose, shaking her head. “He certainly plays the part. He does his job well, but never trust him too much”.
Adela’s mind went back to something her Aunt Maude once told her. It was about her grandfather’s father: William Longsword. He had been a good ruler, but too trusting of the other. That was his demise.
Gytha suddenly shifted and looked at her with a glimmer in her eyes.
“You ask an awful lot of questions, but never tell anything about yourself. All this talk of Normandy won’t fool me! Now you shall tell me about this Duke of Lyonnaise”.
Adela laughed a little and shrugged, not very entertained by the tale of the less amusing nuisance in all of Frankia.
“There is not much to tell, he is uninteresting but a good party. There is a man who I like much more, the Duke of Blois. But my family dislikes his, and my father would not have that union.”
“Did you love him?”
“No, I wouldn’t say I did. I just liked him far better. It wouldn’t be wise for a woman such as me or you to do more than like any man”.
“And yet Queen Emma and my uncle seem to have found more than just liking in each other”
“You are not wrong. But that’s rare, and the one exception that confirms the rule.”
“And don’t you hope to have… something more?”
Adelaide moved to answer but stopped herself. She had never thought about something more; yes, she had many examples in her family of people who married and loved each other, namely her forebearers Duke Rollo and Princess Gisla. She had been married to him by her father to form an alliance, and had fallen so deeply in love with each other that many Norman tales and songs still told of their love and how beneficial that union had been for both Normandy and each other. Their son William Longsword had found love in both his first wife Sprota and then Liuthgarda, who responded in treachery. Her grandfather Richard the Fearless had loved her grandmother Gunnora, and then his many mistresses, with which he had produced some of her uncles. And her parents themselves were very happy with each other. Despite coming from a line of people who had found love in their partners, that something more wasn’t what she saw in her life. Since she was a girl, she had been educated in all matters regarding the politics of her lands as was Norman costume. Her greatest desire had always been to form a beneficial alliance for Normandy, and maybe marry in the confines of Frankia, as to not stray away from her beloved Rouen.
Gytha’s question wasn’t one she had ever considered, that something more for her looked more like being fortunate to find a man who’d allow her to rule beside him whatever land would welcome her as its own. She found herself grow uncomfortable, her guts stirring for a question that had been innocent and yet had cracked a chasm where she had always found sure footing.
“I don’t know what’s more, Gytha. It isn’t in me. My Aunt was kissed by fortune, but I have never thought of more and I… don’t even know if I want it”.
Gytha looked at her with a knowing look, and smiled a little.
“Let me tell you, you resemble a lot your aunt when you make that face”.
They ended up giggling and changing subject, concentrating in lighter chatter. Adela was grateful to have Gytha with her, a friend with which she could be herself and not be judged as too harsh to be ladylike. Maybe her exposure to her aunt as her lady in waiting made it easier, or the fact that she was a Dane, but she didn’t seem to mind Adela’s sharp words and observation. And she genuinely liked Gytha, who was fun and gentle and kind.
When it was late enough they realized it was time to retire, and though they didn’t want to put a stop to their fun it was time to rest. They were exchanging the last few words before Gytha’s exit when a sound caught their attention.
They stopped talking and realized it came from the city. It was the scream of a woman, a horrifying wail that made Gytha and Adelaide rush to the window and open it. A few guards were already covering the area, and they couldn’t see what was happening behind the entrance arch that sheltered them from the view. In a mix of curiosity and fear the two made for the door so they could at the very least ask the guards some informations, when outside their corridor they met Earl Godwin.
“Ladies, stay in the room and do not get out for any reason. If in need of anything I will place guards outside your doors, though now I must hurry and call Queen Emma”.
Gytha nodded and moved to close the door, but Adela prevented it by holding the door in it’s place.
“What is happening?”
Earl Godwin was taken aback by her questioning, recognizing in her the same mannerisms he had only seen in the Queen before now.
“The Dane priest Cynleaf was killed; we are assuming the attack was provoked by another Dane in the alehouse”.
Adela could sense Gytha gasp and tense behind her, and soon the Earl left them. They ended up spending the night together in Adela’s room, with guards outside the door and the chaos of the city muffled by the windows now closed.
Gytha had succumbed to sleep almost instantly, leaving Adela alone with her thoughts. Before she fell asleep, her agitated mind kept circling between the events of the night and Gytha’s words.
He certainly plays the part.
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Thread about Joanna of Castile: Part 6: The Princes’ Journey : Juana of Castile and Philip of Burgundy Visit the French Court, 1501
In this part of my thread, I will provide further information about Joana's first stop in France.
Like I previously said in my last thread, In 1501, Philip of Burgundy and Juana of Castile became the heirs of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. This new status required them to appear in constitutional ceremonies in the principal cities of Spain and before the ‘Cortes’ to witness the swearing of oaths to them ùas heirs.
The route they would take was the subject of controversy. Juana’s parents, Ferdinand and Isabella, were insisting they take a sea voyage from Flanders to Spain. A new Spanish envoy, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, bishop of Córdoba, reported that:
Juana seemed eager to serve her parents and was widely thought to be “very sensible (cuerda) and very level-headed (asentada).
Philip’s advisors stipulated an overland route through France. The matter was settled in August 1501 when Philip agreed to marry his son Charles to Claude, the eldest daughter of King Louis XII of France and his queen, Anne of Brittany. Philip expressed an interest in meeting his prospective daughter-in-law, and when King Louis heard this, he invited Philip and Juana to visit the French royal court at Blois on their way to Spain.
The children were placed with Margaret of York and Anne of Burgundy in Mechelen, and Philip signed new household ordinances for the journey.
There are several vivid accounts of the journey. The princes left Brussels on 4 November 1501, travelling until Mons with Margaret of York and down through France to Blois. Philip delighted in detours, but Juana, more aloof and withdrawn, preferred the straighter route.
Queen Anne sent Madame de Vendôme along with fourteen women to wait on Juana while she travelled from one town to the next. Juana made an official entry into Valenciennes on November 9 where she was given two silver pots and a bowl covered with flowers of gold by the inhabitants.
Philip and Juana made their official entry into France on November 16 where they were met with immense receptions. They arrived in Paris where a grand banquet was given for the couple that included engaging maidens, drink, spices, sweets, and dancing. Juana left after one night to make her way to the castle of Blois. Philip stayed in Paris four more days before joining her.
They arrived at Blois together on December 7, where they were housed in a newly built section of the palace which had been richly tapestried and furnished just for their visit. Philip went to meet King Louis with his retinue, accompanied by Pierre de Beaujeu, the Duke of Bourbon. He entered the king’s presence and bent down on his knee three times as he neared. Louis rose and doffed his cap at each bow, advancing and embracing Philip. The heir to the French throne, Francois d’Angouleme was seven years old, and he came forward to receive a kiss from Philip. It was Francois’ first appearance at a grand court occasion.
Juana was particularly intent on maintaining her status as the heir to the Spanish throne without offending her hosts. She was asked if she would kiss the King of France and would only agree after consulting her minister, the Bishop of Córdoba. The Bishop agreed a kiss was acceptable. Louis had insisted that Philip bow three times to him, but when Juana arrived, he rushed over to her, preventing her from curtseying twice.
The good-natured Louis then released her, courteously asking her to go to his wife, so the men could be alone together. Juana began making her way to the door where the Duchess of Bourbon was waiting for her to arrange her dress and take her to the Queen, but there was a crush of people preventing her from reaching the door. Then Philip came and pressed his way ahead of his wife, making the crowd even bigger and more raucous, causing further delay.
The rest of the journey will be posted in the next thread: Part 6.1.
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Been reading up on The Anarchy as a supplement to my sporadic re-read of Fire & Blood, and IMO the parallels here are much clearer and more direct than those between ASOIAF and the War of the Roses.
(Spoilers for HotD and F&B under the cut)
Rhaenyra is pretty obviously Empress Matilda, though her ending is much sadder than her real-life counterpart's. Matilda actually outlived the relative who usurped her throne, and saw her son ascend as Henry II of England.
Henry I is King Viserys, who appointed his daughter as his heir. Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois usurped her throne and is the clear parallel to Aegon the Elder.
As far as I can tell, William of Ypres is the real-life inspiration for Criston Cole as Stephen's military leader, Waleran de Beaumont is the inspiration for Otto Hightower as the treacherous, grasping noble who became Stephen's main advisor, and Stephen's brother Henry of Winchester is the inspiration for Aemond. Matilda's first husband is likely the inspiration for Laenor.
Daemon and Alicent are more complicated, as I believe they are based on several prominent historical figures of the time.
For Daemon, he appears to be inspired by both Geoffrey of Anjou, Matilda's second husband and Henry II's father, and Matilda's uncle, David I of Scotland (who also somewhat inspired Lord Corlys). Both were supporters of her claim, along with her half brother Robert of Gloucester, who seems to be the inspiration for Rhaenys (though his claim was denied in favor of Henry I because he was a bastard, as opposed to Rhaenys whose claim was denied because she was a woman). Like Daemon, Geoffrey died toward the end of the war.
Alicent's inspiration is complicated in a different way. She seems to have been inspired by two very opposing figures in history, two women who shared the same name.
The first is Adela (or Adeliza) of Louvain, Henry I's second wife and Matilda's stepmother. Adela of Louvain married Henry I after his first wife, Matilda's mother, died. She was only 18, and Henry was over 30 years her senior. She was actually one year younger than Matilda herself.
Adela actually supported Matilda's claim and even defied her second husband to do so. Though she apparently betrayed Matilda later (probably out of fear) when Stephen besieged her castle, she also bargained with him to secure Matilda's safe departure. Ultimately, it's easy to imagine her as the inspiration for the show's framing of Alicent and Rhaenyra as close friends.
The other likely inspiration for Alicent is Adela of Normandy, Stephen the usurper's mother. She supported her son's siezure of the throne. She was known to be extremely pious, echoing the way Alicent clings to the Faith of the Seven. She was actually made a saint after her death. Her husband, Count Stephen II of Blois, may have been the inspiration for some of Viserys's characterization as well.
Matilda and Geoffrey's son, Henry II, is of course the inspiration for Aegon III.
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Joanna of Flanders (c. 1295 – September 1374) was Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John of Montfort. Much of her life was taken up in defence of the rights of her husband and, later, son to the dukedom, which was challenged by the House of Blois during the War of the Breton Succession. Known for her fiery personality, Joanna led the Montfortist cause after her husband had been captured, and began the fight-back, showing considerable skill as a military leader.
Shortly after taking refuge in England, she was confined to Tickhill Castle by order of King Edward III.
Joanna was highly praised by the chronicler Jean Froissart for her courage and energy. Because of her feats of leadership, David Hume described her as "the most extraordinary woman of the age".
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~ “Helicoidal staircase of the Renaissance de Blois castle, beginning of construction 1519 department of Law and Cher France. With its two screws intertwined, the staircase allows two people to borrow it at the same time without ever meeting. The creation of Leonard de Vinci.” ~
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Château de Bayon
At the end of the 19th century, in a small village in Lorrain, a war was raging between Madame Gauthier and Madame "E": each of them dreamed of owning the most beautiful house in the region.
In order to crush her rival, Madame Gauthier visited many Loire castles and was especially attracted to the Château de Blois. It was only after this pilgrimage that construction began, in 1874, on this petit château in neo-Renaissance style with a strong neo-Gothic influence, a true gem.
The château remained in the Gauthier family until 1973, when it was sold and turned into the official home of the mayor. However, in the 90s, it was sold again, but the current owner left it in a total state of disrepair.
Today, the exterior remains relatively well maintained, but it's just an illusion… Inside, it's a total disaster. At some point, the petit château was broken into and partially vandalized. The first-floor billiard room collapsed into the downstairs hall, burying everything below. Today, it is only possible to enter the house through the back, passing through the music room, through the staircase hall and accessing the two bedrooms on the first floor. The rest is blocked by rubble.
Apparently, the town hall has ordered the current owner to restore the château or take the property from him.
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