Blanche de Navarre

A month after Marie's death in March 1198, a throng of barons accompanied nineteen-year-old Thibaut III to Melun, where he did homage for his lands and was knighted by the king. A year later the young count married Blanche of Navarre, the younger sister of Richard the Lionheart's widow Berengaria. Attending the magnificent ceremony in Chartres cathedral were the dowager queens Berengaria of England and Adèle of France (Thibaut's aunts), as well as many prelates and barons. The jubilation was short-lived, however, for Thibaut died in May 1201 while preparing to lead the Fourth Crusade. He left twenty-year-old Blanche a widow in the last week of her second pregnancy. For the next twenty-one years she would guide the county through the most perilous internal and external threats it had yet faced.

Whereas countess Marie clearly had possessed the requisite qualifications to act as regent — intimate connections with the Capetian and Plantagenet royal families, eleven formative years preparing to be countess, and sixteen years as countess consort — countess Blanche must have seemed singularly unsuited for such a role. A Navarrese speaker with a strong religious temperament, she had little experience as countess. She also faced an extraordinary challenge from the start: were her children, in fact, the legitimate heirs to the county? In 1190, when the unmarried Henry II left on the Third Crusade, the barons had sworn to accept his younger brother Thibaut III as count if Henry himself did not return. No one had anticipated that Henry would remain overseas seven years, marry there, and have children. Thus it was a legitimate question, in May 1201, whether Henry II's own daughters had better rights to Champagne than his brother Thibaut's infant daughter.

Blanche skillfully mastered a difficult situation. Mindful of king Philip's attempt to seize Flanders in 1191 in the absence of a male heir, she quickly made an alliance with the king the cornerstone of her regency. Within days of Thibaut's death she found Philip at nearby Sens, did homage — the first homage ever rendered by a countess — for her right of wardship and her dower lands, and promised not to remarry without his permission. As security for her conduct, she surrendered two castles bordering the royal domain (Bray-sur-Seine and Montereau-faut-Yonne) and her oneyear-old daughter to be raised at the royal court. Several days later the birth of a son, Thibaut IV, confirmed the soundness of her strategy: he was born heir apparent under royal protection.

Theodore Evergates - Aristocratic Women in Medieval France

LGBT HISTORY MONTH SERIES → 1/28 - my beautiful laundrette (1985)

Starring Daniel Day–Lewis and Gordon Warnecke, and directed by Stephen Fears with an Oscar-nominated original screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, My Beautiful Laundrette broke major ground in its bold exploration of race and sexuality in Thatcher-era London. The film’s depiction of, and significance to, British South Asian and LGBTQ+ communities cannot be overstated. via studio voltaire

Donna tartt - Clarence House 26.03.2024

Fizz water : trot and one step / by J. Hubert (Eubie) Blake. For piano. Caption title. Cover ill.: Man in top hat and tails popping cork on bottle. Price: 75 cents. Ads for other song titles on back cover. Pl. no.: 7861-4. Jos. W. Stern & Co., 1914.

Hackley Sheet Music Collection of African American Themes

E. Azalia Hackley Collection of African Americans in the Performing Arts, Detroit Public Library

Horse Pasture in Algeria - Alberto Pasini // Penelope Unraveling Her Work at Night - Dora Wheeler Keith // All Too Well - Taylor Swift // champagne problems - Taylor Swift

Some Dieudonnés

Putting these 2 illustrations next to each other, since I liked the style I used for this! Finally got better at drawing veils and patterns which is nice

Francis Abernathy would run an anonymous bookstagram account and he would sometimes post pictures of his hair, his back on the mirror or his shoes

Powerful queens

“There was a time (between the tenth and twelfth centuries) when the king’s wife acted as a consors regni alongside him, having been delegated a share of real power. During the tenth century, for example, the Queen of West Francia played a real role in diplomacy, as proven by a letter that King Hugh Capet addressed in 988 to Empress Theophano, Emperor Otto’s widow and regent of the empire in her son’s name. In it, he announced that ‘Queen Adelaide [his wife] co-bearer of the royalty with which we have associated her’ would meet with the empress in order to strengthen the pact of friendship that had been concluded between them. Here, the female sovereign appears as a consors regni (even though she did not officially hold the title), associated with the throne and capable of representing her husband in the outside world when wielding public power.

Royal charters equally attest to the Capetian queens’ participation in public affairs. They underwrote numerous acts by their spouses and sons, with 40 royal and seigneurial charters bearing their names between the mid-tenth century and the early twelfth century. On numerous occasions, they gave their consent to royal provisions (approximately 65 times during the same period). As a member of the curia regis, the female sovereign took part in governmental decisions. She was also present during important monarchical ceremonies, assemblies, the crowning of the dauphin and receptions for foreign dignitaries.

During the twelfth century, the reign of Adelaide of Maurienne (wife of Louis VI, d. 1155) and the reign of Adela of Champagne (third wife of Louis VII, d. 1206) in many ways represented the apex of this participation. Adelaide was the only queen for whom the years of her reign were mentioned in the royal diplomas after that of her husband. In total, her name appeared 45 times in the royal charters, attesting to her participation in the kingdom’s affairs. It was notably recorded alongside that of Louis VI on charters guaranteeing churches and monasteries royal protection as well as on acts granting privileges to certain urban communes. Adelaide was also the first female sovereign to issue a large number of acts in her own name, which she stamped with a large diplomatic seal. Adela of Champagne’s reign was equally exceptional. From 1163-1164 and after the death of Louis VII (1180), she granted 110 acts, all of which were passed in her own name.”

Queenship in medieval france 1300-1500, Murielle Gaude-Ferragu

I know the order of the golden fleece is like...incredibly prestigious and significant but just hear me out for a sec.... the order of the golden bull👀

AAAAAAAA GRACE THATS SO GOOD!!!!!!

Though I wonder if I'd have any better luck at drawing a bull than I did a sheep 😭 But ah!!! That's a great idea!! I love trying to incorporate parts from the racesuit into their designs! I just had fun drawing the Golden Fleece because I could not for the longest time figure out what that part of the regalia was, I'm like, "What the hell is this necklace thing" 🤦 Thought actually he could probably wear more than one collar(I think thats what it's called, not a necklace), so perhaps there is a chivalry from a little town called Salzburg that he belongs to....

I still think it's really interesting that now there's two branches of the Golden Fleece, Spain and Austria, and how well it fits the AU. It's so funny freaking out over some random 300+ year old painting of this monarch dude bcs it reminds me of my blorbos 😭 I cannot stop thinking about the painting of Philip V wearing both ensignias of the two chivalries:

Also I've not talked about it cause I've not drawn it yet, but this is the ensignia of Fernando, so hey if you have any ideas on how to make it more F1 related, I will gladly take it!!:

I guess it could be the Prancing Horse of Ferrari rather than a dove??

champagne drips and wear damage on michael's trophies at the michael schumacher private collection

Bonjour et bienvenue, it’s an hour before sunrise and I am wide awake (thanks to the alarm for my first tablets of the day) preparing this entertaining (?) blog for you. It’s currently 2c outside but as I am still “abed” it is warm and cosy.

We have had rain, fog,wind and sunshine this week. I have just read an article which said that people will say “we didn’t have a summer, it was wet and windy” but it wouldn’t be wet and windy for the full three months of the summer season. It’s all about subtle changes which I have come to appreciate since 1) retiring and 2) living here in France. Retirement has given me the time to choose when I take a walk, which day/s I go shopping, to do things on the spur of the moment and generally just slow down. Moving to France meant everyday there was something new to discover and that included the weather.

Around the 22January the confrères of the Champagne villages gather to thank Saint-Vincent for the past harvest and to place the next one under his protection.

The head of the procession carries the baton of Saint-Vincent, followed by the banner or statue of the patron saint of winegrowers.

This took place in town yesterday, I have promised myself every year I would go to witness this ancient tradition and of course I failed again yesterday! I think it will have to be placed in my diary for 2025.

My combi boiler has not been providing the constant hot water I had come to expect, it has been a gradual thing (I think) but on Monday evening I could not get any hot water at all. I was going to message the plumber but then buried my head in the sand until Tuesday morning when there was no hot water for washing 😱. I messaged and told him the problem but said I would ring him on Tuesday evening. I was assured he would come out on Wednesday, which he did, after checking this, draining that still no hot water which he said was “bizarre”. Upshot is, I need a new boiler! In fact I would rather have a new boiler than cope with problems on a regular basis. He prepared the “devis” I signed and dated it and he will ring and let me know when the boiler is received and he can fit it. I also got him to check out the upstairs loo which had started trickling water from the cistern down into the toilet, this is caused by limescale coating parts of the flushing mechanism. He cleaned one part and I thought it had stopped but no it has just reduced. 😩 there is always something.

I am still waiting for an appointment for my PET scan and on Tuesday I received a letter from the hospital. It was an appointment with the oncologist for Monday 29th January. I rang to book a taxi, it wasn’t one of the usual people who took the call, she practically wanted to know what I had eaten for breakfast that morning! She seemed to have difficulty with my accent and kept asking me for information I had already given. When I put the phone down I did wonder who I had spoken too. Rang the next day to check the taxi was booked.

The cleaner had a weekend break in Alsace and I put her off coming on Thursday as I didn’t have hot water, that meant that the jigsaw has managed to stay out. Is it finished? 🤔 it’s driving me nuts! Funnily the other morning I was sat at the other side of the table and spotted a number of pieces which fit in. Now maybe that’s the way forward, do the jigsaw upside down? I had looked at those pieces time and time again when looking at it right way up and didn’t know where they went 😂😂.

I went to see Maud, in her official capacity as podiatrist, so I feel as if I am walking on air. Then we arranged to go out for lunch on February 11th, it’s my treat. We are going to “The Belvedere” again and so I have been scanning the menu, I think it might be steak with pepper sauce and dauphinois potatoes for me. May change my mind before then though.

Monique left hospital on Tuesday but is still on intravenous antibiotics. She is seeing the oncologist on Monday, her appointment is the same time as mine 🤔.

Let’s look at the music spot for today, both songs are back to the 80’s. The first is a “foot tapper” and the second just had that “something” in the music that “speaks” to me. So number one is “Together in Electric Dreams” by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder this is back to 1984. The second is “Tempted” by Squeeze released in 1981.

My family are all well, looking forward to brighter days and hopefully seeing me before springtime is finished. 🤞for that 😊. After speaking with the oncologist on Monday, I hope to be planning my trip.

It has been the Assemblée Générale for the association of which the knitting group forms part. It’s a time I normally enjoy due to the champagne and galette at the end 😉, however, I did find it hard going on Friday. I prepared a short piece which thanked everyone for having confidence in me to run the group (when I wasn’t in hospital) and also for their support throughout my treatment. I was given a round of applause which was a bit embarrassing. I enjoyed the champagne (which I maybe should not have had, but the galette (which I normally love) didn’t “hit the spot” this time.

My grandchildren are with “The Photographer” this weekend. I had expected a FaceTime call but nothing yet, perhaps they are having a sleep in this morning.

The little cardigan I am knitting from the the French pattern is proving difficult for me now! I had knit the back and a front got the pattern done perfectly then cast on the second front did so much then left it to concentrate on the jigsaw. Picked it up on Friday evening and I just could not get the pattern correct. Oh my goodness what am I going to do, I really wanted to master this.

As we are due 12c this afternoon it may be a good time to have a little wander around the garden, see if I can remove some of the iris to fill out an empty area and also move some of the violas too. That would be a really good job done, then I can make something enjoyable for lunch and dinner this evening. I am tired of thinking that I would enjoy a certain meal only to find it has little taste and makes me feel 🤢.

Once again, Bar-sur-Aube will be a checkpoint for this historic rallye. Will I get out to see the cars this week? Find out next week.

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

5 Seconds of Summer: Champagne Supernova (Oasis Cover)

Manchester Apollo, 27 October 2018

Henry's Playlist for Camilla

Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

Cigarette Daydreams - Cage the Elephant

Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby - Cigarettes After Sex

No Buses - Arctic Monkeys

Vincent - Don McLean

Can't help falling in love - Elvis Presley

From our stacks: Illustration from The Playgoer: A Magazine for the Theatre. 1936. Theatre Program Co. of Detroit.

Before the Wedding - Firs Zhuravlev (detail) // champagne problems - Taylor Swift

Brides in Art x Brides in Taylor Swift Lyrics