This Day in History

[Susan]

Happy New Year!

January 1 in royal history:

January 1, 1204 – Death of Haakon III of Norway; buried at the old cathedral in Bergen which was demolished in 1531

January 1, 1511 - Birth of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, son of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, at Richmond Palace, Surrey
This is the "New Year's Prince" that Henry and Katherine had such high hopes for. Sadly, he lived only until February.

January 1, 1515 - Death of Louis XII of France at Paris; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis

January 1, 1516 – Birth of Margareta Leijonhufvud, wife of Gustav I of Sweden

January 1, 1559 - Death of Christian III of Denmark and Norway at Koldinghus; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

January 1, 1766 - Death of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, at Rome, Italy; buried at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican

January 1, 1801 - Union of Great Britain and Ireland creating the United Kingdom

January 1, 1877 - Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India

January 1, 1881 - Birth of Vajiravudh, Rama VI of Siam (later Thailand), in Bangkok, Siam

January 1, 1946 - Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god

January 2, 1784 – Birth of Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Coburg
Ernest was the father of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, and also the Queen’s uncle.

[Susan]

January 2 in royal history:

January 2, 1784 – Birth of Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Coburg
Ernest was the father of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, and also the Queen’s uncle.

January 2, 1819- Death of Maria Louisa of Parma, wife of Charles IV of Spain, at Barberini Palace, Rome, Italy; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial

January 2, 1836 – Birth of Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke, wife of King Kamehameha IV, in Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi

January 2, 1861 – Death of Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, at Potsdam, Germany; buried at Friedenskirche, Potsdam

January 2, 2000 - Death of Maria Mercedes Borbón-Two Sicilies, mother of King Juan Carlos of Spain, at La Mareta, Lanzarote, Spain; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial

[Susan]

January 3 in royal history:

January 3, 1322 – Death of Philip V of France at Longchamp, France; buried at Saint Denis Basilica

January 3, 1437 – Death of Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V, at Abbey of St. Saviour, Bermondsey, London; buried at Westminster Abbey
Catherine’s second marriage was to Owen Tudor. Their son, Edmund, was the father of Henry VII.

January 3, 1701 - Death of Prince Louis I of Monaco in Rome; buried at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco

January 3, 1724 – Birth of Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, wife of Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in Wolfenbüttel

January 3, 1981 - Death of Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, at Kensington Palace; buried at Frogmore, Windsor
Princess Alice was the daughter of Prince Leopold, son of Queen Victoria, and Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont. She married the brother of Queen Mary, Prince Alexander of Teck, whose style changed to the Earl of Athlone during World War I. Alice was a hemophilia carrier and transmitted the disease to her son Rupert.

[Susan]

January 4 in royal history:

January 4, 871 - Battle of Reading; King Ethelred of Wessex is defeated by Danish invasion army

January 4, 1236 - Wedding of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence at Canterbury Cathedral

January 4, 1248 – Death of Sancho II of Portugal in exile at Toledo, Spain; buried at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo

January 4, 1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of English monarchs, destroyed by fire

January 4, 1913 - Birth of Chief Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa in Samoa

January 4, 1926 – Death of Margherita of Savoy, wife of Umberto I of Italy, in Bordighera, Italy; buried at the Pantheon, Rome

January 4, 1931 - Death of Louise, Princess Royal, daughter of Edward VII, at Portman Square, London; buried at Mar Lodge Chapel, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

[Susan]

January 5, 1066 - Death of Edward the Confessor at the Palace of Westminster; buried at Westminster Abbey

January 5, 1209 - Birth of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, son of King John, at Winchester Castle

January 5, 1477 – Death of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy; buried at the Church of Our Lady in Bruges (Belgium)

January 5, 1589 - Death of Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henri II of France, at Château de Blois; originally buried at Saint-Sauveur, Blois, reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis

January 5, 1592 - Birth of Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor of India who built the Taj Mahal, in Lahore, Pakistan

January 5, 1762 - Death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia in Saint Petersburg, buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg

January 5, 1827 - Death of Frederick, Duke of York, son of George III, at Rutland House, Arlington Street, London; buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

January 5, 1921 - Birth of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg at Berg Castle, Luxembourg

January 5, 1938 - Birth of King Juan Carlos of Spain in Rome, Italy

January 5, 1946 - Birth of Prince Tomohito of Japan in Tokyo, Japan

[Susan]

January 6 in royal history:

January 6, 1066 – Harold Godwinson chosen to succeed Edward the Confessor as King of England

January 6, 1367 - Birth of Richard II at Bordeaux, Gascony, France

January 6, 1448 – Death of Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden at Helsingborg, Sweden; buried at Roskilde Cathedral (his tomb has not been preserved)

January 6, 1540 - Wedding of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, at Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London

January 6, 1935 – Birth of Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuela, wife of Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, in Madrid, Spain

[Susan]

January 7 in royal history...so many dates!

January 7, 1114 - Wedding of Maud, daughter of Henry I, and Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor at Mainz, Germany

January 7, 1239 - Wedding of Eleanor, daughter of King John, and Simon de Montfort, Earl Leicester at Kings Chapel, Palace of Westminster

January 7, 1325 – Death of King Dinis of Portugal in Santarém, Kingdom of Portugal

January 7, 1355 - Birth of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III, at Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire, England

January 7, 1430 - Death of Philippa of England, daughter of Henry IV and wife of Eric VII of Denmark, at the Convent of Valdstena, Linkoping, Sweden; buried at the Convent of Valdstena
Philippa was the second daughter and seventh and youngest child of Henry IV and his first wife Mary de Bohun, who died delivering her. She married King Eric VII of Denmark at age 12. 23 years later, Philippa delivered a stillborn child and never fully recovered her health. She retired to a convent and died shortly thereafter.

January 7, 1536 - Death of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, at Kimbolton Castle; buried at Peterborough Cathedral

January 7, 1647 – Birth of Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart

January 7, 1743 – Death of Anne Sophie Reventlow, second wife of Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

January 7, 1582 – Birth of Magdalena of Brandenburg, wife of Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

January 7, 1768 – Birth of Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain and the Indies, in Corte, Corsica, Republic of Genoa

January 7, 1796 - Birth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, only child of George IV, at Carlton House, London

January 7, 1830 – Death of Charlotte of Spain, wife of João VI of Portugal, at Queluz Palace, buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, Lisbon

January 7, 1845 - Birth of Ludwig III, last King of Bavaria, in Munich

January 7, 1890 – Death of Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach, wife of William I, German Emperor, in Berlin; buried in the mausoleum of Charlottenburg Palace

January 7, 1937 - Wedding of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld; civil ceremony in The Hague Town Hall, religious ceremony at Great Church (St. Jacobskerk) in The Hague

January 7, 1989 - Death of Emperor Hirohito of Japan at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo; buried at the Musashino Imperial Mausoleum near Tokyo

[Susan]

January 8 in royal history:

January 8, 1107 – Death of King Edgar of Scotland at Edinburgh; buried at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife

January 8, 1297 - Wedding of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of Edward I, and Count John I of Holland at Ipswich Priory Church, Suffolk

January 8, 1297 - Rock of Monaco seized by François Grimaldi

January 8, 1864 - Birth of Prince Albert Victor (Eddy), son of Edward VII, at Frogmore House, Windsor

January 8, 1873 – Birth of Elena of Montenegro, wife of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, in Cetinje, Montenegro

January 8, 1930 - Wedding of Marie-Jose of Belgium and Umberto II of Italy

January 8, 2011 - Birth of Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine of Denmark, twin son and daughter of Crown Prince Frederik, at the Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

Aren't they cute?

[Susan]

January 9 in royal history:

January 9, 1514 – Death of Anne of Brittany, wife of Charles VIII of France and second wife of Louis XII of France, at the Royal Château de Blois; buried at Saint Denis Basilica

January 9, 1819 – Death of Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, second wife of William I of Württemberg in Stuttgart; buried at the Württemberg Mausoleum in Rotenberg, Stuttgart

January 9, 1873 - Death of Emperor Napoleon III of France in exile at Camden Place (now Chislehurst Golf Club), Chislehurst, England; buried at Saint Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire, England

January 9, 1878 - Death of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy at Rome; buried at the Pantheon, Rome

January 9, 1907 – Death of Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, wife of George V of Hanover, at Gmunden, Austria; buried in the Crypt at Cumberland Palace in Gmunden

January 9, 1982 – Birth of Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, wife of Prince William, at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading

January 9, 1988 - Wedding of George, Earl of St. Andrews, son of the Duke of Kent, and Sylvana Tomaselli at the Leith Register Office, Edinburgh, Scotland

[Susan]

January 10 in royal history:

January 10, 1662 - Death of Prince Honoré II of Monaco, buried at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco

January 10, 1810 – Napoleon divorces his first wife Joséphine
Joséphine agreed to the divorce so that Napoleon could remarry hoping that he would have an heir. The two remained on good terms. Napoleon's last words were, "France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine."

January 10, 1840 - Death of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of George III, at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany; buried at the Mausoleum of the Landgraves, Homburg, Germany
Elizabeth was the third daughter and seventh child of George III and his wife Charlotte. She married late in life at age 48 to Hereditary Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Homburg. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg in 1820. In her native England, deep court mourning was temporarily suspended to celebrate the marriage of her niece Queen Victoria on February 10, 1840.

January 10, 1893 - Wedding of Princess Marie of Edinburgh, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and the future King Ferdinand I of Romania at Sigmaringen Castle, Germany
Marie was the daughter of Victoria's son Alfred and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia.

January 10, 1967 - Wedding of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven

January 10, 2005 – Death of Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium, wife of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, at Fischbach Castle, Luxembourg; buried at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg