This Day in History

[Susan]

May 14 in royal history:

May 14, 1264 - Simon de Montfort defeats Henry III at the Battle of Lewes
Simon de Montfort is known as the founder of parliamentary representative government. He was married to Eleanor, a daughter of King John. de Montfort was brutally killed during the Battle of Evesham by the future Edward I's army.

May 14, 1553 - Birth of Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henri IV of France

May 14, 1610 – Assassination of Henri IV of France by Francois Ravillac, a fanatical monk; his son Louis XIII becomes king

May 14, 1643 - Death of Louis XIII of France in Paris; buried at Saint Denis Basilica

May 14, 1667 – Wedding of Christian V of Denmark and Charlotte Amelia of Hesse-Cassel

May 14, 1710 – Birth of Adolf Fredrik of Sweden

May 14, 1759 – Birth of Prince Alois I of Liechtenstein

May 14, 1778 – Birth of Prince Honoré V of Monaco

May 14, 1912 - Death of Frederik VIII of Denmark on a park bench in Hamburg, Germany; buried at Roskilde Cathedral
Frederik was the brother of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia and King George I of Greece. Frederick's son Charles married Princess Maud, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (and Queen Alexandra). Charles assumed the new throne of Norway as King Haakon VII.

May 14, 1922 – Death of Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton, divorced first wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco; died and buried in Budapest, Hungary

May 14, 1953 – Birth of King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia

May 14, 1962 - Wedding of Juan Carlos of Spain and Sofia of Greece
Juan Carlos and Sofia are both descendants of Queen Victoria. Juan Carlos is a descendant of Victoria's youngest child Beatrice and Sofia is a descendant of Victoria's oldest child Victoria through both her father and mother.

May 14, 2002 - Birth of Margarita Armstrong-Jones, daughter of Viscount Linley
Full name: Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne
Margarita was named after her grandmother Princess Margaret and her great grandmother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Both of them died shortly before her birth.

May 14, 2004 - Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson

[Susan]

May 15 in royal history:

May 15, 1464 – Yorkists win a decisive victory at the Battle of Hexham

May 15, 1536 - Trial of Anne Boleyn

May 15, 1567 - Wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots and James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland

May 15, 1953 – Wedding of Princess Ragnhild of Norway and Erling Lorentzen

May 15, 1957 - Birth of Prince Jean and Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg

May 15, 1981 - Birth of Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne, at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London

[Susan]

May 16 in royal history:

May 16, 1696 – Death of Mariana of Austria, second wife of her maternal uncle, Philip IV of Spain, in Madrid; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial

May 16, 1770 - Wedding of Marie Antoinette of Austria and Louis XVI of France

May 16, 1826 – Death of Louise of Baden, wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, at Belev, Russia; buried at Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg
Name after marriage: Elizabeth Alexeievna

May 16, 1969 - Birth of Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein

[Susan]

May 17 in royal history:

May 17, 1220 - Coronation of Henry III
Henry, age 9, had been crowned at Gloucester Cathedral on October 28, 1216 within days of the death of his father King John. He was re-crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 17, 1220 because the Pope did not consider that the first coronation was carried out in accordance with the rites of the church. Henry’s wife Eleanor of Provence was crowned on January 20, 1236.

May 17, 1536 – Execution of Anne Boleyn's supposed lovers, George Boleyn, Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, Francis Weston and William Brereton

May 17, 1727 - Death of Empress Catherine I of Russia, in St. Petersburg; buried at Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg
Catherine was the wife of Peter the Great and Empress in her own right.

May 17, 1768 - Birth of Caroline of Brunswick, wife of George IV, at Brunswick, Germany

May 17, 1886 - Birth of Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso is noteworthy because he became the king of Spain at birth. His father died while his mother was pregnant. Alfonso married Victoria Eugenie (Ena) of Battenberg, the daughter of Princess Beatrice who was Queen Victoria's youngest child. Alfonso and Ena are the grandparents of the present king of Spain, Juan Carlos.

May 17, 1971 – Birth of Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, wife of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

May 17, 2008 – Wedding of Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne, and Autumn Kelly

[Susan]

May 18 in royal history:

May 18, 1152 – Wedding of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine at Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France

May 18, 1160 – Murder of Erik IX (the Saint) of Sweden at Ostra Aros as he was at church; buried at Uppsala Cathedral

May 18, 1797 - Wedding of Charlotte, Princess Royal, daughter of George III, and King Frederick I of Württemberg, at Chapel Royal, St. James Palace

May 18, 1829 – Death of Maria Josepha of Saxony, third wife Ferdinand VII of Spain, at the Palacio Real de Aranjuez; buried at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real

May 18, 1868 - Birth of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia at Tsarskoe Selo

[Misfit]

Perhaps not royal history but May 18 is the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. Gawd, I'm feeling old

[Susan]

[quote=""Misfit""]Perhaps not royal history but May 18 is the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. Gawd, I'm feeling old [/quote]

30 years, hard to believe! I visited Mount Saint Helens several years ago. It's creepy the way the vegetation still has not yet all returned.

[Susan]

May 19 in royal history:

May 19, 1359 - Wedding of Margaret of Windsor, daughter of Edward III, and John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, at Reading Abbey, Berkshire

May 19, 1536 - Execution of Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London; buried at St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London

May 19, 1744 - Birth of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III, at Mirow, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany

May 19, 1797 – Birth of Maria Isabel of Portugal, second wife of Ferdinand VII of Spain

May 19, 2001 - Wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst

[Susan]

May 20 in royal history:

May 20, 1315 – Birth of Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of Jean II of France

May 20, 1875 – Death of Amalia of Oldenburg, wife of King Otto of Greece, Bamberg; buried at the Theatine Church, Munich

May 20, 1910 - Funeral of Edward VII

May 20, 1950 - Wedding of Princess Taka of Japan and Takatsukasa Toshimichi

May 20, 1967 - Birth of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, son of King Constantine II

[Susan]

May 21 in royal history:

May 21, 987 – Death of Louis V, King of West Francia (the Indolent or the Sluggard)

May 21, 1409 - Death of Blanche, daughter of Henry IV, at Neustadt, Alsace, Germany; buried at the Church of St Mary, Neustadt, Alsace

May 21, 1471 – Murder of Henry VI in the Tower of London; buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

May 21, 1481 – Death of Christian I of Denmark in Copenhagen; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

May 21, 1527 - Birth of Philip II of Spain

May 21, 1553 - Wedding of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley at Durham House, London

May 21, 1662 - Wedding of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza at St Thomas à Becket Church, Portsmouth

May 21, 1801 – Birth of Sophie of Sweden, wife of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden

May 21, 1806 – Death of Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, first wife of Ferdinand VII of Spain; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial

May 21, 1864 – Birth of Stéphanie of Belgium, wife of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

May 21, 1889 – Birth of Prince Leopold of Battenberg, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle
Leopold was the son of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg. His mother was a hemophilia carrier and he inherited the disease from her. Leopold never married and died following emergency surgery.