Moniek Bloks's Blog, page 111

A new portrait to mark the Golden wedding anniversary of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

A new photograph of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester has been released to mark their Golden wedding anniversary today. The photo was taken earlier this week in the garden of their home at Kensington Palace. The Duchess of Gloucester is wearing a brooch that was designed by her husband, and it’s an entwined “R” and “B.”

Aaron Chown/PA

Prince Richard of Gloucester and Birgitte van Deurs were married on 8 July 1972 at St Andrew’s Church, Barnwell. Just six weeks after their wedding, Prince Richard’s elder brother Prince William was killed in an aeroplane crash. This meant that Prince Richard was now the heir to his father’s dukedom, and he succeeded as Duke of Gloucester in 1974. The couple has three children: Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, Lady Davina Windsor and Lady Rose Gilman, and six grandchildren.

The post A new portrait to mark the Golden wedding anniversary of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester appeared first on History of Royal Women.

The Year of Empress Elisabeth – “A miserable, languishing creature” (Part two)

Read part one here.

Melancholy seemed to run in the family. Following the death of her son, Elisabeth’s sister Helene “often seemed mad in her terrible passion.”1 Following the death of her cousin King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who had been declared insane shortly before, Elisabeth’s chamberlain wrote that “though there is no reason for it, she is nevertheless emotionally disturbed. Since she lives so utterly alone, she talks herself into it more and more.”2 Her niece Amalie wrote of her “bewildered glance, her gloomy disturbed expression during these days.”3 Elisabeth found solace in writing poetry about the death of Ludwig. She also became more spiritual and often attended sessions with mediums.

She reportedly had conversations with spirits, including Ludwig, and by the mid-1880s, she began to speak of suicide. Marie Valerie, who was often by her mother’s side, often wrote of her mother’s “indescribable despair and hopelessness” and “she says that it is a torment to be alive, and she indicates that she wants to kill herself. ‘Then you will go to hell,’ Papa said. And Mama replied, ‘But we already have hell on earth!'”4 As she neared her fifties, her beauty had begun to fade, and she was suffering from sciatica and “nervous disorders.”5

The death of her son Crown Prince Rudolf hit Elisabeth hard. Although Elisabeth had been quite composed in the days following her son’s death, she soon fell apart. The German ambassador reported that Elisabeth “abandons herself to incessant brooding, reproaches herself, and attributes to the inherited Wittelsbach blood the mental confusion of her poor son.”6 It was also another reason for Elisabeth to be criticized by the court circle. One Countess de Jonghe wrote, “This time, the first lady of the land bears the principal blame. If she had thought less of herself and more of her obligations, this recent catastrophe would not have occurred.”7

Just a few days after Rudolf’s funeral, Elisabeth tried to make contact with his spirit down in the crypt to learn the reason for his suicide, and she continued to try and reach his spirit unsuccessfully. She later told Marie Valerie, “Rudolf’s bullet killed my faith.”8 Her attempts to reach him caused even more gossip in Vienna but she was desperate the learn the reasons for his suicide. She strayed far from the Catholic faith, much to the worry of Marie Valerie, who wrote, “Mama is actually merely deistic. She prays to great Jehovah in His destructive power and greatness; but that He hears the pleas of His creatures she does not believe because – she says – from the beginning of time, everything is predestined and man is powerless against eternal predestination, which is based, simply, on Jehovah’s inscrutable will. In His sight, she is equal to the most insignificant gnat – how could He care anything about her.”9

Although newspapers reported on Elisabeth’s supposed insanity, these seemed to have been exaggerated. During this time, Franz Joseph visited his wife in Territet, and it was noted that “Her Majesty is in particularly good humour, and he too glows with happiness.”10 Nevertheless, her odd behaviour was noted during her travels, as was her extreme shyness. Her lady-in-waiting wrote, “With us, everything is extraordinary. Her Majesty is simple, it is only that she begins from the back what others begin from the front, begins from the left what others begin from the right. It is from this that the difficulties arise.”

The death of her sister Helene plunged Elisabeth into even more despair, and she increasingly longed to die as well. Marie Valerie wrote, “Mama will probably never again be as she was at one time; she envies Rudolf his death, and day and night longes for her own.”11 By the end of the mourning period for Rudolf, Elisabeth had given away all her light-coloured gowns and other items to Gisela and Marie Valerie. She wore only plain mourning attire and did not wear colour again for the rest of her life. She also began to give away her jewellery, mostly to her two daughters and Rudolf’s daughter.

During her final years, Elisabeth still stuck to her starvation diet and continued to suffer from “oedema of hunger.”12 Her waist measured 51 centimetres at one point, and she maintained an average weight of 47 kilos at a height of 172 centimetres.13 In the summer of 1898, Elisabeth met with her husband in Bad Ischl, where they were joined by their daughter Archduchess Valerie. Elisabeth was “in low spirits, as always.”14 Elisabeth then departed for Bad Nauheim while Valerie and the Emperor remained in Bad Ischl for a few more weeks.

The cure in Bad Nauheim did nothing for the Empress, and she wrote to her daughter in July, “I am in bad humour and sad, and the family can be glad that they are away from me. I have a sense that I will not rally again.”15 From Bad Nauheim, she travelled on to Switzerland. On 10 September 1898 in Geneva, Elisabeth was stabbed in the heart with a file with a knife-edge by Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni. The extent of her injuries was not known until her bodice was unbuttoned. Elisabeth was rushed back by boat, though the summoned doctor could do nothing but pronounce her dead.

It’s impossible to diagnose someone with a mental illness retroactively. However, we can conclude that Elisabeth had a difficult time with the life that had been set for her, and she dealt with it the only way she knew how.

The post The Year of Empress Elisabeth – “A miserable, languishing creature” (Part two) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

The Year of Empress Elisabeth – “A miserable, languishing creature” (Part one)

Shortly after marrying her first cousin Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Elisabeth reluctantly began to follow court protocol while lamenting the loss of her former “carefree, innocent existence of Possenhofen.”1 In Vienna, her health quickly deteriorated, and she suffered from coughing fits and anxiety attacks. These ailments were possibly psychosomatic.

In those early years of marriage, Elisabeth was often horribly homesick. When pregnancy robbed her of her favourite pastime of riding, she often spent hours alone with the animals she had brought from Possenhofen. She grew more depressed as her mother-in-law pressed her to continue her public appearances. She had no support from her husband, who was constantly absent. Elisabeth cried privately and composed melancholy verses.

Elisabeth gave birth to three children in quick succession – Sophie (born 1855 – died 1857), Gisela (born 1856) and Rudolf (born 1858). The pregnancies had exhausted her body, and she recovered very slowly from Rudolf’s difficult birth. She also showed signs of postpartum depression and nervous exhaustion.2 Her coughing fits became more frequent, and she also became severely anaemic after refusing to eat. She often fell into crying fits that would not stop, and to calm her nerves, she took physical exercise to the extreme. She rode and walked for hours, jumped obstacles to the point of exhaustion and did gymnastics.

The death of her eldest daughter made Elisabeth withdraw from the world. She wept for weeks, refused all food and became utterly despondent. She paid no attention to Gisela, and her mother and sisters were summoned to Vienna to help cheer her up. In 1859, Dr Seeburger wrote that Elisabeth “did not meet her obligations either as an empress or as a woman; though she was essentially idle, her contacts with her children were casual, and though she sorrows and weeps for the absent noble Emperor, she rides horseback for hours, to the detriment of her health.”3

By 1860 she was so physically ill that she was diagnosed with pulmonary disease though this was received with much scepticism in court. Elisabeth travelled to Madeira for several months. Her mother-in-law merely wrote that she regretted that Elisabeth would be abandoning her children for so long. Her miraculous recovery as soon as she was away from her husband and the Viennese court was perhaps not surprising.

Just four days after her return to Vienna, her coughing fits began again, and she was in near-constant tears. Count Louis Rechberg wrote, “Since her return, the Empress has the deepest aversion to any kind of nourishment. She no longer eats anything at all, and her energies are exhausted all the more as the cough persists and severe pain robs her of the sleep that might still be able to keep up her energies.”4 Shortly after, she was diagnosed with galloping consumption and was sent to stay in Corfu. According to her mother, Elisabeth felt that she was “nothing but a burden on the Emperor and the country, never again able to be of use to the children, yes, she may even think that if she were no longer alive, the Emperor could marry again and that, as a miserable, languishing creature, she can no longer make him happy!”5

From Corfu, her mother later reported that Elisabeth “eats a lot of meat, drinks a lot of beer, is invariably cheerful, coughs little, especially since the weather, as Helene finds, has turned so very hot again, and they make very beautiful outings by water and by land.”6 Elisabeth’s happiness on Corfu led to the comment in Vienna that she was “ill with her nerves rather than with her chest.”7 While on Corfu, Elisabeth’s feet sometimes became so swollen, which could be due to acute oedema from undernourishment.

The following year, she travelled to Bad Kissingen to take the cure for dropsy. The doctor in charge of her treatment was an acquaintance of her father, and he was well aware of the eccentricities that ran in the family. Elisabeth’s condition quickly improved. However, she was not in a hurry to return to Vienna. When the family finally reunited in Schönbrunn, Elisabeth had vomited four times during the journey and also had a severe migraine. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut from crying. However, her long absence from Vienna had given her self-confidence and the courage to stand up for herself.

She returned to her favourite pastimes of hiking and riding. She was mocked for her “eternal promenades in the evenings alone in the little garden.”8 She became obsessed with her beauty and did everything she could to remain youthful. She began to live entirely for beauty and health. Everywhere she lived, exercise rooms were installed with dumbbells, a barre and rings. Beauty became her power and her burden.

Part two coming soon.

The post The Year of Empress Elisabeth – “A miserable, languishing creature” (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

The Year of Empress Elisabeth – Sisi’s mental health (Part one)

Shortly after marrying her first cousin Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Elisabeth reluctantly began to follow court protocol while lamenting the loss of her former “carefree, innocent existence of Possenhofen.”1 In Vienna, her health quickly deteriorated, and she suffered from coughing fits and anxiety attacks. These ailments were possibly psychosomatic.

In those early years of marriage, Elisabeth was often horribly homesick. When pregnancy robbed her of her favourite pastime of riding, she often spent hours alone with the animals she had brought from Possenhofen. She grew more depressed as her mother-in-law pressed her to continue her public appearances. She had no support from her husband, who was constantly absent. Elisabeth cried privately and composed melancholy verses.

Elisabeth gave birth to three children in quick succession – Sophie (born 1855 – died 1857), Gisela (born 1856) and Rudolf (born 1858). The pregnancies had exhausted her body, and she recovered very slowly from Rudolf’s difficult birth. She also showed signs of postpartum depression and nervous exhaustion.2 Her coughing fits became more frequent, and she also became severely anaemic after refusing to eat. She often fell into crying fits that would not stop, and to calm her nerves, she took physical exercise to the extreme. She rode and walked for hours, jumped obstacles to the point of exhaustion and did gymnastics.

The death of her eldest daughter made Elisabeth withdraw from the world. She wept for weeks, refused all food and became utterly despondent. She paid no attention to Gisela, and her mother and sisters were summoned to Vienna to help cheer her up. In 1859, Dr Seeburger wrote that Elisabeth “did not meet her obligations either as an empress or as a woman; though she was essentially idle, her contacts with her children were casual, and though she sorrows and weeps for the absent noble Emperor, she rides horseback for hours, to the detriment of her health.”3

By 1860 she was so physically ill that she was diagnosed with pulmonary disease though this was received with much scepticism in court. Elisabeth travelled to Madeira for several months. Her mother-in-law merely wrote that she regretted that Elisabeth would be abandoning her children for so long. Her miraculous recovery as soon as she was away from her husband and the Viennese court was perhaps not surprising.

Just four days after her return to Vienna, her coughing fits began again, and she was in near-constant tears. Count Louis Rechberg wrote, “Since her return, the Empress has the deepest aversion to any kind of nourishment. She no longer eats anything at all, and her energies are exhausted all the more as the cough persists and severe pain robs her of the sleep that might still be able to keep up her energies.”4 Shortly after, she was diagnosed with galloping consumption and was sent to stay in Corfu. According to her mother, Elisabeth felt that she was “nothing but a burden on the Emperor and the country, never again able to be of use to the children, yes, she may even think that if she were no longer alive, the Emperor could marry again and that, as a miserable, languishing creature, she can no longer make him happy!”5

From Corfu, her mother later reported that Elisabeth “eats a lot of meat, drinks a lot of beer, is invariably cheerful, coughs little, especially since the weather, as Helene finds, has turned so very hot again, and they make very beautiful outings by water and by land.”6 Elisabeth’s happiness on Corfu led to the comment in Vienna that she was “ill with her nerves rather than with her chest.”7 While on Corfu, Elisabeth’s feet sometimes became so swollen, which could be due to acute oedema from undernourishment.

The following year, she travelled to Bad Kissingen to take the cure for dropsy. The doctor in charge of her treatment was an acquaintance of her father, and he was well aware of the eccentricities that ran in the family. Elisabeth’s condition quickly improved. However, she was not in a hurry to return to Vienna. When the family finally reunited in Schönbrunn, Elisabeth had vomited four times during the journey and also had a severe migraine. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut from crying. However, her long absence from Vienna had given her self-confidence and the courage to stand up for herself.

She returned to her favourite pastimes of hiking and riding. She was mocked for her “eternal promenades in the evenings alone in the little garden.”8 She became obsessed with her beauty and did everything she could to remain youthful. She began to live entirely for beauty and health. Everywhere she lived, exercise rooms were installed with dumbbells, a barre and rings. Beauty became her power and her burden.

Part two coming soon.

The post The Year of Empress Elisabeth – Sisi’s mental health (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

A look at Queen Sonja of Norway

Norway’s Queen Sonja is celebrating her 85th birthday today. From a commoner to a Queen consort, let’s take a look at the life of the Queen of Norway.

Sonja Haraldsen was born on 4 July 1937 to Karl and Dagny Haraldsen in Oslo. She grew up with an older brother and an older sister, Haakon and Gry, in the Vinderen neighbourhood in Oslo. Another brother, Karl, died in a boating accident the year before she was born.

She had a typical Norwegian upbringing and graduated from lower secondary school in 1954 before going on to the Oslo Vocational School to learn dressmaking and tailoring. From there, she went to Switzerland to attend the finishing school, École Professionelle des Jeunes Filles, where she studied social science, accounting and fashion design. Sonja then returned to Norway to enrol at the University of Oslo, where she earned a degree in French, English and Art History.

In June 1959, Sonja attended a house party hosted by Johan H. Stenersen. There she met Crown Prince Harald, and the pair began quietly dating. The relationship remained a secret due to Sonja being a commoner, but Harald knew she was the only one for him and wanted to make it public. He told his father, King Olav, that if he could not marry Sonja, he would not marry anyone – thus ending the family’s rule over Norway after Harald’s death.

Embed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images

Harald and Sonja’s engagement was announced in March 1968, and the Norwegian people quickly accepted commoner Sonja as their future consort. Any concerns King Olav, and the royals had were gone with the quick acceptance of Sonja by the people.

Photo: Arkivet etter Billedbladet Nå i Riksarkivet – CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsEmbed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images

The pair married at Oslo Cathedral on 29 August 1968, with Sonja becoming the Crown Princess of Norway. The couple has two children: Princess Märtha Louise (b. 22 September 1971) and Crown Prince Haakon (b. 20 July 1973).

Embed from Getty Images

Although Märtha Louise is the elder child, she was not born the heir to the throne as she was not entitled to inherit the throne under Norwegian law until 1991. The laws were changed that year to absolute primogeniture, but unlike in neighbouring Sweden, the elder daughter did not replace the younger brother as heir.

King Harald and Queen Sonja now have six grandchildren: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus (children of the Crown Prince Couple) and Marius Borg Høiby (the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship) and Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, and Emma Talulah Behn (daughters of Princess Märtha Louise and her ex-husband, Ari Behn). Even though Marius Borg Høiby is Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s child from a previous relationship, the King and Queen have always treated him equal to their other grandchildren and consider him as their grandson.

Sonja threw herself into her work as Crown Princess of Norway and became extremely popular with the people. During her time in this role, she served as Vice President of the Norwegian Red Cross and created the Princess Märtha Louise’s Fund to aid disabled children in Norway. The former resulted in her being awarded the Nansen Medal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She also created the Queen Sonja International Music Competition a couple of years before her husband became monarch.

King Olav died on 17 January 1991, and Harald immediately succeeded as King. Sonja then became Norway’s first Queen consort in 52 years. The King swore an oath to the constitution on 21 January with Sonja by his side, marking the first time in 69 years a Queen had been present in parliament (the Storting).

Following Their Majesties’ wishes, their consecration took place on 23 June 1991 in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. They then undertook a ten-day tour of southern Norway, and the following year the Royal Family spent 22 days touring the four northernmost counties of the country.

Embed from Getty Images

Her duties as Queen of Norway include accompanying the King for the opening of parliament and on trips abroad; she is also the host for incoming visits to Norway. The King and Queen also travel around Norway each year to visit the people and are considered very in tune with their people and beloved by all.

The Queen is known to enjoy art, and the Queen Sonja Art Stable was opened at the Royal Palace as a place to host art exhibits in 2017. She’s also known to be an avid photographer and loves hiking. In addition, she’s passionate about education and has patronages that focus on the betterment of education and helping refugees.

Embed from Getty Images

The post A look at Queen Sonja of Norway appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Exhibition ‘A Queen’s Jewellery Box – 50 years on the throne told in jewellery’

One might forget that there is another major Jubilee being celebrated this year, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has put on a grand display of A LOT of jewellery at the Amalienborg Museum, and I was lucky enough to visit.

Queen Margrethe and Crown Princess Mary during the opening of the exhibition – Photo: Keld Navntoft/Kongernes Samling

The exhibition is guided by an audio tour, and if you’ve been here a while, you know of my hatred of audio tours. Luckily, the displays also come with plenty of information in both Danish and English. They were amazingly detailed and even included occasions during which the pieces were worn. That’s how it’s done.

Click to view slideshow.

There can be no denying that having the opportunity to see so many royal jewels together is quite an experience. The detailed information and the accompanying screens with the objects in action are very pleasing and well-done. They clearly had the visitor in mind when they made this exhibition, and while this should be the norm, I have found that isn’t always the case.

If you happen to be in Copenhagen, I’d highly recommend this exhibition. The Amalienborg Museum in Christian VIII’s Palace will host this exhibition until 23 October 2022. The gift shop on the ground floor was also excellent, and I bought the Margrethe II Jubilee pin. You can find more information here.

The post Exhibition ‘A Queen’s Jewellery Box – 50 years on the throne told in jewellery’ appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Royal Jewels – The Cartier Lily Brooch

The Lily Brooch was made for Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) in 1938 by Cartier from six drops and 197 brilliants, which were already in the Queen’s collection.

The result was quite a large and interesting brooch in the form of “a stem of lilies, with two open flowers, claw- and pavé-set with brilliants, and with six pear-shaped stones forming buds, one flower and one bud adjustable, the detachable articulated stem originally divisible into two clips.”1

Embed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images

The Queen Mother seems to have worn the brooch often, despite its unusual length.

Embed from Getty Images

The current Queen inherited the brooch from her mother in 2002 and has worn it a few times on formal occasions. The first public occasion appears to have been a state visit from President Zuma of South Africa in 2010.2

The post Royal Jewels – The Cartier Lily Brooch appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Wei – The ambitious twice-crowned Empress (Part two)

In my last article, I discussed how Empress Wei was powerless when she first became Empress and how Empress Wu Zetian gave her the aspirations to become the next Empress regnant of China. This article will examine how Empress Wei held onto power. One example is how she created her own power base at court. This article will also look at Empress Wei’s notorious reputation as a traitor. History was written by the victors, and it is evident when examining Empress Wei’s story that she was the loser in a power struggle.[1] Had Empress Wei been able to maintain power, she would have met her aspirations as an Empress regnant of China.[2] Yet, she had to compete against powerful enemies who also desired the throne. Therefore, if she had won the power struggle, Empress Wei may not have been known as a traitor to the Tang dynasty.[3]

In 705 C.E., Crown Prince Li Xian deposed his mother, Empress Wu and ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzong. Crown Princess Wei became Empress. Initially, Emperor Zhongzong seemed like a good ruler.[4] He reduced taxes, released thousands of palace maids from the palace, and reformed laws and punishments.[5] He also proposed new ideas in the government and listened to criticism from his officials, and even settled old court cases.[6] These acts were successful, but he soon proved to be a weak ruler because Empress Wei started to become involved in state affairs.[7] Because they shared fourteen years in exile, Emperor Zhongzong dearly loved his wife and trusted her.[8] He allowed Empress Wei to be the unofficial ruler of China.[9]

As the unofficial ruler of China, Empress Wei established her own power base.[10] They included Imperial Consort Shangguan Wan’er, Wu Sansi, and her daughter, Princess Anle.[11] Empress Wei was said to have had an affair with Wu Sansi to keep him in her clique.[12] Empress Wei was also  said to have multiple affairs with men, including a lowly groom.[13] Empress Wei having multiple lovers including Wu Sansi seems to be false since it seems a literary pattern by her enemies to slander the ambitious Empress’s reputation by accusing her of promiscuity.[14] According to historian Rebecca Doran, chroniclers of the Tang Dynasty often accuse powerful women of having affairs simply to ruin her reputation for meddling in politics.[15] Historian Keith McMahon also stated that chroniclers of the Tang Dynasty believe that if a woman lusts after power, then she must desire to have many love affairs with multiple men.[16] Thus, according to the chroniclers of the Tang Dynasty only a wanton woman would desire to have power.[17] Therefore, these allegations of Empress Wei’s adultery were simply to blacken her reputation because she was a powerful empress.[18]

Empress Wei let her clique roam free in the palace.[19] They did not like to listen to criticism and would have ministers murdered if they did not agree with them.[20] One of the ministers they had executed was Yan Yingrong, a military officer whom Emperor Zhongzong liked. Therefore, Empress Wei enjoyed many privileges and powers under her husband.[21]

On 3 July 710 C.E., Emperor Zhongzong died. Ancient chroniclers accuse Empress Wei of poisoning him.[22] However, modern historians doubt this claim.[23] The chroniclers were the Empress’s enemies,[24] and Emperor Zhongzong was her protector.[25] As long as he was alive, Empress Wei was very powerful.[26] With Emperor Zhongzong gone, Empress Wei was vulnerable because she had many enemies.[27] One of them was Princess Taiping. She was also forming her own power base and was harbouring the same ambition to be an Empress regnant of China like Empress Wu.[28] Empress Wei delayed announcing the news until she could install a successor whom she could control.[29] She installed Emperor Zhongzong’s son by another woman named Li Chongmao as Emperor Shang.[30] Because he was fifteen, Empress Wei found him easy to manipulate.[31] This was only temporary because Empress Wei was planning on becoming the Empress regnant of China like her mother-in-law.[32]

However, Emperor Shang did not rule long because Empress Wei had many powerful enemies.[33] Among them was Princess Taiping and her nephew Li Longji (the future Emperor Xuanzong).[34] On 21 July 710 C.E., Princess Taiping, Li Longji, and Xue Chongjian staged a palace coup. Many of her guards joined Li Longji’s rebellion, and it completely caught her off guard.[35] Clothed in nothing but her underwear, Empress Wei attempted to flee.[36] However, the soldiers she had hired to protect her killed her as a favor to Li Longji, to whom they pledged their allegiance.[37] 

Empress Wei was killed on 21 July 710 C.E. She was betrayed by her own soldiers who were supposed to protect her.[38] Princess Anle and the rest of her faction were also killed on that very night.[39] The heads of Empress Wei, Princess Anle, Imperial Consort Shangguan Wan’er and the rest of the faction were displayed as traitors on the top of the Eastern Market.[40] Empress Wei was stripped of her Empress title and was demoted to commoner status.[41] She is known as Commoner Wei in the Old History of the Tang Dynasty and Commoner née Wei in the New History of the Tang Dynasty.[42] Since then, Empress Wei’s reputation has become worse because she dared to try to be an empress regnant of China.[43] She has often been seen as a traitor who deserved to be demoted to a commoner.[44] However, history was written by her enemies who feared her because she almost usurped the throne.[45] They did not want another female ruler like Wu Zetian.[46] Empress Wei was a strong, powerful woman who governed military affairs and built her own power base. Due to her meddling in state affairs in which women were not allowed to interfere, she was seen as a threat in Tang Dynasty China.[47]

Sources:

Chen, S., Lee, L.X. H., & Long, L. (trans.). (2014). “Wei, Empress of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 – 1644. (L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge.

Doran, R. (2016). Transgressions Typologies: Constructions of Gender and Power in Early Tang China. Harvard University Asia Center. 

Idema, W. L. & Grant, B. (2004). The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China. (1st ed). Harvard University Asia Center Publications Program.

McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.

Ruizhi, S. (2015).” Empress Wei”. Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. (B. B. Peterson, Ed.). London: Routledge.

[1] Idema & Grant, 2004

[2] McMahon, 2013

[3] Idema & Grant, 2004

[4] Ruizhi, 2015

[5] Ruizhi, 2015

[6] Ruizhi, 2015

[7] Ruizhi, 2015

[8] Ruizhi, 2015

[9] Chen, et al., 2014

[10] Chen, et al., 2014

[11] Chen, et al., 2014

[12] Chen, et al., 2014

[13] Ruizhi, 2015

[14] Doran, 2016

[15] Doran, 2016

[16]McMahon, 2013 

[17] McMahon, 2013

[18] Doran, 2016

[19] Chen, et al., 2014

[20] Ruizhi, 2015

[21] McMahon, 2013

[22] Ruizhi, 2015

[23] McMahon, 2013; Idema & Grant, 2004

[24] Idema & Grant, 2004

[25] McMahon, 2013

[26] McMahon, 2013

[27] McMahon, 2013

[28] McMahon, 2013

[29]Ruizhi, 2015

[30] Chen, et al., 2014

[31] Ruizhi, 2015

[32] Chen, et al., 2014

[33] Chen, et al., 2014

[34] Chen, et al., 2014

[35] Chen, et al., 2014

[36] Ruizhi, 2015

[37] Chen, et al., 2014

[38] Chen, et al., 2014

[39] Chen, et al., 2014

[40] Chen, et al., 2014

[41] Chen, et al., 2014

[42] Chen, et al., 2014

[43] McMahon, 2013

[44] Chen, et al., 2014

[45] McMahon, 2013

[46] McMahon, 2013

[47] Ruizhi, 2015

The post Wei – The ambitious twice-crowned Empress (Part two) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

A first look at Netflix’s The Empress

Netflix has, at last, given us a first look at their new series The Empress about Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Click to view slideshow.

The three images don’t give away much, though I can’t imagine them sitting like that! The trailer is quite interesting but a little short. It appears to only be available in German, but you can set the captions to auto-translate to get English subtitles.

The worldwide release date is currently set for 29 September 2022.

The post A first look at Netflix’s The Empress appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Wei – The ambitious twice-crowned Empress (Part one)

Empress Wei was crowned Empress of China twice. She was the wife of Emperor Zhongzong and was the daughter-in-law of Wu Zetian. Empress Wei has been known to be one of the most ruthless empresses in Chinese history. Even historian Song Ruizhi described Empress Wei as “evil” [1] and “hypocritical.” [2] Historians believe that she received her just deserts when she was killed by her own soldiers in nothing but her underwear, and her head was displayed in the Eastern Market as a traitor.[3] They also believe that she was worthy of being demoted to commoner status.[4] Yet, did Empress Wei deserve her nefarious reputation?

History has often been written by the victors, and Empress Wei’s story is no exception.[5] She was caught in a power struggle with Princess Taiping and Emperor Xuanzong and ultimately lost. Thus, her enemies wrote her history and embellished many aspects of her life so that it is hard to separate fact from fiction.[6] She was accused of murdering her husband and was described as having affairs with multiple men, in which one of them was a lowly groom.[7] Yet, it seems that her greatest crime was that she meddled in state affairs in which women were not allowed to interfere.[8] She also dared to follow her mother-in-law’s example by daring to attempt to take the throne for herself and become the next Empress regnant of China.[9] Yet, Empress Wei ultimately lost, and her story has frequently been seen as a caution for a woman to not try to take the Chinese throne for herself.[10] Thus, Empress Wei was seen as a threat in a patriarchal society.[11]

Empress Wei was born around 665 C.E. Her first name remains unrecorded.[12] She was born in Jingzhao (modern-day Xi’an).[13] Her father was Wei Xuanzhen, a prefect of Yu Prefecture. Later, Empress Wu would send him into exile.[14] Her mother was Lady Cui, and she had four brothers. Later, her mother and her brothers would be murdered by Ning Chengji and his brothers, who were leaders of ethnic populations in Jingzhao.[15]

In 680 C.E., Lady Wei married Li Xian (the Crown Prince of Tang Dynasty) and became his second Crown Princess.[16] The first Crown Princess died of starvation because her mother offended Empress Wu. Li Xian was the son of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu. In late 683 C.E., Crown Prince Li Xian ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzong. Emperor Zhongzong made Crown Princess Wei the Empress.[17] 

Within a few weeks, Emperor Zhongzong was deposed by Empress Wu, who installed her other son Li Dan as Emperor Ruizong.[18] The reason why Emperor Zhongzong was dethroned was because he wanted to promote Empress Wei’s father to a high position.[19] When his chief minister protested against the promotion, Emperor Zhongzong claimed to have wished to give the throne to his father-in-law.[20] However, it seems unlikely that Emperor Zhongzong may have wished to make his father-in-law Emperor.[21] Most historians believe this was simply an excuse for Empress Wu to dethrone him.[22] Emperor Zhongzong was not as pliable as Empress Wu would hope.[23] He was not willing to be manipulated by his mother and was building his own power base (which included his father-in-law).[24] Thus, Emperor Zhongzong was Emperor for less than two months.

Emperor Zhongzong was demoted to Prince of Luling. Empress Wei was also demoted as Princess of Luling. She was not yet twenty when she had to go into exile.[25] They were exiled to Fengling (modern-day Fang-Xian district in Hubei Province), where they spent fourteen years.[26] During those fourteen years, Prince Li Xian was very afraid his mother would murder him.[27] He feared every edict that came to the capital, fearing it was a death sentence.[28] One day, when an edict came to the capital, Prince Li Xian was about to commit suicide before listening to the decree. Princess Wei said to her husband, “Disasters and blessings come by turns. They are unpredictable. If you have to die, you can’t escape it, but why hasten it?” [29] Her words persuaded her husband not to commit suicide. Princess Wei also gave birth to four daughters. The youngest was Princess Anle, who would play a prominent role in Empress Wei’s story. She also gave birth to a son named Prince Yide.

Empress Wu was in her seventies, and she was the Empress regnant of China. She had created her own dynasty known as the Zhou dynasty. However, she had no Crown Prince. Her ministers begged Empress Wu to choose a Crown Prince to inherit her dynasty.[30] She finally succumbed to her ministers’ pleading. In the spring of 698, Empress Wu brought Prince Li Xian and Princess Wei to the capital.[31] Later that year, Prince Li Xian was made Crown Prince for the second time, and Wei was Crown Princess. However, Li Xian was Crown Prince in name only.[32] Empress Wu did not listen to her son.[33] Her court was ruled by her favourites, the Zhang brothers. No one except the Zhang brothers had access to her, and she issued decrees on her own.[34] Crown Princess Wei’s son had criticized the Zhang brothers, so Empress Wu executed him.[35] Thus, Princess Wei had no surviving sons to succeed her husband after he died.[36] Despite what Empress Wu did to her son, Princess Wei admired the Empress’s rise to power.[37] It gave her hope that a woman could usurp the throne for herself.[38] She harboured the ambition that she would one day be an empress regnant of China like Empress Wu.[39]

In 705 C.E., there was a palace coup that killed the Zhang brothers, deposed Empress Wu as ruler,  and reinstated Emperor Zhongzong as Emperor for the second time. Princess Wei was again invested as Empress. Empress Wei had been truly powerless during her first time as Empress. Her powerlessness caused her only son to die. However, she learned her lessons from Empress Wu on how to gain power. Her dream was to be an empress regnant of China. In the next article, I will examine how Empress Wei gained power and also look at her reputation. It was during Empress Wei’s second reign as Empress that ancient chroniclers have blackened her reputation because of her involvement in governmental affairs in which women had no right to interfere.[40]

Part two coming soon.

Sources:

Chen, S., Lee, L.X. H., & Long, L. (trans.). (2014). “Wei, Empress of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 – 1644. (L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge.

Doran, R. (2016). Transgressions Typologies: Constructions of Gender and Power in Early Tang China. Harvard University Asia Center. 

Idema, W. L. & Grant, B. (2004). The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China. (1st ed). Harvard University Asia Center Publications Program.

McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.

Ruizhi, S. (2015).” Empress Wei”. Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. (B. B. Peterson, Ed.). London: Routledge.

[1] Ruizhi, 2015, p. 205

[2] Ruizhi, 2015, p. 204

[3] Ruizhi, 2015

[4] Ruizhi, 2015

[5] Idema & Grant, 2004

[6] Idema & Grant, 2004

[7] Ruizhi, 2015; Doran, 2016

[8] Ruizhi, 2015

[9] Chen, et al., 2014

[10] McMahon, 2013

[11] McMahon, 2013

[12] Chen, et al., 2014

[13] Chen, et al., 2014

[14] Ruizhi, 2015

[15] Ruizhi, 2015

[16]Chen, et al., 2014

[17] Chen, et al., 2014

[18] Chen, et al., 2014

[19] Chen, et al., 2014

[20] Chen, et al., 2014

[21] Chen, et al., 2014

[22] Chen, et al., 2014

[23] Chen, et al., 2014

[24] Chen, et al., 2014

[25] Chen, et al., 2014

[26] Chen, et al., 2014

[27] Chen, et al., 2014

[28] Chen, et al., 2014

[29] Chen, et al., 2014, p. 437

[30] Chen, et al., 2014

[31] Chen, et al., 2014

[32] Chen, et al., 2014

[33] Chen, et al., 2014

[34] Chen, et al., 2014

[35] McMahon, 2013

[36] McMahon, 2013

[37] Chen, et al., 2014

[38] Chen, et al., 2014

[39] Chen, et al., 2014

[40] Ruizhi, 2015

The post Wei – The ambitious twice-crowned Empress (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.