Another step into fake bloodlines and meaningless titles

May 15, 2014

According to The New York Times: The College of Arms, guardian of noble titles and insignia here since the 15th century, has issued a ruling that married same-sex couples may combine their heraldic symbols on a single shield as generations of heterosexual aristocracy have done before them. The gay rights group Stonewall welcomed the change. […]

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November 29 – The coronation of St. Louis IX of France

May 15, 2014

Traditionally, new sacred music was composed for a coronation. The motet…which was sung for the anointing of Louis IX has come down to us. It was called Gaude, felix Francia…. The boy who was to be anointed and crowned was already on a platform built in front of the chancel, surrounded by the great lords […]

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Clashing worldviews: Equality vs. Christian Inequality

May 15, 2014

Horizontal Vision of Society By returning to the source of our values, we engage in a real search for meaning and unity. It is not the scattered modern vision of things that so characterizes our age of individualism. To employ a metaphor, we might say that the present socio-economic model resembles a horizontal line drawn […]

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May 15 – Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac

May 15, 2014

Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac (December 27, 1556 – February 2, 1640) was founderess of the order The Company of Mary Our Lady. She was born in Bordeaux, France in 1556 to a prominent family. Her father, Richard de Lestonnac, was a member of the French Parliament while her mother, Jeanne Eyquem, was the sister of […]

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May 15 – Beautiful Princess, Tragic Story

May 15, 2014

St. Dymphna Virgin and martyr. The earliest historical account of the veneration of St. Dymphna dates from the middle of the thirteenth century. Under Bishop Guy I of Cambrai (1238-47), Pierre, a canon of the church of Saint Aubert at Cambrai, wrote a “Vita” of the saint, from which we learn that she had been […]

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May 16 – Patron of Poland

May 15, 2014

Saint Andrew Bobola Martyr, born of an old and illustrious Polish family, in the Palatinate of Sandomir, 1590; died at Janów, 16 May, 1657. Having entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Wilno (1611), he was ordained in 1622, and appointed preacher in the Church of St. Casimir, Wilno. After making his solemn […]

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May 16 – Leper King

May 15, 2014

Modern society obsessively avoids suffering, risk and danger. It secures everything with seatbelts and safety rails, air conditions the summer heat, prints warnings on coffee cups and advises that that safety glasses should be used while working with hammers. Certainly such precautions have prevented misfortune. However, since heroism and excellence are born from confronting rather […]

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May 16 – St. Honoratus of Amiens

May 15, 2014

Saint Honoratus of Amiens (Honoré, sometimes Honorius, Honortus) (d. May 16, ca. 600) was the seventh bishop of Amiens. His feast day is May 16. He was born in Port-le-Grand (Ponthieu) near Amiens to a noble family. He was said to be virtuous from birth. He was taught by his predecessor in the bishopric of […]

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May 18 – St. Eric, King of Sweden, Martyr

May 15, 2014

St. Eric, King of Sweden, Martyr Eric [1] was descended of a most illustrious Swedish family: in his youth he laid a solid foundation of virtue and learning, and took to wife Christina, daughter of Ingo IV, king of Sweden. Upon the death of King Smercher in 1141, he was, purely for his extraordinary virtues […]

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A Dauphin of France learns self-control

May 12, 2014

The count of Châtillon explained to Louis XV’s eldest son Louis, Dauphin of France, that he needed to repress his irritability, and the young prince promised that he would. — “Lord Count,” he said, “I would like to make it clear that I renounce all my stupidities and urge you to please look upon them […]

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Returning to the Wellspring

May 12, 2014

As the stage is set for a great storm, our common peril forces us to look for a vision of life that will serve to unify the nation. We believe this vision will not be inspired by economic reforms, financial policies, or government programs. The question remains as to where we must go to find […]

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May 12 – She said no to the crowns of England, France and the Holy Roman Empire

May 12, 2014

Blessed Joanna of Portugal Born at Lisbon, 16 February, 1452; died at Aveiro, 12 May, 1490; the daughter of Alfonso V, King of Portugal, and his wife Elizabeth. She was chiefly remarkable for the courage and persistence with which she opposed all attempts on the part of her father and brother to make her marry.  […]

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May 13 – “Can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?”

May 12, 2014

Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322 – May 13, 1333) is the patroness of First Holy Communicants. Imelda was born in 1322 in Bologna, the only child of Count Egano Lambertini and Castora Galuzzi. Her parents were devout Catholics and were known for their charity and generosity to the underprivileged of Bologna. As a very young girl, […]

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May 13 – St. John the Silent

May 12, 2014

St. John the Silent (Hesychastes, Silentiarius). Bishop of Colonia, in Armenia, b. at Nicopolis, Armenia, 8 Jan., 452; d. 558. His parents, Encratius and Euphemia, wealthy and honoured, belonged to families that had done great service in the State and had given to it renowned generals and governors, but they were also good Christians, and […]

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May 14 – The Right to Revolt

May 12, 2014

May 14, 1264: Simon de Montfort Defeats King Henry III at Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons’ War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de […]

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Prince William travels coach on private US visit

May 8, 2014

According to the London Evening Standard: William, 31, was travelling from Memphis to Dallas in the United States on Sunday after celebrating the wedding of his best friend Guy Pelly. Reporter Eli Ross, who has been covering the trip for Local 24 News…Memphis, posted a picture of the Prince on the American Airlines flight on […]

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Left-leaning royals alienate their own subjects

May 8, 2014

According to News and Views from Norway: The outspoken deputy leader of the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet, FrP), Per Sandberg…claimed the royal couple was too left-leaning. “The royal couple is on the left of Norwegian politics, especially on environmental, climate, immigration and some questions of values,” Sandberg continued. “I note that Haakon and Mette-Marit act aggressively […]

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Royal Crown of Hanover displayed publicly for the first time

May 8, 2014

According to The Royal Forums: The heirs of Hanover yesterday officially opened The Road To The Crown – The Kingdom of Hanover and Its Rulers exhibition celebrating the history of the Hanoverian Kingdom. The exhibition features 70 pieces which illustrate Hanover’s history. The royal crown and sceptre are amongst these, displayed for the first time […]

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New Crown commissioned for reburial of Richard III

May 8, 2014

According to BBC News: An ornate golden crown that will go onto the coffin of Richard III when he is re-buried is being displayed at Tewkesbury Abbey. The crown was commissioned and paid for by the historian Dr John Ashdown-Hill who helped identify the king’s remains. Amanda Thomas from Tewkesbury Abbey said: “It’s gold with […]

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Honor: Never Leave A Poor Crusader Behind as a Muslim Captive

May 8, 2014

During these eight days the legate came to me and said that he did not see how the king could remain overseas; and he besought me, very instantly, to return with him in his ship. And I told him this was not within my power; for I was without means, having, as he knew, lost […]

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Two Americas Clash

May 8, 2014

We have observed—and many political analysts concur—that the country is divided into two Americas. One is defined by our faltering cooperative union; the other is formed around the willingness to sacrifice for God, family, and country. The outcome of this clash of mentalities depends upon the actions we will be forced to take. The force […]

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May 8 – When St. Michael Appeared

May 8, 2014

Well known is the apparition of St. Michael the Archangel (a. 494 or 530-40), as related in the Roman Breviary, 8 May, at his renowned sanctuary on Monte Gargano, where his original glory as patron in war was restored to him. To his intercession the Lombards of Sipontum (Manfredonia) attributed their victory over the Greek […]

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May 8 – Matriarch of the Carolingian family

May 8, 2014

Saint Itta (or Itta of Metz) (also Ida, Itte or Iduberga) (592–652) was the wife of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Her brother was Saint Modoald, bishop of Trier. Her sister was abbess Saint Severa. There is no direct record of their parents, but it has been suggested that she was […]

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May 9 – Known personally to the King, he was falsely accused of conspiring to murder him

May 8, 2014

Ven. Thomas Pickering Lay brother and martyr, a member of an old Westmoreland family, born circa 1621; executed at Tyburn, 9 May, 1679. He was sent to the Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory at Douai, where he took vows as a lay brother in 1660. In 1665 he was sent to London, where, as steward […]

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May 9 – St. Nicholas Albergati

May 8, 2014

Cardinal and Bishop of Bologna, born at Bologna in 1357; died at Sienna, 9 May, 1443. He entered the Carthusian Order in 1394, served as prior in various monasteries, and was made Bishop of Bologna, against his will, in 1417. In this office he still followed the Rule of his Order, was zealous for the […]

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May 10 – Saint Damien: A Hero Who Died on the Battlefield of Honor

May 8, 2014

Born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, he took the religious name of Damien when he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There are few places on Earth more beautiful than Hawaii. While this idyllic paradise may be the destination spot for tourists and honeymooners, Joseph de Veuster was eager […]

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May 11 – Holy Merovingian

May 8, 2014

St. Aldegundis Virgin and abbess (c. 639-684), variously written Adelgundis, Aldegonde, etc. She was closely related to the Merovingian royal family. Her father and mother, afterwards honored as St. Walbert and St. Bertilia, lived in Flanders in the province of Hainault. Aldegundis was urged to marry, but she chose a life of virginity and, leaving […]

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May 11 – Martyr of the House of Rochester

May 8, 2014

Blessed John Rochester Priest and martyr, born probably at Terling, Essex, England, about 1498; died at York, 11 May, 1537. He was the third son of John Rochester, of Terling, and Grisold, daughter of Walter Writtle, of Bobbingworth. He joined the Carthusians, was a choir monk of the Charterhouse in London, and strenuously opposed the […]

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Napoleon meets the tradition of Prince Massimo

May 5, 2014

The family tradition of the Massimos, a Roman princely family of ancient extraction, is that they descend from Quintus Fabius Maximus (c. 275 BC – 203 BC), who is known as the Cunctator (the Delayer), because of the military tactic he employed when fighting Hannibal, the Carthaginian general defeated by the Roman republic during the […]

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America: Change is Coming

May 5, 2014

Amid the comfort and complacency of everyday life, we must convince modern man to go beyond self-interest and make the great sacrifice of returning to order. Men act when outside circumstances force them to do so. This might be seen, for example, in the case of a person who is forced by a rainstorm to […]

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May 7 – The Pope who adopted two princes

May 5, 2014

Pope St. Benedict II Date of birth unknown; died 8 May, 685; was a Roman, and the son of John. Sent when young to the schola cantorum, he distinguished himself by his knowledge of the Scriptures and by his singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the poor, and generosity. […]

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May 7 – Bl. Agnellus of Pisa

May 5, 2014

Bl. Agnellus of Pisa Friar Minor and founder of the English Franciscan Province, born at Pisa c. 1195, of the noble family of the Agnelli; died at Oxford, 7 May, 1236. In early youth he was received into the Seraphic Order by St. Francis himself, during the latter’s sojourn in Pisa, and soon became an […]

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Most Irish want British Royal to attend independence centenary

May 1, 2014

According to The [Irish] Sunday Independent: …support for a royal presence in 2016 is highest amongst older voters, with 64 per cent of over-55s looking forward to seeing Prince Charles (most likely) in Dublin in two years’ time. Older voters clearly don’t have time for the passionate resentments that periodically grip the young. Opposition to […]

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The Count of Blois is scolded by his wife for deserting the Crusade

May 1, 2014

The return of the Crusaders, and the account of their conquests, excited great enthusiasm, and renewed the eagerness for crusades and pilgrimages among the nations of the West. They were not now affected by the passion for delivering the holy places, but by that of visiting and defending them. Europe exhibited a second time the […]

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The Necessary Spirit of the Crusader

May 1, 2014

In general, medieval men understood the role of fortitude in maintaining their Christian culture. They had no illusions about their own weaknesses and vices. They understood the need to confront the disorders and evils that will always plague this vale of tears. Calling upon God, the faithful in varying degrees summoned from themselves the strength […]

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May 1 – St. Sigismund, King of Burgundy

May 1, 2014

This saint was son of Gondebald, the Arian king of the Burgundians; but embraced the Catholic faith through the instructions of St. Alcimus Avitus, bishop of Vienne. (1) He succeeded to the kingdom of his father in 516, and in the midst of barbarism lived humble, mortified, penitent, devout, and charitable, even on the throne; […]

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Why has the Royal Tour been so successful in Australia and New Zealand?

April 28, 2014

According to BBC New: …for all the changes which have occurred in Australia and New Zealand over the past 60 years, the system of constitutional monarchy appears, at the moment, to be more firmly entrenched in both countries than it has been for a good many years. Mr Abbott expressed it this way: “The best […]

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Crusader king’s bones to be DNA tested

April 28, 2014

According to the Mirror: The skull of Sweden’s most enigmatic king is going on display as his bones are DNA tested. Erik IX, known as Erik the Saint is shrouded in mystery because no historical records of him survive. He ruled Sweden from around 1155 until his death in 1160. Despite his short reign Erik […]

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Louis XIV: Life Is not the Supreme Value

April 28, 2014

When Louis XIV left to besiege Mons, Madame de Maintenon questioned the Marquis of Louvois, his minister of war: — “Sir, do you guarantee his life?” — “No, Madam, but I guarantee him glory.”   Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anecdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872), Vol. 2, 318. (Nobility.org translation.) Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and […]

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Continually Engaged in the Struggle

April 28, 2014

[T]he present crisis can well serve as the occasion for acquiring the virtue of fortitude since it rips off the veil of these modern illusions so often portrayed by Hollywood. It allows us to see that we must always be engaged in the struggle against misfortune, which is our lot due to Original Sin. Moreover, […]

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April 29 – The Templars, Knights of Calatrava, of St. Lazarus, of Alcantara, of Avis, of St. Maurice, all trace their existence to this austere monk

April 28, 2014

St. Robert of Molesme Born about the year 1029, at Champagne, France, of noble parents who bore the names of Thierry and Ermengarde; died at Molesme, 17 April, 1111. When fifteen years of age, he commenced his novitiate in the Abbey of Montier-la-Celle, or St. Pierre-la-Celle, situated near Troyes, of which he became later prior. […]

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April 29 – In 11th century Christendom, no king or bishop dare oppose him

April 28, 2014

Saint Hugh the Great Abbot of Cluny, born at Semur (Brionnais in the Diocese of Autun), 1024; died at Cluny, 28 April, 1109. His early life The eldest son of Count Dalmatius of Semur and Aremberge (Aremburgis) of Vergy, Hugh was descended from the noblest families in Burgundy. Dalmatius, devoted to war and the chase, […]

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800-year anniversary of the birth of St. Louis IX of France

April 24, 2014

On April 25, 1214–800 years ago–St. Louis the King was born in Poissy. He was the sixth child of Louis VIII of France and Queen Blanche of Castile. He was crowned king in the Cathedral of Rheims at the tender age of 12, three weeks after his father’s death, and, as Regine Pernoud points out, the […]

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Queen Elizabeth’s 88th birthday marked with gun salutes, some with curious history

April 24, 2014

According to BBC News: The Queen’s 88th birthday has been marked across the UK with traditional gun salutes. The Queen was born on 21 April 1926… However, her birthday is also celebrated officially each year in June at the Trooping the Colour service – which this year will take place on 14 June. The 62-shot […]

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Royal Victorian Order for 21 years of service

April 24, 2014

According to Bucks Free Press: The Queen’s Royal Swan Marker has been awarded a personal gift from the Monarch after 21 years’ service to the cause. David Barber received the Royal Victorian Order from Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his long involvement with the centuries-old tradition of Swan Upping. Royal Swan Upping dates […]

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Sad: Schoenbrunn Palace to open as hotel

April 24, 2014

According to AFP: Schoenbrunn Palace was Marie-Antoinette’s summer childhood home and the beautiful and tragic Sissi’s favoured residence. And from April 30, tourists too can sojourn in…a converted suite of rooms with views over the palace gardens, even with butler, cook and horse-drawn conveyance. The main targets are wealthy tourists who flock to Vienna from […]

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Agnès de La Barre de Nanteuil, the Pantheon’s Forgotten One

April 24, 2014

With Joan of Arc, she is the only woman to have given her name to a class of Saint-Cyr-Coëtquidan. The dolt at the controls (well, that’s what he thinks) has “pantheonized” two certainly remarkable women but forgot one who deserved the honor more than Jean Zay, a deserter in 1940, who was convicted and spent […]

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The Need for Fortitude

April 24, 2014

Fortitude is the virtue by which the appetites and passions are guided by the rational soul with courage and constancy.* It helps us brave the greatest dangers and resist intense persecution and obstacles so that we might achieve our goals. The virtue of fortitude is perfected by the gift of fortitude. This gift of the […]

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April 24 – Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

April 24, 2014

Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, foundress of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and canonized May 2, 1940 by Pope Pius XII. The aim of this institute is to provide a shelter for girls and women of dissolute habits, who wish to do penance for their iniquities and to lead a […]

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Old Age: Decrepitude or Glory?

April 24, 2014

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira How the modern world, caught up in sensuality, deceives itself when it sees only decadence in aging. When one knows how to esteem the spirit more highly than the body, growing old is to grow into what is most noble, the soul. Although aging does entail bodily decadence, this is […]

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April 24 – “I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it”

April 24, 2014

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen Born in 1577, at Sigmaringen, Prussia, of which town his father Johannes Rey was burgomaster; died at Sevis, 24 April, 1622. On the paternal side he was of Flemish ancestry. He pursued his studies at the University of Freiburg in the Breisgau, and in 1604 became tutor to Wilhelm von Stotzingen, […]

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April 25 – Builder

April 24, 2014

Blessed Meinwerk Tenth Bishop of Paderborn, d. 1036: Meinwerk (Meginwerk) was born of the noble family of the Immedinger and related to the royal house of Saxony. His father was Imad (Immeth), Count of Teisterbant and Radichen, and his mother’s name was Adela (Adala, Athela). In early youth he was dedicated by his parents to […]

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April 26 – She inspired the Albanians to resist the Turks

April 24, 2014

Our Lady of Good Counsel January of 1467 saw the death of the last great Albanian leader, George Castriota, better known as Scanderbeg. Raised by an Albanian chief, he placed himself at the head of his own people. Subsequently, Scanderbeg inflicted stunning defeats on the Turkish army and occupied fortresses all over Albania. With Scanderbeg’s […]

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April 26 – Nephew of the Duke of Maqueda

April 24, 2014

St. Rafael Arnáiz Barón (9 April 1911, Burgos, Spain – 26 April 1938, Dueñas, Palencia, Spain) Rafael Arnáiz, known in the monastery as Brother María Rafael, was born on 9 April 1911 in the city of Burgos, in north-central Spain. He was the first of four sons born to a well-to-do, deeply Christian and Catholic […]

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April 27 – Noble Model of Confidence

April 24, 2014

St. Peter Armengol was born in Guárdia dels Prats, a small village in the archdiocese of Tarragon, Spain in 1238. He belonged to the house of the barons of Rocafort, descendants of the counts of Urgel, whose ancestors were directly linked to the counts of Barcelona and the monarchs of Aragon and Castile. From Brigand […]

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Knights and dames reinstated

April 21, 2014

According to the Guardian: A formal document signed by the Queen to reinstate Australian knights and dames has been published in the commonwealth Gazette… Among the specific amendments to the constitution of the Order of Australia to implement the prime minister’s shock unilateral decision last month to reinstate knights and dames is one proclaiming that […]

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Sissi plaque found hidden in stud farm granary

April 21, 2014

According to the Prague Daily Monitor: A granite memorial plaque dedicated to Habsburg Empress Elisabeth (1837-1898) was accidentally found during the reconstruction of the National Stud Farm in Kladruby… “We can naturally speculate about that everything connected with the Habsburgs was considered wrong and was being destroyed after 1918… Someone may have screwed off the […]

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Australian PM Tony Abbot: Monarch is fountain of justice and honor

April 21, 2014

According to the Guardian: And what about prime minister Tony Abbott? An avowed monarchist, he wrote in 2006 that: The monarch has an important symbolic role too: as ‘fountain of justice and honour’; guardian of the integrity of the armed forces and the public service; embodiment of the unity of the Commonwealth of Nations; and a reminder […]

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Luxembourg marks 175 years of independence

April 21, 2014

According to the Luxemburger Wort: April 19, 2014, marks 175 years of independence in Luxembourg. But, while Luxembourg struck out on its own when it signed the Treaty of London in 1839, the Grand Duchy was actually created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna. The conference of ambassadors of European states held in Vienna […]

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Garcia Moreno Refuses His Presidential Salary, Until Ecuador’s Finances Are Balanced

April 21, 2014

Garcia Moreno set to work immediately to clear out this Augean stable of a country where revolution had reigned supreme for over a quarter of a century. The specialty of all revolutionary governments is to consume without producing, not to help the people to live but to live at their expense. The first thing they […]

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