How Marie Antoinette gave prestige to the potato – and a potato recipe from the French royal court

October 15, 2012

As already noted in a previous post, the potato was one of the plants brought to the Old World after Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. While the potato is used extensively throughout Europe today–German average potato consumption is 150 lbs per person per year–in its first years, the potato struggled for acceptance. In France, wheat […]

Read the full article →

Queen Shrugs Off Bad Back to Visit Eton

October 15, 2012

According to the Daily Express: The Queen smiled through the pain of a sore back to attend a dinner at Eton College last night after earlier cancelling an appearance at TV cook Mary Berry’s investiture ceremony. Palace aides feared the investiture would be too much for the Queen, having to stand for an hour presenting […]

Read the full article →

Bayard’s honor under siege

October 15, 2012

In 1521, Bayard and his troops were besieged in Mezières by those of Charles V. When an enemy officer approached to demand his surrender, the French commander replied: —    “Tell him who sent you that before surrendering a city entrusted by the king to my honor, I will build with the enemy’s dead the only […]

Read the full article →

Social Revolution Following the Civil War

October 15, 2012

The Civil War was a turning point in American life. The North’s victory definitively shaped what would be the profile of the national elite. The war accelerated the process of industrialization and profoundly transformed the face of the nation. The war was a social revolution, a collision of two ways of life, of two frames […]

Read the full article →

October 17 – The Battle of Cholet

October 15, 2012

The Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Louis d’Elbée. The battle was fought in the town of Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, and resulted in a Republican victory. D’Elbée was wounded and captured; […]

Read the full article →

October 16 – Duchess and saint

October 15, 2012

St. Hedwig Duchess of Silesia, born about 1174, at the castle of Andechs; died at Trebnitz, 12 or 15 October, 1243. She was one of eight children born to Berthold IV, Count of Andechs and Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. Of her four brothers, two became bishops, Ekbert of Bamberg, and Berthold of Aquileia; Otto […]

Read the full article →

Hedwig beakers – the medieval treasure named after a princess saint

October 15, 2012

Known as Hedwigsgläser (Hedwig glasses) or Hedwigsbecher (Hedwig beakers) these priceless medieval treasures are named after the Silesian princess Saint Hedwig (1174-1245) who is said to have owned three of them. They were symbols of lofty social rank and were greatly prized in the Middle Ages. Only fourteen of them have survived. Scholars debate the […]

Read the full article →

October 15 – Interior Castle

October 15, 2012

St. Teresa of Avila Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada, born at Avila, Old Castile, 28 March, 1515; died at Alba de Tormes, 4 Oct., 1582. The third child of Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda by his second wife, Doña Beatriz Davila y Ahumada, who died when the saint was in her fourteenth year, Teresa […]

Read the full article →

Queen Sofia visits areas hit by Spanish floods

October 11, 2012

According to The Royal Forums: Queen Sofia paid a visit to some of the areas affected by the recent terrible flash flooding in Andalusia and Murcia. The devastating late September floods left eleven people dead. On October 5th, Queen Sofia arrived by helicopter to the town of Puerto Lumbreras and Her Majesty later went on […]

Read the full article →

The Salve Regina is sung aboard the Santa Maria on the eve of the discovery of the New World

October 11, 2012

Columbus was now at open defiance with his crew, and his situation became desperate. Fortunately the manifestations of the vicinity of land were such on the following day as no longer to admit a doubt. Besides a quantity of fresh weeds, such as grow in rivers, they saw a green fish of a king which […]

Read the full article →

Columbus, and how to make Key Lime Pie

October 11, 2012

When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World on October 12, 1492–a feat that earned for him the title of Admiral of the Indies and for his grandson Louis and his descendants in perpetuity the noble title of Duke of Veragua–he introduced into the Americas the greatest treasure possible: the Catholic Faith. However, his epic Atlantic […]

Read the full article →

Family trusts and foundations

October 11, 2012

Many of the old families protected their patrimonies from disintegration through a system of trusts whereby the family’s wealth was preserved intact and administered to benefit the family members. Such trusts, first used by the traditional elite of Boston in the 1820s, were fully developed by the 1880s. They became an important instrument for providing […]

Read the full article →

October 11 – Model Archduke, both spiritual and temporal

October 11, 2012

St. Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne Bruno the Great (or Bruno I) (925–965) was Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor. Bruno was the youngest son of Henry the Fowler and […]

Read the full article →

October 11 – He dared step into the gap during the crisis

October 11, 2012

Pope Boniface VIII (BENEDETTO GAETANO) Born at Anagni about 1235; died at Rome, 11 October, 1303. He was the son of Loffred, a descendant of a noble family originally Spanish, but long established in Italy—first at Gaeta and later at Anagni. Through his mother he was connected with the house of Segni, which had already […]

Read the full article →

October 12 – Difficulties in his youth prepared him for later trials

October 11, 2012

St. Wilfrid Bishop of York, son of a Northumbrian thegn, born in 634; died at Oundle in Northamptonshire, 709. He was unhappy at home, through the unkindness of a stepmother, and in his fourteenth year he was sent away to the Court of King Oswy, King of Northumbria. Here he attracted the attention of Queen […]

Read the full article →

October 12 – Martyr King

October 11, 2012

St. Edwin The first Christian King of Northumbria, born about 585, son of Aella, King of Deira, the southern division of Northumbria; died October 12, 633. Upon Aella’s death in 588, the sovereignty over both divisions of Northumbria was usurped by Ethebric of Bernicia, and retained at his death by his son Ethelfrid; Edwin, Aella’s […]

Read the full article →

October 13 – King Confessor

October 11, 2012

St. Edward the Confessor Saint, King of England, born in 1003; died January 5, 1066. He was the son of Ethelred II and Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, being thus half-brother to King Edmund Ironside, Ethelred’s son by his first wife, and to King Hardicanute, Emma’s son by her second marriage with Canute. […]

Read the full article →

Pedro de Vargas, Alcayde of Gibraltar, Attacks Muley Abul Hassan, King of Granada

October 8, 2012

Muley Abul Hassan sallied out of Malaga with fifteen hundred horse and six thousand foot, and took the way by the sea-coast, marching through Estiponia, and entering the Christian country between Gibraltar and Castellar. The only person that was likely to molest him on this route was one Pedro de Vargas, a shrewd, hardy, and […]

Read the full article →

Lifting our Gaze Toward the Alienated Elites

October 8, 2012

Purely ideological debates on the issues of equality and inequality—and especially on the subject of monarchy-aristocracy-democracy—have not customarily occupied center stage in the United States. Only in the years immediately following independence did a debate of this nature have some import in American political life. An example of this was the controversy between Jefferson and […]

Read the full article →

Why celebrate Columbus Day?

October 8, 2012

Columbus and Divine Providence by Jeremias Wells Christopher Columbus certainly ranks as one of the greatest men of achievement the world has ever known, and also justly one of the most renowned, for the entire history of Europeans in America originated from his vision, religious sense and adventurous spirit. As can be expected in a […]

Read the full article →

October 9 – Royal penitent

October 8, 2012

Bl. Gunther A hermit in Bohemia in the eleventh century; born about 955; died at Hartmanitz, Bohemia, 9 Oct., 1045. The son of a noble family, he was a cousin of St. Stephen, the King of Hungary, and is numbered among the ancestors of the princely house of Schwarzburg. He passed the earlier of his […]

Read the full article →

October 9 – Superb and valiant knight

October 8, 2012

Baron Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie Born at Nantes, 3 Sept., 1832; died at Basse-Motte (Ille-et-Vilaine), 9 Oct., 1911. His father was a nephew of the famous General Charette who was shot at Nantes, 29 March, 1795, during the rising of the Vendee. His mother, Louise, Countess de Vierzon, was the daughter of the Duc […]

Read the full article →

October 10 – This man is proof that God can take good out of evil

October 8, 2012

St. Francis Borgia (also known as Francisco de Borja y Aragon), born 28 October, 1510, was the son of Juan Borgia, third Duke of Gandia, and of Juana of Aragon; died 30 September, 1572. The future saint was unhappy in his ancestry. His grandfather, Juan Borgia, the second son of Alexander VI, was assassinated in Rome […]

Read the full article →

Lepanto: Turkish might buckles in the grandest naval battle of History

October 4, 2012

The Turkish fleet came on imposing and terrible, all sails set, impelled by a fair wind, and it was only half a mile from the line of galliasses and another mile from the line of the Christian ships. D. John waited no longer; he humbly crossed himself, and ordered that the cannon of challenge should […]

Read the full article →

News and Views from Norway: Labour MPs mull end to monarchy

October 4, 2012

According to News and Views from Norway: For the first time in Norwegian history, four Members of Parliament from the Labour Party say they plan to propose a thorough review of how Norway is ruled and how much power the head of state, currently King Harald, should have. The proposal could ultimately convert Norway from […]

Read the full article →

Traditional Associations of Other Ethnic Groups

October 4, 2012

The traditional elites in American society are largely made up of the old families, which, in ethnic terms, signifies families of European, predominantly Anglo-Saxon, origin. As might be expected, families of a more recent immigration and of different ethnic origins adopted American customs and styles through the generations and gradually became integral elements of the […]

Read the full article →

October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 4, 2012

St. Bruno Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His […]

Read the full article →

October 4 – Chivalry at its highest

October 4, 2012

St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy Assisian cloth merchant. Of his mother, Pica, little is known, but she is said to have belonged to a […]

Read the full article →

Columbus as a man of faith and devotion

October 1, 2012

[Columbus] was devoutly pious: religion mingled with the whole course of his thoughts and actions, and shone forth in his most private and unstudied writings. Whenever he made any great discovery, he celebrated it by solemn thanks to God. The voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from his ships when they first beheld […]

Read the full article →

Debutante Balls and Other Social Pageantry

October 1, 2012

Notable in the social life of America’s upper class is the series of events that lead to the annual debutante balls, a custom with roots in Old Regime pageantry. The debut ritual involves a long and arduous process that prepares new generations for the social exigencies of the traditional upper-class lifestyle. The debut itself is […]

Read the full article →

The Telegraph: Cabinet must release guidance on Prince of Wales’ intervention, say legal experts

October 1, 2012

According to The Telegraph: Adam Tompkins, professor of public law at Glasgow University, condemned the Cabinet Office’s “absolutely extraordinary” legal challenge to an order that it must release details of rules governing when the Prince is asked to give consent to legislation that might affect the Duchy of Cornwall. The debate over the issue of […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – Enemy of King St. Louis, but still his friend

October 1, 2012

St. Thomas of Hereford (THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

October 1, 2012

Many of the early pioneers faced the hardships of this country where wars, famine and disease were the norm. Leaving everything behind, heroic souls came not only to save the souls of Indian nations, but also to minister to these frontier families. One such person was St. Mother Théodore Guérin, who became the eighth American Saint […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – Military turned monk

October 1, 2012

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

Read the full article →

October 2 – Falsely charged, mutilated and martyred

October 1, 2012

St. Leodegar (also Leger or Leodegarius) Bishop of Autun, born about 615; died a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme. His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of high rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II. He went later to Poitiers, to study under the […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – Who inspired Chivalry?

September 27, 2012

Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single chapter, vers. 9) and, finally, in […]

Read the full article →

The Associated Press: Appeals End for Britain’s Most Famous Extremist

September 27, 2012

According to the Associated Press, Buckingham Palace refused to comment on a BBC report by security correspondent Frank Gardner, who said…[Queen Elizabeth II] had been upset there was no way to arrest [Abu Hamza al-Masri]. …Gardner told the Today program. “I wouldn’t say she was necessarily lobbying, that’s not for me to say, but like […]

Read the full article →

At age 16, George Washington’s intimate friendship with the Fairfax family leads him to write out 110 “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation”

September 27, 2012

The attachment of Lawrence Washington to his brother George seems to have acquired additional strength and tenderness on their father’s death; he now took a truly paternal interest in his concerns, and had him as frequently as possible a guest at Mount Vernon. Lawrence had deservedly become a popular and leading personage in the country. […]

Read the full article →

Associations of Descendants of the European Nobility

September 27, 2012

American descendants of European noble or royal families have also formed associations in a land where the attraction to the mystique of nobility has always been strong. Proof of this attraction is the avid interest a large segment of the American public exhibits in following the activities of the royal families throughout the world, especially […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 27, 2012

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.) Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935. His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 27, 2012

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre Friar Minor and missionary, born at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and died at Pavia, 28 September, 1494. He belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456 St. James of the Marches preached the Lenten course at Padua, and inspired to enter the Franciscan […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul had special charity to the impoverished nobility

September 27, 2012

St. Vincent de Paul founded a special organization for the relief of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris during the Thirty Years War. In that period of the war known as the French period Lorraine, Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 27, 2012

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

Read the full article →

September 25 – Prince Umpire in a deadly sport

September 24, 2012

St. Albert of Jerusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215. He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of […]

Read the full article →

London Evening Standard: Anti-royalists plot to abolish Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall

September 24, 2012

According to the London Evening Standard: An anti-monarchy group is launching a campaign to “abolish” the Duchy of Cornwall in what it says is an attempt to make the royal family more accountable. Their aim is to “get rid” of the private estate, which funds the public, charitable and private activities of Charles and his […]

Read the full article →

Social entertaining reached an apogee during the Old Regime

September 24, 2012

Why should I not stop here for a few minutes to describe some the features of the Paris of those days? People dined at two o’clock and supped at ten. Dinners were grand, formal affairs; suppers informal parties of pleasure. They supped after the theatre, which began between five and six and finished between eight […]

Read the full article →

Family Associations

September 24, 2012

The associations of descendants of certain historic figures and the societies devoted to perpetuating a family name are equally worthy of mention. Such groups were started to commemorate the deeds and the spirit of the founders of families, thus maintaining the familial esprit de corps through the generations. They also act as a social unit […]

Read the full article →

September 24 – Our Lady of Mercy

September 24, 2012

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom (also Our Lady of Mercy) 24 September commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarians. On 10 August, 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon and was approved by Gregory IX on 17 January, 1235. The Mercedarians celebrated their institution on the Sunday nearest […]

Read the full article →

September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 20, 2012

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

Read the full article →

Malicious tongues lash at Empress Sissi

September 20, 2012

While I was at Vienna it was learned one morning that one of the Empress’s maids had died during the night, and very severe comments were made about the fact that the Empress had been seen riding in the Prater on the very same afternoon. It was not told, however, that the Kaiserin had spent […]

Read the full article →

Patriotic Associations of a Hereditary Character

September 20, 2012

The 1986 Hereditary Register of the United States lists 109 hereditary associations, the oldest one founded in 1637 and the most recent one in 1976. Of course, some are more dynamic than others. They are normally described as cultural, historical, preservationist, and the like. From a certain point of view, the most important of these […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Court preacher to Charles V

September 20, 2012

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

Read the full article →

The Telegraph – Battle of Britain: Remembering “The Few”

September 20, 2012

According to The Telegraph: A Spitfire and a Hurricane flew high above London’s Westminster Abbey to commemorate the battle, one of the turning points of the Second World War. Some 544 Royal Air Force pilots were killed in the bitter struggle to save the UK from invasion. Of the events, Winston Churchill famously declared: “Never […]

Read the full article →

García López de Cárdenas discovers the Grand Canyon

September 17, 2012

Conspicuous in Coronado’s army and destined to be heard of in resounding tones was García López de Cárdenas, a soldier who had already given important service in the New World. Like Coronado, a second son of a Spanish nobleman, he was left without a fortune by the law of primogeniture. He married Doña Ana de […]

Read the full article →

The private character of hereditary associations

September 17, 2012

Lamentably, the aristocratic nature of these groups does not extend its influence to the public at large. The general public is more often than not unaware of their very existence, since most associations are careful to avoid the limelight. A few do not even publicize their existence. Moreover, they do not accept in their midst […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 17, 2012

St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Also, “Bellarmino”). A distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. His father was Vincenzo Bellarmino, his mother Cinthia Cervini, sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, afterwards Pope Marcellus II. He was brought up at the newly founded Jesuit college in his native […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

September 17, 2012

Early in August, 1224, Francis retired with three companions to “that rugged rock ‘twixt Tiber and Arno”, as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 17, 2012

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

Read the full article →

September 15 – Grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus

September 13, 2012

St. Ludmilla Wife of Boriwoi, the first Christian Duke of Bohemia, born at Mielnik, c. 860; died at Tetin, near Beraun, 15 September, 921. She and her husband were baptized, probably by St. Methodius, in 871. Pagan fanatics drove them from their country, but they were soon recalled, and after reigning seven more years they […]

Read the full article →

September 15 – The noble apostle of purgatory

September 13, 2012

St. Catherine of Genoa (also known as Caterina Fieschi Adorno.) Born at Genoa in 1447, died at the same place 15 September, 1510. The life of St. Catherine of Genoa may be more properly described as a state than as a life in the ordinary sense. When about twenty-six years old she became the subject […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →