March 20 – Homeless Noble Poet

March 19, 2012

Blessed Baptista Mantuanus (Or SPAGNOLI). Carmelite and Renaissance poet, born at Mantua, 17 April, 1447, where he also died, 22 March, 1516. The eldest son of Peter Spagnoli, a Spanish nobleman at the court of Mantua, Baptista studied grammar under Gregorio Tifernate, and philosophy at Pavia under Polo Bagelardi. The bad example of his schoolfellows […]

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Prince Philip Kiril of Prussia points out some advantages of having a royal family

March 15, 2012

Germany should reinstate its monarchy to speak to people’s emotions, make them proud of their country and even encourage them to have babies, according to Prince Philip Kiril of Prussia, great-great grandson of the last Kaiser. “Emotions are the field on which a royal family can play,” he said. “They do not have to think […]

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March 17 – St. Patrick the Patrician

March 15, 2012

St. Patrick Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493. He had for his parents Calphurnius and Conchessa. The former belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Gaul or Britain. Conchessa was a […]

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The Great Captain: Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova

March 15, 2012

Gonsalvo, or, as he is called in Castilian, Gonzalo, Hernadez de Cordova, was sixty-two years old at the time of his death. His countenance and person are represented to have been extremely handsome; his manners, elegant and attractive, were stamped with that lofty dignity which so often distinguishes his countrymen. “He still bears,” says Martyr, […]

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Hereditary Transmission of Qualities and Merit as Family Patrimony

March 15, 2012

As we have seen, the hereditary transmission of status through the family has been studied and verified by many sociologists. In addition to status, qualities can also be transmitted by the family. Each generation transmits to the next its moral and cultural values. This transmission of qualities within a family throughout generations is affirmed by […]

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March 16 – Chancellor to Italy and Germany

March 15, 2012

St. Heribert, Archbishop of Cologne Born at Worms, c. 970; died at Cologne, 16 March, 1021. His father was Duke Hugo of Worms. After receiving his education at the cathedral school of Worms, he spent some time as guest at the monastery of Gorze, after which he became provost at the cathedral of Worms. In […]

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March 15 – The Angels of the Battlefield call her foundress

March 15, 2012

St. Louise de Marillac Le Gras Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, born at Paris, 12 August, 1591, daughter of Louis de Marillac, Lord of Ferrieres, and Marguerite Le Camus; died there, 15 March, 1660. Her mother having died soon after the birth of Louise, the education of the latter […]

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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend tsunami memorial

March 12, 2012

The presence of the emperor was likely to have provided a much-needed boost for the nation, following earlier concerns that the 78-year-old might not be well enough to attend due to his slow recovery following recent heart surgery. Five days after the earthquake struck last year, the emperor made an unprecedented television address to the […]

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Don Luis Quijada reveals Don John’s secret to Doña Magdalena: he is the son of the Emperor Charles V

March 12, 2012

At last Luis Quijada received a message from the King ordering him to go to the mountain of Torozos on the 28th of September, making hunting the excuse, and taking Jeromín [Don John of Austria] with him, dressed as usual like a peasant; that they were to go towards the monastery of the Espina, and […]

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Inherited social status tends to form an aristocracy

March 12, 2012

Sociologists attest that acquired status naturally tends to diffuse itself, beginning with the family. By virtue of the family’s organic structure, when one of its members acquires a distinguished status through his merit, family members participate in this status, thereby making it part of the family patrimony. In this way, social status naturally tends to […]

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March 14 – Patroness of Those Falsely Accused

March 12, 2012

St. Matilda, Queen of Saxony King Henry and Queen Matilda. Photo by M. Kunz. Queen of Germany, wife of King Henry I (The Fowler), b. at the Villa of Engern in Westphalia, about 895; d. at Quedlinburg, 14 March, 968. She was brought up at the monastery of Erfurt. Henry, whose marriage to a young […]

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March 13 – Money Cannot Provide Happiness

March 12, 2012

St. Euphrasia (aka Eupraxia) Virgin, born in 380; died after 410. Antigonus, the father of this saint, was a nobleman of the first rank and quality in the court of Theodosius the younger, nearly allied in blood to that emperor, and honored by him with several great employments in the state. He was married to […]

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Video – Prince Harry is sharp shooter

March 8, 2012

The Army Captain, who was named best gunner in his Apache helicopter training group last month, scored 39 out of 40 as he shot at a target from 30 metres using a M4 rifle. His instructors said his closely grouped shots in the centre of a human silhouette were “a perfect result”. Only one of […]

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March 10 – Noble Scot

March 8, 2012

St. John Ogilvie Ogilvie, the son of a wealthy noble, was born into a Calvinist family near Keith in Banffshire, Scotland and was educated in mainland Europe where he attended a number of Roman Catholic educational establishments, under the Benedictines at Regensburg in Germany and with the Jesuits at Olomouc and Brno in the present […]

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Saint Joan of Arc’s military genius was of divine inspiration

March 8, 2012

“At the age of eighteen Joan possessed the same military genius as Condé when he was twenty,” writes one of her biographers. Those who were her nearest friends have expressed themselves in a similar way. The Duke of Alençon says that Joan was very experienced in all things military, whether it was a matter of […]

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Rank and authority as a source of social status in America

March 8, 2012

“Our occupational rank looms as a powerful factor in fixing our status in the public’s mind,” notes Packard. After analyzing the various elements that confer social prestige on an occupation, he lists sixty-one professions and offices in decreasing order of their prestige, in the eyes of the American public. At the top are judges, bishops, […]

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March 9 – This Nun Was Expert in War

March 8, 2012

St. Catherine of Bologna Poor Clare and mystical writer, born at Bologna, 8 September, 1413; died there, 9 March, 1463. When she was ten years old, her father sent her to the court of the Marquis of Ferrara, Nicolò d’Este, as a companion to the Princess Margarita. Here Catherine pursued the study of literature and […]

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March 9 – She Could Detect Diabolical Plots

March 8, 2012

St. Frances of Rome One of the greatest mystics of the fifteenth century; born at Rome, of a noble family, in 1384; died there, 9 March, 1440. Her youthful desire was to enter religion, but at her father’s wish she married, at the age of twelve, Lorenzo de’ Ponziani. Among her children we know of […]

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Diamond Jubilee street parties as popular as Royal Wedding

March 5, 2012

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee could prove even more popular than the Royal Wedding with 3,500 street parties already planned three months before the date. When added to the thousands more events being lined up in pubs, gardens, town squares and on village greens, the figure suggests the jubilee could outstrip last year’s wedding of the […]

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Muley Abul Hassan’s last desperate effort to recapture Alhama, and the lifting of its siege by the Duke of Medina Sidonia

March 5, 2012

When Muley Abul Hassan heard of the vast force that was approaching under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and that Ferdinand was coming in person with additional troops, he perceived that no time was to be lost: Alhama must be carried by one powerful attack, or abandoned entirely to the Christians. A […]

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Clubs and associations as a source of social status in America

March 5, 2012

“The social club in America has done a great deal to keep alive the gentleman in the courtly sense,” Dixon Wecter observes, “providing asylum from the pandemonium of commerce, the bumptiousness of democracy, and the feminism of his own household…. Every American city with a vestige of tradition has one eminently respectable men’s club.”1  But […]

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March 6 – Prime Minister Bishop

March 5, 2012

St. Chrodegang Bishop of Metz, born at the beginning of the eighth century at Hasbania, in what is now Belgian Limburg, of a noble Frankish family; died at Metz, 6 March, 766. He was educated at the court of Charles Martel, became his private secretary, then chancellor, and in 737 prime minister. On 1 March, […]

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March 6 – Of Kings and Princesses

March 5, 2012

Saints Kyneburge, Kyneswide, and Tibba The two first were daughters of Penda, the cruel pagan king of Mercia, and sisters to three successive Christian Kings, Peada, Wulfere, and Ethelred, and to the pious prince Merowald. Kyneburge, as Bede informs us, (1) was married to Alcfrid, eldest son of Oswi, and in his father’s life-time king […]

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He rescued the crucifix after the Muslims threw it into the fire

March 1, 2012

The presence of Jeromín [Don John of Austria] in Villagarcia brought a ray of joy to the somber castle of the Quijadas, which reflected itself on its inhabitants. The merry laugh of a child always enlivens its surroundings, like the song of a bird in a gloomy wood, or a sunbeam piercing a dark cloud. […]

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Education as a source of social status in America

March 1, 2012

A proper education normally confers social status in the United States. While not a guarantee, “the correlation between education and social status in contemporary American society is nevertheless a very high one,” Nisbet affirms. “Of all means of rising in the social scale, educational achievement has been historically one of the most effective.”1 Members of […]

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March 2 – Warrior Bishop Prince

March 1, 2012

St. John Maron Origin of St. John Maron John Maron was born in Sarum, a prosperous town located south of the city of Antioch. His date of birth is not mentioned but many historians place it around the third decade of the seventh century. He descended from a Frankish royal family which governed Antioch, a […]

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March 2 – This Princess Refused to Marry the Emperor

March 1, 2012

St. Agnes of Bohemia (Also called Agnes of Prague). Born at Prague in the year 1200; died probably in 1281. She was the daughter of Ottocar, King of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary, a relative of St. Elizabeth. At an early age she was sent to the monastery of Treinitz, where at the hands of […]

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King of Tonga visits Vatican

February 27, 2012

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI received His Majesty Siaosi Tupou V, King of Tonga on February 24, 2012. The King subsequently went on to meet with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States. The cordial discussions dwelt on various aspects of the country’s social and economic life, as well as […]

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The Dauphin is wrenched from Marie Antoinette

February 27, 2012

Marie Antoinette rose to her feet, pale and trembling…. As they advanced to seize him the Dauphin awoke, and, realizing what was happening, threw himself screaming into his mother’s arms, sobbing: “Maman, Maman, do not leave me!” Marie Antoinette pressed him passionately to her heart, kissed him, soothed him, and holding with one hand desperately […]

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Lineage as a source of social status in America

February 27, 2012

Perhaps no other criterion is as important in determining social status as that of family. Kingsley Davis explains: “One of the family’s main functions is the ascription of status…. Children are said to ‘acquire their parents’ status,’ with the implication that the two parents have a common status to transmit and that the child gets […]

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February 27 – Are You Hiding a Priest?

February 27, 2012

St. Anne Line English martyr, died 27 Feb., 1601. She was the daughter of William Heigham of Dunmow, Essex, a gentleman of means and an ardent Calvinist, and when she and her brother announced their intention of becoming Catholics both were disowned and disinherited. Anne married Roger Line, a convert like herself, and shortly after […]

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February 25 – Princess, Abbess, Miracle Worker

February 23, 2012

St. Walburga Born in Devonshire, about 710; died at Heidenheim, 25 Feb., 777. She is the patroness of Eichstadt, Oudenarde, Furnes, Antwerp, Gronigen, Weilburg, and Zutphen, and is invoked as special patroness against hydrophobia, and in storms, and also by sailors. She was the daughter of St. Richard, one of the under-kings of the West […]

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King Ferdinand lifts the siege of Loja—in the retreat, Don Juan de Ribera twice saves the king

February 23, 2012

King Ferdinand now perceived the wisdom of the opinion of the Marques of Cadiz, and that his force was quite insufficient for the enterprise. To continue his camp in its present unfortunate position would cost him the lives of his bravest cavaliers, if not a total defeat, in case of reinforcements to the enemy. He […]

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Wealth as a source of social status in America

February 23, 2012

Wealth, past or present, contributes to social status. “Even where wealth is not a direct and immediate condition of high status, not a means by which status may be achieved directly, the presence of wealth, or the fact that one’s lineage was at one time connected with wealth is taken commonly as a manifestation of […]

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February 24 – Drink the Bitter Cup

February 23, 2012

Blessed Thomas Mary Fusco The seventh of eight children, he was born on 1 December 1831 in Pagani, Salerno, in the Diocese of Nocera-Sarno, Italy, to Dr. Antonio, a pharmacist, and Stella Giordano, of noble descent. They were known for their upright moral and religious conduct, and taught their son Christian piety and charity to […]

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February 24 – First Christian King Among the English

February 23, 2012

St. Ethelbert, King of Kent Born, 552; died, 24 February, 616; son of Eormenric, through whom he was descended from Hengest. He succeeded his father, in 560, as King of Kent and made an unsuccessful attempt to win from Ceawlin of Wessex the overlordship of Britain. His political importance was doubtless advanced by his marriage […]

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The Duke of Guise throws himself into Poitiers to defend the city

February 20, 2012

Young Guise, who had been chafing at inaction, as soon as he heard that Coligny meant to attack [Poitiers] hurried there, accompanied by his brother, Mayenne, a tall lad of fifteen, and by a band of young nobles, with mouth-filling names…. The citizens were greatly cheered by their arrival, for Henri de Guise, in spite […]

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Status in American Society: Its Concept and Sources

February 20, 2012

Social hierarchy in the United States is comprised of many factors, some well defined, others imponderable and inexpressible. The term status is often used to designate this combination. As described by Joseph Fichter, “social status is the position, or rank, which the person’s contemporaries objectively accord to him within his society.”1 Thus, everyone has a […]

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February 21 – He Fearlessly Denounced Homosexual Clergy

February 20, 2012

St. Peter Damian Doctor of the Church, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, born at Ravenna “five years after the death of the Emperor Otto III,” 1007; died at Faenza, 21 Feb., 1072. He was the youngest of a large family. His parents were noble, but poor. At his birth an elder brother protested against this new charge […]

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February 21 – Terror of the Wicked, Supporter of the Weak

February 20, 2012

Blessed Pepin of Landen Mayor of the Palace to the Kings Clotaire II, Dagobert, and Sigebert. He was son of Carloman, the most powerful nobleman of Austrasia, who had been mayor to Clotaire I, son of Clovis I. He was grandfather to Pepin of Herstal, the most powerful mayor, whose son was Charles Martel, and […]

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February 21 – Shakespeare’s Martyr Muse

February 20, 2012

Saint Robert Southwell Poet, Jesuit, martyr; born at Horsham St. Faith’s, Norfolk, England, in 1561; hanged and quartered at Tyburn, 21 February, 1595. His grandfather, Sir Richard Southwell, had been a wealthy man and a prominent courtier in the reign of Henry VIII. It was Richard Southwell who in 1547 had brought the poet Henry […]

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VIDEO: Gun Salute for Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee

February 16, 2012

The 60th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne has been marked in London with a series of gun salutes and marching bands at Tower Bridge and in a snow-covered Hyde Park. Milestones in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Scanderbeg: the hero of Christendom

February 16, 2012

In a history, where so much is spoken of the regions, from whence the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Good Counsel came, it will be of great use to take a brief glance at the once entirely Catholic nation in which it so long remained, and at the great client of its Sanctuary in […]

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Origins and effects of the American paradox

February 16, 2012

The American paradox was born with the republic itself. Consistent with the republican ideology, the Founding Fathers of the new nation developed a legal and institutional framework that provided no place for aristocratic privilege. The first article of the Constitution, for example, prohibits the republican government from granting any titles of nobility; nor can titles […]

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February 17 – Marvelous Apparition of Our Lady To Seven Young Nobles

February 16, 2012

St. Alexis Falconieri Born in Florence, 1200; died 17 February, 1310, at Mount Senario, near Florence. He was the son of Bernard Falconieri, a merchant prince of Florence, and one of the leaders of the Republic. His family belonged to the Guelph party, and opposed the Imperialists whenever they could consistently with their political principles. […]

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Threatening the Prince

February 13, 2012

  The Taliban says it is gunning for Prince Harry just days after Britain’s defence ministry confirmed that the 27-year-old royal will redeploy to Afghanistan.

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February 14 – Renounced Earthly Nobility To Obtain Heavenly Nobility

February 13, 2012

Sts. Cyril and Methodius These brothers, the Apostles of the Slavs, were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family they renounced secular honors and became priests. They were living in a monastery on the Bosphorus, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christian teacher. Cyril was selected […]

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Christianity quells the fires of revenge and elicits heroic acts of valor and nobility

February 13, 2012

The perilous situation of the Christian cavaliers pent up and beleaguered within the walls of Alhama, spread terror among their friends, and anxiety throughout all Andalusia. Nothing, however, could equal the anguish of the Marchioness of Cadiz, the wife of the gallant Roderigo Ponce de Leon. In her deep distress, she looked round for some […]

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The history of the United States is the history of its directing elites

February 13, 2012

After establishing the normative existence of elites in all societies, including the United States, the sociologists of the elitist school proceed to the next logical conclusion. Contrary to the egalitarian myth that social transformations are initiated by the masses, they affirm that it is the elites, not the masses, who establish the tone of national […]

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February 13 – Mystic and Counselor to Future Popes

February 13, 2012

St. Catherine de Ricci, Virgin (AD 1522 – 1589) The Ricci are an ancient family, which still subsists in a flourishing condition in Tuscany. Peter de Ricci, the father of our saint, was married to Catherine Bonza, a lady of suitable birth. The saint was born at Florence in 1522, and called at her baptism […]

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Video – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark speaks about leadership

February 9, 2012

Forty years ago, on January 15, 1972, Princess Margrethe of Denmark became Queen of this Scandinavian state. She belongs to the House of Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg.

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A nobility and loyalty put to the severest test

February 9, 2012

Doña Magdalena de Ulloa, Toledo, Osorio and Quiñones was one of the greatest ladies of the Spanish nobility of the sixteenth century. She was the sister of D. Rodrigo de Ulloa, first Marqués de la Mota, San Cebrián, and the Vega del Condado, and of Doña Maria de Toledo, of the ancient and noble house […]

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American society is hierarchical

February 9, 2012

American society, as all others, is hierarchical. It could not be otherwise, since the existence of elites is not only a natural occurrence in every organized social body, but constitutes an element essential to its proper functioning. According to William Domhoff, professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, “scholars also have […]

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February 9 – Banished From the Court

February 9, 2012

St. Ansbert Archbishop of Rouen in 695, Confessor He had been chancellor to King Clotair III. in which station he had united the mortification and recollection of a monk with the duties of wedlock, and of a statesman. Quitting the court, he put on the monastic habit at Fontenelle under St. Wandregisile, and when that […]

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February 10 – God Gave Her What Her Brother Would Not

February 9, 2012

St. Scholastica, Virgin (c. 480 – 10 February 547) This saint was sister to the great St. Benedict. She consecrated herself to God from her earliest youth, as St. Gregory testifies. Where her first monastery was situated is not mentioned; but after her brother removed to Mount Cassino, she choose her retreat at Plombariola, in […]

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Today is the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

February 6, 2012

Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee. In this […]

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A Special Drink in Honor of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

February 6, 2012

Gordon & MacPhail in Elgin, Moray, has released 85 bottles of Glen Grant 60 Years Old, which were distilled on February 2 1952, four days before the Queen acceded to the throne. The limited-edition bottles are being put on the market for a recommended retail price in the UK of £8000 (A$11,835) each. More here

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The “Ave Maria” that was nailed to the door of Granada’s mosque

February 6, 2012

When the Moorish knights beheld that all courteous challenges were unavailing, they sought various means to provoke the Christian warrior to the field. Sometimes a body of them, fleetly mounted, would gallop up to the skirts of the camp, and try who should hurl his lance farthest within the barriers, having his name inscribed upon […]

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Commentaries on how Don Alonso Peres de Guzman sacrificed his own son rather than surrender to the Muslims

February 6, 2012

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In September 1292, Yacub Ben Yussuf, King of Morocco, took over the stronghold of Tarifa. Infant Dom João, brother of Sancho IV the brave, king of Castile and Leon, in fact made a pact with Yacub that enabled him to conquer Tarifa, defended by Alonso Perez de Guzman. Rather than surrender, […]

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Pope Blesses Artillery

February 6, 2012

“The place for me, as a minister of peace, might not be so much in the midst of arms and artillery pieces. “But I am the minister of God, and one must remember that this God who calls himself the God of Peace is also the God of Armies. “And one must always fight against […]

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