Louis XIV, who does not suffer from shyness or insecurity
Best understated description ever. :)
He doesn't speak Spanish. (I'm not sure he ever learns.)
This clearly was the century for this, though G1 at least tried a bit. (BTW: after watching some hobby historians vid about Sophie of Hanover, I saw a commenter asking why if Sophie was multilingual herself didn't she prepare son George for his destiny by having him fluent in English. Never mind that by the time Sophie got anywhere near the succession, future G1 was already an adult and married.) Mind you, for all the criticism they (often rightly) receive, the Hannoverians were pretty quick in picking up the local language. G2 and Caroline became fluent when they were Prince and Princess of Wales (they just prefered French among themselves when on the throne), and since Fritz of Wales had his kids raised with English as their first language, G3 obviously was fluent was well. Whereas Cleopatra (VII, the famous one) supposedly was the first of her dynasty to actually speak Egyptian (as well as Greek and the other languages she learned). And there were centuries between her and Ptolemy Soter the Macedonian general of Alexander who founded the dynasty.
are you also reminded of the famous opening line of Cicero's "Ad Catilinam"?
I am! Depending on her education, she might have phrased it this way intentionally.
Charles leaves again soon and is never to return.
Taking Spanish court etiquette with him, though, much to (some of) his descendants disgruntlement. (If you watch a movie, any movie, about 19th century Habsburgs, especially if it's about Elisabeth of Wittelsbach aka Sissi marrying into the clan, you can guarantee there's a scene with her going "Spanish court protocol: how I hate it, let me count the ways" in it, which, unlike much on these movies, is actually truth in television.)
The modern biographer of Philip V I read argues that his sexual needs were normal, that he was clinically depressed, and that what he most needed from his wives was emotional/psychological support. And since early 18th century men both couldn't understand his clinical needs and they looked askance at the woman calling the shots, they went, "MUST BE SEX." And everyone since then has repeated what previous historians have said.
Without having investigated the primary sources, I think it makes sense. (It's not like we haven't seen the "repeating previous historians" effect at work in places where we have investigated the primary sources!)
Yep, sounds entirely plausible to me. Poor Philip - well, except that he seems to have found wives who could match his emotional needs, which as far as the royal marriage lottery is concerned actually makes him lucky Philip, I guess.
If you consider the travel time between Spain and Italy, that's some rapid marriage-making.
No kidding, especially for that time. Remember the years and YEARS of English marriage negotiations for Fritz and Wilhelmine?
Philip abdicates in favor of his son (strongly against Isabella's wishes) because he's convinced that Spain's misfortunes are a sign of God's displeasure at his taking the throne (the one that in 1709 he was convinced it was God's will that he fight for to his last drop of blood), that his son promptly dies after only a few months as king, and that Philip reluctantly takes that as a sign from God and re-ascends the throne.
Which is part of the plot of the movie A Royal Exchange which I recently reviewed here. (Up at Amazon Prime in my part of the world at least, if someone wants to watch it for visual illustrations.)
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Re: War of the Spanish Succession: Philip V and his wives
Date: 2021-05-18 06:21 am (UTC)Best understated description ever. :)
He doesn't speak Spanish. (I'm not sure he ever learns.)
This clearly was the century for this, though G1 at least tried a bit. (BTW: after watching some hobby historians vid about Sophie of Hanover, I saw a commenter asking why if Sophie was multilingual herself didn't she prepare son George for his destiny by having him fluent in English. Never mind that by the time Sophie got anywhere near the succession, future G1 was already an adult and married.) Mind you, for all the criticism they (often rightly) receive, the Hannoverians were pretty quick in picking up the local language. G2 and Caroline became fluent when they were Prince and Princess of Wales (they just prefered French among themselves when on the throne), and since Fritz of Wales had his kids raised with English as their first language, G3 obviously was fluent was well. Whereas Cleopatra (VII, the famous one) supposedly was the first of her dynasty to actually speak Egyptian (as well as Greek and the other languages she learned). And there were centuries between her and Ptolemy Soter the Macedonian general of Alexander who founded the dynasty.
are you also reminded of the famous opening line of Cicero's "Ad Catilinam"?
I am! Depending on her education, she might have phrased it this way intentionally.
Charles leaves again soon and is never to return.
Taking Spanish court etiquette with him, though, much to (some of) his descendants disgruntlement. (If you watch a movie, any movie, about 19th century Habsburgs, especially if it's about Elisabeth of Wittelsbach aka Sissi marrying into the clan, you can guarantee there's a scene with her going "Spanish court protocol: how I hate it, let me count the ways" in it, which, unlike much on these movies, is actually truth in television.)
The modern biographer of Philip V I read argues that his sexual needs were normal, that he was clinically depressed, and that what he most needed from his wives was emotional/psychological support. And since early 18th century men both couldn't understand his clinical needs and they looked askance at the woman calling the shots, they went, "MUST BE SEX." And everyone since then has repeated what previous historians have said.
Without having investigated the primary sources, I think it makes sense. (It's not like we haven't seen the "repeating previous historians" effect at work in places where we have investigated the primary sources!)
Yep, sounds entirely plausible to me. Poor Philip - well, except that he seems to have found wives who could match his emotional needs, which as far as the royal marriage lottery is concerned actually makes him lucky Philip, I guess.
If you consider the travel time between Spain and Italy, that's some rapid marriage-making.
No kidding, especially for that time. Remember the years and YEARS of English marriage negotiations for Fritz and Wilhelmine?
Philip abdicates in favor of his son (strongly against Isabella's wishes) because he's convinced that Spain's misfortunes are a sign of God's displeasure at his taking the throne (the one that in 1709 he was convinced it was God's will that he fight for to his last drop of blood), that his son promptly dies after only a few months as king, and that Philip reluctantly takes that as a sign from God and re-ascends the throne.
Which is part of the plot of the movie A Royal Exchange which I recently reviewed here. (Up at Amazon Prime in my part of the world at least, if someone wants to watch it for visual illustrations.)