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Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria with his mother Sophie of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

August 18, 1645 – Death of Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva, Tsarista of All Russia, second wife of the first Romanov ruler Michael I, Tsar of All Russia; first buried at the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin, in 1929 moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin
Eudoxia’s life was concerned with childbearing to continue the new Romanov dynasty and there was much pressure on her to produce a son, especially after her first two children turned out to be girls. She gave birth to ten children, but only four reached adulthood including her husband’s successor Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia.  She died only a few weeks after her husband and was buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noblewomen were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.
Unofficial Royalty: Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva, Tsarista of All Russia

August 18, 1683 – Birth of Christian Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in Saalfeld, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Thuringia, Germany
Christian Ernst fell in love with Christiane von Koss, the daughter of the Saalfeld forestry master. This relationship displeased both his father and his only surviving half-brother Franz Josias. Eventually, Christian Ernst’s father consented to the marriage, and the couple was married morganatically on om his birthday August 18, 1724. A morganatic marriage meant that Christiane and any children from the marriage would not be entitled to her husband’s titles and privileges. As the elder son, Christian Ernst was his father’s heir but because of his unequal marriage, his half-brother Franz Josias claimed the sole inheritance of the duchy. However, Johann Ernst decided that both his sons should reign jointly, and upon his death in 1729, his will forced the joint reign.
Unofficial Royalty: Christian Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

August 18, 1765 – Death of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor in Salzburg, Austria; buried at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria
In 1736, Francis Stephen married Maria Theresa of Austria, the only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI and the heir to the Habsburg Empire. The couple had sixteen children but only eight survived childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors and Maria Antonia better known as Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories in her own right of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma, and she was the only female to hold the position. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor as Franz I. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power and Francis Stephen was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.
Unofficial Royalty: Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor

August 18, 1781 – Death of Franz Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein; buried at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov nearby Brno, Czech Republic
The nephew of Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, Franz Josef I reigned as Prince of Liechtenstein from 1772 – 1781. In 1750, Franz Josef married Countess Leopoldine von Sternberg, the daughter of Count Franz Philipp of Sternberg and Countess Leopoldine of Starhemberg. Franz Josef and Leopoldine had eight children including two sovereign Princes of Liechtenstein.  Before he became Prince of Liechtenstein, Franz Josef participated in a number of diplomatic missions on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire.
Unofficial Royalty: Franz Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein

August 18, 1830 – Birth of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Franz Joseph Karl
Franz Joseph was born during the reign of his grandfather Emperor Franz I. Franz’s eldest son and successor Ferdinand suffered from epilepsy, hydrocephalus, neurological problems, and a speech impediment and although he married in 1831, the marriage was probably never consummated and therefore no children were expected. Franz Joseph’s father was the third, but the second surviving son of Emperor Franz I, so Franz Joseph was expected to eventually succeed to the throne. The biggest ambition of Franz Joseph’s mother Sophie of Bavaria was to place her oldest son on the Austrian throne. During the Revolutions of 1848, she persuaded her husband to give up his rights to the throne in favor of their son Franz Joseph, and on December 2, 1848, Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favor of his 18-year-old nephew. Franz Joseph was now Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia, and King of Bohemia.
Unofficial Royalty: Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria

 August 18, 1831 – Birth of Helena of Nassau, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont, first wife of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in the German state of Hesse
Full name: Helena Wilhelmine Henriette Pauline Marianne
In 1853, Helena married Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.  The couple had six daughters and one son. Because of her efforts, the relatively poor House of Waldeck-Pyrmont was linked by the marriages of their children to the richer ruling dynasties of Würtemberg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Georg Viktor and Helena are the ancestors of the Dutch royal family through their daughter Emma and the Swedish royal family through their daughter Helena. Their daughter Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont married the youngest son of Queen Victoria, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.
Unofficial Royalty: Helena of Nassau, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont

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