Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The ruins of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By Brian Holsclaw from Seattle, WA, USA – 20090513_Edinburgh_034Uploaded by Kurpfalzbilder.de, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9562367

The abbey church of Holyrood Abbey, which this writer has visited, now stands in roofless ruins adjacent to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rood is a word for the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified and so the name Holyrood is equivalent to Holy Cross. Holyrood Abbey was founded by David I, King of Scots in 1128 as an abbey of the Augustinian Canons Regular. The legend is that David I was inspired to found Holyrood Abbey after seeing a vision of the Holy Cross when attacked by a stag in what is now Holyrood Park.

Holyrood Palace, adjacent to the ruins of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By XtoF – Own work CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60549142

The abbey guesthouse was used as an occasional residence by medieval Kings of Scots. When James IV, King of Scots made Edinburgh the undisputed capital of Scotland, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, Holyrood Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and after the Reformation, the palace was further expanded. Today it is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.

David I, King of Scots presented the Holyrood Abbey with a relic of the Holy Cross that had belonged to his mother St. Margaret of Scotland, a granddaughter of Edmund II (Ironside), King of England, who held it on her deathbed.  The relic was placed in a golden reliquary and was known as the Black Rood of Scotland. It was removed from Scotland by King Edward I of England in 1296, along with other Scottish treasures including the Stone of Scone. The Black Rood was returned to Scotland in 1328, however, in 1346, following the Battle of Neville’s Cross during the Second War of Scottish Independence, the Black Rood was taken by the English once again. It remained in Durham Cathedral in Durham, England until the English Protestant Reformation when it was presumably destroyed.

The main west door of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey with part of Holyrood Palace on the right; Credit – © Howard Flantzer

During the Anglo-Scottish Wars in the reign of King Henry VIII of England, the English sacked the abbey causing great damage to the buildings. In 1559, during the Scottish Reformation, the abbey church suffered much damage when a Protestant mob destroyed the altars and looted the rest of the church. In 1569, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland decided to demolish the east end of the abbey church because of the damage. The abbey church served as the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) parish church for the Canongate section of Edinburgh. Only the nave was retained, all but two of the windows in the nave were blocked up, and the royal tombs were removed to a new royal burial vault in the south aisle.

In 1687, James VII, King of Scots (also James II, King of England) founded the Order of the Thistle and designated the Holyrood abbey church, where a Presbyterian congregation worshipped, to be the chapel of the new order. The abbey church was converted into a Catholic chapel, as James had converted to Roman Catholicism. A new church, the nearby Canongate Kirk, replaced the abbey church as the local Presbyterian parish church. In 1688, the abbey church was ransacked by a mob, furious with King James’ Roman Catholic allegiance. The Order of the Thistle was left without a chapel until the Thistle Chapel was added to the nearby St. Giles’ Cathedral in 1911.

There was some restoration work done on the abbey church in 1758 – 1760 including the rebuilding of the roof but during a storm in 1768 the roof collapsed, leaving the abbey in its current ruins. Restoration of the abbey church has been proposed several times – in 1835 by architect James Gillespie Graham as a meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and in 1906, as a chapel for the Knights of the Thistle but both proposals were rejected.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer,

Coronations at Holyrood Abbey

Most Scottish coronations took place at Scone Abbey or Stirling Castle.

Royal Weddings at Holyrood Abbey

Royal Burials at Holyrood Abbey

Royal Vault in the ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

The royal tombs of Scotland suffered much destruction during the Scottish Reformation. Practically all the tombs and the remains were destroyed. (See Unofficial Royalty Scottish Royal Burial Sites.) The few surviving remains are mainly interred at Holyrood Abbey.

Royals originally interred at the abbey church include:

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Holyrood Abbey – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holyrood_Abbey> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Historicenvironment.scot. 2021. Holyrood Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/holyrood-abbey/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Rct.uk. 2021. Highlights of the Palace of Holyroodhouse – Holyrood Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse/highlights-of-the-palace-of-holyroodhouse#/#holyroodabbey> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Sacred-destinations.com. 2021. Holyrood Abbey – Edinburgh, Scotland. [online] Available at: <http://www.sacred-destinations.com/scotland/edinburgh-holyrood-abbey-and-palace> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Queen Geraldine of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Queen Geraldine of the Albanians photo: Albanian Royal Court

Queen Geraldine of the Albanians, the wife of King Zog I, was born Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Maria Apponyi de Nagy-Appony on August 6, 1915 in Budapest. Her father, Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony was from a prominent family of Hungary’s high upper nobility. Her mother, Gladys Steuart, was the daughter of an American diplomat who had served as Consul in Belgium. Geraldine had two siblings, a sister, Virginia, and a brother, Gyula.

When the Austrian Empire fell, the family moved to Switzerland for several years before returning to Hungary in 1921. Three years later, Geradline’s father died and the family moved to France. She began her education at an English school in Menton, France, before attending a Catholic boarding school near Vienna, graduating in Social Sciences and Finance. She excelled at languages, becoming fluent in French, German, Spanish, English, Hungarian, and Albanian. With little of the family’s fortune remaining, Geraldine took several jobs, including working as a typist and a salesperson in a museum gift shop.

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Geraldine first met her future husband, King Zog I of the Albanians, in December 1937. The King, having seen a photo of her, asked one of his sisters to invite Geraldine to a New Year’s Ball where they were introduced. Quickly smitten, the King proposed within days and Geraldine accepted. The couple married on April 27, 1938 in a civil ceremony at the Royal Palace in Tirana. Despite their religious differences – the King was a Muslim while Geraldine was Catholic – the marriage was blessed by all of the religious leaders, including the Pope who had initially refused.

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The new Queen quickly worked to promote causes in Albania, particularly those focused on helping those in need. She facilitated the building of numerous hospitals and orphanages, including the first maternity hospital in Albania. She also was an outspoken proponent of women’s rights within the country. On April 5, 1939, Geraldine gave birth to the couple’s only child, Crown Prince Leka I. Two days later, Italian forces invaded and took control of Albania, and the royal family went into exile. They settled in France for several years before moving to England for the duration of World War II. Geraldine worked alongside her husband in his efforts to bring peace to Albania and to restore the monarchy. Following the war, they spent several years living in Egypt before returning to France in 1952.  Sometime after King Zog’s death in 1961, Geraldine moved with her son to Spain and then Rhodesia, before settling in South Africa by the early 1980s. During this time, she continued to support the Albanian people in every way she could.

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After over 62 years in exile, the Albanian government changed the law in 2002, allowing the Royal Family to return to the country. In June 2002, Queen Geraldine, her son and his family, returned home to a massive welcome.

Sadly, just five months later, Queen Geraldine of the Albanians died at a military hospital in Tirana on October 22, 2002. Following a ceremonial funeral, she was buried in the Sharra cemetery there. In November 2012, her remains were exhumed and moved to the newly built Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, along with those of her husband, son, and daughter-in-law.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg was born on March 24, 1628, at Herzberg Castle, in Herzberg am Harz, Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. She was the second but the only surviving of the four daughters and the fifth of the eight children of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1582 – 1641) and Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (1601 – 1659), daughter of  Ludwig V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Magdalene of Brandenburg.

Sophie Amalie’s parents are ancestors of the British royal family and other European royal families through their sons Ernst August and Georg Wilhelm – the fathers of King George I of Great Britain and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle. Sophia Amalie’s youngest brother Ernst August married Sophia of the Palatinate, daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, eldest daughter of King James I of England, and Friedrich V, Elector of the Palatinate. Sophia of the Palatinate was a granddaughter of King James I of England and first cousin of King Charles II of England and King James II of England. I

n 1692, Ernst August was appointed Prince-Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (which eventually became the Electorate of Hanover). Over in Great Britain, due to the lack of heirs in the House of Stuart, and not wanting the throne to go to a Roman Catholic, Parliament passed the 1701 Act of Settlement, giving the British throne to Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover and her Protestant descendants. Sophia of the Palatinate died on June 8, 1714. Her son George was now the heir to the British throne. Queen Anne of Great Britain died on August 1, 1714, which was only 54 days after Sophia died. Sophie Amalie’s nephew, King George I of Great Britain, was only 56th in line to the throne according to primogeniture, but the nearest Protestant according to the 1701 Act of Settlement.

Sophie Amalie had four brothers and three sisters. Her sisters all died young.

Frederik III and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, circa 1643; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Amalie’s family lived at her birthplace Herzberg Castle until 1636 when her father moved his residence to Hanover. There he built the Leineschloss, a palace situated by the Leine River, that became the residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors, and kings. In March 1640, 12-year-old Sophia Amalie was betrothed to 31-year-old Prince Frederik of Denmark, the third but the second surviving of the four sons of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway and his first wife Anna Katharina of Brandenburg. Frederik had an elder brother Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark who had been elected heir apparent in 1608 (Denmark was an elected monarchy at that time) and was expected to succeed their father. Because of the bride’s young age, the marriage was delayed for three years. On October 1, 1643, at Glücksborg Castle in Glücksborg, Duchy of Schleswig, then a Danish possession, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Frederik and Sophie Amalie were married.

Sophie Amalie’s five eldest children: left to right: Wilhelmina Ernestina, Anna Sophia, Frederika Amalia holding Frederik, and Christian; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Amalie and Frederik had eight children including Jørgen who married Queen Anne of Great Britain and had his name anglicized to George and Ulrika Eleonora married King Karl XI of Sweden.:

Before Frederik’s marriage, his father King Christian IV sought to provide him with a pathway to his future and also to use Frederik to gain influence in the northern German areas of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite being christened a Protestant, Frederik became the administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen and the Prince-Bishopric of Verden. In 1647, Friedrich was appointed governor of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Sophie Amalie and Frederik lived in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen and the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein until a sudden event changed their lives. On June 2, 1647, Frederik’s 44-year-old childless elder brother Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark and heir apparent to the Norwegian throne, died and his death opened up the possibility for Frederik to be elected heir apparent to the Danish throne. However, when King Christian IV died less than nine months later, on February 28, 1648, Frederik had not yet been elected heir apparent to the Danish throne. After long deliberations between the Danish Estates and the Rigsraadet (royal council), he was finally elected King of Denmark. King Frederik III and Queen Sophie Amalie were crowned on November 23, 1648, at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sophie Amalie as Queen of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

As Queen of Denmark, Sophie Amalie became the center of court life. She replaced the old medieval court entertainments with opera and ballet. She enjoyed fashion, parties, theatre, and masquerades, and made the French taste fashionable in Denmark. Sophie Amalie was ambitious, participated in state affairs, with her husband’s blessing of her husband, and influenced policy as his adviser.

From the start of King Frederik III’s reign, Sophie Amalie was involved in the power struggle between the crown and the Danish nobility, symbolized by the Sons-In-Law Party composed of the Danish nobles who married Frederik III’s half-sisters, the daughters of King Christian IV and his morganatic second wife Kirsten Munk. Count Corfitz Ulfeldt, married to Frederik’s half-sister Leonora Christina, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein, was the leading member. There were rumors that Count Corfitz Ulfeldt was associated with a plot to poison Frederik III and Ulfeldt and his wife left Denmark and settled in Sweden. The plot was proven to be false but Ulfeldt agreed to accept the offer of King Karl X Gustav of Sweden to enter his service because he wanted to humiliate King Frederik III. Ulfeldt participated in the Swedish invasion of Denmark in the Danish-Swedish War of 1657 – 1658  and is considered the most notorious traitor in Danish history. He was tried in absentia for high treason, his property was confiscated, and his children were banished. Ulfeldt, who was seriously ill, died in 1664 while on the run. Because of her alleged involvement in the intrigues of her husband Count Corfitz Ulfeldt, Leonora Christina was imprisoned for 22 years as a political prisoner. Only after the death of Sophie Amalie did Leonora Christina gain her freedom.

Sophie Amalie, circa 1670; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway died at the age of 60, after three days of a painful illness, on February 9, 1670, at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. During the reign of her son King Christian V, Sophie Amalie remained a player in state affairs despite her son’s dislike of her interference. Sophie Amalie’s relationship with her daughter-in-law Charlotte Amalie was not positive. She refused to give up her position as queen and her precedence as the first lady of the court to her daughter-in-law. King Christian V frequently resorted to moving to another palace with his wife so that Queen Charlotte Amalie and Queen Dowager Sophie Amalie would not be present in the same palace at the same time.

The Death of Queen Sophie Amalie by Kristian Zahrtmann; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Amalie survived her husband King Frederik II by fifteen years, dying on February 20, 1685, aged 56. They were interred with Frederik’s parents in the crypt of Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family in Roskilde, Denmark. In 1613, a year after the death of his first wife and Frederik’s mother Anna Katharina of Brandenburg, King Christian IV ordered the construction of a new burial chapel because the space inside Roskilde Cathedral for burials was running out. However, the interior of the Christian IV Chapel was not completed until 1866. At that time, the caskets of Christian IV (died 1648), his first wife Anna Katharina of Brandenburg (died 1612), his eldest son and heir apparent Christian who predeceased him (died 1647), his second son who succeeded him as King Frederik III (died 1670); and Frederik III’s wife Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneberg (died 1685) were placed in the completed Christian IV Chapel.

Christian IV Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral: Caskets front row left to right: Anna Katharina, Christian IV,  Christian, Prince-Elect; back row left to right: Sophie Amalie, Frederik III; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Amalie af Braunschweig-Lüneburg. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_af_Braunschweig-L%C3%BCneburg> [Accessed 13 March 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Georg (Braunschweig-Calenberg). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_(Braunschweig-Calenberg)> [Accessed 13 March 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Amalie von Braunschweig-Calenberg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_von_Braunschweig-Calenberg> [Accessed 13 March 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_of_Brunswick-Calenberg> [Accessed 13 March 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Unofficial Royalty. Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-iii-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 13 March 2021].

King Zog I of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

King Zog I of the Albanians; photo: Albanian Royal Court

King Zog I was born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli on October 8, 1895 at Burgajet Castle in Burrel, the Ottoman Empire, now in Albania. He was the second child and only son of Xhemal Pasha Zogolli and his second wife Sadije Toptani. His father was the Hereditary Governor of Mati (one of Albania’s former districts), a position Zog himself would inherit upon his father’s death in 1908. His mother was from the Toptani family, one of the leading noble families in Ottoman Albania, and one of the largest landowners in the country. Zog had six sisters:

He also had one older half-brother from his father’s first marriage:

  • Xhelal Bey Zogolli (1881) – married 4 times, had issue including a son, Skënder Zogu, born 1933, who would be second in line to the Albanian throne today, following Crown Prince Leka II

The future King was educated at the Galatasaray Lyceum in Istanbul, and succeeded his father as Governor of Mati in 1908. He returned to Albania in 1912, and led a revolt against the Young Turks, and gained fame as a military leader for his victory over invading Montenegrin forces. Later that year, he participated in Albania’s Declaration of Independence and continued to gain attention for his military successes.

Prince Wilhelm of Wied; Prince of Albania. source: Wikipedia

Upon Albania’s independence, the Great Powers created Albania as a Principality, and Prince Wilhelm of Wied was selected as its Prince. However, due to intense in-fighting, Wilhelm would last only six months in Albania before being forced into exile. Zogolli went on to serve with the Austrian-Hungarian forces during World War before returning to Albania and becoming involved in politics. Rising quickly through the ranks, he held numerous positions within the government, including Minister of the Interior, and Chief of the Albanian Military. In 1922, he formally changed his surname from Zogolli to Zogu which sounded more Albanian and would help to gain further support from the Albanian people.

Zogu became Prime Minister of Albania in December 1922 and served until February 25, 1924 – just two days after being shot and wounded in an assassination attempt in Parliament. Several months later, a coup d’etat forced Zog into exile for several months. Returning and restoring the legitimate government in December 1924, formally ending the Principality and declaring Albania a Republic. A month later, he was elected President.

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Just three years later, several Albanian politicians suggested that Albania should become a monarchy once again. A commission was quickly established and on August 30, 1928, the Constitutional Assembly overwhelmingly approved the vote. The Kingdom of Albania was established, and President Zogu was offered the throne. The following day, September 1, 1928, Ahmet Zogu took the oath, becoming King Zog I of the Albanians – the country’s first and only reigning King. One of his first official acts – fully supported by the National Assembly – was to give titles to his mother and sisters. His mother became Her Majesty The Queen Mother of the Albanians, and his sisters were all created Princesses, with the style of Royal Highness.

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On April 27, 1938, the Muslim King Zog married the Catholic Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in a civil ceremony held at the Royal Palace in Tirana.  Despite their different religions, religious leaders, including the Pope, blessed their marriage.  The couple had one son, Crown Prince Leka I, born in April 1939.

On April 7, 1939, just two days after Queen Geraldine gave birth to the couple’s only child, Italian forces invaded Albania. Despite attempts to hold them off, the Albanian military was unsuccessful. The National Assembly quickly voted to allow the King and his family to leave the country, thus allowing him to retain sovereignty in exile. Two days later, on April 9th, King Zog and the entire royal family crossed into Greece. The Italians, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, took control of Albania, declaring it a Protectorate of Italy under King Vittorio Emanuele III.

With the entire government forced into exile, King  Zog established his base in France, hoping to coordinate support with the Allies. He arrived in Paris on August 8, 1939, and settled at the Chateau de la Maye in Versailles, previously used as a temporary residence by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor just two years earlier.

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However, with German forces approaching, the family fled once again in June 1940 and made their way to England. One of the British officers who helped organize their escape was Commander Ian Fleming, later a successful writer, creating the character of James Bond.

The family initially stayed at the Ritz Hotel in London before settling at Parmoor House in Buckinghamshire. Due to the bombings, however, they continued to move around quite often. While in England, King Zog developed friendships with numerous other royals in exile and continued to work toward Albania’s liberation.

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Another move in 1946 took the family to Egypt, where they lived at the invitation of King Farouk. On a trip to the United States in 1951, King Zog purchased the Knollwood Estate in Muttontown, New York. He intended to settle there in the coming years but never occupied the house.

An attempt to stage a coup d’etat and regain control of Albania was organized in 1954 with the support of British and American intelligence. However, the plans failed when they were revealed to the Soviets by Kim Philby, a British spy working as a double agent. The next year, Zog and his family returned to France, settling in Cannes. By then, his health was deteriorating, and King Zog abandoned his hope of moving to the United States and sold the Knollwood Estate.

The former grave of King Zog I at the Thiais Cemetery near Paris. photo: By Martin Ottmann – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4602279

Following several years of ill health, King Zog I of the Albanians passed away on April 9, 1961, at the Foch Hospital in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, on the outskirts of Paris. He was buried in the Thiais Cemetery in Paris.

photo: Albanian Royal Court

In November 2012, the King’s remains were exhumed and returned to Albania where they were reinterred in the newly rebuilt Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, Albania. At the same time, the remains of Queen Geraldine, Crown Prince Leka I, and Crown Princess Susan were also moved to the new mausoleum.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Anna Katharina of Brandenburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Anna Katharina of Brandenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

The first wife of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway, Anna Katharina of Brandenburg was born on June 26, 1575, in Halle, Archbishopric of Magdeburg, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. She was the second of the nine children and the eldest of the two daughters of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg and his first wife Katharina of Brandenburg-Küstrin.

Anna Katharina had eight siblings:

Anna Katharina had one much younger half-sister from her father’s second marriage to Princess Eleonore of Prussia:

Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In the autumn of 1595, eighteen-year-old Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway made a trip through some of the German monarchies. He met twenty-year-old Anna Katharina and decided to marry her. After a life-threatening crossing over the Baltic Sea to Denmark, Anna Katharina and her parents attended Christian’s coronation in Copenhagen in 1596. Christian and Anna Katharina met again in January 1597 and later that year, the marriage contract was signed. The wedding took place on November 27, 1597, at Haderslevhus Castle in Denmark. Anna Katharina was crowned Queen of Denmark on June 11, 1598, at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Anna Katharina with her eldest son Christian who predeceased his father; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian IV and Anna Katharina had six children:

Beate Huitfeldt, a Danish noble who had served as maid of honor to Christian IV’s mother, was appointed as principal lady-in-waiting to Anna Katharina and remained in that position until Anna Katharina’s death. After Anna Katharina died in 1612, Beate Huitfeldt then served as the royal governess of the household of Anna Katharina’s sons. Anna Katharina was praised for her modesty and piety. She often accompanied Christian IV on his trips but had no influence on the politics of Denmark. Christian IV had affairs during his marriage and Anna Katharina was certainly aware of them. Her maid of honor Kirsten Madsdatter gave birth to Christian’s son the day after Anna Katharina gave birth to her last child.

A little more than a year after the birth of her last child, Anna Katharina died on April 8, 1612, at the age of 36, and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark. After the Christian IV Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral, was completed, Anna Katharina’s casket was moved to the chapel along with the caskets of her husband King Christian IV (died 1648, the silver-plated casket in the photo below), her eldest son Christian (died 1647) who predeceased his father, her second son who succeeded his father as King Frederik III (died 1670) and Frederik III’s wife Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneberg (died 1685).

Sarcophagus of Anna Katharina of Brandenburg in the foreground – Photo Credit © Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Cathrine af Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Cathrine_af_Brandenburg> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Katharina von Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Katharina_von_Brandenburg> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Catherine of Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Catherine_of_Brandenburg> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Frederick,_Elector_of_Brandenburg> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2021. Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christian-iv-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 26 February 2021].

Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Favorite of King Louis XIV of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Cardinal Mazarin was a favorite of King Louis XIV of France, and perhaps the most influential person in the French court at the time. Having served prominently in the court for several years during the reign of King Louis XIII, he was formally appointed Chief Minister by Queen Anne when she assumed the Regency for her young son, King Louis XIV, and remained in that position until his own death in 1661.

Cardinal Jules Mazarin – source: Wikipedia

Cardinal Jules Mazarin was born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino on July 14, 1602, in Pescina, Italy, the second of seven children of Pietro Mazzarino and Ortensia Bufalini. His father served as Chamberlain for Filippo I Colonna, the Grand Constable of Naples, and his mother came from a prominent noble family in Rome. His siblings were:

  • Geronima (1601) – died in infancy
  • Michele Alessandro (1605) – later Cardinal Michel Mazzarino, unmarried
  • Anna-Maria (1607) – unmarried
  • Laura Margherita (1608) – married Geronimo Martinozzi, had issue. They were the grandparents of Mary of Modena, consort of King James II of England
  • Cléria (1609) – married Pietro Muti, no issue
  • Girolama – 1614 – married Baron Michele Lorenzo Mancini, had issue

After attending the Jesuit College in Rome, Jules traveled to Spain and studied law at the Complutense University in Madrid. After completing his degree in Rome, and serving in a Papal army regiment, he came to the attention of Pope Urban VIII who appointed him to serve as a secretary to a papal diplomat. Quickly developing a keen sense for diplomacy, he traveled extensively between Italy, Spain, and France, hoping to establish peace between the Spanish and French before an impending war. During these travels, Jules came to the attention of Cardinal Richelieu, under whom he would later serve in the French court.

Jules’ diplomatic skills brought about his first success, resulting in the Treaty of Cherasco in 1631, and the following year, he had his first meeting with King Louis XIII and Queen Anne of France. Having proven himself a valuable asset to the Pope, he was given the title of prelate, and papal vice-legate, and by 1634 was appointed nuncio extraordinary to Paris. Over the next few years, he became close to the King and Queen of France and began to gain the trust of Cardinal Richelieu. In 1641, he was formally created a Cardinal, despite never becoming a priest.

Following Richelieu’s death in 1642, Mazarin was one of three primary advisors to King Louis XIII. Upon the King’s death in 1643, he had instructed in his will that Queen Anne not serve as regent for their young son, the new King Louis XIV. However, the Queen had the will annulled, was declared Regent, and named Mazarin as Chief Minister of France.

Jules’ tenure as Chief Minister saw the end of the Thirty Years War, thanks primarily to his diplomatic skills in establishing the Peace of Westphalia (1646-1648), and the expansion of France with the addition of the Alsace region.  After skillfully negotiating a peaceful agreement following several years of rebellion within France, known as The Fronde, Mazarin continued with numerous diplomatic victories. These included establishing a military alliance with England, and creating the League of the Rhine in 1658. He carefully negotiated the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which resulted in the addition of several new provinces in France, and led to the successful arrangement of a marriage for King Louis XIV to Maria Theresa of Spain.

In addition to his diplomatic skill, Mazarin was a prominent patron of the arts in France. He established the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648 and introduced Italian opera to France. He amassed a large collection of art and jewels, most of which he later bequeathed to the King and the nation.

Cardinal Mazarin died on March 9, 1661 at the Château de Vincennes, just outside of Paris. Several days before his death, in an attempt to silence false rumors that he was taking money from the King, Mazarin published a will in which he left his entire fortune to The King. Louis XIV quickly declined this, and a second will was drafted, in which he left the majority of his fortune to his niece, Hortense Mancini.

The Sancy (center), displayed in the Louvre. photo: By Pavel Rudanovsky – Louvre, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63677557

An avid jewel collector, Mazarin amassed a large collection of priceless gems during his lifetime. Upon his death, he left several to the King, including the famed Sancy and a collection of diamonds known as the ‘Mazarins’.

The Bibliothèque Mazarine. photo: By Marie-Lan Nguyen – Own work, CC BY 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10312236

Mazarin also bequeathed a large amount of money to establish the Collège des Quatre-Nations. The college, now the Institut de France, was built just across the Seine River from the Louvre Palace, and his wish was to be entombed in the chapel of the college once it was completed. In addition, he left his extensive library to the new college. Containing nearly 40,000 books, the collection formed the basis for the Bibliothèque Mazarine which still exists today, and was the first public library in France.

Cenotaph of Cardinal Mazarin. photo: Par NonOmnisMoriar — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22344978

Following his death, Mazarin’s were temporarily placed in a vault in the chapel at the Château de Vincennes. In 1684, his remains were moved to the vault beneath the college chapel, and finally to a large marble tomb in the chapel in 1693. The tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution and his remains were thrown into the street. The monument was rebuilt years later, and, after being displayed at several museums, returned to the college chapel in 1964.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Frederik II, King of Denmark and Norway, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow was born on September 4, 1557, in Wismar, Duchy of Mecklenburg, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She was the only child of Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and his first wife Elizabeth of Denmark, daughter of Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Sophie of Pomerania. Sophie’s mother Elizabeth died in 1586 while returning from visiting her daughter in Denmark. After the death of his first wife, Sophie’s father Ulrich III married Anna of Pomerania but their marriage was childless.

Sophie’s husband Frederik II, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In Denmark, marriage negotiations had been unsuccessfully conducted for Frederik II, King of Denmark and Norway during the end of his father’s reign and during the first thirteen years of Frederik’s reign. The negotiations were difficult because Frederik insisted on meeting the prospective bride before committing to her. In 1572, Frederik’s aunt Elizabeth of Denmark and her husband Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (Sophie’s parents), arranged for Frederik to meet a prospective bride Margaret of Pomerania at Nykøbing Castle in Denmark. Elizabeth and her husband brought along 14-year-old Sophie. Frederik II and Sophie were half-first cousins through their grandfather Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway, Frederik through his first wife Anna of Brandenburg, and Sophie through his second wife Sophie of Pomerania. Instead of being interested in Margaret of Pomerania, Frederik II was interested in Sophie. On July 20, 1572, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Frederik II and Sophie were married.

Frederik II and Sophie had seven children. Through their daughter Anna, who married James VI, King of Scots, later also James I, King of England, they are ancestors of the British Royal Family.

Frederik II and Sophie; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite a 23-year age difference, Frederik II and Sophie had a happy marriage. Sophie is consistently mentioned in Frederik’s handwritten diary as “mynt Soffye“, meaning “my Sophie”. She never interfered in government matters, always accompanied him on his travels, participated in his hunts, and nursed him when he was ill. Sophie was interested in books, visited the Danish pioneering astronomer Tycho Brahe, collected folk songs, and encouraged historian Anders Sørensen Vedel to publish his Hundredvisebogen, a collection of a hundred Danish folk songs he had gathered that became the foundation of Danish literary tradition.

Frederik II, King of Denmark and Norway died, aged 53, on April 4, 1588. When her husband died, Sophie was a thirty-year-old widow with seven children ranging in age from five-years-old to fifteen-years-old. Her eldest son who succeeded his father as Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway was only eleven-years-old. Sophie wanted to play a role in the government but was given no role in her son’s regency council. From 1590, she did act as regent of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein for Christian as was the custom in the duchies. Sophie arranged the marriages and dowries for her daughters including a marriage for her daughter Anna (Anne) with the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James VI, King of Scots who also became King of England upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Nykøbing Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1593, when Christian IV was declared of age, Sophie engaged in a power struggle with the regency council and the Danish Council of State. According to custom, she wanted the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to be divided between her two younger sons but was unsuccessful. In 1594, Sophie was forced to retire to her dower property Nykøbing Castle on the island of Falster in Denmark.

Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie managed her estates on the Danish islands of Falster and Lolland so well that her son King Christian IV borrowed money from her on several occasions for his wars. She also engaged in trade and money-lending with Danish nobles. Sophie had a great love of knowledge and studied chemistry, astronomy, and other sciences. She often visited her homeland Mecklenburg and when her daughter Hedwig married Christian II, Elector of Saxony in 1602, she attended the wedding in Dresden, Saxony.

Tomb of Frederik II and Sophie – Photo by Susan Flantzer

Sophie survived her husband by forty-three years, dying on October 14, 1631, at the age of 74, at Nykøbing Castle on the island of Falster in Denmark and was buried with her husband Frederik II in the Chapel of the Magi at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Northern Europe.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Af Mecklenburg. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_af_Mecklenburg> [Accessed 18 January 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Von Mecklenburg (1557–1631). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_von_Mecklenburg_(1557%E2%80%931631)> [Accessed 18 January 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sophie Of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_of_Mecklenburg-G%C3%BCstrow> [Accessed 18 January 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2021. Frederik II, King of Denmark and Norway.  [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-ii-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 18 January 2021].

Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18394550

Canongate Kirk (kirk = church) is a Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) church located on the Royal Mile which runs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Members of the British royal family sometimes attend services at Canongate Kirk when they are visiting Edinburgh.

Queen Elizabeth II visiting Canongate Kirk in 2019; Credit – Photo by Rob McDougall, https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/royal-visit/

Embed from Getty Images 
Zara Phillips and her father Mark Phillips arrive at Canongate Kirk

Zara Phillips, the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, married English rugby player Mike Tindall at Canongate Kirk on July 30, 2011. The reception was held at nearby Holyrood Palace.

The doric-columned portico over the entrance; Credit – By Enric – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73018490

In 1687, James VII, King of Scots (also James II, King of England) founded the Order of the Thistle and designated the Holyrood Abbey Church, where a Presbyterian congregation worshipped, to be the chapel of the new order. James ordered that money left at the disposal of the Crown by merchant Thomas Moodie should be used to build a new building, Canongate Kirk, just down the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace. The new building was constructed from 1688 – 1691 under the Scottish architect James Smith. Architecturally, Canongate Kirk has a Dutch-style end gable and a small doric-columned portico over the entrance.

Golden cross inside a pair of antlers; Credit – By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – In Defence Uploaded by tm, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27383763

The roof over the entrance is now topped with a golden cross inside a pair of antlers. Originally, the royal arms of James VII, King of Scots/James II, King of England were to be placed on the roof. However as James had been deposed and his daughter Queen Mary II and his son-in-law and nephew King William III (also William II, Prince of Orange) were then on the throne, the coat of arms of the House of Orange-Nassau was placed on the roof. William III’s outdated coat of arms was replaced in 1824 with a cross and a pair of deer antlers. Those antlers were replaced with the antlers from a stag shot by King George VI in 1949 at Balmoral. The stag head and cross are the arms of the Burgh of Canongate which was established by David I, King of Scots in 1128 at the same time he founded the nearby Holyrood Abbey (Holyrood means Holy Cross). The legend is that King David I was inspired to found Holyrood Abbey after seeing a vision of the Holy Cross when attacked by a stag in what is now Holyrood Park.

The interior of Canongate Kirk is very simple as is traditional for Presbyterian churches. The windows are clear to let in light and there have been renovations over the years. In 1950, the color scheme of part of the interior changed. The pews were painted light blue, the pulpit a darker blue, and the walls white.

The Royal Pew, marked by a representation of the Honours of Scotland; Credit – By Remi Mathis – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28465791

The front pew on the east side is the Royal Pew. On top of the back of the Royal Pew is a model of the Honours of Scotland, with representations of the crown, scepter, and sword that are displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle.

Canongate Kirkyard; Credit – By Hansueli Krapf  This file was uploaded with Commonist. – Own work: Hansueli Krapf (User Simisa (talk · contribs)), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12666950

The Canongate Kirkyard, like other burial grounds in Edinburgh, is owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, and not Canongate Kirk. It was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century. There are no royal burials at Canongate Kirkyard. However, there were reports that David Riccio, favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots who was murdered in her presence at Holyrood Palace in 1566, was reburied in Canongate Kirkyard. This is unlikely since he died 122 years before Canongate Kirk was established and it would have required the reburial of a Catholic in a Protestant cemetery. It is more likely that David Riccio rests under an anonymous gravestone in the cemetery at Holyrood Abbey which now lies in ruins.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. A History Of Canongate Kirk. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/a-guided-tour-of-canongate-kirk/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. History. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/about/history/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Canongate Kirk. 2021. Kirkyard. [online] Available at: <https://www.canongatekirk.org.uk/kirkyard/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Canongate Kirk. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canongate_Kirk> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2021. David Riccio,  Favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/david-riccio-favorite-of-mary-queen-of-scots/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].

Axel von Fersen the Younger, Favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

A prominent member of Swedish aristocracy, Count Axel von Fersen the Younger rose to the highest ranks of the Swedish royal court, serving as Marshal of the Realm for several years. He previously served as an aide-de-camp and interpreter to Rochambeau during the American Revolutionary War and became a close friend and favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

Axel von Fersen the Younger – source: Wikipedia

Axel von Fersen was born in Stockholm on September 4, 1755, the elder son of Field Marshal Axel von Fersen (the Elder) and Countess Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie. He had three siblings:

Axel was raised in one of the most prominent and influential Swedish aristocratic families. His mother had inherited Löfstad Castle and its large estates, and his father had extensive land holdings and was one of the largest shareholders in Sweden’s East India Company. In addition to Löfstad, the family owned Steninge Palace, Ljung Castle and Mälsåker Castle.

Queen Marie Antoinette of France. source: Wikipedia

Extensively educated, von Fersen became fluent in numerous languages that would serve him well in adulthood. He later continued his education in the military. In 1770, he began a grand tour, traveling throughout Europe and continuing his military training at several academies in Germany, France, and Italy. During this tour, he visited the royal courts of Sardinia, France, and the United Kingdom. While visiting France in 1774 von Fersen first met the future Queen Marie Antoinette.

Returning to Sweden the following year, he served in the Swedish military, but continued to visit France and began developing a friendship with the future Queen. In 1780, became an aide-de-camp to General Rochambeau during the American Revolutionary War, serving until the war’s end in 1783. Upon his return, King Gustav III of Sweden made him Captain of the Guard, hoping to have von Fersen by his side as he traveled throughout Europe to garner support for his plans to invade Denmark. The French king also gave von Fersen several honorary military appointments. As tensions began to rise in France, the Swedish King appointed von Fersen as his secret envoy to the French King and Queen, subverting the usual diplomatic channels and providing direct contact between the sovereigns.

Axel remained at court through the beginning of the French Revolution and was involved with the failed plans for the French Royal Family to escape, the unsuccessful Flight to Varennes. A warrant was issued for his arrest for his role in the plot, but he avoided capture. He traveled to Vienna to enlist the support of the Queen’s brother Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II resulting in the Declaration of Pillnitz which declared Prussia’s and the Holy Roman Empire’s support for the French King and monarchy.

His further efforts to protect and save the Queen and her family proved unsuccessful. He saw them for the last time in December 1791 but continued a correspondence with the Queen until her execution in October 1793. Having returned to Sweden, von Fersen later became one of the closest advisors to the new King Gustav IV Adolf, rising to the position of Earl Marshal, and by 1801, Marshal of the Realm.

A depiction of the murder of Axel von Fersen. source: Wikipedia

When King Gustav IV Adolf was deposed in 1809, the throne did not pass to his son and heir, but to his uncle, King Carl XIII who had no legitimate heirs. von Fersen led the support for the former King’s son, unsuccessfully. The new King adopted a Danish prince Carl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg to be his heir. However, the new Crown Prince died suddenly after falling from his horse in May 1810. Rumors quickly spread that he had been poisoned by the former King’s supporters – more specifically, at the hands of von Fersen.

On June 20, 1810, the public funeral was held for the Crown Prince. As Marshal of the Realm, von Fersen was one of the leaders of the procession through Stockholm. Despite the heavy presence of guards, several people broke free from the crowd in an attempt to get to von Fersen, while the guards mostly just looked on with disinterest. Fleeing the crowds, he tried to find safety in a nearby house but was quickly pursued and overtaken. He was dragged back into the street where he was quickly attacked and killed by the angry mob who blamed him for the Crown Prince’s death.

Ljungs Church. photo: Av Håkan Svensson – Eget arbete, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1455830

Several months later, von Fersen was cleared of having any part in the Crown Prince’s death, and received a state burial in Stockholm with full ceremonial honors. He is buried at the small church near his family’s Ljung Castle.

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Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, Favorite of the Family of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

Patronymics

  • In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born on January 21, 1869, in the village of Pokrovskoye in the Tobolsk province of Siberia, Russia. His father Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin (1841 – 1916), a peasant farmer and a coachman, and his mother Anna Vasilievna Parshukova (1839 – 1906) were married in 1863. The couple had seven other children but all of them died in infancy and early childhood.

Like most Siberian peasants, Rasputin was not formally educated and remained illiterate until his early adulthood. Local records suggest Rasputin exhibited unruly behavior while growing up, possibly drinking, small thefts, and disrespect for local authorities. In February 1887, Rasputin married Praskovya Feodorovna Dubrovina, a peasant girl. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye, Rasputin’s hometown, throughout Rasputin’s later travels and his rise to prominence. She remained devoted to him until his death.

Rasputin and his children; Credit – Wikipedia

Rasputin and Praskovya had seven children but only three survived to adulthood:

  • Dmitry Grigoriovich Rasputin (1895 – ?)
  • Matryona (Maria) Grigorievna Rasputina (1898 – 1977), married (1) Boris Soloviev, had two children, divorced (2) Gregory Bernadsky, no children, divorced
  • ​Varvara Grigorievna Rasputina (1900 – ?)

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, Rasputin’s daughter Matryona emigrated to France and later moved to the United States where she died in Los Angeles, California in 1977. In 1920, the property of Rasputin’s son Dmitry was confiscated and nationalized by the Soviet Union government. Rasputin’s widow Praskovya Feodorovna, his son Dmitry, and his daughter Varvara were deprived of their voting rights in 1922 because they were considered “malicious elements.” In the 1930s, all three were arrested by the NKVD, which committed mass executions without trial and administered the Gulag system of forced labor camps in Siberia during the regime of Joseph Stalin. The trace of all three was lost in the labor camps.

In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and left his hometown Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage. At that time, Rasputin was twenty-eight-years-old, married for ten years, and had a young son with another child on the way, so it would seem like an odd time for him to leave his family. Various sources suggest he left to escape punishment for his role in a horse theft, or perhaps he had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, or he was inspired by a young theological student he had met. Earlier, Rasputin had undertaken shorter pilgrimages but this pilgrimage to the St. Nicholas Monastery in Verkhoturye transformed him. After spending several months at the monastery, Rasputin returned to his village as a changed man. He looked disheveled, became a vegetarian, stopped drinking alcohol, and fervently prayed and sang hymns.

Rasputin spent the next several years as a strannik, a holy wanderer or pilgrim. He left Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit holy sites. By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a circle of followers in Siberia. After visiting Kazan, local church officials gave him a letter of recommendation to Ivan Nikolayevich Stragorodsky, known as Bishop Sergei, the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and arranged for him to travel to St. Petersburg. Once in St. Petersburg, Rasputin met Russian Orthodox church officials including Archimandrite Theofan, who was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home. It was through Theofan that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers in St. Petersburg.

Rasputin surrounded by his admirers in St. Petersburg; Credit – Wikipedia

According to Rasputin’s daughter Matryona, he was never a monk, but a starets. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a starets as a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest, who is recognized for his piety, and who is turned to by monks or laymen for spiritual guidance. Rasputin, who was more of a mystical faith healer, was styled starets by his followers, although he was not officially recognized as one by the Russian Orthodox Church.

By 1905, Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the sisters Princess Militsa and Princess Anastasia (Stana) of Montenegro, who had both married into the Russian Imperial Family and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family. On November 1, 1905, Rasputin’s first personal meeting with Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, took place and was noted in Nicholas’ diary: “At 4 o’clock we went to Sergievka. We drank tea with Militsa and Stana. We made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigori, from Tobolsk province.”

After giving birth to four daughters during the first seven years of her marriage, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna felt great pressure to provide an heir. Finally, in 1904, she gave birth to a son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. However, it would soon become apparent that she was a carrier of hemophilia, and her young son was a sufferer. This would cause immense emotional pain to Alexandra, and great measures were taken to protect Alexei from harm and to hide the illness from the Russian people. When Alexei’s illness eventually became public knowledge, it led to more dislike for Alexandra, with many of the Russian people blaming her for the heir’s illness.

Alexandra Feodorovna with her children, Rasputin, and nurse Maria Ivanova Vishnyakova in 1908; Credit – Wikipedia

After working with many physicians to help Alexei who suffered greatly, Alexandra turned to mystics and faith healers. This led to her close, disastrous relationship with Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. Several times Rasputin appeared to have brought Alexei back from the brink of death, which further cemented Alexandra’s reliance on him. To many historians and experts, this relationship would contribute greatly to the fall of the Russian monarchy. It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei’s hemophilia or when he first acted as a healer. There is documentation that he was summoned by Alexandra to pray for Alexei when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning.

Alexandra and Alexei, circa 1911; Credit – Wikipedia from the Beinecke Library

The most mysterious episode of Rasputin’s legend occurred during the summer of 1912. Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a bumpy carriage ride near the Imperial Family hunting lodge at Spala, then in the Russian Empire, now in Poland. After the hemorrhage developed into a large hematoma, Alexei was in severe pain, delirious with fever and close to death. Rasputin was in Siberia and Empress Alexandra asked Anna Vyrubova, her lady-in-waiting and close friend, to send him a telegram asking him to pray for Alexei. Rasputin quickly sent back a return telegram, telling Alexandra, “God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much.” Although Alexei’s condition did not change during the next day, Alexandra was encouraged by Rasputin’s words and regained some hope that Alexei would survive. The following day, Alexei’s bleeding stopped. One of the physicians who attended Alexei in Spala admitted that “the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view.” He later admitted that he could understand how Alexandra could see Rasputin as a miracle worker: “Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time. How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?”

Rasputin, Nicholas, and Alexandra, anonymous caricature in 1916; Credit – Wikipedia

The belief of Nicholas II’s family in Rasputin’s healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court. He was suspected of exerting political influence over Nicholas II and was even rumored to be having an affair with Alexandra. Opposition to Rasputin’s influence grew within the Russian Orthodox Church. Even Imperial Family members became concerned with Rasputin’s influence when Nicholas II left St. Petersburg to take supreme command of the Russian armies fighting in World War I, leaving Alexandra in charge as Regent.


Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov; Credit Wikipedia

Eventually, a group of conspirators plotted to murder Rasputin in hopes of ending his influence over Nicholas II’s family. The conspirators were led by two men, one a member of the Imperial Family and one who married into the Imperial Family. Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia was the second child and only son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and Princess Alexandra of Greece (a daughter of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia). Therefore, Dmitri was the first cousin of Nicholas II as their fathers were brothers. (A side note, Dmitri was also the first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as Dmitri’s mother and Philip’s father were siblings.) Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov was a Russian aristocrat who was wealthier than any of the Romanovs. Felix married Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, Nicholas II’s only niece, the daughter of his sister Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia.

Along with Dmitri and Felix, Vladimir Purishkevich, a deputy of the Duma, the Russian legislature, was one of the main conspirators. Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert, a physician, and Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin, a lieutenant in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, also were participants. On the night of December 29-30, 1916, Felix invited Rasputin to Moika Palace, his home in St. Petersburg, promising Rasputin that his wife Irina would be there, although she was not there. According to his memoir, Felix brought Rasputin to a soundproof room in a part of the wine cellar and offered Rasputin tea and petit fours laced with a large amount of cyanide, but the poison had no effect.

The room in the Moika Palace where Rasputin was brought; Credit – Wikipedia

Felix then offered Rasputin wine, and after an hour Rasputin was fairly drunk. The other conspirators were waiting in a room on another floor of the palace and Felix then went upstairs and came back with Dmitri’s revolver. He shot Rasputin in the chest and the wounds appeared to be serious enough to cause death. However, Rasputin escaped, struggling up the stairs and opening an unlocked door to the courtyard. Purishkevich heard the noise, went out to the courtyard, and shot Rasputin four times, missing three times. Rasputin fell down in the snow. Again, Rasputin should have been dead, but he was still moving. One of the conspirators shot him in the forehead. Rasputin’s body was thrown off the Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge into an ice-hole in the Malaya Neva River and was found on January 1, 1917.

Police photograph of Rasputin’s corpse, found floating in the Malaya Nevka River, 1917; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was buried on January 3, 1917, at a small church on the grounds of the imperial residences at Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. Nicholas II, Alexandra, their four daughters, and Alexandra’s ladies-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova and Lili Dehn were present. The imperial chaplain read the service, Nicholas and Alexandra threw earth on the coffin, and Alexandra and her four daughters threw white flowers in the grave. After dark, on March 22, 1917, the day Nicholas returned to his family at Tsarskoye Selo after his abdication on March 15, soldiers removed Rasputin’s coffin from its burial place and took it to a clearing in the forest. There Rasputin’s remains were burned to prevent his burial site from becoming a place of pilgrimage.

Site of the alleged burial of Rasputin; Credit – By User:Monoklon, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67511259

After Rasputin’s murder, the St. Petersburg authorities refused to arrest the conspirators because the murder they committed was considered politically acceptable. Instead, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich was exiled to Persia (now Iran), a move that most likely saved his life during the Russian Revolution, and Prince Felix Yusupov was exiled to his estate in Rakitnoje, near Belgorod, Russia and the Ukraine border.

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Works Cited

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