This is a story of rags to riches and of an unlikely king. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was born in France to a lawyer, but through an extraordinary turn of events became king of a country far from his own. Born in Pau, France on February 5, 1818, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was the son of a prosecutor and […]
Category: France
Prester John
Africa, ER, France, Germany, Italy, Northern Europe, Rest of the World, Southern Europe, Turkey
In the time of the crusades, Europeans were looking for any allies in their battles against the Muslims for the Holy Land. Medieval writings often feature a fabulously wealthy Christian king in the East. This was Prester John. He was believed to be a member of the Nestorian Church, which was an independent Eastern […]
Dorothy Lawrence- The Woman in the Trenches
History is full of women who disguised themselves and fought along their menfolk for causes they believed in. A prime example are the women who inspired the legend of Molly Pitcher during the American Revolution. (For more on this, please see this post: http://www.historynaked.com/searching-molly-pitcher/ ) According to historian, Elizabeth Shipton, many women made it to […]
The Affair of the Poisons
Court is treacherous place full of back biting nobles who would sell their own mothers to get ahead. The Affair of the Poisons was an episode in the court of Louis XIV that exemplified exactly how far one would go to get where they needed to be in court. It all started with the arrest […]
The Sad Life of Louis-Charles
Born March 27, 1785 to King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette, Louis-Charles should have had a charmed life. He was the second son and named the Duke of Normandy until the death of his older brother, upon which he became the Dauphin or heir to the throne. Madame de Rambaud was his […]