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Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian
No one in their right mind would have predicted that Titus Flavius Vespasian would ever be anything more than an eccentric senator. They were an obscure family from the small village of Reate. His father had been a banker and his mother from a family of modest means. However, according to Sutonius’ Life of the Caesars, the auguries when she was brought to bed with Vespasian were favorable. Sabinus, the boy’s father, is said to have been greatly impressed by an inspection of a victim’s entrails. He is said to have congratulated his mother on having a grandson who would become Emperor. She roared with laughter and said: ‘Fancy, you…
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Mary I’s phantom pregnancies
Mary I of England was overjoyed at her marriage to Prince Philip of Spain. She had married a man of royal blood, the son of her adviser and cousin Charles V of Spain and had laid the foundation for the passing of the throne to a true born Catholic heir. There was only one fly in the ointment. She was thirty-seven years old, past the usual child bearing years of that time, and had erratic health. Few people believed that the Queen was capable of bearing children, but still they prayed with all their might for a prince. In September of 1554, it seemed as if their prayers had been…
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Second Act of Succession- Declaring Mary and Elizabeth bastards
Everyone knew there could not be a Queen of England alone on the throne. The last Queen Regnant of England was arguably Margaret the She Wolf of France or if you chose to disregard Margaret then Matilda of England. Both had periods of rule riddled with strife and open warfare. These were not pleasant memories for the people of England or their king Henry VIII Henry had a big problem. He had just moved heaven and earth to get rid of one wife, Katherine of Aragon, because she had not given him an heir. The only child that survived their union was a living daughter, Mary. In desperation, Henry had…
