"This is the first trouble she has ever given me."

As Maria Theresa lay dying, her husband's words showed the kind of Queen of France that she had been. Quiet, unassuming, supportive to her husband, and loving to their children. King Louis XIV could not have found a better definition of her time with him.

Princess of Spain

Maria Theresa was born in September 1638 the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his wife Elisabeth of France. France and Spain had been closely connected by marriage in the previous generation, her parents were the siblings of the King and Queen of France, as King Philip's sister Anne had married Queen Elisabeth's brother Louis. Like many such marriages between France and Spain, the weddings had been decided upon in an attempt to bring peace between the two countries, unfortunately it didn't work.

She grew up in the strict formality of the Spanish court, which encouraged solemnity and serious pasttimes. Her mother died when she was just six years old, and her father remarried several years later. Maria Theresa does not appear to have got on well with her new step-mother, and so may have lacked the kind of warm, affectionate home that her future husband had.

Queen of France

After many years of war a peace deal was brokered between Spain and France, and was to be sealed with a marriage between Maria Theresa and Louis XIV. They were the same age, in fact there were only a few days age difference between them, and the marriage had been hoped for for many years by Louis' mother Anne. Any potential courting between the afianced couple was stifled by Maria Theresa's father, who refused to let his daughter even read a letter from her future groom, and who strictly supervised their first meeting shortly before the wedding (in fact he banned Louis from even being in the same room as Maria Theresa, an order that the King of France tried to evade by lingering in the doorway while his brother chatted to the princess, King Philip continually refused to allow him in to the room).

It's reported that on their wedding night, Maria Theresa made her husband promise to never spend a night sleeping away from her. Whether or not this was true, it certainly was a habit that Louis stuck to, although it wasn't enough to prevent him having many affairs through their marriage. His wife found herself settling in to her new home, with help from her aunt, who was thrilled to have another Spainiard at court. There was no bickering between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, instead the pair of them frequently prayed and visited convents together.

In fact Maria Theresa was a little too Spanish for the French court. Her new home was one that loved innovation, fashion, dancing and wit. Her upbringing had left her rather shy, she preferred to keep to herself with a select group of companions, and she wasn't fashionable or quick enough to be a leader of the court. Despite this, she was a good Queen to Louis. She was upset by his frequent affairs, but realised there was nothing she could do to stop them. She even sponsored one of her husband's former mistresses, Louise de la Valliere, when she decided to retire from court and become a nun. Louis in turn protected her from any disrespect on the part of his other women, rebuking them when they declined to show her the deference required by her position. For over ten years her main rival was Athenais de Montespan, whose disrespect as well as her place by the King's side infuriated Maria Theresa.

If royal marriages were designed to create peace and provide an heir, then Maria Theresa failed in the first part, France and Spain were still consistently at war over the years. But in the second part she succeeded, as she gave birth to six children, of whom three were sons. The first, also called Louis, was born on 1st November 1661. Sadly it was only this eldest child who would outlive her, her eldest surviving daughter lived for five years, and her other children mostly died within weeks of birth.

Maria Theresa's own death would come as a surprise, as her illness was sudden, and her decline swift. She reporedtly surprised the court by never complaining about the agonising treatments she went through, medical intervention still didn't include any pain relief. She died on 30th July 1683, leaving her husband to utter the simple, but evocative, summation of their life together.

Interested in biographies of Royal women? You might like my Unlucky Princess blog series.

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On this day, 13 July 1249, a rather hurried coronation took place in Scotland. The new king was a seven year old boy, who had been pushed in to the limelight after his father's sudden death on the Isle of Kerrera. Since he was only a child, King Alexander III would face an uphill struggle to gain his throne through his adolesence.

Alexander was born on 4th September 1241 in the castle of Roxburgh, south east of Edinburgh. His mother was Marie de Coucy, the second wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. As he was so young when his father died, a regency would need to be formed. Marie de Coucy recognised the danger this posed to her son, and so arranged the coronation to take place five days after her husband's death.

The situation wasn't too different from what the king of England had gone through. Henry III had been crowned so quickly after the death of his father, King John, that there hadn't even been time to make a new crown (his father's had been lost in the distastrous trek across The Wash), he had been crowned using one of his mother's more simple crowns. But unlike Alexander, Henry had had a more reliable regency in the forms of William Marshal and Ranulf de Blondeville, both of whom were loyal to the crown, regardless of whose head it sat on. Henry's mother Isabella of Angouleme had quickly been marginalised, and soon left England for France, where she remarried.

Marie de Coucy was similiarly pushed to one side. Although she had been the one to organise the coronation, ensuring that power was handed over to her son before an older relative could claim it, she was not allowed to exercise the powers of a regent. Instead she too left her son in favour of her home country, returning to Picardy when Alexander was ten. Like Isabella of Angouleme she took a second husband, but unlike Isabella she had no children with her second husband, sparing Alexander the kind of political envy that Henry's half-siblings caused years later.

Instead Alexander had to deal with a divided regency council, with different sides determined to seize power from their rivals. Sensing a chance to take advantage of Scotland's weakness, Henry III married his daughter Margaret to Alexander, and then demanded that the King of Scotland do homage for his kingdom, which would indicate that he held the throne purely because England agreed to it. Alexander refused, although the King of England would continue to be a problem in the following years. At one point Alexander's new wife Margaret, wrote to her parents complaining that she was being ill-treated. Henry and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, promptly moved north with an army, determined to assist their daughter in any way possible.

Despite the inauspicious start to his reign, Alexander was a successful King. He managed to persuade the Norwegians to cede the Isle of Man and the Outer Hebrides to Scotland, and kept peace with England. Unfortunately he predeceased his children by Margaret, and his second wife Yolande de Dreux had one stillborn child. Alexander's death led to a succession crisis, and pathed the way for Edward I of England to make his move.

On this day, 1 July 1348, Joan of England died in Gascony. The daughter of King Edward III of England and his wife, Philippa of Hainault, Joan had been on her way to marry Peter of Castile. Her wedding trousseau had been stuffed with sumptous fabrics and jewels, her household furniture was the finest quality that money could buy, and her wedding dress was designed to show the Castilian court that England was wealthy and powerful, and it's princess was a valuable treasure. Sadly none of it could stop the terrible ravages of the Black Death.

Princess Joan

Joan was born in 1334 at the Palace of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the third child and second daughter of Edward and Philippa. In total her parents had fourteen children, and Joan grew up in a loving household. She and her siblings had a retinue of servants, but they were still close to their parents, who took an active interest in their children's lives.

Like many Royal girls, Joan was betrothed at a young age to a suitable man from another noble family. At the age of four Joan and her mother travelled to Herenthals, where Joan was placed in the care of her aunt, Philippa's sister Margaret. Together with a suitable retinue, Joan travelled across Germany to meet her fiance Frederick, son of the Duke of Austria. Since she was only a little girl there was no chance of Joan pulling the same trick as her sister Isabella, who consistently refused to wed various men that caught her attention, and at one point came within a week of marrying before she changed her mind.

Instead Joan's marriage was called off after her future father-in-law died, leaving his brother to act as regent. The alliance that Joan's marriage was meant to cement was called off, as was the wedding. The little girl had barely arrived in her new home before circumstances meant that she had to turn around and return to Ghent, where her mother was still residing after giving birth to another son.

Joan's second wedding was arranged with just as much care. The Castilians were allied with the French, and their ships were a perpetual problem for English merchant ships, which were frequently attacked. A marriage between a Castilian prince and an English princess would hopefully pacify the Spainish, if not lead to a proper alliance. It wasn't the first time there was a wedding between the two kingdoms, Joan's great-grandmother was Eleanor of Castile (this connection naturally meant that a papal dispensation had to be arranged for the couple), but it was the last such wedding for over one hundred years, when Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella of Castile) married King Henry VIII.

The Plague

At the age of fourteen, Joan was considered old enough to be sent to Castile. Although she had been sent to Germany at a young age, it had been anticipated that the wedding itself wouldn't have been until she was a more suitable age. Her sisters were all married in their late teens, older than expected for the time, and it may be that Joan and Peter weren't expected to live together until the bride was a little older.

The first stage of the journey was the sea voyage from her home, to the English county of Gascony in France. At the time she left the plague hadn't reached England, although stories of it were becoming known. Her household and belongings were carefully packed up on to several ships, a grand farewell was held, and then Joan set sail. As the ships arrived at Bourdeaux, they were told not to come on land. The town was in the grip of the plague, and it wasn't safe for the English retinue to be there. The warnings were ignored, the party moved to the castle in the town, but two weeks later members of the group started to fall ill.

Those that were currently healthy, including Joan, fled towards Castile. But sadly the disease caught up with them quickly. Joan fell sick, and died in the village of Loremo, having never met her betrothed. Mystery still surrounds the fate of her remains, some stories state that she was buried in a local church, others say that she was repatriated to England at the insistance of her distraught parents. A memorial was raised to her in Westminster Abbey, but no tomb has been found, suggesting that if she was indeed buried in a church near her place of death, then it would have been the kind of anonymous grave that many plague victims were given. 

As you probably know, today marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta. It's a momentous anniversary, which is being covered across many news outlets and websites. So, because it's clearly being covered by plenty of other people, I've decided to instead highlight a different anniversary; the birth of Henry FitzRoy.

Who Was Henry FitzRoy?

Henry Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII and Bessie Blount. They met when Bessie was a maid of honour to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Bessie appears to have been a court from 1512 at the latest. By this time Henry and Catherine had had two children, a stillborn daughter, and a son who died just six weeks old. They had only been married for three years, and despite this run of bad luck there was no reason for them to think that they wouldn't have a son who would survive.

Henry would have several affairs over the years, although the discretion he adopted has caused historians to argue about the extent of his extra-marital activities for years. Henry had three well-known mistresses; one of the sisters of the Duke of Buckingham (which caused a rift at court when the Duke found out), Bessie Blount (who gave birth to the King's son), and Mary Boleyn (whose sister became Henry's second wife). It's due to this discretion that it's difficult for historians to work out when Henry and Bessie's affair began, with some opting for some time around 1514 (when Catherine was pregnant with a son born in December that year, who survived only a few hours), and others for 1518 (when Catherine was pregnant with her daughter Mary).

Regardless of when the affair started, on 15th June 1519 Bessie gave birth to Henry's son. He was named Henry, after his father, with the surname "FitzRoy" to show his royal, albeit illegitimate, parentage. FitzRoy was the only illegitimate child of Henry's to be formally recognised by his father. Other suspected children by his mistresses include Catherine and Henry Carey by Mary Boleyn. It's possible that Henry was reluctant to acknowledge too many of his illegitimate offspring, in case any of them became a threat to his throne. In 1519 he could acknowledge FitzRoy as he had no other male heir. Had he acknowledged Henry Carey on the other hand, then he would be facing two illegitimate sons potentially leading a civil war against any legitimate offspring he left behind. Henry never gave up hope about having a legitimate heir and spare of the required gender, as shown by his frequent marriages, so to him there was no point in muddying the waters further.

Why Was Henry FitzRoy Important?

FitzRoy was important because he showed Henry that he could have a son who lived. By the time of his birth the King and Catherine had their daughter Mary, who had survived far longer than her brothers. So why could he have a living son with his mistress and not his wife? This question would form the basis of Henry's quest for a divorce from Catherine for many years.

FitzRoy originally led a discreet but royal life from the moment of his birth, with his prominance growing as he got older and the likelihood of him surviving increased. Bessie was married off to a nobleman named Gilbert Tailboys (or Talboys) in 1522, her son did not accompany her to her new home, but she was allowed to visit him frequently. Instead his upbringing was overseen by both Cardinal Wolsey and the King, who officially made him Duke of Richmond and Somerset and gave him lands which would support a household fit for a prince.

Over the years FitzRoy would continue to be given responsibilities and lands that indicated his high status. Princess Mary was still acknowledged as their father's legitimate heir (until Henry married Anne Boleyn) and sent to live in Wales, although she was never officially given the title "Princess of Wales" that indicated her status as next in line for the throne. FitzRoy on the other hand was named Lord High Admiral, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In reality FitzRoy's responsibilities for these roles were handled by other men, who were appointed by Cardinal Wolsey, but symbolically the titles meant a lot. Henry also tried to find a suitably royal bride for his son, with Maria of Portugal, Catherine de Medici and a princess of Denmark all considered, although all negotiations for each one eventually fizzled out. Perhaps the most shocking marriage suggestion, put forward when Henry was trying to divorce Catherine, was that FitzRoy marry his half-sister Princess Mary. As with the other suggestions, this never came to pass, but it would have raised a lot of questions both in England and Europe if it had.

FitzRoy was still a potential in the succession picture when Henry married his third wife, Jane Seymour. The Act of Succession that passed after the wedding officially marked Anne Boleyn's daughter Elizabeth as illegitimate, and banned her and Mary from the line of succession. It specifically noted that if Jane Seymour had daughters but no son, then her daughters would be in line AFTER the sons of any wife that followed her. But, in the event that Henry had no legitimate sons, the Act gave him the right to nominate his own heir. In theory this could have been any of his surviving Yorkist cousins, those that hadn't been executed by his father or Henry himself. But it also meant that he could name FitzRoy as his heir, if it was absolutely necessary.

Instead FitzRoy was married to Mary Howard, a cousin of Anne and Mary Boleyn, her father was their uncle the Duke of Norfolk. The marriage was never consummated, the couple were in their early teens and considered too young to be allowed to live together, but Mary was allowed to use the title "Duchess of Richmond". She may have been a step down from a European princess, but Mary Howard was probably the best match that a king's illegitimate son could have got under the circumstances.

FitzRoy didn't live long enough to see his half-brother Prince Edward, whose birth would have promptly cut off any hope he may have had of becoming king. He died on 23rd July 1536, a week after he turned seventeen, probably from tuberculosis. Henry was reportedly devastated by his son's death, but declined to make any funeral arrangements. Instead FitzRoy's father-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk, had the young man's remains interred at the Howard family's church at Framlingham, where his tomb can still be seen.

It's interesting to speculate what might have happened if FitzRoy had lived, or lived long enough to father children with his wife. Would he have supported his little half-brother Edward? Would his children have been a thorn in Elizabeth's side? Or would he have carved out a position for himself as a notable politician, with no aim for the throne itself. Even though he never had a chance to show what he could do, his birth at least had a part in persuading Henry to consider a divorce from Catherine, which would lead to monumental changes in English religion, something which is just as significant as the signing of Magna Carta.

On this day, 1^st June 1300, Margaret of France gave birth to a baby boy - Thomas of Brotherton. Margaret was the second wife of King Edward I of England. Edward had been unlucky when it came to his sons. His first wife, Eleanor of Castile, had given birth to around sixteen children, including at least four sons, but many of their children had died in childhood. When Eleanor passed away her only surviving son was Edward of Caernarfon, and with such a rate of infant mortality in the family there was no guarantee that this little boy would survive to become King.

Edward’s marriage to Margaret of France was partly out of necessity at needing another wife, and partly a political move to seal a treaty with Margaret’s half-brother, King Philip. They seem to have been happy though, despite the huge age difference (Edward was sixty and Margaret was around twenty), and baby Thomas was the first of what would be three children born to the couple.

Thomas actually appears to have come early, his mother was out hunting when she went in to labour, and she was rushed to the nearby manor house at Brotherton in Yorkshire, hence his name. His brother Edmund joined him a year later, and a little sister named Eleanor came along after a few years, but died very young.

Childhood

Edward and Margaret appear to have been devoted parents. When he heard the news of Thomas’ birth, Edward (whose supposed portrait is shown on the right) raced to be with his wife and see the new baby. He took a personal interest in the decoration of Thomas’ rooms, ordering particular materials to be used and paying for two cradles to be furnished in rich cloth. There was good reason to be so particular, while the younger Edward was sixteen and past the dangers of childhood, there was still a possibility that Thomas could become King of England, he was his older brother’s heir for the time being.

When Edmund came along they spent their childhood in a combined household, with a large number of servants and attendants. Their education was the same as other boys at the time, although probably heightened in terms of skilled teachers. Along with the basic skills expected from schooling they were also given religious instruction, were taught to ride and learned to play chess. Their mother hired musicians to play for them, and when she was away with their father she appears to have kept a close eye on her boys, albeit from a distance. For Thomas it must have been an idyllic childhood.

Edward I died when Thomas was just seven years old. It couldn’t have come as a great shock to some in his household, the King had been an old man when he had married Thomas’ mother, but it must have been a great blow to the little boy. Margaret fought for her son’s rights, but she was up against her step-son, the new Edward II, and that meant she was also against his favourite, Piers Gaveston. Perhaps the first sign to Thomas that his life was going to be one of occasional difficulty, was when his promised title of “Earl of Cornwall” was given to Piers Gaveston. Perhaps the best known man to hold the title had been Richard of Cornwall, the younger brother of Henry III, who had been on crusade, travelled widely across Europe and been crowned King of the Romans. Although Thomas may have struggled to follow in such illustrious footsteps in the same way, the lands that came with it would at least have made him a wealthy man, as was suitable for the son and brother of kings. When Edward went to France to marry Princess Isabella, Thomas was further slighted. As a younger son of the late king, and a younger (albeit half) brother of the current king, he should have been given the honour of being the nominal regent during Edward’s absence (nominal as he would have been left strict instructions, Edward wouldn’t have been particularly far away, and he would have been assisted by a committee of experienced, high ranking nobles). Instead, once again, that honour went to Piers Gaveston.

At the age of twelve, and after Gaveston’s death, Thomas was awarded the Earldom of Norfolk by King Edward. Edward’s reign had already seen some serious problems, but Thomas had remained loyal to his brother throughout (although since he wasn’t even a teenager there would have been a limit to how much trouble he could have caused). Even as civil war descended in the early 1320’s Thomas remained loyal, as did his younger brother Edmund, who was now the Earl of Kent.

Rebellion

But Thomas’s loyalty would only go so far, and eventually like many other English noblemen he was pushed in to opposition against his half-brother and king. When Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer landed in England with a small invasion force in September 1326 they were accompanied by Edmund, Earl of Kent. Following his younger brother, Thomas quickly allied himself with them. In time he would sit as one of the judges at the “trials” of the Despensers, and was one of the signatories of the document that declared his brother had forfeited the right to remain king after he abandoned the country, fleeing from the Queen and Roger Mortimer. He appears to have had a good relationship with his nephew, as he became one of Edward III’s main advisors.

Sadly though his brother Edmund was less lucky. Both of the new king’s uncles had angered Roger Mortimer. Both were close to their nephew and therefore posed a threat to Mortimer’s influence. In March 1330 Edmund was arrested for treason, tried before a court that had no real legal authority, and then beheaded. Edward had wanted to spare his uncle, but had been overruled by Mortimer.

Thomas managed to escape such savagery. After Mortimer’s death he was safe, and spent the rest of his life advising and assisting his nephew. In 1333 he was part of Edward’s campaign against Scotland, leading the right hand division in the Battle of Hallidon Hill, a battle won by the English and which saw the slaughter of a large number of Scottish nobles and infantry.

Death

Thomas wouldn’t be with his nephew during his greatest battles in France, he died in 1338, two years before the start of what would become known as The Hundred Years War.

By the time Thomas of Brotherton died he had been married twice and had just two surviving children. He married Alice de Hales and with her had three children; Edward, Margaret and Alice. Sadly Edward predeceased his father by four years. Alice had died by 1330, and so Thomas married for a second time, to Mary de Brewes. They had no surviving children. This meant that on Thomas’ death his heir was his eldest daughter Margaret, who would go on to have a far more scandalous life than her father.

You may remember my blog post a few weeks ago about Eleanor of Aquitaine's divorce from King Louis VII of France. Their marriage had been rocky for years, a split was virtually inevitable. Louis tried to ensure that he still had some say in Eleanor's life, by including a clause that stated that she had to ask his permission before remarrying. In this way he hoped to prevent her from allying herself with someone who would pose a danger to his kingdom.

Unfortunately for Louis, on this day, 18th May 1152, remarrying without permission was exactly what Eleanor did. Her groom was none other than Henry "Plantagenet", Duke of Normandy, and their marriage united two of the biggest duchies in France, creating exactly the kind of problem Louis wanted to avoid.

Henry Plantagenet

The young groom, who was nine years younger than the bride, was the son of Duke Geoffrey of Anjou and his wife the Empress Matilda, a princess of England by birth and technically the rightful heir to the English throne (once you got past her gender). This was another rocky marriage, but unlike Eleanor it wasn't one that would be put aside. Matilda had originally been married to Henry, the Holy Roman Emperor, and she continued to be known as "Empress Matilda" for the rest of her life. She had no children by her first husband, and his death meant that she had to leave the Empire and return to England.

Her second marriage, arranged by her father Henry I of England, was designed to prevent the Duke of Anjou from being a pain in the neck. Unfortunately Matilda hated her new husband, and he wasn't exactly taken with her. Henry had to step in several times to prevent them from becoming completely estranged. In the end though they settled down enough to conceive several children, the eldest of whom was named Henry after his grandfather.

Henry's life was dominated by the war his parents waged against Matilda's cousin, Stephen, the new King of England. To this day historians argue over whether Stephen stole the throne from Matilda, or had been privately acknowledged as Henry I's heir. Either way, Matilda and Geoffrey were not about let an opportunity pass, and while Geoffrey focused on attacking strategic points in Normandy, Matilda travelled to England and waged war with the support of her illegitimate half-brother. "The Anarchy" as it became known, went on for years and decimated the English population. In the end a compromise would be reached, Stephen would reign as King, but his heir on his death would be Matilda's son Henry.

The Marriage

Of course, there was no guarantee that Henry really would be King on Stephen's death, at the time of the wedding it wasn't even much of a consideration. Stephen had sons of his own, and the English nobility may choose to support one of them instead. But Henry had learned a lot about successful warfare from his father, and was quickly gaining a reputation for being both brave and skillful. For a woman who had a Duchy to maintain, against enemies both inside and out, he was the obvious choice. Even as Eleanor was making her way home she had already decided to marry him.

The journey back was dangerous. In the medieval period a woman's consent to a marriage was considered a technicality rather than a necessity, and
there were several men who plotted to kidnap and marry her themselves, including Henry's brother Geoffrey, so they could claim Aquitaine. But through a combination of bravery and speed, Eleanor managed to evade the plotters and reach Aquitaine safely. Henry arrived soon after, and the hasty wedding took place at Poitiers.

Louis instantly reacted by gathering a force to invade Aquitaine. Henry collected his own troops, fully supported by his wife, and was quickly successful. Louis was humiliated twice over, not only was he beaten in the field of battle, but a year later Eleanor gave birth to a healthy baby boy, giving Henry the heir that Louis had always wanted from her, and proving once and for all that if there was a fertility problem then it certainly wasn't hers.

The enmity between Louis and Henry would continue for decades, and would see Louis successfully turn Henry's sons against him, and lead to Eleanor's imprisonment for supporting them over her husband. But at least on this day in 1152, she would have started to feel safe for the first time in weeks, if not months.

On this day (technically the night of 29^th April, or the early morning of 30^th April depending on your point of view) in 1944, an SOE agent named Nancy Wake was parachuted in to France. She already had a five million franc price on her head, had been captured and freed, and it had taken her six attempts to get out of France in the first place. To say she was returning to the lion's den would be a bit of an understatement. She is also, for many reasons, one of my favourite women in history.

Before The War

Nancy Wake was born in New Zealand but raised in Australia. As a teenager she moved to the USA, where she became a journalist, and then on to France, where she met and married a wealthy Frenchman named Henri Fiocca. When Germany invaded France she volunteered with the French Resistance as a courier, while she and her husband let their holiday home be used as a safe house for people trying to escape.

During The War

Wake became an absolute pain in the neck to the Gestapo. They named her "The White Mouse", and she was so effective that they issued a 5 million franc reward for her capture. Under increasing pressure as members of her network were arrested, she eventually chose to flee Marseille. Her husband opted to stay behind, and was eventually captured, tortured and executed by the Gestapo. Wake herself was arrested in Toulouse, but was freed after a friend claimed they were having an affair and her secretive behaviour was due to her worry her husband would find out. Had the Gestapo got hold of her they would have done the same to her as they did to her husband.

She eventually managed to escape France in to Spain, via the Pyrenees, and from there got a ship back to Britain. She promptly volunteered with SOE, where she earned high praise for both her attitude and abilities. She was then parachuted in to France, where she met up with a local network. Her role was to oversee the groups finances and handle the division of weapons and supplies dropped by the Allies, but she was soon helping recruit new members, plan and oversee operations, and eventually came to lead over 7000 men. She claimed that her greatest moment was cycling a 300 mile round trip to get new wireless codes. She also killed a German sentry to prevent him raising the alarm, and shot a woman who was a German spy. In total her team killed around 1400 Germans, while suffering only 100 casualties.

Post-War

In the years after the war Nancy Wake was awarded multiple honours, including Britain's George Cross. It was only after the war that she found out her husband had been killed by the Gestapo. She spent several years back in Australia where she attempted a political career, returned to England where she met and married her second husband, and then moved back to Australia once again. After her second husband passed away Wake once more returned to England, where she spent the final years of her life. After her death in 2011 her ashes were scattered in the countryside near Montluçon, the French town close to where her team had operated.

In many ways I think that Nancy Wake is so often forgotten because she survived. Had she been caught and executed she would no doubt be remembered as a valiant heroine who died for the cause. But the fact that she came through the war without being killed doesn't diminish how brave she was. When she escaped to Britain, with a 5 million franc bounty still on her head, she could have simply settled there in relative safety. Instead she chose to join SOE and jump straight back in to danger, and that is why she is one of my favourite women in history.

The Cape Helles landings were the starting point of the infamous Gallipoli campaign in the First World War. As the men disembarked on the shores of Turkey, my own brother's namesake was with them.

George Harris was born in London on 10th July 1890. He was the third son and sixth child of William John and Harriet Louisa Harris, with William John, Amelia, Alice Maud, James Henry and Kate Harris (my great-grandmother) all ahead of him, and Albert Edward, Harry and May still to follow over the years.

The Harris family have always been a bit difficult for me to research as they moved around so much, although having such a large family certainly helps them stick out on the censuses! They lived in Chelsea in 1891 and Tothill Street in Westminster in 1901, but while several family members can be found living at Junction Road in Highgate on the 1911 census, George is missing.

The clue to his disappearance comes in his original army service number; 9941. On his medal card George is showing as serving with the Border Regiment under this number. One historian has done a lot of research in to the sequencing of these service numbers, and through his work I managed to work out that George joined the army in 1911, several years before war broke out. The problem with this comes from the fact that no one in my Mum's side of the family ever mentioned this, I suspect it was a little-known fact that was simply forgotten over the years. But it does mean that George had already seen more of the world than any of his brothers.

When war broke out the Border Regiment was stationed in Burma, although thanks to a lack of surviving records I can only assume that George was with them. They were promptly shipped back to the UK, and after a few months training were ready for deployment. But a lack of surviving service record hasn't stopped me from piecing together some of George's First World War history. His medal card shows that his first "theatre of war" was "2B", army shorthand for "Gallipoli", and that he first entered the war on 25th April 1915. On that date, 25^th April 1915, one hundred years ago today, the 1^st Battalion Border Regiment, including George Harris, took part in the Cape Helles landings in Gallipoli. It was while he was fighting in Gallipoli that his older brother, James Henry Harris, was killed by a sniper while fighting with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in France in September 1915.

Gallipoli had made casualties, but George wasn't one of them. When the troops were evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 he went with them, and while out there was transferred to the Machine Gun Corp in February 1916. Such as a transfer was quite common as it meant that soldiers already trained in certain weapons, such as machine guns, could replace dead or injured soldiers, and thus keep up battalion numbers. It was also at this point that George's service number changed to 11042, it was only after the First World War that soldiers were assigned one permanent service number during their time in the Forces.

As part of the Machine Gun Corp George was then sent to France, progressing up to Belgium. At some point in July he was severely injured. On 3rd July 1917 he died of his wounds. His burial place, Canada Farm Cemetery, indicates that he died at a casualty station, rather than passing away during or after transport to a hospital. Family legend has it that one of his brothers was with him when he died, but this is impossible for me to prove.

James and George were the only two casualties of the Harris family. What's rather surprising to me is that while they fought thousands of miles apart, in death there isn't a great deal of distance between them. James is buried at Fleurbaix cemetery near Lille, George is up near Ypres. Given all the other places he could have died, at least he isn't thousands of miles away from his brother.

One of the things I enjoy about London is the number of small, out-of-the-way museums that are tucked away in random corners of the city. When I moved down here four years ago I bought a book about London Museums, and promptly made a list of those that I would like to visit. Last weekend my boyfriend and I decided to tick another one off the list, and headed out to Clerkenwell to visit the Museum of the Order of St John.

 What is the Order of St John?

The old Order of St John was a medieval military order or society that was created after the First Crusade, when a hospice was created in Jerusalem to serve pilgrims that had travelled to the city and fallen ill. As the situation in the area deteriorated, the pilgrims needed military escorts in order to travel through the surrounding area to Jerusalem safely. The Order therefore served to both protect the pilgrims from attack, and look after those who fell sick or were injured.

When Jerusalem fell in the 13th century the Knights moved on to Cyprus and then Rhodes, where they remained for three hundred years before finally relocating to Malta. From both locations the Knights fought frequent battles against pirates and Muslims, but they also continued to run hospitals and infirmaries, where they accepted anyone who was in need of medical help.

In England the Order's work came to an end during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the Order's English properties were confiscated by the Crown. However in the 1800s the Order was reformed as a chivalric order, with a new hospitaller organisation created thirty years later. The Order founded a series ambulances, aptly named "St John's Ambulance", which were designed to give members of the public lessons in first aid. The rapid industrialisation in Great Britain had not been accompanied by an increase in helping people work safely, and certain industries such as railways and mines often had high casualty rates. By offering first aid to workers and the public, it was hoped that someone who had been injured could be kept alive long enough to be taken to hospital or seen by the local doctor. It's from this that the modern St John's Ambulance organisation grew.

The Museum

The Museum of the Order of St John can be found in the old St John's Gate. You simply go round a corner and suddenly find yourself facing a medieval gate surrounded by far more modern buildings. The gate is the only surviving part of the old Priory of the Knights of the Order of St John, and was purchased by the new Order in the 1800s. Although it is mostly a Victorian restoration, it still looks suitably medieval.

You can take part in a guided tour, which I understand shows you more of the building, or you can simply pop in to the Museum itself. There is no entrance fee, but there is a suggested donation of £5 for the tour. Since there was two hours to wait until the next tour, we decided to simply have a look around the museum itself. Going through the doorway takes you in to the gift shop and visitor services area, and we were then pointed through the next door which leads to the display gallery. Following this takes you through the history of the medieval Order, including it's times in Cyprus, Rhodes and Malta, before you then double-back on yourself to past a few videos that tell you more about the Order's revival in England in the 19th century.

Going through another doorway then takes you through to the final section, with a display of artefacts about both World Wars, including displaying their "Roll of Honour" of members who died in the First World War, and more information about the first aid work of the modern St John's Ambulances, including it's work at the eye hospital in Jerusalem and training people in first aid in Africa.

While the Museum was small it was very well organised and the displays were very interesting, for such a small space they managed to pack a lot of information in through a combined of display cases and videos, and using blank wall space to talk about the overall history. If memory serves it's wheelchair accessible through the fire-exit door (although you'll need to ask a member of staff to open it from the inside), and there were toilets towards the back of the gallery. There was also a sign outside about booking the rooms above for events and weddings, and as we were leaving there was clearly a group gathering for some kind of celebration, so you may find it's a bit more crowded at weekends. If you're in the Clerkenwell area and have an hour to kill then I would really recommend visiting this place.

Death of Mary of Burgundy

On this day in 1482, Mary of Burgundy died from injuries she suffered after a fall from her horse. Her early death was the last tragedy of a life that had suffered many such encounters.

Mary of Burgundy was born in February 1457. Her father, Charles the Bold, was the Duke of the wealthy duchy of Burgundy, while her mother was Isabella of Bourbon. Her mother died in 1465, leaving Charles with Mary as his only heir. The general view at the time was that a girl couldn't possibly rule, and therefore Charles decided to remarry. In 1468 Mary acquired a step-mother, Margaret of Burgundy, the sister of King Edward IV (and later, Richard III) of England. Margaret and Charles never had a child, but Mary became close to her step-mother, and it was Margaret who guided Mary's steps when tragedy struck again in 1477, when Charles died in the Battle of Nancy.

Charles had spent most of his life fighting against the French, and King Louis XI wasn't about to let sympathy for an orphaned girl stop him taking advantage of the situation. Luckily for Mary her step-mother was still alive, and she advised Mary to follow the marriage plans her father had set in place before his death. In August 1477, eight months after her father's death, Mary married Maximilian of Austria. They became co-rulers, with Margaret assisting in the background as both a mother figure to Mary and a popular Dowager Duchess to the people.

In July 1478 Mary gave birth to a son, named Philip, thereby ensuring the succession for her family. A daughter named Margaret followed in 1480, and another son called Francis in 1481, who died within a few months. Philip and Margaret would go on to have a double marriage with Infanta Juana and Infante Juan of Spain, the sister and brother of Catherine of Aragon.

Sadly though, Mary would never see her children's marriages. While out hunting in March 1482, Mary's horse fell, throwing her from the saddle, the resulting injuries left her in agony for several days before she died on the 27th March, aged just 25. Philip and Margaret were 4 and 2 years old respectively, and had to learn to rule Burgundy without their mother's advice.