Cat's Historical Doodles

Anne (Danish: Anna) was born on 12 December 1574 at the castle of Skanderborg. She was the daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and his wife, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Her birth came as a blow to her father, who was desperately hoping for a son. Sophie would eventually give birth to a boy, the future Christian IV. Anne and her older sister, Elizabeth, were sent to Güstrow to be raised by their maternal grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg. Güstrow provided Anne with a frugal and stable life during her childhood. Christian was also sent to Güstrow to be brought up but, in 1579, he returned to Denmark with Anne and Elizabeth. Anne enjoyed a close, happy family upbringing in Denmark. Suitors from all over Europe sought the hands of Anne and Elizabeth in marriage, including King James VI of Scotland, who favoured Denmark as a reformed Kingdom. Queen Sophie was a diligent a matchmaker Sophie and, in July 1589, the agreement for a marriage with the King of Sco...

Françoise was born on 27 November 1635. Her father was the Huguenot Constant d’Aubigné, who was incarcerated for conspiring against Cardinal Richelieu; her mother, Jeanne de Cardilhac, was the daughter of Constant’s jailer. Jeanne had her daughter baptised in her own Catholic faith. In 1639, Françoise’s father was released from prison, and went with his family to the island of Martinique. Jeanne was a strict mother and gave her children a Protestant education. Constant returned to France, leaving behind his wife and children; Jeanne was forever trying to be “mother and father” to her children. In 1647, she returned to France to join her husband. Within months of the return, Constant died, and Françoise went to the care of Madame de Villette, her father’s sister. The de Villettes were wealthy and took good care of Françoise, but they were ardent Protestants and continued to school Françoise in their beliefs. When this became known, an order was issued that Françoise had to be edu...

Maria Christina was born on 10 November 1574, in Graz. She was the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. On 7 February 1595, a formal petition of marriage was made to Maria Christina on behalf of Sigismund Báthory, the ruling Prince of Transylvania. The marriage contract was negotiated, and, on 15 June, Maria Christina and her mother began the journey to Transylvania. In Kachau, Maria Christina fell ill with a fever, which delayed the journey. The formal marriage took place in Weissenburg on 6 August 1595. Soon after, Maria Christina finally arrived in Transylvania. This marriage was regarded as a major political gain as Sigismund (formerly a vassal of the Ottoman Empire) now formed close ties with the Holy Roman Empire. Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, appointed Sigismund Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and secured the possession of Transylvania if the couple remained childless. However, this union was completely unhappy – after a disastrous w...

João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo was born on 22 October 1689, in Lisbon. He was son of King Pedro II of Portugal and his wife, Queen Maria Sophia . João had a stimulating upbringing surrounded by Europe’s most brilliant minds. The political policies of King Pedro II made the Portuguese court wealthy, the economy stable and the military strong. This made a richly varied and interesting childhood possible for the young Infante. As a child, he was under the tutelage and influence of the Jesuits, and learned military education, politics, astronomy, nautical studies, mathematics and history. J ust over a month before João’s 10th birthday, his mother died aged just 33. This caused João to retreat from court and become depressed. The former Queen of England, his aunt Catherine , returned to Portugal to help João and take control of his education. She remained his tutor and female role model until her death in 1705. The death of his sister, Teresa Maria, in February 1704 gr...

Eleanor was born on 25 September 1582, in Graz; she was the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and his wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Eleanor had 13 siblings: Ferdinand, Anne, Maria Christina, Catherine Renata, Elisabeth, Ferdinand, Charles, Gregoria Maximiliana, Maximilian Ernest, Margaret, Leopold, Constance, Maria Magdalena and Charles. Like all her siblings, Eleanor suffered from the famous Habsburg inferior lip. She was regarded as intelligent but moody, due mainly to her frail health after she suffered from smallpox in her childhood. Eleanor, Gregoria Maximiliana and Margaret were prospective brides for the future King Philip III of Spain. However, after the portraits of the three sisters were sent to Spain, Eleanor was not selected; the King ended up choosing Margaret. After this, she was involved in several marriage projects in Italy, but none of them came to fruition. Finally, together with her sister Maria Christina (who returned to Austria after her disa...

Afonso was born on 21 August 1643, in Lisbon; he was the second son of King João IV of Portugal and his wife, Luísa de Guzmán. When Afonso was born, he was only an Infante of Portugal and was not destined to be King; that was going to be the role of his older brother, the brilliant Prince Teodósio of Braganza. Unlike his siblings (Teodósio, Joana, Catarina and Pedro), Afonso spent his childhood and youth in Lisbon. When he was 3 or 4 years old, he fell ill with a fever that paralysed the right side of his body and left him mentally unstable. On 13 May 1653, Teodósio died, and Joana became the heir to the throne. However, this arrangement didn't last long, as Joana died on 17 November of the same year, leaving Afonso as the heir. In 1656, King João IV died and Afonso, aged just 13, became King of Portugal. His age didn't allow him to govern and his mental abilities were doubtful at best, so Queen Luísa assumed the regency. She remained in this position for six yea...

Maria Sophia Elisabeth was born on 6 August 1666 at the Schloss Benrath, outside Düsseldorf. She was daughter of Philip William, Count Palatine of Neuburg, and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1685, Maria Sophia's father became Elector Palatine, an inheritance that greatly benefitted he family's status. Maria Sophia's sister, Eleonore Magdalena married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, due to the family's reputation as producing fertile women. After two marriages, Leopold I had no male heirs; Eleonore Magdalena quickly fulfilled her duty and gave birth to two sons. A similar succession crisis was occurring in Portugal. Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira, heiress to the throne and sole daughter of King Pedro II, was childless and had been refused by most European sovereigns due to her sickly nature and strict Portuguese succession rights. As a result, the Portuguese ambassador was sent to Heidelberg to ask for the hand of Maria Sophia for his King. The marria...

Galileo Galilei was born on 15 February 1565, in Pisa. He was the first of six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer and music theorist, and Giulia Galilei. Galileo became an accomplished lutenist himself and learned early from his father a scepticism for established authority, the value of quantified experimentation, as well as the results expected from a combination of mathematics and experiment. When Galileo was 8, the family moved to Florence, but he was left with Jacopo Borghini for two years. He was educated in the Vallombrosa Abbey. Despite being a genuinely pious Catholic, Galileo fathered three children out of wedlock: Virginia (born in 1600), Livia (born 1601) and Vincenzo (born in 1606). Because of their illegitimate birth, Galileo considered his daughters unmarriageable: they were accepted by the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri, where they became nuns. Vincenzo was later legitimised as the legal heir. Although Galileo considered being a pri...

Catherine Henrietta (Portuguese: Catarina Henriqueta) was born on 25 November 1638, in Vila Viçosa, Portugal. She was the second surviving daughter of João, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife, Luísa de Guzmán. She had two older siblings, Teodósio and Joana, and two younger brothers, Afonso and Pedro. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King João IV of Portugal, on 1 December 1640. With her father's new position as one of Europe's most important monarchs, Catherine became a prime choice for a wife. She was proposed as a bride for John of Austria, François de Vendôme, Louis XIV of France, and Charles II of England. Commonly regarded as the power behind the throne, Queen Luísa was also a devoted mother and she took an active interest in her children's upbringing; she personally supervised Catherine's education. It is believed Catherine spent most of her youth in a convent close by the royal palace, where she remained under her mothe...