Cat's Historical Doodles

Jane was born circa 1508, probably at Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth. Jane was not as highly educated as the two first wives of King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn . She could read and write a little but was much more proficient at needlework and household management, considered much more important for women. She became a maid-of-honour in 1532 to Queen Catherine but may have served her as early as 1527. Jane went on to serve Queen Anne as lady-in-waiting. The first report of the King’s interest in Jane was in February 1536, three months before Anne Boleyn’s execution. Jane was highly praised for her gentle and peaceful nature. She was referred to as gentle a lady as I ever knew by John Russell, and was nicknamed the Pacific by the Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, for her peace-making efforts. Chapuys described her as of middling stature and very pale; he also said she was not of much beauty. H...

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...

Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle; he was the twelfth of thirteen children of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and his wife Cecily Neville. Richard was born at the beginning of what is called the Wars of the Roses, a period of three or four decades of political instability and open civil war in the second half of the 15th century. It opposed Richard's father and his supporters (the Yorkists) and King Henry VI, Queen Margaret of Anjou and their supporters (the Lancastrians). When his father and elder brother Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield, Richard (aged 8) and his brother George were sent to the Low Countries. They returned to England after the defeat of the Lancastrians at the battle of Towton. In June 1461, their eldest brother was crowned King Edward IV of England. Richard received the title of Duke of Gloucester and was made a Knight of the Garter and Knight of the Bath. Richard spent several years of his childhood at...

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...

Pedro de Alcântara Maria Fernando Miguel Rafael Gonzaga Xavier João António Leopoldo Vitor Francisco de Assis Júlio Amélio was born on 16 September 1837, in Lisbon. He was the eldest son of Queen Maria II of Portugal , and her husband, Ferdinand II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. As the eldest son of the monarch, Pedro was the heir apparent to the throne and was titled Prince Royal (Príncipe Real). Although he was very young when he became King of Portugal (just 16 years old!), Pedro was considered by many as an exemplary monarch. He reconciled the people with the royal family, after his mother's reign had been borne of a civil war. His father played a very important role in the beginning of Pedro's reign, serving as regent and advising the young King. Pedro is often described as a socially conscious king due to his education, which included community-related work and a wide knowledge of the European continent. He also studied sciences and philosophy and was fluent in G...

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...

Süleyman bin Selim was born on 6 November 1494 in Trabzon; he was the son of Şehzade Selim (later Sultan Selim I) and his concubine, Hafsa Sultan. At the age of 7, Süleyman was sent to study in the schools of Topkapı Palace, in Constantinople. As a young man, he befriended Pargalı İbrahim, a slave who would become his most trusted adviser. From the age of 17, Süleyman was appointed governor of Kaffa, and then Manisa. Upon the death of Sultan Selim I, Süleyman entered Constantinople and ascended to the throne as the 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He immediately began a series of military conquests - in 1521, he conquered Belgrade, something his great-grandfather Mehmed II had failed to do. In the summer of 1522, the Sultan dispatched an armada of 400 to the island of Rhodes, while personally leading an army of 180000 across Asia Minor to a point opposite the island itself. Following the brutal 5-month Siege of Rhodes, the island capitulated and Süleyman allowed the Catho...