Dr Jonathan Spangler

Ah, oh well.

Say hi if you pass through Manchester.

Lannoy: A Quintessentially Belgian Noble House The new Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, born Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, comes from an old noble family from the Low Countries. The House of Lannoy is one of the most distinguished noble houses in B…

To follow on from last week’s post on the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg, here’s a new post on the family of the new Grand Duchess, Stephanie de Lannoy: dukesandprinces.org/2025/10/09/l...

Theirs For Ever: Marie Antoinette and The Hand Over Ceremony On 7 May 1770, the fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette, already Dauphine by proxy, approached an island near Kehl on the River Rhine in which she would be formally given to France. It represented the c...

Check out the latest 'The Court Observer' blog post titled "Theirs For Ever: Marie Antoinette and The Hand Over Ceremony" by Elizabeth Jane Timms!

Read on to discover how Marie Antoinette officially became the Dauphine of France in May 1770.

courtstudies.hypotheses.org/1570

Ohvthe trauma of being a royal child at a public event! #Luxembourg 🇱🇺

Happening right now. Livestream on government.lu

Nassau-Weilburg and Luxembourg: one of Europe’s oldest princely dynasties on one of its newest thrones On 3 October 2025, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, abdicated his throne in favour of his eldest son, Crown Prince Guillaume. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as an independent sovereign state has onl…

Today, 3 October, the Grand Duke of #Luxembourg abdicates in favour of his son #Guillaume. Here's the story of a 'double dynasty', both #Nassau-Weilburg and Bourbon-Parma. How did they come to be joined together? #abdication #monarchy dukesandprinces.org/2025/10/03/n...

Today at 10am on BBC Radio 4 you can hear the 28 minute radio edit of You’re Dead To Me about Queen Marie Antoinette of France, featuring comedian Jen Brister and our expert Professor Kate Astbury @100days1815.bsky.social

The 57 minute version is also on BBC SOUNDS

Kent—From Saxon Kingdom to Royal Dukedom Kent is one of the most familiar names for an English county—but also unique in that it is one of the few that are never appended ‘-shire’ when giving historic names. It is also said to be one of t…

Today's news is about the death of the Duchess of Kent. Here's a bit of context of this very ancient English county and titles associated with it, from the Saxon and Norman conquests to Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. dukesandprinces.org/2025/09/05/k... RIP Katherine Kent, lover of tennis and music!

Dukes of Castries: the Wealth of the Mediterranean comes to Versailles In ancient times there was a road, the Via Domitia, built by the Romans to bring soldiers and trade across the Alps from Italy into southern Gaul, then south to Spain. Cities and towns along this r…

dukesandprinces.org/2025/08/29/d...

Excited to share the first volume in a new series by @brepols.net , organised by Fabian Persson and me. This book survived Covid and two pregnancies...!

Very excited to get this book in the mail today! I'm looking forward to reading it. Congrats to Zita! #queenship #france

SCS is happy to announce it has awarded the 2025 Early Career essay prize to Dr Elizabeth Hines.

Her essay, “How to Pawn the Crown Jewels” demonstrates how Charles I was able to use his networks with agents in the Dutch Republic to raise badly needed funds by pawning items

Dukes of Cleveland: Two FitzRoys and Several Vanes One of the least known dukedoms in the peerages of Great Britain is that of Cleveland. After starting off as a title for one of the most famous duchesses in Europe, Barbara Villiers, the second and…

Today #dukesandprinces revisits Raby Castle in County Durham, home to the Dukes of Cleveland of the Vane family, a title previously held by a son and grandson of King Charles II and Lady Castlemaine (the FitzRoys).
dukesandprinces.org/2025/07/30/d...

The Leslies: Just one Duke of Rothes but many generals in Scotland, Russia and Austria ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow’, is perhaps a fitting introduction to the family history of Rose Leslie, an actress famous for playing Ygritte the Wildling in Game of Thrones. Snow did in fact know no…

Clan Leslie may only have one duke (of Rothes), but its history spans from medieval Scottish lords in Garioch and Fife, to an Austrian field marshal who murdered Wallenstein, to a Russian general, an Irish 'fighting bishop', and the actress Rose Leslie. dukesandprinces.org/2025/06/23/t...

(And I also once met the heir to the Rusdian throne in a Blockhusters in Oxford , but that was less pleasant)

I was shopping at a mall in Northern Virginia and noticed this very tall handsome stranger looking at the same sweaters I was. I went all mushy inside then noticed it was the Prince of Asturias, now the King of Spain.

I walked in on Sigourney Weaver in a changing room (normally a bathroom) in the Puck Building where I worked in New York. The famous photo shoot space was at the other end of our corridor. She didn't seem particularly bothered...

Today in St Andrews, conference on Louis XIV and the provinces. Here, Stanislas Zagun looks at the Duc de Gramont as provincial governor. #FrenchHistory

The MacCarthys—Irish kings to princes … to dukes? Ireland did not have dukes and princes created by emperors or kings in the manner of other European kingdoms in the medieval and early modern ages. There were a few dukedoms (Ormond, Leinster, Aber…

For #dukesandprinces Sunday evening, read how Ireland has native princes too: the MacCarthy princes of Desmond, Carbery and Muskerry. Even an ephemeral 'duc de Montcashel' in the Jacobite peerage? dukesandprinces.org/2025/06/02/t...

I love going to academic conferences now where all you can hear is the tap tap tapping of younger people and their laptops, and not the speaker...

Wouldn't it be great to have a historical drama set in early 17th-century Spain with Bella Ramsey playing Queen Margarita? The resemblance is uncanny--she definitely has a Habsburg lower jaw.

Wouldn't it be great to have a historical drama set in early 17th-century Spain with Bella Ramsey playing Queen Margarita? The resemblance is uncanny--she definitely has a Habsburg lower jaw.

The registration deadline for the @kingjamesconf.bsky.social is quickly approaching! It promises to be a great conference with lots of Royal Studies scholars presenting and in attendance! All information is below 👇

I'm writing a short piece about medieval Irish native nobility. Anyone on here a specialist? I'd like to confirm usage of some specialist words.

We're actually slightly overwhelmed by the number of proposals!

Pleased to share that the first books of the new 'Courts and Courtiers' series from Brepols will soon emerge! Oskar Rojewski's monograph about Sittow, court painter to Isabella of Castile; and a collection of essays about Habsburg royal brothers, wives and bastards! www.brepols.net/products/IS-...

Dukes of Medina Sidonia: Virtual kings of Andalusia One of the wealthiest and most powerful aristocratic families in Spain are the dukes of Medina Sidonia. With their base in the Andalusian seaport town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, huge estates across …

Inspired by my Andalusian adventure: Dukes of Medina Sidonia, oldest ducal title in Spain: includes a commander of the Armada in 1588, a queen of Portugal in the 1650s, a Carlist diplomat in the 1830s, and an anti-francoist 'Red Duchess' in the 1960s. dukesandprinces.org/2025/05/05/d...

So....naturally the main attraction for me at Seville Cathedral, the royal chapel with royal tombs, looks like this, no explanation, nothing. Thanks a lot.

Today we visit the Casa de Pilatos, residence of dukes of Medinaceli