Today's Princess: Bonne of Luxembourg

An illustration of Bonne and John, from her illuminated
prayer book, which is now in the collection of the
Metropolitan Museum of New York.
via Wikimedia Commons

The intertwining and shifting allegiances of 14th century Europe explain why a Bohemian princess named Jutta born 700+ years ago is remembered as Bonne of Luxembourg (1315-1349). Although born in Prague as the daughter of the King of Bohemia, she was of the house of Luxembourg. (Her father was a Luxembourgish prince who gained the throne through marriage to a Bohemian princess.) When the French king Philip VI selected her as the bride of his heir--passing over an English princess, which might have been politically wiser--the French decided to translate her "odd" central European name. The closest they could come was the feminized version of the French word for "good" and so she is remembered as Bonne of Luxumbourg (or Good of Luxembourg) while her husband is remembered as Jean le Bon (or John the Good).

The marriage brought military support to France in its continuing wars against England. In fact, Bonne's father died fighting for France at the Battle of Crecy even though he had been blind for many years.

She was 16 at their marriage and he just 13. Their youth perhaps explains the childless first years of their marriage. When they finally started having princelings, however, they produced them in rapid succession: 11 children in as many years. Although several died young, several also grew to prominence including the future King Charles VI of France, Louis I of Naples, John Duke of Berry, Philip II Duke of Burgundy, and Jeanne Queen Consort of Navarre.

When she wasn't too busy having children, Bonne was a renowned support of music and the arts. Today, her prayer book, The Psalter of Bonne of Luxembourg, remains an excellent example of the illuminated manuscripts of the day. It is now in the collection of Metropolitan Museum of New York.

With a questionable claim to the French throne--based on denying women or their descendants from the throne--Bonne's Valois husband and father-in-law were almost constantly at war against the English, who felt they had a stronger claim to the French throne. While John was fighting in the Hundred Years' War, Bonne continued to grow the dynasty. Her wealth and royal status could not protect her against one of the greatest killers of the age. She was one of 50 million victims of the Black Death. She was 34.

Five months later her husband married the widow of the Duke of Burgundy. Six months after that, he became King of France.

Book Review: Princes at War

Deborah Cadbury's latest tome seeks to follow-up with the aftermath of 1936 abdication and its marketers hope to build on the popularity of the award-winning film, The King's Speech, to help propel interest. Unlike the movie, however, Princes at War, focuses on all four royal brothers, albeit somewhat unequally. It is perhaps natural that a group bio would spend more time on the two more "important" brothers, but I'm always excited to get to learn more about the less well-known royals.

The book has several strengths: moments of vivid narrative, a re-examination of the motives of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (Wallis apologists will not be pleased), and a fairly detailed overview of World War II in Britain.

However, I wanted more royal brothers--and their royal wives (this is a blog about royal ladies, after all)--than war history. We get a very quick peek at the incredibly adventurous life of the Duchess of Gloucester before her wedding, and the many war-induced stresses within the family of the Duchess of Kent. But, I could not get enough stories like the Gloucesters' harrowing voyage to Australia and the impact of the Duke of Kent's war-time death. Maybe I'm just "over" the Windsors to be terribly impressed by the incredible amount of effort that Cadbury expended in researching and writing about them. Despite "new" sources, the Windsors' story has been re-hashed so many times that it just doesn't feel all that new to me.

On the other hand, I quite enjoyed much of Cadbury's narrative style. At the beginning, she drops the reader smack in the middle of the Abdication Crisis, employing a technique often used in fiction and creative nonfiction. It is an enticing morsel that makes the reader want to come back for more. Similar morsels are sprinkled throughout the book--I particularly enjoyed her vivid recounting of the D-Day invasion. Other parts of the book are less dynamic in their presentation, even occasionally a bit dry.

Cadbury draws upon new source material, which provides some new insights into the motivations of and relationships between the brothers, particularly regarding the eldest, King Edward VIII (aka the Duke of Windsor) and the youngest, the Duke of Kent. She uses these sources to help flesh out some familiar themes: the hostility of the Royal Family toward Wallis Simpson the Duchess of Windsor, the high-flying early adulthood of the Duke of Kent, and the alleged Nazi sympathies of the Windsors. At points, especially early in the book, she relies a bit too heavily on the letters of royal friend Betty Lawton-Johnson.

She does provide insights on the initially tentative but ultimately powerful relationship between George VI and Winston Churchill; very interesting, very good, but separate from the relationships between all four brothers. In general, I wanted more about the familial bonds, tension, and love among all of the family members. The sections about the younger brothers often seem too detached from the overarching theme of brotherhood; their stories are dropped in, more or less chronologically, before Cadbury returns to the more well-addressed conflict between the older two brothers and the overall progress of the war in Britain.

It is a somewhat short book, an easy and enjoyable read, and it includes some lively details that I have not seen elsewhere. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the British Royal Family. It definitely leaves me hungry for more. If her next book is about the Gloucesters and the Kents, sign me up for an early edition!

Return of the Prodigal Bride

At long last, I am returning to "normal" life after spending the last several months preparing for my wedding and helping my new husband manage his late mother's estate. Now, I will have time to blog again! Rejoice!!

All of those hours, days, and weeks of planning proved worthwhile--we have received rave reviews from our guests, from the vendors we hired, and from the venues. Ed (@savagetechman) wanted a wedding to remember and I made sure he got one.

Like many royal weddings, our wedding party consisted entirely of children. We had four sibling groups, all children or grandchildren of our closest friends, plus Ed's soon-to-be 15-year-old nephew served as the best man. My maid of honor is only nine, but she gave an incredible speech. Of course, to satisfy the Catholic Church, we also had a couple of adults (my sister and his cousin) serve as the official witnesses.

Ed held his bachelor party with his buds at a restaurant designed for gamers and geeks, while my "hen night" was a morning at the salon getting manis and pedis for all seven of my little bridesmaids and their mothers. (The salon we selected had Hello Kitty! chairs for the girls.) With so many youngsters, we adopted the theme of "Princesses and Superheroes" for the wedding rehearsal so that they would have more fun as we worked through the ceremony. Afterward, we took a group of 40 to our favorite Japanese hibachi restaurant where we had four chefs competing against each other to provide us with a better show. During the wedding, my wheelchair bound father "rolled" me down the aisle, my veil was converted from my mother's wedding train, Ed wore his late father's wedding ring and gave me his grandmother's wedding ring. We also married on what would have been his parents' 53rd wedding anniversary. (By the way, getting married on a Tuesday evening can yield some much-needed savings!)

At the reception, I indulged Ed's love for Star Wars by having his friends welcome him with a light saber honor guard and (his big surprise) I brought in a balloon performance artist to create a life-size Darth Vader for him to duel. (Check out No Ordinary Balloon Man.) Finally, since the reception venue used to be a showroom for Packard automobiles, we hired a classic Packard as our transportation for the evening. Then, we retired to an historic inn overlooking our historic riverfront before running away to the mountains for an adventure-filled honeymoon.

Our wedding videographer, who called our reception "the best wedding reception in the history of the world," created this fabulous hi-lite video for us.



If you are in Savannah or you would like to have a destination wedding in our beautiful and historic city, I highly recommend all of our vendors and venues:
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
British Pie Society
Miyabi's
Bryson Hall
Old Harbour Inn
Danielle Debien Photography
Craig Harney, TV producer & videographer
Chef Nick of Mahgniffe Catering (a dear high school friend!)
VIP Entertainment (ask for Dewayne)
No Ordinary Balloon Man
Timeless Motorcoaches
Stitch Savannah
(My flowers were done by my sister as a gift, but she is not a professional)