the Mad:
--" . . . The successive deaths of so many people from her entourage deeply affected her already fragile disposition, and the troubles caused by the French Revolution, during which her cousin Marie-Antoinette was sent to the guillotine, only served to make her mental state worse. Suffering from insomnia, panic attacks and hallucinations, she was no longer capable of ruling, and it was her son, João, who took over the role of the country’s Regent from 1792. This is why she was better known as 'Maria the Mad' in Brazil, whereas the Portuguese put more stress on her extreme devoutness by giving her the nickname 'Maria the Pious'." (Ventieghem, National Bank of Belgium Museum)
--"Her madness was first officially noticed in 1786 when Maria had to be carried back to her apartments in a state of delirium. The queen's mental state became increasingly worse. The year of 1786 saw her husband lose his life in May. Maria was devastated and forbade any court entertainments and according to a contemporary, the state festivities resembled religious ceremonies. Her state worsened after the death of her eldest son, aged 27, from smallpox, and of her confessor, in 1791. After the end of 1791, her mental state seemed to be turning to even worse. In February 1792, she was deemed as mentally insane and was treated by Francis Willis, the same physician who attended George III of the United Kingdom. Willis wanted to take her to England, but that was refused by the Portuguese court. The young prince John took over the government in her name, even though he only took the title of Prince Regent in 1799. When the Real Barraca de Ajuda burnt down in 1794, the court was forced to move to Queluz where the ill queen would lie in her apartments all day and visitors would complain of terrible screams that would echo throughout the palace." (Wikipedia)
the Pious:
the Good Mother: "Maria II is remembered as a good mother and a kind person, who always acted according to her convictions in the attempt to help her country. She was later given the surname 'The Good Mother.'" (Wikipedia)
Maria of Cleves, Princesse de Conde.
Maria of Georgia
the Alan
In Byzantine sources Maria is invariably known as 'the Alan'. This was presumably because of her mother Borena's origins, as 'the Iberian' or even 'the Abasgian' would have been the more common Greek usage. Anna Comnena was close to Maria and does not indicate that Maria objected to the nickname. Apart from Maria's relative, Constantine IX's mistress, there is no other prominent instance of 'Alan' having been used for 'Iberian'. Byzantine and Islamic writers usually describe contemporary Georgian rulers as the monarchs of the Ap'xaz (Greek: Abasgians) or Iberians. Only John Tzetzes, himself Georgian on his mother's side, labels Maria as 'of Abasgia'. In his poetic commentary the Chiliades (lines 591-601) he explains that Iberians (Georgians), Abasgians and Alans are all one people. His grandmother was herself an 'Abasgian' and a relative of Maria of Alania (not a servant, he insists), who came to Byzantium with her and was later to become the second wife of the sebastus Constantine, grand droungarius and nephew of the patriarch Michael Cerularius. Maria may have been a Georgian princess, but in fact her homeland and royal parentage cut little ice with the Byzantines as a whole. Michael Psellus in his Chronographia speaks vaguely of the wealth and antiquity of her family, without even bothering to name her country of origin, even though Maria was the godmother of Psellus' grandson by his adopted daughter. Elsewhere he comments that 'the kingdom of Alania was not particularly distinguished in itself, nor had it any great prestige: indeed, it regularly supplied pledges of loyalty, such as hostages, to the Byzantine empire'. The Continuator of Scylitzes simply calls her an 'Alan', while Bryennius, who describes her as the daughter of Bagrat, ruler of the Iberians, is the most accurate in his terminology, perhaps because he was the husband of Anna Comnena who had been intimately acquainted with Maria and her son Constantine. Anna herself avoids any discussion of Maria's background, as does Theophylact in his educational treatise written for her son Constantine (Oratio 4; Gautier 1.184): though royal, her non-Greek, 'barbarian' background was seen as better glossed over even by her admirers. Clearly, while the Byzantines could feel positive esteem for the rulers of western European kingdoms, Maria's Georgian background was considered somewhat of a disadvantage: in contrast, the lament in 949 for the young Frankish princess Bertha-Eudocia, the illegitimate daughter of Hugo of Provence, king of Italy (927-947) and bride of Romanus II, who had been brought to Constantinople but died before the marriage was consummated, speaks of her as coming 'from the peoples of Europe, even from those distinguished and famous for both splendour of birth and greatness of power, and possessing the thriving and most fertile of the Italian lands'." (De Imperatoribus Romanis)
"Any discussion of Komnenian empresses has to commence with a consideration of Maria of Georgia, or Maria 'the Alan' as she was generally known by contemporaries, for it was Maria who was one of the two women responsible for bringing Alexios Komnenos to the throne. Originally called Martha, Maria was a daughter of the Georgian king Bagrat IV (1027-72), and married Michael VII Doukas probably before the death of his father Constantine Doukas. While the reasons behind the break with tradition can only be conjured, Maria was only the second empress in the eleventh century to be chosen from outside the empire's borders: in fact, every wife selected for a Byzantine senior emperor or heir to the throne after Constantine V's first wife Irene came from a Byzantine family, though Byzantine princesses had been sent abroad; the other exception was Bertha, daughter of Hugh of Provence, who married Romanos II. . . ." (Garland. Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527-1204: 180)
the Marchioness (Fr. la Marquise)
Maria d'Avalos, Principessa da Venosa.
the Beautiful Death-Bringer (It. il Morte Bell):
the Saint.
the Spanish Althann: " . . . Marianna Pignatelli-Beliguardo (later Countess Althann and known universally as the 'Spanish Althann'), as she proved a reminder of his Spanish connection. . . ." (Monarchy and Exile: 79)
he Most Beautiful Woman in Germany (by contemporaries)
the Aspasia of the North:
Donnafugata (the woman who fled): "In Sicily, Maria Carolina came to be known as “ ‘a Donnafugata” – the woman who’d fled from Naples to escape the French troops." (The Story of Donnafugata @Esplora Travel)
Doña Virtudes: ". . . One of Maria Cristina's contemporaries said that she 'never lets you forget that she is Queen.' The widowed regent also gained the nickname 'Doña Virtudes, meant as a compliment by some, a sneer by others.' . . . ."(Born to Rule)
the Good Regent
the Aspasia of the North.
Maria Eugenia Lopes de Paiva.
La Paiva.
Maria Josepha of Saxony, Queen of Spain
la Inapetente
the Rich Lady (Sp. la Rica Hembra)
the Stout Girl (Lat. Fortis Virgo): "'Fortis virgo' (stout girl!) was not unapt appellation for Maria of Parma. She was plain, vicious, and resolute; and was possessed of such influence, that her husband thought her fair, deemed her reproachless, and fancied he ruled her. . . ." (Doran: 289)
the Witch (Sp. la Bruja)
the Child
Big Bow Wow
the Little Pair (with sister Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia): Maria Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Maria Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia---"Maria and her younger sister Anastasia were often referred to as ‘the Little Pair,’ sharing a room and dressing similarly for special occasions when they wore variations of the same outfit."
Maria Pavlovna of Russia (the elder), Duchess of Mecklenburg
the Grandest of the Grand Duchesses, the widow of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
la Contemporaine.
No comments:
Post a Comment