Hapsburgs Archives - Anna Belfrage

Anna and Maria – Holy Roman Empresses that took their procreating duty seriously!

Anna Belfrage / May 25, 2025 / Leave a Comment / Historical People, Women in history, Writing / 16th century, Anna of Bohemia, Charles V, Ferdinand I, Hapsburgs, Holy Roman Emperor, kissing cousins, Maria of Spain, Maximilian Hapsburg, Religious upheaval

It has been quite some time since I indulged in my fascination with the Hapsburgs, this once so powerful family that controlled most of Catholic Europe and preferred to marry very close kin—which, eventually, led to disaster, at least for the Spanish Hapsburgs. But the Hapsburgs weren’t always an inbred dynasty on the brink of […]

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When Isabella of Austria became Elisabeth of Denmark – the story of a young queen

Anna Belfrage / May 6, 2023 / Leave a Comment / Historical People, Women in history / 16th century, Denmark, Elisabeth of Denmark, Emperor Charles V, Hapsburgs, Isabella of Austria, Kristian II of Denmark, reformation

In Sweden, Kristian II of Denmark has the not-so-flattering epithet ”the tyrant”. After all, it was because of his duplicity that the streets of Stockholm ran red with blood one cold November night in 1520 as one after another of the Swedish nobles who’d fought against Danish dominion were summarily executed. In Denmark, obviously, he

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Glory and Gore Galore – the fascinating 17th century & an upcoming blog event

Anna Belfrage / September 25, 2020 / 3 Comments / historical fiction, History, Writing / 17th century, blog event, fascinated by a time period, Gustav II Adolf, Hapsburgs, historical fiction, historical fiction writers, historical inspiration, men in ruffles and lace, religious strife, The Graham Saga

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by history. A lot of time during my childhood was spent (rather futilely) attempting to find a way to travel back in time, to eras where heroism was rife, where honour and integrity were taken for granted. Yes, yes, a very romanticised view on our

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A series of Hapsburg Doñas

Anna Belfrage / July 10, 2018 / Leave a Comment / Historical People, Women in history, Writing / A beloved daughter, Carlos V, Female Jesuit, Hapsburgs, Margaret of Austria, Mary of Austria, Power-ladies

By now, the regular followers of my blog know I a) have a thing about strong women b) am very interested in the Hapsburgs. (I am also somewhat crazy about the medieval period and the seventeenth century, but as today’s post has NOTHING to do with these periods, I am glossing over these addictions of

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What is in a name? Of Don Carlos, in various incarnations

Anna Belfrage / September 16, 2015 / 5 Comments / Historical People, History, Human life / 16th century, 17th century, Black legend, Carlos I, Carlos II, Don Carlos, Hapsburgs, Spain of the Austrians

Being named Carlos was not really a good thing if you were a Spanish Hapsburg – well with the exception of the first, namely Carlos I of Spain. But this Carlos was not really Spanish. Yes, his mother was Spanish – the woman known to history as Juana la Loca or Joanna the Mad –

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My dearest cousin and husband – of a Spanish queen

Anna Belfrage / September 5, 2015 / 8 Comments / Historical People, History, Human life, Reflections / 17th century, Hapsburgs, interbreeding, kissin' cousins, Margaret of Austria, Philip III, Spain

It strikes me, sometimes, just how short the lives of some historical people were. Take, for example, Margaret of Austria. Who? Exactly: who? Well, for one thing she was the mother of Philip IV of Spain. She was also her son’s third cousin – on multiple sides. When her son went on to marry his

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From major to minor – A Bohemian Rhapsody

Anna Belfrage / August 29, 2015 / 2 Comments / Historical People, History, Human life, Writing / 17th century, Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, Frederick Count Palatine, Hapsburgs, Prince Rupert, Thirty Years' War

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Elizabeth Stuart, princess of Scotland and England, daughter to James VI & I and his Danish queen, Anne. Like her younger brother, Charles, Elizabeth was destined for a life of tragic adventure, but fortunately this was something she was totally unaware of during her childhood. As an added boon, she never

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Niece, cousin and wife rolled into one – meet Mariana

Anna Belfrage / May 14, 2015 / 9 Comments / Historical People, History, Human life, Writing / 17th century, Carlos II, Felipe IV, Hapsburgs, inbreeding, Mariana of Austria, Spain, The Golden Age, uncle-niece marriages

After far too many posts outside of my favourite era, I feel an urge to return ”home”. The 17th century beckons, and I long for men in breeches and coats, lace collars and cuffs, for women with covering skirts, with their hair tucked out of sight. I long for the swaggering of young musketeers, for

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Christina of Denmark – an exiled princess who never came home

Anna Belfrage / September 3, 2013 / 14 Comments / Historical People, Human life, Writing / 16th century, Christina of Denmark, Hapsburgs, Marriage alliances, royal bloodlines, strong women

“If I had two heads, I would gladly give him one,” Christina of Denmark is supposed to have quipped, when Henry VIII was proposed as a future bridegroom. This particular young woman had no desire to end up as one of the English king’s discarded wives – especially not as so many of them ended

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