Favorite Royal Images: An Italian Princess

HRH Princess Mafalda of Italy, Landgravine of Hesse

Royal Saint: Princess Elizabeth of Hesse

The lady now known as Saint Elizabeth Romanova began her life as Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Louise of Hesse and by Rhine. She was born on November 1, 1864, the fourth child of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of Great Britain. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria (like a great many European royals at the time) and was never after St Elizabeth of Hungary. She was known as “Ella” among her family growing up. She was raised in very modest surroundings compared to what most people today imagine for royals in the 19^th Century. She swept her own floors, wore homemade clothes and so on. Because of her mother, her first language was English and also because of her mother she was exposed, at a very early age, to caring for others. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 her mother took the little Princess with her to military hospitals to care for the wounded soldiers and she was impressed early on with the understanding that, as a royal and simply as a Christian, she had a duty to care for those around her.

As she grew older Princess Elizabeth became known as one of the most famous beauties of the royal world. In no time at all royal bachelors from all across Europe were practically standing in line to call on her. The future German Kaiser Wilhelm II was positively crushed with grief when she did not return his affections. She was a very religious, serious young lady, kind and not taken at all with splendor, grandiosity or big talk. The man she finally did fall for was Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, who was a good match, being rather shy, humble and a devotedly pious son of the Orthodox faith. The two had known each other for years as they would often accompany their mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, on her visits to Germany to see her Hessian relatives, including Princess Elizabeth who was the Empress’ great-niece. In their youth, the Princess had not been greatly impressed by Grand Duke Sergei who seemed aloof to the charming girl, but when the Princess matured she certainly caught the attention of the young Romanov and the boy who had once seemed cold and distant became a handsome young man whose sincerity and deep faith impressed Elizabeth.

The two became close after the tragic deaths of Empress Maria in 1880 and Emperor Alexander II in 1881. Princess Elizabeth had lost her mother to diphtheria in 1879, so she could sympathize with what Sergei was enduring. Each understood the pain of the other, comforted each other and were drawn closer together because of it. They had similar cultural interests, a mutual love of art and each respected the religious faith of the other. Still, it took more than one proposal before the Hessian princess consented to marry the Romanov Grand Duke. The two were married on June 15, 1894 at the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. There were no laws requiring that royal brides take the faith of their husbands and, in their first years of marriage, the new Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia continued to be a Lutheran. She was not the sort of person to abandon Lutheranism for the sake of appearances; she sincerely believed in it. However, over time, certainly with the example of her husband helping, she became convinced of the beauty and authenticity of the Orthodox faith and in 1891 decided to formally convert and join the Russian Orthodox Church. The rest of her life would be an example of sincere Orthodox devotion, leaving positively no room for speculation as to her motivations.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Grand Duke Sergei were very happy together, all the more after being fully united in the Orthodox faith. However, the couple were unable to ever have any children but they made up for the lack of children of their own by caring for those of others. They served as foster parents for their niece and nephew Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (who later married into the Swedish Royal Family) and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (who was later involved in the death of Rasputin). The couple also frequently hosted parties at their estate for local children. This was, likely, not only due to their lack of children of their own but also because they refused to associate with much of the fashionable high society because of their disapproval of the immoral way in which so many of these people behaved. Still, they were very popular with Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria, the represented the Romanov dynasty at the Golden Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria and undertook other official travels for the imperial court.

It was a happy and very well ordered life the Grand Duchess had when tragedy struck in 1905 when a socialist revolutionary assassinated Grand Duke Sergei with a bomb. It was the most gruesome scene imaginable with most of the body being destroyed completely. Grand Duchess Elizabeth, ever the dutiful royal, suppressed her emotions at first, remaining calm and seemingly in a daze while visitors came to offer their sympathies. Finally, however, her grief came pouring out and many feared she would suffer a complete emotional breakdown. Thankfully, this did not happen, and in such a time of intense trial, the Grand Duchess turned herself completely over to God. She forgave the murderer of her husband and was concerned only that he repent of his crime, offering to intercede with Tsar Nicholas II on his behalf if only he would do so. He did not. The Grand Duchess decided to enter the religious life. She became a vegetarian, sold off all of her worldly possessions and built the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow in 1908, becoming its abbess. Her hope was to found a new religious order for women from all walks of life who would be devoted to prayer and serving the poor.

The Grand Duchess was a tireless angel of mercy, taking in and caring for local orphans, visiting the most destitute districts of Moscow and giving aid to the least of society wherever there was need. In quick succession in the following years her growing order built a hospital, orphanage and pharmacy on the convent grounds. All who came in contact with her were touched by her charity and selfless compassion. During World War I the Grand Duchess and her sisters worked tirelessly nursing wounded Russian soldiers, earning the affection of all, but doing so for the glory of God. They carried on their work of mercy as revolution swept away the Russian Empire and as the Bolsheviks swept away the provisional government that replaced it. Finally, the end came in 1918 when the new Soviet dictatorship determined to wipe out every Romanov they could get their hands on. Lenin ordered her arrest and she was taken away along with other prisoners by the Soviet secret police. A short time later, on July 18, 1918 the group was thrown down a pit near a mine some 20 meters deep. A grenade was tossed down after them to ensure no one survived. However, guards reported hearing the Grand Duchess leading the others in singing an Orthodox hymn after which another grenade was tossed into the pit but the singing still continued. Finally brush was piled over the top of the pit and set on fire.

A short time later the forces of the White Army arrived and recovered the remains of the Grand Duchess and her fellow victims. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, they found proof that the Grand Duchess had survived the fall for she had been bandaging one of the others, Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, before her death. Even in her very final minutes of life she had been comforting others. Her remains were taken out of Russia and buried in Jerusalem, which she had visited previously, in the Church of Maria Magdalene. It was a tragedy but not quite the end of the story. In 1926 the Convent of Sts Martha and Mary was closed down by the Communist authorities but in 1981 the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia canonized the Grand Duchess as a saint. In 1992 her status as a martyr was also recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow. In 1992 the chapel she built to Sts Martha and Mary was reopened and in 1994 her convent and order was reestablished and continues to do good works today, now also training nurses as part of their mission. In this way the pious example and works of mercy of St Elizabeth Romanova live on and she is venerated around the world by Orthodox Christians for her shining example of duty, devotion, courage and compassion. May she be an example to us all.

Favorite Royal Images: Mafalda of Italy

HRH Princess Mafalda of Italy

MM Video: The Hessians

Monarchist Profile: Baron von Knyphausen

Wilhelm Reichsfreiherr zu Innhausen und Knyphausen was born in Lützberg on November 4, 1716 and was destined from birth for a military career. Most famous for his command of the German mercenaries fighting with the British in the American War for Independence, the ties between the family of von Knyphausen and Great Britain go back much farther as his father had been the colonel of a regiment that had fought alongside the great Lord Marlborough. Wilhelm von Knyphausen joined the Royal Prussian Army in 1735 and eventually, in 1775, attained the rank of lieutenant general, a rank he kept in the army of Hesse-Kassel. When the American War erupted and Britain, as in times past, employed Hessian soldiers to supplement their own forces von Knyphausen was already a veteran of 42 years of military service and of rather advanced age for the time as was his immediate commander Lt. General Leopold Philip von Heister.

Coming to America in 1776 with the second division of German soldiers largely, but certainly not exclusively, from the Hessian states. He led his forces with skill and bravery at the battles of White Plains, Fort Washington, Brandywine, Germantown, Springfield and Monmouth all but one of which were British victories. The first real action he saw in America was at the storming of Fort Washington where he displayed considerable zeal and energy for a man of 60-years-old. Afterwards he was put in command of the Crown forces occupying New York City, a post he held between 1779 and 1780. When General von Heister had a falling out with British General Sir William Howe and went home to Germany in 1777 Lt. General von Knyphausen replaced him as supreme commander of all German forces in America. The German troops (collectively known as Hessians regardless of their origins) were always treated as a separate allied military force commanded by their own officers. Still, British officers were given dormant commissions to ensure that the top command remained in British hands and never fell to von Knyphausen.

Unlike his predecessor, von Knyphausen had a good working relationship with the British who trusted him for his skill and considerable experience at least to the extent they were capable for a foreign soldier. In the assault on Fort Washington the Hessians faced the most difficult sector of the battle but despite the danger, and his years, General von Knyphausen led by example, leading his men in person from the front and tearing at the obstructions with his bare hands and his men struggled up the approach. He and his men were ordered to garrison Trenton, New Jersey the site of one of the more celebrated little victories of the Continental Army and one that greatly demoralized von Heister. General von Knyphausen had sent a word of advice to the commander at Trenton, Colonel Johann Rall to fortify the town in case of attack but his advice went unheeded with disastrous results for the Hessians. Yet, at the battle of Brandywine he held the right flank of the British line, successfully demonstrating to divert rebel attention away from the main British attack.

Knyphausen commanded the vanguard out of Philadelphia for the battle of Monmouth and later was assigned to garrison duty on upper Manhattan Island, holding command of that area when Sir Henry Clinton was engaged elsewhere. However, von Knyphausen suffered a terrible loss the same year as the battle of Monmouth, 1778, the death of his beloved wife. With the British army going more on the defensive, his health deteriorating and suffering the simple effects of old age including creeping blindness from an eye cataract General von Knyphausen finally left America in 1782 having, he said, achieved neither glory nor advancement; a rather humble estimation considering the numerous victories he participated in. He spent his final years as military governor in Kassel where he died on December 7, 1800 respected by his troops and well regarded by his contemporaries.

Historic Day for Finland

It was on this day in 1918 that HRH Prince Frederick Charles of Hessen-Kassel renounced his short-lived title of "King of Finland". Frederick Charles was the son of the Landgrave of Hesse and Princess Anna of Prussia. His ties with royal Europe were extensive, being a cousin of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and the brother-in-law of the German Kaiser after marrying his sister Princess Margaret of Prussia in 1893. He became head of the Hessian royal family in 1884 but was to be better known, perhaps, for his stint as the nominal King of Finland at the end of the First World War. During the conflict Germany enjoyed her greatest success on the eastern front, and there was also some encouragement from the fact that much of that part of the Russian Empire was populated by those known as the "Baltic Germans". As victory over Russia looked more and more certain plans were developed to create a number of new monarchies that would be incorporated into the German Empire, such as the Baltic duchies, under their own German royals. Finland, formerly a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire, was declared an independent kingdom with German support when the Finns broke away from Russia following the revolution. On October 9, 1918 the Finnish Parliament elected Prince Frederick Charles "King of Finland". A model for royal government was drawn up, a Finnish crown was made and Frederick Charles began to make himself familiar with what was to be his new country. Of course, the survival of all of these new monarchies depended, naturally, on German victory in the World War and when it became clear, not long after, that such a thing was impossible the dream of a German-dominated eastern Europe began to fall apart. The nominal Kingdom of Finland held on for slightly longer than the German Empire itself but on December 14, 1918 Frederick Charles abdicated his throne and Finland subsequently adopted a republican constitution.

It was also on this day that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (boo! hiss!) was ejected from the League of Nations because of their invasion of Finland. Also, as we all know, Germany did not lose her interest in the Baltic or, to a lesser extent, Finland. A number of Baltic Germans rose to prominence in the Nazi German state and when the USSR invaded the Finns found the Germans the only ally left to them in their effort to regain what had been stolen from them by the Reds.