A birth of a princess was always an event, bells
would chime for days, guns would fire, heralds would shout out the newborn's name, whilst vassals
would line up before the house with presents. Isn't this the best you could ever wish for? Well,
we'll now dive into why you shouldn't really be jealous? Why the princesses only ate bread and
drank milk, see whether it is true that they were getting married at the age of 2, and whether
beauty was really that important back in a day? Were they allowed to marry based on love, and
what was the greatest scandal that involved one of the princesses? Why did they pinch their
eyelashes, file teeth and lime their hair? What sacrifices did they have
to make in the name of beauty, and why were they not allowed to look out of the
window? Let's now move to the medieval times, and see what was life like, through
the eyes of a princess from those days. Just in case you think, that you would get a
romantic name like Isabell or Beatrice, you are totally wrong. Most popular names for princesses
were the typical Maria, Anna, Elizabeth, Katherine and Jane. Still, there were some exotic named
princesses too, like Mafalda, Verungaria and even Uraka. The latter announced war to her husband
by the way and even led the troops to the fight! Ok then, it is year 1656 and we join
Margaret Theresa, Spanish infanta from the famous Diego Velazquez drawing. The
difference between infanta and princess, is that in some kingdoms it were only the heirs,
who could be called princesses and princes, whilst the rest of the children went by name
of Infant. One of the most beautiful princesses of medieval times was born in the Habsburgs
family, known for their avunculate marriages, Habsburgs weren't good looking and had health
issues. Margaret's younger brother Carl was disabled, he couldn't chew and speak
well, thanks to renowned Habsburgs' jaw. Since it is morning, you may be thinking that
a feast is due, filled with fruits, best meats and juices, but no! Children were fed scantily,
because the science stated that rough food may be harmful, just like gluttony in general. This is
why princesse's diet mainly included break, milk, nuts, honey, apples and soup, whilst
meat, sweets and pies were a delicacy, and were only served at feasts, from which
the children were excluded until age of 7. Meanwhile our infanta turns 5, and she
is extremely lucky to have survived, due to the avunculate marriages supported by
the family, and the low medical knowledge. Doctors back then only knew how to let
blood, and give questionable potions, prayer was considered to be the best aid, whilst a
bath was regarded to as a serious treatment. Given the above, it was extremely common for newborns
to die before reaching their first birthday. Anna Stuart, the Queen of England, lost all
of her 17 children as a result of it all, and don't let this number put you off, since it
was a norm to have at least 6 children back then. Poor health was mainly caused by wind drafts
in the castles, terrible water and constant relocations, as the royal family would tour
their kingdom non stop throughout a year. Our infanta just finished breakfast and the time
comes to dress up. Margaret by the way was her parent's favourite, often called Angel or Joy, she
was constantly portrayed with servants around her, as according to the stern Spanish etiquette, even
a glass of water had to be served to her in a specific manner. Despite your expectations,
medieval princesses didn't smell of roses, as poor hygiene and non existence of toilets
were one of the main misfortunes of those days. I doubt you'd want to live in castle, knowing
how bad the stench was. Even the renowned Louvre didn't have bathrooms, courtiers would
do their business from balconies, whilst royals had vases in their rooms, the contents of
which would be dispersed nearby shortly after. Once the smell was becoming unbearable, the
royals would simply move to another castle. Apparently, during the times of Louis
XIV in Versailles, women would just do their business in the room' corners, and
many would just die from lice infections. Lice, by the way were considered sacred in
those days whilst bed bugs were a standard attribute of any night, being the
signature trait of the medieval times. As it is time to get dressed, our princess
gets wiped with tissues soaking in rose water, then she puts her dress on. Now, it's
time for cosmetics that most of you would never agree to try. To be frank, medieval
fashion was brutal and differentiated quite a bit from how it is usually portrayed. In
the early medieval days, it was fashionable to be slightly bold with no facial hair,
meaning pinched out brows and eye brows. More so, in order to achieve an open large
forehead, princesses' hair was treated with highly acidic lime liquid, and a solution comprised
of bats' blood and charcoal soaked in vinegar, that stopped hair growth. Needless to say, that
skin was often badly burned too. To add to it, princesses had to have rotten teeth, as white
healthy teeth back then were considered low class. This fashion was introduced by Elizabeth the
First of England, prompting the rest of the girls blacken their teeth, so to remain within
the latest trends. Light coloured curly hair was also part of it, and in fact all girls
dreamed of such hair. Those with darker hair colours had to lighten it with old sheep pee if
herbal decoctions weren't helping. Closer to the end of medieval age, fashion completely lost its
track of normal, prompting trendsetting starlets to shorten their teeth until they were fully
square shaped. Still fancy being a princess? Let's get back to our light haired infanta. You
will be mistaken, to think that her life is filled with balls and entertainment. Our heroine was born
in Spain, where princesses were kept imprisoned inside the castles, and even looking out of the
window was considered indecent. Margaret grew up in the Queen's chambers in the Royal Alcazar
of Madrid surrounded by many maids and servants. These customs greatly differed from the rules in
English, Italian and French courts, which in turn was a cause for many misunderstandings in cases of
international marriages. A good example of such, is marriage of flamboyant Eleanor and her boring
and religious Louis the Seventh, whilst highly conservative wife of Henry the Eighth absolutely
hated the fun that surrounded her husband. So if not entertainments, what was Margaret
up to then? Well, the answer is simple... She would read, knit, learn new languages, and
study geography, music and many other various subjects. Studying was the only thing she could
do, and god forbid she looks out of the window. This then begs a question - what kind of fate was
awaiting the princess? Medieval princesses were perceived as flawed, physically imperfect and
sinful. Life just wasn't a fairy tale for them. It was ok for husbands to beat them up
and cheat, which women could only endure, broadly thought of as things who should only give
birth, and have no personal life or interests. Still, it was much better to be a princess, than
a queen, since no princess in Europe was ever executed or dishonored, the way it often happened
to queens. They typically had two options, whether to marry someone or leave for monastery.
Some though, managed to inherit the throne, like in case of Jerusalem, ruled by princesses
Melisende, Sibylla, Maria and Yolanda, and France with its Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Isabella
of Castille, renowned for not taking baths. As for our heroine, she got engaged at the age
of 12 to her mother's brother, who would later become the Emperor of Roman Empire. He would
receive yearly reports on his bride's growth, written by famous Velazquez, who always drew the
girl with great love. Margaret was lucky though, because some marriages happened
at the age of 2 years old. There were cases when a princess would get
married at 2, and become a widow as early as 10. This though did not mean that intercourse
was allowed before the legal age, whilst some, like the Queen of England Mary the
1st, got only engaged at the age of 38. Back then, marriages were conducted solely for political
purposes, love was never the cause and beauty, never a factor. It were the flattering
portraits that grooms would see first, whilst on the day of marriage it was
obviously too late to back off anyways. As for exceptions, Henry the VIIIth fell in
love with the portrait of Anna of Cleves, but after he saw her, decided to cancel the
wedding. As an opposing example, Joan the Lame, an ugly but smart princess, also called
off her wedding, to marry Philip the VI. And what a great move it was, as she became the
Queen of France, ruling it along her husband. Was it at all possible to marry with love coming
first hand? Such cases did exist of course. A single French princess Duchess of Montpensier,
who was also called The Great Mademoiselle, at the age of 40 fell in love with a low class
count, she then fought for 14 years to get the marriage approval, succeeded at the age of 54,
but then this marriage only lasted for 3 years, since the count did not respect
her and cheated constantly, ending up right where he started and out of
throne. The most scandalous story though, involves Joanna of Kent, a beautiful girl, who was expected
to marry the best of what England had to offer, and still, instead, she got married at age of 12
to an average knight who later left for service. In the meantime, Joanna was pushed to marry one
of the richest man of England, but she never accepted this marriage despite going ahead with
it. A year later, her knight husband returned, surrounded by fame and money he asked for
Joanna to be given back to him, which cause a great scandal across the whole of Europe. The
second husband family had to even imprison her, so that she doesn't run away to the
man she so deeply loved. As a result, this attracted attention of the Pope Clement,
who ordered for the loved ones to be reunited. 13 years later, right after her husband died,
Joanna got married for the third and final time. Still, Cecilia of Yorkshire
ended up in even worse situation, she married a poor squire losing her title and
money, after two loveless and unhappy marriages. As for our light haired infanta, with age she lost
her beauty, which was well portrayed by Velazquez. Although her family traits were becoming more and
more apparent, she ended up in a happy marriage, plus it seems that newlyweds had a lot in common.
Infanta moved to Austria where she wasn't as loved as she was in Spain, and was taken for a stuck up
and constantly ill Spanish. Margaret died young, at the age of 21, while giving birth. As for
her husband who sworn to love her indefinitely, he married a couple of months later once again.
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