#henryi

#otd 23 April 1151 – Adeliza of Louvain died (b.1103) . Adeliza was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135, as the second wife of King Henry I. . She was the daughter of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain. . Henry I was some 35 years older than his bride, who was about 18 when they married. He already had children, though no surviving son, from his first marriage to Matilda of Scotland, as well as several illegitimate ones. As his second marriage produced no children, the decision was made to leave the throne to his daughter, the Empress Matilda; an oath was sworn by the clergy, members of the royal family, including Adeliza, as well as English nobles to recognise Matilda as Henry’s heir upon his death. After his death Adeliza spent three years based in a convent, then married again & had seven children by William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel. But a year before her death at the age of forty-eight she left her husband to move to the Affligem Abbey in Brabant, where she died in 1151. . Adeliza’s royal marriage seems to have been successful, apart from the failure to produce a new heir. The flow of Henry’s illegitimate children seems already to have ceased by the time of the marriage, & they spent most of their marriage together, which was by no means inevitable in royal marriages of the period. She seems to have been influential in the promotion of French poetry & other arts at court, but played little part in politics. . (I don’t know why but I just love the name Adeliza ❤️) . . . #QueenofEngland #Royalhistory #Adeliza #history #HenryI #QueenConsort #d23apr #onthisdayinhistory #thisdayinhistory #OnThisDay #Louvain #historyinpictures #MedievalArt #Monarchy #Brabant #Britishhistory #historyofbritain #EnglishHistory #queen #Royalty #kinghenry #kinghenryi #medievaltimes #medievalage #historyinpictures #medievalhistory #RoyalFamily #BritishMonarchy (at Affligem Abbey) https://www.instagram.com/p/COBkqXZjgNz/?igshid=1u37ld6rj2qcl

On This Day In History . 11 November 1100 . King Henry I married Matilda of Scotland . . ◼ On 11 November 1100 Henry married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. Henry was now around 31 years old, but late marriages for noblemen were not unusual in the 11th century. . ◼ The pair had probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of Salisbury. Historian Warren Hollister argues that Henry &  Matilda were emotionally close, but their union was also certainly politically motivated. . ◼ Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon name, & was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Ætheling, the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside &  a descendent of Alfred the Great. For Henry, marrying Matilda gave his reign increased legitimacy, &  for Matilda, an ambitious woman, it was an opportunity for high status & power in England. . ◼ Matilda proved an effective queen for Henry, acting as a regent in England on occasion, addressing & presiding over councils, & extensively supporting the arts. The couple soon had two children, Matilda, born in 1102, &  William Adelin, born in 1103; it is possible that they also had a second son, Richard, who died young. Following the birth of these children, Matilda preferred to remain based in Westminster while Henry travelled across England &  Normandy, either for religious reasons or because she enjoyed being involved in the machinery of royal governance. . ◼ Henry had a many mistresses, resulting in a large number of illegitimate children, at least nine sons and 13 daughters, many of whom he appears to have recognised & supported. One of his illegitimate daughters Sybilla of Normandy was later Queen consort of Scotland, wife to Alexander I. . .. . #OnThisDayInHistory #ThisDayInHistory #TheYear1100 #KingHenryI #HenryI #HenryIofEngland #MatildaofScotland #QueenMatilda  #Normans #HouseofNormandy #HouseofDunkeld #EnglishMonarchy #History #BritishMonarchy #D11Nov #HistoryFacts #InstaHistory (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqCdiJylfyM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3sw9sksxzks6

What a day! Tiredness (GOOD tiredness, from working so hard!) creeping in. Day always starts with us all playing a game. We don’t notice but the game is beautifully designed to induce teamwork, patience and collegiate responsibility... and FORGIVENESS! Then we have our warm-up proper. Katie (movement director) cleverly and magically using exercises to get us to almost breathe as one, to think as one.  Hal (director) pushing us hard today. The company is so wonderfully deep in talent and Hal is trying to mine into that. It’s hard. All the scenes are so beautifully written and so subtle and multi-layered that it’s difficult to snap straight into them at this stage. We all sit up. Better be on our A-game! We finally finish our work-through of the entire play. This is the moment that we all realise it’s happening in about a week; we’re keyed-up but we’re in a good place! Everyone’s hard work is sweating through to the surface. (Literally!) More movement in the afternoon. Spoiler alert; movement is very important in this production. Not to give too much away, but magic happens on that stage! We snatch a chance to rehearse small discrete scenes with each other. In passing two actors rehearse their footwork for a fight-sequence, sandwiches in hand in the kitchen. Props are being painted, coffees bought, and prompts given by our indefatigable stage-management team. Beth (the writer ) is in, adding lines here and there to fine-tune a scene and to make sure the actors don’t get too carried-away with vocal improvisations (as is our wont!) Meanwhile Toby and Dani (our producers) are quietly working away alongside us, checking programme biographies and working on mysterious stuff that most actors have no idea about. Finally, we’re ready for our important de-brief in the Abbott Cook. A good day! Learn those lines back at the digs.. finally... exhausted... sle e  p...