#puerperal

[pitch-and-moan]

I Wash My Hands of This!

The story of Ignaz Semmeweis, as told through his fictitious diary after he'd already been committed to a mental institution. What should be a gripping medical thriller is actually just two hours of arguing about washing one's hands before surgery.

[byjove]

I hate when people say “I’m against abortion except for if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother” every single pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant person. We’ve gotten too far removed from that, taken for granted that pregnancy is safe. It is not. Pregnancy and puerperal complications have been a fairly common cause of death throughout history. Even now, maternal mortality is on the rise in the US, the maternal mortality rate varies wildly across the states and it is disproportionately higher for Black women. Being pregnant is getting more dangerous, not less dangerous.

[thedudleywomen]

On This Day (05 Sep) in 1548, Katherine Parr died at Sudeley Castle, a week after giving birth to her only daughter Mary.

The pregnancy had been a difficult one for Katherine, being an older first-time mother, as well as the recent scandal involving her husband Thomas Seymour and step-daughter Lady Elizabeth. Katherine developed puerperal fever soon after the birth, presenting as agitated and paranoid towards her husband, before succumbing to the infection. Katherine was buried at St Mary's Church, Sudeley on 07 Sep 1548, in what was believed to be the first funeral of a royal performed in English, and reflecting her religious Reformist beliefs. Thomas Seymour's ward, Lady Jane Grey, was the chief mourner.

Over the years Katherine's coffin was opened many times, which significantly damaged her bones. In 1863, on the restoration of the chapel, a marble tomb effigy was erected, and Katherine's coffin was finally reburied. Following the death of Katherine, Thomas Seymour sent Mary away from Sudeley; she was initially taken into the care of his family, including his brother Edward Seymour, Lord Protector at Syon House, before being moved to Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, under the guardianship of Katherine's old friend, Katherine Willoughby, Dowager Duchess of Suffolk. Mary disappeared from records in 1550, presumed deceased.

[stephaniepriscillart]

Puerperal (postpartum) 🫀 it’s my birthday today! Dedicate this birthday for my postpartum journey. A reminder to always be kinder to your body ✨

[thelustybraavosimaid]

There is an unfortunately pervasive aspect of this fandom in that people conflate and replace what is established in canon with what is "true" in fanonland. Or they let their biases run wild and come up with a wide array of baseless ideas.

I tire of this.

Was is when a 22 year old adult started showing interest in a pubescent 14 year old?

This is not out of place in a universe where the author turned Daenerys and Drogo into some love story, twisted as it was, or when he had admitted he was playing around with Sandor and Sansa in the books and that "there was something there," or when he has commissioned Sansan fanart hanging on his wall.

The man does not give two flying fucks about age gaps, even problematic ones by our modern standards.

Was it when he trapped her in Dorne with knights outside ready to kill anyone who tried to help her?

Why would they kill anyone who tried to help her? Lyanna was found in a bed of blood and was ill, so she possibly had puerperal fever after giving birth. There was no way she didn't have a wetnurse to accompany her. Was this wetnurse supposed to have been slain by the Kingsguard for daring to assist Lyanna?

Was it when he joined the war to kill her remaining family and Northerners?

He didn't join the war to specifically kill her family. I find it hard to believe that anyone could forget Rhaegar had stakes of his own, and family of his own. Like, if it wasn't for Rhaegar dying, Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon wouldn't have been killed by the Mountain and Amory Lorch.

He didn't deliberately join the war to kill Lyanna's family, he did it so he could win it, return to King's Landing, and depose Aerys. This has been his goal as far back as the tourney at Harrenhal:

His lordship lacked the funds to pay such munificent prizes, they argued; someone else must surely have stood behind him, someone who did not lack for gold but preferred to remain in the shadows whilst allowing the Lord of Harrenhal to claim the glory for hosting this magnificent event. We have no shred of evidence that such a "shadow host" ever existed, but the notion was widely believed at the time and remains so today.

But if indeed there was a shadow, who was he, and why did he choose to keep his role a secret? A dozen names have been put forward over the years, but only one seems truly compelling: Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone.

If this tale be believed, 'twas Prince Rhaegar who urged Lord Walter to hold the tourney, using his lordship's brother Ser Oswell as a gobetween. Rhaegar provided Whent with gold sufficient for splendid prizes in order to bring as many lords and knights to Harrenhal as possible. The prince, it is said, had no interest in the tourney as a tourney; his intent was to gather the great lords of the realm together in what amounted to an informal Great Council, in order to discuss ways and means of dealing with the madness of his father, King Aerys II, possibly by means of a regency or a forced abdication. (The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring, The World of Ice and Fire)

—

Rhaegar had put his hand on Jaime's shoulder. "When this battle's done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but...well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return." (Jaime I, AFfC)

The major wrench thrown in Rhaegar's plans was Aerys attending said tourney.

Was it when he left her to die in a pool of her own blood?

Rhaegar was dead before then, and even as he was dying he whispered Lyanna's name, as was semi-confirmed in the World of Ice and Fire app.

Leading a large host to the Trident, Rhaegar met Robert in battle duelling on horseback in the fording of the river Rhaegar was killed after giving Robert a serious wound. He would die with Lyanna's name on his lips. (Rhaegar Targaryen, AWoIaF app)

She was in his thoughts even while dying.

Was it when she screamed for her brother to save her?

She didn't. And she would never call Ned "Lord Eddard."

As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. "Eddard!" she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death.

"Lord Eddard," Lyanna called again.

"I promise," he whispered. "Lya, I promise..."

"Lord Eddard," a man echoed from the dark. (Eddard X, AGoT)

This is based on a fever dream, of which George already said that not all dreams are literal. Rose petals certainly were not blowing across a blood-streaked sky, after all, and by Ned's account, the petals in Lyanna's hold were not blue, but crushed and blackened.

Ned remembered the way she had smiled then, how tightly her fingers had clutched his as she gave up her hold on life, the rose petals spilling from her palm, dead and black. After that he remembered nothing. (Eddard I, AGoT)

Moreover:

I might mention, though, that Ned's account, which you refer to, was in the context of a dream...and a fever dream at that. Our dreams are not always literal.

[Source]

So we're still, deliberately, in the dark about the events surrounding the tower of joy.

You'll need to wait for future books to find out more about the Tower of Joy and what happened there, I fear.

————

Was it when she begged to be buried with her family in Winterfell?

About this.

It was already a given that Lyanna's body was going to be returned home, as all Starks are traditionally interred in the crypts.

Ned stopped at last and lifted the oil lantern. The crypt continued on into darkness ahead of them, but beyond this point the tombs were empty and unsealed; black holes waiting for their dead, waiting for him and his children. Ned did not like to think on that. (Eddard I, AGoT)

The only exception to this rule has been Brandon the Shipwright, since he was lost at sea. Rickard and Brandon died in King's Landing yet they were returned to Winterfell, so I doubt she'd truly have to beg Ned for that:

They were almost at the end now, and Bran felt a sadness creeping over him. "And there's my grandfather, Lord Rickard, who was beheaded by Mad King Aerys. His daughter Lyanna and his son Brandon are in the tombs beside him. Not me, another Brandon, my father's brother. They're not supposed to have statues, that's only for the lords and the kings, but my father loved them so much he had them done." (Bran VII, AGoT)

The problem is how frequently this allusion to a promise has been in Ned's chapters. I doubt he would be thinking of it nearly as much if it was solely about Lyanna's bones returning home, so her pleading must narratively carry a deeper meaning. We are talking about a man who has said before that he had lived with lies for fourteen years and how it often troubled him at night.

Jon was fourteen at the start of the series.

Please direct me to the "love story"

Regarding the possible nature of Rhaegar and Lyanna's relationship, I believe this quote of George's implies it was indeed a romance, in his own preferred telling of one:

It’s interesting, to get back to this issue of romance that you raised earlier. When I was in Spain a few years ago, I had dinner with a woman — a Spanish academic — and a big fan of both science fiction and romance, and she had read a lot of my stuff because people said I was a very romantic writer. And she sort of launched at me and said, “What are you talking about?! You are not a romantic writer, you know. Nobody ever lives happily ever after in your books!” I was defending it, saying, “Well, but that’s a different tradition of romance. I don’t — I’m a romantic writer in the tradition of The Great Gatsby and Romeo and Juliet, and, you know, the Beauty and the Beast. These things don’t necessarily have happy endings, but aren’t the most powerful romances the unfulfilled romances — the romances where people go their separate ways, but they’ll always have Paris, like in Casablanca, one of the films I showed here. You know, they go separate at the end, but they’ll always have Paris.” And she basically said, “No, you’re wrong. They have to be happily ever after together for it to be romance, otherwise it’s just sad.”

[Source: 03:19]

Rhaegar and Lyanna's story is analogous to the tale of Bael the Bard and the Stark maiden; there was a reason why this tale of the blue winter rose was told to Jon specifically. Like the Stark maiden in the story, Lyanna loved Rhaegar so much that she bore him a son.

Bael and the Stark maiden's tale was not a happily ever after, either; both lovers died in the end. But their union did produce a child.

[crisiscutie]

Hello, sweetie! I'm happy to see your newest headcanons and I can't stress enough how much I love all fo them <3 I'm glad that you're partly back, and I'm also very much in love with your fic series on AO3! Keep it up! <3 I thought about something for your Domestic AU: So... After a Mother has given birth to her baby, there's a phase that starts from birth to 6-8 weeks later. That time is called "puerperal" I think? I'm not sure, since I don't know the term for it in English ;-; I hope that you know what I mean though... So I was wondering: How would Sephy support his beloved Darling during these stressful and painful times? And how's Domestic Darling doing and feeling during that time? How would Sephy keep the other children in check and/or do the children support their beloved Mother as well?

Thank you so much in advance and I love you <3

Hello, love! What a wonderful scenario you had bestowed on me! I think you mean the postpartum period, also known as the puerperal state?

In this scenario, Sephy immediately shifts into mother hen mode. He is well aware (through his maternity books) of the postpartum period for mothers. He'd be sure to address Domestic Darling's health issues promptly, as the maternal mortality rate is quite high during this stage.

He's not willing to take ANY chances. She'll take as much time as she needs to rest while he handles both their duties. I'd even reckon he will take a really long break from his mercenary job to take care of her, because he's already made and saved much gil from those dangerous contracts he took on.

Domestic Darling's energy levels would be pretty low during this stage too, which is a huge difference from her typically happy and optimistic personality. Sometimes she would be a little grumpy and snap at Sephiroth for being a bit overbearing, but of course, she'd eventually apologize and make an effort to handle her emotions better. It'd be especially difficult for darling to bond with baby Lucrecia because she is physically and emotionally drained (Couldn't imagine what it's like to feed her when she starts teething 😬). But she is still determined to do it.

This also made me think of a cute outdoor scene, where Sephy holds Darling in his lap while she cradles baby Lucrecia. Sephiroth's big white wing being wrapped around them so they can unwind without the bright rays or any other distractions. And he's keeping an eye on the boys in the distance.

For the triplet boys, I can see the triplets becoming even more competitive somehow??? They wouldn't want to see their precious mother feeling down, so they would do their best to bring back her happiness. And each boy is incredibly eager to achieve that on his own. But it wouldn't be long until their older sister, Angealica, lectures them about the importance of working together. Making Darling feel better shouldn't be a competition. And with Angealica having her father's bluntness, they'd get the message pretty quickly.

Overall, Domestic Darling is the core of her and Fluffy Sephiroth's family, so it'd be very interesting to see everyone come together and get her back on her feet.

Thanks for the great ask!

[karin-gespenst]

mental health and maternity

Arlene Brewer has been left alone by the institutions that were supposed to help her. Someone else can math out how many days were between her discharge from Lynchmere until she gave birth. It can't have been more than two weeks. She managed well enough until the very doctors that were supposed to educate her scared her instead and she was afraid to keep taking the medication. Afraid to ask for help from the district midwives that tried to form a trusting relationship and failed because they lacked crucial information. Her relapse was preventable. With proper support she may have been able to go through labour and birth in a stable mental state and care for her baby. Instead she had no partner, no family, improvised living conditions and too little time to prepare. What is there to look forward to for her? With her child in foster care there is a small chance left that they can be reunited.

Other mothers didn't even have that. Remember Mary from s1e2? The poor girl who didn't even get a surname. We don't know how her mental state was before at age 15 she was raped, displaced, exploited, raped again and completely talked out of her own perception by adult men who knew very well that she had little in her defense. By the time she met Jenny, she was already somewhat detatched from reality. The church took away her baby, and triggered her mental breakdown that she never recovered from and she was left alone again, with no support from anyone.

Remember Shirley Redmond? depressed after losing her firstborn baby, finally better through the care of her family and the midwives during her second pregnancy, and then happy with her daughter, briefly. then faced with tragedy again when her baby was kidnapped, by the teenaged girl from two episodes ago. Agony for days, and very much understandable anger at the person who caused that. Shirley could find compassion for Mary and was well again after the return of her baby. But Mary only lost again and got no help.

Season 1 was dark like that sometimes. Season two had a mental health story that ended well. Ruby Roberts had a son, and her son had spina bifida, and she did not know how to cope. For weeks she was unable to care for him or her other children. Only when her husband got through to her with his reverse psychology and pretended to want to send their baby to a Home, she snapped out of it and found her old self again. Helpful husbands, they exist!

Sarita Gupta has one. Her traumatic experiences as a child during partition made her extremely anxious and she developed symptoms of obsessive behaviour. Over time she got better because the midwives learned how to help her, and they could try because her husband alarmed them.

Roseanne Dawley also has support in her family, she even has a cleaning lady helping in the home. But even the gentlest of husbands wasn't able to reassure Rosanne that she is capable of being a good mother, when the experience of trauma in childhood and violence as a young adult made her doubt her abilities. Giving birth alone unprepared was a massive shock for her, and I'm glad she went to stay at her friend's when she was overwhelmed. Phyllis was finally able to reassure her and she stabilized again.

Pamela Saint was not so lucky. She needed weeks in the hospital to help her get well from puerperal psychosis. Remember the shock treatment? Her getting unwell was portrayed in a way that haunts me until today, because nobody expected it and when people started to react they were almost too late. Many people have heard about postpartum depression but not about psychosis. We see Pamela getting better but her baby had to stay with a relative and her husband was thoroughly out of his depth.

Season 5 with the thalidomide storylines gives us Ruby Cottingham. Losing a child is I'd say the most horrifying event in a parent's life. We saw how happy she was expecting her baby. Then the difficult labour and cesarean and no baby. not even a chance to say goodbye. Depression, alcohol abuse and drug abuse are clearly shown when we see her next. it's unclear if she ever got any closure from learning why her baby died. if she got any help from a doctor or support group it is not shown.

Nadifa Ghedi Jama had an episode of triggered trauma during labour. Valerie was able to help her a bit, and the birth was traumatic anyway, as was the recovery. Her husband at sea, her sister sent away, I don't know who was there for her after her discharge from the hospital.

Call the midwife shows us the factors that help mothers with mental health problems: proper medical care including of course contraception, suitable housing, understanding family members, friends, education and the chance to make their own decisions. and that's not going into social factors like discrimination, displacement, war, organized violence and gendered violence. that's a whole other essay but someone's got to make dinner.

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Time for my Third (and as far as I’m aware as of now final) oc for The Knights Handbook by @elmushterri

Antoine Ojigkwanong Guillaume Dubois

His father was a French Canadian bûcheron (lumberjack) and his mother was Algonquin native.

He was raised by his father since unfortunately his mother died of puerperal fever, which was super common at the time of his birth (1809)

As such he became a part of the logging community pretty early on and faced his unfortunate end saving another lumberjack from a tree falling the wrong way. His mortal wound is on his back.

His death being in 1834 makes him technically the oldest of my ocs. But he stayed physically 25 so he’s also in the middle. He rarely leaves Gallantia because the world is very different from the one he knew and even right away after his death he only went back to visit his dad as he felt more in place in Gallantia then back home.

[arthistoryanimalia]

British natural history illustrator Elizabeth Gould was born #OTD (18 July 1804 – 15 August 1841).

Life portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a Red-Footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus), unknown artist, oil on canvas

Posthumous portrait of Elizabeth Gould with an Australian Cockatiel (Nymphicus Hollandicus), c.1841, unknown artist, oil on canvas

Elizabeth Gould collaborated with her husband, naturalist John Gould, illustrating his natural history texts until her premature death in 1841 at age 37 (from puerperal fever shortly after the birth of their eight child).

3. Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus), Tab. LX in A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains (London, 1831), written by John Gould with illustrations & lithography by Elizabeth Gould.

Elizabeth Gould has two eponym birds, Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird (Aethopyga gouldiae) & the Gouldian Finch (Chloebia gouldiae):

4. Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, illustration by Elizabeth Gould in John Gould’s A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains (1831). 5. & 6. Gouldian Finch (two color morphs), illustrations credited to John Gould & H.C. Richter in John Gould’s The Birds of Australia (1840-8).

Learn more about the life and art of this extraordinary woman:

#BookRecommendation: Birds of the World: The Art of Elizabeth Gould by Andrea Hart & Ann Datta (2023)

“Artist and illustrator Elizabeth Gould is finally given the recognition she deserves in this gorgeous volume that includes hundreds of her stunning and scientifically precise illustrations of birds from nearly every continent. For all of her short life, Elizabeth Gould’s artistic career was appreciated through the lens of her husband, ornithologist John Gould, with whom she embarked on a series of ambitious projects to document and illustrate the birds of the world. Elizabeth played a crucial role in her husband’s lavish publications, creating beautifully detailed and historically significant accurate illustrations of over six hundred birds -many of which were new to science. However, Elizabeth’s role was not always fully credited and, following her tragic death aged only thirty-seven, her efforts and talent were nearly forgotten. This marvelous volume offers a new and timely tribute to Elizabeth’s reputation and skill. It opens with an introduction to her life and achievements that reflects the latest scholarship. Following is a geographically organized collection of full-color plates depicting birds from nineteenth-century Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia including previously unpublished original artworks. Filled with the highest quality reproductions, this volume allows readers to appreciate first-hand Gould’s talent for capturing the unique character of each species and the beauty of avian diversity. At the same time it offers a valuable reconsideration of a woman who left a lasting legacy as one of the greatest bird painters of all time.”

[warsofasoiaf]

Do you think lyanna holding rose petals as she was dying meant something? And why did rhaegar say lyanna’s name before he died?

If you're dying of puerperal fever because your abductor left you out in the middle of the desert to go murder the rest of your family, you hold on to the little things that give you joy.

Did Rhaegar say that, or did Viserys believe that (and through Viserys, tell it to Daenerys)?

Thanks for the questions, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[susieporta]

[ Bisognerebbe saper attendere, raccogliere, per una vita intera e possibilmente lunga, senso e dolcezza, e poi, proprio alla fine, si potrebbero forse scrivere dieci righe valide. ]

Perché i versi non sono, come crede la gente, sentimenti (che si acquistano precocemente), sono esperienze. Per scrivere un verso bisogna vedere molte città, uomini e cose, bisogna conoscere gli animali, bisogna capire il volo degli uccelli e comprendere il gesto con cui i piccoli fiori si aprono al mattino. Bisogna saper ripensare a itinerari in regioni sconosciute, a incontri inaspettati e congedi previsti da tempo, a giorni dell'infanzia ancora indecifrati, ai genitori che eravamo costretti a ferire quando portavano una gioia e non la comprendevamo (era una gioia per qualcun altro), a malattie infantili che cominciavano in modo così strano con tante profonde e grevi trasformazioni, a giorni in stanze silenziose e raccolte e a mattine sul mare, al mare sopratutto, a mari, a notti di viaggio che passavano con un alto fruscio e volavano assieme alle stelle - e ancora non è sufficiente poter pensare a tutto questo. Bisogna avere ricordi di molte notti d'amore, nessuna uguale all'altra, di grida di partorienti e di lievi, bianche puerpere addormentate che si rimarginano. Ma bisogna anche essere stati accanto ad agonizzanti, bisogna essere rimasti vicino ai morti nella stanza con la finestra aperta e i rumori intermittenti. E non basta ancora avere ricordi. Bisogna saperli dimenticare, quando sono troppi, e avere la grande pazienza di attendere che ritornino. Perché i ricordi in sé ancora non sono. Solo quando diventano sangue in noi, sguardo e gesto, anonimi e non più distinguibili da noi stessi, soltanto allora può accadere che in un momento eccezionale si levi dal loro centro e sgorghi la prima parola di un verso.

Rainer Maria Rilke, da I quaderni di Malte Laurids Brigge

[endlessly-cursed]

𝘿𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙪 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡

"𝙄 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙖, 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡, 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡."

BASICS

Name: Denegifu McAlpin, neé of Bristol

Birthday: 30th of August, 987

Zodiac sign: Leo

Weight: 85kg

Height: 1.62m

Religion: Catholic

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Golden blonde

Faceclaim: Melanie Thierry

FAMILY 

Mother: Henriette of Wessex

The first known Lady of the house in her own right, she was a doting mother who ensured her daughters weren't made less by her elder brother, and as the eldest, she was the one to set an example to her sisters. Denegifu loved her mother dearly

Father: Frederick of Kent, né Geirmund Eriksson ( @that-scouse-wizard )

A fearsome yet loving man, as his first daughter, they had a special bond, and was sad to let go of his daughter when she married into the Scottish McAlpins

Other relatives: Odalric the Red, eldest brother

As the eldest and only son, he was destined for the castle. Odalric and Denegifu were perhaps the closest pair, often sharing the pain of being the eldest

Sisters: Juliana of York

Denegifu never once understood why Juliana was so jealous and resentful of her. At every turn, she tried to outdo her and be the best of them all, from childhood to her end. She didn't live to see it, but Juliana would end up regretting it

Akelda the Tragic

The sweetest and most amiable of her sisters, she was considered a pure, miraculous girl. She was the glue among the sisters and the one that kept things from falling apart. However, when she was always a sickly girl, and despite having recovered from the illness, was poisoned by her father's enemies, changing the course of the family forever

Cuthfelda of Ireland

Denegifu and Cuthfelda weren't close, but Dene loved her sister dearly and helped her mother raise her. The last she heard from her, she had gone to Ireland to find her own path. She wouldn't live to see her found her own bloodline, the Willows

Hilda the Smith

The rebel of her sisters, she didn't wish the luxury, and instead spent her days in the forgery. While Dene didn't understand why, it brought joy to Hilda, and supported her whenever she could

Agatha of Kent

The youngest of the family, she wanted to follow into the family's footsteps and inserted herself into courtly intrigues and, despite having been a child when Denegifu was shipped to marry, she wrote to her often and made sure she was cared for.

Friends: OPEN!

Significant Other: Bruce McAlpin

A member of the Scottish royal family at the time, when Lady Henriette visited the family, Bruce fell for Denegifu's beauty, who was only twelve. He begged his father to wed her to him, and, after much negotiating with Lord Frederick, they agreed on a sizeable dowry and powerful allyship in exchange of Denegifu's hand in marriage. She bled a year later, and was shipped to Bruce's home, where he wed her when she turned sixteen. They had a happy a loving marriage, and soon expected their only child.

However, the labor turned long and sour, and Denegifu delivered a baby girl three days later, and died of puerperal fever a day later. The girl was named per Denegifu's wishes: Enyra. When the conflicts the royal family turned bloody, Lord Frederick retrieved his granddaughter and took her to safety into his castle, where, devastated by grief, gave her to his son Odalric to raise as his own. Bruce only saw her once before he succumbed to the carnage of the McAlpins.

PERSONALITY

Overall personality: Sweet, generous and pious, Denegifu is a tranquil woman who has no love for court intrigues and prefers to stay home and take care of her loved ones. She hates conflict and wishes to be left alone.

Positive traits: Generous, pious, rational, sensitive

Negative traits: Shy, passive, sensible

Guilty pleasure: Bathing naked in the lake

HOMETOWN

Denegifu grew up in the province of Wessex, which would be known later as Leeds. The castle was big enough for her family, and grew up with a lake at her reach and full staff at her service.

BACKSTORY 

Denegifu was born during a family holiday in Bristol as the second child of Lord Frederick of Kent and Lady Henriette of Wessex, and the first of six daughters. She grew up in a relatively happy childhood, and despite the one-sided rivalry between her and Juliana, she never asked for nothing and was destined to a great match, and she made one in Bruce McAlpin. However, the match didn't last long, for Denegifu perished in childbirth after a complicated and long labour.

MISC

Denegifu is adept in the lyre, knows how to sing, dance and recite poetry in Latin and Greek

She was a fervent Catholic

Out of her sisters, she was the most beautiful, and all the knights fought for her favour from an early age

She dreamt of having a large family

She had planned to go to Hogwarts, but was instead married. She wished for her children to have an education despite being married

She would've been a Hufflepuff, and always dreamt of being an apprentice of Helga like her mother

She was also taught Danish by her father

She was devastated by Akelda's death, and such an early demise sadly affected her already complicated pregnancy, setting her demise as well

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

It’s unlikely that Lyanna saw her slow, agonizing death of puerperal infection and the loss of everything she was and everyone she knew at the age of 16 as ‘freedom’ or ‘empowering’. To her, her death must have been the worst possible outcome, knowing that she'll never raise her child, and those who call her ‘smart’ to have died young in agony might wish to remember that.

I haven't encountered any fan claiming that her death while giving child birth was "empowering" and I'm grateful for that. Dying due to complications of child birth has nothing to do with the woman's intelligence. It's a medical issue which while was more common in past eras it's grossly overused as a trope in asoiaf universe.

Lyanna, despite being a minor character, has some empowering moments. Her death scene isn't among them, though.

[jartita-me-teneis]

 Agnese Sorel nació en la primera mitad del siglo XV de una familia de la pequeña nobleza provincial, al servicio de la nobleza angioína. El padre era Jean Sorel (o Soreau), señor de Coudun cerca de Compiègne, y la madre Catalina de Maignelais, castellano de Verneuil-en-Bourbonnais. Agnese tenía cuatro hermanos: Carlo, Andrew, Giovanni y Luigi.

En Piccardia recibió una educación precisa para prepararse para cubrir en la corte la envidiable tarea de la doncella de Isabella di Lorena, esposa del rey de Nápoles, Renato d'Angi zione. La joven belleza de la nueva doncella de la corte, Agnès, pronto fue notada por el rey Carlos VII. El Gran Siniskalco de Angio, Poitou y Normandía, Pierre de Brézé, la introdujo al gobernante y en 1444 Inés pasó del rango de dama de honor de Isabel de Lorena al de la primera dama no oficial del reino de Francia, convirtiéndose en howev er fuerte mal dama de honor de la casa de la reina de Francia, María de Angio. Ella tenía el estatus de la favorita oficial del rey, que era una gran noticia en la corte, ya que hasta entonces los reyes de Francia tenían que permanecer en las sombras. Carlos VII también tuvo otros amantes, pero ninguno de ellos tenía la importancia de Inés. Su arte de vivir y su extravagancia pronto llevaron a la reina a la corte bajo segunda luz. Los velos y otros arneses fueron abandonados: Agnes "inventó" el escote de hombros desnudos, definido como "licensividad y absolutitud" por algunos historiadores religiosos de la época. Las pirámides mareadas superaron su peinado y las perchas de hasta ocho metros de largo alargaron su elegante ropa adornada con bordes preciosos en pieles de mártir o marta. Sólo en 1444 Carlos VII le dio joyas por valor de veinte mil seiscientos escudos, incluyendo el primer diamante cortado conocido en ese momento. Para obtener sus preciosos adornos, se convirtió en la mejor clienta de Jacques C œur, el gran platero del rey y comerciante internacional de gemas. Ella consumía una gran cantidad de sustancias finas, inmediatamente imitadas en esto por las otras damas de la corte. El Delfín, futuro Luigi XI, no lo soportó y afirmó que se burló de su madre. Un día la persiguió, con una espada en su puño, por los apartamentos reales: Agnes logró escapar de él sólo refugiándose en el dormitorio del rey. Molesto por tal descaro, Carlos VII echó a su hijo fuera de la corte, enviándolo a gobernar el Delfinato. Ella dio al gobernante cuatro hijas y murió dando a luz hasta la última. Unos días después de su último parto, Agnes fue golpeada por un "fluido en el estómago", según el corresponsal oficial de la corte Jean Chartier, y pocas horas murió recomendando su alma a Dios y a la Virgen María. Oficialmente Agnese murió de fiebre puerperal. La rapidez de su muerte le hizo creer que era envenenamiento. El joyero Jacques Coeur, su albacea, fue culpado por esto, pero fue absuelto inmediatamente. Los sospechosos apuntaron al Delfín, un enemigo del partido que ella apoyaba. Desolado, el rey arregla la ejecución de dos magníficas tumbas de mármol: una, que contiene el corazón de Agnese, se encuentra en Jumiege, la otra, que contiene el cuerpo, se encuentra en Loches, en el Colegiale di Sant'Orso (en aquel momento llamado Notre-Dam e de Loches) y recibir el epitafio: Aquí yace la noble dama Agnese di Seurelle, señora viviente de Beaulté, de Roquecisière, de Issoudun y de Vernon-sur-Seine, misericordiosa con todos y que generosamente dio algunos de sus bienes a las iglesias y a los pobres; que pasó en el año de g carrera MCCCCXLIX. Reza a Dios para que su alma descanse. Amén"

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[scotianostra]

On March 8th 1859 the Scottish author Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh.

When he was a little more than a year old, his father, an advocate, received an appointment as sheriff-substitute in Argyllshire at Inveraray on Loch Fyne. Kenneth loved the sea and was happy there, but when he was five, his mother died of puerperal fever and his father, who had a drinking problem, gave over care of Kenneth, his brother Willie, his sister Helen and the new baby Roland to stay with their maternal grandmother, ‘Granny Ingles’, who had a large house called the Mount, in Cookham Dean in the village of Cookham in Berkshire.

Mr Grahame was a pupil at St Edward’s School from the age of nine, by the time he left he was head boy, captain of the rugby XV and the winner of several academic prizes.

He began working as a banker and rose to become company secretary at the Bank of England, working on ideas for a book from the bedtime stories he told his son Alistair .It was while working at the bank he had an encounter that could have cost him his life.

At around 11 o'clock on the morning of 24 November, 1903, a man called George Robinson, who in newspaper accounts of what followed would be referred to simply as 'a Socialist Lunatic’, arrived at the Bank of England. There, Robinson asked to speak to the governor, Sir Augustus Prevost. Since Prevost had retired several years earlier, he was asked if he would like to see the bank secretary, Kenneth Grahame, instead.

When Grahame appeared, Robinson walked towards him, holding out a rolled up manuscript. It was tied at one end with a white ribbon and at the other, with a black one. He asked Grahame to choose which end to take. After some understandable hesitation, Grahame chose the end with the black ribbon, whereupon Robinson pulled out a gun and shot at him. He fired three shots; all of them missed.

Several bank employees managed to wrestle Robinson to the ground, aided by the Fire Brigade who turned a hose on him. Strapped into a straitjacket, he was bundled away and subsequently committed to Broadmoor.

His first book, Pagan Papers, was published in 1893.a collection of stories and essays on the general theme of escape, the book did well. A year afterwards, Grahame had retreated to his country home and began to write The Wind in the Willows -111 years later the book is is still in print and as popular as ever. The Wind in the Willows tells the story of four animals living on a stretch of the Thames at Pangbourne, near Reading.

He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon. Both books were later adapted for stage and film, of which A. A. Milne’s Toad of Toad Hall was the first. The Disney films The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and The Reluctant Dragon are other adaptations.

Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, in 1932. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford.

Some people believe AA Milne wrote wind in the Willows, but he wrote the play Toad of Toad Hall, which is based on part of The Wind in the Willows.

[otmaaromanovas]

The Lost Grand Duchesses: Part 1 - Anna Petrovna

Anna Petrovna was born in January 1708, officially out of wedlock. Her father, Peter ‘the Great’, had six daughters; Ekaterina, Anna, Elizaveta, Maria Natalia, Margarita, and Natalia. Peter planned to marry every daughter that survived infancy to a European house in order to consolidate alliances and friendships with Russia. Peter did not raise Anna, instead giving her to his younger sister Natalia Alexeievna and her husband Alexander Danilovich to raise. Peter’s plan to use the girls as alliance pawns influenced their childhood greatly; their education included embroidery, literature, dancing, and etiquette in order to be perceived as proper and lady-like. By her teenage years, Anna could speak five languages, no doubt to make her more attractive to European houses. Meanwhile, Peter’s sons were taught geography, history, and mathematics.

In 1721, serious marriage was on the table. Karl Friedrich of Schlewsig-Holstein-Gottorp was called to Russia, in order to meet Anna and her father. Karl had just entered his twenties, and his denouncers insisted that he was rude and arrogant. In comparison, Anna was barely thirteen years old, and incredibly shy.

This did not deter Peter, who was incredibly attracted by the idea of a Schleswig-Russian alliance. After a few years of shopping for other potential candidates, the marriage contract was signed. Ironically, the bride was not on the contract, and it was her father Peter and Karl Friedrich who signed. When the men signed the contract, Anna’s right to the Russian throne was instantly revoked.

In 1725, less than a year after the marriage between Anna and Karl Friedrich, Peter ‘the Great’ fell seriously ill. He called for Anna, whom he asked to write his will under his dictation. There has been great speculation over whether Peter planned to name Anna his heir; even though she had been forced to revoke her right to succession when her marriage was arranged, the Tsar of Russia still retained the power to elect his own heir regardless of the marriage contract terms. Peter was unable to speak, passing away shortly after, before declaring his heir. Whether or not Peter desired to make Anna heir remains one of history’s big ‘’what if’ questions.

In 1727, Anna and her husband Karl Freidrich moved to his native Kiel. Anna was deeply unhappy, missing her sister and nephew Peter Alexeievich; the Grand Duchess loved children. She wrote copious letters to her sister, Ekaterina, detailing her depression at being taken away from her home country. The rumours of Karl Freidrich’s arrogance appeared true; he preoccupied himself with affairs, leaving a pregnant Anna isolated.

In February, Anna gave birth to a baby boy, named Carl Peter Ulrich. Just days after, Anna contracted Puerperal fever, then known as ‘childbed fever’, a postpartum infection most likely caused by contaminated medical equipment and/or the medical staff not practicing proper hygiene. Anna became gravely ill, and requested to be buried back in her homeland, alongside her father in St. Petersburg. Her son Carl Peter survived the labour, and outlived his father, becoming the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. When his aunt Elizaveta, Anna’s sister, died in 1762, Carl Peter became the Tsar of Russia, adopting the name Peter Feodorovich, Peter III.

Despite refusing to parent Anna himself, trying to marry her off when she was a child, and signing a marriage contract without Anna’s signature of consent, Peter claimed that Anna was his ‘favourite daughter.’ Only three of Peter’s fifteen legitimate children survived into adulthood. Anna died when she was only twenty years old. Her brother, Alexei Petrovich was imprisoned and tortured under the order of his father, dying from the torture. Only Anna’s beloved sister Elizaveta survived unscathed - the only out of fifteen siblings.