#rupert von vestra

[askhubertvonvestra]

Kid Hubert: Father said we're not to cry.

Adult Hubert: That's because Father is incapable of human emotion. You are 10. Cry if you feel like it.

[quillfulwriter]

Words: 950 | Rating: T

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[dazzlerazz]

So here's my list of names

Rupert Leonardo Blaiddyd Arthur Molinaro Natalie Meredith Gautier Freya Daphne Fraldarius Glenn Govan Galatea Iris Ubert-Gaspard Luca von Martritz Camille Bella Dominic

Victoria von Hresvelg Vanya von Vestra Theodore von Aegir Spencer Arnault Jesse Macneary Eleanore von Varley Lilith von Bergliez Percival von Hevring

Helena von Riegan Romeo Bartholomew Goneril Lennox von Edmund Anthony Victor Alice Kirsten Loretta "Briar" Primrose Gloucester Tristan von Ordelia Charlie Pinelli

[heartofstanding]

Blanche of England’s death

I talked about this a little bit earlier but I wanted to give it its own space because it seemed important to do so.

I'd been very confused about what happened to Henry IV’s daughter Blanche of England after she left England, primarily because every historian seems to have tell us different things about her about whether she had children and when she had them and how she died.

Mary Anne Everett Green provides the most detailed account of her in the romanticised Victorian history, Lives of the Princess of England. She tells us Blanche had a stillbirth when she was not more than 15 and when she was “advanced in her second pregnancy”, she suffered a fever, recovered, then remained feverish with frequent nosebleeds before a “premature” confinement, and died  on 22 May 1409, giving birth to a son who was named Rupert who died at around nineteen years of age in 1426.

James Hamilton Wylie in History of England Under Henry the Fourth provides the second-most detailed account Blanche’s life but his account of her death is much simpler. He mentions a sickness but states she died in childbirth. As for her son, Rupert, Wyle says he was five years old at Blanche’s death, meaning she would have given birth when she was 12.

Ian Mortimer states Blanche died in childbirth and makes reference to her “infant” son but does not mention when this child was born. The inference meant to be drawn may be that Blanche died giving birth to this son.

Chris Given-Wilson states she died from a fever but does not mention her son.

In Blood Roses, Kathryn Warner says Blanche married “the elector Palatine of the Rhine, Ludwig von Wittelsbach, and died childless in 1409 at the age of 17″ and goes on to say that Henry IV had only one legitimate grandchild - Henry VI. 

A few blog posts give more detail - but being blogposts, it’s hard to know what their sources are and if they’re just cribbing off Wikipedia, which tells us that Blanche’s son was born in 1406 and nicknamed “Rupert the English“, and that Blanche died of a fever with symptoms of nosebleeds and fainting.

Ian Mortimer quotes from the letters from Blanche’s husband and father-in-law to Henry informing him of Blanche’s death and these letters, according to the blog posts, are the source of the fever story.  So I looked up Mortimer’s reference to the letters and found, happily, they were online on archive.org. Unhappily, they’re all in Latin and I can’t read Latin and they were lengthy enough that there was no way I was going to pester anyone into translating them for me.

Happily, it was possible to select, copy and paste the text of the letters so I began the process of doing just that with the painstaking bonus experience of checking each and every word to make sure it’d copied accurately (which was an issue due to the scan quality and the text’s use of letters fallen into disuse like the æ, which never copy correctly). And then I’d paste a passage into Google Translate, thinking that it’d at least give me at the very least an indication of what was being said so I could find the relevant passage(s) on Blanche’s death and send them to someone to check over. Amazingly, unlike previous attempts to Google Translate Latin, it didn’t read like some bullshit.

Here’s what Rupert, King of the German says about Blanche’s death:

Cogimur nempe flebilem casum inclitissimae filiae vestrae, quondam nurus nostrae dilectissimae, reserare, quae cum de prolis jam esset genuine impregnata, et apud illustrem primogenitum nostrum, quem tenerrimo amore prosequebatur,  in Alsatiae partibus moraretur, continuatis quibusdam febribus tacta, tandem invalescente morbo, sumptis devotissime ecclesiasticis sacramentis, sicut Altissimo placuit, cujus judicia abyssus multa, ab hujus caducae vitae ergastulo ie vicesima secunda mensis praeteriti, est avulsa

[We are compelled to open the lamentable case of your dearest daughter, once our most beloved daughter-in-law , who, when she was already truly impregnated with children, and stayed with our illustrious first-born, whom she pursued with the most tender love, in the parts of Alsace, being touched by some continued fevers, at last succumbing to an illness, most devoutly by the ecclesiastical sacraments, as it pleased the Most High, whose judgments are many in the abyss, she was torn from the prison of this transitory life, that is, the twenty-second of the past month.]

And here’s Louis, Blanche’s husband:

Placuit Altissimo, Cujus judicia colligere nemo potest, super illustrem filiam vestram, amabilissimam atque suavissimissam quondam conjugem, meam, paulo ante principium mensis Maii proximo praeteriti febre quadam triduana pereutere, per ante sex ut puto mensibus inpregnatam. Qua aliqualiter temperata, cum jam salus adesse speraretur, quotidiana febris supervenit, quae debilem ac teneram juvenculam adeo fatigavit, quod fere quotidie videbatur spiritum exhalare. Admixta erat frequens sincopis et sanguinis per nares effluxus nimium copiosus, quae omnia fuerunt paulatim, Dei auxilio et physicorum ministerio, refraenata. Fuerunt nihilominus inter haec sibi devote suscipienti ministrata ecclesiastica sacramenta; sed tandem cum vires essent interiores exhaustae, nullus fuit digestioni locus, nec amplius natura aliquod habuit sustentamentum; unde infaustissima mihi die, xxii.

[It pleased the Most High, Whose judgments no one can gather, to smite your illustrious daughter, my most lovely and sweet wife once, a little before the beginning of the month of May last past, with a three-day fever, having been pregnant for six months, as I think. This being in some measure moderated, when it was now hoped that she would be safe, a daily fever came on, which exhausted the weak and tender young woman so much, that almost every day she seemed to give up her breath. It was mixed with frequent syncope and excessive flow of blood through the nose, all of which were gradually controlled by the help of God and the service of physicians. Nevertheless, among these there were ecclesiastical sacraments administered to the devout recipient; but at last, when the inner forces were exhausted, there was no room for digestion, and nature no longer had any support; hence the most unlucky day for me, the 22nd.]

Both say, clearly, that she died of fever and that she was pregnant - Louis is the most explicit, saying she was believed to be around six months pregnant. Neither mention her giving birth or suffering a stillbirth. It’s possible she suffered a stillbirth and this wasn’t mentioned but it’s quite a leap to claim that she died in childbirth. Unless Louis was extremely off in his estimation, too, there is no way the child could have survived. Today, babies born at around 24 weeks/six months gestation are classed as extremely preterm and without modern medicine, there’s no way that the baby would survive.

Both letters do mention (as does Henry IV’s reply) taking comfort in Blanche’s surviving son but they do not state this is the child Blanche was pregnant with at the time of her death. They also don’t mention when he was born or how old he was. I wouldn’t know where to start in order to check that detail, particularly because I don’t speak German. I’m inclined to trust, though, that the German authors of an English article on Blanche’s crown when they state her son Rupert was born in 1406 (these claims are also in the German Wikipedia page for Blanche), particularly because they cite an academic (?) reference for it. 

So, in short: Blanche gave birth to her first and only child, Rupert the English, in 1406, when she was 14, and died three years later on 22 May 1409 at age 17 when she was around six months pregnant with her second child. Her cause of death is explicitly given as an illness causing fever, fainting and nosebleeds. Nothing is mentioned of childbirth, miscarriage or stillbirth.

I get it, you know. Blanche died when she was 17 years old. She was young and never had the chance to do anything important, much less leave her mark on history in a way that tells us anything about her. She’s most often talked about in the context of her crown (known as the Palatine or Bohemian Crown) and even there, she’s of only interest as the means by which the crown came to be returned to or came to be owned by the House of Wittelsbach, with more attention given to the crown’s make-up or construction and its origins as a crown of Anne of Bohemia and whether it was part of her trousseaux  or not.* Blanche left England when she was 10 years old and never returned. Beyond the fact of her short-lived marriage, she had little impact on English history. She never became Electress Palatine in her own right, never had the chance to act as a diplomat between her husband and her father or her brother. Her own son died young (older than his mother but only by two years) and made little mark on history himself - easily, it seems, forgotten by English historians, including some that erase his entire existence.

Blanche is one of those forgotten women, thrice cursed for her early death, by moving out of English history and for her son’s early death. It’s hard to pull the shreds of her life together to tell her story in a way that centres her and not her husband or her father. I can work out how she died but stymied by the barriers of language, geography and training, I can’t work out how she lived. But at the very least, historians should do her the dignity of getting the few details of her life right.

* I don’t say this as a sort of “boohoo, Blanche never gets any attention, even when she’s talked about she plays third fiddle to a beautiful but inanimate object and its original owner, she should be talked about instead of them”. We can say a lot more about the crown’s construction and origins than we can about Blanche. I say this to point out how little can be and is said or known about Blanche.

[askhubertvonvestra]

Oh that’s a relief Hubie. I hope that you treat any future kids that you have in the future much better than your father ever did.

That... is a large margin. Don’t misunderstand me, I will make every possible effort to being a better parent than my father was. But there are times when the sheer ineptitude of his caregiving strikes me as if for the first time.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve business to tend to. Thank you for your kind wishes.

[askhubertvonvestra]

Pats Hubert on the back very gently. Hubert don't beat yourself up on that memory. How were you supposed to save here at that age. You were a child Hubert so don't blame anybody but those who took her away. Gives him a big hug then quickly lets go of him because you know Hubert's a grumpy gus when it comes to receiving any types of affection and comfort.

...Hm. I saw the warnings. I was aware my father began acting differently, and I misattributed it to the passing of my mother. I had years to see the truth of the matter, and I didn't. Perhaps if I'd been fully ignorant, I might have pardoned myself. But I did see, and I chose not to pursue the truth. What resulted from that is my failing, and I'm merely taking accountability for that.

They might not have taken her had I acted. Had her father been warned, or my father revealed for the traitor he was, there is a chance that events may have been altered. That the Hresvelgs might have survived, even in part.

But you can be certain I blame those who stole her away all the same. They will be held accountable as well, and with more ruthlessness for their attempts to elude the consequences.

Still... your attentiveness to my personal space is appreciated.

[askhubertvonvestra]

Lord Vestra, you often speak of your bond with Her Majesty Edelgard. But what about the previous emperor, Ionius the IXth? Given what happened between your father and Her father, I imagine that your relationship with Emperor Ionius was quite... complex. Did you two ever get closure on the regrettable incidents which occured on the Insurrection of the Seven?

I... do, yes. What we share is a significant aspect of my life.

Emperor Ionius IX, may he find rest with our victory, withdrew into himself after the incident that led to so many tragedies for House Hresvelg. Prior to that, I was welcome at the table to eat with the royal family and often present in their measured free time. With them gone, well, we had no reason to see one another. I suspect even the sight of me was enough to cause pain, particularly as I grew and began... to have more of a resemblance.

I cannot say he blamed me, exactly, although he had every right to. It merely weighed on him to see me alone as a reminder of all that had gone wrong in his attempt to diminish the nobility's power.

By the time Lady Edelgard returned to the Empire, all of his children were in the clutches of Those Who Slither in the Dark. He knew I was able to see them as often as those twisted creatures allowed, and I made a habit of checking with him before a visit where I was able. Whether it was a concealed gift or a message, His Majesty always had some manner of kindness to extend to his children.

We never spoke outside of those moments. It wasn't personal. As I mentioned, there were myriad reasons why he kept his distance, and I respected that.

[I'm gonna chime in here to say I think Ionius IX knew Hubert blamed himself, but he was so mired in grief... What could he say?? If it hadn't been his family, I think he could have helped Hubert. But it was and that's a lot for anyone to carry, so he just wasn't in any shape mentally to comfort Hubert. But Hubert does tend to read into these things and see his own self-loathing, oof.]

[askhubertvonvestra]

Hey Hubert. What would you say is the most physical pain you’ve ever been in? Mental pain?

I can’t fathom what would drive any logical person to ask this of someone else, so I will keep it simple for you. There is no pain I have experienced, physical or otherwise, that has been sufficient to stop me in my pursuits. I wouldn’t recommend anyone make the attempt to test my limits where that is concerned.

[Well, Hubert took that as a threat, so here we are! I’ll take over for our favorite shadow. In canon, I’d say the most physical pain he’s been in would probably be during his investigations of TWSD, because he usually ends up in their midst doing grim tasks like in his paralogue. They try to intimidate him with these assignments he’s sent on, so they probably got increasingly nightmarish as he went because of course he’s undaunted by it all. It’s not a fun time.

As for mental pain, that’s a close one in canon... But I’d have to say it was discovering his father’s betrayal of House Hresvelg. It’s fairly clear from how intensely he hates the late Vestra Sr. that he used to admire his father as all the Vestra legacy stood for. That all came crashing down on the day of the Insurrection, and Hubert was just 10. So many horrific things followed his father’s betrayal, which would’ve just compounded his pain from it all. That’s an emotional wound that won’t ever quite heal well.]

[askhubertvonvestra]

Did you ever get your butt spanked by your father when you were a kid Hubie?

Nothing so mundane as that. Hanneman would say if your child is old enough to reason with, you needn’t hit them. And if they’re not old enough, why would you hit them? But my father was not of the same disposition. Not after my mother’s passing, at any rate. I don’t remember any physical repercussions before then.

In the time following my mother’s death, my father employed more of his own... parenting tactics. I was not a child to be disciplined, but an agent to be tested and punished. The force he did resort to is not something I would care to say aloud. That was ages ago now. Best to let it remain that way.

[quillfulwriter]

Warning: Based on the concept of a whipping boy for royalty in history, so there is non-graphic violence.