Friday 29 June 2018

250) Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658). English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

- “The embalmed head, still with its leathery skin and traces of gingery hair, found some repose with the early Russells. […]Do they need more than to be shown that the gruesome head, commensurate in size with what is known of Cromwell, still covered in skin with faint traces of reddish hair…http://archive.spectator.co.uk/…/the-strange-tale-of-cromwe…
 
However, the authenticity of the head is not accepted by everyone.

249) Geoffrey V Plantagenet

Geoffrey V (1113 – 1151) — called the Handsome or the Fair and Plantagenet. Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. By his marriage to the Empress Matilda, daughter and heiress of Henry I of England, Geoffrey had a son, Henry Curtmantle, who succeeded to the English throne as King Henry II (1154-1189) and was the first of the Plantagenet dynasty to rule England; the name "Plantagenet" was taken from Geoffrey's epithet. His ancestral domain of Anjou gave rise to the name Angevin for three kings of England (Henry II his son and heir, and Henry's sons Richard and John), and what became known as the Angevin Empire in the 12th century. Son of Fulk V.

- “John of Marmoutier describes Geoffrey as handsome, red-headed, jovial, and a great warrior;” https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Geoffrey_Plantagenet,_Count_of_A…

- "On his wedding day, Geoffrey of Anjou was a tall, bumptious teenager with ginger hair, a seemingly inexhaustible natural energy and a flair for showmanship. His fair-skinned good looks earned him the sobriquet Le Bel. Tradition also has it that he liked to wear a sprig of bright yellow broom blossom (planta genista in Latin) in his hair, which earned him another nickname: Geoffrey Plantagenet...." http://spartacus-educational.com/MEDstephen.htm

248) Fulk V of Anjou

Fulk (c. 1089/92 – 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger. Count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death. Father of Geoffrey V Plantagenet.

- “According to William, Fulk was "a ruddy man, like David... faithful and gentle, affable and kind... an experienced warrior full of patience and wisdom in military affairs." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulk,_King_of_Jerusalem
 
- “He was also short, fat, red-haired and sixteen years older than his bride.http://www.medievalqueens.com/queen-melisende-of-jerusalem.…

247) Fulk I of Anjou

Fulk I of Anjou (c. 870 – 942) — Foulques le Roux (French, "Fulk the Red", i.e., "Red Falcon") — held the county of Anjou first as Viscount, then Count, until his death. He was the first count of Anjou.

- “Red hair was a distinguishing characteristic of the Angevin Counts. Fulk I. derived his name of Rufus from this peculiarity, which was inherited by many of his descendants, among them Fulk V., his son Geoffrey Plantagenet, and his grandson Henry Fitz-Empress.https://books.google.it/books…

246) Ismail I

Ismail I (1487 – 1524). Founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1501 to 23 May 1524 as shah (king).
During Ismail's reign, mainly in the late 1510's, the first steps for the Habsburg–Persian alliance were set as well, with Charles V and Louis II of Hungary being in contact with a view to combining against the common Ottoman Turkish enemy.

- “Ismail was described by contemporaries as having a regal appearance, gentlemanly in quality and youthfulness. He also had a fair complexion and red hair. His appearance compared to other olive-skinned Persians, his descent from the Safavid Shaykhs, and his religious ideals, contributed to people's expectation based on various legends circulating during this period of heightened religious awareness in Western Asia.
An Italian traveller describes Ismail as follows:
“ This Sophi is fair, handsome, and very pleasing; not very tall, but of a light and well-framed figure; rather stout than slight, with broad shoulders. His hair is reddish; he only wears moustachios, and uses his left hand instead of his right
.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_I

245) Catherine of Austria

Catherine of Austria (1533 – 1572). One of the fifteen children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. In 1553, she married Polish King Sigismund II Augustus and became Queen consort of Poland and Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania. Sister of Magdalena of Austria and Joanna of Austria.




244) Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth of York (1466 – 1503). Queen consort of England from 1486 until her death. As the wife of Henry VII, she was the first Tudor queen. She was the daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III, and she married the king following Henry's victory at the Battle of Bosworth which started the last phase of the Wars of the Roses. She was the mother of King Henry VIII, Margaret, Mary and Arthur.
Therefore, she was the daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother and grandmother of successive Kings and Queens of England.

- "Elizabeth of York was a renowned beauty, inheriting her parents' fair hair and complexion. All other Tudor monarchs inherited her reddish gold hair and the trait became synonymous with the dynasty." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_York

243) Charlotte of France

Charlotte of France (1516 – 1524). Second child and second daughter of King Francis I and his wife Claude, Duchess of Brittany. Sister of King Henry II and Madeleine of Valois.

- "Charlotte was born in the Château d'Amboise, on 23 October 1516, the second daughter and child of King Francis I and Queen Claude. She had greenish blue eyes and bright red hair." https://www.revolvy.com/…/Charlotte%20of%20Valois&item_type…


242) Henry II of France

Henry II (1519 – 1559). King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536.
As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the Habsburgs and tried to suppress the Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign.
Henry II introduced the concept of publishing the description of an invention in the form of a patent. The idea was to require an inventor to disclose his invention in exchange for monopoly rights to the patent. The description is called a patent "specification". The first patent specification was submitted by the inventor Abel Foullon for "Usaige & Description de l'holmetre" (a type of rangefinder).
In July 1559, Henry was injured in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and died ten days later after his surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard. Though he died early, the succession appeared secure as he left four young sons, as well as a wife in Catherine de' Medici, to lead a capable regency during their minority. Three of those sons would all live long enough to be king themselves, but their ineffectual reigns, and the unpopularity of Catherine's regency, helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants, and an eventual end to the House of Valois as France's ruling dynasty.
He and Catherine de' Medici had ten children, included Claude of France and Margaret of Valois.
He was the brother of Charlotte of France and Madeleine of Valois.





241) Christian II of Denmark

Christian II (1481 – 1559). Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He reigned as King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523 and of Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in joint rule with his uncle Frederick. He married Isabella of Austria. Sweden secessed from the Kalmar Union thanks to Gustav Vasa.




Thursday 28 June 2018

240) Giulia Beccaria

Giulia Beccaria (1762 - 1841). Italian noblewoman, daughter of Cesare Beccaria and mother of the novelist and poet Alessandro Manzoni.
"She is beautiful and restless, with red hair and grey-green eyes. She is lively, intelligent and enthisiastic."
http://www.enciclopediadelledonne.it/biografie/giulia-beccaria/
(Portrait of Giulia Beccaria and her
son Alessandro Manzoni, 1790 by Andrea Appiani)

(Portrait of Giulia Manzoni Beccaria,
1802 by Maria Cosway) 

239) Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, 1862 - 1937). American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper class New York "aristocracy" to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921 (with The Age of Innocence). She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
"Her relations gave rise to the phrase 'keeping up with the Joneses'; but that did nothing to help the aspirations of an un-pretty, unfashionably red-headed little girl who was born to be remarkable. Almost symbolically, Edith's red hair remained defiantly unfaded until her dying day."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/edith-wharton-a-magnificent-and-subtle-writer/

Portrait by Edward Harrison May

Portrait by Edward Harrison May


238) Oruç Reis

Oruç Reis (1474–1518). Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (Lesbos in present-day Greece) and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.


Barbarossa was the influence behind the character Captain Hector Barbossa from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. It was revealed that co-star Johnny Depp played a decisive part in providing the name. His last name is both a pun on the surname of Spanish origin "Barbosa" and is based on Barbarossa, the Ottoman privateer. The word is a combination of the Italian words barba (beard) and rosso [feminine rossa] (red).

- "He became known as Baba Oruç or Baba Aruj (Father Oruç) when he transported large numbers of Morisco, Muslim and Jewish refugees from Spain to North Africa; folk etymology in Europe transformed that name into Barbarossa (which means Redbeard in Italian)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oru%C3%A7_Reis


237) Sir Hudson Lowe

Sir Hudson Lowe (1769 - 1844). Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who is best known for his time as Governor of St Helena where he was the "gaoler" of Napoleon Bonaparte.
"...a man of about forty-five years of age, of the common height, slender make, with red hair ruddy, freckled complexion..."
https://books.google.it/books


236) Hugh Judson Kilpatrick

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836 - 1881). Officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, achieving the rank of brevet major general. He was later the United States Minister to Chile, and a failed political candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Described as short in stature, with red hair and stringy sand-colored side burns, he spoke in a shrill voice and walked in a rolling gate."
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/chron/civilwarnotes/kilpatrick.html


235) Nathaniel Lyon

Nathaniel Lyon (1818 – 1861). He was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War and is noted for his actions in the state of Missouri at the beginning of the conflict.
He fought in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War, before being sent to the divided state of Kansas, where he developed strong pro-Union views. In February 1861, Lyon was made commander of the Union arsenal in St. Louis, Missouri (another divided state), where Lyon forced the surrender of the pro-Confederate militia. This caused a riot by civilians, with Lyon’s troops firing into the crowd (Camp Jackson Affair). Lyon was promoted to brigadier general and was given command of Union troops in Missouri. He was killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, while trying to rally his outnumbered soldiers. However, Lyon’s efforts had prevented the State of Missouri from joining the Confederacy.

- "The high-strung veteran’s shabby and dusty uniform contrasted with fiery red hair that suited his persona."  https://www.historynet.com/firebrand-in-a-powder-keg-nathan…

- "A tough, aggressive officer, short of stature with fiery red hair and a volcanic temper, Lyon was at his best whenever decisive action was warranted.https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search…

- "Nathaniel Lyon, short of stature, red-haired, in the prime of manhood and perfected soldiership, fiery, jealous for his country’s rights and dignity,.."  http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History/PlantersHotel.htm

- "He had red hair and a legendary short temper."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "Lyon had red hair and bushy, red side-whiskers."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "…disguised in women’s clothes, including a bonnet and veil to hide his red hair and whiskers, [Lyon] had ridden in an open carriage to reconnoiter a secessionist camp."  http://npg.si.edu/…/battle-wilson%E2%80%99s-creek-missouri-…


234) George Armstrong Custer

George Armstrong Custer (1839 - 1876). United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
"Custer himself has been depicted arrayed in a short jacket, an enormous red tie, and long red hair falling over his shoulders."
https://www.kshs.org/p/the-pictorial-record-of-the-old-west-4/13042
"He had freckles, and reddish-blonde hair."
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a23270/introducing-george-armstrong-custer-062813/
"Deep blue eyes and a shock of reddish blonde hair rounded out his features."
https://truewestmagazine.com/the-civil-war-custer/
"He was an over the top character who loved publicity and gained more than other more accomplished officers, the press for their part loved him a young showman with long red hair and a taste for velvet jackets with gold braid he would not have been out of place in Napoleon's cavalry of half a century earlier."
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_custer.html

However, Plains Indians used to calling him "Yellow hair", so it's possible either he was a strawberry blond or, over the years, his hair turned to a sandy shade, which is not unusual for redheads before their hair becomes white.


233) George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. 

- "At twenty, Shaw was tall, gangly, thin, pale, and red-haired, with sharp gray eyes, projecting ears, prominent brows, and an even more prominent nose."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw

- "A man with pallid skin and bright red hair and beard who read Marx's Das Kapital..."   https://books.google.it/

- "Shaw said that his lovely fiery red hair went white overnight."   https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pinkkrystal&id=I15881

- "He mentioned his pallid pitted skin and red hair like seaweed."  https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWbeerbohm.htm


232) Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel (née Flis; 1930 – 2016). French fashion designer and writer. She created the Poor Boy Sweater, which was featured on the cover of French Elle magazine. Her knitwear designs and new fashion techniques led her to be dubbed the "Queen of Knits". The Sonia Rykiel label was founded in 1968 upon the opening of her first store, making clothing, accessories and fragrances. Rykiel was also a writer and her first book was published in 1979.

- “I was born with this bright red mane. My mother tried to dye my hair. Nobody had fiery-red hair in our family.”
https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/10997/a-tribute-to-sonia-rykiels-famous-red-hair

 

231) Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny (c. 1700 - c. 1782). Irish pirate operating in the Caribbean.
"It is recorded that Anne had red hair and was considered a "good catch", but may have had a fiery temper; at age 13, she supposedly stabbed a servant girl with a table knife."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny



230) John of Denmark

John of Denmark (1518 – 1532). Eldest child and first of four sons born to the King and Queen of Denmark and Norway, Christian II and Isabella of Austria. Brother of Dorothea.

229) Dorothea of Denmark and Norway

Dorothea of Denmark and Norway (1520 – 1580). Danish, Norwegian and Swedish princess and an electress of the Palatinate as the wife of Elector Frederick II of the Palatinate. Daughter of Christian II of Denmark and Isabella of Austria. Sister of John.



228) Anne of Denmark

Anne of Denmark (1574 – 1619). Queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I. Mother of Charles I.
Although on some websites her hair is described as "fair" or "blonde", in several of her portraits it looks quite red.





227) Elizabeth Stuart

Elizabeth Stuart (1596 – 1662). Wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Electress Palatine, and briefly, Queen of Bohemia. Due to her husband’s reign in Bohemia lasting for just one winter, Elizabeth is often referred to as The Winter Queen. She was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scots, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark.