C

Caba, Irene    see   Alba, Irene Caba

Caba, Irene Gutierrez – (1929 – 1995)
Spanish film and television actress
Irene Caba was born (April 25, 1929) in Madrid into a theatrical family, being the daughter of Emilio Gutierrez Caba and Irene Caba Alba. She was later married to fellow actor, Gregorio Alonso, and was mother to the noted director, Jose Luis Escolar (born 1960). Her first film role was in Barrio (1947), when she was eighteen, and other film credits included La Becerrada (1963), La Tia Tula (1964), Querido Professor (1966), Agonizando en el crimen (1968) and Cabezas quemadas (The Hotheads) (1969) which was released in France as Les Tetes brulees, amongst others.
However, her main medium was television, in which she appeared constantly until the early 1990’s, appearing in episodes of various popular programs such as El Hombre, ese desconocido (1963), Primera fila (1965), Tiempo y hora (1966 – 1967), Suspiros de Espana (1974) and Estudio 1 (1978 – 1982). During the latter part of her career Caba again appeared in several films such as, Viva la clase media (1980) as Donna Matilde, which was released in English as Long Live the Middle Class and La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba) (1987). Irene Caba died (July 4, 1995) aged sixty-six, in Madrid.

Caba Alba, Julia – (1912 – 1988)
Spanish stage and film actress
Julia Caba Alba was born in Madrid the daughter of actor Pascual Caba and his wife fellow actress Irene Alba. She made her stage debut in the play La senorita Angeles and thereafter established herself as a successful actress in the tradition of her family. Her first film role was in El crimen de la calle de Bordadores (1946) under the direction of Edgar Neville with whom she collaborated in many successive films. Other film credits included Don Quijote de la Mancha (1947), Noventa minutos (1949) and Los angeles del volante (1957). She appeared in the popular television series Los pajaritos and received several prestigious awards including the Medalla de Oro de Circulo de Bellas Artes (1959).

Caballero, Fernan – (1796 – 1877)
Spanish writer
Born Cecilia Boehl von Faber (Dec 25, 1796) at Morges in Switzerland, she was the daughter of a German merchant, Nikolaus Boehl von Faber, who became consul at Cadiz. She was raised mainly in Germany and went to Spain with her family in 1813. She was married firstly to Antonio Planells, a Spanish soldier, secondly (1822 – 1835) to the Spanish grandee, the Marques de Arco-Hermoso. Her third marriage was (1837) to Antonio Arrom de Ayala, a Spanish noble twenty years her junior.
Madame de Arrom adopted the literary pseudonym of ‘Fernan Caballero,’ and apart from writing on the history of Spanish literature, she is credited with the introduction of the popular novel in Spain. She also collected folk-tales and native poetry, such as, Cuentos y poesias adaluces (Andalusian Tales and Poetry) (1859), and produced over fifty romantic novels, including the famous and realistic, La Gaviota (The Seagull) (1849), Clemencia (1852), Un servilion y un liberalito (A Groveller and a Little Liberal) (1855), and, La Familia de Alvareda (1856). Her completed works were later published in thirteen volumes (1860 – 1861). Fernan Caballero died (April 7, 1877) aged eighty, in Seville.

Cabarrus, Theresia de    see    Tallien, Therese de Cabbarus

Cabel, Marie Josephe – (1827 – 1885)
Belgian soprano
Marie Josephe Dreulette was born (Jan 31, 1827) in Liege. She trained as a singer under Louis Joseph Cabel who later became her husband. Madame Cabel later divorced her husband but retained his surname. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made her stage debut at the Opera Comique (1850). Cabel performed throughout France, Belgium and England and created the lead role in Le Promise (1854) by Antoine Clapisson (1808 – 1863). Her successful career came to en end due to debilitating mental illness (1877) and she was later confined to an asylum. Madame Cabel died (May 23, 1885) aged fifty-eight, in Paris.

Cable, Mildred – (1878 – 1952) 
British missionary
Alice Mildred Cable was born in Guildford, the daughter of a draper. She trained in chemistry and medicine, and became a pioneer missionary to China in 1900 under the guidance of the China Inland Mission, beginning her initial training with the famous missionary sisters, Evangeline and Francesca French. In Hochow, in Shansi province, Alice helped to establish one of the first schools for girls in China and in 1923 the group made a tour of the cities of Kansu Province, entering many areas which had never met white women, let alone encountered the Christian religion. Prior to 1930, the group moved to bring evangelical work to the north-western city of Suchow, which enjoyed the ominous nickname of ‘the City of Criminals.’ Her travel records and expriences were published in concjunction with those of Francesca French in Through Jade Gate and Central Asia (1927) and, A Desert Journal (1934). For her work The Gobi Desert (1942), Mildred received an award from the Royal Central Asia Society. With Francesca she also produced, A Journey with a Purpose (1950). Returning to Britain in 1939, she continued her relationship with the French sisters, and they all lectured wideley throughout the Commonwealth, and continued to work tirelessly for the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Cabot, Petra – (1907 – 2006)
American designer
Petra Cabot was born (Feb 21, 1907) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An extremely talented artist, she was employed to design china dinnerware for the Russel Wright company (1935 – 1950), whilst her best known work was the plaid Skotch Kooler, which remained popular throughout the decade of the 1950’s. Cabot’s first husband was the poet, Laurence Jordan, from whom she was later divorced (1931). Petra Cabot died (Oct 13, 2006) aged ninety-nine, in Woodstock, New York.

Cabot, Susan – (1927 – 1986)
American actress
Harriet Shapiro was born (July 8, 1927) in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in New York. Attractive and dark haired, Susan Cabot made her film debut in Kiss of Death (1947) and became a leading actress in the westerns of the 1950’s, being invariably cast as an extremely attractive squaw. Her films included, The Enforcer (1950), Flame of Araby (1951), Battle for the Apache Pass (1952), Ride Clear of Diablo (1954), Fort Massacre (1958), and as cosmetician Janet Starling in the horror classic The Wasp Woman (1959) which was directed by Roger Corman and was her final movie role.
Susan was involved in a well publicized affair with King Hussein of Jordan (1959) and later bore a son Timothy Scott Roman, to actor Christopher Jones (born 1941) who was nearly fifteen years her junior. She retired in 1959 in order to raise her family. She died tragically at her home at Encino in California (Dec 10, 1986) aged fifty-nine, being beaten to death, her son Timothy who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Cabrera, Ana de – (1897 – 1970)
Argentinian musician and composer
Cabrera was born at Simoca in Tucuman, and was first introduced to music at church. She later studied music at Cordoba and took instruction in guitar from Andre Segovia (1893 – 1987). She composed the collections of Argentine folk music Serie de Cantos Nativos and Danzas y Canciones Argentinas.

Cabrera, Lydia – (1899 – 1991)
Cuban anthropologist and writer, short story writer and poet
Lydia Cabrera was born in Havana, the daughter of Raimundo Cabrera. She studied Afro-Cuban folk-lore under Fernando Ortiz and from 1913 began contributing to the magazine Cuba y America under the pseudonym ‘Nena.’ She then resided in France for a decade (1927 – 1938), where she studied to become an artist at the L’Ecole du Louvre. After returning to her homeland, Cabrera established herself as an authority on Afro-Cuban religions, most notably the Santeria, and published over one hundred books. Her best known was an anthropological study of Afro-Cuban traditions entitled El Monte (The Wilderness).
Lydia Cabrera collected Negro oral narratives which she included in her Contes negres de Cuba (Negro Stories of Cuba) (1936), which was published in Paris and in Refranes de Negros viejos (Sayings of Old Negros) (1955), which was published in Havana. Cabrera was a member of the avant-garde movement which included the noted Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier (1904 – 1980), and her work was published in many notable French magazines such as Revue de Paris and Les Nouvelles Litteraires. With the takeover of Cuba by Fidel Castro (1960), Cabrera went into exile and remained in the USA for most of the rest of her life. Other works included, Cuentos para adultos, ninos y retrasados mentales (Stories for Adults, Children and the Mentally Retarded (1983). Lydia Cabrera died (Sept 19, 1991) aged ninety-two, in Miami, Florida.

Cabrini, Francesca Xavier – (1850 – 1917)
Italian-American nun, founder, and saint
Born Francesca Maria at Sant’ Angelo Lodigliano in Lombardy, she was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. She originally trained as a schoolteacher but desired to enter the religious life, but was refused admission because of her ill-health. Cabrini was placed in charge of a small orphanage at Codogno, and then founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1880), which established convents in northern Italy. She then went to the USA with six sisters to assist with the needs of Italian immigrants in New York.
There, despite much opposition they managed to establish a convent and orphanage. This beginning led to the establishment of schools, charitable foundations, and four hospitals, and her order was introduced, France, Spain, and South America. Mother Cabrini herself became a naturalized American citizen at Seattle in Washington State. She died in Chicago, Illinois and was canonized by Pope Pius XII (1946), who then declared her to be the patron saint of immigrants (1950). Francesca Cabrini was the first American citizen to be declared a saint (1946).

Caccia, Orsola Maddalena – (1596 – 1676) 
Italian painter
Orsola Maddalena Caccia was the eldest daughter of Guglielmo Caccia. Trained to be her father’s assistant, her own work can be distingushed by a small flower emblem. Her three surviving floral works, now in the Municipio di Moncalvo, Asti, are the earliest known flower paintings. Her studio prospered, and Orsola’s career lasted long enough for her to have assistants and pupils of her own. She executed a joint commission for Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (1643), a Nativity and a Saint John the Baptist. In 1666 she retired and became a nun in the convent her father had founded in Moncalvo. Eventually she became the mother superior, and was succeeded in her office by Laura Bottero, formerly one of her own pupils.

Caccialanza, Gisella – (1914 – 1998)
Italian-American ballerina
Gisella Caccialanza was born in San Diego, California, and studied ballet in Los Angeles under Giovanni Rosi, and then under Enrico Cecchetti in Milan from 1925. Returning to the USA several years later (1928), she worked with the noted choreographer, Albertina Rasch, and then became a member of the American Ballet under George Balanchine (1934). She appeared in several musicals such as The Goldwyn Follies and On Your Toes, which were choreographed by Balanchine, who created the role of the bride in the ballet Baiser de la Fee (1937) especially for her.
Caccialanza appeared as guest ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet (1943) and performed the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in their first production of the Nutcracker (1944). She then joined the Ballet Society in New York, and created the Third Theme in Balanchine’s production Four Temperaments (1946). She was married (1941) to the noted choreographer, Lew Christensen, to whom she bore a son. When her brother-in-law, William Christensen founded the Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah (1951), Caccialanza worked there as a ballet instructor. Her correspondence with Enrico Cecchetti was published as Letters From the Maestro (1970). Widowed in 1984, Caccialanza died (July 16, 1998) in Daly City, California, aged eighty-three.

Caccini, Francesca – (1587 – after 1638)
Italian vocalist
Francesca Caccini was born (Sept 18, 1587) in Florence, the daughter of the composer and musician, Giulio Caccini, and his first wife, Lucia, and was thee elder sister of Settimia Caccini. Her stepmother was the noted singer, Margherita della Scala. Francesca later married (1607) to Giovanni Battista signorini, court singer at the Medici court in Florence, to whom she bore a son.

Francesca was proficient in playing various musical instruments before she made her vocal debut in 1600, singing at the wedding of Henry IV and Marie de Medici. Being then appointed court singer, and popularly nicknamed ‘La Cecchina,’she received a generous salary. Francesca wrote the opera, La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (1624), the first female to do so, and it was the only one of her works to survive. She had earlier published a collection of some of her compositions under the title Il primo libro delle musiche (1618). Her other works have now been lost. She was still living in Florence two decades later (1638), but is believed to have died before 1645.

Caccini, Settimia – (1591 – after 1661)
Italian vocalist
Settimia Caccini was daughter to the famous composer Giulio Caccini and his first wife Lucia, and the younger sister of the famous Francesca. Possessed of a fine soprano voice herself, she was popularly nicknamed ‘La Flora,’ and was especially noted for her performance in the role of Venus in Monteverdi’s Arianna (1608). Settimia was married (1609) to the singer and composer, Alessandro Ghivizzani, and both were appointed as salaried singers at the Medici court until 1611, when they left to attend the court of Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, where they remained for six years (1613 – 1619). Both joined the household of Cardinal Farnese in Parma (1622), and she sang the role of Aurora in Monteverdi’s production of Mercurio e Marte (1628), which was composed to celebrate the wedding of Odoardo Farnese and Margherita de Medici. Widowed in 1632, Settimia was still receiving a pension in 1661 from the court of Florence, whence she had returned. She died sometime soon after this date. Several surviving songs and manuscripts in Florence are claimed to be the work of Settimia, but the truth remains unknown. The music she composed for Mascherate delle ninfe della Senna (1610 – 1611) has not survived.

Cacht – (fl. c677 – 681)
Irish queen consort
Cacht was the daughter of Maeleobha, King of Tirconaill and was married (c677) to Maelduin, King of Ailech (died 681). She was the mother of Fergal (c678 – 722), King of Ireland (710 – 722) who left descendants.

Cacilia Augusta of Baden    see    Olga Feodorovna

Cacra    see    Cecra

Cadaval, Luisa de Braganza, Duquesa de – (1679 – 1732)
Portugese royal and grandee
Luisa de Graganza was born (Jan 9, 1679) in Lisbon, Estramadura, the illegitimate daughter if Pedro II, King of Portugal (1683 – 1706), and his mistress, a court lady named Maria da Cruz Mascarenhas. Luisa was legitimated soon after her birth and granted the title of condesa de Carnide by King Pedro. Luisa was raised partly in the household of a royal courtier, the secretary of State, Francisco Corredia de Lacerda, and then at the convent of Carnide, under the supervision of her aunt, the nun Maria de Braganza (1643 – 1693), herself the natural daughter of Joao IV, King of Portugal. She was married firstly at Lisbon (1695) to Luiz Ambrosio Alvarez Pereira de Melo, second Duque de Cadaval (1679 – 1700). Left s childless widow at twenty-one, Luisa was married secondly (1702) to his younger brother, Jaime I Alvarez Pereira de Melo, third Duque de Cadaval (1684 – 1749), five years her junior, as his first wife. Their marriage remained childless, and Duke Jaimes’s four children were all born to him by his second wife, the French Bourbon princess, Henriette de Lorraine-Lambesc (1724 – 1761). Duquesa Luisa predeceased her second husband and died (Dec 23, 1732) at Evora, Alentejo, aged fifty-three, and was interred in the convent of San Juan de Evangelista in the same town.

Caddick, Helen – (1841 – 1926)
British traveller and author
Helen Caddick was born into an upper class family and was educated privately. She never married, and was a member of the West Bromwich Education Committee and the governing board of Birmingham University. Caddick travelled all over the world from 1889 – 1914, and successfully visited Lake Tanganyika in Africa, alone (1898), despite urgings of friends and relatives who urged her to abandon such a plan. This trip was the inspiration for her book A White Woman in Central Africa (1900). She travelled without the usual accoutrements which Victorian travellers insisted upon, and apparently to enjoy herself immensely, whatever unusual situation occurred. Caddick later visited China (1909) and wrote twelve volumes describing and illustrating her various interesting journies, and documenting the artefacts she acquired during these travels, though these journals remain unpublished.

‘Caddie’    see   Edmonds, Caddie

Cade, Toni    see   Bambara, Toni Cade

Cadell, Jean – (1884 – 1967)
Scottish comic and dramatic actress
Jean Cadell was born (Sept 13, 1884) in Edinburgh, the daughter of a physician, and made her professional stage debut in 1905.  She was married to the actor, P. Perceval-Clark, to whom she bore a son. Cadell became a member of the Glasgow Repertory Company, and performed in London and in New York in the Scottish comedy, Bunty Pulls the Strings (1911). She appeared in London in a revival of J.M. Barrie’s play The Old Lady Shows Her Medals (1914) and also appeared in Somerset Maugham’s comic farce, Home and Beauty,.and played the role of the New England spinster in Eugene O’Neill’s tragedy Diff’rent.
During the latter part of her career, Cadell appeared on the Broadway stage in the USA in Spring Meeting and played the governess, Miss Prism in John Gielgud’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1947). She played the grandmother in the BBC television episodes of the Whiteoak family chronicle, and one of the murderous ladies in the comic farce Arsenic and Old Lace. Jean Cadell died (Sept 29, 1967) aged eighty-three.

Cadiz, Luisa Carlotta Maria Isabella of Naples, Duquesa de – (1804 – 1844)
Spanish Infanta
Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples was born (Oct 24, 1804) in Portici, the daughter of Francisco I, King of Naples, and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain, the daughter of Carlo IV. She married (1819) her uncle, Infante Franceso de Paula, Duque de Cadiz (1794 – 1865) to whom she bore eleven children.  A woman of commanding manner and masculine appearance, she arranged the marriage of her younger sister Maria Christina with the widowed Ferdinando VII (1829).
The duquesa became prominent in Spanish politics, and when Queen Maria Christina agreed to revoke the Pragmatic Sanction in order to prevent civil war (1833), which would have prevented her daughter Isabella II from succeeding to the throne, the infanta travelled hastily from La renja to Andalusia, upbraiding the queen for her cowardice, and personally destroying the offending document. The duchess also procured the dismissal and permanent exile of Francesco Calomarde (1833), King Ferdinand’s chief minister. The duquesa later quarrelled with her sister (1838) and resided with her family in Paris, unti, finally returning to Spain (1841), where she successfully engineered the marriage of her son Franceso de Asis (1822 – 1902) with his cousin Isabella II. Duquesa Luisa Carlotta died of measles (Jan 29, 1844) aged thirty-nine, in Madrid, and was interred in the Escorial Palace.

Cadogan, Ethel Henrietta Maria – (1853 – 1930)
British courtier
Ethel Cadogan was the daughter of the Hon. (Honourable) Frederick William Cadogan. She served at court as Extra maid-of-honour to Queen Victoria (1876 – 1880). As she remained unmarried she was given the title of Hon. Miss Cadogan. She then served as maid-of-honour, and then rose to Woman of the Bedchamber (1897 – 1901). In recognition of her loyal service she was appointed VA (The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert). Ethel Cadogan died (Dec 30, 1930) aged seventy-seven.

Cadogan, Lady Augusta Sarah – (1811 – 1882)
British courtier
Lady Augusta was the eldest daughter of George, third Earl Cadogan (1783 – 1864) and his wife Honoria Louisa Blake, the daughter of Joseph Blake of Ardfry and sister to the first Lord Wallscourt. She remained unmarried and served at court as lady-in-waiting to HRH the Duchess of Cambridge, the daughter-in-law of George III, and aunt of Queen Victoria. Lady Augusta Cadogan died (Nov 28, 1882).

Caecilia Attica, Pomponia – (fl. 51 – 28 BC)
Roman Republican patrician and dynastic link
Pomponia Caecilia Attica was the daughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus, the close friend of the orator and man of letters, Cicero, and his wife Caecilia Pilia. She became the first wife of the Julio-Claudian general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 – 12 BC), and their daughter, Vipsania Agrippina, was the first and much beloved wife of the future Emperor Tiberius.

Caecilia Metella     see    Metella, Caecilia

Caecilia Paulina    see   Paulina, Caecilia

Caecilia Pilia    see   Pilia, Caecilia

Caecilia Secunda    see   Plinia Caecilia Secunda

Caecilia Tertulla     see    Tertulla, Caecilia

Caecinia Lolliana – (fl. 365 – 384 AD)
Roman litigant
Caecinia Lolliana was the daughter of a patrician named Postumianus, and became the wife of Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus Lampadius, prefect of Rome (364 AD). Her mother was probably Lolliana, sister to Lollianus Mavortius, consul 355 AD, and granddaughter of Antonius Caecina Sabinus, consul 316 AD). Caecinia Lolliana was still living in 384, when Symmachus records in his Relationes that she, together with her sisters, Cattianilla and Severilla, were the legal heirs of Postumianus, and were emeshed in litigation with the state over their inheritance. Caecinia Lolliana left six children,

1. Lollianus, praetorian prefect of Gaul, who was exiled and then executed (c370 AD) for writing a book on magic.

1. Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, who held office under Emperor Theodosius I (379 – 395 AD).

1. Sabina Lampadia, wife of Julius Naucellius.

1. Publius Caeonius Caecina Albinus, consul in Numidia, Africa (364 – 367 AD).

1. Ceionius Rufius Albinus, prefect of Rome (389 – 391 AD), a pagan scholar, considered one of the most learned men of his time.

1. Rufia Volusiana, wife of Petronius Apollodorus.

Caelia Macrina – (fl. c180 AD)
Roman philanthropist and civic benefactor
A surviving inscription from Tarracina records that Macrina left funds of over three hundred thousand sestercii at her death for the construction of a public building and and to provide cash grants for food for two hundred children of the city of both sexes. These grants or alimenta were made in memory of her own son Macer who had died before his mother.

Caen, Mabira de – (fl. c1150 – c1190)
French mediaeval noblewoman
Mabira de Caen was the daughter of Robert FitzHenry, Earl of Gloucester and his wife Mabel FitzHamon, the daughter of Robert FitzHamon. She was the paternal granddaughter of King Henry I of England (1100 – 1135) and was the sister of William FitzRobert, second Earl of Gloucester. Mabira was married to Jordan, Seigneur de Cambernon and Maisoncelles in France (died after 1172) who held lands in England presumably inherited through Dame Mabira. Her children included Henry de Chambernon (c1165 – 1203) of Ilfracombe in Devon who left descendants.

Caen, Matilda de – (c1035 – 1112)
Norman abbess
Matilda de Caen was appointed as the first superior of the abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen, which was founded by Queen Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror. Matilda was appointed by the queen to train her own daughter Cecilia, then a small child, to eventually succeed her in that office, which she did. Matilda’s surname merely reflects that she was a native of the town of Caen.

Caenis, Antonia – (c7 – 75 AD)
Roman Imperial concubine
Caenis was originally a slave attached to the household of Antonia, the widow of the elder Drusus and the mother of Germanicus and emperor Claudius I. Cassius Dio recorded that ‘she was exceedingly faithful and was gifted with a most excellent memory,’ and that she was enlisted by Antonia to aid her in composing the letter which she wrote to Tiberius (31 AD) which brought about the downfall of his hated favourite Aelius Sejanus. Granted her freedom at Antonia’s death (37 AD) Caenis became the mistress of the future emperor Vespasian, which whom she remained until her death. Her influence at the Imperial court probably helped advance his career.

The historian Dio records details of her influence over Vespasian, particularly after his acession to the Imperial throne (69 AD); ‘Vespasian took such an excessive delight in her. This gave her the greatest influence and she amassed untold wealth, so that it was even thought that he made money through Caenis herself as his intermediary. For she received vast sums from many sources sometimes selling governorships, sometimes procuratorships, generalships and priesthoods, and in some instances even Imperial decisions. For although Vespasian killed no one on account of his money, he did spare the lives of many who gave it; and while it was Caenis who received the money, people suspected that Vespasian willingly allowed her to do as she did.’ Suetonius records that Vespasian’s younger son Domitian resented both her prescence, and her influence with his father.

Caentigern     see    Kentigerna

Caerellia – (c115 – c40 BC)
Roman Republican patrician and bibliophile
Caerellia was a friend of the orator Cicero. She was perhaps of the family of Quintus Caerellius, proconsul and legate to the triumvir Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius). Cicero mentions Caerellia frequently in his correspondence as being distinguished because of her intellectual acquirements and noted her love of philosophy. References in Cicero’s letters to Pomponius Atticus reveal that Caerellia had her own private library. Letters between Caerellia and Cicero were available in antiquity but have since been lost. Quintus Fufius Calenus refers to Caerellia in his reply to Cicero’s defence of Mark Antony (43 BC), which was quoted by Dio Cassius. Calenus accused Cicero of having divorced his second wife Publilia; ‘…since you wished to be free to have with you Caerellia, whom you debauched though she was much older than yourself..’ and; ‘..to whom, old as she is, you write such letters as a jester and a babbler might write if he were trying to get up an amour with a woman of seventy.’

Caesar, Mary – (1677 – 1741)
Scottish memoirist
Mary Caesar corresponded with the British poet Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744). A firm Jacobite supporter, she left a private journal account of the disastrous political and social problems engendered by that failed cause.

Caesaria – (c490 AD – c556)
Byzantine religious patron
Caesaria was a native of Samosata, and was connected to the family of the emperor Anastasius I (491 AD – 518). She is to be distinguished from Caesaria, the wife of Secundinus, the emperor’s brother. Her husband is believed to have been a highly placed military official, and Caesaria held a brilliant household in Constantinople. A confirmed Monophysite, she corresponded with Severus of Antioch, who addressed a theological treatise to her. She founded a double monastery for men and women, where she retired and became a nun (c541). She died fifteen years later.

Caesonia, Milonia – (c2 – 41 AD)
Roman empress
Caesonia was married several times previously, and was about a decade Caligula’s senior, and a priestess of the Egyptian goddess Isis, when she became the mistress, and then wife of the Emperor Gaius Caligula. She was called empress, but was not officially granted the title of Augusta. She bore him an only child, a daughter Julia Drusilla (39 AD). She and her daughter were murdered by praetorian soldiers at the same time Caligula was assassinated. She was portrayed sympathetically by actress Freda Dowie in the famous BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series I Claudius (1976) with John Hurt as Caligula and Derek Jacobi as Claudius. In the film Caligula (1979) she was portrayed by Dame Helen Mirren.

Caetani, Cora Antinori, Princess   see   Antinori, Cora Maria

Caetani, Topazia – (1921 – 1983)
Italian noblewoman and society figure
Donna Topazia Caetani was born (Dec 5, 1921) in Paris, the only child of Prince Michael Caetani, and was the granddaughter of Onorato Caetani, fourteenth Duke di Sermoneta. Her mother was the interior designer, Cora Antinori. Her paternal ancestors were related to Pope Bonoface VIII (1294 – 1303). Topazia became the second wife of the Ukrainian composer and conductor, Igor Markevitch (1912 – 1983). Their son was the conductor, Oleg Caetani (born 1956), who used his mother’s name professionally, and worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Victoria, Australia. Topazia Caetani died (March 7, 1983) aged sixty-one, in the Antibes, France.

Caffarelli, Julienne Blanche Louise d’Hervilly, Comtesse de – (1784 – 1854)
French memoirist
Julienne Caffarelli was a child when the Revolution broke out and she and her family were forced into ecile abroad with other aristocrats. She became the wife of Comte August Caffarelli, and her personal reminiscences of her life were edited and published posthumously in Paris as Notes de la comtesse Caffarelli (1899) in Carnet Historique et Litteraire.

Caffi, Margarita – (fl. 1662 – 1700)
Italian artist
Margherita Caffi was the wife of a painter, himself the student of Canuti. Caffi established herself as a considerably popular painter of still-life flower pieces, and her work suggests that she may have had instruction, or at least studied the work of, painter Mario dei Fiori. There is some doubt concerning her supposed residence in Bologna, but she certainly obtained the patronage of the Imperial court of Innsbruck, producing works for the archdukes Maximilian and Leopold. Examples of her work survive in Innsbruck, Austria, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Milan, Italy, and London, and include Flowers (1662) her earliest dated work.

Caffyn, Kathleen Mannington – (1855 – 1926) 
Irish novelist
Kathleen Mannington Hunt was born at Waterloo House, Tipperary, the daughter of William de Vere Hunt, and his wife Louisa Going. She was cousin to the noted poet, Aubrey de Vere (1814 – 1902), and was married Dr Stephen Mannington, surgeon and inventor. Kathleen trained at St Thomas’s Hospital for a year for the National and Metropolitan Nursing Association, and later accompanied her husband to Australia (1880). From 1883 – 1892 she resided in Melbourne, Victoria before returning to England. She wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, and also produced short stories and several novels, of which the most notable was A Yellow Aster (1894). Other novels included, A Quaker Grandmother (1896), Anne Mauleverer (1899), Smoke in the Flame (1907), The Magic of May (1908), and Mary Mirrielees (1916), amongst others. Kathleen Caffyn died (Feb 6, 1926) aged seventy, in Italy.

Cagliostro, Lorenza Feliciani, Contessa di – (1754 – 1794)
Italian beauty and adventuress
Lorenza Feliciani was born in Rome, the daughter of Giuseppe Feliciani, a tin founder. She first met the charismatic self-styled mystic Alessandro Balsamo (1743 – 1795) in 1768 when she was fourteen. She had never been educated but was possessed of a supple beauty older than her years, possessing long blonde hair, delicate features, ample bosom and shapely legs. They were married soon after their first meeting, Lorenza bringing the modest dowry of one hundred and fifty scudos.
After marriage Balsamo carefully instructed Lorenza in the arts of seduction and crime, which was to be for their joint personal gain, and introduced her to the world of the occult, which she quite properly understood. They travelled to Madrid and Lisbon, and as always, survived on the money that Lorenza could extract from rich protectors. The Balsamos travelled to London where they took a house in Leaddenhall Street (1771), and then another in New Compton Street. After returning to Paris lorenza, perhaps tiring of Balsamo’s control over her life, eloped with a French admirer. Balsamo came after them, accused Lorenza of adultery and shut her up with the convent of Sainte-Pelagie (1773). However he soon forgave her and she was released.
The pair was again in London several years afterwards when Balsamo assumed the title of Conte di Cagliostro (1777) and Lorenza became Contess Serafina. They travelled to Russia and held séances at the court of Duke Peter Biron in Kurland (1779) and then returned to Paris (1780) where they established their own popular salon, which was visited by famous celebrities, royal princes and members of the nobility. Her beauty attracted considerable attention and Theodore Gosselin Lenotre wrote of her ‘Duels were fought on the subject of the Countess Cagliostro’s eyes, or whether the dimple was in her left cheek or her right. When she rode out on her black stallion, Djerid, her ardent admirers rushed to see her pass … her riding costume accentuating her hour glass form, minimizing the narrow waist, maximizing the curve of her salient breasts … Though she looked not a day older than twenty, she dropped discreet hints of an eldest son who was a captain in the Army of the Netherlands.’
Conte Alessandro and Lorenza were later arrested for complicity the great swindle known the Affair of the Diamond Necklace (1785), which was connected with Queen Marie Antoinette. They were imprisoned within the fortress of the Bastille, but Lorenza was soon released and resided in a house in the Rue St Claude, where the nobility flocked to pay their respects to her. With his eventual release (1786) Louis XVI ordered Cagliostro to leave Paris which he immediately did, taking lorenza with him.
They resided in England until 1787 when they went to Rome where the contessa surprisingly asked permission of the Vatican to make a statement against her husband, with the result that both husband and wife were arrested (1789) and indictments brought against both of them. The contessa was interrogated (Jan, 1791) but Cagliostro, though he too was interrogated (April, 1791) remained in prison and died there (Aug 26, 1795). Contessa lorenza is supposed to have died in 1794, at the age of forty, within the convent of Saint Apollonia in the Trastevere region, but the date has not been properly verified.

Cagney, Jeanne (Jean) – (1919 – 1984)
American actress
Jeanne Cagney was born in New York, the daughter of James Francis Cagney, an Irish barman and a Norwegian mother, and was the much younger baby sister of famous actor Jimmy Cagney (1899 – 1986). She grew up on the Lower East Side, and had a modest career in stage and television, appearing in a number of films including, Golden Gloves (1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Don’t Bother to Knock (1952), Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) and, Town Tamer (1965) amongst others.

Cahill, Mabel Esmonde – (b. 1863)
Irish tennis player
Mabel Cahill was born (April 2, 1863) at Ballyragget in Kilkenny. She competed in the US Tennis Championships (1891) becoming the first non-American woman to win an important tennis tournament in the USA. She played the following years and became the women’s singles champion (1892). Details of her later career and life remain unavailable.

Caia Cecilia – (fl. c530 BC)
Roman princess
Caia Cecilia was a relative of King Tarquinius Superbus. A statue was once built in her honour, one of the rare occasions in which a woman was so honoured during the early monarchical period.

Caia Cornelia Supera     see    Cornelia Supera, Gaia

Caiel – (1860 – 1929)
Portugese feminist and novelist
Caiel was born Alice Pestana, and adopted her pseudonym (1885) when she began writing novels such as, Desgarrada (The One Who Went Astray) (1902). Caiel was a determined advocate of education for women, and she wrote and denounced the deplorable education system then available for Portugese women in her treatise ‘La Femme et al Paix : Appel aux Meres Portugaises (‘Woman and Peace : Appeal to Portugese Mothers’) (1898).
Caiel produced a work which suggested reforms for female education in her, O Que Deve Ser a Educacao Secundaria da Mulher? (What Should Women’s Secondary Education Be?) (1892) which report had been financed by the government. She then visited educational facitlities for women in foreign countries (1893) and published these accounts in newspapers back home in Lisbon. Caiel married a Spaniard (1901) and later translated several works of Portugese authors into Spanish. Many of her accounts of life in Spain were published in the Lisbon newspaper Diario de Noticias.

Caillard, Eliza Frances Hanham, Lady – (1857 – 1926)
British public activist and voluntary aid worker for the war effort
Eliza Hanham was the younger daughter of Captain John Hanham. Eliza was married (1881) to Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard (1856 – 1930) who became a Knight Bachelor (1896) in recognition of his diplomatic service on behalf of the Crown. Lady Eliza was Sir Vincent’s first wife, and bore him two children. During WW I (1914 – 1918) she organized nursing units and comforts for soldiers at the front, and was appointed D.G.ST.J. (Daughter of Grace of St John of Jerusalem) and was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by King George V (1918) in recognition of her public service. Lady Caillard died (March 15, 1926).

Caillard, Emma Marie – (1852 – 1927)
British novelist and writer
Emma Caillard was born (Feb 6, 1852), the eldest daughter of Judge Camille Caillard (1822 – 1898), of Wingfield House, near Trowbridge, and his first wife Emma Louisa Reynolds, of Canonsgrove, near Taunton. Emma was the eldest sister of Sir Vincent Penalva Caillard (1856 – 1930), whilst her mother was a cousin to Benjamin Disraeli, the favoured prime minister of Queen Victoria. She remained unmarried. Emma Caillard died (Aug 19, 1927) aged seventy-five.

Cain   see   Keyna

Caine, Lynn – (1924 – 1987)
American writer and publicist
Lynn Caine was employed as a publicity agent (1967 – 1976), and then explored the problems faced by many widows, who were left completely bereft after the deaths of their husbands, with her book, Widow (1974). These works were followed by, What Did I Do Wrong ?Mothers, Children, Guilt (1977) and Lifelines (1978). Her last work Lynn Caine’s Book for Widows (1988) was published posthumously. Lynn Cain died (Dec 16, 1987) aged sixty-three, in Manhattan, New York.

Caiola   see   Gaiola

Caird, Mona – (1858 – 1932)
British novelist and feminist
Mona Caird was born on the Isle of Wight. She married (1877) and resided at Hampstead in London for most of her life. A supporter of female suffrage, she was greatly interested in the reform of marriage laws which would provide wives with some legal rights over their own lives, she wrote The Morality of Marriage and Other Essays (1897) and also wrote articles for the Westminster Review in which she criticized marriage in general. Caird produced over seven novels which came to be considered part of the ‘New Woman’ fiction movement, a term coined by the noted novelist Sarah Grand in 1894. These works included, The Wings of Azreal (1889), The Daughters of Danaus (1894), and, Stones of Sacrifice (1915).

Cairns, Constance Anne Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady – (1877 – 1970)
British civic activist
Lady Constance was born (March 10, 1877) the daughter of William Henry Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott (1831 – 1914), the sixth Duke of Buccleuch and his wife Lady Louisa Jane Hamilton, the daughter of James Hamilton (1811 – 1885), first Duke of Abercorn. She became the wife (1908) of the Hon. (Honourable) Douglas Halyburton Cairns (1867 – 1936), the fifth son of the first Earl Cairns, to whom she bore two children. She served as the president of the Nairnshire Nursing Association in Scotland and survived her husband as the Dowager Lady Cairns (1936 – 1970). Lady Cairns died (May 7, 1970) aged ninety-three.

Caithness, Margaret de Barclay, Countess of    see   Barclay, Margaret de

Cai Yen (Cai Wenji) – (177 – c230 AD)
Chinese poet of the later Han Dynasty (25 – 220 AD)
Cai Yen was famous for her learning and musical accomplishments. Left a young and childless widow during the civil unrest of 194 – 195 AD, she was abducted by the Xunnu tribes from north China, and forced to marry one of the chieftains. She remained there for twelve years and bore two sons. Finally c207 AD she was released and returned to her father as a political favour, he having no other heirs. Her conflicting feelings at this time, as she had to leave her children behind, are depicted in a famous painting. Cai Yen composed the famous Lamentations in two versions, which movingly describe her personal conflict. The Hu Jia Shi Ba Pai are poems of lamentation, which describe her capture, her life in exile, and her seperation from her children at the end. It is a highly regarded classic of Chinese poetry, though her authorship is sometimes disputed. Her story has been the subject of many literary works, including Cai Wenji by Gou Muoruo, China’s leading poet of the twentieth century.

Cala – (fl. c500 – c480 BC)
Indian Buddhist poet and nun
Cala was the eldest sister of fellow nuns, Upacala and Sisupacala. They were the born into a Brahmin family in Magadha, Nalaka. When her only brother, Sariputta followed the Buddha, Cala and her sisters did also, and became nuns. Her surviving three verses, which are preserved in the Therigatha, take the part of a dialogue with Mara, an evil protganist, and deal with the Buddhist concept of ‘no views,’ which was expounded as an original teaching by Gautama’s earliest group of supporters and disciples.

Calame, Genevieve – (1946 – 1993)
Swiss pianist and composer
Genevieve Calame was born (Dec 30, 1946) in Geneva. She studied the piano in her home city, and then studied under Guido Agosti in Rome, and with Jacques Guyonnet, and others, in Paris.
Calame was appointed as a teacher of audio-visual studies at the Ecole Superieure d’Art Visuel in Geneva (1975). As well as audio-visual works such as Le chant rememore (1975), Labyrinthes fluides (1976), and Tableaux video (1977), she became noted for her instrumental compositions, and for her inclusion of non-European instruments in conventional works such as Les aubes d’Onomadore (1977), written for orchestra and African instruments, and Vent solaire (1990), which was written especially for orchestra and the traditional Japanese flute the shakuhachi. Calame also produced, Lude (1975), composed for the harp, and the chamber ensemble Dragon de lumiere (1991). Genevieve Calame died (Oct 8, 1993) aged forty-six, in Geneva.

Calamity Jane – (1852 – 1903)
American frontierswoman
Calamity Jane was born Martha Jane Cannary in Princeton, Missouri. Skilled from childhood as rider and shooter, she earned her living as a muleskinner in Wyoming, dressed as a man. She then became involved with the famous marshal, Wild Bill Hickok (1847 – 1876) in Deadwood, Dakota, shortly before he was killed, and later claimed they had been married, and that he had fathered the son she bore (1873). Her popular epithet by which she became famous is said to have been caused by the fact that she threatened ‘calamity’ for any man who tried to court and marry her, but despite this threat, she was married (1891) to Clinton Burke, with whom she had lived in a defacto relationship for a number of years. With the breakdown of this union however, Calamity joined the touring circuit with Wild West shows. However, her reputation for drunkenness and offensive public behaviour led to her being fired from the Pan American Exposition held in Buffalo, New York (1901). She returned to Deadwood and died there at the Callaway Hotel in Terry, of pneumonia. Her dying request to be buried beside Bill Hickok was honoured.

Calder, Fingola – (c1459 – after 1498)
Scottish heiress
Fingola Calder was the daughter of Sir William Calder, of Calder, thane of Cawdor. She was married firstly to John Monro, the 11th of that Ilk, of Foulis (d. before April, 1491), to whom she bore a son. She then became (1491), the second wife of John, eighth Earl of Sunderland (c1432 – 1508). Calder and Lord Sutherland were preparing to divorce in Feb, 1498, and tha affair was referred by the lords of council to the vicar-general of Caithness for adjudication, but the final verdict remains unrecorded. Fingola was probably the mother of Lord Sutherland’s son, Alexander Sutherland (1491 – 1520), whose legitimate status was later called into question

Calderon de la Barca, Frances (Fanny) – (1804 – 1882)
Scottish-Spanish traveller and author
Born Frances Erskine Inglis, she became the wife of the Spanish diplomat, Angel Calderon de la Barca. She accompanied her husband to Mexico when he was appointed there, and included parts of her own correspondence with relatives in a work describing her travels in that country entitled Life in Mexico During a Two Years Residence in that Country (1843)

Calderone, Mary Steichen – (1904 – 1998)
American physician and sex educator
Mary Steichen was born (July 1, 1904), the daughter of the noted photographer Edward Steichen (1879 – 1973), and was niece to the poet and biographer Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967). She was educated at Vassar College and was married to the actor Lon Martin to whom she bore two daughters. After her divorce from her husband, Mary Steichen attended the University of Rochester, and qualified as a physician.
Mary Steichen was employed in the public school system and remarried (1941) to Dr Frank Calderone, later the deputy commissioner of health in New York. She was appointed as the medical director of the Parenthood Federation of America (1953 – 1964), and it was during this period that Calderone successfully persuaded the American Medical Association to freely provide birth-control information to the public. She held nine honorary doctorates, was a pioneer in the field of planned-parenthood, and founded the Sex Education and Information Council of the United States (SEICUS) (1961). During the last years of her life, Calderone suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. She co-wrote The Family Book About Sexuality (1981) with Eric Johnson, and Talking With Your Child About Sex (1982) with James Ramey, both works being translated into several languages. Mary Steichen Calderone died (Oct 24, 1998) aged ninety-four, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Caldersmith, Charlotte Elizabeth – (1848 – 1935)
Anglo-Australian educator
Born Charlotte Elizabeth Whitlock in London, she received her education at St Andrew’s School at Stockwell. She trained as a teacher at the Home & Colonial School society’s Training College in London, and was married (1882) to George Caldersmith, a fellow teacher. Mrs Caldersmith’s first appointment was as headmistress of the Manchester High School for Girls in Lancashire. After arriving in Queensland, Australia with her husband (1885), Caldersmith took up her appointment as headmistress of the Townsville Central School for Girls, a position she retained for three decades until her retirement (1888 – 1918). Her daughter, Jeanie Justine Caldersmith, wife to the pastoralist Brice Henry (1877 – 1940), was a prominent teacher and social activist. Mrs Caldersmith died (Jan 13, 1935) aged eighty-six, at Eurama in Queensland.

Calderwood, Margaret Steuart – (1715 – 1774)
Scottish traveller and memoirist
Margaret Calderwood was born at Polton in Midlothian. Mrs Calderwood travelled to England, where she attended the court of George II, and then to Europe, where she visited Holland. Her travels took place over a six month period (June – December, 1756). She left a journal account of her travels, which was later published as Letters and Journals of Mrs Calderwood of Polton, from England, Holland, and the Low Countries in 1756 (1884), and included her own surviving letters.

Caldiera, Caterina – (c1430 – 1463)
Italian scholar
Caterina, sometimes known by the pet name of Cataruzza, was born in Venice the daughter of the humanist physician Giovanni Caldiera. She was tutored by her scholarly father in Latin and philosophy and wrote a commentary for her. She was married (1451) to Andrea Contarini. Caterina was the author of the treatise De Laudibus sanctorum.

Caldwell, Janet Miriam Taylor – (1900 – 1985)
Anglo-American novelist
Janet Taylor Caldwell was born (Sept 7, 1900) near Manchester, in Lancashire. She was married and sometimes used the pseudonym ‘Max Reinor.’ Her published work included Dynasty of Death (1938), The Eagles Gather (1940), The Side of Innocence (1946), The Sound of Thunder (1957), Great Lion of God (1970), and Captains and the Kings (1972).

Caldwell, Susan Blagge    see   Samuels, Susan Blagge Caldwell

Calefer – (1872 – 1937)
Turkish Ottoman sultana
Calefer was born (Aug 19, 1872) at Kars. She became the fourth wife (1891) at Ortakeuy, of Prince Mehmed Seladdedin Osman (1861 – 1915). Princess Calefer survived her husband by over two decades and also survived the fall of the Ottoman dynasty. She was permitted to reside at Ortakeuy where she died (April 7, 1937) aged sixty-four. Her son was Prince Osman (V) Fuad Osman (1895 – 1973), the thirty-ninth Head of the Imperial House who left descendants.

Calegari, Cornelia – (1644 – after 1675)
Italian composer
Cornelia Calegari was born in Bergamo, Lombardy. She received training as a child singer, and was well known in Bergamo for her public performances of her own compositions, such as Motetti a voce sola (1659).  Her parents placed her in the Benedictine convent of St Margarita in Milan (1661), where she assumed the religious name of Sister Maria Cattarina, and was still living as a nun fourteen years later. She is said to have composed madrigals and several religious works, no copies of which are known to have survived.

Calhoun, Floride – (1792 – 1866)
American political wife and society figure
Floride Calhoun was born (Feb 15, 1792), the daughter of Senator John E. Calhoun and his wife Floride Bonneau. She was married (1811) to her cousin, the prominent politician, statesman, and author, John Caldwell Calhoun (1782 – 1850), to whom she bore ten children. Floride presided over the family’s plantation of ‘Fort Hill’ situated in Bath, South Carolina and later accompanied her husband to Washington (1817) when he was appointed as secretary of War. When he became vice-president (1825 – 1832) under Andrew Jackson, Floride became the Second Lady of the USA. During this time she became involved in a notorious scandal with socialite and political wife, Peggy Eaton which was popularly known as ‘the Petticoat Affair.’
With her husband’s resignation from office (1832) she retired to South Carolina and resumed her former duties as the mistress of a working plantation. With Senator Calhoun’s death Floride sold the property to one of her sons and retired to a small home in Pendleton, South Carolina. The last years of her life were saddened by the deaths of six of her children, though she reinherited ‘Fort Hill’ after the death of her only surviving son (1865). Floride Calhoun died there (July 25, 1866) aged seventy-four.

Calenda, Constanza – (fl. 1415 – 1423)
Italian medical practitioner and lecturer
Constanza was the daughter of Salvatore Calenda the dean of medicine at the University of Salerno, and became the wife of Baldassare de Sancto Magno. She became a lecturer at the University of Naples (1423) after receiving medical training and passing the required examinations to be a physician.

Calixabeta, Margherita – (c1505 – 1560)
Italian ascetic
Margherita Calixabeta was born at Piazza, in Sicily, the daughter of poor parents, Tommaso Matthia and his wife Angela Negra. She refused to marry and lived in solitude in humble surroundings, teaching and training poor girls for the religious life. Margherita Calixabeta died in Sicily (Dec 28, 1560). Credited with miracles, the church revered her as a saint (March 7 and Sept 13).

Calixta of Lippe – (1895 – 1982)
German princess consort of Prussia
Princess Calixta Agnes Adelaide Irmgard Helene Caroline Elise Emma of Lippe was born (Oct 14, 1895) at Potsdam, near Berlin, the elder daughter of Friedrich Willhem (1858 – 1914), Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a colonel with the Prussian army, and his wife Countess Gisela von Ysenburg und Budingen-Meerholz, the daughter of Count Karl von Ysenburg und Budingen-Meerholz and his wife Princess Agnes of Ysenburg und Budingen-Budingen. Calixta was born with the title of countess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, but received the rank of princess when her father assumed princely rank (1905) becoming HSH (Her Serene Highness) Princess Calixta of Lippe.
Calixta was married (1919) to Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889 – 1945), the nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888 – 1918). Her husband suffered from haemophilia and there were no children. The couple remained resident in Bavaria for most of WW II. With the approach of Russian troops the prince and princess fled to Tutzing, where Prince Waldemar died (May 2, 1945) due to the lack of blood transfusion facilities. Calixta survived her husband for over thirty-five years as the Dowager Princess Waldemar of Prussia (1945 – 1982) and resided at Reinhartshausen Castle near Erbach in the Rheingau. Princess Calixta died (Dec 15, 1982) aged eighty-seven, at Eltville in West Germany.

Callaghan, Elizabeth – (c1803 – 1852) 
Australian criminal
Elizabeth Callaghan was born in County Clare, Ireland, and went to London where she was employed as a domestic servant. She was arrested for passing counterfeit banknotes, and was sentenced to death (Sept, 1820). This sentence was commuted to transportation for fourteen years, and she arrived in Hobart, Tasmania (June, 1821) aboard the ‘Providence’, and was assinged to the custidy of the keeper of Hobart Prison. Elizabeth absconded from the prison and from 1824 lived as the mistress to the son of convict John Batman whom she eventually married in March, 1828, and bore eight children. With Batman’s death (1839) she remarried (1841) to William Willoughby, a former convict. Several years later, Elizabeth left her husband and children and resettled in Geelong, Victoria, where she was eventually murdered whilst drinking with some unsavoury confederates.

Callas, Maria – (1923 – 1977)
American-Greek coloratura soprano
Born Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos in Manhattan, New York of Greek parentage, she travelled to Greece in 1937 to study singing at the Athens Conservatory, and made her debut in that city in the role of Tosca (1941). However, it was her performance in Lia Gioconda at Verona, Italy in 1947 that won Callas international recognition for her extraordinary talent. Noted for her dramatic style and temperament, she was largely responsible for the revival of the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini.
Famous for her appearances as Norma with the Chicago Lyric opera (1954) and the Metropolitan Opera (1954), Maria retired in 1965 after a final performance as Tosca at Covent Garden, London. She then joined the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano on a world concert tour from 1973 – 1974. Callas recorded at least twenty complete operas, and performed over forty different operatic roles. Married at one time to G.B. Menghini, Maria attained celebrity and notoriety because of her long standing liasion with Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who callously abandoned her in favour of Jacqueline Kennedy. Maria Callas died at her home in Paris, France, aged fifty-three.

Callcott, Maria Dundas, Lady – (1785 – 1842)
British traveller and author
Maria Dundas was the wife (1827) of the painter, Sir Augustus Wall Callcott (1779 – 1844). She is best remembered as the author of Little Arthur’s History of England (1836). Lady Callcott also wrote books on painting, and published accounts of her visits to India and South America, such as A Journal of a Voyage to Brazil.

Calle, Margery – (c1448 – before 1482)
English Plantagenet gentlewoman
Margery Calle was the elder daughter of John Paston (1421 – 1466) of Norfolk, and his wife Margaret, the daughter of John Mautby, of Mautby, near Yarmouth. Details gleaned from the surviving Paston Letters reveal that there were plans bruited for Margery’s marriage from early childhood. Eventually, to the horror of her family, she revealed (1469) that she had been secretly married to Richard Calle (died c1503) of Framlingham, formerly the manager of the family estates. Calle wrote some of Margery’s surviving letters for her. The couple left four children, and Calle later remarried. Margery Calle died sometime before her mother, Margaret Paston, made her will (1482).

Callendar, Mary Hamilton, Countess of   see   Findlater, Mary Hamilton, Countess of

Callihoo, Victoria Belcourt – (1861 – 1966)
Canadian historian
Victoria Callihoo was born at Lac Sainte Anne, near Edmonton. She was the author of several published works such as the volume of reminscences entitled Early life in Lac Ste. Anne and St Albert in the eighteen seventies (1953). Victoria Callihoo died at Lac Sainte Anne aged one hundred and five.

Callinica    see   Kallinica

Calliope Lerama    see   Kalliope Lerama

Calliphana – (fl. c100 – c90 BC)
Graeco-Roman priestess
Calliphana was born at Veli in Lucania, probably into an upper class family, and was appointed the priestess of Ceres (Demeter). Calliphana was granted Roman citizenship due to the influence of the preator Gaius Valerius Flaccus (c96 BC) and by decree of the senate she was granted the rank of civitas Foederata in Lucania, which enabled her to administer her priestly offices to the Romans.

Callisthene      see     Kallisthene

Callodata   see   Kallodata

Calment, Jeanne Louise – (1875 – 1997)
French centenarian
Jeanne Calment was born at Arles, in Provence (Feb 21, 1875). She married (1896) her cousin Fernand Nicolas Calment, a prosperous merchant, who died in 1942. Her grandson, Dr Frederic Billot (1926 – 1960) was raised in her home. At the age of 110 years, Jeanne had to move into a nursing home, and eventually became blind and deaf, before her death at Arles (Aug 4, 1997) at the age of 122 years. Madame calment was the oldest person whose age could be verified by official documents. Celebrated by the French as the doyenne of longevity, she only quit smoking when she was 117, and had met the artist Vincent Van Gogh in her youth, though the meeting had left her singularly unimpressed.

Calosso, Eugenia – (1878 – after 1914)
Italian composer and orchestral conductor
Eugenia Calosso was born (April 21, 1878) in Turin, Piedmont, where she studied under the noted musician, Giovanni Cravero. Calosso began her career as a conductor at the Casino Municipale in San Remo, near Liguria in Imperia, and made concer tours, visiting London, Paris, Berlin, and Brussels, and other European capitals, with great success. She was still living at the outbreak of WW I. Calosso composed the opera Vespero, as well as madrigals, and violin and piano pieces.

Calpurnia – (fl. c30 – 48 AD)
Roman Imperial prostitute and courtesan
Calpurnia was the trusted mistress of Claudius I (41 – 54 AD). With the emperor’s freedmen Pallas and Narcissus she helped expose the plot against Claudius hatched by his wife Messallina and her lover Gaius Silius.  Calpurnia may have been killed by Agrippina, the last wife of Claudius, who feared her long friendship and influence with the emperor. She was portrayed by actress Jo Rowbottom in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series I Claudius (1976) with Derek Jacobi in the title role.

Calpurnia Bestia – (c120 – 82 BC)
Roman Republican patrician and political figure
Calpurnia Bestia was the daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Bestius, and became the wife of Publius Antistius, tribune (88 BC). Their daughter Antistia was the first wife of General Pompey. When her husband was murdered at the order of the younger Marius (82 BC) Calpurnia committed suicide with his sword, her brave action being commended by the historian Velleius Paterculus

Calpurnia Fabata – (c81 – after 113 AD)
Roman patrician
Calpurnia Fabata was the third wife of the Roman author Pliny the Younger (61 – 113 AD), she was the orphaned granddaughter of Lucius Calpurnius Fabatus, knight of Comum, her father, probably Calpurnius Fabatus, died before her marriage, and Calpurnia was brought up by her paternal aunt, Calpurnia Hispulla. Married c100 AD, Pliny in his letters records a touching account of their married life, and of his devotion to Calpurnia, and his grief at her miscarriage and subsequent inability to bear further children are undisguised.

The Emperor Trajan conferred on the couple the privileges granted to the parents of three children. An accomplished woman, her kind attentions to her husband are recorded by him in his letters, and he also mentions her modestly sitting behind a curtain to listen to a public reading of his work. In 111 AD, Calpurnia accompanied Pliny to Bithynia and Pontus in Asia Minor, but the death of her elderly grandfather, and her subsequent return to Italy via the Imperial Post service so that she could be with her aunt, meant that she was not with Pliny at the time of his death (Sept, 113 AD). No details of her later life are recorded.

Calpurnia Hispulla – (fl c80 – 112 AD)
Roman patrician
Calpurnia Hispulla was the daughter of Calpurnius Fabatus, a wealthy knight of Comum, her brother, Calpurnius Fabatus, being the mother of Calpurnia Fabata, the last wife of Pliny the Younger, whose education she had overseen, and whom she regarded as a mother. When her elderly father died (112 AD), her niece travelled from Bithynia in Asia Minor to be by her side during her period of grief, thereby missing the deathbed of her own husband, Pliny.

Calpurnia Pisonis (1) – (77 – before 27 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Calpurnia Pisonis was the daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, consul (58 BC), and was the elder half-sister to the long-lived Lucius Calpurnius Piso, consul (15 AD), whose mother Rutilia was her stepmother. Calpurnia became the fourth wife (59 BC) of the famous dictator, Julius Caesar (100 – 44 BC), but their marriage remained childless. Caesar was later prepared to divorce her in order to marry Pompeia, the daughter of Pompey, but Pompey himself rejected this proposal. Despite this, Calpurnia’s affection for her husband was considerable, and Plutarch records that, having being warned of his death in a dream, she tried to dissuade Caesar from attending the senate on the morning of the fateful Ides of March. With Caesar’s assassination, Calpurnia handed over his papers and four thousand talents to Mark Antony. There is no record of her remarrying, and she appears to have died before Octavian’s assumption of the principate as Augustus (27 BC).

Calpurnia Pisonis (2) – (c56 – c20 BC)
Roman Imperial patrician
Calpurnia Pisonis was perhaps of the family of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, consul (15 AD), and perhaps sister to Lucius Calpurnius M. Bibulus. Calpurnia Pisonis became the first wife of Marcus Messalla Corvinus (c64 BC – 8 AD), consul (31 BC), and was probably the mother of his son Valerius Messallinus (born 36 BC), who served as consul (3 BC) and left descendants. Calpurnia’s marriage to Corvinus took place (c40 BC), and was arranged to serve family and political politics in the aftermath of the battle of Philippi. The poet Ovid recorded that the mother of Corvinus’ elder son was of the Calpurnii family. There is no record of a divorce, so Calpurnia must have died around 20 BC, about which time Corvinus took a second wife.

Calpurnia Pisonis (3) – (fl. c5 – c20 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
A courtier of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius, she was perhaps the daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, consul (15 AD), who also served as pontifex (chief priest). Calpurnia Pisonis was married to Lucius Nonius Asprenas, consul suffect (6 AD) and was the mother of Lucius Nonius Asprenas, consul (29 AD), Nonius Asprenas Calpurnius Serranus, consul ord. (38 AD), and Nonius Asprenas Calpurnius Torquatus. Her grandson Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Asprenas, consul (c72 AD), served the Imperial Flavian dynasty as legate of Galatia in Asia Minor (68 – 69 AD) and as proconsul of Africa.

Calricia – (d. c303 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Sometimes called Caricia or Carisia, she was killed in Milan, Lombardy, during the persecutions instigated by the Emperor Maximian Daia. Her feast is recorded in the Acta Sanctorum (May 6).

Calthorp, Anne – (c1520 – 1582)
English Tudor heiress and courtier
Anne Calthorp was the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorp and his second wife Jane Blennerhassett. She became the second wife (1538) of Henry Radcliffe (1507 – 1557), Viscount Fitzwalter, the eldest son and heir of Robert Radcliffe, the first Earl of Sussex, and became the Viscountess Fitzwalter. Lady Fitzwalter was appointed by Henry VIII to be one of those ladies who attended upon his fourth wife Anne of Cleves (Jan, 1540). When Lord Fitzwalter succeeded his father as the second Earl of Sussex (1542 – 1557) Lady Anne became Countess of Sussex (1542).
During the reign of Edward VI (April – Sept, 1552) the countess was arrested and imprisoned within the Tower of London on a charge of sorcery, but was later released. She was a friend and supporter of the Princess Elizabeth, sister to Queen Mary I, and when the French ambassador Francois de Noailles needed to speak with the princess Lady Sussex was used as an intermediary. The countess visited de Noailles in disguise and informed him that the princess’s household was urging her to flee to France because she feared being forced into marriage with the Catholic Don Carlos of Spain. Lord Sussex crossed the Channel in order to psy out the land with Robert Dudley and others, but on his return was imprisoned by order of Queen Mary. Lord Sussex then divorced her, obtaining an Act of Parliament (Nov 13, 1555) to debar her obtaining her dower. Lady Sussex later travelled to Paris and after her own return to London ‘lately repaired hither oute of Fraunce’ she was again arrested and placed in the Fleet Prison (1557) but was subsequently released. Her former husband died several months later and in his will (July 27, 1557) Lord Sussex refers to the countess as ‘my unnaturall and unkind devorsyd wiff.’
Anne Calthorp was remarried secondly (1559) to Andrew Wyse of Bective in Meath, Ireland, who was then imprisoned for debt. He died in 1568. The former countess died (before March 28, 1582) aged about sixty-one. She had borne Lord Sussex two children, Egremont Radcliffe (c1540 – 1578) who was engaged in the rebellion of the north (1569) and was later executed by order of Don Juan of Austria, and Lady Frances Radcliffe, the wife of Sir Thomas Mildmay (died 1608). She bore her second husband several children of whom her eldest daughter Elizabeth Wyse (born 1560) who was styled ‘daughter of the countess of Sussex’ was married (1578) to Alexander Fitton.

Calvert, Caroline Atkinson   see   Atkinson, Caroline Louisa Waring

Calvert, Elizabeth – (c1615 – 1675)
English bookseller
Elizabeth Calvert was the wife of the London bookseller Giles Calvert, to whom she had borne two sons. With her husband’s death (1664), Elizabeth inherited a third of his business and ran her own bookshop in the city. Like Giles, Elizabeth favoured radical publications, which landed her in trouble with the authorities, notably in 1661, when she arrested and imprisoned for selling the book, Several Prodigies, which was regarded as seditious. She sold works by authors such as John Owen (1616 – 1683), the Nonconformist divine, Peter Fullwood, and Richard Steele, amongst others, all of whose works were viewed with suspicion by the crown, and several periods of imprisonment followed, and finally three hundred books form her stock were seized (1670), and probably destroyed.

Calvert, Frances – (1767 – 1859)
Irish memoirist
The Hon. (Honouable) Miss Frances Pery was the younger daughter of Edmond Sexton Pery (1719 – 1806), Viscount Pery (1785 – 1806) and his second wife Elizabeth Vescy, the widow of Robert Handcock. Her elder sister Diana Jane Pery became the wife of Thomas, Earl of Ranfurly and Frances became the wife of Nicholas Calvert (died 1841) of Hunsdon House in Berkshire. Mrs Calvert kept private journals over a period of three decades (1789 – 1822) entitled Mes souvenirs which were used by Mrs Warrenne Blake to publish the work An Irish Beauty of the Regency (1911).

Calvert, Phyllis – (1915 – 2002)
British stage and film actress
Born Phyllis Bickle in London, she studied acting there under Margaret Morris, making her stage debut during childhood (1925), and specialized in the roles of well behaved young ladies.
Calvert, who also possessed a comic touch, was best remembered as a leading star of the 1940’s. Film credits included roles in Kipps (1941), Fanny By Gaslight (1944), Madonna of the Seven Moons (1944), My Own True Love (1948), which she made in the USA, Mandy (1952), Oscar Wilde (1959). Later roles included appearances in the popular television series Kate (1971), and appearances in film such as Across the Lake (1988) which was made for television, and Mrs Dalloway (1997).

Calvet, Corinne – (1925 – 2001)
French-American actress
Born Corinne Dibos in Paris, she was an extremely shapely and statuesque blonde beauty. Corinne made her debut in film in Paris in La Part de l’Ombre (1945) and in Petrus (1947).
Deciding to try her luck at stardom in the USA she came to America, becoming a glamorous leading lady of the 1950’s in films such as The Far Country (1955) : Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959) and Bluebeard’s Ten Honeymoons (1960) which was filmed in Britain. She also made other French films and an Italian, Le Avventure di Giacomo Casanova (Sins of Casanova) (1954) during this period. Her private life was very public, and she was married five times, including to actors John Bromfield (1948 – 1953) and Jeffrey Stone, whilst her lovers included actor Rory Calhoun (1922 – 1999). Corinne’s career opportunities dwindled in the 1960’s, and she eventually left films and began a career a a hypnotherapist. She still appeared in the occasional film such as Too Hot to Handle (1976) and Dr Heckyl and Mr Hype (1980). One of her last film appearances was in The Death of the Heart (1986).

Calvi di Bergolo, Vittoria Francesca    see   Guarienti di Brenzone, Contessa

Calvia Crispinilla – (fl. c54 – after 70 AD)
Roman Imperial courtier
Calvia Crspinilla was perhaps of African origins. Calvia was a favourite of the emperor Nero, and served as mistress of the Imperial wardrobe at the palace. A person of some considerable power and influence, she accompanied Nero to Greece (66 AD), and was spared after his death (68 AD), having by this time married to a wealthy statesman, Sextus Traulus Montanus.

Calvin, Idelette – (c1508 – 1549)
Swiss-French Huguenot
Born Idelette de Bures, she was married firstly to Jean Stordeur to whom she had borne two children. Her second husband (1540) was the Scottish Protestant leader John Calvin (1509 – 1564), the founder of Calvinism. Idelette Calvin bore her husband three children who all died in infancy. With her husband she supported other Protestant religious exiles, some of whom she recived in her own home. She survived an epidemic of the plague in Geneva only to contract the lingering illness which eventually killed her. Calvin wrote that ‘I have lost her who would never have quitted me either in exile, or misrey, or death. She was a precious help to me, and never occupied with self. The best of partners has been taken from me.’

Cam, Helen Maud – (1885 – 1968)
British medieval historian
Helen Cam was born (Aug 22, 1885) in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the daughter of a clergyman, William Herbert Cam, headmaster of the Abingdon Grammar School. She was educated at the Royal Holloway College, London and Bryn Mawr, in Pennsylvania, America. After consolidating her early teaching career, she was appointed director of studies at Girton College, Cambridge until 1948, and appointed Pfeiffer Research Fellow. From 1948 – 1954 she lectured at Harvard University, in America, being appointed the first Zenmurray Radcliffe Professor of History. Her written works included Studies in the Hundred Rolls (1921), Liberties and Communities in Medieval England (1944), and Law-Makers in Medieval England (1962). Other works included England before Elizabeth (1950), Crown, Community and Parliament in the Later Middle Ages (1951), and Magna Carta (1965). She was appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1957) in recognition of her services to literature. Helen Cam died (Feb 9, 1968) aged eighty-two.

Cama, Bhikaji Rustam – (1861 – 1936) 
Indian revolutionary
Bhikaji Rustam was born in Bombay, the daughter of Khurshedji Rustamji (1831 – 1909) a prominent Parsi leader, and married Rustam Cama. Her marriage remained unhappy and unsettled due to major political differences. Bhikaji designed the national flag of India (1907) which she publicy unfurled for the first time at the Socialist Congress at Stuttgart in Germany. She then became involved with groups of extemist nationalists such as Sarvarkar and Chattopadhaya in Europe. Because of these activities, and her personal involvement in smuggling arms and revolutionary literature into India, she was imprisoned for three years during WW I, and returned to India only in 1935, where she died in a Bombay hospital the following year. A postage stamp bearing her image was later issued (1962) to honour her memory.

Camargo, Marie Anne Cupis de – (1710 – 1770) 
Belgian ballerina
Marie Anne Cupis de Camargo was born in Brussels, the daughter of an Italian dancing master. She was trained from early childhood, and first performed with the Paris Opera at the early age of sixteen (1726), and established herself as an extremely talented dancer and popular entertainer. Camargo performed in a totoal of nearly eighty different ballets and operas, and created greater freedom of movement for the ballet performer, by shortening her skirts, to expose the ankles, and discarded the heel from the dancer’s slipper. This enabled Camargo to famously perform those steps previously executed only by men, the entrechat and the cabriole. These inovations also provided women with a cunning advantage over men in the ballet which they have never relinquished. Camargo was absent from the stage for a period of five years (1735 – 1740) during which time she was kept by her lover, the Comte de Clermont, who fathered her two children. She returned to the stage with great success and retired permanently in 1751.

Cambis, Gabrielle Charlotte Francoise de Chimay, Vicomtesse de – (1729 – 1809)
French society figure and Bourbon courtier
Gabrielle Charlotte de Chimay was born (June 29, 1729), the daughter of Alexandre Gabriel de Henin-Lietard, Prince de Chimay, and his wife Gabrielle Francoise de Beauvau-Craon, and was niece to the Duchesse de Mirepoix. She was married (1755) Jacques Francois, Vicomte de Cambis. Madame de Cambis was a popular member of the courts of Louis XV and of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and figures prominently in the letters of the English antiquarian Horace Walpole, as well as the letters of Madame du Deffand. Her passion for the English ‘milord’ Charles Lennox, third Duke of Richmond, grandson of Charles II, remained unrequited, and she became the mistress of the Duc de Lauzun, twenty years her junior, according to his own Memoires. Madame de Cambis survived the horrors of the Revolution, and formed part of the old Bourbon court set in the Faubourg St Germain in Paris during the reign of Napoleon.

Cambridge, Ada – (1844 – 1926)
Anglo-Australian novelist and poet
Ada Cambridge was born at Wiggenhall St Germains in Norfolk (Nov 21, 1844), the daughter of a wealthy farmer and was educated privately at home by a governess. She was married in (1870) to George Cross, a missionary, and accompanied him to Australia, where they ultimately settled in Melbourne, Victoria. Cambridge’s literary career had begun prior to her marriage, and after her arrival in Australia she began contributing articles to the Australian newspaper and published her first short novel, Up the Murray (1875). She wrote just under twenty novels, including popular romantic fiction such as A Marked Man (1890), The Three Miss Kings (1891), A Marriage Ceremony (1894), Materfamilias (1898), The Devastators (1901), The Eternal Feminine (1907), The Retrospect (1912), and The Hand in the Dark (1913), but managed to draw the attention of her readers to the varying positions of women in contemporary society. Ada Cambridge died (April 27, 1926) aged eighty-one, at Elsternwick, Victoria.

Cambridge, Duchess Augusta of    see   Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Kassel

Cambridge, Dorothy Isabel Westenra Hastings, Marchioness of – (1899 – 1988)
British royal
Dorothy Westenra Hastings was born (May 18, 1899) at Cirencester, the second daughter of the Hon. (Honourable) Osmond William Toone Westenra Hastings (1873 – 1933) and his wife Mary Caroline Campbell Tarratt, the daughter of Daniel Fox Tarrant of Ellary Argyll. She was the paternal granddaughter of Francis Power Plantagenet Hastings (1841 – 1885), the thirteenth Earl of Huntingdon. She was married (1923) to George Cambridge (1895 – 1981) who succeeded his father as the second Marquess of Cambridge (1927) whereupon she became the Marchioness of Cambridge. Her husband was the great-great grandson of King George III (1760 – 1820) and his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Lady Cambridge bore her husband an only daughter Lady Mary Cambridge (born 1924) who became the wife of Peter Whitley (born 1923) of Penharbour near Hurstpierpoint in Sussex and left issue. Lady Cambridge served as the president of the Royal Cambridge Home for Soldiers’ Widows and published a volume of memoirs. She survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Cambridge (1981 – 1988). Lady Cambridge died (April 1, 1988) aged eighty-nine.

Cambridge, Enid Ellen Gray – (1903 – 1976)
Australian painter
Enid Cambridge studied under Julian Ashton and under Grace Crowley and Anne Dangar at the Sydney Art School. She had solo exhibitions of her watercolour paintings and pencil drawings at the Macquarie Gallery in Sydney and was a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute and of the Society of Artists. She later worked at Salzburg in Austria with Oskar Kokoscha and then worked as an art teacher when she returned to Australia (1959). Examples of Enid Cambridge’s work are preserved at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Queensland Art Gallery, at Sydney University and in various private collections. Her work Nocturne (1958) in ink pencil is preserved at the Australian National Gallery in Canberra.

Cambridge, Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor, Marchioness of – (1873 – 1929)
British royal
Lady Margaret Grosvenor was born (April 9, 1873) at Eaton Hall in Chester, the fourth daughter of Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, first Duke of Westminster and his first wife Lady Constance Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of the Duke of Sutherland. She became engaged (1894) to Prince Adolphus of Teck (1868 – 1927), the younger brother of Mary, Duchess of York. Queen Victoria was delighted with the match writing to her daughter the Empress Frederick ‘It is a very good connection – … & she will doubtless be well off.’ Princess Mary wrote to her aunt the Grand Duchess Augusta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz that ‘Margaret is a charming girl, we like her so much.’
The wedding took place at Eaton Hall (Dec 12, 1894) and the Duchess of Teck wrote that the bride ‘looked quite charming in her go-away gown of sapphire blue velvet, trimmed with sable and cape and toque to match: a kind of victorine of glorious sable, given her by the dear old Baroness Burdett-Coutss completed the costume.’ The Duke of Westminster provided Margaret with a dowry of seventy-five thousand pounds. Prince Adolphus succeeded his father Duke Francis Paul as Duke of Teck (1900 – 1917) Margaret became the duchess of Teck. Both were present at the funeral obsequies of Queen Victoria (Feb, 1901) and at the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (1902). When Duke Adolphus was appointed as the British Military Attache to the Imperial court in Vienna, Margaret accompanied him to Austria and was presented to the Emperor Franz Josef. Together with the emperor and other members of the Imperial family the Duke and Duchess welcomed the Prince and Princess of Wales (George V and Queen Mary) to Vienna on their state visit there. Both travelled to Madrid for the marriage of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg with Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Having worked for the Women’s Guild since the time of her marriage the Duchess of Teck aided Queen Mary with her nursing brigades and other organizations to help the war effort. The Duke of Teck relinquished his German titles (1917) and was then created Marquess of Cambridge by George V and the former duchess became the Marchioness of Cambridge. Margaret survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Cambridge (1927 – 1929). Lady Margaret died (March 27, 1929) aged fifty-five, in London. Her four children bore the surname of Cambridge from 1917 whilst her daughters received the rank of the daughters of a marquess. Her children were,

1) George Cambridge (1895 – 1981). He succeeded his father as the second Marquess of Cambridge (1927) and married and left issue.

2) Lady Victoria Constance Cambridge (1897 – 1987). She became the wife of Henry Somerset (born 1900), tenth Duke of Beaufort and left issue.

3) Lady Helena Cambridge (1899 – 1969). She became the wife of Colonel John Gibbs (1879 – 1932).

4) Lord Frederick Cambridge (1907 – 1940). He died unmarried.

Cambridge, Matilda de Clifford, Countess of    see    Clifford, Matilda de

Camden, Rosemary Pawle, Marchioness of – (1921 – 2004)
British peeress and socialite
Cecil Rosemary Pawle was born (May 9, 1921), the daughter of Brigadier-General Hanbury Pawle (1886 – 1972) of Ware, Hertfordshire. She was married firstly (1941) to Peter Townshend, at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, to whom she bore two sons. The marriage later became to collapse due to Townshend’s prolonged abscences with duties taken up in the Royal household (1944), and also with Rosemary’s prolonged romantic liasion with John de Laszlo, son of the famous painter and portraitist, Philip de Laszlo (1869 – 1937). This adultery was the cause of the divorce which was granted (1952), and which later prevented Group Captain (as he then was) Peter Townshend from being able to marry Princess Margaret (1930 – 2002), sister to Queen Elizabeth II. Rosemary remarried (1953 – 1977) to de Laszlo, to whom she bore two children, but they divorced after twenty-four years of marriage. She quickly remarried (1978) and became the third wife of John Charles Henry Pratt (1899 – 1983), the fifth Marquess of Camden. She survived him for two decades as the Dowager Marchioness of Camden (1983 – 2004). Lady Camden died (Feb 27, 2004) aged eighty-two, in London.

Camerino, Duchess di    see   Cibo, Caterina

Cameron, Agnes Deans – (1863 – 1912)
Canadian traveller, educator and author
Agnes Cameron was born (Dec 20, 1863) in Victoria, British Columbia, the daughter of a Scots miner. She was trained as school teacher and was appointed principal of the South Park School in Victoria (1894), being the first woman to hold an administrative office in a co-educational school. She was the founder of the British Columbia Teachers’ Institute, and was a supporter of suffrage for women. Cameron gave up teaching in order to embark upon her plan to travel from the city of Chicago across America to the Arctic Ocean, a ten thousand mile journey via Athabasca, the Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River (1908 – 1911). She returned via Peace River and the Lesser Slave Lake, and then wrote an account of her travels, The New North (1910). Agnes Deans Cameron died (May 13, 1912) aged forty-eight, in Victoria.

Cameron, Charlotte – (c1871 – 1946)
British traveller and author
Charlotte Cameron was a married woman with a penchant for travel, and during her career she covered a quarter of a million miles around the globe, travelling by ship, steamer, and railway over a period of fifteen years (1910 – 1925).  Whilst visiting India she was employed as a journalist with The Ladies’ Pictorial magazine and other popular periodicals (1911). Mrs Cameron’s published works included A Woman’s Winter in South America (1911), A Woman’s Winter in Africa: A 26,000 mile Journey (1913) and Two Years in Southern Seas (1923) all of which contained illustrations and maps.

Cameron, Donaldina Mackenzie – (1869 – 1968)
American missionary and social reformer
Donaldina Cameron was born (July 26, 1869) in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Cameron established a base in Sacramento Street in San Francisco, USA, where she worked tirelssly to eradicate the Chinese slave trade. Cameron rescued young Chinese women from brothels and gaming houses, and fought for their custody in the courts, becoming their foster mother. This established, 920 Sacramento Street was renamed Donaldina Cameron House (1942) in her honour. Donaldina Mackenzie Hamilton died (Jan 4, 1968) aged ninety-eight.

Cameron, Emily – (c1859 – 1921)
British novelist
Emily was born at Walthamstow and was educated in Paris and attended a boarding school in Putney, London. She became the wife of Lovett Cameron. Her published work included Juliet’s Guardian (1877), Vera Nevill (1880), In a Grass Country (1885), The Craze of Christine and, Midsummer Madness, amongst other popular novels. Emily Cameron died (Aug 4, 1921).

Cameron, Julia Margaret – (1815 – 1879)
British photographer
Julia Pattle was born in Calcutta, India, the daughter of Sir James Pattle, of the Bengal Civil Service. Raised in Calcutta she was married (1838) to the noted colonial jurist, Charles Hay Cameron (1795 – 1880), with whom she later returned to England (1848). She contributed articles to Macmillan’s Magazine. Cameron was a close friend to the famous Victorian painter, George Frederick Watts (1817 – 1904), whose style she imitated when she finally took up photography, when aged almost fifty (1864). She produced photographic studies of such prominent public figures as the Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892), the writer and historian, Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881), and the naturalist, Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882), amongst others.
Cameron also illustrated Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King (1875), and then moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with her husband (1875), and died there. She was great-aunt to the famous writer Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941)

Cameron, Kate – (1874 – 1965)
Scottish painter and etcher
Katharine Cameron was born at Hillhead, near Glasgow, and was younger sister to the noted artist, Sir David Young Cameron (1865 – 1945). Cameron studied at the Glasgow School of Art, and later under Colarossi in Paris. She was married (1928) to the well known collector, Arthur Kay. Her interior water colours were produced in the style of the ‘Glasgow 4,’ who included Herbert McNair and Margaret Mackintosh. Cameron was commissioned to produce illustration for children’s fairy tale collections, but was best noted for her stylized flower studies, particularly those which included bees or butterflies.

Cameron, Lucy Lyttelton – (1781 – 1858)
British children’s writer
Lucy Lyttelton Butt was the daughter of an Anglican clergyman, and was the younger sister of the author Mary Martha Sherwood (1775 – 1851). She was raised strictly in Worcestershire and attended the Abbey School in Reading. With her father’s death (1795) she retired to live with her mother at Bridgnorth. Lucy was married to a clergyman from Shropshire. Mrs Cameron wrote a large number of religious and moral stories for children.
The best known of her works in this field was The History of Margaret Whyte; or, The Life and Death of a Good Child (1788) and The Two Lambs (1803). She also revised a new edition of Token for Children (1828) originally published by the Nonconformist clergyman James Janeway (1672). Her books remained in print until the Edwardian era.

Cameron, Maud Martha – (1886 – 1973)
Australian educator
Maud Cameron was born (Oct 13, 1886), in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Ewen Cameron. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College and then at Ormond College at the University of Melbourne, where she trained as a teacher. She remained unmarried. Cameron was appointed form mistress at the Lauriston School, and at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, before being appointed headmistress at the Church of England Girls’ Grammar School (CEGGS) at Firbank, a post she filled admirably for over four decades (1911 – 1954), until her retirement. She also served as president of the Victorian Association of Headmistresses (1936 – 1937), and as acting president of the Headmistresses Association of Australia (1945). Maud Cameron died (April 18, 1973) aged eighty-six, in Melbourne.

Cameron, Meribeth Elliott – (1904 – 1997)
American historian
Meribeth Cameron was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, and was educated at Stanford University. She joined the faculty of Mount Holyoke College (1948), where she became a scholar in modern Chinese history, and was eventually appointed as professor emeritus of history. Cameron was the acting president of the women’s liberal arts college at Mount Holyoke for three separate terms, and was the author of, The Reform Movement in China, 1898 – 1912 (1932), which was twice reprinted, and was the founding editor of the, Far Eastern Quarterly, which was later renamed the, Journal for Asian Studies. She retired in 1970. Meribeth Cameron died (July 12, 1997) aged ninety-two, in Massachusetts.

Cameron, Olive Norma – (1891 – 1945)
Australian women’s activist and teacher
Olive Crockford was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the daughter of Walter Crockford. She was educated there and married there (1919), to Percy Alexander Cameron. Mrs Cameron was a prominent figure in various public associations and organizations involved with female suffrage and political involvement, being appointed as the state delegate to the British Commonwealth League Conference in London (1929). She was president of the Sydney branch of the Feminist Club from 1934, and a delegate for the state branch of the National Council of Women (1938 – 1940). A board member of the Australian Federation of Women Voters, Cameron also served as the state vice-president of the Women’s Voluntary National Register. Olive Cameron died (Sept 12, 1945) aged fifty-four, in Sydney.

Cameu, Helza – (1903 – 1995)
Brazilian pianist and composer
Born Helza Cameu de Cordoville (March 28, 1903) in Rio de Janeiro, she studied the piano under Alberto Nepomuceno and then with Joao Nunes at the Instituto Nacional de Musica.
Cameu de Cordoville was a talented musician and also performed on the violin and cello, learning composition under Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez at the Conservatorio Brasiliero de Musica. She produced orchestral pieces such as Quadro sinfonico (1939), chamber music, and solo pieces such as Eterna incognita (1928), Morena cor de canela (1934), Trovas (1946), and Querem ver esta menina (1948). She was the author of a volume devoted to native Brasilian music entitled Introducao ao estudo da musica indigena brasileira (1977). Helza Cameu died aged ninety-two.

Camilia Pia, Julia – (fl. 211 – 215 AD)
Roman patrician heiress and litigant
Julia Camilia Pia was probably the daughter of C. Julius Camilius Galerius Asper, consul ord. 212 AD, and his wife Cassia Paterna. Her father and brother were exiled from Rome by the emperor Caracalla (212 – 217 AD) on a charge of treason, and Camilia Pia and another co-heir, probably her younger brother, were granted the legal right to their property as the next heirs.
Several years later Camilia Pia approached Caracalla asking that the case re-assessed, being supported in this action by the co-heir (presumably her brother). She claimed that the original judge, Hermogenes, had divided some freedmen who had belonged to the estates, and Camilia Pia and her brother now claimed that the judge had not the legal right to order such a division, which was against the specific directions on division, set down by her father. It was eventually decided that the original division would remain, though Caracalla made the unique legal decision that the original division of freedmen, had in fact, been invalid. The terms of this case were considered so unusual that the famous jurist Justinian recorded the details in his Digest.

Camilla (1) – (fl. c800 BC)
Etruscan queen
Camilla was the ruler of the Volscii in the region of Latium, which was bordered by the Aurunci, Samnite and Herrici tribes. During the early period of Roman history the Volscii were powerful enemies, and the historian Virgil called her the daughter of Metabus and Queen Casmilla. All that is known of Camilla are the details recorded by Virgil. He called her a great leader, saying that she trained as a huntress, and the details he noted concerning her athletic skills, whilst obviously exaggerated, reveals the depth of the fear of her power by the Romans. Camilla later joined forces with the military commander Turnus. She was later killed in battle by the Estruscan Arruns, who was a follower of Aeneas. Though perhaps an actual semi-historical personage, Virgil modelled Camilla on the older story of Harpalyke, the legitimate daughter of Harpalykus, king of the Amymonei in Thrace.

Camilla (2) – (fl. 511 – 512)
Gallo-Roman patrician
Camilla was related to Ennodius, Bishop of Ticinum and the brief details of her life are recorded in his Epistulae. A widow of insufficient means Camilla sent her young son to Ennodius to be educated, and her asked Liberius the praetorian prefect of Gaul to provide her with financial assistance.

Campan, Jeanne Louise Henriette de – (1752 – 1822)
French courtier, educator and memoirist
Jeanne de Genet was born in Paris to a minor family of the gentry. She entered the royal household at Versailles in 1768, at the age of fifteen, as lectrice (reader) to the Mesdames, the unmarried daughters of Louis XV. Eventually she became a close friend and companion to Queen Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI, but their friendship had not the unpopular public focus, as did the queen’s association with the Duchesse de Polignac and the Princess de Lamballe.
Madame de Campan did not use her position for personal gain or advantage, and she remained with the royal family during the outbreak of the Revolution until she was forced to leave them. She witnessed both their executions in 1793. With the fall of Robespierre in 1794, Jeanne needed to earn a living to help support her family, and opened a boarding school for girls at St Germain-en-Laye. Her notable boarders included Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, stepdaughter of the emperor Napoleon I, and the the mother of emperor Napoleon III. In 1806 Napoleon appointed Madame de Campan as the directoire of the imperial school at Ecouen for the daughters of officers of the Legion d’Honneur. With the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 Madame de Campan sufferred greatly from slanderous calumnies circulated against her. She was the author of various works concerning her days at the court and her connection with Marie Antoinette, such as Vie privee de Marie Antoinette (1823) and Journal anecdotique (1824). Her letters to Queen Hortense were published posthumously as Correspondance avec la Reine Hortense (1835, 2 vols.). Her own reminiscences were finally published in 1988 as Memoires de Madame de Campan, premiere femme de chambre de Marie Antoinette, 1774 – 1792 (Memoirs of Madame de Campan, Principal Lady-in-Waiting to Marie Antoinette, 1774 – 1792).

Campana, Francesca – (c1610 – 1665)
Italian composer, musician and vocalist
Francesca Campana was born in Rome, the daughter of the musician, Andrea Campana. She was married (after 1633) to the composer, Giovan Carlo Rossi. Campana played and composed for the spinet with great talent and was recognized as one of the most popular and talented singers in Rome. Her published works included, Pargoletta vezzosetta (1629), and the madrigal for two voices, Donna, se ‘l mio servir and Arie a 1, 2, e 3 voci (1629). Francesca Campana died (July, 1665) in Rome.

Campana di Cavelli, Marchesa    see   Rowles, Emily

Campanini, Barbarina – (1721 – 1799)
Italian dancer
Campanini was born in Parma, and trained as a dancer under the Neapolitan master Rinaldi Fossano. She began her dancing career at the Academie Royale de Musique in Paris where she made her stage debut with enormous success in Rameau’s ballet Les Fetes d’Hebe (1739) with Fossano as her partner. She then danced before Louis XV at Fontainebleau and was presented with a gift by the king. Famous for her talent with various styles of dance she became popularly known as ‘La Barbarina’ and much of her inspiration appears to have come from the style of Madame de Camargo.
Barbarina soon became the mistress of the Prince of Savoy-Carignano, the Prince de Conti, the Duc de Durfort and the British peer the Earl of Arundel. She performed in England at Covent Garden in London and appeared before Prince Frederick of Wales and his wife Augusta of Brunswick at Cliveden (1740). She performed in such ballets as The Italian Peasants, Mars and Venus and Le Tirolesi. She performed in Dublin and Paris before going to the court of Berlin where she was engaged to perform before King Friedrich II the Great. She achieved enormous success in Berlin appearing with the court opera in such works works as Catone in Utica (1744), Adriano in Siria (1745), Cajo Fabricio (1746) and L’Europa galante (1748), and King Friedrich granted her a generous allowance. Her first marriage was with Baron Karl Ludwig von Cocceji, the son of King Friedrich’s chancellor and was the cause of her return to London (1748). He was imprisoned for several months by order of the king but with his release they were married secretly. After his initial anger had faded when he received news of the marriage Friedrich granted Cocceji an appointment at Glogau in Silesia where they retired.
Barbarina and Cocceji later separated (1759) and she went to reside at her own property, the Castle of Barschau. King Friedrich Wilhelm II (1786 – 1797) later granted Barbarina the title of Countess von Barschau and Countess von Campanini (1787). She was diovorced from Cocceji in 1788 and then remarried to a German baron. One of the three surviving portraits of Barbarina by Antoine Pesne was engraved by Eccart, whilst her pastel portrait by Rosalba Carriera was preserved at the Royal Gallery in Dresden, Saxony. Barbarina Campanini died (June 7, 1799) aged seventy-eight, and at Barschau and was buried there. Most of her estate was then sold for the benefit of the Prussian state. Campanini was the subject of the German silent film Die tanzezin Barbarina (1920) and the ballet Barbarina (1935).

Campbell, Agnes   see   Anderson, Agnes Campbell

Campbell, Beatrice Stella     see    Campbell, Mrs Patrick

Campbell, Bessie – (1870 – 1964) 
Australian musician
Elizabeth Campbell was the born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of John Christopher Campbell, and his wife Eliza McMullen. Her parents came to London in 1884, where she learnt to become proficient on the banjo. The family immigrated to Australia (1885) and she became famous as Australia’s greatest banjo player being popularly known as ‘Bessie Campbell,’ and giving many concerts for the benfit of charitable causes. Bessie Campbell died aged ninety-three.

Campbell, Lady Charlotte     see    Bury, Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell, Lady

Campbell, Charlotte Catherine – (1915 – 1993)
American mycologist
Campbell was born near Winchester, Virginia and studied at the Ohio State University, the American University and George Washington University. Campbell remained unmarried and was later appointed as the chief of medical mycology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington (1948). She became a specialist in the use of various fungi and their practical use for the medical treatment of infections and was the author of almost one hundred treatises on this subject.
Charlotte Campbell was later appointed as an associate professor of medical myscology at the School of Public Health at Harvard University (1962 – 1973). Having been made a full professor (1970) Campbell accepted the position of professor of medical sciences at the Southern Illinois University (1973 – 1977). After her retirement Professor Campbell worked in Russia for three years (1977 – 1980) with the American Society of Microbiology. Charlotte Campbell died (Oct 8, 1993) aged seventy-eight, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Campbell, Dorothea Primrose – (1792 – 1863)
Scottish poet
Dorothea Campbell was born (May 4, 1792) at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, the daughter of a surgeon Duncan Campbell and his wife Elizabeth Scott of Scottshall in Scalloway. She was distantly related to the novelist Sir Walter Scott the author of Ivanhoe (1819). Due to her family’s dire financial situation Dorothea estasblished a school in Lwerwick but this venture failed and she then worked in England as a governess and teacher.
Her teaching career did not prove altogether successful though Miss Campbell did receive financial renumeration from the Royal Literary Fund (1844). Her known poems included the famous ‘Moonlight’ which appeared in her published collection Poems (1816). Campbell, who remained unmarried, was also the author of the novel Harley Radington: A Tale (1821). Dorothea Primrose Campbell died (Jan 6, 1863) aged seventy, at Kentish Town.

Campbell, Dorothy Iona – (1883 – 1945)
Scottish-American golfer and champion
Dorothy Campbell was born (March 24, 1883) in North Berwick into a sporting family, and began playing golf from early childhood, competing with her elder sisters when she was older. She later lived in Canada for several years (1910 – 1913) before removing permanently to the. Campbell joined the professional golfing ranks, and became extremely successful, winning eleven national amateur crowns in matches between Great Britain, the USA, Scotland, and Canada. She was the first woman to win the American, British, and Canadian Women’s Amateur Golf Championships, and retired after her last match (1924). Sixteen years later Campbell emerged from retirement to play again, and won the US Women’s Senior Championship (1938). Dorothy Campbell was married and divorced twice and was sometimes referred by her later married names of Hurd and Howe. She was later inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame (1978). Dorothy Campbell died (March 20, 1945) aged sixty-two.

Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth Blood, Lady – (1858 – 1911) 
British journalist and novelist
Gertrude Blood was the daughter of Edmond Maghlin Blood, of Brickhill, Clare, and his wife Mary Beirne. She married (1881) Lord Colin Campbell (1853 – 1895) but the marriage was unhappy and remained childless. A famous society beauty, she is perhaps better known for being painted in the nude by James Whistler. In 1884 Lady Gertrude brought a petition for a judicial seperation on the grounds of cruelty, which was granted. The case became the topic of much scandalous gossip, the court costs bankrupting Lord Colin, and Gertrude was otstracized from society. Thrown upon her own resources, Lady Campbell took up journalism, and contributed articles for the Saturday Review, the Pall Mall Gazette, the World, the Realm, and the Ladies’ Field magazines. From 1889 – 1903 she remained with the World as the art critic. Her novels included, Topo, A Tale About English Children in Italy (1878), and, Darell Blake, a Study (1889). She also wrote a travel column for the World, entitled, A Woman Walks, under the pen-name of Vera Tsaritsyn. By 1906 crippling rheumatism had confined Lady Gertrude to a wheel-chair. Lady Gertrude Campbell died (Nov 2, 1911) aged fifty-four, in London.

Campbell, Lady Henrietta – (c1700 – 1766)
British courtier
Lady Henrietta Campbell was the daughter of John Cambell (1662 – 1752), third Earl of Breadalbane in Scotland, and his second wife Henrietta, the daughter of Sir Edward Villiers. She was closely related to Barbara Villiers, the notorious mistress of Charles II. Henrietta served at court for many years as lady-in-waiting to the princesses Amelia and Caroline, the two unmarried daughters of George II and Queen Caroline. She remained unmarried. Lady Henrietta died (Jan 27, 1766).

Campbell, Jane Montgomery – (1817 – 1879)
Anglo-German poet
Jane Campbell was best known for her poem ‘We Plough the Fields’ which appeared in her published collection of verse entitled Garland of Songs.

Campbell, Janey Sevilla Callander, Lady – (1845 – 1923)
Scottish pastoral play actress, dramatist and writer
Janey Callander was the daughter of John Henry Callander, of Craigforth, Stirling and of Ardkinglas, Argyll. She was married (1869) to Lord Archibald Campbell (1846 – 1913), younger brother of John Douglas, ninth Duke of Argyll. The marriage had been arranged by her father-in-law, George, eighth Duke of Argyll, whose ward she had been. The couple had two children.
Lady Campbell was the originator of Pastoral Plays in Europe. She appeared as Orlando in As You Like It (1884 – 1885), and Perigot in the, Faithful Shepherdesse (1885). She played the title role in the Becket adaptation of, Fair Rosamond (1886), and her production of, A Misdummer Night’s Dream (1887) was performed in the garden of the poet Alexander Pope in Twickenham. Lady Campbell played Oberon whilst Kate Vaughan took the part of Titania.
Lady Campbell was the author of Tam Lin, a Scottish ballad play, which was produced at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh (1899) with her in the title role, and she also dramatised the William Yeats poem ‘Cap and Bell,’ which was played as a monologue at the Berkelely Theatre in Glasgow (1907). She wrote several volumes concerning drama, West Highland lore, and occultism, but her best known work was, Rainbow Music, a treatment on the philosophy of harmony in colour grouping. Widowed in 1913, her son Niall Diarmid Campbell (1872 – 1949) inherited the dukedom of Argyll (1914) but died unmarried, as did her daughter, Lady Elspeth Angela Campbell (1873 – 1942). Lady Janey died (July 15, 1923) aged seventy-seven, at Coombe Hill Farm, Norbiton, in Kingston-on-Thames.

Campbell, Dame Kate Isabel – (1899 – 1986)
Australian paediatrician
Kate Campbell was born (April 22, 1899) at Hawthorn, in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at the Methodist Ladies’ College and Melbourne University. She was employed at the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, before she branched out into private practice (1927). Campbell achieved world-wide acclaim for discovering the link between the levels of oxygen in humidicribs and the blindness found in some premature infants (retrolental fibrolasia). Campbell was co-winner of the Encyclopedia Britannica award for medicine (1964) and was created a DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1971) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her intensive and valuable research. Dame Kate Campbell died (July 12, 1986) aged eighty-seven, in Melbourne.

Campbell, Leila – (1911 – 1993)
British civil servant
Leila Jaffe was born (Aug 10, 1911), and attended school in Liverpool, Lancashire. She was married (1940) to Andrew Campbell and bore one daughter. Leila Campbell was employed as a dress designer and caterer before she entered local politics and was elected to a position on the Hampstead Borough of Camden (1961 – 1965). She then served with Camden Council (1964 – 1978) and later served as an alderman. Mrs Campbell served as the chairman of the Libraries and Arts Committee and worked with the London County Council for Holborn and St Pancras (1958 – 1965) and the Greater London Council for Camden (1964 – 1967). Campbell was later elected as chairman of the Inner London Education Authority (1977 – 1978). Leila Campbell died (Oct 2, 1993) aged eighty-two.

Campbell, Louise – (1909 – 1997)
American stage and film actress
Campbell was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Northwestern University and De Paul University. Her stage credits included appearances in Three Men on a Horse (1935) and Guest in the House (1942). Her best known film roles included Men With Wings (1938) which starred Ray Milland and Fred MacMurray, The Buccaneer (1938) with Frederic March and The Star Maker (1939) with Bing Crosby. Her last stage appearance was in Uncle Vanya (1982) in New York. Louise Campbell died (Nov 12, 1997) aged eighty-six, in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Campbell, Margaret     see    Bowen, Marjorie

Campbell, Dame Mary – (1877 – 1954)
British medical officer
Janet Mary Campbell was born (March 5, 1877) in Barnham, Sussex, the daughter of a banker and attended Brighton High School. She was able to follow her wish to study medicine with parental approval. She graduated from the London School of Medicine for Women and later trained at the Royal Free Hospital (1902) and the Belgrave Hospital for Children (1904).
Campbell was later appointed as assistant school medical inspector to the London County Council (1905) and was the the first woman to be employed on a full-time basis as medical officer by the Board of Education. She founded the Medical Women’s Federation (1917) and later served as the senior medical officer for maternity and child welfare at the Ministry of Health (1919 – 1934). Campbell was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by King George V (1924), in recognition of her services to public health. She was the author of, Physical Welfare of Mother and Children (1917), and, A Comprehensive Report on Maternity Services (1945). She was married (1934) to Michael Heseltine, the registrar of the General Medical Council. She was widowed in 1952. Dame Mary Campbell died (Sept 27, 1954) aged seventy-seven, in London.

Campbell, Mrs Patrick – (1865 – 1940)
British actress
Born Beatrice Stella Tanner in Kensington, London, of Anglo-Italian parentage, she was the daughter of an East India Company contractor. She was married (1884) to Patrick Campbell and made her first stage appearance four years later (1888), adopting the stage name of Mrs Patrick Campbell. With his death in South Africa (1900), she remarried (1914) to George Conrwallis-West. Though famous for her volatile temperament, she also possessed magnificent charm and talent, and was acclaimed in the title role of The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893).
George Bernard Shaw wrote the role of Eliza in his play, Pygmalion (1914), especially for her, and she was also acclaimed in the role of Melisande in, Pelleas and Melisande written by Maurice Maeterlinck, the music for this dramatic piece being composed by Gabriel Urbain Faure (1845 – 1921) at Mrs Campbell’s especial request. She was also noted for her portrayal of Shakespearean roles and performed the title role in Magda, written by the German dramatist and novelist Hermann Sudermann (1857 – 1928). She proved an extremely popular performer with the soldiers during WW I, and was known affectionately as ‘Mrs Pat.’ Her correspondence with Shaw has been published.

Campbell, Persia Gwendoline Crawford – (1898 – 1974)
Australian-American economist and consumer advocate
Persia Campbell was born (March 15, 1898) at Nerrigundah in New South Wales, and received her earlier education at the Fort Street Girls’ High School. She graduated from Sydney University and then attended the London School of Economics. With the aid of a scholarship she travelled to America to study agricultural policy at Harvard University (1930). She then married and settled in the USA. Campbell became interested in the rights of public consumers, and she acted as host on various radio programs, designed to provide consumer information to the public. She was later appointed professor of economics at Queen’s College, at the City of New York University (1960 – 1965). Crawford has been credited with assisting with the foundation of the Australian Consumer’s Association and she was author of, The Consumer Interest (1949). Persia Campbell died (March 2, 1974) aged seventy-five, at Flushing in New York.

Campbell, Lady Victoria – (1854 – 1910)
Scottish noblewoman and chatelaine
Lady Victoria Campbell was born (May 22, 1854) at Inverary Castle, the third daughter and sixth child of George Campbell (1823 – 1900), eighth Duke of Argyll and his first wife Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Leveson-Gower, the daughter of George Granville Leveson-Gower (1786 – 1861), second Duke of Sutherland. Named for Queen Victoria, she suffered in childhood from infantile paralysis, and thus left crippled and never married and remained a permanent resident of Inverary Castle with her parents, the Duchess being an invalid who required constant nursing.
With the death of her mother (1878) ‘Lady V’ as she was known to the family, took on many of the public duties that had occupied the late duchess. With the death of her stepmother Amelia Claughton (1894), these duties and the organization of the ducal castle again devolved upon Lady Victoria, though surviving family letters reveal that her strict and spinsterish nature did not make her a comfortable person to live with. Lady Victoria died (July 6, 1910) aged fifty-six.

Campbell Exner, Judith Katherine Eileen – (1934 – 1999)
American celebrity
Born Judith Immoor in Fort Lee, in New Jersey, she was the daughter of a German architect and an American mother. She was married (1952 – 1958) to the film and television actor William Campbell (born 1926), from whom she was divorced. She was briefly the mistress of vocalist Frank Sinatra (1915 – 1998), who introduced her to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Campbell Exner was the author of the memoir, My Story (1977), in which she claimed to have been the mistress of President Kennedy (1960 – 1962), whom she claimed (1996) had paid for her to have a quiet abortion, and of Sam Giancana of the Chicago mafia. Popular rumour had it that Campbell Exner had also been connected with a plot devised by Kennedy and Giancana to assasinate the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. She remarried to the professional golfer, Daniel Exner (1975). Judith Campbell Exner died of cancer, aged sixty-five, in Los Angeles, California.

Campden, Juliana Hicks, Viscountess – (1589 – 1680)
English heiress and peeress
Juliana Hicks was the elder daughter and coheiress of Baptist Hicks, first Viscount Campden and his wife Elizabeth May. She became the wife (1605) at Leyton in Essex of Sir Edward Noel (1582 – 1643) to whom she bore several children. She became Baroness Noel when her husband was raised to the peerage by James I as Baron Noel of Ridlington (1617 – 1629). He was later created Viscount Campden in Juliana’s right, as her father’s elder daughter (1629) and she became Viscountess Campden (1629 – 1643). Juliana erected a handsome monument to her husband’s memory in Campden Church and survived him for thirty-five years as the Dowager Viscountess Campden (1643 – 1680).
As a widow she petitioned to be released from the weekly assessment after her husband’s estates were then sequestrated but this proved unsuccessful. She was then ordered to make payment of nearly two thousand pounds but this order was later rescinded (1650). After this she resided at Brooke in Rutland keeping suitable aristocratic style. Lady Campden died (Nov 25, 1680) aged ninety-one, at Brooke and was interred with her husband at Campden. There remains an unusual monumwnt to Juliana and her husband at Campden Church which portrays both in their death shrouds and the open door of their tomb. This monument is believed to have been executed by Nicholas Stone (1664). Lady Juliana’s children were,

1) Hon. (Honourable) Elizabeth Noel (born 1606). She became the wife of John Chaworth, second Viscount Chaworth of Armagh and left issue.

2) Hon. Mary Noel (born 1609). She became the wife of Sir Erasmus de la Fontaine of Kiby-Bellars in Leicestershire and left issue.

3) Hon. Penelope Noel (1610 – 1633). She died unmarried.

4) Sir Baptist Noel (1611 – 1682). He succeeded his father as the second Viscount Campden (1643 – 1682) and was married four times and left issue.

5) Hon. Henry Noel of North Luffenham (1615 – 1643). He died unmarried as a prisoner of the Parliamentarians.

Campinelli, Olimpia Aldobrandini, Princess – (1561 – 1637)
Italian papal courtier
Olimpia Aldobrandini was the daughter of Pietro Aldobrandini and his wife Flaminia Ferraci. She held the princely title of Campinelli and was married (1577) to her kinsman, Giovanni Francesco Aldobrandini (1545 – 1601), who was styled Prince di Carpineto. Olimpia survived her husband over three decades (1601 – 1637) as the Dowager Princess di Carpineto. Her daughter, Margherita Aldobrandini (1585 – 1646), became the wife of Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, which made Olimpia the ancestress of Queen Mary Beatrice d’Este (Mary of Modena), the second wife of James II, King of England (1685 – 1688) and thus of the famous Stuart claimants, James Edward Francis Stuart (1688 – 1766), the Old Pretender, and Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720 – 1788). Princess Olimpia Campinelli died (April 28, 1637) aged seventy-five, in Rome.

Campoamor, Clara – (1888 – 1972)
Spanish feminist and politician
Clara Campoamor was born into a proletarian family, but graduated in from university with a law degree (1924). A long-time and serious campaigner for female suffrage, Campoamor was partly responsible for the inclusion of women’s suffrage in the Spanish constitution (1931). Campoamor was elected to the Second Republic as a deputy for the Radical Republican Party (1931) and served as vice-president of the Labour Commission (1931 – 1934). She also participated with the reform of the Civil Code, and represented her country at the League of Nations. She was founder of the Republican Feminine Union and served as director-general of charity (1933 – 1934). She retired to Lausanne in Switzerland (1955) prior to her death.

Campofranco, Henrietta Francisca Alexia von Salm-Salm, Princess di – (1875 – 1961)
German-Italian aristocrat
Princess Henrietta von Salm-Salm was born (June 21, 1875) at Anhalt in Germany, the second daughter of Prince Alfred Ferdinand Stephen Maria, the seventh Prince von Salm-Salm (1908 – 1923) and his wife Countess Rosa von Lutzow. Henriette also bore the title of Wild und Rheingravine von Salm-Salm. She remained unmarried until after the age of thirty, and then became the second wife (1907) at Anhalt in Saxony, to Conte Carlo Lucchesi-Palli (1868 – 1951) and became the Contessa Lucchesi-Palli (1907 – 1924). Both she and her husband were descendants of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (800 – 814). When Carlo succeeded his brother Enrico Lucchesi-Palli as Prince di Campofranco and Duca della Grazia, Contessa Henrietta became the Princess di Campofranco and Duchessa della Grazia (1924 – 1951). She survived her husband for a decade as the Dowager Princess di Campofranco (1951 – 1961). Princess Henrietta died (July 2, 1961) aged eighty-six, at Bolsano in Italy. She was the stepmother of Conte Roberto Lucchesi-Palli (1895 – 1979) who succeeded his father as the Prince de Campofranco and Duca della Grazia (1951 – 1979) and left issue, and his two sisters and left two children of her own,

1) Donna Elisabetta Lucchesi-Palli (born 1907). She remained unmarried.

2) Conte Alfredo Lucchesi-Palli (1906 – 1986). He succeeded his half-brother Roberto as Prince di Campofranco and Duca della Grazia (1979 – 1986). He was married (1952) in Prague in
Bohemia, to Helena Bastipanova (born 1913) but they remained childless and Alfredo was succeeded in these titles by his cousin Conte Pietro Lucchesi-Palli.

Camposelice, Isabelle Eugenie Boyer, Duchesse de – (1842 – 1904)
French salonniere
Isabelle Boyer was the daughter of Louis Noel Boyer, of Paris. In 1862 Isabelle became the mistress of Isaac Merritt Singer (1811 – 1875) the founder of the Singer sewing machine fortune, and the couple were married in New York in 1863. From 1870 – 1878 the family resided in England, but after her return to France, the widowed Mrs Singer remarried to Victor Nicolas Reubsaet, Duke de Camposelice, a Luxemburg nobleman. Devoted to music, the duchess established a musical salon at her Paris residence, which also attracted sculptors and artist, including Frederic Bartholdi, who executed the Statue of Liberty, executed for the US government. Bartholdi is believed to have used the duchess’s features as his model. The duchess later remarried a third time to a violinist, Paul Schege. Of her six children, Winnaretta Singer married Prince Edmond de Polignac, and Isabelle Singer (1869 – 1896) became the first wife of Elie, Duc de Decazes. The Duchesse de Camposelice died in Paris.

Campoy, Ana Maria – (1925 – 2006)
Argentinian actress
Ana Maria Campoy was born (July 26, 1925) in Bogota, Colombia, the daughter of stage actors. She appeared on stage for the first time during early childhood (1929), and was operating her own theatre compnay by the age of eighteen (1943). Campoy was married in Guatemala (1947) to fellow Argentinian actor and director, Pepe Cibrian, to whom she bore two sons. Campoy worked in Argentina, dividing her time between the stage, film, and television. She was the recipient of two Martin Fierro Awards, a Konex award in recognition of her comic skills, and a Podesta Award in recognition of her contribution to the theatre. Ana Maria Campoy died (July 8, 2006) aged eighty-one, in Buenos Aires.

Camrose, Joan Yarde-Buller, Lady    see    Aly Khan, Princess

Canal, Margeurite – (1890 – 1978)
French composer, teacher and conductor
Margeurite Canal studied music at the Paris Conservatoire, and ultimately became a teacher there (1919). She conducted orchestral concerts at the Palais de Glace during WW I (1917 – 1918), they being the first to be conducted by a woman in French history. Canal was awarded the Prix de Rome for her dramatic composition Don Juan, and travelled to Italy. She later returned to the Conservatoire (1932), where she remained until her eventual retirement. Her works included the song cycle, Amour tristes, for which she wrote the poem A Requiem (1921) and the opera Tlass Atka, which was never fully completed. She also composed pieces for chamber music, piano, and a violin sonata.

Canale, Gianna Maria – (1927 – 2009)
Italian film actress
Canale was born (Sept 12, 1927) in Reggio Calabria. After winning second place in a beauty contest her resemblance to the American actress Ava Gardner gained her much publicity. She worked with the director Riccardo Freda (1909 – 1999) whom she later married, and appeared in many of his films. Her movie credits included The Mysterious Rider (1948), Rigoletto (1949), Dead Woman’s Kiss (1951), The Man from Cairo (1953), Theodora, Slave Empress (1954), Madame du Barry (1954), Desert Detour (1956), The Silent Enemy (1958), Queen of the Pirates (1960) and Scaramouche (1963). She also appeared in the horror classic I vampiri (1956). Gianna Canale died (Feb 13, 2009) aged eighty-one, in Florence.

Canales, Laura – (1954 – 2005)
Tejano musician
Laura Canales was born (Aug 19, 1954) and made her music debut at the age of nineteen (1973) with the Los unicos company, and then joined El Conjunto Bernal. Her first regional musical success was with a cover of, Midnight Blue, which she performed with the band Snowball & Company. After her marriage with the drummer Balde Munoz she formed the group Laura Canales and Encanto (1981 – 1989), and she had her first major hit with the song, Si Vivi Contigo. Canales received The Yellow Rose of Texas Award (1983) as recognition of her contribution to music from her home state. She is remembered for winning both the female entertainer and the female vocalist sections of the Tejano Music Awards for four years running (1983 – 1987). After 1989 she worked solo and made popular hits with songs such as, ‘Cuatro Caminos,’ and, ‘Dile a Tu Esposa.’ Laura Canales died (April 16, 2005) aged fifty.

Canales, Marta – (1893 – 1986)
Chilean composer and conductor
Born Marta Canales Pizarro (July 17, 1893) in Santiago, she studied music under the famous Italian composer, Luigi Stefano Giarda at the Santiago Conservatorium. Canales composed pieces whilst living at home, where she performed them at musical gatherings. She formed a choir for female voices and composed sacred choral music, and was especially noted for the free reign she gave to harmony within her compositions. Canales produced several works for chorus and orchestra, such as, Misa de navidad (1919), and, Marta y Maria (1929), and the choral works Madrigales Teresianos (1933) and Misa gregoriana (1937). She was honoured as a composer by the Latin-American Exhibition in Seville (1929 – 1930). Marta Canales died (Dec 6, 1986) aged ninety-three, in Santiago.

Canali, Anna Teresa – (1678 – 1769)
Italian noblewoman and courtier
Anna Canali was the daughter of Francesco Maurizio Canali, Conte di Cumiano and Marchese di San Tommaso. She was married to Ignatio Francesco Novarino, Conte di San Sebastiano. As a widow the contessa became the mistress of Vittorio Amadeo II of Savoy, King of Sardinia (1718 – 1730). The king married her morganatically and secretly (1729) at Turin in Piedmont. The marriage was publicly announced some time afterwards (Aug, 1730) and the king abdicated the following month in favour of his son King Carlo Emanuele III. The contessa was created Marchesa di Spigno and resided with the king at Moncalieri. She survived his death by almost four decades (1732 – 1769). Marchesa Anna Teresa di Spigno died (April 12, 1769) aged ninety. There were no children of her second marriage.

Cancellieri, Geronima – (1354 – 1431)
Italian nun
Geronima Cancellieri was the daughter of the count of Pistoia. Married to a knight to whom she bore four children, Geronima was widowed whilst still young. Having long felt the vocation for the religious life, at the age of fifty Geronima was converted by the preaching of the Dominican prelate Giovanni Dominici, and she arranged to enter the convent he had founded, Corpus Domini, in Venice. Her family tried to forcibly prevent Geronima from leaving Pistoia, but she eluded them, and achieved her goal in 1405. With the death of the founder prioress Lucia Tiepolo in 1413, Geronima was chosen as second prioress. Ill-health and infirmity forced her to give up her office in 1423. Geronima Cancellieri died (March 10, 1431).

Canda – (fl. c500 – c480 BC)
Indian Buddhist poet
Canda was born into a wealthy family, who lost all their possessions while she was still a small child. Later their town was vivisted by the plague, and she lost her parents, husband, and children to the virulent epidemic. Dire poverty forced Canda to beg for food from door to door. She made the acquaintance of the Buddhist nun Patacara, and eventually embraced the Buddhist faith. She became Patacara’s disciple. Her verses dealt with her rescue from despair, and personal redemption, inspired by the example of Patacara and are preserved in the, Therigatha.

Candace     see     Amanishakhete

Cande, Pauline Gontard des Chevalleries, Baronne de – (1776 – c1856)
French aristocrat, émigré and memoirist
Pauline Gontard des Chavalleries was a member of the minor nobility. With the outbreak of the Revolution her father eventually emigrated abroad (1791) leaving his wife and family to look to themselves. As aristocrats the women followed the counter revolutionary forces in the Vendee region, and Pauline wote a narrative accounts of these events in her youth shortly afterwards (1795). The family survived and Pauline made a suitable marriage with the Baron de Cande. Her journal was edited and published posthumously in Paris as Une jeune fille a l’armee vendeenne. 1793. Souvenirs inedits de la baronne de Cande (nee Gontard des Chavalleries), publies et annotes par le vicomte Aurelien de Courson (1930).

Candee, Helen Churchill Hungerford – (1859 – 1949)
American author
Helen Churchill Hungerford was born (Oct 5, 1859) in New York, the daughter of Henry Hungerford. She was educated in New Haven and in Norwalk, Connecticut prior to makig a suitable society marriage with Edward Candee to whom she bore a daughter. Mrs Candee wrote concerning a variety of subjects and her published works included An Oklahoma Romance (1901), How Women May Earn a Living (1900), Decorative Styles and Periods (1906), The Tapestry Book (1912) and Weaves and Draperies (1931).
Mrs Candee was a passenger aboard the ill-fated Titanic liner (1912) which she had boarded at Cherbourg to travel to Washington. She was amongst the first class passengers who were rescued aboard lifeboat number 6. She was an inveterate traveller and wrote various accounts of her wanderings with such publications as Angkor, the Magnificent (1924) and New Journeys In Old Asia (1927), and was a member of the India Society of London. Helen Candee died (Aug 23, 1949) aged eighty-nine, at York in Maine.

Candeille, Amelie Julie – (1767 – 1834)
French operatic soprano and composer
Amelie Candeille was born (July 31, 1767) in Paris, the daughter of the dramatic composer Pierre Joseph Candeille. She made her first appearance with the Paris Opera at the age of fourteen (1781) and then performed the title role in Gluck’s opera Iphigenie en Aulide (1782) and then appeared in the role of Sangarider in Niccolo Picinni’s operetta Atys. A famous beauty she was for several years employed as a successful and popular comic actress at the Comedie Francaise (1785 – 1792). Amelie later became a successful teacher of singing in Paris and wrote her own libretto and music to the popular and successful operetta La Bella Fermiere (1792) which not only starred Madamoiselle Candeille in the leading role, but in which she sang to her own accompaniment on the piano and harp. Two of her lovers perished under the guillotine though Amelie escaped the Revolution unscathed. She divorced her first husband, the military officer Louis Nicolas Delaroche (1797) and was remarried to Jean Simons, a Belgian coach builder from whom she separated (1802). Amelie Candeille returned to Paris where she remained for the rest of her life and was granted a pension by King Louis XVIII. Amelie died (Feb 4, 1834) aged seventy-six, in Paris.

Candiano, Arcielda (Richielda) – (fl. c927 – 959)
Dogaressa of Venice
Arcielda was possibly the child of a Venetian and a captive Slav woman. She was married to Doge Pietro Candiano III. With her husband’s death (959), Arcielda retired to become a nun, though by the terms of Pietro’s will she inherited a vineyard and other property in the marches of Veneto, which she gave to the nuns of San Zaccaria. Her two sons were Doge Pietro Candiano IV and Domenigo Candiano, Bishop of Torcello. Her daughter Elena Candiano became the wife of Gerardo Guoro, and they are believed to be the real life models of William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet.

Canfield, Dorothy    see    Fisher, Dorothy Canfield

Canfield, Jane White – (1897 – 1984)
American children’s author and sculptor
Jane White was born (April 29, 1897) in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of Ernest Ingersol White. She was educated in Farmington, Connecticut, and at the Art Students League (1918 – 1920), where she studied under A. Bourdelle in Paris. Jane was married (1922) to Charles Fuller, to whom she bore several children. Canfield was best known for her books for children, such as, The Frog Prince: A True Story (1970), and, Swan Cove (1978), and contributed articles to such periodicals as Reader’s Digest.  As a talented sculptor she was exhibited her work at the World’s Fair in New York (1939) and at the American Academy. She was commissioned to produce works for the church of St John of Lattington in Locust Valley, and for Memorial Sanctuary on Fishers Island in New York, amongst others. Other examples of her work are preserved at the Whitney Museum of American Art and at the Cornell University Museum of Art. Jane White Canfield died (May 23, 1984) aged eighty-seven, at Bedford in New York.

Canilhac, Marie de – (fl. 1660 – after 1681)
French courtier and murderess
Marie de Canilhac was the wife of a marquis, and became implicated in the infamous ‘Affair of the Poisons’ (1679 – 1681), after evidence was obtained by the authorities proving that she had poisoned her first husband. Because of her rank, she was allowed to flee the country rather than face prosecution.

Canillac, Anne Michelle Dorothee de Roncherolles, Comtesse de – (1752 – 1844)
French salonniere and courtier
Anne de Roncherolles became the wife of Ignace Montboissier-Beaufort, Comte de Canillac. Madame de Canillac attended the court of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Versailles and served as a lady-in-waiting to Princesse Elisabeth, the king’s unmarried sister. She was the mistress of the Comte d’Artois (Charles X) and attended the salons of Madame Du Deffand and Madame de La Reyniere in Paris. Madame de Canillac was mentioned in the the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole and survived the horrors of the Revolution.

Cannan, Joanna – (1898 – 1961)
British novelist and children’s writer
Joanna Cannan was born in Oxford, the daughter of Charles Cannan, secretary to the Delegates of the Oxford University Press, and was educated at Oxford University and abroad in Paris. She was married (1918) to H.J. Pullein-Thompson, a military officer, to whom she bore four children. Cannan was best known as a writer of mysteries and fiction for children. Her best known works included the novels, A Pony for Jean (1936), Another Pony for Jean (1938), and, More Ponies for Jean (1943). Other novels included The Misty Valley (1924), High Table (1931), Snow in Harvest (1932), Pray Do Not Venture (1937), Blind Messenger (1941), Poisonous Relations (1960), perhaps her most famous murder mystery, which was re-published in New York as, The Taste of Murder (1987), and, All Is Discovered (1962). Cannan also wrote articles for periodicals such as Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Journal. She was widowed in 1957. Joanna Cannan died (April 22, 1961) aged sixty-two, at Stourpane in Dorset.

Cannary, Martha Jane    see    Calamity Jane

Canning, Charlotte Elizabeth Stuart de Rothesay, Countess – (1817 – 1861)
British Vicereine of India and author
Charlotte Stuart de Rothesay was born (March 31, 1817) the daughter of Lord Stuart de Rothesay. She became the wife (1835) in London of Charles John Canning, first Earl Canning and first Viceroy of India and was vicereine of India. She remained a close support and stay to Lord Canning during the difficult period of the Indian Mutiny (1857 – 1858). With her subsequent return to England Lady Canning served at court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, who much enjoyed her company and her letters. She died in India after returing from a trip to Darjeeling. The countess became ill with jungle fever and died (Nov 18, 1861) aged forty-four, at Calcutta, and was buried at Barrackpur.

Cannon, Annie Jump – (1863 – 1941)
American astronomer
Annie Jump Cannon was born in Dover, Delaware, the daughter of a shipbuilder, and attended Wellesley College. Cannon later returned to Wellesley (1894), where she was an assistant member of the physics faculty, and then went on to study astronomy at Radcliffe College, before joining a group of women astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory (1896), where she studied under the direction of the noted physicist, Edward Charles Pickering (1846 – 1919).
Annie Cannon discovered three hundred variable, and one new star, and was popularly known as ‘The Census Taker of the Sky’ whilst her classified spectra of over two hundred thousand stars brighter than the magnitude of 8.5, were published in nine volumes of the Henry Draper Catalogue. In recognition of her work, Cannon received the Henry Draper Gold Medal from the US National Academy of Sciences (1931), and received honorary doctorates from Oxford University in England, and Groningen University in Germany. She was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (1994).

Cannon, Esma – (1896 – 1972)
British stage and film actress
Cannon had a long career and a stage actress and later appeared in minor character roles in films. Her credits included Holiday Camp (1947), Sailor Beware (1956), In the Doghouse (1961) and Raising Wind (1961). Esma Cannon was best known for her appearances in the popular series of ‘Carry On’ films such as Carry On Constable (1960), Carry On Regardless (1961), Carry On Cruising (1962) and Carry On Cabby (1963).

Cannon, Ida Maud – (1877 – 1960)
American reformer
Cannon was born (June 29, 1877) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of a schoolteacher. Cannon became a pioneer in the field smedical social work and reform. Ida Cannon established a system of specialized education at the Boston School for Social Workers (1912) and directed this program until 1925. She later worked as a teacher at the Boston College School of Social Work (1937 – 1945). She was the author of Social Work in Hospitals: A Contribution to Progressive Medicine (1913). Ida Cannon died (July 7, 1960) aged eighty-three, at Watertown, Massachusetts.

Cannon, Poppy Whitney   see   White, Poppy Cannon

Cannutia Crescentina      see     Crescentina, Cannutia

Canossa, Maddalena di – (1774 – 1835) 
Italian founder and saint
Maddalena di Canossa was born at Verona, the daughter of Ottaviano, Marchese di Canossa and his wife Teresa Szlukhe. She entered the Carmelite convent of Coregliano, but left deciding she had no vocation. The emperor Napoleon I granted her (1804) the convent of St Joseph, in Verona, which established itself (1808) as a place for the education of neglected females, which organization became officially the Canossian Daughters of Charity, with schools in Venice, Milan, Bergamo and Milan. She also founded high schools, colleges, retreat centres, and in 1831, she organized a congregation of men at Venice, to do the same sort of work with boys. A visionary and mystic, Maddalena was said to have experienced ecstatism, levitation and visions, and was later beatified (1941).

Canova, Judy – (1913 – 1983)
American actress, radio personality, vocalist and comedienne
Born Juliette Canova (Nov 20, 1913) in Starke, Florida, into a vaudeville family, she played in theatres and clubs in New York with her siblings, where she sang, yodelled, and played the guitar, and developed her stage role as the likeable country bumpkin figure, that would become her trademark, and lead to her popular title of, ‘the Ozark Nightingale.’ Canova appeared on radio firstly with Rudy Vallee, and then hosted her own radio program, The Judy Canova Show (1943 – 1955). She also made guest appearances on other radio shows, such as those hosted by Fred Allen and by Abbott and Costello. Canova appeared in films in the 1930’s, but her particular brand of hillbilly humour remained popular throughout the 1940’s.
Her early film roles with Warner Brothers and Republic Pictures were in movies such as, In Caliente (1935), Artists and Models (1937), and, Thrill of a Lifetime (1937). After having established herself as a popular comic figure, she appeared in such comic films as, Scatterbrain (1940), Puddin’head (1941), Sleepytime Gal (1942), True to the Army (1942), for the war effort, for which she also devoted time selling war bonds, Joan of Ozark (1942), Lousiana Hayride (1944), and, Singin’ in the Corn (1945). After the war she still appeared in comic films, though her appeal had passed. Her most popular film in this period was, The WAC from Walla Walla (1952). Her career was sporadic after this, made appearances in, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960), and, Cannonball (1976). Judy Canova died (Aug 5, 1983) aged sixty-nine.

Cansino, Margarita Carmen    see   Hayworth, Rita

Cantacuzene, Princess Julia – (1876 – 1975)
Russian-American aristocrat, émigré, essayist and author
Julia Dent Grant was born (June 7, 1876) in the White House, the daughter of Major General Frederick Dent Grant and was the granddaughter of Ulysses S. Grant, the President of the USA and maternal niece of the society leader Bertha Honore Palmer. During a trip to France she met her future husband Prince Michael Cantacuzene (1875 – 1955), then an officer in the Russian guards cavalry, and the two were married (1899) at Newport in Rhode Island. They had two daughters and were later divorced (1934).
Julia accompanied her husband to Russia and resided on the Cantacuzene estate at Bouromka Castle in the Ukraine. They attended the Imperial courts in St Petersburg and Vienna and the prince was wounded in action during WW I but survived. With the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) the family left Russia and then resided in the USA, though Prince Michael returned briefly to command the last loyal regiment at Kiev under Admiral Kolchak before finally returning to America when the cause of the White Russians was lost. She wrote articles for various magazines and published two books entitled Revolutionary Days and Russian People and the volume of memoirs My Life – Here and There. The princess later founded the Sulgrave Club in Washington (1970) and received large numbers of White Russian émigrés at her home there. Princess Cantacuzene died (Oct 5, 1975) aged ninety-nine, in Washington.

Cantecroix, Beatrix de Cusance, Comtesse de – (1614 – 1663)
French courtier and royal mistress
Beatrix de Cusance was born at Belvoir, the daughter of Claude Francois de Cusance, Baron de Belvoir, and Comte de Saint-Julien, and his wife Ernestine van Witthem, Comtesse de Walhain. She was married firstly (1635) to Eugene de Grandvelle, Comte de Cantecroix. Left a young, beautiful, and childless widow (1637), Beatrix became the mistress of Charles IV, duke of Lorraine (1604 – 1675), whose wife had retired from the court of Nancy. He persuaded Beatrix to go through a form of bigamous marriage with him (1637) and requested an annulment of his childless marriage from Pope Urban VIII, but refused to leave Beatrix during the period pending judgement on the case.
The couple seperated after the birth of their son (1642), and Beatrix retired to the court of The Hague, in Holland. There she pursued a scandalous affair with the much younger Charles Stuart (II) (1659), which liasion was responsible for the breaking of his betrothal to Louisa Henrietta of Orange. Returning to the court of Lorraine, the duke renewed his former attachment to Beatrix, and married her a second time a few days before her death at Nancy (June 5, 1663). Madame de Cantecroix left two children by Duke Charles, who were not regarded as legitimate, Anne de Lorraine (1639 – 1720) who married Francois de Lorraine, Prince de Lillebonne and was prominent at the court of Louis XIV, and Charles Henry de Lorraine, Comte de Vaudement (1642 – 1723).

Cantecroix, Charlotte von Hapsburg, Princesse de    see   Hapsburg, Charlotte von

Cantelupe, Dorothy Heseltine, Viscountess    see   Jeffreys, Dorothy Heseltine, Lady

Cantelupe, Euphemia de – (c1127 – 1153)
English religious patron
Euphemia de Cantelupe became the second wife of Aubrey de Vere (1110 – 1194), first Earl of Oxford from 1142, after his divorce from his first wife, Beatrice de Guines (1146). Their marriage remained childless. Euphemia jointly founded the priory of Ickleton, in Cambridgeshire with King Stephen (1135 – 1154), perhaps also with contributions from the de Valoignes family.

Canth, Minna – (1844 – 1897)
Finnish dramatist and feminist
Born Ulrika Vilhelmina Johnsson in Tampere, she studied at the first teacher’s college in Finland. However, she left before completing her course, after she married (1865) one of her teachers, Johann Canth, to whom she bore seven children before his death (1879). Canth took her children to reside with her parents at Kuopio, where she earnt her keep by working in her parents’ shop, and was able to raise her family. Despite this burden Canth continued to read and study herself in her own free time, and not long afterwards she published her first play, Murtovarkens (The Burglary) (1882), becoming a noted exponent of the Realist style of writing. Canth is best remembered for, Tyomiehen vaimo (A Working-Class Wife) (1885), and, Kovan onnen lapsia (The Hard Luck Kids) (1888). She also translated the works of the famous Danish critic, Georg Brandes (1842 – 1927).

Cantionilla of Specia    see   Quintianilla of Specia

Cantofoli, Ginevra – (c1618 – after 1659)
Italian painter
Ginevra Cantofoli specialized in miniatures. She sat for her portrait by the younger artist Elisabetta Sirani of Bologna (1656). This commission brought the two women to work together. Cantofoli used her own designs, and, with Sirani’s help, went on to execute large scale historical paintings and altarpieces, including that of St Thomas de Villanuova, in the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, in Bologna (1659), which survives. The Self-Portrait in the Act of Painting a Self-Portrait, preserved in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, is attributed to Cantofoli.

Cantria Longina – (fl. c80 – c100 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician and courtier
Cantria Longina was the wife of Marcus Pomponius Bassus. She was attested by a surviving inscription from Aeclanensem which revealed that Cantria served as flaminica (priestess) of the Imperial cult to Julia Pia Augusta (Livia).  Cantria was probably the adoptive mother of consul Gaius Eggius Ambibulus Pomponius Longinus Cassianus L. Maecius Postumus, who was honoured with a public inscription at Aeclanensem, and served as Imperial legate of Macedonia. She is perhaps to be identified with the Longina attested by inscription as the wife of an unnamed legate of Armenia, and was probably related to Domitia Longina, the daughter of General Corbulo and wife of the emperor Domitian (81 – 96 AD).

Canty, Marietta – (1906 – 1986)
American stage and film actress
Canty specialized as a character actress. Her film credits included the Searching Wind (1946), Father of the Bride (1950) and The I Don’t Care Girl (1953).

Canuck, Janey     see     Murphy, Emily Gowan

Canuleia – (fl. c700 – c670 BC)
Roman priestess
Canuleia was chosen, together with Tarpeia, to serve as Vestal Virgins, under the original two Vestals, Gegania and Verenia. According to Plutarch’s, Life of Numa Pompilius, it was King Numa who augmented the number of priestesses required to serve the goddess Vesta. King Servius Tullius later added two more, making the traditional numer of six. It was Numa who accorded exceptional priveliges to Canuleia and the other vestals, including the right to make a will, and conduct their affairs without a guardian.

Cao – (c1015 – after 1067) 
Chinese empress
Cao was the second wife of the emperor Renzong (1010 – 1063) she came from a prominent military family. The emperor chose her as his wife in 1033, after the death of the empress Guo, who had been chosen for him. With her husband’s death, Cao ruled as regent for his successor the Emperor Yinzong (1064 – 1067) who was racked by illness. The empress favoured the conservative line at court, and during her regency she caused much political iterference. With Yinzong’s death (1067) Empress Gao became regent for their son Shenzong and the Empress Cao retired from political life. Her portrait survives.

Cao Jie – (c198 – 237 AD)
Chinese empress consort
Cao Jie was the daughter of the powerful feudal warlord cao Cao, who virtually held sovereign power during the reign of Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Han Dynasty. When her father became the Prince of Wei he offered Cao Jie and her two sisters, Cao Xian and Cao Hua to be consorts of the emperor (213 AD). When the Empress Fu Shou was disgraced and executed at her father’s instigation (214 AD), Cao Jie was created empress in her place (215 AD).
With her father’s death (220 AD) her brother Cao Pi assumed power and within a year had persuaded Xian to abdicate the imperial throne in his favour. Traditionally the empress is said to have been displeased by these events and refused several times to hand over her Imperial seal to the new emperor. Xian and Cao Jie were then known as the Duke and Duchess of Shanyang. Her husband died in 234 AD and with her death several years afterwards she was accorded Imperial rites due to an empress at her funeral.

Caoilinn – (fl. c440 – c470 AD)
Irish virgin saint
Variously called Caelfind or Caelain, she was born in Munster the daughter of Cael and granddaughter of Fionnchadh of the Ciarraige Luachra clan. Caoilinn was said to have been baptized by St Patrick and established a convent at Termonmore, near Kilkeevin in County Roscommon, where she received many of her people who migrated and settled here. This influx of migrants had been sanctioned by King Aedh of Connaught through the saint’s influence. St Caoilinn was said to have had experienced a vision which exposed a plot to murder Corbri Mac Conaire, the Ciarraige chief. Her well at Termonmore became a place of religious pilgrimage and Caoilinn was venerated as a saint (Feb 3).

Caparronia – (c295 – 266 BC)
Roman priestess
Caparronia was dedicated to the service of the goddess Vesta as young girl. With several defeats of the Roman army, scapegoats were required by the state. Caparronia was accused in unchastity, but escaped the traditional fate of being immured alive, by hanging herself.

Capecia, Mayotte – (1928 – 1953)
Haitian novelist
Mayotte Capecia was born at Carbet in Martinique, and was educated at Fort-de-France before travelling to France where she spent most of her life. Capecia was particularly noted for two novels Je suis Martiniquaise (1948), and, La Negresse blanche (1950), both of which were published in Paris, both of which were considered to be revealing in their details of relations between the white and Creole races in the West Indies. However, some writers criticized her work, believing Capecia to be rather ashamed of the Creole heritage, and disliked her view of white superiority and the alienation of blacks from mainstream society.

Capel, Caroline Paget, Lady – (1773 – 1847)
British letter writer
Lady Caroline Paget was the eldest daughter of Sir Henry Paget, first Earl of Uxbridge, and his wife Jane Champagne, the daughter of Arthur Champagne, Dean of Clonmacnoise, in Ireland. She was the sister of Henry Paget (1768 – 1854) first Marquess of Anglesey and was married (1792) to Hon. (Honourable) John Thomas Capel, the son of the fourth Earl of Essex, as his second wife, and to whom she bore several children.
Widowed in 1819, she was Dowager Lady Capell for nearly thirty years (1819 – 1847). Her correspondence with her mother Lady Uxbridge, and her daughters Maria Capel, Marquise d’Espinassy, Mary Capel and others, has been edited and published in London as, The Capel Letters. Being the correspondence of Lady Caroline Capel and Her Daughters with the Dowager Countess of Uxbridge from Brussels and Switzerland, 1814 – 1817 (1955). Lady Capel died (July 9, 1847) aged seventy-three.

Capello, Bianca – (1549 – 1587)
Italian advdenturess
Bianca Capello was born in Venice, the daughter of Bartolomeo Capello, a merchant banker, and eloped with a poor Florentine clerk, Pietro Buonaventuri, to whom she bore a daughter Pellegrina, later the wife of Count Bentivoglio, of Bologna, who had her strangled for committing adultery. Beautiful, willful, and intelligent, she quickly became the mistress of Francesco de Medici (1541 – 1587) who later succeeded his father Cosimo I as Grand Duke of Tuscany (1574). With the murder of her husband and his mistress Cassandra Ricci Bongianni (1569) their liasion became public knowledge, and aroused much antipathy at the Florentine court, especially from the prince’s brother, Cardinal Ferdinando I de Medici, she being referred to as ‘the Venetian woman.’ Desperate to safeguard her future, Bianaca evolved an elaborate plot involving an illegitimate child, in order to force Francesco to marry her, which he did (1579) after the death of his neglected wife, Johanna of Austria. The fraud was detected, the grand duke named the child Antonio (1576 – 1621), but he was never designated as heir. Bianca and Francesco both died on the same day, within a few hours of each other (Oct, 1587), supposedly poisoned by Ferdinando de Medici, who succeeded as Grand duke. Ferdinando would not permit her internment within the family vault, and Bianca’s remains were taken from Poggio a Caiano, and interred in a secret place which has never been discovered.

Capet, Eudeline – (1305 – after 1330)
French mediaeval royal
Eudeline was the illegitimate daughter of Louis X le Hutin (the Strong), King of France (1314 – 1316) by an unidentified mistress. The child was recognized by the king and was raised in the royal household. Eudeline’s kinsman King Philip VI later appointed her as Abbess of the convent of St Marcel in Paris.

Capet, Marie Gabrielle – (1761 – 1817)
French painter
Marie Gabrielle Capet studied under Adelaide de Labille-Guiard, whom she later cared for until her death (1803). Her works were first displayed in a four year exhibition (1781 – 1785), and she was commissioned to paint the princesses of the Bourbon family. Her painting of the sculptor Augustin Panjou gained her admission to the Royal Academy. Gabrielle produced over one hundred and fifty works, mostly miniatures.

Capio, Iseut de – (fl. c1160 – c1190)
Provencal trobairitz
Iseut was born into the noble family of Tournel, in Gevaudan in Provence, the kinswoman of Aldebert III de Tournel (died 1187), Bishop of Mende. She was raised in the castle of Chapieu on Mont Mimat, along the river Mende. Iseut Capio composed verses (tenso), which she exchanged with Lady Almucs de Castelnau (Almodis de Caseneuve), interceding on behalf of her knight, Gigo de Tornon, a swain who had offended her friend. Despite this intervention, Tornon did not respond in kind, and Almucs replied to her friend Iseut, in a cobla of her own. Almost nothing is known of her life.

Capitolina     see    Kapitolina

Cappe, Catharine – (1744 – 1821)
British philanthropist
Catharine Harrison was the daughter of Jeremiah Harrison, the vicar of Craven, Yorkshire, and she received a patchy education. She followed the example of a friend and joined the Unitarian sect, and married a Unitarian clergyman, Newcombe Cappe (1778). Catharine founded the School for the Spinning of Worsted (1784) for poor working girls, where they received both practical and moral instruction, which proved successful that the the administrators of the Grey-Coat School for Girls in York invited her to come up with a plan to revitalize their own institution. Particularly critical of the female apprenticeship system, which was full of the most awful abuses, the governors finally transferred control of the school to Catharine’s Ladies’ committee (1786).
Cappe also established the Female Friendly Society in York (1778), which was supported by wealthy subscribers from society, and set down her own set of teaching principles in her Observations on Charity Schools and Female Friendly Societies (1804). Her own autobiography Memoirs of the Life of the late Mrs Catharine Cappe written by herself (1822) was published posthumously.

Cappleman, Josie Frazee – (1861 – 1936)
Southern American poet and civic leader
Josie Frazee was born (June 28, 1861) in Kentucky and was raised in Mississippi. She was married to George Cappleman of Kentucky, and the couple then settled in Okolona in Mississippi. She was an organizer of the Mississippi United Daughters of the Confederacy and served as president. She published the collection of verse entitled Heartsongs (1899) and was chosen three times as the poet laureate of the Mississippi Press association and was poet laureate of the National League of American Pen Women. Josie Cappleman died (Nov 28, 1936) aged seventy-five, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Caprice, June – (1899 – 1936)
American silent film actress
Caprice was born in Arlington, Virginia, she appeared in silent films from the age of sixteen and became famous in the silent films for her youthful and innocent style, which compared with that portrayed by Mary Pickford. Her film credits included Caprice of the Mountains (1916), A Small Town Girl (1917), Miss Innocence (1918) and The Ragged Princess (1919). June Caprice also appeared in the popular serials Pirate Gold (1920) and Sky Ranger (1921). She retired before the advent of sound films.

Capsir, Mercedes – (1895 – 1969)
Spanish coloratura soprano
Mercedes was born (July 20, 1895) in Barcelona. She studied at the Music Conservatory in Barcelona and made her stage debut in Genora in Rigoletto. She then performed Gilda at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and sang in Buenos Aires and Lisbon before making her debut with the Paris Opera in the same role, which became, together with the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, amongst the most admired roles in her repertoire.
Capsir appeared in Bologna as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and sang opposite Giacomo Lauri-Volpi in Venice. She performed at La Scala in Milan (1924) and then performed in Europe. Mercedes retired in 1949 and then devoted her energies to teaching. She performed the first ever recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata. Mercedes Capsir died (March 13, 1969) aged seventy-three, in Barcelona.

Capucine – (1933 – 1990)
French film actress
Born Germaine Lefebvre (Jan 6, 1933) in Toulon, she became a successful haute couture model in Paris prior to appearing in her first film debut Song without End (1960). This was followed by roles in such popular films as, The Pink Panther (1963), What’s New Pussycat ? (1965), The Queens (1967), Federico Fellini’s Satyricon (1969), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983). Capucine was said to have had liasions with the movie mogul Daryl Zanuck and fellow actor William Holden amongst others.
After making her last film (1983) she retired to live in Lausanne in Switzerland. She made several Italian films such as Per Amore (1976) and Ritratto di Borghese in Nero (Nest of Vipers) (1978). Having suffered from exhaustion and depression for some time Capucine committed suicide by jumping to her death from her high-rise apartment.

Caraboo, Princess    see   Baker, Mary (2)

Carada, Anne – (c1635 – 1681)
French poisoner
Carada was implicated in the ‘ Affair of the Poisons ‘ (1679 – 1680) when it was discovered that she had purchased poison to bring about the death of the wife of her lover, so she could then marry the widower. The woman then died, and though Carada maintained under questioning that she had sought her end only by magic, and had never resorted to poison, it was regarded as a murder case. Tried and found guilty, she was publicly beheaded in Paris (June 25, 1681).

Caradja, Catherine Olimpia Cretulescu, Princess (Ecaterina Caragea) – (1893 – 1993)
Romanian war heroine and philanthropist
Born Princess Ecaterina Olimpia Kretulescu (Jan 28, 1893) in Bucharest, she was the daughter of Prince Radu Kretulescu, and his wife Princess Irina Cantacuzino. Her parents attended the court of King Ferdinand I (1914 – 1927) and his British wife, Marie of Edinburgh-Coburg, and Catherine herself was educated at home, as well as abroad in England and France.
Catherine was married (1914) to a Romanian army officer, Prince Constantin Caragea. During WW II the princess became famous for her fierce opposition to her country’s alliance with the Nazi Germany. During the war the princess organized nursing units at the front, and when the Allied forces bombed the oilfields at Ploiesti (1943), Catherine saved and protected the surviving crew members, caring for them in her hospital, and secretly arranging for their successful escape to safety in Italy. After the war the princess immigrated to the USA and resided in the state of Texas, where she was an active figure with various prominent philanthropic societies and causes.
Princess Caradja was childless, and adopted (1978) the German antique dealer Ottomar Berbig (1940 – 2007) as her heir and successor, which enabled him to use the title Prince Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Kretzulesco, the princess being a descendant of the medieval hero, Vlad Dracula (1432 – 1476). The princess died (May 26, 1993) aged ninety-nine.

Carafa, Porzia – (1589 – 1657)
Italian papal aristocrat
Porzia Carafa was the daughter of Fabrizio Carafa, Duca di Andria and his wife Maria Carafa, the daughter of Luigi Carafa, Prince di Stigliano. Her mother was a great-granddaughter of Pope Julius II (1503 – 1513, formerly Guiliano della Rovere). She was married to Francesco Pignatelli, Prince di Minervino and became the mother of Antonio Pignatelli (1615 – 1700) who was elected as Pope Innocent II (1691 – 1700).

Caragea, Ecaterina    see   Caradja, Princess

Caraman, Marie Anne Gabrielle de Alsace-Henin, Comtesse de – (1728 – 1800)
French society figure
Marie Anne de Alsace-Henin was born (March 29, 1728), the daughter of Alexandre Gabriel de Henin-Lietard d’Alsace (1681 – 1745), Prince de Chimay and his wife Gabrielle Francoise de Beauvau-Craon (1708 – 1758), the daughter of Prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon. She was married (1750) to Victor Maurice de Riquet (1727 – 1807), Comte de Caraman and became the Comtesse de Caraman (1750 – 1800). Marie Anne bore her husband a large family of nine children.
Madame de Caraman attended the court of Louis XV at Versailles, and was a prominent figure at the salon of Madame Du Deffand. She was also mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole. With the death of King Louis, the Comte and Comtesse attended the coronation of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Rheims (1775). Together with her husband and children the comtesse survived the upheavals of the Revolution and Robespierre’s Terror and they were later able to return to Paris during the rise of Napoleon. Madame de Caraman died (June 25, 1800) aged seventy-two. Her children were,

1) Francoise de Riquet de Caraman (1751 – 1752). She died in infancy.

2) Gabrielle Francoise Victoire de Riquet de Caraman (1755 – 1841). She married firstly to Comte Gabriel de la Fare (died 1786) and secondly to Francois Joly (died 1840).

3) Marie Antoinette de Riquet de Caraman (1757 – 1846). She became the wife of Louis de Bouchet, Vicomte de Sourches.

4) Victor Louis Charles de Riquet de Caraman (1762 – 1799). He became the Duc de Caraman and left issue.

5) Pauline Victoire de Riquet de Caraman (1764 – 1834). She became the wife of Jean Louis Rigaud (died 1816), Comte de Vaudreuil.

6) Maurice Gabriel Joseph de Riquet de Caraman (1765 – 1835). He was the Comte de Caraman and was married and left issue.

7) Emilie Rose Margeurite de Riquet de Caraman (1767 – 1847). She became the wife of Charles de Baschi (died 1801), Comte de Saint-Eteve.

8) Cecile Agathe Adelaide de Riquet de Caraman (1768 – 1847). She became the wife of Armand du Mesnil, Marquis de Sommery.

9) Francois Joseph Philippe de Riquet de Caraman (1771 – 1843). He became the first Prince de Chimay and left issue. His wife was the famous revolutionary figure Therese Cabarrus Tallien.

Caraman-Chimay, Helene de Bassaraba de Brancovan, Princesse de – (1878 – 1929)
French author and salonniere
Helene de Bassaraba de Brancovan was born (June 30, 1878) at the Villa Bassaraba, near Amphion, in Greece, the daughter of Gregor, Prince Bassaraba de Brancovan, and his wife Rachel Rallouka Musurus, the noted pianist.  Helene was sister to Anna, Comtesse de Noailles, and was married (1898) to Prince Alexandre de Caraman-Chimay. She was the patron of Marcel Proust, who often visited her family estate in Greece, and dedicated to her the preface of his, Sesame et les lys (1906). She herself was the author of, Notes Sur Florence, which appeared in the periodical, La Renaissance latine. Her work, L’Exclue, which was not published, was probably a novel. Princesse de Caraman-Chimay died (March 4, 1929) aged fifty.

Carandini, Marie di – (1826 – 1894)
Anglo-Australian soprano
Marie Burgess was baptized at the Church of St Matthew in Brixton, London. She accompanied her family to Hobart in Tasmania as a child (1833) and was there married (1843) to the Italian nobleman the Marchese Jerome di Carandini becoming the Marchesa di Carandini. Using the name of Madame Carandini she made her stage debut in Hobart (1843) and in Sydney she worked under the direction of Isaac Nathan. She first appeared at the Royal Victoria Theatre in Sydney (1845) where she sang excerpts from opera in a succession of variety concerts.
Maria Carandini was soon offered leading operatic roles and she performed in concert in Hobart and Sydney (1849 – 1850). She later performed with Catherine Hayes during her triumphal season at the Theare Royal in Melbourne (1855). Her roles included Elvira in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, Gennara in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, and she was particularly admired as Maria in Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regent. With the departure of Hayes carandini was the primadonna of the Melbourne opera. She participated in the festival to inaugrate the new Great Hall of the University of Sydney (1859) and toured through the goldfields and South Australia. Carandini travelled to India, the USA and New Zealand. She performed the song ‘Jessie, the Flower of Dumblane’ at her farewell concert in the Melbourne Town Hall (1892).
Marie survived her husband for over two decades as the Dowager Marchesa di Carandini (1870 – 1894) and retired to England (1892) to reside with her daughter. Marie di Carandini died (April 13, 1894) aged sixty-seven, at Richmond Hill, near Bath in Somerset. Her children included Rosa Martha di Carandini (1844 – 1932), the wife of Edward Hudson Palmer (1840 – 1928), Fanny di Carandini, the wife of Sir Henry Morland, Isabella di Carandini, the wife of Sir Norman Campbell, and Elizabeth di Carandini, the wife of John Adams.

Caraway, Hattie Ophelia Wyatt – (1878 – 1950)
American politician
Hattie Wyatt was born in Bakersville, Tennessee. She was married to the Democratic senator, Thaddeus Horatius Caraway, and with his death (1931), which occurred whilst in office, Hattie Caraway was then appointed by the governor of Arkansas, to fill her husband’s office.  Caraway successfully ran for his seath the following year (1932), and became the first woman ever to be elected to the American Senate. She continued to serve the state for over a decade until President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her the Federal Employees Compensation Commission (1945).

Carbery, Alicia Egerton, Countess of – (1609 – 1689)
English Stuart literary patron
Lady Alicia Egerton was the daughter of John Egerton, first Earl of Bridgewater and his wife Lady Frances Stanley, the daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, fifth Earl of Derby. Alicia studied under the musician Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662), the friend of the poet John Milton. She became the third wife (1652) of Richard Vaughan (1600 – 1656), third Earl of Carbery and was the countess of Carbery (1652 – 1656). Lawes dedicated his Ayres and Dialogues (1653) jointly to Lady Carbery and her sister Mary, Lady Herbert of Cherbury. It was long supposed that Milton’s Comus was based upon an incident which happened to the countess but this most probably stems from her appearing in the role of the lady in the mask when it was performed at Ludlow (1634). Alicia survived her husband for over thirty years as the Dowager Countess of Carbery (1656 – 1689). Lady Carbery was buried in the Chapel of St John the Baptist in Westminster Abbey.

Carbery, Frances Altham, Countess of – (c1615 – 1650)
English Royalist
Frances Altham was the daughter and coheir of Sir James Altham, and became the first wife of Richard Vaughan, second Earl of Carbery (1600 – 1686). Lady Carbery was a close friend of the divine Jeremy Taylor (1613 – 1667), who acted as private chaplain at the family home of Golden Grove, in Carmarthenshire. The countess was greatly admired by Oliver Cromwell, despite the loyalty of herself and her husband to the cause of Charles I. Part of Taylor’s work The Great Exemplar…. a History of… Jesus Christ (1649) was dedicated to her, and he preached her funeral sermon. Lady Carbery died (Oct 9, 1650) aged about thirty-five.

Carbery, Mary Toulmin, Lady – (1869 – 1949)
British writer and memoirist
Mary Toulmin was the daughter of Henry Toulmin of Kingsbury, St Albans. She was married (1890) to Algernon William Evans-Freke (1868 – 1898), the ninth Baron Carbery and became the Baroness Carbery (1890 – 1898) and was presented at court to Queen Victoria. Lady Mary was the mother of John Evans-Freke (1892 – 1970) who succeeded his father of the tenth Baron Carbery, a peerage he held for over seven decades (1898 – 1970).
Mary then became the Dowager Baroness Carbery for over five decades (1898 – 1949) and under that title and precedence she attended the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (1902). Mary Carbery later married a second husband (1902) in Arthur Wellesley Sandford (died 1939) but continued to be known by her title till her death. She was the author of the work entitled The Farm by Lough Gur and of the personal recollections Happy World.

Carbery, Muriel – (1911 – 1993)
American nurse and hospital director
Carbery was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Hunter College and became a teacher of Greek and Latin. She then trained at the New York Hospital School of Nursing and was employed as a surgery nurse and in private nursing. During WW II Carbery served with the USANC (United States Army Nurse Corps) in the South Pacific and New Guinea. She received the rank of major and was retired as a colonel (1970).
Carbery served as the director of the nursing service at the New York Hospital for over two decades (1952 – 1974) and served as dean of the Cornell University and the New York Hospital School of Nursing (1958 – 1970). Muriel Carbery remained unmarried and died (Aug 10, 1993) aged eighty-one, at Port Jefferson on Long Island.

Carbonel, Amparo – (1893 – 1936)
Spanish nun
Amparo early in life had decided upon becoming a nun but her parents opposed her vocation. She was finally able to achieve her desire at the age of thirty (1923) when she joined the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians at their house in Barcelona, Aragon. When the nuns had to be evacuated due to the violence of the revolution in Spain, Sister Amparo elected to stay behind in Barcelona with a sick sister who could not be moved, together with the mother superior Sister Carmen Moreno. Both sisters were arrested by orders of the Revolutionary government and were then executed. The process of their canonization remains in progress.

Carbonnier, Jeanne – (1894 – 1974)
French physician and writer’
Carbonnier was born (Nov 25, 1894) in Paris, the daughter of the organist and composer Charles Carbonnier and his wife Nicolle Jeanne, a concert pianist. She studied medicine at the University of Paris and established herself in public practice. She travelled extensively throughout the world and was a member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She published several works concerning famous explorers and scientists such as Congo Explorer: Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (1960) considered her best known work, Above All a Physician: Rene Theophile Laennec (1961) and Barber-Surgeon: A Life of Ambroise Pare (1965). Dr Carbonnier died (May 19, 1974) aged seventy-nine.

Carceres, Francesca de – (fl. 1501 – 1513)
Spanish courtier
Francesca was chosen as lady-in-waiting to Princess Catharine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and accompanied her to the English court (1501) for her marriage with Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII. With the prince’s death (1502) Francesca retired with the princess and her Spanish household from Ludlow Castle in Wales, to live at Durham House in London, making occasional appearances with the princess at court. Dissafected with life in England, Francesca desired to return to Spain. She visited the Spanish ambassador, Fuensalida, and gossiped unwisely concerning the relations between the princess and her confessor, whose influence she resented. When this became known, Catharine furiously upbraided Francesca, and ejected her from Durham House.
Carceres then took refuge in the home of the Genoese banker, Grimaldi, who appears to have admired her, and agreed to marry him (1508). When Grimaldi later died (1513), leaving Francesca destitute, King Ferdinand suggested that she become a lady-in-waiting to either his daughter Maria, the queen of Manuel I of Portugal, of to the Archduchess Margaret. However, Francesca’s former mistress Catharine, now the queen of Henry VIII, refused to hear of such an arrangement, writing to her father that, ‘She is son perilous a woman that it shall be dangerous to put her in a strange house.’ On Queen Catharine’s advice, Francesca was forced to return to Spain, and was immured within a convent. Francesca de Carceres was portrayed by actress Joyce Mandre in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), with Keith Michell as the king, and Annette Crosbie as Catharine of Aragon.

Carceri, Maria dalle – (c1275 – 1323)
Graeco-Italian ruler
Maria dalle Carceri was born in Verona, the daughter of Gaetano dalle Carceri, and was the descendant of an ancient Lombard family. She was heiress to a sixth of the the ancient principality of Euboea and was married (c1290) to Alberto Pallavincini, to whom she bore an only daughter, Guglielma Pallavincini. With Alberto’s death (1311) Maria succeeded as ruler of half of the marquisate of Boudonitza. She managed to retain control of her lands in defiance of the Catalan Company, but was nevertheless forced to make an annual financial tribute. She eventually remarried to the Venetian patrician, Andrea Cornaro, who survived her. With the death of Andrea, Guglielma inherited the entire marquisate as well as her mother’s estates.

Card, Mary – (1861 – 1940)
Australian crochet worker and author
Mary Card was born (Sept 24, 1861) in Castlemaine, Victoria, the daughter of a watchmaker and an actress. She arrived in Melbourne with her family (1873), where she completed her education. She remained unmarried. Card established a school at Hawthorn in Melbourne (1890), but increasing deafness eventually forced her to close this establishment. Card took up Irish crochet work, and designed patterns which were published in Australian and American women’s magazines. She visited the USA (1917) to launch the Mary Card Co., and later spent much time at Barkham in Berkshire, England before finally returning to Melbourne. Mary Card died (Oct 13, 1940) aged seventy-nine, at Olinda, Victoria.

Cardell-Oliver, Dame Florence – (1876 – 1965)
Australian politician and civic leader
Born Annie Florence Gillies Wilson (May 11, 1876) at Stawell in Victoria, she was married to Dr Cardell-Oliver to whom she bore two sons, and travelled extensively, both within Australia and abroad before becoming involved with women’s suffrage activities. Whilst resident in Perth, Cardell-Oliver became closely associated with the Nationalist Party women’s movement in Western Australia, and through that, with the international movement for female suffrage. Just prior to the age of sixty, she decided to enter politics, proved successful, and served as the member of the Legislative Assembly for Subiaco, which seat she represented for two decades (1936 – 1956).
Particularly noted for her anti-communist stance, and such was her concern for child welfare, that she was appointed as an honorary Cabinet minister (1947), the first Australian woman to ever be to be appointed. When she changed political allegiance and went over to the Liberals, she held various portfolios, including supply and health and shipping. She was successful in introducing free milk for schoolchildren. Appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) for her contributions to public welfare, Dame Florence was a member of the Victorian League and of the Royal Institute of Great Britain. Dame Florence Cardell-Oliver died (Jan 12, 1965) aged eighty-eight, in Perth.

Carden, Anne Quin, Lady    see   Quin, Anne (2)

Cardeza, Charlotte Wardle Drake – (1853 – 1939)
American traveller, philanthropist, and socialite
Charlotte Wardle Drake was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and became the wife of James Warburton Martinez Cardeza. Charlotte Cardeza was an inveterate traveller, and had visited most of the European capitals. With her son Thomas Cardeza and her maid, Anna Ward, Mrs Cardeza occupied two of the most luxurious suites aboard the ill-fated British liner, the Titanic (1912). She and her group were all saved in the lifeboats, but all her luggage was lost, and she sued the White Star Line for a considerable amount of damages.

Cardigan, Adeline Louisa Maria de Horsey, Countess of – (1824 – 1915)
British adventuress and memoirist
Adeline Louisa de Horsey was born (Dec 24, 1824) in Berkeley Square, London, the daughter of Spencer Horsey de Horsey, Member of Parliament, and his wife Lady Louisa Maria Rous, the daughter of John Rous, first Earl of Stradbroke. Exquisitely beautiful, her marriage with to the Spanish Bourbon prince, the Conde de Montemolin was announced in Feb, 1849, but was later cancelled by Adeline herself.  Her intimacy with the military hero James Brudenell, seventh earl of Cardigan (1797 – 1868) during the lifetime of his first wife, Elizabeth Tollemache, led Adeline to leave her father’s house, and she was cut by respectable society. However, the couple finally married (1858) in Gibraltar. Childless, she later remarried (1873) to Antonio Manuelo, Count de Lancastre-Saldanha. Her use of the Lancastre title whilst travelling offended Queen Victoria who herself used the title of ‘Countess of Lancaster’ when she was travelling incognito. Her memoirs were entitled My Recollections (1909), but were considered scandalous, untruthful, and defamatory. Her portrait was painted by Richard Buckner. Lady Cardigan died (May 25, 1915) aged ninety.

Cardigan, Elizabeth Bruce, Countess of – (1689 – 1745)
British heiress
Lady Elizabeth Bruce was born (Jan, 1689) the daughter of Thomas Bruce, third Earl of Elgin and Earl of Ailesbury, and his first wife, Lady Elizabeth Seymour, the daughter of Henry Beauchamp, Lord Seymour. Lady Elizabeth was married (1707) in St Martin’s-in-the-Field, London, to George Brudenell (1685 – 1732), third Earl of Cardigna, to whom she bore six children. Lady Elizabeth survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Cardigan (1732 – 1745).
Her brother Charles Bruce, the fourth Earl of Elgin, was created Baron Bruce of Tottenham Park, Wiltshire (1746) but died childless. This title had been granted with the remainder to his nephew, Elizabeth’s third son, Thomas Brudenell (1729 – 1814), later first Earl of Ailesbury, and his descendants. Her eldest son, George (1712 – 1790), took the surname of Montagu after marrying Lady Mary Montagu, heiress of the second and last duke of Montagu. Her youngest daughter, Lady Mary Brudenell (1722 – 1813) was married firstly to Richard Powys of Hintlesham Hall, Suffolk, and secondly, to Thomas Bowlby, of North Bailey, Durham. Lady Cardigan died (Dec, 1745) aged fifty-six.

Cardin, Maggie – (1906 – 1998)
Anglo-Australian film editor
Margaret Mary Cardin was born in London. Her mother perished in the sinking of the liner Titanic (1912). She attended school in Paris and there worked as a dancer and a model. She lived the bohemian lifestyle in London mixing with such celebrities as Noel Coward, Alfred Hitchcock and Harry Secombe before coming to reside in Australia (1950). Maggie worked with the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and edited newsreels before working for Colourfilm in Camperdown, Sydney where she worked as a negative matcher. Her film credits included Jedda (1955) and the Mad Max series (1979 – 1985). She made an appearance in the third Mad Max film as a hag in the Thunderdome. Maggie Cardin died aged ninety-one.

Cardona, Caterina – (1519 – 1577)
Spanish courtier and ascetic
Caterina Cardona was the daughter of Don Ramon Cardona, and a descendant of the kings of Aragon. With her father’s death, Caterina joined her relative the Princess de Salerno in Spain, and there she came under the influence of Teresa de Avila, and took up a life of similar religious ascetism and austerity. Caterina was appointed to govern the household of Ruy Gomes de Silva, the Prince of Eboli, and had placed under her care, the royal princes, Don Carlos, the son of Philip II, and Don Juan of Austria. She was unable to influence the mentally unbalanced Carlos, but always cherished an especial affection for Don Juan. Caterina later lived for several years in the desert of La Roda dressed in sackloth.  The constant interruptions by pilgrims to her religious devotions forced Caterina to found the convent of the Barefooted Carmelites at Pastrana, where the duke of Gandia built a monastery for her. St Teresa is said to have had a vision of Caterina in glory, accompanied by angels and the church honoured her as a beata.

Cardus, Edith Honorine Walton King, Lady – (1881 – 1968)
British art teacher and theatrical organizer
Edith King was born in Lancashire, England and studied art as a young girl. She became a teacher and was involved in amateur theatrical societies in Manchester. She remained unmarried until the age of forty when she was married (1921) at Chorlton to the Australian writer and critic Neville Cardus (1888 – 1975), seven years her junior. There were no children. During WW II Neville Cardus arrived in Sydney, New South Wales and rented a flat at King’s Cross (1942).
Mrs Cardus then followed her husband but lived separately, and amicably, to a home in nearby Elizabeth Street. It was an amicable seperateness and the couple dined togther twice a week. Edith Cardus became a prominent figure in various local theatrical groups, and both were patrons of the arts. When Neville Cardus left to return to England to reside (1949) Edith followed him and they returned to Manchester. When Neville was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II Edith became Lady Cardus (1967 – 1968). Details of their life together can be found in Neville Cardus’autobiographical works Second Innings (1970) and Full Score (1970).

Carecha – (c465 AD – c538)
Irish virgin saint
Carecha was the daughter of Conall the Red, Prince of Oriel in Ulster, and his wife Briga. She was half-sister to St Enda, abbot and founder of Arran-of-the-Saints, in the bay of Galway. Her sisters included Fanchea, who was also venerated as a saint. Carecha refused offers of marriage, being determined upon a religious vocation. After her profession she was appointed to preside as abbess of a nunnery in Galway or Roscommon. Carecha was venerated as a saint (Feb 9).

Carenza – (fl. c1170 – c1200)
French trobairitz
Carenza penned verses with two other Provencal ladies named Alais and Iselda. They remain untitled, but begin with the line “ … shall I stay unwed ? That would please me ….  .”

Caretena – (455 AD – 506)
Merovingian queen consort of Burgundy (474 AD – 506)
Queen Caretena was probably the daughter of Recharius, King of the Sueves. Her mother was a daughter of Theodoric I, King of the Visigoths. She was married (c470 AD) to Gundobad, king of Burgundy (c433 AD – 516), and was the mother of King Sigismund (c472 AD – 523). Caretena was a Christian and she died at Lyons, aged fifty and was interred within the Abbey of St Michel in that city. Her epitaph survives. Queen Caretena was once mistakenly believed to have been either the first wife of Clovis I, who repudiated her to marry the Christian princess Clotilda, or the wife of Chilperic II of Burgundy, who was actually her brother-in-law.

Carew, Edith Mary – (1868 – after 1910)
American murderess
Edith Porch was the daughter of John Albert Porch, Lord Mayor of Glastonbury. She was raised in Bridport and was married (1889) to W.R.H. Carew, the son of a military officer with whom she resided in Yokohama in Japan. Beautiful and socially accomplished Mrs Carew became a popular hostess with the British residents in Yokohama. She made a visit home to England (1894) and then returned to her husband in Japan.
Her husband became ill (Oct, 1896) about the time Mrs Carew had sent the family governess to purchase some arsenic for her. The attending physician suspected Mrs Carew of poisoning her husband, and ordered the patient to be removed to a naval hospital. However, before this could be done Mr Carew died. Edith Carew told the doctor that her husband had asked her to bring the arsenic to him. The coroner’s jury at first thought Carew had been ingesting arsenic for a stomach ailment but though they stated that he had died from poisoning, the verdict was left open. A police investigation began and Edith Carew was arrested and sent for trial (1897). Evidence produced letters which revealed that Edith was involved in an affair with a man named Dickinson who had urged her to divorce her husband. Mrs Carew was convicted of murder and sentenced to execution but her sentence was commuted to imprisonment. She was sent by ship back to England and interned within Aylesbury Prison. She was released thirteen years later (1910). Nothing is known of her life after her release.

Carew, Elizabeth Bryan, Lady – (1499 – 1546)
English Tudor courtier
Elizabeth Bryan was the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Bryan of Assheruge, Buckinghamshire, and his wife Margaret Bourchier, the widow of john sandys, and the stepdaughter of Thomas Howard (1443 – 1524), second Duke of Norfolk. She was a descendant of King Edward III (1327 – 1377) and his wife Philippa of Hainault through their youngest son Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. Her father was vice-chamberlain to Catharine of Aragon and Elizabeth became the wife (1514) of Sir Nicholas Carew (c1488 – 1540) of Beddington, Surrey an important diplomat in the service of Henry VIII, though court gossip associated her name with that of the king’s brother-in-law, Charles Brandon. At the Christmas festivities held at the court at Greenwich that year, Lady Carew joined Elizabeth Blount, Lady Margaret Guildord and Lady Fellinger, the wife of an Imperial diplomat to play the four ladies from Savoy, opposite King Henry, Sir Nicholas, Brandon, and Fellinger. With her husband she attended Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon in France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520) for their meeting with Francois I and his wife Claude d’Orleans.
After her husband was appointed Master of the Horse to the king (1522) Lady Carew and her husband entertained the king and his entourage at their estate of Beddington. Carew was later executed (March 3, 1540), being amongst those who fell with Thomas Cromwell, and she survived him as the Dowager Lady Carew (1540 – 1546). At the time of her husband’s death she was evicted from the estate of Beddington and withdrew with her children to Wallington from where she addressed asurviving letters to Thomas Cromwell, beseeching his help for the sake of her children. Her mother, Lady Margaret Bryan added her won appeal on her daughter’s behalf but their request remained ungranted. Through her third daughter Anne she was the grandmother of Elizabeth Throckmorton, lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I and wife of Sir Walter Ralegh. Her will as ‘Ladye Dame Elsabeth Carewe’ was dated (May 21, 1546) and proved (July17, 1546) shortly after her death. She was interred with her husband in the Church of St Botolph, Aldgate, in London. Her five children were,

1) Elizabeth Carew (c1518 – before 1546), eldest daughter and coheiress. She became Mistress Hall and died young.

2) Mary Carew (c1520 – before 1561), second daughter and coheiress. Mary became the wife of Sir Arthur Darcy (c1505 – 1561) of Brimham, York, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, by
whom she left issue.

3) Sir Francis Carew (1530 – 1611) of Beddington, Surrey. He remained unmarried.

4) Anne Carew (c1532 – 1587), third daughter and coheiress. She became the wife of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (died 1570) and left issue.

5) Isabel Carew (c1535 – before 1580), fourth daughter and coheiress. Isabel became the first wife of Nicholas Saunders (c1525 – 1587), of Ewell, Surrey, by whom she left issue.

Carew, Joyce   see   Totnes, Joyce Clopton, Countess of

Carey, Catherine    see   Knollys, Catherine Carey, Lady

Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth – (1908 – 2006)
American memoirist
Ernestine was born (April 4, 1908) the daughter of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and his wife Lillian Moller Gilbreth both of whom were pioneer industrial researchers. She attended Smith College and was married to Charles Carey, to whom she bore two children. She later worked for a department store and published several books. Her childhood and education was recorded in the memoirs which she co-wrote with her younger brother Frank Gilbreth entitled Cheaper by the Dozen (1948) and Belles on Their Toes (1952). Cheaper by the Dozen was adapted as the film of the same title with Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy playing the role of their parents. Ernestine Gilbreth Carey died (Nov 4, 2006) aged ninety-eight, in Fresno, California.

Carey, Joyce – (1898 – 1983)
British stage and film actress
Born Joyce Lawrence (March 30, 1898) in London, she was the daughter of Dame Lilian Braithwaite. She studied at the Florence Etlinger Dramatic School and first appeared on stage in 1918. She appeared in a few silent films and made the transition to sound. Her film credits included In Which We Serve (1942), Blithe Spirit (1945) with Margaret Rutherford, Brief Encounter (1945), The Way to the Stars (1945) directed by Anthony Asquith, The Chiltern Hundreds (1949), Cry, the Beloved Country (1952) which was directed by Zoltan Korda, The Eyes of Annie Jones (1963) and A nice Girl Like Me (1969). Her last role was as the mother of Peter O’Toole in Pygmalion (1984). Carey’s contribution to theatre and film was recognized when she was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1982).

Carey, Kate   see    Nottingham, Catherine Carey, Countess of

Carey, Mary   see  also   Boleyn, Mary

Carey, Mary – (1741 – 1801)
Anglo-Indian captive
Mary was of native birth, and later converted to Christianity before she became the wife of a British sailor, Peter Carey. Husband and wife were amongst the 146 people that were captured and imprisoned in the infamous ‘Balck Hole of Calcutta’ (June 20, 1756) and the only woman in the group. She and her husband survived by remaining calm and conserving their energy. Shortly after their release her husband was killed in battle at Fulta. Mrs Carey later remarried to a military officer and shortly before her death she granted an interview in which she confirmed Holwell’s account of the ‘Black Hole’ tragedy. Of the only twenty-three people who survived the horror of that night, Mary Carey was the last survivor. Mary Carey died (March 28, 1801) aged fifty-nine, in Calcutta.

Carey, Mary Jackson, Lady – (c1610 – c1680)
English devotional author
Mary Jackson was born in Berwick, the daughter and heir of John Jackson. She became the wife (1630) of Sir Pelham Carey but their marriage remained childless. Lady Carey attended the court of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria at Whitehall, and was a prominent figure in the various masques and entertainments held there. After the death of Sir Pelham Lady Mary remarried a second time to a Parliamentarian paymaster, to whom she bore three surviving children. She accompanied him on his postings to various garrison towns and wrote her devotional meditations when she was in her forties.

Carey, Rosa Nouchette – (1840 – 1909)
British novelist
Rosa Carey was born in London, the daughter of William Henry Carey. She was educated at the Ladies’ Institute at St John’s Wood, and began her writing career in 1868. She remained unmarried. Carey produced many popular novels, her works including, Nellie’s Memories (1868), Barbara Heathcote’s Trial (1871), Heriot’s Choice (1879), Not Like Other Girls (1884), Basil Lyndhurst (1889), Sir Godfrey’s Granddaughters (1892), The Mistress of Brae Farm (1896), The Highway of Fate (1902), and The Angel of Forgiveness (1907). Rosa Nouchette Carey died (July 19, 1909) aged sixty-nine.

Carey Evans, Dame Olwen Elizabeth – (1892 – 1990)
British traveller and memoirist
Lady Olwen Lloyd-George was born (April 3, 1892) the daughter of the first Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor and his first wife Margaret Owen, the daughter of Richard Owen of Mynydd Ednyfed, near Criccieth in Wales. She became the wife (1917) of Sir Thomas John Carey Evans to whom she bore four children including David Lloyd Carey Evans (born 1925) and was grandmother to the historian Margaret MacMillan author of Women of the Raj (1988).
Lady Carey Evans accompanied her husband to India when he was appointed as physician to the viceroy Lord Reading (1921). The Dowager Lady Carey Evans was created DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1969). Dame Olwen Carey Evans died (March 2, 1990) aged ninety-seven.

Carfania      see     Afrania, Gaia

Cargill, Dame Helen Wilson – (1896 – 1969)
British air commandant
Helen Cargill served as the matron-in-chief of Princess Mary’s RAF (Royal Air Force) nursing service (1948 – 1952). Several photographic portraits of her are preserved in the collection at the National Portrait Gallery.

Carillo, Maria Barbara – (1625 – 1721)
Spanish victim of the notorious Inquisition
Maria Barbara Carillo was convicted of heresy and was publicly burnt to death in Madrid (May 18, 1721). At the age of ninety-six she had the dubious distinction of being the oldest victim on record.

Carioca, Taheya    see    Kariokka, Taheyya

Carissima – (fl. c570 – c600)
Merovingian virgin saint
Sometimes called Charissima, Chreme, or Careme, she was persecuted by her wealthy parents, when she refused to marry Hugolino of Chateau Vieux, their choice as her husband. To escape this fate Carissima fled into the forest, in the diocese of Albi, where she remained concealed for three years, only her nurse knowing the secret of her whereabouts. Later, according to her legend, after raising her nurse’s child from the dead, Carissima travelled on a pilgrimage of sorts, and met Eugenius, Bishop of Carlisle, who was then living in exile. He was supposed to have buried her in his own foundation, the monastery of Vieux, which casts doubt upon the entire story. Despite these contradictions, Carissima’s translation feast was celebrated annually at Albi, together with that of St Eugene and other (Oct 11).

Carlat, Adela de – (c1035 – before 1096)
French mediaeval heiress
Adela de Carlat was the daughter of Gilbert II, Vicomte de Carlat and his wife Nobilia de Lodeve, the daughter of Odo, Vicomte de Lodeve and his wife Chimberga. She was the heiress of the vicomtes of Carlat and Lodeve, and was married (c1050) to Berengar II de Carlat (c1029 – after 1080), Vicomte of Millau and Rodez. Adela appears to have died prior to the purchase of the county of Rodez by her second son Richard (1096), who was then in possession of half the viscounty of Carlat which had passed to him through her. Vicomtesse Adela was the ancestress of the counts of Provence and Rodez. Her three sons were,

1) Gilbert III Milhaud (c1050 – 1109), Vicomte of Millau, Carlat and Lodeve. He was married to Countess Gerberga (died before 1118), the heiress of Provence and Arles, and left issue.

2) Richard de Carlat (c1055 – before 1135). He was Vicomte of Carlat and Lodeve, and purchased the county of Rodez and left issue.

3) Raymond de Carlat (died before 1077). He was present at the foundation of the Abbey of Monts in Auvergne with his two elder brothers but died young.

Carles, Emilie – (1900 – 1979)
French memoirist
Carles was a native of the village of Val-des-Pres, near Briancon, in the mountain regions of south eastern France. She verbally dictated her autobiography to Robert Destanque during a three month period (1977). It was then published as, Une Soupe aux herbes sauvages (1978), which was later translated into English as A Wild Herb Soup: The Life of a French Countrywoman (1991). Carles had been a schoolteacher, and her brother was starved to death in a German prison camp during WW II. She instituted a successful public campaign to save her beloved Claree valley from government development. She died a few years afterwards, but it was due to her efforts and determination that the valley was finally declared a protected natural site (1990). Emilie Carles died (July 29, 1979) aged seventy-eight.

Carleton, Caroline – (1820 – 1874)
Anglo-Australian lyricist
Caroline Baynes was born (July 1, 1820) at Bonnar Hall, in London, the daughter of William Baynes, and was married (1836) in London, to Charles James Carleton (died 1861). The Carletons immigrated to Australia aboard the Prince Regent (1839), her husband serving as dispenser to the colonel surgeon, and they settled in Adelaide, South Australia. Mrs Carleton penned the words to the Song of Australia (1860) which she wrote and entered into the competition run by the, South Australian Lyrics periodical, and was awarded a prize for her work. Caroline Carleton died (July 10, 1874) aged fifty-four, at Wallaroo in South Australia.

Carline, Nancy – (1910 – 2004)
British painter
Nancy Carline was educated at the Slade School of Art from 1928 by Henry Tonks, and later, Allan Gwynne-Jones. After a stint in the costume department of Sadlers Wells Ballet and the Old Vic, her acquaintanceship with the ballet impressario Serge Diaghilev’s scene painters, Vladimir Pounin and his wife Violet led to Nancy becoming more deeply interested in aspects of modern art. Though she used a studio to produce larger works, Nancy was famous for her ability to paint rapidly from nature, and her style was greatly influenced by the traditions of the landscape painter John Constable.

Carlini, Benedetta – (1591 – 1661)
Italian nun and mystic
Carlini was born into a prosperous bourgeois family, and was placed with the sisters of the convent of the Mother of God at Pescia to become a nun. She was later appointed as abbess of this house (1621) but began experiencing menacing demonic visions and supernatural revelations. Her case came to the attention of the papacy and agents sent to examine Benedetta discovered that she was involved in a lesbian affair with another nun Sister Bartolommea and she was stripped of her office (1626). She lived under strict guard in the convent for the remainder of her life.

Carlisle, Bridget Hore-Ruthven, Countess of   see   Ruthven of Freeland, Bridget Helen Hore-Ruthven, Lady

Carlisle, Isabella Byron, Countess of – (1721 – 1795)
British painter and poet
Isabella Byron was born (Nov 10, 1721) the daughter of William, fifth Baron Byron of Rochdale and his wife Frances Berkeley. She became the second wife (1743) in London, of Henry Howard (1694 – 1758), the fourth Earl of Carlisle. During her husband’s lifetime Lady Carlisle made a name for herself in the art world, being able to sketech with considerable ability, and reproduced copies of the Dutch master Rembrandt. She was known in literary circles and penned a reply to Frances Greville’s poem ‘Prayers for Indifference.’ Her portrait, painted after her second marriage as Lady Musgrave by Sir Thomas Gainsborough (1760) remains in the family collection at Castle Howard. Lady Carlisle remarried (1759) to Sir William Musgrave (1736 – 1800) of Haytor Castle, Cumberland. She was the mother of Frederick Howard (1748 – 1825), Lord Morpeth, who succeeded his father as fifth Earl of Carlisle whilst a child (1758). He was married to Lady Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower and left descendants. Lady Isabella Carlisle died (Jan 22, 1795) aged seventy-three.

Carlisle, Joan – (c1606 – 1679) 
English Stuart painter
Joan Carlisle is believed to be the first English female professional painter. She was the daughter of William Palmer, a civil servant, but nothing is known concerning her artistic training, apart from the fact that Sir Anthony Van Dyck was one of her mentors. She was married (1626) to the poet and dramatist, Lodowick Carlisle, who was appointed one of the Keepers of Richmond Park by Charles I, to whom she bore two children. During and after the Civil War, Joan was involved mainly in copying the Italian masters, which she produced in minature. From 1654 she resided with her husband in Covent Garden, in London, where she quickly managed to establish herself as a popular painter in oils. The best known example of her work is, The Stag Hunt at Lamport, which was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London (1972). She also executed a group portrait of the family of Lord Helmingham.

Carlisle, Kitty – (1910 – 2007)
American vocalist and film actress
Born Catherine Conn (pronounced Cohen) (Sept 10, 1910) in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was the daughter of a physician, and was partly raised abroad in Switzerland, Europe. She studied acting at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London as attending the School of Economics there. Adopting her professional name of ‘Kitty Carlisle,’ she established herself as an extrememly successful performer on the Broadway stage in New York, where she appeared in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten’s work, The Rape of Lucretia (1932). She was married (1946) to the noted dramatist and theatrical producer, Moss Hart (1904 – 1961). Carlisle’s film roles included appearances in several Marx Brothers films, as well as roles in, Murder at the Vanities (1934), A Night at the Opera (1935), Hollywood Canteen (1943), produced to promote the war effort. After a forty year absence from film, Carlisle returned to make appearances in, Radio Days (1987) and, Six Degrees of Seperation (1993), with Stockard Channing, Will Smith, and Donald Sutherland. Carlisle left a volume of memoirs entitled Kitty (1988) and was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President George Herbert Walker Bush (1991). Kitty Carlisle died (April 17, 2007) aged ninety-six.

Carlisle, Lucy Percy, Countess of – (1599 – 1660)
English political intriguer
Lady Lucy Percy was the second daughter of Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland, and his wife Lady Dorothy Devereux, the daughter of Walter, first Earl of Essex and his wife Lettice Knollys, cousin to Queen Elizabeth I. She was married (1617) to James Hay, Earl of Carlisle. Beautiful and witty she was a prominent member of the court of Charles I, being a close friend to Queen Henrietta Maria and to the king’s adviser, Thomas, Earl of Strafford. With the impeachment and execution of Lord Strafford (1641), Lady Carlisle became deeply involved with politics, playing a double game as informant for both Royalists and Roundheads. She informed Lord Essex of Charles I’s intentions to arrest Pym, Hampden, Holles, Strode, and Haselrig, which enabled them all to find safe haven in London. She openly supported the Presbyterians (1647) and made a show of support for the Royalist cause during the Second Civil War, which caused her to be imprisoned in the Tower of London for a period. After her release she was unable to regain her former political prominence. She was commemorated in verse by contemporary poets such as Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674), who celebrated her in his poem Hesperides, and Thomas Carew (c1594 – 1639), who called her ‘Lucinda,’ amongst others. Lady Carlisle died (Nov 5, 1660) aged sixty-one, of apoplexy, and was buried at Petworth.

Carlisle, Rosalind Frances Stanley, Countess of – (1845 – 1921)
British temperance reformer
Rosalind Stanely was born (Feb 20, 1845) in London, the daughter of the famous Whig statesman, Sir Edward, Lord Stanley of Alderley, and his wife Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henry Augustus, fifth Earl Dillon. She was married (1864) to George Howard, ninth Earl of Carlisle (1843 – 1911), to whom she bore eleven children, including Charles Howard (1867 – 1912), who briefly succeeded his father as the tenth Earl of Carlisle (1911 – 1912), and left issue. She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Carlisle (1911 – 1925).
When her husband took up his role in political life, the countess became a well known Liberal salon hostess. Lady Carlisle supported Home Rule in Ireland in oppostion to the stance taken by her husband, but also became a firm supporter of female suffrage, and was a popular public speaker, for which she showed considerable talent. She twice served as president of the Women’s Liberal Federation (1891 – 1901) and (1906 – 1914) and with her husband, was a firm opponent of alcohol, even to the extent of closing public houses on their own estates. She was elected president of the National British Women’s Temperance Association (1903). Lady Carlisle died (Aug 12, 1921) aged seventy-six, in London.

Carlon, Fran – (1913 – 1993)
American radio, television, film and theatre actress
Frances Carlon began her early stage career in the role of Little Eva in a touring production of Unce Tom’s Cabin. She went to Hollywood in California where she appeared in films with Douglas Montgomery and Loretta Young. She also worked in radio, appearing in popular shows such as Lorenzo Jones and Our Gal Sunday, and played Lorelei Kilbourne in Big Town. Later in her career she was best known for her appearances as Julia Burke in the popular television serial, As the World Turns. Fran Carlon died of cancer (Oct 4, 1993) aged eighty, in Manhattan, New York.

Carlon, Patricia Bernadette – (1927 – 2002)
Australian novelist
Pat Carlon was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, and moved to Homebush in Sydney with her parents as a child. During her early years she worked in a store run by her parents in Cremorne, North Sydney, and was then employed as printers’ typist for several years. Carlon never married and had her short stories and romance novels published during the 1950’s. She later resided with her parents at Bexley, and remained an intensely private person. During the decade (1961 – 1970) she wrote and published over a dozen psychological thrillers such as Circle of Fear (1961), The Price of an Orphan (1964), The Unquiet Night (1965), The Running Woman (1966), The Whispering Wall (1969), and, Death by Demonstration (1970). Pat Carlon died (July 29, 2002) after suffering a stroke, at Bexley, Sydney.

Carlotta of Belgium – (1840 – 1927)
Mexican empress consort (1864 – 1867)
Born Princess Charlotte Amelia Victoria Clementine Leopoldine of Belgium (June 7, 1840) at Laeken Palace, she was the daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, and his second wife, Louise d’Orleans. She was married (1857) to the Hapsburg archduke Maximilian (1832 – 1867), who was elected emperor of Mexico as Maximilian I. The couple remained childless. With the collapse of Maximilian’s regime in Mexico, the empress returned to Europe, where she vainly pleaded the great powers for their assistance, but to no avail. Whilst there, she received the news of her husband’s death in front of the firing squad at Queretaro (June 19, 1867), and she declined into complete mental derangement. Her brother Leopold II had her kept in comfortable detention for the rest of her long life. Though she did have moments of lucidity, her condition did not improve. The former empress died (Jan 19, 1927) at the Chateau de Bouchout in Belgium, aged eighty-six. The famous French soldier, General Maxime Weygand (1867 – 1965) was long believed to be her illegitimate son by Colonel von der Smissen, leader of the contingent of Belgian volunteers in Mexico, and that her slide into insanity was caused by her own guilt at this liasion and its result, but the child was almost definitely fathered by Maximilian on a mistress. The empress was portrayed upon the screen by actress Bette Davis in the film Juarez (1939).

Carlotta of Bourbon-Parma – (1777 – 1813)
Italian princess and nun
Princess Carlotta Maria Fernanda Teresa Anna Giuseppa Giovanna Luisa Vincenza Rosalia of Bourbon-Parma was born (Sept 1, 1777) in Parma, the daughter of Duke Ferdinando I (1765 – 1802) and his wife Maria Amalia, daughter of the Hapsburg empress Maria Theresa. Carlotta never married and became a Dominican nun. As Mother Giacinto she was appointed as mother superior of the order in Rome. Princess Carlotta aged thirty-five (April 5, 1813) aged thirty-five, in Rome.

Carlotta of Naples – (1479 – 1506)
Italian princess
Princess Carlotta was the daughter of Ferrante IV, King of Naples, and his first wife, Anna of Savoy, and the elder-half-sister to Ferdinando of Naples, Duke of Calabria (1488  -1550). She was raised at the French court and served as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Brittany, the wife of Louis XII. Carlotta was proposed as a possible bride for the infamous Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, but she preferred to marry instead to a French nobleman, Guy XV, Comte de Laval (1500). Princess Carlotta died (Oct 16, 1506) aged twenty-seven.

Carlotta of Savoy – (1742 – 1794)
Italian princess
Princess Carlotta was born (Aug 17, 1742) the eldest daughter of Luigi Vittorio of Savoy, reigning Prince of Carignano (1741 – 1778) and his wife Christina Henrietta of Hesse-Rheinsfels-Rothenburg, the daughter of Landgrave Ernst of Hesse-Rheinsfels-Rothenburg. Her younger sister Marie Therese, Princesse de Lamballe was the ill-fated friend of the French queen Maria Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. Carlotta remained unmarried and survived into the reign of her nephew Prince Carlo Emanuele of Carignano (1780 – 1800). Princess Carlotta died (Feb 20, 1794) aged fifty-one.

Carlotta Joaquina Teresa Cayetana – (1775 – 1830)
Queen consort of Portugal (1816 – 1826)
Infanta Carlotta Joaquina was born (April 25, 1775) in Madrid, the eldest daughter of King Carlo IV of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma, the granddaughter of Louis XV, King of France (1715 – 1774). She was married (1785) when aged only ten to Prince Joao of Portugal (1767 – 1826), the son and heir of Queen Maria I Francisca. The marriage had been part of a dynastic plan arranged by her parents but Carlotta Joaquina despised her husband for the rest of her life. Despite this she bore Joao a large family of children, three sons and six daughters. During the many years of her married life Carlotta Joaquina was scandalously unfaithful and doubts were later cast upon the paternity of several of her children.
Carlotta Joaquina fled with the royal family to the safety of Brazil (1808) before Napoleon’s advancing armies. When her husband succeeded to the Portugese throne as Joao VI (1816) she became queen consort. The king suffered a nervous breakdown at this time, and the queen plotted to have a Regency declared in her favour. The king recovered but never forgave the queen for her part in this affair and their estrangement remained complete thereafter. The queen later supported her son Pedro against his father being totally opposed to a constitutional monarcgy, which the king favoured. The parliament (Cortes) attempted to have the queen banished from Lisbon but she declined to leave, pleading ill-health. She plotted with her son for Joao’s deposition but this was prevented by the intervention of foreign powers. The queen was ordered to remove to the Island of Madeira but she refused to leave Queluz. The king relented and permitted Carlotta Joaquina to remain there though he did not lift the sentence of banishment.
With the death of Joao VI Carlotta Joaquina became the Queen Dowager of Portugal (1826 – 1830). She was denied power by her son Pedro and encouraged the revolt of her younger son Miguel against his elder brother and his daughter, the heiress Maria da Gloria. These family feuds were still in evidence when Queen Carlotta Joaquina died (Jan 7, 1830) aged fifty-four, at Queluz. She was interred beside her husband at Sao Vicente de Fora. Her children were,

1) Infanta Maria Teresa of Portugal (1793 – 1874). She was married firstly to Infante Pedro Carlos of Spain (1786 – 1812) and secondly to Infante Carlos, Conde de Molina (1788 – 1855) the
brother of her first husband.

2) Infante Antonio of Portugal (1795 – 1801). He was styled Prince of Beira but died young.

3) Pedro IV (1798 – 1834). He succeeded his father as Pedro III of Portugal (1826) and then became Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I. He was married twice and was the father of Maria II da
Gloria, Queen Regnant of Portugal (1834 – 1853) who married twice and left descendants.

4) Infanta Maria Isabel of Portugal (1797 – 1818). She became the second wife of Ferdinando of Spain (1784 – 1833), Prince of the Asturias, later King Ferdinando VII.

5) Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal (1800 – 1834). She became the first wife of Carlos of Spain, Conde de Molina (1788 – 1855) and left issue.

6) Infanta Isabel Maria of Portugal (1801 – 1876). She remained unmarried.

7) Miguel I (1802 – 1866). He styled himself King of Portugal (1834) contesting the throne with his niece Maria II. He was unsuccessfull and became Duke of Braganza. He was married and
left issue.

8) Infanta Maria Assunta of Portugal (1805 – 1834). She remained unmarried.

9) Infanta Anna of Portugal (1806 – 1857). She became the wife of Nuno Joseph de Moura Barreto (1804 – 1875), first Duque de Loule.

Carlotti da Garda, Alessandra Starrabba di Rudini, Marchesa – (1876 – 1931)
Italian salonniere and literary figure
Alessandra Starrabba was the daughter of Antonio Starrabba (1839 – 1908), Marchese di Rudini, and his first wife Maria de Barral de Montauvvard. She became the wife of the Marchese Marcello Carlotti da Garda (1866 – 1900) to whom she bore several children. The Marchesa Carlotti da Garda became the mistress of the Italian poet and political figure Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863 – 1938). When their affair ended she retired from the world in order to become a Carmelite nun.

Carlson, Esther   see   Gunness, Belle

Carlton, May    see   Fleming, May Agnes

Carlyle, Jane Welsh – (1801 – 1866)
British literary figure
Born Jane Baillie Welsh in Haddington, East Lothian, she was the daughter of a physician, John Welsh. She received an erudite education in the classics from her father, and inherited a small family holding at Craigenputtock, on the moors of Dumfriesshire, which allowed her some independence. It was her own tutor, the Revivialist Edward Irving, who introduced Jane to her future husband, the famous critic and historian, Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881), whom she eventually married (1826). After residing several years at craigenputtock, the couple moved to Chelsea, in London. Despite the uneasy nature of their marital relations, and Thomas’s chronic depression and ill-health, Jane remained loyally by his side, and gave him her complete support. She died suddenly, whilst in her carriage, and her death destroyed Carlyle, who produced the touching memoir of her in his own, Reminiscences (1881). Her extensive correspondence has been published.

Carmen Sylva      see      Elisabeth Pauline Ottilie Louisa

Carmenta – (fl. c750 BC)
Latin queen of Arcadia
Queen Carmenta was, according to the historian Livy in his Early History of Rome, either the wife or mother of King Evander. Her Arcadian subjects revered her as a divine prophetess, and a shrine was later erected to commemorate her, being built on a citadel of the city of Rome, and was still in existence four hundred years later (c386 BC). Whether or not she was a real woman or a legend which became a worshipped deity remains unknown for certain, though Plutarch in his life of King Romulus recorded that, ‘This Carmenta is thought by some to a Fate presiding over human birth, and for this reason she is honoured by mothers. Others, however, state that the wife of Evander the Arcadian, who was a prophetess and inspired to utter oracles in verse, was therefore surnamed Carmenta, since carmina is their word for verse, her own proper name being Nicostrate.’

Carmi, Vera – (1914 – 1969)
Italian film actress
Carmi was born (Nov 23, 1914) in Turin, Piedmont. She appeared in over fifty films including Villa de vendere (1941), Finalmente si (1944), Passione (1953), Amici per la pelle (1955), Mai ti scordero (1956) and I miliardari (1956). Vera Carmi died (Sept 6, 1969) aged fifty-four, in Rome.

Carmichael, Amy Beatrice – (1867 – 1971)
Irish missionary
Amy Carmichael was born in Millisle, County Down. With the death of her father (1885), the family split apart, and she was unofficially adopted (1887) by the widowed businessman, Robert Wilson, of Belfast. Carmichael decided upon a career within the church and trained as a missionary. After initial work in Japan, she joined the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in southern India, working in concert with Thomas Walker of Tirunelveli. She founded the Dohnavur Fellowship (1926), which provided for the education of young girls rescued by the missionaries from lives as temple prostitutes. Amy Carmichael was the author of several works such as, Gold Cord (1932) and, Gold by Moonlight (1935).

Carmichael, Eva – (1860 – 1934)
Irish disaster survivor
Eva Carmichael was born in Dublin, the daughter of Every Carmichael, an Irish physician. Eva and Tom Pearce were the sole survivors of over fifty passengers who were travelling aboard the ‘Loch Ard’, when it was wrecked near Port Campbell, Victoria (June 1, 1878). Eva later married Thomas Achilles Townsend of Castle Garrycycloyne in Ireland, and died at Bedford.

Carmichael, Mary Grant – (1851 – 1935)
British composer
Mary Carmichael was born at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, Lancashire, and was educated in France and Switzerland, being taught the piano during childhood. She later studied the piano in Munich, Bavaria, under Heinrich Porges and Walter Bache and composition under Ebenezer Prout. She performed with the violinist Lady Halle and with Liza Lehmann and Gervase Elwes amonst other singers. Her first published piece was the Idyll for piano (1874) which was dedicated to Ebenezer Prout. She published many songs including two sets of lyrics from Heinrich Heine’s Book of Songs (1876). She produced the song-cycle for four voices and the piano, Songs of the Stream (1887) and she later composed sacred pieces. She produced the operetta, The Frozen Hand, or the Snow Queen with a libretto adapted from Hans Christian Andersen (1897). Her other compositions included the collections A Child’s Garden of Verse (1888), Four Songs of the Stuarts (1889), and Sunbeams (1891). Mary Grant Carmichael died (March 17, 1935) aged eighty-four, in London.

Carmichael, Rebekah – (fl. 1790 – 1806)
Scottish poet
Rebekah Carmichael was orphaned in her youth. Widowed young, she was the mother of David Ramsay Hay (c1798 – 1866) the decorative painter and author. Her only known work, Poems (1790) was published in Edinburgh and was subscribed to by the poet Robert Burns. Her work includes, The Tooth and, A Young Lass’s Soliloquoy. a letter survives, written by Rebekah to her publisher Archibald Constable in 1806 in which she entreats for a small loan, during an extended period of illness.

Carminia Ammia – (fl. c140 – c170 AD)
Roman public benefactor
Carminia Ammia was the second wife of Marcus Ulpius Carmius Claudius I, priest of Aphrodite in Attouda, Caria, in Asia Minor. Carminia held the civic honour of stephanephoros and was priestess of Thea Maeter Adrastos and of the goddess Aphrodite. Her first priesthood was later held by her son M. Ulpius Carminius Claudius the younger. Her granddaughter, Ulpia Carminia Claudiana, who also held civic office, appeared on coins with Geta Caesar, the son of Emperor Septimius Severus, and brother of Emperor Caracalla.

Carminia Liviana Diotima – (fl. c230 – c270 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Carminia liviana Diotima was probably the daughter of Carminius Claudianus, and the granddaughter of Carminius Athenagoras, proconsul of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Isauria, and sister to Marcus Flavius Carminius Athenagoras Livianus. Carminia was attested by an inscription from surviving water pipes from Veientano which styled her clarissima femina. She may have been the wife of P. Attius Pudens and perhaps the mother of P. Attius Pudens Rufinus Celsianus.

Carnac, Carol   see   Rivett, Edith Caroline

Carnac, Elizabeth – (1751 – 1780) 
Anglo-Indian society figure
Elizabeth Rivett was the daughter of Thomas Rivett, MP for Derby, and his wife Anne, the daughter of Rev. Peter Sibley, of Ilam, Somerset. She married (1769) as his second wife, Brigadier-General John Carnac (1716 – 1800) who became Commander-in-chief of the British army in India. Elizabeth Carnac died in India and was interred in the city of Bombay. A celebrated beauty, her portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and now forms part of the Wallace Collection. Her husband at his death left all his property to Elizabeth’s brother, James Rivett (1758 – 1802) who assumed the surname of Rivett-Carnac by royal license. She was the aunt of Sir James Rivett-Carnac (1784 – 1846) who was created a baronet (1836).

Carnarvon, Almina Victoria Marie Alexandra Wombwell, Countess of – (1876 – 1969)
British aristocrat
Almina Wombwell was the daughter of Marie Boyer, the wife of Frederick Charles Wombwell (1845 – 1889), the son of Sir George Wombwell, third baronet, but her real father was possibly Alfred de Rothschild (1842 – 1918), the unmarried brother of the prominent banking family in Britain, who later made Almina his heiress. Almina was married firstly (1895) to George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert (1866 – 1923), the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, to whom she bore two children, George Alfred Marius Victor Herbert (1898 – 1987), sixth Earl of Carnarvon (1923 – 1987), and a daughter, Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert (1901 – 1980), later the wife (1923) of Sir Brograve Campbell Beauchamp, second baronet. Both her children left descendants.
After she inherited Rothschild’s wealth (1918), Lady Carnarvon encouraged her husband to back Howard Carter’s archaeological expedition in Egypt, which was searching for the tomb of the Pharaoh Tuthankhamun. She and her daughter accompanied Lord Carnarvon to Egypt and she was there when the tomb of Pharoah Tuthankamun was discovered, her daughter being one of the first to enter the tomb. With Lord Carnarvon’s death (April 5, 1923), Lady Almina returned to England as the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon, a title she held for over four decades (1923 – 1969). The countess was remarried six months later (Dec, 1923), to an army officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Onslow Dennistoun, who died in 1938. Lady Carnarvon survived her second husband thirty years. Lady Carnarvon died (May 8, 1969) aged ninety-two, near Taunton in Somerset.

Carnarvon, Elizabeth Capel, Countess of – (1633 – 1678)
English painter and Royalist
Elizabeth Capel was born at Hadham Parva (June 4, 1633), the daughter of Arthur Capel, first Baron Capel of Hadham, and his wife Elizabeth Morrison. She was married (before 1652) to Charles Dormer (1632 – 1709), second Earl of Carnarvon. Their only child, Charles Dormer (1652 – 1665), Viscount Ascott, died young. Lady Carnarvon was an accomplished amateur flower painter. One of her works, dated 1662, is now in the Royal collection. Sir Peter Lely painted a double portrait of the countess and her elder sister Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, in which she holds one of her own paintings. Both works bear her signature under a coronet. Lady Carnarvon died (July 30, 1678) aged forty-five, and was buried at Wing in Buckinghamshire.

Carnegie, Dorothy Reeder Price – (1912 – 1998)
American motivational instructor and author
Dorothy Reeder was born (Nov 3, 1912). After her divorce from her first husband she remarried (1944) to the author Dale Carnegie. With her husband’s death she published How to Help Your husband Get Ahead in His Social and Business Life (1953). Mrs Carnegie also took over the administration of Dale Carnegie Training which promoted pulbic speaking and offered motivational lectures, and established international training schools for corporate executives with offices in over seventy countries. Dorothy Carnegie retired as chairwoman of the company (1978) and died (Aug 6, 1998) in New York.

Carnegie, Hattie – (1886 – 1956)
American fashion designer, entrepeneur and businesswoman
Born Henrietta Koningeiser (March 15, 1886) in Vienna, Austria, she was the daughter of a garment maker. She came to American as a child with her family (1892). Carnegie made popular flatteringly feminine, but stylish designs, which included evening gowns and cocktail dresses. She designed gowns and clothes for several film actresses such as Constance Bennett in, Two Against the World (1932) and, Our Betters (1933), for Claudette Colbert in, The Secret Fury (1950), and for Joan Fontaine in, Born To Be Bad (1950). At the time of her death Carnegie’s business empire was worth eight million dollars annually. Hattie Carnegie died (Feb 22, 1956) aged sixty-nine, in New York.

Carney, Julia – (1823 – 1908)
American educator and poet
Her married name was Fletcher. She published a volume of verse (1845) in which appeared the famous poem Little Things which began “Little drops of water, little grains of sand. “

Carney, Kate – (1868 – 1950)
British music hall performer
Kate Carney began her stage career singing popular Irish ballads in theatres in the East End of London (1890). Famous for her particular interpretation of Cockney songs, she wore large feathered hats and popularly known as the ‘Cockney Queen.’ Carney’s most popular songs were ‘Liza Johnson’ and ‘Three Pots a Shilling.’ She was married to the comedian and dancer, George Barclay, and appeared in a Royal Variety Performance at the age of sixty-seven, being enthusiastically received by the crowds.

Caro, Pauline – (1835 – 1901)
French novelist
Caro was the wife of the philosopher Elme Marie Caro. Her novels included Le Peche de Madeleine (Madeleine’s Sin) (1864) which was published anonymously. These were followed by Histoire du Souci (The Tale of the Marigold) (1868) and Les Nouvelles Amours de Hermann et Dorothee (The Latest Loves of Hermann and Dorothee) (1872). She finally admitted authorship and her later works were published under her married name. These included Amour de jeune fille (A Girl in Love) (1892) and Aimer c’est vaincre (Love Conquers All) (1900).

Carol, Kate Fletcher   see   Osgood, Frances Sargent

Carolina of Orange – (1743 – 1787)
Dutch princess, dynastic heiress, and musical patron
Born Princess Wilhelmina Carolina (Feb 28, 1743) at Leeuwarden, the only surviving daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, and his wife Anne of Hanover, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of George II, King of Great Britain (1727 – 1760). She was sister to Prince William V Batavus (1751 – 1806) and paternal aunt of the first Dutch king, William I (1815 – 1840).
Her parents had married in 1734, and had had only two stillborn children prior to her own birth. A short-lived sister followed, and the family became so concerned as to the continuance of the dynasty that it was proclaimed that the stadholdery of Orange could be inherited be a female (1747). This remained in effect until the birth of her brother William when she was aged five (1748).
Carolina’s father died in 1751, and she was raised by her mother. Well versed in poetry and music, notably the piano, her marriage with Prince Karl Christian of Nassau Weilburg (1735 – 1788), whom she married at The Hague (1760), was the successful culmination of negotiations begun by her mother five years earlier (1755). The contract was actually signed by the Regent Princess Anne of Hanover, on her deathbed (1759). A patron of the noted composer and musician, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom she first met at The Hague (1765), he wrote six sonatas for the clavecimbel and violin, which he dedicated to Princess Carolina. She sent her own physician to tend him during an illness. With the death of her paternal grandmother (1765), Carolina succeeded as governor of the northen provinces of Friesland, as regent for her brother. Carolina later moved permanently to Germany with her husband and children. She bore her husband a total of fifteen children, of whom the third son and heir, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1768 – 1816) bore the title of hereditary prince before his succession (1788). Princess Carolina died (May 6, 1787) aged forty-four, at Kirchheimbolanden.

Carolina Maria Teresa Josephina – (1770 – 1804)
Duchess consort of Saxony
Princess Carolina was born (Nov 22, 1770) at Parma, the eldest daughter of Ferdinando, Duke of Parma, and his wife, the Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and of the Empress Maria Theresa. She was the great-granddaughter of Louis XV, King of France (1715 – 1774). The princess was married (1792) in Dresden, to Prince Maximilian, Duke of Saxony (1759 – 1838), the son of the Elector Friedrich Christian, as his first wife. Duchess Carolina died (March 1, 1804) aged thirty-three, in Dresden. The couple had seven children,

1) Duchess Amalia of Saxony (1794 – 1870). She remained unmarried.

2) Duchess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony (1796 – 1865). She became the second wife of Ferdinando III (1769 – 1824), Grand Duke of Tuscany, but died childless.

3) Friedrich II August (1797 – 1854). He succeeded his uncle, Anton I, as King of Saxony (1836 – 1854). He was married twice and left issue.

4) Duke Clemens of Saxony (1798 – 1822). He died unmarried.

5) Duchess Maria Anna of Saxony (1799 – 1832). She became the first wife of Leopoldo II (1797 – 1870), Grand Duke of Tuscany, and left descendants.

6) Duke Johann (1801 – 1873). He succeeded his brother Friedrich August as King of Saxony as Johann I (1854 – 1873). He was married and left issue.

7) Duchess Josepha of Saxony (1803 – 1829). She became the third wife of Ferdinando VII (1784 – 1833), King of Spain, but died childless.

Caroline Bonaparte – (1782 – 1839)
Queen consort of Naples
Caroline Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica, the daughter of Carlo Bonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, and the youngest sister of the Emperor Napoleon I. Caroline cultivated the friendship of Napoleon’s wife Josephine, in order to pursue her desire to marry her brother’s cavalry general, Joachim Murat (1767 – 1815). With Murat’s participation in his rise to power, Napoleon could not refuse, but showed his displeasure at havingnhis consent forced, by absenting himself from the wedding (1800). The couple had four children. She carried Josephine’s train at her coronation (1804) and was soon after accorded the rank of Imperial highness.
When Murat was made king of Naples (1808), Caroline assisted him in maintaining a magnificent court at Naples. As she had associated herself with her husband’s attempt to gain independence from Napoleon (1814), she was by far regarded as the most politically dangerous of the Bonaparte family by the foreign powers after Napoleon’s fall. With Murat’s defeat and capture, Queen Caroline and her children were taken aboard the British warship Tremendous to Trieste, whilst the king managed to escape to the south of France. He was recaptured and court marshalled, and then shot at Pizzo (Pct 8, 1815). The queen remained in Austrian territory with her children, under close police supervision, under the incognito of Countess of Lipona.
With Napoleon’s death (1821), Caroline returned to Rome and was permitted to buy to the castle of Frohsdorf, but moved to Trieste (1824). Her mother never forgave her for her former treachery against her brother, and Caroline sufferred much from financial concerns. General Jacques Macdonald became the master of her household, and her lover, and it was rumoured that they were secretly married. Caroline received a substantial legacy from the will of her sister, Princess Borghese (1825), and eventually succeeded in extracting from the French government a pension of 100, 000 francs a year, as the sister of Napoleon (1838). Queen Caroline died (May 18, 1839) aged fifty-seven, at Florence, Italy.

Caroline of Baden – (1776 – 1841)
Queen consort of Bavaria (1806 – 1825)
Princess Frederica Caroline Wilhelmina of Baden was born (July 13, 1776) at Karlsruhe, the second daughter of Karl Ludwig, the Hereditary Prince of Baden and his wife Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1768 – 1774). She was born a twin with her sister Catherine (1776 – 1823) who remained unmarried whilst of her younger sisters Elizabeth Alexandrovna was the wife of the Russian Tsar Alexander I.
Princess Caroline became the second wife (1797) at Karlsruhe, of Maximilian Joseph (1756 – 1825), Duke of Zweibrucken. When he became king of Bavaria as Maximilian I (1806) the Duchess Caroline became queen consort (1806 – 1825). She was stepmother to King Ludwig I (1825 – 1848) and his three siblings, and remained on friendly terms with them all, bearing Maximilian a further eight children. A patroness of musicians and the arts, the queen discovered the talent of Augusta von Fassmann when she appeared in a church concert, and paid for her to be properly trained as a soprano. She survived her husband as Queen Dowager (1825 – 1841) and was honoured at the court by her stepdaughter-in-law Queen Therese. Queen Caroline died suddenly (Nov 13, 1841) in her private apartments in Munich, whilst dressing for dinner, aged sixty-five. She was interred within the Theatinerkirche in Munich. Her children were,

1) A stillborn son (1799). He was interred within the Theatinerkirche.

2) Prince Maximilian Joseph (1800 – 1803). He died infancy and was interred within the Theatinerkirche.

3) Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria (1801 – 1873). She became the wife of Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1796 – 1861), King of Prussia (1840 – 1861) but left no children.

4) Princess Amalia of Bavaria (1801 – 1877). A twin with her sister Elisabeth, she became the wife of Johann I (1801 – 1873), King of Saxony (1854 – 1873), and left issue.

5) Princess Sophia of Bavaria (1805 – 1872). She became the wife of the Hapsburg archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802 – 1878) and was the mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Franz Josef I
(1848 – 1916).

6) Princess Maria Leopoldine of Bavaria (1805 – 1877). A twin with her sister Sophia, she became the wife of Friedrich August I (1797 – 1854), King of Saxony (1836 – 1854) but left no issue.

7) Princess Ludovica of Bavaria (1808 – 1892). She became the wife of Duke Franz in Bavaria (1808 – 1888) and their daughter Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) became the wife of her first cousin
the Emperor Franz Josef and left issue.

8) Princess Maximiliana of Bavaria (1810 – 1821). She died young.

Caroline of Denmark – (1793 – 1881)
Princess
Princess Caroline was born (Oct 28, 1793) the second daughter of Frederik VI, King of Denmark (1808 – 1839) and his wife Maria Sophia of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Karl, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and his wife Louisa, the youngest daughter of Frederik V, King of Denmark (1746 – 1766). She became the wife (1829) when aged thirty-five, of her cousin Prince Ferdinand of Denmark (1792 – 1863). The marriage remained childess and Caroline survived her husband for almost two decades as Dowager Princess (1863 – 1881). Princess Caroline died (March 30, 1881) aged eighty-seven.

Caroline of Zweibrucken – (1721 – 1774)
German princess, scholar and literary patron
Landgravine Henrietta Caroline Christiana Louisa of Zweibrucken was born (March 9, 1721) at Strasbourg, the daughter of Christian III, Duke of Zweibrucken in Bavaria and his wife Caroline of Nassau-Sarrasbrucken. Princess Caroline was married (1741) at Zweibrucken to the Hereditary Landgrave Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt to whom she bore eight children, three sons and five daughters. When her husband succeeded as the reigining landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt as Ludwig IX (1768 – 1790) Caroline became landgravine consort.
A woman of considerable education and scholarly talent Johann Wolfgang von Goethe referred to her as ‘the Great Landgravine.’ This princess held a notable literary salon at her court in Darmstadt where she received such noted philosophers and scholars as Christoph Wieland (1733 – 1813) and Johann Gottfried Herder. She was highly regarded by Friedrich the Great of Prussia who called her ‘the Glory and Wonder of our century.’ She survived her husband as the Dowager Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1768 – 1774). Landgravine Caroline died (March 30, 1774) aged fifty-three, at Darmstadt. Her children were,

1) Landgravine Caroline Sophia of Hesse-Darmstadt (1746 – 1821). She became the wife of Friedrich V (1748 – 1820), Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and left issue.

2) Landgravine Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751 – 1805). She became the wife of Friedrich Wilhelm II (1744 – 1797), King of Prussia (1786 – 1797) and left issue.

3) Louis X of Hesse-Darmstadt (1753 – 1820). He succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1790 – 1806) and was later created Grand duke of Hesse-Darmstadt as Ludwig I
(1806 – 1820). He was married to his cousin Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (1761 – 1829) and left issue.

4) Landgravine Amalia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt (1754 – 1832). She became the wife of Karl Ludwig (1755 – 1801), the Hereditary Prince of Baden, son and heir of Grand Duke Karl
Friedrich of Baden (1806 – 1811) and left issue.

5) Landgravine Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1755 – 1776). She became the first wife of Grand Duke Paul Petrovitch of Russia (1754 – 1801) (later Tsar Paul I) as Grand Duchess
Natalia Alexievna but died without issue.

6) Landgravine Louisa Augusta of Hesse-Darmstadt (1757 – 1830). She became the wife of Karl August (1757 – 1828), Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1815 – 1828) and left issue.

7) Landgrave Friedrich of Hesse-Darmstadt (1759 – 1802). He died unmarried.

8) Landgrave Christian of Hesse-Darmstadt (1763 – 1830). He died unmarried.

Caroline Vasa – (1833 – 1907)
Queen consort of Saxony (1873 – 1902)
Princess Caroline was born (Aug 5, 1833), in the Schonnbrunn Palace, in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Swedish Crown prince Gustavus Vasa, and granddaughter of the deposed Gustavus IV. Her mother was Louise of Baden, the daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig I. Caroline was discussed as a possible consort for the new French emperor, Napoleon III (1851 – 1852), but these negotiations eventually broke down, and Caroline was married (1853) to Albert of Saxony, who succeeded as King Albert I (1873) though their marriage remained childless. Caroline was Queen Dowager of Saxony for five years (1902 – 1907). Queen Caroline died (dec 15, 1907) aged seventy-four, in Dresden, aged seventy-four.

Caroline Amalia of Schleswig-Holstein – (1796 – 1881)
Queen consort of Denmark (1815 – 1848)
Princess Caroline Amalia was born (Jan 28, 1796) the only daughter of Friedrich Christian (1765 – 1814), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and his wife Princess Louisa Augusta, the daughter of Christian VII, King of Denmark (1766 – 1808) and his wife Caroline Matilda, the sister of George III, King of Great Britain (1760 – 1820). She became the second wife (1815) of Christian VIII (1786 – 1848), King of Denmark and was his consort for over three decades. Their marriage remained childless and she survived her husband for over three decades as Queen Dowager of Denmark (1848 – 1881). Queen Caroline Amalia died (March 9, 1881) aged eighty-five.

Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick – (1768 – 1821)
Queen of Great Britain (1820 – 1821)
Princess Caroline of Brunswick was born (May 17, 1768) in Brunswick, the second daughter of Charles II William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, and his wife Augusta, the sister of King Goerge III. She was married (1795) to her first cousin, George, Prince of Wales, but the union was doomed from the start, and although she bore him a daughter, Charlotte Augusta (1796 – 1817), he seperated from her immediately after the birth, and Caroline resided with her own small court at Shrewsbury, near Shooters Hill and later (1801) at Montague House, Blackheath, where her situation made her the object of much public sympathy.

Reports of scandalous and discreditable behaviour, even that she had borne an illegitimate child, led King George to order an investigation into her conduct (1806), which was found to be imprudent but no criminal, and the king granted her apartments in Kensington Palace. During her husband’s regency (1811 – 1820), Caroline went abroad (1814) abroad, travelling in Germany, Italy, Greece, Syria, and Jerusalem. With the death of George III, she refused the offer of an annuity of fifty thousand pounds, inexchange for renouncing the title of queen and remained abroad. When she indignantly refused and made a triumphal entry into London, Queen Charlotte refused to receive her, and the government instituted proceedings against her for adultery with her manservant Bartolomeo Bergami, she being prosecuted by Lord Lyndhurst. That her behaviour was generally reprehensible was proved beyond doublt, but her husband’s callous treatment of her, and Lord Brougham’s magnificent defence, caused such a surge in popular feeling for the queen that the government gave up on the Divorce Bill (Nov, 1820). Nevertheless, she was banished from the court, and turned away from the door of Westminster Abbey at George IV’s coronation (1821). Public sympathy appeared to withdraw from her cause, and she retired to Brandenburg House, at Hammersmith, where she died three weeks later (Aug 7, 1821) aged fifty-three, having been taken ill at the theatre. She was interred at Brunswick.

Caroline Augusta of Bavaria – (1792 – 1873)
Holy Roman empress (1818 – 1835)
Princess Charlotte of Bavaria was born in Mannheim (Feb 8, 1792), the daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria, and his first wife, Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was married firstly to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Wurttemburg (later King Wilhelm I). This marriage ended in divorce and she became the fourth wife (1818) of the Holy Roman emperor Franz II (1792 – 1835), taking the names of Caroline Augusta. This marriage remained childless. She survived him as the Dowager Empress (1835 – 1873), and was stepmother to the emperor Ferdinand I (1835 – 1848). As a widow Caroline Augusta established her court in Salzburg. Energetic, intelligent and curios the empress devoted her time to her literary and other pursuits and lived the leisured life of an imperial widow. When her brother Ludwig I of Bavaria became enamoured of the vibrant charms of Lola Montez, the Empress, fearing her baleful influence, sent the courtesan a secret offer of two thousand pounds if she would leave Munich, but this only ensured that the king created her a countess. Empress Caroline Augusta died (Feb 9, 1873) the day after her eighty-first birthday, in Vienna.

Caroline Augusta Maria of Great Britain – (1774 – 1775)
Hanoverian princess
Princess Caroline was born (June 24, 1774) at Gloucester House, Grosvenor Street, in London, the younger daughter of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and his wife Maria Walpole, the former Dowager Countess Waldegrave, widow of James, the first Earl Waldegrave. Her father was a younger brother to King George III (1760 – 1820). The princess did not survive infancy and died (March 14, 1775) aged only nine months, at Gloucester House. She was interred within St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire where her parents erected a monument to her memory.

Caroline Charlotte Marianne of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – (1821 – 1876)
Crown Princess of Denmark
Princess and Duchess Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born (Jan 10, 1821) at Neustrelitz, the second daughter of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1816 – 1860) and his wife Maria of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Friedrich III (1747 – 1837), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. She was married (1841) in Neustrelitz to crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (1808 – 1863) and was crown Princess consort (1841 – 1846). The marriage remained childless and ended in divorce (1846). Frederik later ascended the Danish throne as King Frederik VII (1848 – 1863). Caroline then left Denmark and returned to reside at her father’s grand ducal court. She never remarried. Princess Caroline died (June 1, 1876) aged fifty-five, in Neustrelitz

Caroline Charlotte Wilhelmina of Ansbach – (1683 – 1737)
Queen of Great Britain (1727 – 1737)
Princess Caroline of Ansbach was born (March 11, 1683) at Ansbach, the daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife Eleonore Erdmuthe Louise of saxe-Eisenach. Her father died during her infancy (1686) and her mother remarried, very unhappily (1692), to John George IV, elector of Saxony, and Caroline was brought up at the Saxon court at Dresden. With her stepfather’s death (1694) she resided with her mother of Pretzsch on the Elbe, near Wittenberg. Taken under the wing of Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia and her mother , the Dowager electress Sophia of Hanover, who arranged Caroline’s marriage (1705) with her graandson, the electoral prince George, son of the future George I. She bore him two surviving sons, Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751) and William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721 – 1765) and several daughters.

Caroline accompanied her husband and daughters to England with George I (1714), and she became queen when her husband eventually succeeded his father (1727). Caroline established a glitterring court of writers and politicians at Leicester House, whilst she was Princess of Wales, where she entertained Berkeley, Joseph Butler, Lord Chesterfield, John Gay, and Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu. As queen she became an enthusiastic supporter of Sir Robert Walpole, whom she persuaded her husband to return to power (1728). A close working partnership between the two continued until the queen’s death. She acted as regent during King George’s long abscences in Hanover, and died of cancer of the throat (Nov 20, 1737) aged fifty-four, at the Palace of St James, London, being interred in Henry VII’s Chapel, in Westminster Abbey.

Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain – (1713 – 1757)
Hanoverian princess
Princess Caroline Elizabeth was born (June 11, 1713) at Herrenhausen Castle, near Hannover, the third daughter of the future King George II (1727 – 1760) and his wife Caroline Charlotte Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Her mother’s favourite child, with the accession of her grandfather to the English throne as George I (1714), Caroline was raised at the English court. Possessed of great beauty and a placid, sweet-tempered disposition, she fell in love with her mother’s pet courtier, the rakish John, Lord Hervey of Ickworth. Alexander Pope vilified Hervey for repaying the queen’s gratitude by exacting her daughter’s hopeless attachment, out of sheer vanity and self-service. When he carried off and married Mary Lepell, one of the queen’s ladies, the shock, followed by that of the death of Queen Caroline (1737), set the princess upon the path of melancholia that gradually undermined her health. Caroline Elizabeth resided in strict retirement at St James’s Palace in London, seeing only family members, and dividing her time between religious exercises and the secret dispensation of charity. Princess Caroline Elizabeth died (Dec 28, 1757) aged forty-four, and was buried in the Chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey.

Caroline Ernestina of Stolberg – (1727 – 1796)
German countess consort of Reuss-Ebersdorff
Countess Caroline Ernestina of Stolberg was born (Aug 20, 1727) at Gedern in Stolberg, the daughter of Georg Ludwig I, Count of Stoberg-Gedern (1691 – 1758), and his wife Ferdinanda, who was the daughter of Ludwig, Count of Erbach-Schonburg (1642 – 1710). She was descended from the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (800 – 814) through both of her parents. Caroline Ernestina was married (1754) to Henry (Heinrich) XXIV, count of Reuss-Ebersdorff (1724 – 1779), to whom she bore six children. With her husband’s early death (1779), the princess ruled the tiny principality of Ebersdorff as regent for their son, Henry XL (1761 – 1822) who was created the first prince of the family by Napoleon I (1806). She relinquished power when her son reached the age of twenty-one (1782), and as dowager countess she fulfilled a more retired role at the court. Countess Caroline Ernestina died (April 22, 1796) aged seventy-eight, at Ebersdorff. Her four surviving children were,

1. Countess Augusta Caroline Sophia of Reuss-Ebersdorff (1757 – 1831). She became the second wife of Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750 – 1806) to whom she left descendants. Through this marriage Caroline Ernestina was maternal great-grandmother of the British queen Victoria (1837 – 1901).

1. Countess Louise of Reuss-Ebersdorff (1759 – 1840). She was married Henry XLIII, Prince of Reuss-Koestritz (1752 – 1814).

1. Count Henry XL (1761 – 1822). He became the first Prince of Reuss-Ebersdorff (1806 – 1822).

1. Countess Sophia Henrietta of Reuss-Ebersdorff (1767 – 1801). She became the first wife of Karl Emich, Prince of Leiningen-Dagsburg (1763 – 1814), to whom she bore an only son who died during childhood.

Caroline Louise of Hesse – (1723 – 1783)
German margravine of Baden-Durlach and pastellist
Princess Caroline Louise of Hesse was born at Darmstadt, the daughter of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was married (1751) to Karl Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (1728 – 1811). From her youth interested in the natural sciences, the princess was son knowledgeable concerning botany, chemistry, and mineralogy, that she was popularly known as ‘the Minerva of Hesse.’Also a talented painter, she was the pupil of the famous pastellist Jean-Etienne Liotard, who did her full-length portrait in 1745. From 1756 onwards the margravine began her collection of the old French, German, and Dutch masters, which adorned her private apartments, including Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait (c1645). She herself made a pastel copy of Caspar Netscher’s Death of Cleopatra. Margravine Caroline Louise died in Paris.

Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein – (1860 – 1932)
German duchess consort of Holstein-Glucksburg
Princess Victoria Frederica Caroline Mathilde was born (Jan 25, 1860) the second daughter of Friedrich, Duke of schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg, and his wife Adelaide, the daughter of Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Her elder sister Augusta Victoria was the wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888 – 1918). Caroline Mathilde was married (1885) to Duke Friedrich Ferdinand of Holstein-Glucksburg (1855 – 1934) and was duchess consort (1885 – 1918) until the fall of the monarchy. Duchess Caroline Mathilde died (Feb 20, 1932) aged seventy-two. She left six children,

1) Princess Victoria of Holstein-Glucksburg (1885 – 1970). She became the wife of Duke Karl of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1884 – 1954).

2) Princess Alexandra Victoria of Holstein-Glucksburg (1887 – 1957). She became the wife of Prince Augustus Wilhelm of Prussia (1887 – 1949).

3) Princess Helena of Holstein-Glucksburg (1888 – 1962). She became the wife of Prince Harald of Denmark (1888 – 1949).

4) Princess Adelaide of Holstein-Glucksburg (1889 – 1964). She became the wife of Prince Friedrich von Solms-Baruth (1886 – 1951).

5) Friedrich (1891 – 1965). He succeeded his father as Duke of Holstein-Glucksburg and left issue.

6) Princess Caroline Mathilde of Holstein-Glucksburg (1894 – 1972). She became the wife of Count Hans von Solms-Baruth (1893 – 1972).

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain – (1751 – 1775)
Queen consort of Denmark (1766 – 1772)
Princess Caroline Matilda was born (July 11, 1751) at Leicester House, St Martin’s-in-the-Field,  London, the youngest and posthumous child of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, the son and heir of George II (1727 – 1760), and his wife Augusta, daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha. Her eldest brother was King George III (1760 – 1820). Caroline Matilda was raised under the strict supervision of her widowed mother at Leicester House. Her mother and brother arranged for her dynastic marriage (1766) with her Danish cousin, the mentally unstable Christian VII (1749 – 1808), who inherited the throne from his father, Frederick V in the same year. Christian’s mother, Louisa of Great Britain (1723 – 1751), had been daughter to George II. She was the mother of Frederick VIII (1768 – 1839), who married and left issue. She was crowned as queen consort at Roskilde (May 1, 1767).
The Danish court was controlled by her husband’s grandmother, the Regent Sophia Magdalena, but with her death (1770), Christian succeeded as sole ruler. The marriage deteriorated, and the queen came increasingly under the influence of her handsome physician, Johann Struensee (1737 – 1772), who was eventually to be made a count. Despite the fact that her second child, Princess Louisa Augusta (1771 – 1843) (later Duchess of Holstein-Augunstenburg) was declared the king’s child, most contemporaries and later historians believe her to have been fathered by Struensee. After a palace coup organized by her mother-in-law, the Queen Doawger Juliana Maria, widow of Frederick V, and stepmother to Christian, Caroline Matilda was seperated from her son, and imprisoned in Elsinore. Struensee was arrested, and condemned to death.
George III of England intervened on his sister’s behalf, and a British warship arrived to take Queen Caroline Matilda away from Denmark for ever (1772). Her daughter remained behind and she never saw her children again. The king did not wish to have her in England due to the scandal surrounding her marriage and divorce, so she was sent to reside at the castle of Celle in Hanover, Germany, where her paternal grandmother, Sophia Dorothea of Celle had spent the last thirty years of her life (1694 – 1726). Queen Caroline Matilda died there (May 10, 1775) aged only twenty-three, and buried at Celle.

Caroline Sophia of Hesse-Darmstadt – (1746 – 1821)
German princess
Landgravine Caroline Sophia was born (March 2, 1746) the eldest daughter of Landgrave Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt (1768 – 1790) and his wife Caroline of Zweibrucken-Birkenfeld, the daughter of Duke Karl III of Zweibrucken in Bavaria. Caroline Sophia was married (1768) to Landgrave Friedrich V of Hesse-Homburg (1748 – 1820) and became Landgravine consort of Hesse-Homburg, bearing her husband a large family of fifteen children of whom two sons and two daughters died in infancy.
Caroline was one of the princesses considered as a bride for King George III of England (1760) and Baron Gerlach Adolphus von Munchausen of the Hanoverian service to the court of Darmstadt to meet the princess and her parents. The ambassador received excellent accounts of the princess’s character and personality, she then being resident in Alsace. Munchausen managed to reach Alsace after some delays as the province was then occupied by a French army, and was exasperated to receive reports that Princess Caroline was ‘stubborn and ill-temper’d to the greatest degree.’ Soon afterwards however he received another more favourable account of the princess, who had then reached her fifteenth year and was praised as ‘autant de Sa bonte de Coeur que de Sa piete.’ The only fault was that she was inclined to corpulence. The princess became top of the list of contenders but hopes for a projected marriage were finally dashed (May 12) when the king’s mentor Lord Bute received word that Landgrave Ludwig was eccentric enough to be considered of unsound mound. When this news reached King George (March, 1761) Princess Caroline Sophia was removed from the list of prospective brides.
Her eldest son Friedrich became the husband (1818) of Princess Elizabeth of England, daughter of George III and sister to the Prince Regent (George IV). This lady endeared herself to her new family by her tact and kindly manner, and to her mother-in-law in particular she became a widow. With the death of Friedrich V (1820) Caroline Sophia became the Dowager Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg (1820 – 1821) but her daughter-in-law Elizabeth refused to take precedence before, as was her right as the wife of the reigning prince, and insisted that she retain till her death the styles and privileges of a princess consort instead of a widow. Landgravine Caroline Sophia died (Sept 18, 1821) aged seventy-five. Her eleven surviving children were,

1) Friedrich VI (1769 – 1829). He succeeded his father as the reiging Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1820 – 1829). His marriage with Princess Elizabeth remained childless.

2) Ludwig (1770 – 1839). He succeeded his brother Friedrich VI as Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1829 – 1839) but was divorced and died childless.

3) Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Homburg (1771 – 1854). She became the wife of Prince Ludwig Friedrich of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1767 – 1807).

4) Landgravine Louisa Ulrica of Hesse-Homburg (1772 – 1854). She became the wife of Prince Karl of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1771 – 1825).

5) Landgravine Amalia of Hesse-Homburg (1774 – 1846). She became the wife of Prince Friedrich of Anhalt-Dessau (1769 – 1814).

6) Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Homburg (1776 – 1871). She became the wife of Friedrich Ludwig (1778 – 1819), the hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

7) Philip (1779 – 1846). He succeeded his brother Ludwig as the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1839 – 1846) but was married morganatically.

8) Gustav (1781 – 1848). He succeeded his brother Philip as the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1846 – 1848) but left only two daughters as his childless son had predeceased him.

9) Ferdinand (1783 – 1866). He succeeded his brother Gustav as the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg but died unmarried.

10) Landgravine Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg (1785 – 1846). She became the wife of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783 – 1851).

11) Landgrave Leopold of Hesse-Homburg (1787 – 1813). He was killed in battle and was unmarried.

Caro Maillen de Soto, Ana – (c1600 – c1650)
Spanish dramatist and poet
Ana Caro Maillen de Soto attended various literary academies in Seville, and was a friend to Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor. She was the author of several famous dramatic plays such as El conde Partinuples (Count Partinuples). She was mentioned by the contemporary authors, Luis Velez and Matos Fragoso.

Carpenter, Lady Almeria – (1752 – 1809)
British Hanoverian courtier
Almeria Carpenter was the daughter of George Carpenter, 1723 – 1762), first Baron Carpenter and first Earl of Tyrconnel, and his wife Frances Clifton, the granddaughter of Nanfan Coote, second Earl of Bellomont. She was the sister of George Carpenter, second Earl of Tyrconnel (1750 – 1805). Lady Almeria never married and served as lady-in-waiting to Princess Maria, Duchess of Gloucester, the sister-in-law of King George III, at Gloucester House in London.
Almerica became the mistress of Duke William Henry of Gloucester to whom she bore an illegitimate daughter known as Louisa Maria Laccoast (1782 – 1835) who became the wife of Geoffrey Boisville-Macdonald (1775 – 1832), third Baron Macdonald of Slate. Almeria was the caused of much dissension between the duke and duchess and Sir Nathaniel Wraxall in his History and Posthumous Memoirs recorded that she ‘reigned at Gloucester House.’ Sir Herbert Croft in his work The Abbey of Kilkhampton (1788) that Almeria was ‘Famed for Disdain of Virtue, for Segregation of intruding Fears, for Ridicule of Scruple, and Love of nothing but that Gaiete de Coeur, which she learnt in her Pupillage from the lessons of her Father.’ A satirical account of Lady Almeria and her father Lord Tyrconnel appeared in The Female Jockey Club (1794) where she is represented as having been the mistress of Prince Edward, Duke of York.

Carpenter, Gloria Mitzi – (1927 – 1958)
American dancer and minor film actress
Carpenter was born (May 27, 1927) in Los Angeles in California, and trained as a dancer. She appeared only two films 36 Hours to Kill (1936) and Mexicana (1945) where she appeared as the dancer. Gloria Carpenter died (Sept 11, 1958) aed only thirty-one.

Carpenter, Harleian    see   Harlow, Jean

Carpenter, Joyce – (1929 – 1973)
British dwarf
Joyce Carpenter was born (Dec 21, 1929) at Charford. She was born a rachitic (rickets) dwarf and never married, residing mainly in Hereford and Worcester. Miss Carpenter stood 29 inches (74 cm) tall and weighted 30 pounds (13, 60 kg). Joyce Carpenter died (Aug 7, 1973) aged forty-three.

Carpenter, Karen Anne – (1950 – 1983)
American vocalist and musician
Karen Carpenter formed an extremely popular duo with her brother Richard Carpenter. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and was raised mainly in Los Angeles, California. She learnt to play drums, and formed a jazz trio, with her brother Richard on the piano, and Wes Jacobs on bass, which won first prize at the Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands. With the help of bass player Joe Osborn and Herb Alpert, from A & M Records, Karen and her brother began to produce famous ballads and songs, with beautiful lyrics put together by John Bettis, such as, ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ (1970), ‘Close to You’ (1970), ‘Rainy Days and Sundays’ (1971), ‘For All We Know’ (1971) ‘Top of the World’(1972), ‘Solitaire’ (1975), ‘Only Yesterday’(1975), and, ‘Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.’ (1977).
Receiving popular acclaim whether appearing live on concert halls or on television, during the first five years of their career (1970 – 1975) their records exceeded thirty million in sales. Karen Carpenter died of a heart attack, aged only thirty-two, having sufferred from anorexia nervosa for some years. She was portrayed by actress Cynthia Gibb in the film based on her life entitled The Karen Carpenter Story (1989) which was produced by her brother Richard.

Carpenter, Margaret Sarah – (1793 – 1872)
British portrait painter and water colour artist
Born Margaret Geddes in Salisbury, she was the daughter of a Scottish captain. She studied art from Lord Radnor’s private collection at Longford Castle, and was awarded the gold medal by the Society of Arts. Margaret went to London (1814), where she exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy, being influenced by the style of Sir Thomas Lawrence. She was married (1817) to William Carpenter, the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. She exhibited over two hundred of her paintings during a five decade career, and with the death of her husband (1866), she was granted a pension by Queen Victoria. One of her best known works was a portrait of her own daughters entitled The Sisters. Other examples of her work are preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

Carpenter, Mary – (1807 – 1877)
British educator and reformer
Mary Carpenter was born (April 3, 1807) in Exeter, Devon, the dughter of a Unitarian clergyman, Lant Carpenter (1780 – 1840). She was sister to the noted biologist, William Carpenter. She was trained as a schoolteacher, and established a school for girls at Bristol, with her mother (1829). Carpenter founded a school for poor urchins in Bristol (1846), known popularly as ‘ragged’ schools. With the financial assistance of Annabella, Lady Byron, widow of the famous poet, Carpemter was able to establish a reformatory for girls, and later she built an industrial school, to teach working skills to poor students. She established the National Indian Association in colonial India and travelled to North America in order to study prison conditions first hand.
Carpenter wholeheartedly supported education for women, and she was summoned to Darmstadt, in Hesse, Germany, by Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria, so that she could establish and organise an international congress for women. It was her work and zeal which exposed necessary reforms to the contemporary laws which governed the running of schools for the poor.
Her work, Juvenile Deliquents, their Conditions and Treatment (1853), proved helpful to the successful passing of the Youthful Offenders Act (1854). Her other written works included The Last Days of Rammohun Roy (1866) and Six Months in India (1868). Mary Carpenter died (June 14, 1877) aged seventy.

Carpio de San Felix, Marcela de   see   San Felix, Marcela de

Carr, Emily – (1871 – 1945)
Canadian artist and author
Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia. She studied art and technique at home in San Francisco, California, and abroad in Paris and at the Royal Academy in London. Carr was best known for her representations of forest landscapes from her native British Columbian and of the west coast of American. Carr’s first work, Klee Wyck (1941), an anthology of short stories concerning the Native American Indian tribes of the west coast, won her the prestigious Governor-General’s award. Other works included, The Book of Small (1942), and, The House of All Sorts (1944), and her private journals and correspondence was edited and published posthumously as, Hundreds and Thousands (1966). Her work, The Heart of a Peacock and Pause: a Sketch Book (1953) was written after the author spent time in a sanitorium in England.

Carr, Emma Perry – (1880 – 1972)
American chemist and spectroscopist
Emma Carr was born (July 23, 1880) in Holmesville, Ohio, the daughter of a physician. Carr studied with the noted organic chemist Dorothy Hahn at Mt Holyoke College, using the application of ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, being the first in the USA to conduct this type of difficult research. She became the first recipient of the Garvan Medal (1937). Emma Carr died (Jan 7, 1972) aged ninety-one, at Evanston, Illinois.

Carr, Lady Frances     see    Howard, Lady Frances

Carr, Harriet Helen – (1899 – 1977)
American mystery writer for children and editor
Harriet Carr was born (Jan 4, 1899) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She studied at the University of Michigan and New York University. She was first employed as a reporter and then as a news editor with the Ypsilanti Daily Press, and then became a feature writer with the Detroit News (1935 – 1939). Carr became the editor of the Michigan Vocational Out-Look publication in Lansing (1940 – 1945). She retired in 1963.
Her works included Borghild of Brooklyn (1955) which deals with a Norwegian migrant in New York, for which she received an award from the Junior Literary Guild, Wheels for Conquest (1957) which dealt with pioneer life in Pennsylvania, and Young Viking of Brooklyn (1961). Her last work was Bold Beginning (1964). Carr wrote articles for various newspapers and educational magazines and was a member of the Women’s National Book Association. Harriet Carr remained unmarried and died (April, 1977) aged seventy-eight.

Carr, Isabella – (1669 – 1693)
English Stuart noblewoman
Isabella Carr was born (Jan 20, 1669) the daughter of Sir Robert Carr, baronet, of Sleaford, Lincoln, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Bennet. She was sister to Sir Edward Carr, baronet. Isabella was married (1688) at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London, to John Hervey (1665 – 1751) of Ickworth, Suffolk, as his first wife. This marriage produced an only son and heir Carr Hervey (1691 – 1723), later styled Lord Hervey (1714) when his father was created first Earl of Bristol by King George I. Carr Hervey served at court as Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales (George II) and died unmarried. Isabella died (March 7, 1693) aged twenty-four, from the effects of childbirth, and was interred at Ickworth. Details of her life were recorded in Lord Bristol’s Diary (1688 – 1742).

Carr, Mary – (1874 – 1973)
American stage and film actress
Born Mary Kennevan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she established her career as a noted character actress and became the wife of the actor and producer William Carr. Four of their children were actors and included the actor and director Thomas Carr (1907 – 1997). All four appeared with their mother in the silent classic Over the Hill to the Poorhouse (1920). Her silent movie credits included On the Banks of the Wabash (1923), Why Men Leave Home (1924), The Wizard of Oz (1925), Drusilla with a Million (1926) and Jesse James (1927). Mary Carr continued her career with sound films and was usually typecast as the frail, white-haired mother. Her credits included East Side of Heaven (1936), The Oregon Trail (1945) and Friendly Persuasion (1956).

Carr, Philippa    see    Plaidy, Jean

Carra de Vaux, Cesarine Des Roys, Baronne – (1763 – 1849)
French aristocrat and memoirist
Antoinette Francoise Cesarine Des Roys was the daughter of a property manager of Louis, Duc d’Orleans. Cesarine became the wife (1788) of the Baron Carra de Vaux, with whom she resided at the family estate in the Beaujolais and to whom she bore five children. With the rise of the Revolution the family retired to their country estates but the Baron was eventually forced to renounce his family’s feudal revenues after the family received threats from the local population.
The family survived the Revolution and Madame Carra de Vaux left a personal written account of her life from the time of her marriage until the enthronement of Napoleon I as emperor (1804) which was published posthumously as Cahiers de memoires inedits de la baronne Carra de Vaux, nee Cesarine Des Roys (1788 – 1804) in the Bulletin de la Societie des Sciences et Arts u Beaujolais (1910). Madame Carra de Vaux was the aunt of the famous novelist and statesman Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine (1790 – 1869).

Carrara, Gigliola da     see    Cecilia da Carrara

Carrard, Alice – (1897 – 2000)
Australian concert pianist and composer
Alice Carraud was born (April 10, 1897) in Hungary and studied music under Leo Weiner at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and was much influenced by the works of Bela Bartok. She was married to a Swiss engineer, Louis Carraud, to whom she bore a son. A talented concert pianist in Budapest andVienna, with the advent of WW II, she immigrated to Perth in Western Australia with her son (1941), though her husband spent the war in an internment camp in Malaya. She performed piano recitals for the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) and entertained the troops during the war. Her students included David Helfgott, and she received credits for the film Shine. She was created MBE (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1975), in recognition of her services to music. Alice Carruad died (March 3, 2000) aged one hundred and two, in Perth, Western Australia.

Carraud, Zulma – (1796 – 1889)
French literary figure and letter writer
Born Zulma Tourangin, she was a friend and correspondent of Honore de Balzac for over two decades (1829 – 1850). Collections of their letters were published posthumously in Paris (1935) and in London (1937).

Carreno, Teresa – (1853 – 1917)
Venezuelan pianist
Maria Teresa Gertrudis de Jesus Carreno Garcia de Sena y Toro was born (Dec 22, 1853) in Caracas, and received lessons from her father. She became a celebrated child prodigy, also reciving tuition from the noted American composer and pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829 – 1869) and from Georges Matthias in Paris. Carreno gave a public recital in New York at the age of eight years (1861), and also performed before President Abraham Lincoln at the White House (1863). She successfully toured America (1875), and then Europe and Germany (1889 – 1890), where she became a celebrated public performer. Carreno wrote many piano pieces including the popular waltz Mi Teresita, and a festival hymn for the centenary of Bolivar, Himno a Bolivar (1883), at the especial request of the Venezuelan government.  Other works included Himno a El Ilustre Americano (1886) for chorus and orchestra, and Serenata (1895), for string ochestra. Carreno was married four times, firstly to the violinist Emilie Sauret, secondly to the baritone, Giovanni Tagliapietra, thirdly to the pianist and composer, Eugen d’Albert, and lastly to Arturo Tagliapietra, the brother of her second husband. Teresa Carreno died (June 12, 1917) aged sixty-three, in New York.

Carreras i Pau, Concepcio – (1894 – 1961)
Spanish poet
Carreras i Pau was born at Olot in Girona, Aragon. She was awarded prized in her hometown and in Lleida for her poetic compositions. Her three published collections of verse were Elvira (1950), Tribut al paisatge i fonts d’Olot (Tribute to Olot’s Landscape and Fountains) (1953) and De l’amor i la desamour (Of Love and Lack of Love) (1954). Concepcio Carreras i Pau died in Olot.

Carr-Glyn, Neva Josephine Mary – (1908 – 1975)
Australian actress
Carr-Glyn was born (May 10, 1908) in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of a vaudevillian performer and a Scottish singer. She appeared on stage with her parents from an early age (1912) and was educated in various convents around the country. She studied ballet and dance in Sydney and then toured with the Band Box Revue (1923 – 1924). She then performed in such vaudeville shows as Robinson Crusoe (1925 – 1926), Aladdin (1927 – 1928) and then Clowns in Clover (1929) with Roy Rene.
Best remembered for her superb ability to flow between drama and comic roles, Carr-Glyn later appeared in the London operetta Nina Rosa (1931), which was followed by roles in such plays as Living Dangerously (1934), Accidentally Yours (1935) and Aren’t Men Beasts ? (1936). Most notable of her film appearances was in The Squeaker (1937) directed by Alexander Korda. Just prior to WW II Neva returned to Australia and worked at the Tivoli in Sydney, and for several years (1938 – 1941) with the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). She appeared with her husband the actor John Tate in such plays as Victoria Regina and in popular serials.
Husband and wife toured New Zealand with the J.C. Williamson Company (1944), and Neva later toured Australia with the John Alden Company in which she appeared in Shakespearean roles in The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Playwright Peter Kenna wrote the role of Oola in The Slaughter of St Teresa’s Day (1959) especially for Neva. During the latter part of her career she appeared at the Marian Street Theatre and with the Old Tote Theatre Company. She also worked in television making appearances in such popular programs as Skippy and Homicide. One of her last film roles was in Norman Lindsay’s Age of Consent (1967). Neva Carr-Glyn died (Aug 10, 1975) aged sixty-seven, in Mona Vale, Sydney.

Carrick-Fox, Ethel – (1872 – 1952)
Anglo-Australian artist and painter
Ethel Carrick was born at Uxbridge, and studied art at the Slade School in London. She was married (1905) in London to E.Phillips Fox. She produced works in oils and watercolours, and was particularly noted for her Impressionist paintings. Her work was exhibited at the Libre Esthetique in Brussels, Belgium (1909). With the death of her husband (1915) Ethel Carrick-Fox organized touring exhibitions of his work throughout Australia, in which her own works were also exhibited. She was the only British woman to sit on the jury of the Autumn Salon in Paris. Examples of her work are preserved at the Australian National Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Luxembourg Gallery in Paris.

Carrier, Constance Virginia – (1908 – 1991)
American poet and translator
Constance Carrier was a Latin scholar and author and published the work The Middle Voice (1955). She died aged eighty-three.

Carriera, Rosalba Giovanna – (1675 – 1757)
Italian painter and pastellist
Rosalba Carriera was born in Venice. Carriera was trained and established as a successful lacemaker before she managed to enhance her reputation by painting miniatures on snuff boxes. She was one of the first artists to paint on ivory rather than vellum, using transparent colours, and to decorate snuff boxes. Through the influence of Pierre Crozat she went to Paris, where she was elected to the French Academy of Painting (1720) and produced several commissions, including several portraits, from the child king, Louis XV and other leading figures of the day. Some time afterwards, Carriera removed to the Imperial court in Vienna, where she received the official patronage of the Emperor Charles VI (1711 – 1740), and was private teacher to the Empress Elisabeth Christina, the mother of Maria Theresa, and grandmother to Marie Antoinette. Carriera suffered from blindness during the last seven years of her life.

Carrillo, Isolina – (1907 – 1996)
Cuban vocalist and composer
Carrillo was born (Dec 9, 1907) in Havana, into a family of musicians and played the piano proficiently from early childhood. She received considerable musical instruction at home and joined her father’s band at the age of ten (1918) before going on to attend the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. She was best known for her popular contribution to contemporary Cuban musical culture and her songs included Fiesta de Besos and Dos Gardenias (1947) which was considered by many to be her best composition. Isolina Carrillo died (Feb 21, 1996) aged eighty-eight, in Havana.

Carrington, Cecilia Margaret Harbord, Lady    see   Lincolnshire, Marchioness of

Carrington, Dora de Houghton – (1893 – 1932)
British painter
Dora Carrington was born (March 29, 1893) in Hereford, the daughter of a railway engineer, and studied art at the Slade School in London (1910 – 1913) under Wilson Steer (1860 – 1942) and Henry Tonks. She was a friend to the painter Augustus John, and of Lady Ottoline Morrell and Virginia Woolf. Carrington was also known for her association with the noted biographer Lytton Strachey (1880 – 1932) and became closely involved with the Bloomsbury set. She then became Strachey’s housekeeper at Tidmarsh Mill, near Pangbourne.
Artistically she favoured the style of the Post-Impressionists, Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse, and her own style was influenced by that of Mark Gertler. Carrington later married (1921) Ralph Sherring Partridge, a friend of her brother’s, but moved with Strachey to reside in Sussex (1924). Thereafter her painting output declined, and when Strachey was diagnosed with cancer, she tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide. After Strachey’s death she committed suicide (March 11, 1932) at Hungerford by shooting herself. Apart from still-lifes and landscapes, she left portraits of Strachey and Gerald Brenan amongst others. Her letters and diaries were published by Noel Carrington (1970).

Carrington, Iona McClean, Lady – (1920 – 2009)
British political figure and horticulturalist
Iona McClean was the younger daughter of Sir Francis McClean. She was married (1942) to Peter Alexander Rupert Carrington (born 1919), the second Baron Carrington and became the Baroness Carrington (1942 – 2009). They had three children. Throughout her husband’s political career, especially during his term as Foreign Secretary (1979 – 1982) and Chancellor of the Order of the Garter (1984), Lady Carrington provided her unqualified support and advice.
Lady Carrington and her family resided at at the Manor House in Bledlow in Buckinghamshire, where she spent many decades re-designing and re-organizing the extensive gardens on this estate and was well known for her knowledge in horticulture and plant lore. Lady Carrington died aged eighty-nine.

Carroll, Mrs     see   Centlivre, Susannah

Carroll, Anna Ella – (1815 – 1894)
American political figure
Anna Carroll was born (Aug 29, 1815) in Somerset County, Maryland and remained unmarried. Carroll is credited with planning the strategic campaign used by General Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee during the Civil War (1862), and wrote pamphlets which supported the policies of Abraham Lincoln, which caused her to called a; “ great unrecognized member of Lincoln’s cabinet.” Anna Carroll died (Feb 18, 1894) aged seventy-eight, in Washington, D.C.

Carroll, Dorothy – (1897 – 1966)
Australian nurse and hospital matron
Winifred Carroll was born (Feb 1, 1897) at Broken Hill in New South Wales. She was raised at Alberton in Adelaide, South Australia, and was trained as a dressmaker before working as a milliner. She later trained as a nurse at Angaston (1926) and studied midwifery at the Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital at Rose Park, where she was then employed as a nurse educator in obsterics. Carruthers served as the matron of the Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital at Mount Barker (1938 – 1939) before being appointed matron at the Queen Victoria.
Matron Carroll served as a member of the Nurses’ Registration Board of South Australia (1951 – 1957) and was the national president of the Florence Nightingale Committee (1953). She twice served as president (1951 – 1952) and (1955 – 1959) of the South Australian branch of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation and was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) (1955) by Queen Elizabeth II. Carroll attended the International Congress of Nurses held in Rome (1957) and retired in 1959. Dorothy Carroll died (June 18, 1966) aged sixty-nine, at Glen Ewin, near Houghton.

Carroll, Ellen – (1828? – 1943)
Canadian supercentenarian
Mrs Ellen Carroll died ((Dec 8, 1943) at North River in Newfoundland, reputedly aged one hundred and fifteen years and fourteen days, though this claim was unable to be documented.

Carroll, Madeleine – (1906 – 1987)
Anglo-American stage and film actress
Born Marie Madeleine Bernadette O’Carroll in Lancashire, she attended Birmingham University and trained as a teacher. She made her fist film appearance in The Guns of Loos (1927) using the professional name of ‘Madeleine O’Carroll. She was best remembered for her appearances in such films as Young Woodley (1929), Madame Guillotine (1931), I Was a Spy (1933), The 39 Steps (1935), The General Died at Dawn (1936), On the Avenue (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), My Favourite Blonde (1942) and The Fan (1949).

Carroll, Nancy – (1904 – 1965)
American film and television actress
Born Ann La Hiff, after becoming an actress and adopting the name of ‘Nancy Carroll’ she appeared in early sound films such as Ladies Must Dress (1927), The Water Hole (1928) and Manhattan Cocktail (1928). She was best remembered for her roles in such films as The Shopworn Angel (1929), The Devil’s Holiday (1930) for which performance she received an Academy Award nomination, Laughter (1930), Scarlet Dawn (1932). Her later credits included Transatlantic Merry-go-round (1934), After the Dance (1935) and That Certain Age (1938).

Carroll, Vinnette – (1922 – 2002)
Black American actress and stage director
Vinnette Justine Carroll was born (March 11, 1922) in New York. She apent part of her childhood in Jamaica and later returned to the USA to study at the Long Island University and the New York University. She trained as a psychologist at Columbia University and worked in child guidance before turning to a career on the stage. She studied acting under Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler and made her stage debut at Falmouth. Carroll then toured with her own one woman stage show before turning her talents to directing.
Carroll joined the faculty of the School of the Performing Arts in New York as a teacher but continued with her stage career making her stage debut on Broadway (1957). She received an Obie Award for her role in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (1962) written by Errol John. She won an Emmy Award for her performance in Beyond The Blues (1964). Vinnette Carroll was best remembered for directing several notable musicals including Black Nativity (1961), The Prodigal Son (1965) and Don’ t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope (1972). She herself wrote the gospel-play Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1976) which dealt with the biblical gospel of St Matthew, and for she received an Antoinette Perry Award (Tony). She appeared in several films such as Up the Down Staircase (1967), and Alice’s Restaurant (1969). Vinnette Carroll was the first black woman to direct a stage show on Broadway in New York. Vinnette Carroll died (Nov 5, 2002) aged eighty, at Fort Lauderhill, Florida.

Carroll, Virginia – (1913 – 2009)
American film and television character actress
Virginia Broberg was born (Dec 2, 1913) in Los Angeles, California, and was employed as a department store model before appearing in her first film (1935). As Virginia Carroll she was best remembered for her appearances in various western films with famous western actors such as Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. Her credits in this field included Prairie Gunsmoke (1942). Carroll also worked in television and appeared in such popular programs as The Roy Rogers Show and Perry Mason. Carroll was married and widowed twice, firstly to actor Ralph Byrd (1900 – 1952) and secondly to a film projectionist. Virginia Carroll died (July 23, 2009) aged ninety-five, in Santa Barbara in California.

Carruthers, Agnes Lucy Mary – (1872 – 1961)
British journalist and writer
Agnes Carruthers was born (Aug 14, 1872). She was married and produced a son but decided upon a career in journalism. She was a member for over five decades (1900 – 1952) of the Council of the Institute of Journalists and became the only woman to be elected to the Council (1910) and served for several terms as vice-president. Mrs Carruthers then became the first woman to be elected as an executive member of the Council (1919 – 1942). She then became first woman to be appointed to the Council of the Newspaper Press Fund (1924 – 1938) and later served s chairman (1935 – 1936). Agnes Carruthers died (March 3, 1961) aged eighty-eight, at Peverall, near Plymouth in Devon.

Carruthers, Winifred Anderson – (1890 – 1966)
Australian welfare activist and YWCA administrator
Winifred Carruthers was born in Sydney, New South Wales (Jan 1, 1890), the daughter of a clergyman, and was educated at the Methodist Ladies’ College there. Winifred joined the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) at an early age (1907), and remained a staunch and loyal supporter and promoter of this public association for the rest of her life. She served as an educational trainer and an organizer for over fifty years. She served as national secretary during WW II, devoting much time to coordinating the work of the organization with servicewomen, as well as later important postwar relief work with refugees and displaced persons of all varieties. Carruthers remained unmarried. Winifred Carruthers died (June 12, 1966) aged seventy-six, in Melbourne, Victoria.

Carson, Ann – (c1777 – 1838)
American counterfeiter
Ann Carson was born the daughter of a naval officer named Baker. She was married (1801) to an adventurer named John Carson, who ultimately deserted her (1810). Presuming him to be dead she remarried to an army officer, Richard Smith. Four years later Carson reappeared (1820) demanding Smith leave, and restitution of his conjugak rights. Ann and Smith conspired together and Carson was shot dead by Smith. Smith was quickly arrested, and was condemned for murder. In an attempt to save her husband, Ann employed ruffians to kidnap the governor of Philadelphia, Simon Snyder, planing to exchange him for her husband. However, the plot was detected, and several conspirators killed and arrested. Ann was forced to flee and Smith was hanged.
Together with several other women and a physician named Loring, Ann Carson maintained herself as the head of an organized counterfeiting ring in Philadelphia. When she attempted to pass fake banknotes at Girard’s Bank in the city she was detected. The entire gang was caught and arrested. Ann Carson was tried and sent to prison (1823).  Ann Carson died in prison, having left unreliable and lurid memoirs.

Carson, Lettice Gay – (1900 – 1992)
American rail advocate
Lettice was born in Pike County, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois. She was married (1924) to Gerald Carson, an advertising executive and social historian. Mrs Carson served as the director (1927 – 1933) of the Home Institute of The New York Herald Tribune. She campaigned avidly to preserve the railway serviced in Pennsylvania. Lettice Carson died (March 18, 1992) aged ninety-one, in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Carson, Rachel Louise – (1907 – 1964)
American marine biologist, scientist and environmentalist
Rachel Carson was born (May 27, 1907) in Springdale, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Robert Warden Carson. She studied at the Pennsylvania College for Women and at the John Hopkins University. She joined the faculty at the University of Maryland as a lecturer (1931 – 1936), and was employed as a marine biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (1936 – 1949). Carson received the National Book Award (1952) for her work The Sea Around Us (1951) which was also made into a film (1954), but was particularly remembered for Silent Spring (1962) which revealed the harm caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides.
Carson received several prestigious awards for her work including the Schweitzer Medal from the Animal Welfare Institute (1962), the Conservationist of the Year Award from the National Wildlife Federation (1963), and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1980). Her other works included Under the Sea Wind (1941) and, The Edge of the Sea (1955), and articles on ornithology which were published in various magazines. Rachel Carson died (April 14, 1964) aged fifty-seven, in New York.

Carson, Ruth    see   Bugbee, Ruth Carson

Carstairs, Anne    see    Bigland, Eileen

Carstairs, Christian – (fl. 1736 – 1786)
Scottish Hanoverian poet
Christian was the daughter of James Bruce Carstairs of Kinross in Fife. She was said to have been employed as a governess but very little personal information concerning her life has survived. Most have been gleaned from her collection of verse entitled Original Poems. By A Lady (1786) which was published in Edinburgh, and which included poems composed over a twenty year period such as ‘On Loch Leven’ (1767) and ‘Nightingale’ (1786). A copy of the original manuscript made for the Antiquarian Society of Scotland was preserved in the National Library in Ediburgh. Carstairs was also the uthor of the comic play entitled The Hubble-Shue (c1780). Her identification with Mrs Grizel Carstairs who died in Edinburgh (Dec 20, 1794) cannot be positively concluded.

Carswell, Catherine Roxburgh – (1879 – 1946)
Scottish novelist and literary critic
Born Catherine Macfarlane in Glasgow, she was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. She studied art at the Park School in Glasgow, and then went abroad for further study at Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany. Carswell studied English at Glasgow University and she married (1917) as her second husband, the prominent journalist, Donald Carswell. She established her reputation as a critic whilst employed with the Glasgow Herald (1907 – 1915), but lost that position for publishing a critique of D.H. Lawrence’s banned novel The Rainbow. He encouraged Carswell to complete her own novel of contemporary Glasgow daily life in Open the Door (1920). Her biography of the famous poet The Life of Burns (1930) (Robert Burns – 1759 – 1796), was received badly by the critics, and produced two other biographies The Savage Pilgrim: A Narrative of D.H. Lawrence (1932) and The Tranquil Heart (1937), a life of the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 1375).

Carswell, Ianthe – (1917 – 2001)
British activist and campaigner
The daughter of the famous society beauty Ivy Elstob, Ianthe attended the Downe House School, and then went on to study politics and economics at Somerville College at Oxford. During WW II Ianthe was attached to the Ministry of Economic Warfare and was sent to India. She was married in Delhi to John Carswell, to whom she bore two daughters. Ianthe Carswell and her friend Sheila Jones established the National Committee for the Abolition of Nuclear Tests (1957) which developed into the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She canvassed successfully for the support of such public figures as Bertrand Russell and the composer Benjamin Britten. One of her last campaigns was held outside Downing Street protesting against the bombing of Kosovo. Ianthe Carswell died aged eighty-three.

Cartagena, Teresa de – (c1420 – 1470)
Spanish devotional author
Teresa de Cartagena was born in Burgos into a prominent Jewish family, which had converted to orthodox Catholicism (converso), the daughter of Don Pedro de Cartagena and his first wife Maria de Sorabia. Her paternal grandfather, Rabbi Selomo ha-Levi had presided over the foremost academy for rabbinical studies in Spain. Educated in a highly literate family background, Teresa attended the University of Salamanca, but, because she had been afflicted by deafness since childhood, she became a Franciscan nun, probably at the convent of Santa Clara at Burgos. Her first work, Arboleda de los enfermos (Grove of the Infirm) (c1450) was written about the time of her enclosure as a nun, and deals with the silence forced on her world by her deafness. Her second work, Admiracion operum Dey (Wonder at the Works of God) was written sometime before her death.

Cartandis – (fl. c360 – c388 AD)
Celtic queen
Cartandis was a member of a Welsh dynasty, and became the wife of the Scottish king, Eugenius I. Her husband was killed in battle agains the usurper emperor Magnus Maximus (c375 AD), and the queen, a Pelagian Christian, refused to leave his tomb before offerring suitable Christian rites. When she and her attendents were insulted and mishandled by some Pictish warriors, she successfully pleaded before the emperor for justice, and the city and revenues of Carrick were granted for her maintenance and that of her household.

Carter, Alice Draper – (1882 – 1970)
American society leader and war relief organizer
Alice Draper was born in New York, the daughter of a physician, and attended Barnard College She was married to Edward Clark Carter, secretary general of the Institute of Pacific relations (1933 – 1946), and provost of the New School for Social Research. During WW I Draper worked with the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) to provide for American troops in England and France. During the next war she was appointed as director of United China and War Relief organisation, and was a friend to Eleanor Roosevelt. After WW II she served as chairman of the New York State League of Women Voters and of the executive commission of the National Board of the YWCA. Widowed in 1954, she was elected Woman of the Year by the National Council of Women (1969). Alice Draper Carter died (April 30, 1970) aged eighty-seven, in New York.

Carter, Angela Olive – (1940 – 1992)
British novelist, essayist, journalist, dramatist and critic
Born Angela Stalker, at Eastbourne in East Sussex, she began her career as ajournalist with The Croydon Advertiser in South London. She was married (1960 – 1972) to Paul Carter, from whom she was later divorced, and whose name she kept. Carter was then employed as a reader at Bristol University in Gloucestershire. Carter trained as a teacher of creative writing, and worked abroad in Australia, Japan, and the USA for two years, which experiences resulted in her work, Nothing Sacred (1982). Her work is particularly noted for its psychological symbolism and humour, and she wrote poetry and stories for children, as well as such novels as, The Magic Toyshop (1967), The Passion of New Eve (1977), and, Wise Children (1991). Many of her stories and tales were collected in anthologies such as, Fireworks (1974), Black Venus (1985), and American Ghosts & Old World Wonders (1993), which was published posthumously. She produced a feminist viewpoint of the infamous French marquis, Alphonse Donatien de Sade (1740 – 1814) in, The Sadeian Women (1979). Together with the Irish film producer, Carter wrote the screenplay for the film The Company of Wolves (1984). Angela Carter died of cancer (Feb 16, 1992) aged fifty-one, in London.

Carter, Betty – (1929 – 1998)
Black American jazz vocalist
Born Lillie Mae Jones (May 16, 1929) in Flint, Michigan, she was raised in the city of Detroit, where she studied music at the Conservatorium. She performed early with Charlie Parker, and the popular bandleader Lionel Hampton (1948 – 1951), who gave her the nickname ‘Betty Bebop,’ from whence came her professional first name. Carter established herself as a popular solo performer and formed the Bet-Car production company, with which she was able to successfully maintain her own continued career as a talented jazz artist, and enabled her to provided assistance to rising young musicians. Famous for her brilliant vocal improvisations, she received enormous public acclaim for her performances at the Newport Jazz Festivals at Carnegie Hall in (1977) and (1978). She also recorded such wonderful albums as, The Audience with Betty Carter (1979) and Time Waits (1993), produced in association with the Verve label.  Carter led the Jazz Ahead program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1993), which featured the work of up and coming musicians. Betty Carter died (Sept 26, 1998) aged sixty-nine, in Brooklyn, New York.

Carter, Elizabeth – (1717 – 1806)
British scholar, translator and literary salon hostess
Elizabeth Carter was born in Deal, Kent, daughter of a clergyman. Her father was well edcuated in the Greek and Latin classics, as well as being fluent in Hebrew, and Elizabeth was taught these languages by her father. Carter contributed articles to several prominent periodicals such as The Gentleman’s Magazine, and published two collections of verse, Poems upon Particular Occasions (1738) and Poems on Several Occasions (1762). However, it was for her coterie of lady friends with a literary bent, for whom the name ‘bluestocking’ was coined, and for her linguistic talents and her scholarly translation of the work of the famous Greek philosopher Epictetus (1758) that her permanent fame endures. She corresponded with the noted antiquarian, Sir Horace Walpole, and was a friend to Sir Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson, amongst other contemporary figures. Elizabeth Carter died in Deal.

Carter, Ernestine Marie – (1906 – 1983)
British journalist and fashion editor
Carter was born in Washington, DC, USA, and attended Wellesley College. She became a curator at the New York Museum of Modern Art and during WW II she was employed by the British Ministry of Information. In England she became the fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar and then joined the staff of the Observer newspaper. Ernestine Carter then became the women’s editor of the London Times (1955) and then the associate editor of the Sunday Times. Carter was an avid supporter of famous British designers such as Jean Muir, Mary Quant and John Bates. She published several works including The Changing World of Fashion and Magic Names of Fashion. Ernestine Carter died (Aug 1, 1983).

Carter, Eunice Hunton – (1899 – 1970)
Black American lawyer and civic leader
Eunice Carter was born (July 16, 1899) in Atlanta, Georgia, but from 1906 she was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Smith College and then Fordham University where she trained as a lawyer (1934). Following the Harlem riots (1935) Cater was appointed by the mayor of New York, as secretary of the Committee on Conditions in Harlem (1936). She was credited for organizing successful evidence against Lucky Luciano, and was appointed as Deputy Assistant District for New York County (1935 – 1945).
When her tenure in this office was over, Carter returned to private practice until 1952. From 1947 Mrs Carter served as a consultant to the Economic and Social Council of the United States and for the International Council of Women, and was the first observer for the National Council for Negro Women. She later served as vice president of the National Council of Women of the United States and was a strong supporter of the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in New York.  Carter later became a member (1962) of the United States National Committee for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and was a member of the American Association of University Women. Eunice Hunton Carter retired in 1952 and died (Jan 25, 1970) aged seventy, in New York.

Carter, Jane – (1928 – 1995)
British civil servant and energy adviser
Dorothy Ethel Fleming Starkey was born (Aug 29, 1928) at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She attended secondary school in Swansea and was married (1952) to Nick Carter to whom she bore two children. Jane Carter then joined the civil service and served as minister of Technolofy (1969 – 1970) and was then the assistant secretary to the Department of Enrergy (1974 – 1982). She was the president of the international Association of Energy Economists (1986) and was a visiting professor at the Institut Economique et Juridique de l’Energie at Grenoble in France (1987 – 1988). Carter was a partner in the firm of International Energy Efficient Consultants. Jane Carter died (May 14, 1995) aged sixty-six.

Carter, June   see    Cash, June Carter

Carter, Lillian Gordy – (1898 – 1983)
American author and presidential figure
Bessie Lillian Gordy was born (Aug 15, 1898) in Richmond, Georgia. She married James Earl Carter (1894 – 1953) of Plains, Georgia, to whom she bore four children including Jimmy Carter (born 1924), the thirty-ninth President of the USA (1977 – 1981). She was involved for many years with the family peanut growing business and had worked as the manager of a retirement home. Mrs Carter had trained as a nurse and she worked with the US Peace Corps as a volunteer worker in India (1966 – 1968). She became the first woman to be awarded the Covenant of Peace Award from the Synagogue Council of America (1977).
Unconventional and outspoken ‘Miss Lillian’ as she was generally known championed the causes of civil rights for black people and the feminist movement. Her published works included Miss Lillian and Friends: The Plains, Georgia, Family Philosophy and Recipe Book (1977) and Away From Home: Letters to My Family (1977). Mrs Lillian Carter died (Oct 30, 1983) aged eighty-five, at Americus in Georgia.

Carter, Maybelle Addington – (1909 – 1978)
American vocalist and lyricist
Maybelle Addington was born in Nickeslville, Virginia. After her marriage to musician, Ezra Carter, she performed publicly with her husband’s family, and earned the popular sobriquet of ‘Mother Maybelle’ when this group finally disbanded (1943), carter continued to perform with her own daughters. Calling themselves The Carter Sisters, they featured on The Grand Ole Opry, and performed songs written by Maybelle, such as ‘A Jilted Love,’ Keep on the Sunny Side,’ and ‘I’ve Got a Home in Glory.’ She and her family were collectively elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame (1970), and she was the mother of June Carter, wife of country vocalist, Johnny Cash.

Carter, Truda     see    Adams, Truda

Carter, Lady Violet Bonham   see    Asquith of Yarnbury, Lady

Carteret, Frances Worsley, Lady – (1694 – 1743)
British Hanoverian beauty and musician
Frances Worsley was born (March 6, 1694) the daughter of Sir Robert Worsley (1669 – 1747), fourth baronet, and his wife the Hon. (Honourable) Frances Thynne, the daughter of Thomas Thynne (1640 – 1714), the first Viscount Weymouth. Considered a great beauty she was married (1710) at Longleat, in Wiltshire, to Lord John Carteret (1690 – 1763) who succeeded as the second Earl of Granville only after her death. Frances brought a dowry of twelve thousand pounds. She accompanied her husband to Sweden (1719 – 1720) when he was appointed ambassador to the court at Stockholm. Her beauty attracted much attention at the court of Queen Ulrika Eleanora.
Lady Frances was mentioned with admiration by her contemporaries because she was possessed of agreeable manners and a kindly disposition, and was particularly talented musically. Lady Carteret died suddenly (June 20, 1743) whilst playing the harp, in Hanover, Germany, aged forty-nine. Due to her husband’s engagement with the army on campaign at Dettingen, Lady Carteret was not buried until six months later. Her remains were sent to England where she was interred within Westminster Abbey in London (Dec 23). Her children were,

1) Lady Georgina Caroline Carteret (1711 – 1780). She was married firstly to Hon. John spencer (1708 – 1746) leaving issue, and secondly she became the second wife of William Caowper
(1709 – 1764) the second Earl Cowper.

2) Lady Louisa Carteret (1712 – 1736). She became the wife of Thomas Thynne (1710 – 1751), second Viscount Weymouth (1714 – 1751).

3) Lady Grace Carteret (1713 – 1755). She became the wife of Lionel Tollemache (1708 – 1770), fourth Earl of Dysart.

4) Lady Frances Carteret (c1717 – 1788). She became the wife of John Hay (1695 – 1762), fourth Marquess of Tweeddale.

5) Lord Robert Carteret (1721 – 1776). He succeeded his father as the third Earl of Granville (1763 – 1776) and was married but died without issue.

Carteret, Margeurite de – (1626 – 1713)
English Stuart supporter
Margeurite de Carteret was supposedly the early mistress of King Charles II (1660 – 1685) and was the mother of his illegitimate son James de La Cloche (1644 – 1669) who was once considered to be a candidate for mysterious prisoner known as ‘’the Man in the Iron Mask.’

Carthy, Margaret – (1911 – 1992)
American nun, educator and college administrator
Carthy was born in Manhattan, New York and attended the College of New Rochelle. She decided upon a religious vocation and became an Ursuline nun (1939). She then returned to her old alma mater New Rochelle as a teacher. She served the college as assistant registrar (1941) and was later appointed to serve as dean (1950 – 1957) and then president of the college (1957 – 1961). After this she travelled to France where studied theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Carthy worked for several years (1962 – 1966) as the editor of The New Catholic Encyclopedia. She was the assistant director of the general education program at the University of Maryland after which she returned to New Rochelle where she served as dean (1975 – 1979) until her retirement. Sister Margaret published various works on American church history such as Catholicism in English-Speaking Lands (1964) and A Cathedral of Suitable Magnificence (1984) which dealt with St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Sister Margaret Carthy died (June 21, 1992) aged eighty, in New Rochelle.

Cartimandua – (c15 – after 70 AD)
Celtic client queen, ruler of the Brigantes in Yorkshire
With the Roman conquest under Claudius I (43 AD), the queen made a treaty with Rome. However, because elements amongst her tribe were determinedly anti-Roman, Cartimandua required Roman resources to keep her on her throne, and maintain her in power. Cartimandua managed to protect the northern borders of Britain for the Romans, and even survived a palace coup organized by her husband and co-ruler, Venutius. The queen then divorced Venutius, in favour of one of his adherents, Vellocatus, and Venutius rebelled and defeated her. It was only Roman intervention which prevented her from being captured, and she remained, until her death, under Roman protection.

Cartland, Dame Barbara – (1901 – 2000)
British novelist
Born Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland (July 9, 1901), at Edgbaston, near Birmingham, in Lancashire, she was the daughter of Major Bertram Cartland of the Worcestershire regiment. She was married firstly (1927 – 1933) to to Alexander George McCorquodale, of Cressage, Salop, from whom she was divorced, and secondly (1936 – 1963) to Hugh McCorquodale, who predeceased her. She left children by both marriages, and became the stepgrandmother to Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 – 1997) after her daughter Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, married Diana’s father, John, seventh Earl Spencer, as his second wife.
Cartland’s first novel was Jigsaw (1923), and since then she produced well over seven hundred volumes, such as Love in the Clouds (1978), Love Wins (1981), The Storms of Love (1983), Forced into Marriage (1985), The Passionate Princess (1987), TheTaming of a Tigress (1988), and A Game of Love (1988), many of which have been translated into over thirty different languages. She became the most popular romantic novelist in Britain, and most of her novels were written in the Regency style genre. Despite the theme of love which ran through all her novels, her heroines remained chaste and honourable, and always married the hero in the end. Barbara Cartland also wrote biographies of famous historical figures such as Diane de Poitiers, Elisabeth of Austria, Carol II of Romania, Charles II of England, and the French Empress Josephine. She also wrote books on health and beauty such as Vitamins for Vitality and The Magic of Honey Cookbook, and produced several volumes of autobiography such as The Isthmus Years (1943), I Search for Rainbows (1967), and We Danced All Night, 1919 – 1929 (1971).
Cartland was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1991), in recognition of her contributions to popular fiction. Dame Barbara Cartland died (May 21, 2000) aged ninety-eight, at her home near Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

Cartwright, Elizabeth Constance Mary Bertie, Lady (Betty) – (1895 – 1987)
British ATS commandant
Lady Elizabeth Bertie was born (March 12, 1895) the younger daughter of Montagu Arthur Bertie (1836 – 1928), seventh Earl of Abingdon and his second wife Gwendoline Mary Dormer, the daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir James Charlemagne Dormer, and was raised at Heythrop in Oxfordshire. Lady Betty became a superb horsewoman and breeder of hunting dogs and was married firstly (1914) to Major Sigismund William Joseph Trafford and became Lady Trafford (1914 – 1953).
With his death she remarried to Colonel Henry Antrobus Cartwright who soon died (1957). She bore her first husband four children. During WW II Lady Trafford volunteered her services for the war effort and was appointed as a senior commandant with the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) (1938 – 1944). In recognition of this work she was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by King George VI (1938). Her pseronal recollections were used ay author Anita Leslie in her study Edwardians in Love (1972).

Cartwright, Julia – (1851 – 1924)
British writer and biographer
Julia Cartwright was born in Edgecote, Northamptonshire, the daughter of Aubrey Cartwright and the maternal granddaughter of Lord Cottesloe. She was educated privately by a governess, and was married (1880) to a clergyman, Henry Ady, the rector of Ockham. Her works included, The Life and Work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1894), Raphael in Rome (1895), The Life and Work of G.F. Watts (1896), Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan (1899), Sandro Botticelli (1904), Baldassare Castiglione, The Perfect Courtier : His Life and Letters, 1478 – 1529 (1908), Isabella d’Este, a Study of the Renaissance (1908), published in two volumes, Christina of Denmark (1913), and, The Journals of Lady Knightley of Fawsley (1915). Julia Cartwright died (April 28, 1924) aged seventy-two, at Oxford.

Carus-Wilson, Eleanor Mary – (1897 – 1977)
British economic historian
Eleanor Carus-Wilson was born in Montreal, Canada, the daughter of an academic, and was educated at St Paul’s Girls’ School and Westfield College in London, where she trained as a teacher.
Carus-Wilson was later employed as a lecturer at Westfield, and spent much time researching medieval economics, being mentored in her studies by the historian Eileen Power. During WW II she appointed to head a branch of the Ministry of Food (1940 – 1945), and later became a lecturer at the London School of Economics. A reader in economic history at the University of London, she was made a professor (1953 – 1965) prior to her retirement. Her written works included the collected studies entitled, Medieval Merchant Adventurers (1954), England’s Export Trade 1275 – 1547 (1963), and, Essays in Economic History (1954), which was published in three volumes. Together with Olive Coleman she produced, The Expansion of Exeter at the Close of the Middle Ages (1963).

Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa – (1568 – 1614) 
Spanish religious founder
With the execution of the English Jesuit Henry Walpole (1596) Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza became determined to further the Jesuit faith in England. She founded a college in Belgium for the traing of English Jesuit priests, and settled there herself (1605) under the protection of the Spanish ambassador. Whilst resident in England, Luisa had given assistance to the Gunpowder Plot prisoners, which attracted the attention of the authorities. She was arrested (1608) but later released due to diplomatic intervention.

Carvajal y Saavedra, Mariana de – (c1620 – 1680)
Spanish writer
Mariana was born in Jaen and was raised in Granada. She made a suitably aristocratic marriage (1635) and bore her husband nine children. His death (1656) left Mariana in a dire financial situation and she was granted a pension by King Philip IV. Very little else is known with certainty concerning her personal life. She was the author of the novella Navidades de Madrid, y noches entretenidas, en ocho novellas (Christmas in Madrid, or Entertaining Nights, in eight tales) (1663). She is recorded as having written at least a dozen plays for the stage but none of these have survived.

Carvalho, Dinora de – (1904 – 1980)
Brazilian pianist and composer
Dinora Carvalho was born (June 1, 1904) at Uberala, Minas Gerais, and studied piano composition under Lamberto Baldi at the Municipal Conservatory of Sao Paulo before traveling to Paris fir further instruction under Isidor Philipp. She was the founder and director of the Orquesta Femenina, the first all female orchestra in South America, and was the first woman to be elected a member of the Academia Brasileira de Musica. Apart from piano concertos her works included, Fantasia for the piano and orchestra (1936), Tre Dansas Brasileiras for the string orchestra (1940), and Serenata da Saudade (1933) for the orchestra. Dinora de Carvalho died (Feb 28, 1980) aged seventy-five, in Sao Paulo.

Carvalho, Marie   see   Miolan-Carvalho, Marie

Carwinden, Doreen Mary – (1922 – 2003)
British composer
Dorothy Carwinden was born (Nov 15, 1922) in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, the daughter of a music teacher, and studied the piano and violin from early childhood. She entered the Royal Academy at eighteen (1941) but had begun composing prior to this. Shhe was taught composition by William Alwyn whom she later married (1961). Carwinden’s works included the overture One Damn Thing after Another (1945), a concerto for piano and strings (1948), the overture, Bishop Rock (1952), and a Suffolk suite (1964). She also edited her husband second pianoconcerto for public performance. She produced scores for well over two dozen films including, Harvest from the Wilderness (1948), Mantrap (1952), East Anglian Holiday (1954), and made the official film of the queen’s coronation, Elizabeth is Queen. With her husband’s death (1985) Carwinden founded the William Alwyn Archive and the William Alwyn Foundation to promote his music and research. Dorothy Carwinden died (Jan 5, 2003) aged eighty, near Norwich in Norfolk.

Cary, Alice – (1820 – 1871)
American poet
The elder sister to poet Phoebe Cary, she was born (April 26, 1820) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is best remembered for such popular poems as, ‘Three Bugs,’ ‘Nobility,’ and, ‘Work.’ Collections of her published verse included the joint work, Poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary (1849), whilst her own works included Lyra, and Other Poems (1852), Ballads, Lyrics, and Hymns (1866) and, Snow-Berries (1867). She remained unmarried. Alice Cary died (Feb 12, 1871) aged fifty.

Cary, Elizabeth – (1585 – 1639)
English dramatist
Elizabeth Tanfield was born at Burford Priory, Oxford, the daughter of Sir Lawrence Tanfield, lord chief baron of the exchequer. Self-educated she had a brilliant aptitude for languages, becoming fluent in Spanish, French, italin, Latin, Hebrew and Transylvanian. She also wrote translations from Latin and French. She was married (1602) to Sir Henry Cary, later (1620) first Viscount Falkland, to whom she bore ten children, including the famous Royalist hero, Lucius Cary, second Viscount Falkland (1610 – 1643).
Cary was the author of the play, The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry (1613), the first English play known to have been written by a woman, and which was produced in rhyming quatrains. She accompanied her husband to Ireland (1622 – 1625) when he was appointed as Lord Deputy by James I. In order to take up this post, which put her husband to some considerable personal expense, Elizabeth turned over to him her own jointure, and was disinherited by her father as a result. However, when she converted to Roman Catholicism (1625) her husband abandoned her, taking their children with him. She was assisted financially by Queen Henrietta Maria, and eventually Charles I forced Lord Falkland to make suitable provision for her. Six of her children were sent to be educated in France at her instigation, and were there raised as Catholics. Elizabeth Cary also wrote a biography of Edward II, which was published long after her death and wrongly ascribed to her husband (1680). Lady Falkland wrote biographies of several female saints, such as Mary Magdalen, St Agnes the Martyr and St Isabella of Portugal. The collected edition of the works of John Marsten (1633) was dedicated to her. Lady Falkland died (Oct, 1639) aged fifty-four.

Cary, Margaret Graves – (1719 – 1762)
American colonial diarist
Her private journal formed the basis of the work, Notes on the Tuckerman Family of Massachusetts, and Some Allied Families (1914) by Bayard Tuckerman, which was published in Boston. Other extracts from her letters were printed in the, Cary Letters (1891), which was edited and compiled by Caroline Gardiner Curtis.

Cary, Mary – (c1620 – after 1653)
English prophetess and pamphleteer
Her ideas were formed by her own study of the prophetic books of the Bible, which she began to study in earnest from the age of fifteen. She married a man named Rande sometime after 1651.
Cary wrote the theological tract entitled The Glorious Excellencie of the Spirit of Adoption (1645), but was better remembered for the books and pamphlets she wrote during the 1650’s concerning the Fifth Monarchist millenarian sect, led by preachers such as Christopher Feake and Henry Jessey, who believed that the reign of Jesus Christ on earth would take place after his return to earth in 1701. She also predicted that the conversion of the Jews to Christianity would take place in 1656. Her work, The Little Horn’s Doom and Downfall (1654) (the little horn in question being Charles I) was published with commendatory notes by the famous military preacher Hugh Peters.

Cary, Phoebe – (1824 – 1871)
American poet
The younger sister of Alice Cary, Phoebe was born (Sept 4, 1824) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was best remembered for composing such popular poems as, ‘The Lovers,’ ‘Kate Ketchem,’ ‘True Love,’ and, ‘Dreams and Realities.’ She published a joint collection of verse with her sister (1849), whilst her own published collections included, Poems and Parodies (1854), and, Poems of Faith, Hope and Love (1868). She remained unmarried. Phoebe Cary died (July 31, 1871) aged forty-six, six months after her sister.

Cary, Zenja Saft – (1932 – 1983)
American culinary stylist and magazine editor
Cary attended Cornell and Columbia universities, and began her career as the assistant food editor for Parents’ Magazine (1954) and food editor of the My Baby magazine. She directed Cary Kitchens which prepared food for advertising on television and in magazines. She did work for several films such as The Exorcist (1973), Annie Hall (1977) and Trading Places (1983)
Zenja Cary died (June 19, 1983) in New York.

Casagemas, Luisa – (1863 – after 1894)
Spanish composer and violinist
Luisa Casagemas y Coll studied composition under Francisco Gavanch and the violin under Agustin Torello. Her orchestral piece Crepusculo was first performed by the Orquestra Catalana de Conciertos (1893), whilst her opera Schiava e regina (1879 – 1881) was awarded a prize from the Wolrd Columbian Expostion in Chicago, USA (1892). This opera was performed before the Spanish royal family in Madrid (1894) and she was introduced to musical and literary society by the novelist Emilia Pardo de Bazan, at whose salon she sang her own compositions. Apart from sacred and instrumental pieces Luisa Casegemas also composed the four act opera I briganti; Montserrat (op. 227).

Casalis, Jeanne de – (1897 – 1966)
British stage and radio actress, commedienne and dramatist
Jeanne de Casalis was born (May 22, 1897) in Basutoland in South Africa, the daughter of a physician, and was trained as a pianist, before receiving acting instruction from Madame Thenard in Paris. She also worked in radio broadcasting, and was best known for her creation (1931) of the ditzy character ‘Mrs Feather’ in popular radio monologues. She wrote, Mrs Feather’s Diary (1936). Casalis was married firstly (1929) to the actor Colin Clive (1898 – 1937), who died of an alcohol related illness, and secondly to an airforce officer. She appeared in the silent film Settled Out of Court (1925), and then made appearances in various sound films such as, The Arcadians (1929), Nell Gwyn (1934), Charley’s Big Hearted Aunt (1941), Medal for the General (1944), and, Woman Hater (1948). She published her autobiography entitled, Things I Don’t Remember (1953). Jeanne de Casalis died (Aug 16, 1966) aged sixty-nine, in Paddington, London.

Casals-Suggia, Madame   see   Suggia, Guilhermina

Casa Maury, Marquesa de     see    Dudley Ward, Freda   or   Gellibrand, Paula

Casanova de Lutoslawski, Sonya – (1862 – 1958)
Spanish novelist and essayist
Sofia Perez Casanova was born in Almerias in La Corunna, Galicia. After her marriage with a Polish nobleman she resided abroad for most of her life, publishing articles in polish newspapers and magazines and becoming a supporter of the feminist movement. Her collections of verse included Poesias (1885), Fugaces (Fleetings) (1898) and El cancionero de la dicha (Dongbook of Happiness) (1911). Her novels included El doctor Wolski.Paginas de Polonia y Rusia (dr Wolski.Pages from Poland and Russia) (c1905), Lo eterno (The Eternal) (1907), Princesa rusca (The Russian Princess) (1922) and, Las catacumbas de Rusia roja (Red Russian Catacombs) (1933) and she was elected a member of the Real Academia Gallega and was awarded the Cross of Alfonso XII. She published the collections of tales De Rusia.Amores y confidencias (From Russia.Love and Confidences) (1927) and the travel account Viajes y aventuras de una muneca Espanola en Rusia (Travels and Adventures of a Spanish Doll in Russia) (1920).

Casares, Maria Victoria – (1922 – 1996)
Spanish-French stage and film actress
The leading tragic actress in France for several decades from the mid-twentieth century, Maria Casares was born (Nov 21, 1922) at Corunna in Galicia, Castile, the daughter of Santiago Casares Quiroga, a Republican government minister. Maria was intitially raised in Galicia, until her family was exiled from Spain during the Civil War. She settled in Paris, and attended the Paris Conservatoire, where she studied under the classical actress Beatrice Dussane. Her stage career began there with her appearance in, Deirdre of the Sorrows (1942), written by the Irish dramatist, John Millington Synge (1871 – 1909). Casares’s work became increasingly indentified with the literary genre engendered by the famous French novelists, Jean Paul Sartre (1905 – 1980) and Albert Camus (1913 – 1960), though she achieved notable success at the Comedie Francoise (1952 – 1954) in the title role of Racine’s Phedre. Film credits included appearances in, Les Enfants du Paradis, Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne (1944), and, La Chartreuse de Parme (1947). She then joined the company of the Theatre National Populaire (1955). She produced a volume of memoirs entitled Residente privilegiee (1987). Maria Casares died (Nov 22, 1996) aged seventy-four, in France.

Casati, Luisa Amman, Marchesa – (1881 – 1957)
Italian society figure
Luisa Amman was born in Milan, Lombardy, the younger daughter of Conte Alberto Amman and his Austrian wife, Lucia Bressi. She was married (1900) to the Marchese Camillo Casati Stampa di Soncino (1877 – 1946). The Marchesa was a notorious celebrity and femme fatale, her famous eccentricities dominated and delighted European society for nearly three decades. She captivated artists and literary figures such as, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Augustus John, Erle, Jean Cocteau, Cecil Beaton, and Jack Kerouac. The character of Isabella Inghirami from d’Annunzio’s, Forse che si forse che no (1910), was said to have been based upon the marchesa, as was the character of La Casinelle who appeared in two novels by Michel Georges-Michel, Dans la fete de venise (1922), and, Nouvelle Riviera (1924). Casati collected a menagerie of exotic animals, and fashion designers vied for her patronage. Later, when she lost her fabulous wealth, the marchesa retired to England, spending her last years in London. She was portrayed on the stage in, La Contessa (1965), by Vivien Leigh, and in the film, A Matter of Time (1976), by Ingrid Bergman. The Marchesa Casati died (June 1, 1957) aged seventy-six, in London.

Casati, Prudentia – (1414 – 1492)
Italian nun
Prudentia Casati took the veil at the abbey of St Martina in Milan, Lombardy. She was later relocated to the abbey of Como (1454) over which she presided as abbess until her death aged seventy-seven (May 6, 1492), nearly four decades later. She enjoyed a reputation for great holiness and religious sanctity and was venerated as a saint.

Casdoa – (c235 – c270 AD)
Persian Christian martyr
Cadoa was the wife of the Persian prince Dada (Didas), a kinsman of King Shapur I. Casdoa and her husband were converted to Christianity, and because of this, they and their son Gabdelas, were deprived of their royal rank and property and finally beheaded after a long period of imprisonment. Casdoa was revered as a saint and her feast (Sept 29) was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Case, Janet Elizabeth – (1862 – 1937)
British teacher
Janet Case was educated at the Heath Brow School, in Hampstead, London, which was run by her parents. Janet attended Newnham College, Cambridge (1881 – 1885), specializing in the classics. Case became the first woman to appear in the university’s production of the classic Greek drama, Eumenides, written by Aeschylus, in which Janet took the role of the goddess Athena. As teacher of Greek, one of her private pupils was author Virginia Woolf, and she published an edition (1905) of, Prometheus Unbound by Aeschylus. Retiring from teaching (1920), Janet moved to reside with her sister in the New Forest, at Epping. From 1925 – 1927 she wrote the, Country Diary for the Manchester Guardian newspaper.

Caseley-Hayford, Adelaide – (1868 – 1960)
Sierra Leonean feminist, educator and memoirist
Adelaide Smith was born (June 27, 1868) and became the wife of the politician and noted author Joseph Caseley-Hayford, and was the mother of the poet Gladys Caseley-Hayford. Her verses and memoirs were published posthumously with those of her daughter in the volume entitled Mother and Daughter: Memoirs and Poems (1983). Adelaide Caseley-Hayford died (Jan 16, 1960) aged ninety-one.

Caseley-Hayford, Gladys May – (1904 – 1950)
Sierra Leonean educator, poet, and memoirist
Gladys Caseley-Hayford was born (May 11, 1904) at Axim, Ghana (formerly Gold Coast), the daughter of Joseph Ephraim Caseley-Hayford, a noted politician and author, and his wife, the author Adelaide Smith Caseley-Hayford. She was educated in Sierra Leone and also travelled to Wales in Britain to complete her studies. During the 1920’s she became a dancer with a jazz band in Berlin, Germany, but with the rise of the Third Reich she returned to Freetown in Sierra Leone, where she became a vocational teacher at a school for girls. She wrote poetry using the pseudonym ‘Aquah Laluah,’ and was the author of the collection of verse Take Um So (Take It Like That) (1948). The verses and reminiscences by both Gladys and her mother Adelaide were later edited and put together in the posthumous work, Mother and Daughter: Memoirs and Poems (1983). Gladys Caseley-Hayford died (Oct, 1950) of black water fever, aged forty-six, in Freetown.

Casella, Felicita – (c1820 – after 1865)
French-Italian composer and vocalist
Felicita Casella was born at Bourges in France, and was sister to the pianist, Louis Lacombe (1818 – 1884) and was married to the Italian cellist and composer Cesare Casella. Felicita Casella accompanied her husband to Oporto in Portugal, where her opera Haydee was performed at the Teatro Dona Maria in Lisbon (1853). The libretto was composed by Luiz Felipe Leite and she herself performed the principal role. Her second opera, Cristoforo Colombo, the libretto composed by Felice Romani, was performed in Nice in France (1865). She also composed two romances for piano Marcia funebre and Ave verum. Details of her later life remain unrecorded.

Caselotti, Adriana – (1916 – 1997)
American vocalist and writer
Adriana Caselotti was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of a vocal trainer, and was educated by Catholic nuns. She is best remembered as the voice of Snow White in the Walt Disney production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), when she sang the famous song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come.’ Caselotti made appearances in two other films, The Bride Wore Red (1937) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) with Judy Garland. After this she pursued a career in opera, after which she was also involved with real estate. She wrote the vocal training book entitled Do You Like to Sing? Adriana Caselotti died (Jan 19, 1997) aged eighty, in Los Angeles.

Casey, Maie Sumner Ryan, Lady – (1892 – 1983)
Australain Vicereine of India, aviatrix, and painter
Born Ethel Marion Sumner in Melbourne, Victoria (March 13, 1892), she was educated privately both in Melbourne, and later in England. She was married (1926) to the noted politician and diplomat,  Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey (1890 – 1976), later created a life peer as Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria (1960). Mrs Casey became noted for her association for, and support of, the arts in Melbourne society, particularly the painter and teacher, George Bell (1878 – 1966) and the painter and writer Joan Lindsay, author of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967), with whom she shared a studio at the National Gallery School.
With her husband she shared a passion for aviation, which she able to indulge with some consideration prior to WW II. She accompanied her husband to Calcutta in India when he was appointed as governor of Bengal (1944 – 1946), and upon their return to Australia, she publicly supported him in his political life and activities in Canberra, ACT (Australian Capital Territory).  Lady Casey was the author of a biography of Dame Nellie Melba, several collections of verse, and three autobiographical volumes, An Australian Story 1837 – 1907 (1962), Tides and Eddies (1966), and, Rare Encounters (1980). Lady Casey died (Jan 20, 1983) aged ninety, in Melbourne.

Casey, Margaret – (1956 – 1985)
American handicapped activist
Casey was only 3ft 6 inches tall and weighed only forty pounds, and was believed to have been the oldest survivor of Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, a congenital disorder that stunted the growth and caused premature aging. Margaret Casey died aged twenty-nine.

Casey, Rosemary – (1905 – 1976)
American dramatist
Rsoemary Caseywas educated at Barnard College and Columbia University. During WW II Casey joined the war effort and assisted with the organization of the Pittsburgh Nurse’s Aide Corps.
Casey is best remembered as the author of the famous plays, The Velvet Glove (1949), which was given the Christopher Award by the Catholic missionary organization, and Late Love (1953), which was produced on Broadway with Arlene Francis, John Loder, and Lucile Watson in the lead roles. Other plays included, Love Is Not Important, Mary Goes to Sea and, The Saint’s Husband. She also wrote the play which was made into the film, Fools for Scandal (1938), and starred the legendary Carole Lombard. Rosemary Casey died (March 22, 1976) aged seventy, at Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Casgrain, Therese – (1896 – 1981)
Canadian feminist and political activist
Born at Montreal in Quebec, she was the author of Une Femme chezles hommes (1971). Therese Casgrain died (Nov 2, 1981) aged eighty-five, in Montreal.

Cash, Deidre – (1924 – 1963) 
Australian novelist
Deirdre Cash was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Leo Evaristus Cash and his wife Valerie Eileen Walsh. She wrote stories from childhood, and attended the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She married firstly to Michael Blackall from whom she was divorced, and secondly a seaman, Otto Ole Distler Olsen (1954). The realisation of her continuing ill-health caused Deidre to write seriously. She produced, The Delinquents (1962) which was published in London under the pseudonym ‘Criena Rohan.’ The Daily Mail dubbed her work, ‘a back-street Tristan and Isolde.’ This novel was finally made into a movie of the same title (1989) with actress Kylie Minogue in the role of Lola. A second novel, Down by the Dockside, was also published in London (1963). Deidre Cash died aged only thirty-eight, in Melbourne.

Cash, June Carter – (1929 – 2003)
American country vocalist
Valerie June Carter was born in Maces Springs, Virginia to a well known country music family, the daughter of Ezra and Maybelle Addington Carter. She performed at The Grand Old Opry county music show in Nashville, Tennessee as a member of the Carter Sisters, and later performed with her third husband, Johnny Cash (born 1932), whom she first met in 1956, and finally married in 1968. Carter made an album with Cash entitled Carryin’ On (1967), where they performed the duet Jackson, which won a Grammy award, as did their song If I Were a Carpenter (1970).
Some of her best known popular songs included ‘Ring of Fire’ (1963), ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside ’(1946), ‘Love Oh Crazy Love,’ and ‘Leftover Loving.’ She toured with Elvis Presley and her career was managed by Colonel Tom Parker, who looked after Presley’s business management. During the 1970’s she also appeared in popular television series such as, Little House on the Prairie and Gunsmoke, and also appeared in the film, The Apostle (1997) with Robert Duvall. Her second solo album, Press On (1999), also won a Grammy. Cash left two volumes of memoirs, Among My Klediments (1979) and From the Heart (1987). June Carter Cash died of complications after heart surgery.

Cash, Rosalind – (1938 – 1995)
Black American vocalist and actress
Rosalind Cash was born in Atlantic City, and was educated at the City College of New York. Trained for the stage, she sang in nightclubs with great success, and then appeared in serious works and musicals on Broadway, before joining the Negro Ensemble Company (1968). She appeared as Goneril with James Earl Jones as King Lear, at the New York Shakespeare Festival (1973). Her film credits included, Klute (1971) with Jane Fonda, The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston, Amazing Grace (1974), Flashpoint (1979), Guyana Tragedy (1980), Wrong is Right (1982), where she portrayed the first black female president ever to be elected, From a Whisper to a Scream (1986), with Vincent Price, and Tales from the Hood (1995). She appeared on television in several series and was a member of the cast of the long running soap, General Hospital. Rosalind Cash died of cancer (Oct 31, 1995) aged fifty-six, in Los Angeles, California.

Cashman, Mel – (1891 – 1979)
Australian trade union leader and official
Ellen Imelda Cashman was born (Nov 19, 1891) at Gladesville, Sydney, in New South Wales. She was educated at a Catholic school in Hunters Hill before being employed in the clothing business and the printing industry. Cashman became actively involved with the trade union movement in the workplace, and took on the organization of the women’s section of the Printing Industry Employees Union, before being appointed a Commonwelth arbitration inspector by the government (1939). During WW II she worked with the Department of Labour and National Service (1941 – 1942) and the Women’s Employment Board (1942 – 1944). Cashman retired in 1952, and died unmarried.

Cashman, Nellie – (1845 – 1925)
Irish adventuress
Ellen Cashman was born in County Cork and came to America with her family as a small child, and settled in San Francisco in California. During the era of the gold rusg Nellie went to the Cassiar Mountains in British Columbia where she established a boarding house for miners and worked as a nurse during various minor epidemics. One one occasion she organized an expedition and found and saved a party of of over two dozen miners receiving the nickname of ‘Angel of the Cassiar.’ Cashman became a legendary figure across the American west as a gold prospector in Baja California in Mexico after which she resided at Tombstone in Arizona where she established a restaurant which even now (2009) bears her name.
Cashman left Tombstone (1886) and then went to the Yukon in Canada (1898 – 1905) where she hoped to strike it rich during the Klondike Gold Rush. She died not but continued to travel throughout Canada. Nellie Cashman died (Jan 4, 1925) aged seventy-nine, at Victoria in British Columbia. She was cared for at the end by the sisters of the convent of St Anne in Victoria who she had supported for five decades. Cashman was inducted into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame (2006).

Casimira of Anhalt – (1749 – 1778)
German public health reformer
Princess Casimira of Anhalt-Dessau was born (Jan 19, 1749) in Dessau, and became the second wife of her widowed brother-in-law, Count Simon August of Lippe. With the support of her husband’s chancellor, Hoffmann, the countess persuaded and assisted her husband with the introduction and organization of public medical care in the county of Lippe-Detmold. This work resulted in the introduction of formal medical regulations (1789). Apart from an avid interest in educational reform, the countess also established the Patriotic Society (1775), only the second credit institution to be formed in Germany. Countess Casimira died (Nov 8, 1778) aged twenty-nine, in Detmold.

Caspar, Helene – (1857 – 1918)
German musician and educator
Caspar was born (Sept 3, 1857) in Zittau and attended the Leipzig Conservatory in Saxony, studying piano under Jadassohn and Reinecke amongst others. She later established her career in Zittau as a teacher and published the manual for piano playing Moderne Bewegungs-und Anschlagslehre in Tonleiter-und Akkordstudium (1910). Helene Caspar died (July, 1918) aged sixty, in Leipzig.

Cassandra       see     Kassandra

Cassatt, Mary – (1844 – 1926)
American painter
Born Mary Stevenson at Allegheny in Pennsylvania, she travelled abroad to study art in Spain, Holland and France, and was heavily influenced by the style and work of the scultptor and painter, Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) and the French Impressionist movement. Cassatt’s favoured subjects were women and children, and she was also prominent in the field of printmaking, being heavily influenced by the Japanese style. Her work helped to both familiarize and popularize Impressionist art in her own country. Her best known works were The Bath (1891), Woman and Child Driving (1905), which is preserved in the Philadelphia Museum. She developed cataracts in both eyes (1912) and retired to live in Grasse in the south of France. Despite operations on her eyes she never recovered her sight.

Cassel, Wilhelmina – (1847 – 1925)
Anglo-Jewish society figure
Wilhelmina Cassel was the daughter of Jacob Cassel, and was the sister of Sir Felix Cassel (1852 – 1921), the friend and financier of Edward VII (1901 – 1910). She was married to a German named Schonbrunn, to whom she bore two children, and was known as Mrs Schonbrunn-Cassel. After the divorce she resumed her maiden name, which was also adopted by her children. She was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London, where her tomb remains, with the inscription ‘Where’ere she found a stranger, there she left a friend.’ Her children were,

1. Sir Felix Cassel (1869 – 1953), first baronet. He was married to Lady Helen Grimston, the daughter of the Earl of Verulam, and left descendants.

1. Anna Cassel, she became the wife of Colonel Arthur Jenkins, and was the mother of Marjorie Minna Jenkins, Countess of Brecknock (1900 – 1989).

Cassia Longina – (fl. c40 – c70 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician and courtier
Cassia Longina is conjectured by historians to be the daughter of either Lucius Cassius Longinus, consul (30 AD) or of his brother, the noted jurist Gaius Cassius Longinus, consul suffect (30 AD). She was married to the famous general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (died 67 AD) and was the mother of two daughters, Domitia, the wife of Annius Vinicianus, who committed suicide (66 AD) because of his involvement in the conspiracy of Scribonianus, and Domitia Longina, the wife of the Emperor Domitian (81 – 96 AD).

Cassidy, Claudia – (1900 – 1996)
American art critic and journalist
After studying journalism at university Cassidy was employed by the Chicago Journal of Commerce (1925 – 1941), where she established her reputation as the leading and most inituitive reviewer of drama and music. She later transferred to the staff of the Chicago Daily Sun (1941) and then to the Chicago Tribune (1942) for which she wrote her highly influential daily column called ‘On the Aisle.’
Cassidy was an avid supporter of such musical and literary figures as Fritz Reiner, Eugene Ormandy and Tennessee Williams, and actress Laurette Taylor. Famous for her acerbic treatments of what she considered to be unsatisfactory performances by plays or even the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she published the work Europe – on the Aisle (1954). She retired in 1965 and later hosted a weekly radio program with the Chicago station WFMT for fifteen years (1968 – 1983). Claudia Cassidy died (July 21, 1996) in Chicago.

Cassidy, Eva Marie – (1963 – 1996)
American jazz, blues and folk singer
Eva Cassidy was born (Feb 2, 1963) in Washington, D.C., into an artistic family, being taught to play the guitar by her father. She began her professional singing career in popular local bands such as ‘Easy Street,’ The Honeybees,’ and the techno-pop group ‘Characters Without Names’ later called ‘Method Actor.’ Cassidy established an impressive repertoire of jazz and blues songs, as well as pop and folk vocals, but remained virtually unknown outside Washington circles. Cassidy produced the album Live at Blues Alley (1996), and died eight months later of melanoma (Nov 2, 1996) in Bowie, Maryland, aged only thirty-three. The posthumous release of her musical recordings sold in excess of four million copies, and the compilation album Songbird (2001) reached number 1 on British album charts. She was later inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.

Cassillis, Jean Hamilton, Countess of – (1607 – 1642)
Scottish ballad figure
Lady Jean Hamilton was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of Thomas Hamilton, earl of Haddington, and his second wife, Margaret Foulis. She was married (1621) to John Kennedy, sixth earl of Cassillis, to whom she bore four children, and died at Maybole, aged thirty-five (Dec, 1642). Lady Cassillis was supposed to be the heroine of the old ballad, The Gypsy Laddie, in which she was abducted by gypsies. According to another tradition however, her lover was actually Sir John Faa of Dunbar, to whom she had previously been contracted before her marriage with Lord Cassillis. He and his followers are supposed to have disguised themselves as gypsies and carried off the countess. The earl returned unexpectedly and pursued the fugitives. The ravishers were hanged either at Carlisle or Cassillisland, and the countess imprisoned within a tower at Maybole, where she worked a tapestry, representing her elopement, and often falsely said, to be preserved at Colzean. The story is altogether mythical, and is discredited by a letter written shortly after her death, by her husband, in which he speaks of her with great respect and tenderness.

Casson, Margaret MacDonald – (1913 – 1999)
British architect and designer
Margaret Troup was born (Sept 26, 1913), the daughter of James MacDonald Troup. She was educated at the Eychwood School in Oxford, at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and at the University College in London. Margaret established herself in private practice in South Africa, before returning to England, where she was an extremely successful designer of furniture, glass, carpets, and other interior fittings for both public and private customers. She was married (1938) to the noted architecural designer, Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (1910 – 1999) (KCVO) (Knight Commander of the Victorian Order) (1978), to whom she bore three daughters. She became a tutor at the School of Environmental Design at the Royal College of Art (1952) and rose to be senior tutor before she retired (1974). Lady Casson served on the Duke of Edinburgh’s panel for Award for Elegant Design (1962 – 1963) and with the Advisory Council of the Victoria & Albert Museum (1975). She also served on the board of governors of the Wolverhampton College of Art (1964 – 1966) and the West of England College of Art (1965 – 1967), and was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy (1985). Lady Casson died (Nov 13, 1999) aged eighty-six.

Castegnaro, Lola – (1900 – 1979)
Puerto Rican composer, conductor and vocal teacher
Lola Castegnaro was born (May 16, 1900), at San Jose, the daughter of the Italian composer Alvaro Castegnaro, who had immigrated to Costa Rica. She studied piano and music at the Milan Conservatory in Lombardy, Italy. Castegnaro later returned to Costa Rica during WW II (1941), where she gave radio broadcasts of her work and conducted opera before moving to Mexico (1945), where she remained the rest of her life. She established herself there as a pinaist and composer, writing a biography of her father and also working as a journalist Apart from a suite for orchestra, Castegnaro composed the operetta Mirka and several works in the Latin-American genre. Lola Castegnaro died (Sept, 1979) aged seventy-nine, in Mexico City.

Castejon, Blanca – (1907 – 1969)
Puerto-Rican film actress
Blanca Castejon was born in Comerio and travelled to Argentina where she made two films (1934 – 1935) as well as a third in Uruguay, which established her reputation as a star in her own country. After this she worked in Hollywood for a few years, but received only minor Spanish speaking roles. Castejon removed to Mexico where she made about thirty films, and re-established herself as a major sex symbol and film star during the decade of the 1940’s. She received an Ariel Award for her role as Best Supporting Actress in, School for Bums (1954). Her husband was the actor Rafael Banquells.

Castellane, Adelaide Louise Guyonne de Rohan-Chabot, Marquise de – (1761 – 1805)
French memoirist
Louise Adelaide de Rohan-Chabot was the only surviving daughter of the Marie Charles Rosalie de Rohan-Chabot (1740 – 1813), Comte de Jarnac and his first wife Guyonne Hyacinthe de Pons. She was the elder half-sister of Louis Guy de Rohan (1780 – 1875), Comte de Jarnac and Vicomte de Chabot who left descendants. Adelaide Louise de Rohan became the wife of Boniface Louis Andre, Marquis de Castellane (1758 – 1837) and was the mother of Marquis Boniface de Castellane (1788 – 1862) the Marshal of France.
The marquise and her husband attended the court of louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette prior to the Revolution. Her husband sufferred imprisonemtn during Robespierre’s Terror (1794) but survived though the family lost a considerable amount of their financial income.
Madame de Castellane was the paternal grandmother of Comte Henri de Castellane (1814 – 1847) and of the Marquise de Beaulaincourt. Madame de Castellane left memoirs for the period (1792 – 1801) written in the form of educational progress reports on the education of her young son. These were edited and published posthumously as L’Education du marechal de Castellane. Notes ecrites par sa mere, publiees pour la Societe des bibliophiles du Bearn (1877).

Castellane, Cordelia de Greffulhe, Marquise de – (1796 – 1847)
French salonniere
Cordelia de Greffulhe was the daughter of Louis, Comte de Greffulhe (1741 – 1810) and his wife Jeanne Pauline Randon de Puilly (1776 – 1859). She was married (1813) in Paris to Boniface, Marquis de Castellane (1788 – 1862), Marechal of France. Her children included Comte Henri de Castellane (1814 – 1847) and Charlotte Sophie de Castellane, Marquise de Beaulaincourt. She was a friend of the Vicomte de Chateaubriand.

Castellane, Laure de – (fl. 1187 – 1190)
French mediaeval noblewoman
Laure was the wife of Balcatz de Baux, and has been proposed by several historians to be identical with the famous Comtess de Die, the poet and trobairitz. Though Laure de Castellane was indeed a patron of various contemporary troubadours during the late twelfth century, the Comtesse de Die has now been identified as Beatrice de Vienne.

Castellane, Gabrielle Charlotte Eleonore de Saulx-Tavannes, Vicomtesse de – (1764 – 1827)
French litigant
Gabrielle de Saulx-Tavannes was born (March 8, 1764) the elder daughter of Charles Francois Casimir de Saulx-Tavannes, first Duc de Tavannes and his wife Marie Elenore Eugenie de Levis-Chateaumorand. She was married (1784) to Esprit, Vicomte de Castellane, whom she later divorced during the Revolution. By 1788 the vicomtesse was owed the sum of 10, 000 livres as interest on her unpaid dowry. She later renounced her rights to an equal share of her inheritance from her late father under the new Revolutionary law (1793). Instead, Madame de Castellane submitted a claim for full payment of her dowry, to which she was entitled under a new law of 1794. This arrangement meant that the vicomtesse was claiming the larger sum of 200, 000 livres. Madame de Castellane and her younger sister, the Comtesse de Kercado began legal proceedings in Dijon, Burgundy (1799) but later came to a financial arrangement with the family and dropped proceedings (1800).

Castellane, Pauline de Talleyrand-Perigord, Marquise de – (1820 – 1890)
French noblewoman and courtier of the Second Empire
Josephine Pauline de Talleyrand-Perigord was born (Dec 29, 1820) in Paris, the third child of Edmond de Talleyrand-Perigord, Duc de Dino, and his wife Dorothea Biron von Kurland. It is commonly believed that the famous statesman, Charles Marurice de Talleyrand, Prince de Benevent, was Pauline’s real father, and she was raised in his household in Paris. Pauline de Talleyrand was married (1839) to the politician, Henri Charles Louis Boniface, Marquis de Castellane (1814 – 1847), to whom she bore several children. She was a religious-minded woman, and became a friend to the noted churchman, Felix Dupanloup (1802 – 1878), Bishop of Orleans. Pauline survived Henri over four decades as the Dowager Marquise de Castellane (1847 – 1890), residing mainly at the Chateau de rochecotte in Indre-et-Loire, which estate she had recived from her mother, the Duchesse de Dino. As a widow she occasionally attended the court of Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie prior to 1870. Her children were,

1) Marie Dorothee de Castellane (1840 – 1915). She became the wife of the Polish Prince Radziwill.

2) Marquis Antoine de Castellane (18144 – 1917). He was the father of the famous socialite and politician, Marquis Boniface de Castellane (1867 – 1932), who was known for his friendship
with the famous novelist, Marcel Proust.

Castellane, Sibylle de Trets, Comtesse de – (c1215 – 1261)
French mediaeval heiress
The heiress of Toulon in Provence, Sibylle de Trets was a descendant of Viscount Hugh Geoffrey of Toulon (living c1085). She was married firstly (before 1240) to Gilbert des Baux, the younger son of Hugh des Beaux (died 1240), Vicomte de Marseilles. There were no children. With his death at Toulon (1243) she was quickly remarried (1243) to Boniface VI, Comte de Castellane (died 1262), the son of Comte Boniface V and Agnes de Spata, Dame de Riez. Sibylle was the last feudal seigneur of Toulon, and after her second marriage she resided at Castellane with Boniface. She bequeathed Toulon in her will to Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence.

Castellanos, Rosario – (1925 – 1974)
Mexican poet, novelist, and translator
Rosario Castellanos was born in Mexico City, and was raised in Comitan in Chiapas, amongst the Native Americans there. She received her education at home and in Madrid, Spain. Castellanos was best known for her collection of verse entitled Poemas 1953-5 (1957). Some of her of her works have been translated as The Selected Poems of Rosario Castellanos (1988), and include the expressively moving tributes to the Indians of Chiapas. Her novels included, Baluncanan (1957), (translated in 1958 as The Nine Guardians). Later appointed as Mexican ambassador to Israel, she died there, having accidentally sufferred an electrical shock.

Castello, Castora Gabrielli, Contessa di    see    Gabrielli, Castora

Castelloza – (fl. c1200 – 1225)
French trobairitz
Castelloza was the wife of Turc de Mairana, lord of Meyronne in Provence, who held the castle of Mairana, near Le Puy in 1225. Little is recorded of her except that she was admired by a nobleman named Arman Deeon, and that she wrote songs celebrating their attachment. Three of her chansons have survived.

Castelnau, Almucs de (Almodis de Caseneuve) – (c1140 – c1182)            
French trobairitz
Almucs de Castelnau was a native of a Provencal town near Avignon, in the valley of Luberon. She married (c1155) (his second) Guiraut I de Simiane, Seigneur of Caseneuve, Apt and Gordes, to whom she bore two sons. One of her poems survive, written it appears, in conjunction with a female friend Iseut de Capio. This work, a cobla, is written in manuscript form. Charter records for 1173 show that her husband and their second son Raimbaut made a pilgrimage to Palestine, Guiraut arranging all his business affairs before his departure. Both Guiraut and Almucs were dead by 1184, when Raimbaut made a grant to the Abbey of Senanque in both their names. Her son Raimbaut d’Agoult (c1162 – c1204) was a famous troubadour, and he receives mention in the twelve surviving poems of Gaucelm Faidit (c1185 – 1215).

Castenskiold, Maja – (1919 – 2003)
Danish royal family member
Maja Tegner was born (May 5, 1919) in Copenhagen, the daughter of Hans Tegner and his wife, Ellen Braunstein. She was married firstly to Karl Fabricius, to whom she bore a daughter. She then became the third wife (1971) to Karl Castenskiold (born 1923), the maternal grandson of King Frederick VIII of Denmark (1906 – 1912) and Louise of Sweden. Maja Castenskiold died (Aug 3, 2003) aged eighty-four.

Castiglione, Albisa Gonzaga, Contessa di (Luigia) – (1458 – 1542)
Italian letter writer
Albisa Gonzaga was the wife (1477) of Conte Cristoforo di Castiglione (c1443 – 1499). She was the daughter of Conte Antonio Gonzaga and his second wife Orsina Cavriani. Albisa bore her husband two sons and three daughters, including the famous diplomat and author, Cont Baldassare Castiglione (1478 – 1529). Widowed in 1499, the countess managed the family estates during her son’s many abscences, and helped arrange his marriage with Ippolita Torelli in 1516. Her many letters to Baldassare, which deal with family, and constant financial problems, have survived, as have those addressed to Pope Clement VII. With the death of daughter-in-law in 1520, the countess brought up her grandchildren, and in the same year the illegitimate daughter of Prince Federigo di Gonzaga was placed under her care to be educated. With Baldassare’s death in 1529, the countess continued to devote herself to the protection of the legal rights of these children. In 1534, she managed to gain exemption from a royal wedding tax imposed by the duke of Mantua, pleading the expenses incurred in erecting suitable memorial chapels to her husband and son. She also attempted to regain the castle and estates of Novillara, family property which had been alienated, but with this project she proved unsuccessful.

Castiglione, Anna di – (c1488 – 1539)
Italian nun
Anna di Castiglione was the youngest daughter of Count Cristoforo di Castiglione and his wife Albisa Gonzaga. She was the sister to the famous author and humanist Baldassare di Castiglione (1478 – 1529). Anna never married and became a nun (1504) with the Order of the Poor Clares at Santa Paola, taking the religious name of Sister Laura. Her brother Baldassare was much attached to her, and his early letters reveal many affectionate references to her. Anna survived her brother a decade and died (Feb, 1539).

Castiglione, Caterina Mandello, Contessa di – (1537 – 1582)
Italian aristocrat
Caterina Mandello was born into a noble family from Piacenza. She became the wife (c1547) of Count Camillo di Castiglione (1517 – 1598), the son of the famous humanist author Baldassare di Castiglione. Caterina bore Camillo two sons, Baldassare and Cristoforo, and a daughter Giulia Camilla who became a nun. Beautiful and accomplished, Contessa Caterina discovered two sonnets written by her late father-in-law, which had been hidden behind a mirror at Casatico. Her death was the cause of immense grief to her husband, and when he died sixteen years afterwards Camillo was buried with Caterina in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Mantua.

Castiglione, Maria Ippolita Torelli, Contessa di – (1499 – 1521)
Italian letter writer
Maria Ippolita was the daughter of Guido Torelli of Montechiaraguolo, near Parma, an important condottiere, and his wife Francesca di Bentivoglio, the daughter of Giovanni di Bentivoglio. She was raised by relatives in Modena and was married (1516) to the famous humanist writer Count Baldassare di Castiglione (1478 – 1529). Passionately devoted to her husband she bore him a son Camillo di Castiglione (1517 – 1598) and two daughters but died (Aug 20, 1521) from the effects of childbirth. The contessa’s early death was much lamented by both the Castiglione family and the Mantuan court, and Battista Fiera wrote an elegy about her. Her ashes were later interred whith those of her husband in the Church of St Maria delle Grazie in Mantua. Several of her letters have survived.

Castiglione, Marta Tana, Marchesa di Castiglione – (1545 – 1605)
Italian religious patron
Marta Tana became the wife of (1560) of Ferdinando di Gonzaga (1544 – 1586), Marchese di Castiglione and became the Contessa di Castiglione (1566 – 1586). She survived her husband for two decades as the Dowager Contessa di Castiglione (1586 – 1605). The contessa died (April 26, 1605) aged fifty-nine. She left eight children,

1) St Ludovico (Luigi) di Castiglione (1538 – 1591).

2) Rodolfo di Castiglione, Marchese di Castiglione (1569 – 1593). He was married and left issue.

3) Ferrante di Gonzaga (1570 – 1577). He died young.

4) Carlo di Gonzaga (1572 – 1574). He died in infancy.

5) Isabella di Gonzaga (1575 – 1593). She died unmarried.

6) Francesco di Gonzaga (1577 – 1616). He was created the first Prince di Castiglione (1609) and was married and left issue.

7) Cristerrio di Gonzaga (1580 – 1630). He became the Conte di Solferino (1589) and was married and left issue.

8) Diego di Gonzaga (1582 – 1589). He died young.

Castiglione, Virginia Oldoini, Contessa di – (1835 – 1899)
Italian beauty and political agent
Virginia Oldoini was born (March 22, 1835) in Florence, the daughter of Marchese Filippo Oldoini, and the granddaughter of the famous jurist and scholar, Lamporecchi, in whose home she was raised and received her education. She was cousin to the famous statesman, Count Camillo Benso di Cavour. Her parents arranged her marriage with a suitable nobleman, Conte Francesco Verasis di Castiglione, an aide to King Vittorio Emmanuele II, to whom she bore a son Giorgio. Popularly known as ‘the most beautiful woman of the century,’ she was extraordinarily beautiful and cultured, but possessed of a cold, calculating nature. The contessa became the mistress of the French emperor Napoleon III, at the behest of Cavour, and the British Duke of Queensberry is said to have paid the equivalent of one million pounds to spent one single night with her.
However, with the fall of the Second Empire (1870), she returned to the Italian court, where she became the mistress of the Vittorio Emmanuele for several years, and he provided her with apartments in the Pitti Palace and an annual pension. She was later involved in a liasion with Baron James de Rothschild. As the years passed, and her looks faded, she rarely appeared in public and lived in seclusion, despite her great wealth. When she died at her home in the Place de Vendome in Paris, her private papers were sequestered by order of the government. A collection of over two hundred and fifty photographs of the contessa, taken by the famous photographer, Pierre Louis Pierson were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975).

Castillo de Gonzales, Aurelia – (1842 – 1920)
Cuban poet, traveller and biographer
Aurelia Castillo was born in Camaguez, Cuba, and married a Spanish soldier Francisco Gonzalez del Hoyo. Her first literary output were published in local periodicals in 1869, whilst her children’s stories, Fabulous, was published in Cadiz in 1879. Eventually accompanying her husband to Spain, at his death she returned to Cuba in 1890. Two volumes of travel memoirs followed, Un paseo por Europa (1891) and, Un paseo por America (1895). She also produced a biography of the poet Gertrudies Gomez de Avellaneda, Biografia de Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda y juicio critico de sus obras (1887) published in Havana. Aurelia translated literary works by European writers such as Gabriel D’Annunzio, Ada Negri, Lamartine, Lord Byron and Francis Coppee. Her collected works Escritosl were published in Havana in six volumes (1913 – 1918).

Castillo y Guevara, Francisca Josefa del – (1671 – 1743)
Colombian poet and devotional author
Francisca Josefa del Castillo y Guevara became a nun as Sister Francisca Josefa de la Concepcion. She was later appointed abbess as Mother Castillo. Her surviving poems included ‘Christmas Carol’ and ‘The Holy Eclogue.’

Castle, Agnes – (c1864 – 1922)
Irish author
Agnes Castle was born at Lamberton Park, Queen’s County, the daughter of Michael Sweetman. She was married to the author and novelist Egerton Castle (1858 – 1920) to whom she bore a daughter. Mrs Castle was best known as the author of My Little Lady Anne (1896), Agnes collaborated with several works published in conjunction with her husband, such as The Pride of Jennico (1898) first produced on the stage at the Lyceum Theater in New York, and The Bath Comedy (1899) which was dramatised with David Belasco in the role of ‘Sweet Kitty Bellaire.’ Agnes wrote many other novels with her husband including Incomparable Bellairs (1904), The Lost Iphigenia (1911), A Little House in War Time (1915), and The Chartered Adventurer (1919). Widowed in Sept, 1920, Agnes survived her husband barely eighteen months. Agnes Castle died (April, 1922) at Hindhead, in Surrey.

Castle, Barbara Anne – (1910 – 2002)
British Labour politician and memoirist
Born Barbara Betts (Oct 6, 1910) at Chesterfield, Derbyshire, she received her education at the Bradford Girls’ Grammar School and at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She was married (1944) to the noted journalist, Edward Cyril Castle (1907 – 1979). Having been employed in local government prior to WW II, Castle entered parliament as the member for Blackburn (1945). A firm supporter or the political ideals espoused by Aneurin Bevin, she was a particular defender of radical causes, and served as Chairman of the Labour Pary (1958 – 1959). When Labour came to power she was rewarded with a cabinet post, being appointed as Minister for Overseas Development (1964 – 1965). She then served a three year term as Minister of Transport (1965 – 1968), being responsible for the introduction of general speed limits and introduction of breathalyzer units in an effort to deter people from drink driving. Castle served as Minister of Health and Social Security (1974), but under the tenure of James Callaghan, she was dismissed from Cabinet because of her age, and was re-appointed as vice-chairman of the Socialist Group in the European parliament (1979 – 1989). She retired from parliament (1989), and was created a life peer as Baroness Castle of Blackburn by Queen Elizabeth II (1990) in recognition of her career in public service. Apart from her private diaries she also published her memoirs, Fighting All the Way (1993). Barbara Castle died (May 3, 2002) aged ninety-one, in Buckinghamshire.

Castle, Irene – (1893 – 1969)
American dancer and actress
Born Irene Foote in New Rochelle, New York, she was married (1911) to an Englishman, Vernon Blythe (1887 – 1918). The quickly became the most popular and sought after ballroom and dance couple, they both taking the professional surname of Castle. The couple performed in cabaret throughout the USA and Europe, and helped to popularize such dances as the turkey-trot, the maxixe, the hesitation waltz, and the tango, amongst many others. Vernon Castle was killed in action during WW I, after which Irene retired. With her husband she appeared in the silent film, The Whirl of Life (1915), and thereafter features in several other silent films such as, The Hillcrest Mystery (1918), The Broadway Bride (1921), and, No Trespassing (1922). Castle was the author of memoirs entitled Castles in the Air (1958). They were portrayed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the film, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939).

Castlehaven, Anne Stanley, Countess of – (1580 – 1647)
English Stuart peeress and scandal figure
Lady Anne Stanley was born (May, 1580) at Ruislip in Middlesex, the eldest daughter and coheir of Ferdinando Stanley, fifth Earl of Derby and his wife Alicia Spencer, later the wife of Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, and daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp. With the death of her father without a son (1594) the Derby earldom passed to their uncle William Stanley, whilst provision for Anne and her sisters came from the baronies of Strange, Mohun and Lacy and other non-entailed family estates. After lengthy family wranglings Lady Anne received a dowry of eight thousand pounds and her two younger sisters six thousand apiece.
Anne did niot marry until the rather late age of twenty-seven when her mother and stepfather Lord Ellesmere arranged for her to marry (1608) Grey Brydges (1579 – 1621), the fifth Baron Chandos to whom she bore five children. Lady Chandos then became the second wife (1624) of Mervyn Tuchet (1593 – 1631), second Earl of Castlehaven who was thirteen years her junior. This marriage remained childless. Lady Castlehaven was a lady of somewhat scandalous reputation and was widely believed to have been behind the arrest and execution of her husband which took place on Tower Hill in London (May 14, 1631). Lord Castlehaven had been found guilty of several crimes including a homosexual act committed with a page boy Laurence Fitzpatrick, who confessed to this, and also of the rape of Countess Anne, or rather for the assisting of one Giles Browning in a rape said to have been so committed. Of the countess herself Fitzpatrick stated that ‘she was the wickedest woman in the world and had more to answer for than any woman that lived.’  The death of Lord Castlehaven was certainly brought about by her means, and her unquestionable adultery with one Ampthill and one Henry Skipwith, which fact was attewsted by her own daughter Elizabeth Brydges, wife of her stepson James Tuchet, second Earl of Castlehaven renders her motives suspicious.
The profligacy of the countess’ establishment was said to have been overwhelming, and her own sacandalous behaviour did not cease with age, she and Lady Petre being arrested by the Constable of the Common Garden when they were drunk. She survived her second husband as the Dowager Countess of Castlehaven (1631 – 1647). Lady Castlehaven was buried (Oct 11, 1647) aged sixty-seven, at Ruislip. Her children were,

1) Elizabeth Brydges (1615 – 1679). She became the first wife of her stepbrother James Touchet (1612 – 1684), third Earl of Castlehaven (1631 – 1684). There were no children.

2) Anne Brydges. She became Lady Torteson.

3) Frances Brydges. She became the wife of Edward Fortescue.

4) George Brydges (1620 – 1652). He succeeded his father as an infant as the sixth Baron Chandos (1621 – 1652). He was married to Lady Susan Montagu, the daughter of Henry Montagu,
Earl of Manchester but remained childless.

5) William Brydges (1621 – 1676). He succeeded his brother George as the seventh Baron Chandos (1652 – 1676). He was married to Susan Carr, the daughter and coheir of Garrett Carr of
London.

Castlemaine, Countess of     see    Villiers, Barbara

Castles, Amy Eliza – (1880 – 1951)
Australian soprano
Amy Castles was born (July 25, 1880) in Carlton, Melbourne, in Victoria, and was educated at St Mary’s College in Bendigo. She received vocal training early in life, and eventually became the leading soprano, winning the prestigious South Street Competition in Ballarat. Castles made her first stage debut as a singer in Melbourne (1899), and then went on to Paris to be trained by Madame Mathilde Marchesi, the vocal trainer of Dame Nellie Melba.
After this she made her first London debut at St James’s Hall (1901), when she appeared with Dame Clara Butt and Ada Crossley. She then returned triumphant to Australia, of which she made a successful tour (1902). After a further period in Europe, Castles performed the role of Hamlet with the Cologne Grand Opera (1907), and also sang in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet and Faust. She also performed the lead role in the first ever Australian performance of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (1912). After some work in the USA she appeared to tire of her career, and retired from public life. Castles remained unmarried. Amy Castles died (Nov 19, 1951) at Fitzroy in Melbourne.

Castorp, Muriel    see    Hartlaub, Geno

Castries, Claire Clemence Henriette de La Tour Landry de Maille, Duchesse de – (1796 – 1861)
French literary patron
Claire de La Tour Landry de Maille was born (Dec 9, 1796), the daughter of Charles de La Tour Landry, Duc de Maille and his wife Henriette Stuart de Fitzjames, a descendant of James II, King of England (1685 – 1688). She was married (1816) to Edmond de Croix (1787 – 1866), Duc de Castries and was a patron of the novelist Honore de Balzac (1799 – 1850). The duchesse died (July 16, 1861) aged sixty-four.

Castro, Domitilia de – (1798 – 1867)
Portugese courtier and courtesan
Domitilia de Castro was the daughter of Joao de Castro Canto y Mello, and his wife Escolastica Bonifacio de Oliveira Toledo Ribas. Beautiful and arrogant, she became the mistress of Pedro I, emperor of Brazil. Castro was created successively Viscondesa de Castro and Marquesa de Santos, and bore the emperor a son, Pedro (1825 – 1826), who died in infancy, and two daughters, both of whom were subsequently recognized by their father and legitimated, Isabel Maria de Alcantara Brasiliera (1824 – 1898) who was created duchess de Goyaz, and married the German nobleman, Count Ernst Fischler von Treuberg (1810 – 1867), and Maria Isabel de Alcantara Brasiliera (1830 – 1896), who became the second wife of Pedro Caldeira Brant, Count de Iguassu (1814 – 1881). She left half-royal descendants through her younger daughter. Her association with the emperor caused considerable pain and humiliation to his first wife, the Hapsburg empress Leopoldine, but his second wife, the Empress Amalia, was greatly admired for her dignified handling of the situation. Domitilia was married twice after her Imperial liasion ended, firstly to Felicio Pinto Coelho De Mendoca, and secondly to an army officer, Rafael Tobias de Aguiar, leaving further children by both marriages.

Castro, Inez Perez de – (1327 – 1355)
Portugese courtier, royal mistress, and political victim
Inez de Castro was the illegitimate daughter of Pedro Fernandez de Castro, Senor de Lemos, Monforte and Sarria, by his mistress, Aldonza de Valadares. Inez became lady-in-waiting to Queen Beatriz, the wife of Alfonso IV of Portugal, and their son the Infante Pedro (later Pedro I) became seriously romantically involved with her. The king disapproved of their connection and made vain attempts to separate them. Eventually, after the death of Pedro’s wife, the Infanta Constanza (Nov, 1345), he married Inez secretly (1346). The couple were married openly at Braganza (Jan 1, 1354), and the king resorted to desperate measures. On his orders, Inez was assasinated at Coimbra (Jan 7, 1355), and was interred at the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobace. Pedro took grisly vengeance when he became king (1357). He had Inez’s decaying corpse exhumed and seated on a throne, had her crowned as queen, and then forced his terrified courtiers to kiss her hand. Her four children were legitimated (1361), but excluded from the succession. They were,

1. Infanta Beatriz of Portugal (1347 – 1381). She was married Sancho Alfonso of Castile, Conde de Alburquerque (1342 – 1374), by whom she left children.

1. Alfonso of Portugal (1348 – before 1361). He died young and illegitimate.

1. Infante Joao of Portugal (1349 – 1397), Duke of Valencia de Campos (1379 – 1397). He was briefly heir to King Ferdinando I (1379). His second wife, Constanza de Castilla, was the illegitimate daughter of Enrique I, King of Castile.

1. Infante Diniz of Portugal (1354 – 1397). He unsuccessfully claimed the throne from Diniz II of Portugal (1383). He married Juana de Castilla, the illegitimate daughter of Enrique II, king of Castile.

Castro, Lala di   see   Kazantzaki, Galateia

Castro, Rosalia de – (1837 – 1885)
Spanish poet and novelist
Rosalia de Castro was born at Santiago de Compostela in Castile, and became the wife (1858) of Galician historian. Her first collection of verse, entitled La Flor (The Flower) (1857), was written in Castilian, as were her popular novels, such as La Hija del Mar (The Daughter of the Sea) (1859) and Ruinas (Ruins) (1867). Castro’s literary fame rests upon her works which were written in Galician, such as Cantares Gallegos (Galician Songs) (1863) and Follas Novas (New Leaves) (1880).

Castro Alves, Dina Silveira de    see   Queiros, Dina Silveira de

Castro y Andrade, Isabel – (c1520 – 1582)
Spanish poet
Isabel Castro y Andrade was born in Puentedeume, and was the granddaughter of Ferdinando de Andrade, a military officer. She later married the Conde de Altamira. Her known works were the Castilian sonnet Competencia entre la rosa y el sol and a Galician poem dedicated to Alonso Ercilla, both of which are now lost.

Casulana, Maddalena – (c1540 – c1583)
Italian composer, lutenist, and vocalist
Maddalena Casulana was born perhaps at Casole d’elsa, near Siena. Her married name may have been Mezari. She composed the epithalamium performed at the wedding of Duke William IV of Bavaria and Renee of Lorraine in Munich (1568), though only the text of this work remains extant. Her surviving works include over sixty madrigals, all published in three volumes during her lifetime, the first to be printed by a female composer. She had important patrons in Florence, Verona, and Milan, and the noted Italian actor and poet, Antonio Molino, then elderly, was instructed in music by her, and dedicated to her his Dilettevoli madrigali (1568), and Philippe de Monte dedicate to her his Il primo libro de madrigali atre (1582). Maddalena Casulana was living in 1583, and her portrait once hung in the Accademia Olimpica in Vicenza.

Catala, Victor    see     Albert i Paradis, Caterina

Catalani, Angelica – (1780 – 1849)
Italian soprano
Angelica Catalani was born in Sinigaglia, and received her vocal training at the convent of Santa Lucia in Rome, and made her stage debut in Venice (1795) aged only fifteen. Angelica appeared in Florence and she made her first performance at La Scala in Milan (1801) before taking on a six year tour of Paris and London. A famous beauty, as well as singer, she was the first to sing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (1812) in London. From 1814 – 1817 she managed the Theatre Italien in Paris, though with little financial success. Much admired for her dramatic performing style, and the extrordinary range of her voice, appeared for her last performance at the York Festival (1828). Catalani then retired to her country estate near Florence.

Catalina Michaela Francesca of Spain – (1567 – 1597)
Spanish Infanta
Infanta Catalina was born in Madrid, the younger daughter of King Philip II, and his third wife, Elisabeth de Valois, the daughter of Henry II, King of France. She was married (1585) to Carlo Emmanuele I, Duke of Savoy (1562 – 1630), to whom she bore a large family of ten children, including the heir, Duke Vittorio Amadeo I (1587 – 1637). In her youth she excelled in the use of the arquebus (cross-bow), and she was her father’s favourite child, a fact borne out by their surviving correspondence (34 letters) for the period 1580 – 1583. She and her sister Isabella Clara Eugenia were painted by Sanchez Coello, and the portrait survives in the Prado Palace, Madrid. Infanta Catalina died (Nov 6, 1597) aged only thirty, at Turin, Piedmont. Her father’s grief was such that it was said to have hastened his own death (1598).

Catchpole, Margaret – (1762 – 1819)
Australian convict and pioneer
Margaret Catchpole was born illegitimate at Nacton, near Ipswich, Suffolk, and had been employed as a cook and domestic servant in the household of a brewer named Cobbold in Ipswich.
Catchpole was twice sentenced to death, one for horse stealing, being apprehended in London dressed as a male, where she had tried to sell the animal, and again for breaking out of jail in Ipswich, disguised as a sailor, but her sentence was commuted to transportation to the colonies. She arrived in Sydney in New South Wales (1801) aboard the convict ship the Nile, where she was employed as a servant and children’s nurse. Catchpole eventually managed a farm, and worked as a midwife in her local community. Later granted a full pardon (1814), she kept a correspondence with the Cobbold family, who retained an interest in her welfare, despite her earlier scrapes with the law. They provide an accurate and interesting account of life in the New South Wales colony, and formed the basis of the book The History of Margaret Catchpole (1845), written by Richard Cobbold. Margaret Catchpole died (May 13, 1819) aged fifty-six.

Caterina del Balzo Orsini    see   Catherine of Taranto

Caterina Cornaro – (1454 – 1510) 
Queen of Cyprus
Caterina Cornaro was born (Nov 25, 1454) in Venice, the daughter and only child of Marco Cornaro (Corner) (1406 – 1479), a Venetian patrician, and his wife Fiorenza, the daughter of Nicolo Crispo, Regent of Naxos and the Archipelagos (1447 – 1450), and was the great-granddaughter of Alexander IV Komnenus, Emperor of Trebizond. With the death of John II of Cyprus (1458), the succession was disputed. His natural son, James of Lusignan (1438 – 1473), a close friend of Caterina’s uncle Andrea Cornaro, seized control of the island, and sought Venetian support for his claim to the crown as James II, by betrothing himself to Caterina (1468). Formally adopted as a ‘daughter of the Republic’ by the dodge, and accorded the title of queen of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia, Caterina was escorted to Cyprus for her marriage by galley (1472). When James died a few months later (July 10, 1473), Catherine was pregnant. Her son James III was proclaimed as infant ruler with Queen Catherine as regent. When the Venetian fleet left Cyprus, a conspiracy erupted when wanted to place Charla de Lusignan, Catherine’s bastard stepdaughter on the throne. The following year her infant son died (1474) of malaria, and Catherine ruled alone under the protection of Venice. The queen defied revolution and civil war and retained her own court for fourteen years, until the Venetian sailors began to contemplate the seizure of the island. Also, fearing an attack by the Ottoman sultan Bayazeit II, and having discovered a conspiracy to marry the queen to Alfonso II, King of Naples, Venice finally annexed Cyprus, and recalled Caterina, who reluctantly abdicated in favour of the republic (Feb, 1489). The Venetian government confirmed to the queen for life, the castle and town of Asolo, where she henceforward held her own court, which was celebrated by Cardinal Pietro Bembo in his Gli asolani (1505). There she became famous for her patronage of Renaissance scholar, painters and humanists. Queen Caterina died (July 10, 1510) aged fifty-six, at Asolo.

Caterina Gattilusia – (c1424 – 1442)
Byzantine Augusta (1441 – 1442)
Caterina Gattilusia was the daughter of Dorino Gattilusio, Prince of Lesbos. She was married (March, 1441) to Constantine Palaeologus, Emperor of the Morea (later Constantine XI 1405 – 1453), as his second wife. Empress Caterina died young (April, 1442) and left no children.

Caterina of Portugal – (1436 – 1463)
Infanta and scholar
Infanta Caterina of Portugal (Catherine) was born (Nov 25, 1436) at Lisbon in Estramadura, the fourth daughter and eighth child of Duarte I (Edward), King of Portugal and his wife Leonor of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinando I, King of Aragon. Her first tutor during childhood was Violante Nogueira who encouraged the princess’s natural love of learning. Caterina then studied under the instruction of Jorge de Costa, Archbishop of Lisbon, under whose guidance Caterina developed into a learned bluestocking, mastering the Latin and Greek languages, and having a particular interest in science. The only one of her works to survive was a translation from the Latin of St Laurence Justinian in praise of the monastic life.
Infanta Caterina and her younger sister Philippa (Filippa) officiated at tge baptism ceremony (May, 1455) of their nephew the future King Joao II at the Alcacovas Palace in Lisbon. Caterina was betrothed to Prince Carlos of Viana, the son of King Juan II of Aragon, but this marriage never took place, possibly due to Caterina’s own disinclination for marriage. She was later suggested (1460 – 1461) as a possible bride for the young Edward IV of England but this match never eventuated either. Soon after these negotiations ended Caterina retired from the court in Lisbon to reside in a convent though she did not take vows as a nun. She died there (June 17, 1463) aged twenty-six.

Caterina Salvarezi – (c1539 – 1582)
Hungarian princess
Born into a prominent Transylvanian boyar clan, she was married (c1556) to the Wallachian prince Alexandru II Mircea (c1536 – 1577), to whom she bore a son and her, Mihnea II (1559 – 1601) surnamed the Islamized.  Husband and wife were formally greeted as rulers of Wallachia in Bucharest in June, 1574. Widowed in 1577 after Alexandru was assassinated, Princess Caterina ruled as regent and wielded considerable power during the minority of their young son. When he was topled from his throne by a boyar plot, Caterina’s family, through the judicious presentation of gifts to the officials of the Turkish sultan, managed to regain the Wallachian throne for him. However, with her death the Ottomans deposed Mihnea for the second and last time, and he died in obscurity in Istanbul.

Caterina Visconti – (1361 – 1404)
Italian ruler
Caterina Visconti was born in Milan, Lombardy, the fourth daughter of Bernarbo Visconti, Count of Milan, and his wife Beatrice (Regina) della Scala, the daughter of Mastino II della Scala, Lord of Verona. English agents which included the poet Geoffrey Chaucer were sent to negotiate a marriage between Caterina and the youthful Richard II (1377 – 1380) but these negotiations came to nothing. She was eventually married (1380) to her kinsman, Giangaleazzo Visconti (1351 – 1402), Count of Milan, at the same time that Giangaleazzo’s sister Violante was married to her own half-brother Ludovico Visconti. A papal dispensation had been granted for the marriage by Pope Urban VI. The marriage was a dynastic union but surviving evidence indicated that Caterina did possess some influence with her husband.
Caterina bore her Giangaleazzo two sons Giovanni Maria (1388 – 1412) and Filippo Maria Visconti (1390 – 1447). The duchess was permitted to appoint a number of lesser officials in the Communal administration of Milan, though one her appointments by later cancelled by Count Giangaleazzo which seems to suggest that she may have possesses a somewhat imperious temperament. The countess assisted her husband in acquiring the town of Vicenza (1387), part of Caterina’s maternal inheritance, which he retained under his control. Giangaleazzo was created Duke in 1395 by King Wenceslas of the Romans and Caterina became the duchess consort of Milan (1395 – 1402). With the duke’s death (1402) Caterina kept his death secret to ensure the succession of her elder son Giovanni Maria Visconti, and recalled Milanese troops from Bologna to ensure this. Duchess Caterina then ruled Milan as regent for her son. She ruled successfully, but her power was later superseded by that of her lover Francesco Barbaro, whom she permitted too much power, and which diminished her own. Caterina was forced to make peace with Pope Boniface IX and returned to him Bologna, Perugia and other conquesta made by her late husband. Duchess Caterina died (Oct 17, 1404) aged forty-three, and was interred with her husband in the Cathedral of Milan. Her death was rumoured to have been caused by poison.

Caterina Zaccaria – (c1415 – 1462)
Byzantine Augusta of the Morea (1449 – 1462)
Caterina Zaccaria was the daughter of Centurione II Zaccaria, the last Frankish prince of Achaia. She was married (1430) to Prince Thomas Palaeologus (1409 – 1465), a younger son of the Emperor Manuel II Paleologus (1391 – 1425). At the time of her marriage her husband was invested as prince of Achaia, and ruled over her family’s ancestral lands. Thomas was then titled despot (emperor) of Clarenza (March, 1449) and Caterina received the Imperial title. When the Ottoman forces led by Sultan Mehmet II invaded Greece (May, 1460), the emperor and empress remained in Messenia, before fleeing to the island of Corfu with their children, taking with them a holy relic, the head of the apostle St Andrew, which had been kept at Patras. At the end of the same years, Emperor Thomas travelled to Rome to be received by Pope Pius II, but the empress remained in Corfu with her children, and did not see her husband again before her own death (Aug, 1462). The Greek historian Sphrantzes stated that the Empress Caterina was aged seventy at her death, but as her youngest child was born in 1455, this is an obvious error, and she was probably aged forty-seven. Her children were,

1. Princess Helena Palaeologina (1431 – 1474). She became the wife of Lazarus III Brankovic, King of Serbia (c1415 – 1458), by whom she left children.

1. Princess Zoe Palaeologina (Sophia after her marriage) (1448 – 1503). She became the second wife of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow (1440 – 1505), by whom she left issue.

1. Prince Andrew Palaeologus (1453 – 1502). He married a woman of low birth, by whom he left descendants, and signed over to Charles VIII of France all his rights to the thrones of Constantinople, Trebizond and Serbia (1494), retaining only his claim to the despotate of the Morea. With Charles’s death (1498), Andrew again sold these rights to Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain.

1. Prince Manuel Palaeologus (1455 – after 1477). He resided in Italy with a papal pension, but later attended the Ottoman court. His sons converted to Islam.

           
Caterina Beatrice of Savoy – (1636 – 1637)
Italian princess
Princess Caterina Beatrice of Savoy was born (Nov 6, 1636) in Turin, Piedmont, the fourth and youngest daughter of Duke Vittorio Amadeo I of Savoy (1630 – 1637), and his wife Christina de Bourbon, the daughter of Henry IV, King of France (1589 – 1610). She was the first cousin to Charles II and James II of England, and was a twin with her sister Adelaide Henrietta (1636 – 1676), later the wife of Ferdinand Maria, elector of Bavaria. Princess Caterina Beatrice died in infancy (Aug 26, 1637).

Catez, Elisabeth – (1880 – 1906)
French Carmelite mystic
Elisabeth Catez was born at Bourges in Berry. She had decided herself upon a religious vocation, and made a private vow of virginity, but respected the wishes of her parents who did not wish her to join the Carmelite order. Catez placed herself under the spiritual guidance of a Dominican priest, Irene Vallee, and studied St Teresa d’Avila’s Way of Perfection in order to understand her own particular spiritual needs and experiences. She later joined the Carmelite order in Dijon, Burgundy, but died of illness before she could take her final vows. A firm believer of the indwelling Trinity within the soul, she was popularly referred to as ‘Elisabeth of the Trinity’ (Elisabeth de la Trinite). She was canonized by Pope John Paul II (1984). An authorized version of her memoirs was printed by the Benedictines of Stanbrook under the title The Praise of Glory: Reminiscences of Sister Elisabeth of the Trinity, A Carmelite Nun of Dijon, 1901 – 1906 (1913).

Catharina Agatha von Rappoltstein – (1648 – 1683)
German heiress
Countess Catharina Agatha was born (June 15, 1648) at Rappoltstein, the daughter and heiress of Count Johann Jacob von Rappoltstein (1598 – 1673) and his wife Countess Anna Claudina von Salm-Kyburg (1615 – 1673), the daughter of Count Johann von Salm-Kyburg (1577 – 1631). She became the wife (1667) of Christian II (1637 – 1717), Count Palatine of Birkenfeld and Bischweiler (1654 – 1717) to whom she bore several children.
With her father’s death (1673) Duchess Catharina Agatha succeeded as the hereditary reigning countess of Rappoltstein (1673 – 1683) and Dame of Hohenach, Geroldesck and Wasichin. With her death the claim to the Rappoltstein title was claimed by her aunt Princess Anna Elisabeth of Waldeck-Pyrmont, but she never established her claim in law. Countess Catharina Agatha died (July 16, 1683) aged thirty-five, at Birkenfeld. She left three children,

1) Princess Magdalena Claudia of Palatine-Birkenfeld (1668 – 1704). She became the wife of Count Philipp Reinhard von Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1712).

2) Christian III (1674 – 1735). He became Count Palatine of Birkenfeld (1717 – 1731) and Count Palatine of Zweibrucken (1731 – 1735) and was married and left issue.

3) Princess Louisa of Palatine-Birkenfeld (1678 – 1753). She became the wife of Prince Antony Ulrich of Waldeck (died 1728).

Catharine Howard – (1525 – 1542)
Queen consort of England (1540 – 1542)
Catharine Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, and his first wife Jocunda Culpeper, the widow of Ralph Leigh. She was the niece of Thomas Howard, third duke of Norfolk. She was brought up at Lambeth Palace, in the household of her step-grandmother Agnes, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Brought to court as maid-of-honour to Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII, the king’s attraction to the youthful Catharine gave the Catholic faction at court the chance to undermine the position of the new queen, whose brother William V of Cleves was a leading member of the Protestant League in Europe. Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester entertained the king and Catharine at his episcopal palace, and it was assumed that she would become the king’s mistress. Instead, Henry divorced Anne of Cleves (July 9) and married Catharine three weeks later (July 28) and she was publicly proclaimed as queen.
Catharine’s short reign was ended through the intrigues of the Protestant faction. One of Catharine’s former companions at Lambeth, Mary Lassells, informed her brother of embarrassing particulars concerning the queen’s former life at Lambeth, namely her liasion with her music teacher, Henry Mannox and her secret betrothal to Francis Dereham, a kinsman in the service of her grandmother. Also her secret liasion with the king’s gentleman of the chamber, and her own cousin, Thomas Culpeper, which had been encouraged by Lady Rochford, was detected. Henry at first refused to entertain any thought of her guilt, but Mannox and Dereham were arrested, and the queen placed under house arrest and interrogated by Thomas Cranmer. Almost beside herself with terror, Catharine admitting to misconduct before her marriage, but continued to deny adultery with Thomas Culpeper and her supposed precontract with Dereham, which would have actually rendered her marriage with the king unlawful, and might have saved her life. Dereham and Culpeper were condemned to death (Dec 1, 1541), and several prominent members of the Howard family were arrested for misprision of treason, including her elderly grandmother, the Dowager Duchess and her daughter, the Countess of Bridgewater. Both would be released.
Queen Catharine was executed on Tower Hill, the Tower of London (Feb 13, 1542) and met her death with quiet dignity. Her remains were interred beside her cousin, Queen Anne Boleyn, in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, in the precincts of the Tower. The only book dedicated to Queen Catharine was The Birth of Mankind by Richard Jonas, a treatise on midwifery. She was portrayed by Angela Pleasance in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) with Keith Michell in the title role. Her uncle Norfolk was played by Patrick Troughton.

Catharine of Aragon – (1485 – 1536)
Queen consort of England (1509 – 1533)
Infanta Catalina of Aragon was born (Dec 16, 1485) at Alcala de Henares, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand V, King of Aragon, and his first wife, Isabella I, Queen of Castile, the half-sister and heiress of King Enrique IV. Catharine was sent to England to marry (1501) Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, elder son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His death six months later (1502) left Catharine a childless widow. She was then betrothed to Arthur’s brother Henry, Duke of York, seven years her junior, on he grounds that she was still a virgin, but the marriage was put off, and Catharine spent several years living in penury with her household in Durham House. With Henry VII’s death, the Duke of York became king as Henry VIII, and married Catharine at Greenwich Palace, and was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey, two weeks afterwards (June 24, 1509).
As queen Catharine was popular with the English people and court alike. Her eldest child was a stillborn daughter (1510), whilst her eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales, died aged only a few months (Feb 22, 1511). He was followed by the future Queen Mary I (1516 – 1558), but no other children survived. Mary was raised as ‘Princess of Wales’ and much care was lavished on her education, she eventually being betrothed to her Spanish cousin, the Emperor Charles V, amongst several other important potential bridegrooms. Queen Catharine accompanied Henry to France on the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520) with Francois I and his court, but with the rise of his interest in Anne Boleyn, Catharine day’s of influence and power were running out. They seperated in 1527 after Henry first became serious about his intention to divorce Catharine. She was exiled to Kimbolton Castle in Huntingdonshire and seperated from her daughter until such time as she agreed to the truth of the invalidity of their marriage, the illegitimate status of their daughter, and to adopt the official title of ‘Princess Dowager.’ The queen steadfastly refused these conditions, and remained seperated from her daughter forever.
Queen Catharine died (Jan 7, 1536) aged fifty, at Kimbolton. She was attended on her deathbed by a fellow Spanish courtier, Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby, who obtained admission to her dying mistress by a trick, and refused to leave her. She was later buried in Peterborough Cathedral. Her tomb was destroyed in 1642, but her bones remain interred there. Queen Catharine was portrayed on the screen by Annette Crosbie in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), with Keith Michell as the king. In the film with Michell entitled, Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), she was portrayed by Frances Cuka. In the movie, Anne of the Thousand Days (1970) with Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold, the queen was played by Greek actress Irene Papas, whilst in the BBC film The Other Boleyn Girl (2003) the queen was portrayed by Yolanda Vasquez, with Jared Harris as Henry, Jodhi May as Anne, and Natascha McElhone as her sister Mary. In the later version of The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), with Natalie Portman, Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson, she was played by the Spanish actress Ana Torrent. In the series The Tudors (2007) Catharine was portrayed by Maria Doyle Kennedy, with Jonathon Rhys Meyers as Henry, and Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsey.

Catharine Parr – (1512 – 1548)
Queen consort of England (1543 – 1547)
Catharine Parr was born, probably at Blackfriars in London, the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, and his wife Matilda Green. She was married firstly (1526) to Edward de Burgh, Lord Borough (1463 – 1528), an elderly widower, secondly (1533) to John Neville, Lord Latimer, as his third wife, and thirdly, in 1543 she became the sixth wife of King Henry VIII. All these marriages remained childless. Distinguished for her learning and knowledge of religious subjects, Catharine was a champion of the Protestant religion, a supporter of the Protestant martyr, Anne Askew, and herself wrote The Complaint or Lamentation of a Sinner (1547). She persuaded the king to restore the succession to his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth and was appointed by him to rule as regent during his absence in France. With Henry’s death she received all honours as queen dowager, and secretly remarried to her fourth husband, a former admirer, Sir Thomas Seymour of Sudeley Castle, near Cheltenham, brother of Edward, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector (1547 – 1553). During this time her stepdaughter Elizabeth was brought up in her household.
Queen Catharine died at Sudeley of puerperal fever (Sept 7, 1548) aged thirty-six, after the birth of a daughter, Mary Seymour, who died in 1551. Queen Catharine was portrayed by British actress Rosalie Crutchley in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) with Keith Michell, a role she reprised in the first episode of Elizabeth R (1971), with Glenda Jackson. In the film Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), again with Keith Michell in the title role, the queen was portrayed by Barbara Leigh-Hunt.

Cather, Willa Sibert – (1873 – 1947)
American novelist
Willer Cather was born near Winchester, Virginia in the old South (Dec 7, 1873), the daughter of a farmer, but was raised and educated in Nebraska from 1885. She later attended the University of Nebraska, before removing to Pittsburgh, where she worked as a schoolteacher, and later as a journalist, becoming editor of McClure’s magazine in New York (1906 – 1912).
Cather’s childhood experiences in Nebraska formed the background for her famous novels such as, O Pioneers (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and, My Antonia (1918), which is generally regarded as her best work. Later works included, One of Ours (1922), for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1923), My Mortal Enemy (1926), Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), a best-seller, Shadows on the Rock (1931), Not Under Forty (1936), and, Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940). Her last two works, The Old Beauty and Others (1948), and, Willa Cather on Writing (1949), were both published posthumously. Cather wrote the collection of verse entitled, April Twilights, and Other Poems (1923). Willa Cather died (April 24, 1947) aged seventy-three.

Catherine I – (1684 – 1727)
Russian Tsarina (1725 – 1727)
Born Martha Shavronska (April 15, 1684), she was the daughter of Samuel Shavronski, a Catholic Lithuanian peasant. She was left an orphan during early childhood and was raised by a Lutheran pastor in Marienburg. Taken as a captive during the Russian war with Sweden (1700), she became the mistress of Prince Alexander Menshikov. Several years later she was noticed by Tsar Peter the Great himself, who took her as his mistress (1703). She was converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the names of Catherine Alexievna. She bore him two surviving daughters, Anna and Elizabeth Petrovna, before the tsar eventually married her (1712).
Crowned as empress consort (1724), with Peter’s death the following year without a will, the intrigues of her former lover, Menshikov, gained her throne with the support of the Imperial guards. To secure her position she created the new governmental institution known as the Supreme Privy Council (1726), to which was transferred the control of government affairs. The empress continued to implement her late husband’s western oriented policies, and encouraged the development of private industry and continued to build up the army and navy, though she abolished Peter’s notorious Secret Chancellery for Investigative Affairs. During Catherine’s reign she lost territories on the Caspian Sea, but safely retained Peter’s gains in the important Baltic region, thwarting the designs of Sweden on these vital port areas. She authorized the scientific expedition led by Vitus Bering, which resulted in the discovery of the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska (1726) and established the Russian Academy of Sciences in the same year. The Empress Catherine I died suddenly (May 17, 1727), and was interred in St Petersburg. She was succeeded by her step-grandson Peter II (1727 – 1730).

Catherine II the Great – (1729 – 1796)
Tsarina of Russia (1762 – 1796)
Born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, in Stettin, Pomerania, she was the only daughter of Christian Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, and his wife Johanna Elisabeth, the daughter of Christian Augustus, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Sophia‘s marriage with Grand Duke Peter, the nephew and heir of the Russian Tsarina Elizabeth took place in 1745, when she converted to Russian orthodoxy and took the name of Catherine Alexievna. Catherine soon quarrelled with her young husband, and she became notorious for her many love affairs, such as those conducted with Count Sergei Saltykov (1726 – 1813), Count Lev Alexandrovitch Naryshkin (1733 – 1759), Prince Stanislas Augustus Ponioatowski, Prince Grigory Grigorievich Orlov (1734 – 1783), and Prince Grigori Potemkin (1731 – 1791), to whom she may have secretly married, among many others.

With the accession of her husband as Peter III (1762) Catherine was banished to a wing of the Imperial palace and virtually ignored, her place being usurped by Peter’s mistress, Elisaveta Vorontzova, whom he talked of marrying if he could divorce Catherine. She organized the conspiracy would dethroned Peter and forced his abdication, and she was proclaimed sole ruler as Catharine II. Not long afterwards, Peter was quietly murdered by Orlov and several accomplices. The empress made a show of taking regard of the Russian church, but her personal principles were those of the French philosophers. The government was organized with great energy, and Russia’s dominions and power rapidly increased, giving her great prestige in Europe. When discontent with the empress’s rule and its’ direction was voiced, the only surviving other male heir, the deposed Ivan VI, was murdered in his prison in Schlusselburg Castle, thus making the succession secure for her own son Paul I (1754 – 1801). She also crushed the rebellion led by the pretender Emel’yan Ivanovich Pugachev (1773) who claimed to be her later husband.
Life at the imperial court was much taken up with court intrigues, led by the various factions, all vying for the empress’s favour. The first partition of Poland (1772) and the following Turkish war (1774) did much to greatly increase the Russian empire, as did two subsequent wars, with Sweden (1790), and again with Turkey (1792). She took over control of Moldavia (1783), part of the Ukraine and Crimea, from Turkish control, extending the empire to the Black Sea, but failed to gain Constantinople, though she managed to gain control of the Caucasus region in the north, and annexed Lithuania. The second and third partitions of Poland, and the subsequent incorporation of Kurland with Russia, completed the triumphs of Catherine’s reign. The empress encouraged writing, letters and the arts, the development of towns and cities, public health and child welfare, and was greatly aided in these schemes by Potemkin, whom she created Prince de Tauride. She employed Antonio Rindel to construct the palace of Gatchina and the Cathedral of St Isaac in St Petersburg.

Catherine I de Courtenay – (1275 – 1307)
Titular empress of Constantinople (1283 – 1307)
Catherine I de Courtenay was the daughter of Philip I of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople, and his first wife Beatrice, the daughter of Charles I, King of Naples. Catherine was married (1301) to Charles I, Comte de Valois (1270 – 1325), the son of Philip III of France, as his second wife, and was the mother of Catherine II  of Valois, whilst her other daughter, Jeanne de Valois (1304 – 1363) became the wife of Robert III, Comte de Artois (1287 – 1342). With her father’s death (1283), she inherited his claims to the throne of Constantinople and was recognized as empress by the Latin states in Greece. Her husband shared the Imperial title in her right, but only until her death. Empress Catherine died (Jan 3, 1307) aged thirty-one.

Catherine II de Valois – (1303 – 1346)
Titular empress of Constantinople (1308 – 1346)
Catherine II de Valois was the daughter of Charles I, Comte de Valois, and granddaughter of Philip III of France (1270 – 1285). Her mother was the titular Empress Catherine I, the daughter of the Latin emperor, Philip I of Courtenay. She was half-sister to the French king Philip VI (1328 – 1350). Catherine was betrothed at Sens (April, 1303) whn a mere infant, to marry Duke Hugh IV of Burgundy (1294 – 1315) and a papal dispensation was granted for the proposed marriage (1307). However, this arrangement was later broken off (1312) due to Hugh’s supposed ill-health. This was a polite fiction as soon afterwards the duke made a dynastic betrothal (1313) with his cousin Jeanne, the daughter of Philip V (she later married his brother Eudes IV instead).
Catherine inherited the Imperial title from her mother (1307), but due to her youth, her father managed her claims until his death (1325). She was married (1313) to Philip of Taranto, who assumed the Imperial title as Emperor Philip II. With the death of her husband (1332), the empress held vast territorial possessions in the Latin empire of the Morea, which she controlled and ruled on behalf of her eldest son, Robert of Taranto (1319 – 1364), Prince of Achaia. A woman of considerable political talent and ability, the empress ruled Achaia as regent (1332 – 1341) for her son, and was also governor of Kephalonia (1341 – 1346). She granted political asylum to Nikephorus II Orsini of Epirus and supported him in his attempts to assert himself against the pretensions of the Byzantine emperor, Andronikos III Palaeologus.
Empress Catherine died in her suddenly, in her sleep (Oct, 1346), aged forty-three. Her second son, Louis of Taranto (1320 – 1362) became King of Naples by right of his marriage with Queen Giovanna I, whilst her third, Philip of Taranto (1329 – 1374), King of Albania, eventually inherited the Imperial title as Philip III. Her daughter Margeurite of Taranto (c1325 – 1380) was married, as her first husband, to Edward Baliol, King of Scotland.

Catherine de Bourbon – (1559 – 1604)
Duchess consort of Bar in Lorraine
Princess Catherine de Bourbon was born (Feb 7, 1559) at the Chateau de Pau, the only daughter of Jeanne III, Queen of Navarre (1555 – 1572) and her husband Antoine de Bourbon, who was king-consort (1555 – 1562), and was the only sibling of Henry IV, King of France (1589 – 1610). She was raised as a stric Protestant and accompanied her mother and brother to Paris (1572) and the Valois court. After the Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day Catherine and her brother were forced to convert to Catholicism. When she was later permitted to return to the court of her father in Bearn (1575) she soon reverted to Protestantism in which faith she remained firm till her death.
Because of the unsteady religious and political policy in France, Catherine’s brother used her as a marriage pawn to further his political needs, but any husband chosen for her would have a claim to the Bourbon throne, as the king’s marriage with Margeurite de Valois remained childless and many believed the king would die without an heir. Henry III (1574 – 1589) wished to marry Catherine but Catherine de Medici frustrated this plan. The Duke of Lorraine, the Prince de Conde and Duke Carlo of Savoy all wished to marry her but neither of these matches eventuated. James VI of Scotland, urged by Queen Elizabeth, asked for her hand (1586) despite the fact that she was seven years his senior. This alliance finally fell through when James married Anne of Denmark instead (1589). Catherine then formed a romantic attachment with Charles de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons at Nerac and they planned to elope and marry, being assisted in their plan by her brother Henry’s mistess Madame de Gramont. Henry was apprised of the plan and Soissons was forced to leave Navarre whilst Catherine was place under guard at Nerac.
Mainly because of these intrigues the princess remained unmarried long passed her youth. From 1589 she joined her brother’s court in Paris where the English minister Lord Cecil met her (1589) and described her as ‘well-painted, ill-dressed, and strangely jewelled.’ Eventually after many broken promises, Henry IV permitted Catherine to become the first wife of the Catholic prince Henry I of Lorraine (1563 – 1624), Duc de Bar when she almost forty (1599). The king had promised that Catherine would convert to Roman Catholicism but she steadfastly refused to do so. Despite this when the duke went to Rome the pope granted him the necessary dispensation for the marriage. Despite their religious differences the duchess became devotedly attached to her husband, though his treatment of her was not always honourable.
Catherine received Philip II of Spain’s once favoured minister Antonio Perez as an exile at her court and treated him with much honour, and refused to hand him over to Philip’s agents when requested to do so. Duchess Catherine died in childbirth (Feb 13, 1604) at Nancy at the age forty-five. The child did not survive. Her surviving verses were greatly influenced by her Protestant religious fervour and were edited and published three hundred and twenty years after her death by Raymond Ritter in Paris as Lettres et poesies de Catherine de Bourbon (1927).

Catherine de Foix – (1470 – 1517)
Queen regnant of Navarre (1483 – 1515)
Princess Catherine de Foix was the only daughter of Gaston de Foix (1444 – 1470) Prince of Viana and his wife Madeleine de Valois, the daughter of Charles VII, King of France (1422 – 1461). She was the paternal granddaughter of Gaston de Foix and his wife Leonor of Aragon, Queen regnant of Navarre (1479), the daughter of Juan II, King of Aragon, and the younger sister of Francois Phoebus (1467 – 1483) King of Navarre (1479 – 1483).
With the death of her grandmother Leonor the throne of Navarre passed to Princess Catherine’s brother Francois Phoebus, under the regency of heir mother Madeleine. The young king was poisoned (1483) probably at the instigation of Ferdinando V, King of aragon, their uncle, who desired the kingdom of Navarre to revert to Aragonese rule. Catherine was proclaimed queen of Navarre under the continued regency of Princess Madeleine. Ferdinand and his wife Isabella I of Castile desired that Catherine should be betrothed to their son and heir Juan of Aragon (1475 – 1497), Prince of the Asturias. However Louis XI of France, Catherine’s maternal uncle, wished to seize Navarre and made a plan to occupy the country. Queen Isabella travelled with her husband to the frontier town of Layrano in order to prevent Louis entering the country but he died soon afterwards (Nov, 1483).
Queen Catherine was married at Orthez (1484) to a French lord Jean, Duc d’Albret (1469 – 1516) who became king of Navarre as Jean II. Through this marriage Foix, Bearn and Navarre passed to the house of Albret. Catherine and Jean ruled jointly but independence was impossible on account of Navarre’s position between two mutually hostile states, France and Spain. Ferdinando V of Aragon eventually defeated King Jean on the battlefield (1511) and annexed the southern part of Navarre, but the north remained an independent kingdom. The country was formally annexed to the Castilian crown (1515) though it remained an independent country.
The king and queen and their children fled to France. Whilst crossing the border the queen is said to have stated to her husband ‘If we had been born, you Catherine, and I Don Jean, we would not have lost our kingdom.’ Queen Catherine died (Feb 12, 1517) aged forty-six, at Mont-de-Marsan. Through her son Henry she was the direct ancestress of Henry IV of France (1589 – 1610) and his descendants. Her thirteen children were,

1) Princesse Anne d’Albret of Navarre (1492 – 1532). She died unmarried.

2) Princesse Magdalene d’Albret of Navarre (1494 – 1504). She died during childhood.

3) Princesse Catherine d’Albret of Navarre (1495 – 1532). She became a nun and was appointed as Abbess of La Trinitie at Caen in Normandy.

4) Princesse Jeanne d’Albret of Navarre (1496). She died in infancy.

5) Princesse Quiteria d’Albret of Navarre (1498 – 1536). She became a nun and was Abbess of Montvilliers in Normandy.

6) Son (1500). He died almost immediately after birth.

7) Prince Andre Febo d’Albret of Navarre (1501 – 1503). He died in infancy.

8) Henry II (1503 – 1555). He was reinstated as King of Navarre by Francois I (1517 – 1555) and was married to his sister Margeurite de Valois and left issue.

9) Princesse Buenaventura d’Albret of Navarre (1505 – 1511). She died during childhood.

10) Prince Martin d’Albret (1507 – c1513). He died during childhood.

11) Prince Francois d’Albret (1508 – 1512). He died during childhood.

12) Prince Charles d’Albret of Navarre (1510 – 1528). He died unmarried.

13) Princesse Isabelle d’Albret (1513 – 1564). She became the wife of Rene II, Duc de Rohan (c1500 – 1552) and left issue.

Catherine de Medici     see also    Catherine Marie Romola

Catherine de Medici – (1593 – 1629)
Italian princess and ruler
Catherine de Medici, Princess of Tuscany was born (May 2, 1593) in Florence, the second daughter of Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Florence and his wife Christina of Lorraine. She was named in honour of her great-grandmother Catherine de Medici, the Queen-Regent of France. She received an extensive education and was considered to be a lady of considerable culture and accomplishments. Catherine was married (1617) to Ferdinando I Gonzaga (1587 – 1626), Duke of Mantua as his second wife, but this union remained childless.
With her husband’s death Catherine became the Dowager Duchess of Mantua (1626 – 1629). Duchess Catherine returned to the Medici court and her mother, the Regent Christina appointed her as governor of the city of Siena. The duchess died there of smallpox (April 17, 1629) aged thirty-five, with a reputation for religious piety. She was interred within the Medici mausoleum in Florence. Her portrait is preserved in the Pitti Gallery in Florence.

Catherine de Valois      see also    Katherine de Valois

Catherine de Valois – (1428 – 1446)
Princesss of France
Princess Catherine was the second daughter of Charles VII, King of France (1422 – 1461) and his wife Marie of Anjou, the daughter of Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples. She became the first wife at St Omer (1439) of Prince Charles of Burgundy (1433 – 1477), Comte de Charolais (later Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy) in a marriage destined to balance the power of the royal house with the ducal dynasty of Burgundy and reinforce those ties of loyalty to the crown. The princess died childless in Brussels and was buried there.

Catherine Ivanovna   see   Ekaterina Ivanovna

Catherine Jagiella – (1526 – 1583)
Queen consort of Sweden (1569 – 1583)
Princess Catherine Jagiella was born (Nov 1, 1526) in Stockholm, the youngest daughter if Sigmund I the Old, King of Poland (1506 – 1548), and his Italian wife, Bona Sforza. She had been vainly sought as a bride by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, but the union never eventuated. Various other marriage proposal came to nothing and Catherine was finally married at Vilnius in Lithuania (1562), when already aged thirty-six, to Johannes Vasa of Sweden, Duke of Finland, the younger son of King Gustavus I and brother to King Erik XIV. She became the mother of Sigismund III Vasa (1566 – 1632), King of Poland and Sweden (1587 – 1632) whom she raised in the Roman Catholic faith, and who married twice and left male issue. She also bore two daughters, Princess Isabella (1564 – 1566) who died in infancy and Princess Anna Vasa (1568 – 1625) who remained unmarried.
Catherine resided with the duke at Turku Castle in Finland, which was later besieged by King Eric XIV and his army. Catherine and her husband were captured and taken to Sweden, where they remained imprisoned within Gripsholm Castle. During this time Ivan the Terrible requested Erik to separate Catherine from her husband and send her to Moscow as his bride, despite the fact that she was expecting her first child. Her children Sigismund and Anna were born at Gripsholm before the couple were released from captivity (1568). After Erik’s depostion (1569) Johannes took the throne as John III of Sweden (1569 – 1587) and Catherine was then crowned as queen consort (1569). Queen Catherine died (Sept 16, 1583) aged fifty-six, at Turku Castle, and was interred within the Cathedral of Uppsala.

Catherine Karlsdotter – (c1422 – 1450)
Queen consort of Sweden (1448 – 1450)
Catherine Karlsdotter was the daughter of Karl Ormsson. She was married (1438) to King Charles VIII (1408 – 1470) as his second wife. Her four sons all died young. Queen Catherine died (Sept 7, 1450) aged in her late twenties (Sept 7, 1450).

Catherine Magennis – (c1579 – 1618)
Last queen consort of Ulster in Ireland (1598 – 1603)
Catherine Magennis was the sister of Arthur, first Viscount Magennis, of Iveagh. She was married (c1597) to Aedh O’Neill, king of Ulster (1550 – 1616), who was styled earl of Tyrone from 1603. She was the mother of John O’Neill, fourth Earl of Tyrone (c1598 – 1641). Queen Catherine died (March 15, 1618) aged in her late thirties.

Catherine of Alexandria – (287 – 305 AD)
Graeco-Roman Christian martyr and saint
Catherine was a member of a wealthy family from Alexandria in Egypt. She may have been originally named Dorothea and adopted the name Catherine after her conversion to Christianity. Well edcuated and known for her attractions, Catherine was admired by the emperor Maxentius, but repulsed his advances. In revenge her banished her and confiscated her property. She was put to death after returning from exile without permission, and was interred within a monastery on Mount Sinai, where her shrine remains. These are the only known facts concerning her life.
Catherine of Alexandria’s Acts are fabulous in the extreme but her actual existence is generally admitted. Her great popularity was extraordinary considering the small historical foundation on which her life rests. She was mentioned in all the matryrologies (Nov 25), and was variously depicted in religious art as one of the four great virgin martyrs of the Greek church, though she was later removed from the church calendar in the late twentieth century. St Catherine was the patron of Venice, Guastalla, Goa, Scala, near Amalfi, Magdeburg and Zwickau, as well as being the tutelary saint of nuns, virgins, and philosophers, of the millers of Liege and of the Barefooted Order of the Holy Trinity. She was chosen by royal and high-born ladies as the saint of their special devotion, and was the only saint to have a firework, the ‘Catherine wheel,’ named after her.

Catherine of Austria (1) – (1507 – 1578)
Queen consort of Portugal (1525 – 1557)
Archduchess Catherine was born (Jan 14, 1507) at Torqemada in Spain, the youngest and posthumous daughter of Philip I of Austria, King of Castile, and his wife Juana of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand V and Isabella I. Catherine was raised during her early years amongst the squalor and poverty which surrounded her mother’s demented lifestyle at Tordesillas. Her brother, the emperor Charles V, had feared that if he removed his sister from her mother’s care, that the queen’s precarious mental condition might further deteriorate. Eventually however, the emperor was forced to intervene, and the Archduchess Catalina was removed to his own court, to be educated and prepared for a suitable marriage. Proposed unions with Joachim of Brandenburg and Johann Friedrich I of Saxony did not materialize, and she was married instead (1525) to her cousin, Joao III, King of Portugal (1502 – 1557), to whom she bore nine children, of whom only two survived infancy. As queen mother she ruled the kingdom as regent for five years (1557 – 1562) for her young grandson, King Sebastian (1554 – 1578) as directed by her husband in his will, and despite several attempts by her brother Charles to assert Hapsburg authority in Portugal. Queen Catherine died (Feb 12, 1578) aged seventy-one, at the Palace of Enxobrigas, near Lisbon, Estramadura, and was interred in the Abbey of Santa Maria at Belem.

Catherine of Austria (2) – (1533 – 1572)
Queen consort of Poland (1553 – 1572)
Archduchess Catherine was born (Sept 15, 1533) in Vienna, the daughter of the Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand I (1555 – 1564), and his wife Anna, the sister and heiress of Louis II, King of Hungary (1516 – 1526). Catherine was married firstly (1549) to Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (1533 – 1550), but the union remained childless. She was then the Dowager Duchess of Mantua (1550 – 1553) before she was remarried (1553), as his third wife, to King Sigismund II Augustus (1520 – 1572) of Poland. The queen remained childless, whilst Sigismund had children by various mistresses. Queen Catherine narrowly predeceased her husband, dying aged thirty-nine (Feb 28, 1572).

Catherine of Bologna   see   Vigri, Caterina di

Catherine of Braganza – (1638 – 1705) 
Queen consort of Great Britain (1662 – 1685)
Princess Catherine of Braganza was born at Vila Vicosa, the daughter of Joao VI, King of Portugal, formerly Duke of Braganza, and his wife Luiza Maria de Guzman. She married (1662) Charles II, King of England, with Tangiers and Bombay as her dowry. Despite several miscarriages, Catherine bore no surviving children, and sufferred the humiliation of having to receive the king’s mistress Barbara Villiers and her children at court. Her childlessness notwithstanding, her husband appears to have been genuinely fond of Catherine, and he refused all pressure from the government and courtiers to divorce her, and personally defended her in court, against the lies and calumnies of Titus Oates during the furore of the so-called ‘Popish Plot’ (1678). Though he generally treated her fairly, she always remained a secondary figure at his court.
Widowed in 1685, Catherine retired to Somerset House. As queen dowager, she vainly interceded with James II on behalf of her bastard stepson, the Duke of Monmouth, was present at the birth of James Edward Stuart (1688), and remained on pleasant terms with William and Mary. However, her Roman Catholicism always rendered her suspect, and seven years after the king’s death, Queen Catherine returned to Portugal (1692). There she was later appointed to rule as regent (1704) for her brother Pedro II during an illness. Queen Catherine died in office (Dec 31, 1705), at the Palace of Bemposta, Lisbon, and was interred at Belem.

Catherine of Brandenburg (Katharina) – (1602 – 1649)
German princess
Catherine was born (May 28, 1602) the third daughter of Johann Sigismund (1572 – 1619), Elector of Brandenburg (1608 – 1619) and his wife Anna of Prussia, the daughter of Albert Friedrich, Duke of Prussia. She was the paternal great-aunt of Friedrich I, King of Prussia (1701 – 1713). She was married firstly to Gabriel Bethlen (1580 – 1629), Prince of Siebenburgen in Transylvania as his second wife.
Bethlen had attempted a rapprochement with the Imperial court in Vienna on the basis of an alliance against the Turks, and his own marriage with one of the Hapsburg archduchesses but the Emperor Ferdinand II rejected his advances. Accordingly, upon his return from Vienna he married Princess Catherine who was a sister-in-law of Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden who he hoped, would help him obtain the polish crown. In this aim he proved unsuccessful as he died (Nov 25, 1629) before he could accomplish any of his great plans, having secured the election of Catherine as princess of Siebenburgen before he died.
Catherine ruled for several years and was then removed from power by the Austrians whose power she was unable to oppose. She remarried secondly (1639) to Franz Karl (1594 – 1669), Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg as his second wife and became duchess of saxe-Lauenburg (1639 – 1649). There were no children. Duchess Catherine died (Aug 27, 1649) aged forty-seven.

Catherine of Brittany – (1428 – 1476)
French princess
Catherine was the daughter of Prince Richard of Brittany, Comte d’Etampes and his wife Margeurite d’Orleans, Comtesse de Vertus, sister to Duc Charles d’Orleans (1394 – 1465) the noted poet, they being grandchildren of Charles V, King of France (1364 – 1380). Catherine became the wife (1438) of Guillaume de Chalon (c1420 – 1475) who succeeded his father as Prince Guillaume VIII of Orange (1463 – 1475) and became princess consort of Orange.
Princess Catherine inherited the seigneuries of l’Epine-Gandin, de la Ferte-Milon, de Nogent-d’Artaud and de Gandelu. She briefly survived her husband as the Dowager Princess of Orange (1475 – 1476) and died (before April 22, 1476) at the Chateau d’Orange. Her only child was Jean IV de Chalon (c1449 – 1502) who succeeded his father as sovereign Prince of Orange (1475 – 1502) and married twice and left descendants.

Catherine of Brunswick-Luneburg (Katharina) – (1390 – 1442)
Electress consort of Saxony (1423 – 1428)
Duchess Catherine of Brunswick-Luenburg was the daughter of Heinrich II (c1365 – 1416), Duke of Brunswick-Luneberg and his wife Sophia of Pomerania. She became the wife (1402) of Margrave Friedrich of Meissen (1370 – 1428) and became the Margravine of Meissen (1402 – 1428). When her husband became elector of Saxony as Friedrich I (1423) Catherine became electress consort of Saxony. Catherine survived Friedrich as the Dowager Electress of Saxony (1428 – 1442) and died (Dec 28, 1442) aged fifty-two. Of her seven children one died in infancy. The five survivors were,

1) Friedrich II (1412 – 1464). He succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony (1428 – 1464) and was married to Margaret of Austria and left issue.

2) Prince Sigismund of Saxony (1416 – 1471). He entered the church and was appointed as Bishop of Wurzburg in Bavaria (1440 – 1443).

3) Princess Anna of Saxony (1420 – 1462). She became the wife of Ludwig I (1402 – 1458), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and left issue.

4) Princess Catherine of Saxony (1421 – 1476). She became the wife of Friedrich II (1413 – 1471), Elector of Brandenburg and left issue.

5) Prince Heinrich of Saxony (1422 – 1435). He died aged thirteen.

6) Wilhelm II (1425 – 1482). He became Duke of Saxony and Landgrave of Thuringia (1445 – 1465) and was married and left two daughters.

Catherine of Burgundy (1) – (1378 – 1425)
French heiress
Princess Catherine was the second daughter of Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Margaret of Flanders. Possessed of little beauty Catherine was offered as a bride for Wilhelm of Bavaria, but he chose her elder sister Margaret instead. She was married (1393) to Leopold III (1371 – 1411), the Hapsburg Duke of Austria, at the same time that her younger sister Marie became the wife of Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Both of these marriages helped Duke Philip tremendously in the pursuit of the eastern policy which he had begun in 1387. The marriage remained childless. With her husband’s death (1411), Catherine considered marriage with the Alsation nobleman, Maximin de Ribeaupierre, but her nephew, Philip III the Good, not only forced Duchess Catherine to abandon her matrimonial plans, but coerced her into agreeing to bequeath her lands and estates to him. She later remarried (c1419) to Count Smasmann von Rappoltstein (died 1450), but remained this union remained childless. Duchess Catherine died (Jan 26, 1425) aged forty-six.

Catherine of Burgundy (2) – (1401 – 1414)
French princess
Catherine was the fifth daughter of Jean the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1404 – 1419) and his wife Margaret of Bavaria, daughter of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria. She was sister to Philip III the Good, Duke of Burgundy (1419 – 1467) and sister to Anne of Burgundy, wife of Prince John, Duke of Bedford the brother of Henry V of England. Catherine was betrothed several times including to Louis de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, but ultimately died unmarried.

Catherine of Cleves – (1548 – 1633)
Duchess de Guise (1570 – 1588)
Princess Catherine was the second daughter of Francis I of Cleves, Duc de Nevers, and his wife Margeurite de Bourbon-Vendome, the sister of Antoine de Bourbon, Kiing of Navarre, the consort of Queen Jeanne III of Navarre (1555 – 1572). She inherited the county of Eu in 1564, which she held in her own right for the rest of her long life. Catherine was married firstly (1560) to Antoine de Croy (1539 – 1567), Prince de Porcean, but his marriage remained childless. She became the wife (1570) of Henry I de Lorraine, Duc de Guise (1563 – 1588), to whom she bore fourteen children, including Charles de Lorraine (1571 – 1640), Duc de Guise, and Cardinal Louis de Guise (1575 – 1621). Her two elder daughters became nuns and abbesses whilst the third, Louise Margeurite de Lorraine, became the wife of Francois de Bourbon (1558 – 1614), Prince de Conti.
Despite bearing many children, the duchesse became involved in a famous liasion with a young courtier, named Saint Megrin, who was then killed by her husband. This affair was immortalized by Alexandre Dumas in his play, Henri III et sa cour (1829). Her portrait survives, dated from after 1588. Her husband, the leader of the Catholic faction, was murdered by King Henry III (1588) and the duchesse became involved with the plots initiated by the Catholic league, which resulted in the king’s assassination (1589). She supported the claims of her son Charles to the French throne, but after the accession of Henry IV, and his acceptance of Catholicism, the duchesse returned to the court, and obtained a position in the household of his second wife, Marie de Medici. Her family supported the queen mother during her period as regent, but when Louis XIII took control of the government she accompanied Queen Marie and her household into exile to Blois. She later returned to the court of Louis XIII, where she became involved in intrigues against the powerful Duc de Richelieu. Duchess Catherine died (May 11, 1633) aged eighty-five, at the Chateau d’Eu in Normandy.

Catherine of Genoa     see     Fieschi, Caterina

Catherine of Hungary    see   Katalin of Hungary

Catherine of Kustrin – (1549 – 1602)
German Electress consort of Brandenburg
Princess Catherine (Katharina) was born (Aug 10, 1549) the second daughter and second child of Johann I of Brandenburg, Margrave of Kustrin and his wife Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, the daughter of Heinrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. She was married (1570) to her first cousin, the electoral prince Joachim Friedrich of Brandenburg (1546 – 1608) and became his electress consort (1598 – 1602). Electress Catherine died (Sept 30, 1602) aged fifty-three. Apart from two daughters who died in infancy, Catherine left nine children,

1) Prince Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg (1572 – 1619). He succeeded his father as Elector of Brandenburg (1602) and left issue.

2) Princess Anna Catherine of Brandenburg (1575 – 1612). She became the first wife of Christian IV (1577 – 1648), King of Denmark and left issue.

3) Prince Johann George of Brandenburg (1577 – 1624). He became Duke of Jagerndorf and married Duchess Eva Christina of Wurttemburg (1590 – 1657) but died without issue.

4) Prince Augustus of Brandenburg (1580 – 1601). He died unmarried.

5) Prince Albert Friedrich of Brandenburg (1582 – 1600). He died unmarried.

6) Prince Joachim of Brandenburg (1583 – 1600). He died unmarried.

7) Prince Ernst of Brandenburg (1583 – 1613). A twin with his brother Joachim, he died unmarried.

8) Princess Barbara Sophia of Brandenburg (1584 – 1636). She became the wife of Johann Friedrich (1582 – 1628), Duke of Wurttemburg.

9) Prince Christian Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1587 – 1665). He became Bishop of Halberstadt but resigned his office when he converted to Roman Catholicism (1632). He then married three
times but left an only daughter and heiress, Sophia Elisabeth of Brandenburg (1616 – 1650), the wife of Friedrich Wilhelm II (1603 – 1669), Duke of Saxe-Altenburg but died childless.

Catherine of Lancaster – (1372 – 1418)
Queen consort of Castile (1390 – 1406)
Catherine of Lancaster was born in Hertford Castle, the daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and the granddaughter of King Edward III (1327 – 1377). Her mother was Gaunt’s second wife Constance (Constanza), the elder surviving daughter and heiress of Pedro I the Cruel, King of Castile (1350 – 1367). Catherine was raised in England, mainly at Leicester Castle, and was married (1388) by her parents, at the church of St Antolin in Fuentarrabia to Enrique III el Doliente, King of Castile (1379 – 1406). This marriage ended the claims of her mother to the throne of Castile, and the marriage treaty stated that Catherine and Enrique were to have Galicia settled upon them, and they received the title of Prince and Princess of the Asturias until Enrique succeeded to the throne.
The marriage was not a great success, and the king remained an invalid for most of his reign. Queen Catherine maintained a steady and knowledgeable grasp upon the country’s administration. Catherine was the mother of King Juan II (1405 – 1454), for whom she ruled as regent (1406 – 1418), in conjunction with her brother-in-law, Ferdinando of Antequerra until 1412, when he received the crown of Aragon, though he continued to support for Catherine until his death (1416). Catherine’s regency was tranquil and little of political importance happened to cause upheaval, apart from minor scrapes with the Castilian nobles. Queen Catherine died (June 2, 1418) aged forty-six, at Valladolid. She was buried at Toledo where her tomb bore the incription ‘Catherine Alencastre.’

Catherine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Katharina) – (1518 – 1581)
German duchess and dynastic heiress
Princess Catherine was born (April 14, 1518) the fourth daughter of Heinrich V, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1503 – 1552), being his second by his second wife the Countess Palatine Helena of the Rhine. She was married (1538) to Duke Friedrich III of Liegnitz (1520 – 1570) in Silesia, and she became his duchess consort (1547 – 1570). Duchess Catherine inherited a claim to the thrones of Denmark, Sweden and Norway as a descendant of Albert II (1318 – 1379), Duke of Mecklenburg and his wife Princess Euphemia Eriksdotter, the granddaughter of Magnus I, King of Sweden. Catherine survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Liegnitz (1570 – 1581). The duchess died (Nov 17, 1581) aged sixty-three, and was buried at Liegnitz. She passed her dynastic claims to the Scandinavian kingdoms to her children,

1) Heinrich XI (1539 – 1588). He succeeded his father as sovereign Duke of Liegnitz (1570 – 1588). He married Sophia of Brandenburg but left only two surviving daughters.

2) Princess Sophia of Liegnitz (1541 – 1542). She died in infancy.

3) Princess Katharina of Liegnitz (1542 – 1569). She became the wife of Friedrich Kasimir (1541 – 1571), Duke of Teschen but left no surviving issue.

4) Prince Friedrich of Liegnitz (1543 – 1551). He died young.

5) Princess Helena of Liegnitz (1545 – 1583). She became the wife of Siegmund von Kurzbach (died 1579), Baron von Trachenburg.

6) Friedrich IV (1552 – 1596). He succeeded his elder brother as Duke of Liegnitz (1588 – 1596) but left no surviving issue.

Catherine of Pallanza   see   Morigia, Caterina

Catherine of Pomerania – (1390 – 1426)
German princess and dynastic heiress
Catherine was the only daughter of Vratislav VII, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast and his wife Princess Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the daughter of Heinrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1379 – 1383). She was married (1407) at Ripen to Johann of Bavaria (1383 – 1443), Count Palatine of Neumarkt as his first wife, and became his countess consort (1407 – 1426). Princess Catherine inherited a claim to the thrones of Denmark and Sweden as the great-granddaughter of Valdemar IV, King of Denmark.
When her brother Duke Eric of Pomerania became Eric VII of Denmark and Sweden (1397) Catherine became his heiress presumptive until he produced an heir. Catherine bore her husband eight children and then separated from him to retire to the Abbey of Gnadenburg. Catherine died there (March 4, 1426) and was buried within the cloister. Her only surviving child was the Count Palatine Christopher of Bavaria-Neumarkt (1416 – 1448) succeeded as King of Denmark (1439) in his mother’s right as Christopher III and left descendants. Her other children, Margareta, Adolf, Otto, Johann, Friedrich and a second Johann, all died in infancy before their mother.

Catherine of Racconigi   see   Mattei d’Racconigi, Caterina

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1) (Katharina) – (c1381 – 1448)
German princess and ruler
Princess Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg was the second daughter and fourth child of Eric IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and his wife Sophia of Brunswick-Luneburg, the daughter of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg. Her first marriage with Johann VII (c1363 – 1414), Prince of Werle-Gustrow produced no children. As the Dowager Princess of Werle-Waren (1414 – 1416) she became the second wife (1416) of Johann IV (c1374 – 1422), the sovereign Duke of Mecklenburg-Stargard and became the Duchess consort of Stargard (1416 – 1422).
Dowager Duchess Catherine then ruled Gustrow and Schwerin as regent (1422 – 1432) for her young sons Duke Heinrich II (1417 – 1477) and Duke Johann V (1418 – 1443) of Schwerin. Catherine survived her second husband for over two decades (1422 – 1448) as the Dowager Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She died (shortly after Nov 18 in 1448) aged in her late sixties.

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (2) (Katharina) – (1513 – 1535)
Queen consort of Sweden (1531 – 1535)
Duchess Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg was born (Sept 24, 1513) was the daughter of Duke Magnus O of Saxe-Lauenburg and his wife Catherine of Brunswick. She became the first wife (1531) of Gustavus I Vasa (1496 – 1560), King of Sweden and her new subjects called her Katarina. The marriage had been political desirable because the king was a supporter of the Reformation and wished for a closer alliance with the German princes and courts. Apart from this Catherine’s elder sister Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg was the wife of King Christian III of Denmark and the marriage granted King Gustavus some political influence over Danish affairs.
Queen Catherine was the mother of Erik XIV (1533 – 1577) who succeeded his father as King of Sweden (1560 – 1568). He was a suitor for the hand of Elizabeth I of England but was later deposed due to his insanity. Despite the birth of a male heir the marriage was not an amicable one. The queen accused Gustavus of trying to arrange the murder of her borther-in-law Christian of Denmark and died soon afterwards (Sept 23, 1535) aged twenty-two. She was buried in Uppsala Cathedral. Tradition has it that the king murdered Catherine with a hammer but the facts remain unclear and the Saxe-Lauenburg family made no formal complaint after the queen’s death.

Catherine of Siena    see    Benincasa, Caterina

Catherine of Taranto – (b. c1390)
Italian noblewoman
Caterina del Balzo Orsini was the younger daughter of Raimondo del Balzo Orsini, Count of Nola and his wife Marie d’Enghien. With the death of her father her mother remarried (1406) to King Ladislas of Naples (died 1414) who became Catherine’s stepfather. She was married to the French knight Bartholomew Tristan de Clermont (Chiaramonte) (1380 – c1432) who became Count di Copertino in Italy which formed part of Catherine’s dowry and became the princess of Taranto. The county of Copertino was inherited by her younger daughter Sanchia. She bore her husband two daughters, and through her elder daughter Isabella Princess Catherine was the ancestress of the talented sisters, Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua and Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan. Her children were,

1) Isabella of Taranto (1424 – 1465). She became the wife of Ferrante I (1423 – 1494), King of Naples (1458 – 1494) and left issue.

2) Sanchia of Taranto (1426 – 1468). She became the wife of Francesco II del Balzo (1410 – 1482), Duke of Andria and left issue.

Catherine of Valois     see    Katherine de Valois

Catherine of Wurttemburg – (1783 – 1835)
Queen consort of Westphalia (1807 – 1815) and memoirist
Princess Frederica Catherine Sophia Dorothea of Wurttemburg was born (Feb 21, 1783), the eldest daughter of Duke Friedrich (later King Friedrich I of Wurttemburg (1806 – 1816) and his first wife Augusta of Brunswick, the daughter of Karl II Ferdinand, Duke of Brinswick-Wolfenbuttel. She spent several years at the court of St Petersburg in Russia with her parents (1784 – 1786). Her father agreed to her proposed marriage with Jerome Bonapart (1784 – 1860), the brother of Emperor Napoleon as a means of safeguarding the country of Wurttemburg from the emperor. Catherine was reluctant but gave in to family pressure and the wedding took place at the Palace of St Cloud (1807). Soon afterwards the emperor appointed Jerome as King of Westphalia and Catherine was a queen consort. From Dec, 1809 till Napoleon’s second marriage with Marie Louise of Austria (April, 1810), Queen Catherine performed the role of Imperial hostess at the French court, and Prince Metternich was much impressed by her dignity.
Her marriage proved to be an extremely happy one, and she became devotedly attached to Jerome, to whom she showed unfailing love and loyalty all her life. She became much attached to her mother-in-law, the formidable Madame Mere, and surviving letters from the two women provide ample proof of their genuine affection for each other. With Napoloen’s downfall (1814) Queen Catherine, then pregnant, accompanied the Empress Marie Louise from the capital as a refugee. She travelled to Wurttemburg where her father granted her and Jerome the Castle of Ekensberg for their residence, after she bravely defied his exhortation to abandon her husband. She was with her husband and infant son when Jerome narrowly escaped capture by Austrian forces at Trieste (March, 1815). Soon afterwards Jerome was deprived of his royal title and given the title of Prince de Montfort and Prince Metternich later gave the couple the Castle of Hainburg (Aug, 1816). Her brother Wilhelm I of Wurttemburg made repeated requests for Catherine to leave Jerome and retire with her children to live with her family, but she always refused. The family later removed to Florence (1832) to escape an outbreak of cholera and the queen successfully intervened with the Russian minister and the Wurttemburg attaché in Rome to prevent the arrest of her eldest son Jerome for supposed Bonapartist activities.
Queen Catherine died (Nov 28, 1835) aged fifty-two, in Lausanne. Switzerland. Her personal correspondence was edited and published posthumously in Paris as Correspondance inedited (1810 – 1821) del al reine Catherine de Westphalie, nee princesse de Wurtemburg avec sa famille et celled u roi Jerome, les souverains etrangers et divers personages (1893). Her children were,

1) Prince Jerome de Bonaparte (1814 – 1847). He was styled Prince de Montfort and died unmarried.

2) Princesse Mathilde de Bonaparte (1820 – 1904). She was a leader of the fashionable Second Empire salons. Mathilde was married to a Russian peer, Anatole Demidov (1813 – 1876),
Prince di San Donato from whom she was later seperated.

3) Prince Napoleon Louis de Bonaparte (1822 – 1891). Known as ‘Plon-Plon’ to his family from him are descended the present senior representatives of the Bonaparte dynasty.

Catherine of Ymseborg   see   Catherine Sunesdotter

Catherine of York (Katherine) – (1479 – 1527)
English Plantagenet princess
Catherine of York was born (Aug 14, 1479) at Eltham Palace, Kent, the sixth daughter of Edward IV, King of England (1461 – 1483) and his wife Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of Sir John Grey, of Groby, and daughter of Richard Woodville, first Earl of Rivers, and his wife Jacquetta of Luxemburg, Dowager Duchess of Bedford. As an infant her father offered Catherine as a bride to Prince Juan of Aragon (1475 – 1497), the only son of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, but Edward’s death ended this proposal (1483). With her father’s death and the imprisonment of her brother Edward V, Catherine and her siblings accompanied Queen Elizabeth to the sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, where their mother thought to protect them from their uncle Richard III. She remained there until 1484 when Richard had declared them all illegitimate but promised to provide them with estates and suitable husbands. Queen Elizabeth agreed and Catherine and her sisters were reinstated at court and returned to reside at Westminster Palace.
The statesman Sir Richard Edgecumbe was sent to Scotland (Nov, 1487) to negotiate for the marriage of her widowed mother with James III of Scotland, and for the marriage of Catherine herself with the king’s second son James Stuart, Duke of Ross and Marquess of Ormonde. At the same time Ormonde’s elder brother James, Duke of Rothesay would marry one of Catherine’s elder sisters. These negotiations came to nothing. The princess was present at the deathbed of her mother Queen Elizabeth at Bermondsey Abbey (June, 1492). Catherine attended the court of her sister Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII (1485 – 1509) until her own marriage (1495) was arranged with Sir William Courtenay, who became the ninth Earl of Devonshire (1509), and died in 1511. She bore him several children. The countess attended her sister Queen Elizabeth in the Tower of London during her last pregancy and was present at her deathbed (Feb, 1503). The queen’s infant daughter Catherine Tudor, who did not long survive, had been named in honour of her aunt.
With her husband’s death the princess took a vow of perpetual chastity but remained at court. Princess Catherine attended the court of her nephew Henry VIII, and his first wife Catharine of Aragon, and carried Mary I at her christening ceremony (1516) giving the child a gold spoon as a christening present Sometime during 1518 she also sent the princess the gift of two small silver flagons. Considered a beauty at the court of her nephew Lady Devon portrayed Honour in the famous masque The Chateau Verte (March 4, 1522) held at York Place in honour of the visiting envoys of the Emperor Charles V. This entertainment was said to be the occasion of the first meeting of Henry VIII with Anne Boleyn. Princess Catherine was among those ladies who attended Catharine of Aragon when she formally received her nephew at Greenwich Palace (June 2, 1522). As a widow sthe princess appears to have sufferred from straitened financial circumstances but was granted security through the intervention of her nephew King Henry.
Princess Catherine died (Nov 15, 1527) aged forty-eight, at Tiverton Castle, Devon, and was interred within the parish church of Tiverton. Princess Catherine was the last surviving legitimate child of Edward IV. She appears as a minor character in the historical novels The Woodville Wench (1972) by Maureen Peters and The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (2001). Her children were,

1) Henry Courtenay (1496 – 1538). He succeeded his father as tenth Earl of Devonshire (1511) and was created Marquess of Exeter by Henry VIII. He married and left issue but was put to
death by the king because of his claim to the throne. His only child, Edward Courtenay (1526 – 1555), Earl of Devonshire died childess and his male line thus ended.

2) Edward Courtenay (1498 – 1502), styled Lord Courtenay. He died young.

3) Lady Margaret Courtenay (1500 – 1526). She became the wife of Henry Somerset (1496 – 1549), second Earl of Worcester.

Catherine Pavlovna – (1788 – 1819)
Russian grand duchess
Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna was born (May 21, 1788) in St Petersburg, the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I (1796 – 1801) and his second wife Marie Pavlovna, formerly Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Wurttemburg, the daughter of Friedrich II Eugene, Duke of Wurttemburg. As a young woman Catherine was favoured by the Tsar and it was feared that he would marry her to her cousin Duke Eugene of Wurttemburg and bequeath them the Imperial crown but this came to nothing.
Catherine remained devoted to her brother Tsar Alexander I all of their lives, and this affinity caused some slanderous gossip of an incestuous relationship, though there is no firm facts on which to base this accusation. Princess Lieven described Catherine as possessing ‘a dazzling freshness and complexion and the most beautiful hair in the world.’ Generally her contemporaries found the Grand Duchess to be gifted with much charm, and a witty and educated mind, but also possessed of extremem hauteur, abrupt manners, and even rude impudence. When it was proposed by Napoleon that the tsar shoud be deposed (1807) the Swedish minister proposed the Grand Duchess Catherine as a candidate for the Imperial throne. However, this suggestion was not taken seriously, certainly not by Catherine herself, who knew nothing of the plan. When Prince Talleyrand proposed Catherine as a possible bride for Napoloen if he divorced the childless Empress Josephine (1809) the emperor was horrified at the idea. Soon afterwards Catherine was married to Duke George of Oldenburg (1784 – 1812).
When Oldenburg was overrun by the French armies the couple fled to the court of St Petersburg (1809) where the duke joined the Imperial forces. As the French army advanced towards Moscow the Grand Duchess, then pregnant with her second child fled to the safety of Jaroslavl, though Duke George perished during the Moscow campaign. Catherine bore him two sons Duke Alexander of Oldenburg (1810 – 1829) who died aged nineteen, and Duke Peter of Oldenburg (1812 – 1881) who left a large family by his marriage with Therese of Nassau. Catherine then used her charms successfully in her brother’s cause by persuading the Austrian minister Prince Metternich to join the Allied Cause (1813). She visitied England with the Tsar (1814) and her suite occupied the entirety of Pulteney’s Hotel in Piccadilly for three months. It was thought by some that there may have been a marriage between the Prince Regent and the Grand Duchess Catherine, but his wife was still living and the two disliked each other intensely on first sight. More likely it was as a possible bride for one of his brothers either the Duke of Clarence or the Duke of Sussex, but Catherine disapproved of both suitors.
Soon afterwards she became involved in a romantic affair with Crown Prince William of Wurttemburg (1781 – 1864), recently divorced from his first wife Caroline Augusta of Bavaria. The match was encouraged by Tsar Alexander and the wedding took place at St Petersburg (Jan 24, 1816) amidst magnificent celebrations. Her husband succeeded his father Friedrich I on the throne of Wurttenburg as King Wilhlem I and Catherine became queen consort (1816 – 1819). The marriage, though apparently a happy one, proved short-lived. Queen Catherine bore Wilhelm two daughters but died of influenza (Jan 9, 1819) aged thirty, in Stuttgart. Her daughters by King Wilhelm were,

1) Princess Maria of Wurttemburg (1816 – 1887). She became the wife of Alfred von Kamill (1807 – 1865), Count von Neipperg.

2) Princess Sophia of Wurttemburg (1818 – 1877). She became the first wife of Wilhelm II (1817 – 1890), King of the Netherlands and left issue.

Catherine Podebradie – (1449 – 1464)
Queen consort of Hungary (1458 – 1464)
Catherine was the daughter of George Podebradie, King of Bohemia and his first wife Kunigunde of Sternberg. Her father had served as governor of Bohemia and received the young Matthias Hunyadi, Count of Bistercze (1440 – 1490) as an exile at his court (1458), and organized the young prince’s betrothal to his daughter Catherine, then aged nine. Soon afterwards Matthias was elected King of Hungary as Matthias I Corvinus (1440 – 1490) and married Catherine soon afterwards (Feb 9, 1458). Soon after this George Podebradie was elected as King of Bohemia. There were no children and Catherine died young.

Catherine Sunesdotter (Katarina) – (c1225 – 1253)
Queen consort of Sweden (1244 – 1250)
Catherine Sunesdotter was the daughter of the Swedish jarl Sune Folkesson, Lord of Ymseborg and his wife Princess Helena Sverkersdotter, the daughter of Sverker II (died 1210), King of Sweden and his wife Benedikta Ebbesdotter. With the death of her maternal uncle King Johann I Sverkersson (1216) his sister Helena and her daughters, including Catherine, were the dynastic heirs of Sverker II.
Because of this Catherine was married (1244) at Yrisangen, near Uppsala, to King Erik XI (1216 – 1250) of a rival branch of the dynasty of the Swedish royal house in an attempt to ensure peace within the kingdom. Queen Catherine was granted a considerable dower but there were no surviving children. With Erik’s death Queen Catherine retired to the abbey of Gudhems, to which she transferred all her dower lands and incomes excepting the town of Soderkoping which she left as a gift to her sister Benedikta Sunesdotter, the wife of Svantepolk Knudsson, lord of Viby. The queen was later elected as Abbess the convent of Gudhems and died there.

Catherine Tudor (Katherine) – (1503)
English princess
Catherine Tudor was born (Feb 2, 1503) in the Tower of London, the fourth and youngest child of King Henry VII (1485 – 1509) and his wife Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV (1461 – 1483) and sister to Edward V (1483). Her elder brother was the future Henry VIII (1509 – 1547). She was named in honour of her maternal aunt Catherine, Lady Devonshire who had attended the queen during her pregnancy. King Henry ordered the necessaries for the household of ‘Catherine, our right dear daughter … .’  Princess Catherine ‘s mother died little over a week after her birth and she survived her only a week, dying (Feb 25) in the Tower, aged only three weeks, a contemporary noting that she; ‘ tarried but a short season after her mother.’ She was interred in Westminster Abbey, London. Sir Thomas More in his touching lamentation of her mother, makes the dying queen address her infant daughter with the words; “ Adieu, sweet heart, my little daughter Kate, thou shalt, sweet babe, such is thy destiny. Thy mother never known for lo! Now here I lie.”

Catherine Vukcica – (1424 – 1478)
Queen consort of Bosnia (1446 – 1461)
Princess Catherine Vukcica was the daughter of Stephen Vukcic, Duke (Dan) of St Sava. She was married (1446) to King Stephen Tomas Ostoijic, as his second wife. Catherine survived him as Queen Dowager of Bosnia (1461 – 1478), but her two children were taken into captivity in Turkey. Queen Catherine died in Rome, being buried in the church of Ara Coeli there.

Catherine Laura Stuart – (1675)
Princess of York and England
The first child of James, Duke of York, and his second wife Mary Beatrice of Este-Modena, she was born (Jan 10, 1675) at St James’s Palace, London. The infant was named in honour of Queen Catherine, the wife of Charles II (1660 – 1685) and of her maternal grandmother Laura, the Duchess of Modena. The Duchess of York wished her daughter to be baptized as a Roman Catholic, but when her husband pointed out that the child would have to be Protestant, she conferred with her confessor and the princess was secretly christened at her mother’s bedside according to Roman rites. When King Charles was informed of these proceedings he said nothing, but sent Queen Catherine to inform the duchess that her daughter was to be also baptized in accordance with the rites of the Church of England in the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, her sponsors being her two legitimate half-sisters, the Princesses Mary and Anne, and her illegitimate cousin, James, Duke of Monmouth. Princess Catherine Laura died of convulsions (Oct 3, 1675) aged only ten months, and was interred within the vault of Mary, Queen of Scots in the Chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey.

Catherine Marie Romola – (1519 – 1589)
Queen consort and regent of France
Catherine de Medici was born in Florence, the only child and heiress of Lorenzo II de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his French wife Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, and she was the niece of Pope Clement VII. Her parents both died in 1519, and Catherine was raised in the household of her paternal aunt, Clarissa Strozzi. With her death (1528) she was raised by nuns in Rome. Catherine was married (1533) at the age of fourteen to the future Henry II of France (1519 – 1559), the second son of Francois I, who became dauphin three years later (1536). She was kept in humiliating subjection by her husband’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who controlled and interfered in every aspect of her life, with her husband’s acquiescence. There were rumours of divorce (1539) after the couple had remained childless for ten years, but Catherine’s first child, the Dauphin Francois (II) was finally born in 1543, followed by nine other children in quick succession.
With Henry’s death in a tragic jousting accident (1559) Catherine assumed control of the government as regent for her eldest son Francois II (1559 – 1560), whose wife was the ill-fated Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Catherine was also regent during the entirety of the reign of her second son Charles IX (1560 – 1574) and she dominated him completely. During the fractious religious wars (1562 – 1569) during which the Protestants and the Catholics were vying for power, the queen mother at first supported the Huguenots against the dangerous court faction led by Francois I, Duc de Guise. Constantly obliged to resort to intrigues, they failed to procure Catherine as much power as she might easily have gained by openness of conduct. Later, political survival necessitated her changing her support to the Guise faction, but she has traditionally been deeply implicated in the brutal Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day (1572) which was waged against the Huguenots, and has been accused of poisoning Queen Jeanne d’Albret, a prominent Huguenot leader, and mother of Catherine’s future stepson, Henry IV. Her third son Henri, Duc de Anjou, whom she had once hoped to marry to the unmarried Elizabeth I of England, was elected king of Poland (1573) but returned to France to succeed his childless brother Charles (1574 – 1589). Her political influenced faded during Henry’s reign, and she contributed too many of the misfortunes of his reign by her continuous intriguing. Queen Catherine died (Jan 5, 1589) at Blois, and was interred in the Abbey of St Denis, at Rheims.

Catherwood, Mary Hartwell – (1847 – 1902)
American writer and novelist
Mary Catherwood was born (Dec 16, 1847) in Luray. She was the author of such popular novels as, The Romance of Dollard (1889), Old Kaskaskia (1893), The White Islander (1893). She also published the collection Makinac and Lake Stories (1899). Mary Catherwood died (Dec 26, 1902) aged fifty-five.

Catley, Anne – (1745 – 1789)
British actress, dancer, and vocalist
Anne was born in London and gain experience as a child by singing in local taverns. By the time she had reached her teenage years she had become one of the most sought after courtesans in the capital. Catley made her first professional stage appearance at the popular Vauxhall Gardens (1762), and then appeared in Comus in Covent Garden. She first attracted serious popularity when she sang the lead role in the production Thomas and Sally (1764). Her hair-style was admired and slavishly copied by the ladies of London, and Catley appeared with great success in the popular ballad operas such as Love in a Village and Lionel and Clarissa. Attractive in person and possesses of a fine singing voice, she retained her popular status despite her scandalous private life and the births of two illegitimate children. She was married (1771) to Colonel Francis Lascelles, but the union remained a secret until her death, and she had insisted upon legal arrangements which ensured that her eight children (by various fathers) would inherit her fortune.She died of consumption at Ealing, where she had retired (1782) when illness caused her to leave the stage.

Catlow, Agnes – (c1807 – 1889)
British traveller and sketcher
Agnes Catlow and her sister Maria were both amateur natural historians. She travelled throughout Switzerland and Italy, producing grand scenic mountain landscapes. She was the author of Sketching Rambles: Or, Nature in the Alps and Apennines (1861, 2 vols.).

Cato, Nancy Fotheringham – (1917 – 2000)
Australian writer and poet
Nancy Cato was born (March 11, 1917) in Adelaide, South Australia, and married (1941) Eldred Norman, a racing driver. Nancy produced two volumes of poetry, The Darkened Window (1950) and The Dancing Bough (1957), as well as ten novels, the most famous of which, All the Rivers Run (1958) was adapted for television starring John Waters and Sigrid Thornton. Nancy also wrote a history of the Noosa region of Queensland, where she resided, entitled, The Noosa Story. Cato was named a Member of the Order of Australia (1984), and in 1990 received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of Queensland. A foundation member of the Lyrebird Writers, a literary club that published collections of verse, she was also member of the Australian Society of Authors from 1964. Nancy Cato died on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Catrin ferch Gruffud ap Hywel – (fl. 1545)
Welsh poet
Catrin was the daughter of Gruffud ap Hywel of Llandaniel-fab in Anglesey and several collections of her poetic verse have survived. She has been much confused with her contemporary Catrin ferch Gruffud ap Ieunan, as has the authrosphip of their respective works.

Catrin ferch Gruffud ap Ieunan – (fl. c1530 – c1550)
Welsh poet
Catrin and her sisters Gwynhwyfar and Alis were the daughters of the Welsh poet Gruffud ap Iuenan ao Llewelyn Fychan (c1485 – 1553) of Llannerch, at Llewnni Fechan in Denbigh. Two surviving manuscripts name Catrin as the author of a series of twenty verses but her work has been much confused by historians with that of her contemporary Catrin ferch Gruffud ap Hywel.

Catrin ferch Owain Glyndwr – (c1384 – 1413)
Welsh princess
Princess Catrin was one of the daughters of Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Powys, who was disinherited by the English and led a lengthy but unsuccessful campaign against them (1400 – c1416). Her mother was his wife Margaret Hanmer, the daughter of Sir David Hanmer (died 1387) and his wife Angharad ferch Llewellyn. Glyndwr had captured Sir Edmund Mortimer (1376 – 1409) in battle but treated him kindly with a view to his future usefulness in the war against the English. To bind Mortimer to him politically and dynastically Glyndwr gave him his daughter Catrin in marriage (Nov 30, 1402). The marriage took place with much pomp and ceremony nuptias satis numiles et suae generositati impares.
The English called her Katherine. Lady Catrin was with Mortimer at Harlech Castle when it was besieged by the victorious English (1409). Sir Edmund perished during the siege but Catrin, together with her son Lionel Mortimer and her mother Margaret, and two daughters fell into the hands of Henry IV. They were in the custody of his son Henry several years afterwards (June, 1413) when they were kept confined within the Tower of London. But before Dec 1 of that year Catrin and her daughters were all dead. They were buried at the expense of one pound in the Church of St Swithin in London. It would not be unnatural to believe that Henry V had caused them to be murdered so as to prevent any further uprisings by the Welsh who might have used the princess as a rallying banner. Catrin’s mother Margaret survived them.

Catt, Carrie Chapman – (1859 – 1947)
American suffrage leader and journalist
Born Caroline Clinton at Ripon in Wisconsin, she was educated at the Iowa State College. She trained as a teacher and school administrator, and became one of the first female American school superintendents. She married firstly (1884) Leo Chapman, and, after his early death (1886), she remarried to George Catt (1890). With her second husband she entered into a legal arrangement which permitted her to devote several months of each year to woring for the female suffrage movement.
Catt was a member of staff of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and served twice as president (1900 – 1904) and (1915 – 1947). Catt was the founder and president of the National League of Women Voters (1920), and her determined work and efforts brought about changes to the Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the vote for American women (1920). Her later career was spent campaigning for world peace, and she was the author of several works, including, Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement (1923), and, Why Wars must Cease (1935).

Cattanach, Helen – (1920 – 1994)
Scottish military officer and matron
Cattanach was born (June 21, 1920) and trained as a nurse at the Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen. During WW II she served with the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service) in India, China and Germany. She later servied with the MELF (Middle East Land Forces) in Gibraltar (1953 – 1957) and was later appointed as matron of the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot (1969 – 1971) and was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal (1963).
Helen Cattanach received the rank of Brigadier and was appointed as the director of the Army Nursing Services for QARANC (Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps) (1973 – 1977) and was appointed CB (Companion of the Order of Bath) by Queen Elizabeth II (1976) in recognition of her service. Her last post was as the colonel commandant of the QARANC (1971 – 1981) and she was appointed C.St.J (Commander of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem) (1976). Brigadier Cattanach died (May 4, 1994) aged seventy-three.

Cattanei, Simonetta   see   Vespucci, Simonetta

Cattanei, Vanozza dei – (1442 – 1518)
Italian papal courtier
Vanozza dei Cattanei was born in Spain, and became the mistress of a lawyer in Valencia, Rodrigo Borgia, who became pope as Alexander VI (1492 – 1503). She accompanied Rodrigo to Italy when he was appointed a cardinal at the Vatican, and was the mother of several of his illegitimate children, including Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois and his sister Lucrezia Borgia, later duchess of Modena. After Rodrigo was elected to the papal throne he married Vanozza off to three successive husbands in order to preserve the social forms. When she grew older he provided her with a generous pension. After his death, Vanozza was treated in all respects as his ‘widow,’ and at her death she was interred within the church of Santa Maria del Popolo with magnificent ceremonies.

Cattermole Mancini, Eva – (1849 – 1896)
Italian poet and novelist
Eva Cattermole was born in Florence and was a member of the fashionable literary circles which flourished in Rome during the latter part of the nineteenth century. She was married to Eugenio Mancini, an aristocrat, the son of the statesman Stanislao Mancini and his wife Laura Beatrice Oliva, the poet. Eva then resided in Naples and Milan but was involved in a social scandal when her lover, a young cavalry officer, was murdered by her husband in a duel, and a sensational trial ensued. Eva then separated from her husband and retired to live in Rome for the rest of herlife. She published several popular novels such as the autobiographical L’innamorata (A Woman in Love) and used the pseudonym of ‘Contessa Lara.’ Her collections of verse included Canti e ghirlande (Songs and Garlands) (1867), Versi (Verses) (1883) and Nuovi Versi (New Verses) (1897) which was published posthumously. Eva Cattermole Mancini died in Rome.

Catusse, Marie Margeurite – (1858 – 1928)
French writer
She was born Marie Margeurite Bertrin and became the wife of Anatole Catusse. Madame Catusse was a close friend of the novelist Marcel Proust. Her considerable correspondence was edited and published posthumously (1946).

Cauer, Minna – (1841 – 1922)
German feminist, suffragist, pacifist and educator
Born Wilhelmine Theodore Marie Schelle in Freyenstein, she was the daughter of a clergyman. With the death of her first husband (1866), she trained as a schoolteacher, and accompanied her second husband Cauer, to Berlin, where he had been appointed inspector of schools. Cauer was a prominent figure in the suffrage movements such as the Kaufmannischer Verband fur Wibliche Angestelle, and with Anita Augspurg she founded the powerful federation of women’s associations known as the Verband fortschritter Frauenvereine (1900). After WW I she became joint publisher of the women’s newspaper Die Frau im Stadt with Augspurg and Lida Heymann.

Caulfield, Hetta Maud – (1887 – 1956)
Australian civic leader
Mrs Caulfield was born in Port Adelaide, South Australia. She became involved with the work of the adoption courts and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace (1926). She served as the secretary of the Port Adelaide District Trained Nursing Society, was a patron of the Seaman’s Mission and organized entertainment for the troops during both world wars. Mrs Hetta Caulfield died (Oct 26, 1956) aged sixty-nine.

Caulfield, Joan – (1922 – 1991)
American actress
Caulfield became a leading actress in Hollywood films during the 1940’s. Her movie credits included Monsieur Beaucaire (1946), Blue Skies (1946), Dear Ruth (1947) and Welcome Stranger (1947), and she appeared in the classic The Rains of Ranchipur (1950) with Myrna Loy and Maria Ouspenskaya. Joan Caulfield later worked in televison appearing in such popular series as My Favourite Husband (1953) and Sally (1957). Her television films included The Magician (1973), The Hatfields and the McCoys (1975) and Pony Express Rider (1976).

Caulkins, Frances Manwaring – (1795 – 1869)
American historian and educator
Frances Caulkins was born in Connecticut. With the death of her stepfather, she was forced by financial considerations to take up a teaching position, and organized a school for girls in Norwichtown. Caulkins became influenced by the evangelical movement, and wrote and oublished religious tracts through the American Tract Society (1836 – 1842), copies of which sold in the millions. She became the first woman to be elected a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1849), the oldest such organization in the USA. Frances Caulkins published two historical works, A History of Norwich (1845) and A History of New London (1852).

Caumont, India de (Indie) – (c1300 – c1345)
French mediaeval heiress
India de Caumont was the daughter of Guillaume III, Seigneur de Caumont in Guyenne, and was married to Gaston, Vicomte de Fesensaguet (c1286 – c1320) in Gascony whom she survived as the Dowager Vicomtesse de Fesensaguet (c1320 – 1345). India’s father had disinherited her brother Guillaume Raymond (died c1365) because he had provided support to the English during the continuous wars, and with the death of Guillaume III (1337) the widowed India inherited the seigneurie of Caumont which at her death passed to her daughter Mathe de Fesensaguet and her husband Raymond Roger de Comminges, Vicomte de Courserans. Later Philip VI restored Caumont to India’s brother but he had to retake it from her son-in-law. Caumont then passed through the Comminges family and their descendants, though it was later acquired by Cardinal Richelieu and passed to his family, the Ducs de Caumont et de Fronsac.

Caumont de La Force, Charlotte Rose – (1650 – 1724)
French novelist and writer of fairy tales
Charlotte Caumont de La Force was born into a patrician family. She led a riotous youth and indulged herself with many lovers. Aged almost thirty-five she finally married M. de Briou of whom her family deeply disapproved. They escaped togther after she had gained access to him disguised as a bear from a travelling circus, but they were apprehended and the marriage was annulled. Several years later, Charlotte was again in trouble with the authorities, this time for her part in the publication of satirical verses. Given the choice of exile or incarceration within a convent she chose the latter. She then turned to writing as a means of financial support. She produced a collection of fairy-tales, Contes des contes (Tales of Tales) (1697) which was published under the pseudonym of ‘Madamoiselle X.’ Caumont de La Force also published several ‘secret histories’ of various royal figures, such as Mary of Burgundy, Henry IV of Castile, Margeurite de Valois and Catherine de Bourbon, the sister of Henry IV of France.

Caux, Alberada de – (c961 – c1008)
Norman feudal heiress
Alberada was the daughter of an unidentified lord or bailli of Caux in Normandy, and became the wife of Count Raoul the Long of Ivry (c935 – 1011) who was the illegitimate son of Richard I the Fearless, Duke of Normandy (942 – 996). Raoul received the county of Ivry (1006) from his nephew Duke Richard II (996 – 1026). Alberarda ordered and oversaw the construction of the chateau of Ivry, and then had the architect Lanfrid killed so that he could not construct another of similar design for other nobles.
Alberada later turned against her husband who besieged her at Ivry with his troops. The castle was eventually stormed and Raoul had Alberada put to death. She was the mother of Hugh d’Ivry, Bishop of Bayeux who also inherited Ivry. His successor Hugh II d’Ivry was a grandson of Alberada and Raoul though the direct line of descent remains obscure.

Cavaignac, Marie Julie – (1780 – 1849)
French revolutionary memoirist
Marie Julie Olivier de Corancez-Romilly was born into a comfortable bourgeois family, and became the wife (1797) of Jean Baptiste Cavaignac, a regicide deputy, to whom she bore four children. Both husband and wife were ardent supporters of the Revolution and Madame Cavaignax left a written autobiography covering the first half of her life which was published posthumously as Les Memoires d’une inconnue (Mme Cavaignac), publies sur le manuscript original, 1780 – 1816 (1894) in Paris.

Cavalieri, Lina – (1874 – 1944)
Italian stage actress and vocalist
Cavalieri was born (Dec 25, 1874) at Viterbo. She established herself as a successful stage actress in Italy and appeared in several silent films such as Manon Lescaut (1914), La Rosa di Granada (1916), The Eternal Temptress (1917) in the role of Princess Cordelia, A Woman of Impulse (1918) and The Two Brides (1919). Lina Cavalieri died (Feb 7, 1944) aged fifty-nine in Florence, being killed during an air raid.

Cavan, Hester Joan Byng, Countess of – (1881 – 1976)
British courtier and peeress
Lady Hester Byng was the fifth daughter of Francis Edmund Cecil Byng (1835 – 1918), fifth Earl of Strafford and his second wife Emily Georgina Kerr (1846 – 1929) the daughter of Admiral Lord Frederic Herbert Kerr (1818 – 1896). She was the maternal great-granddaughter of William Kerr (1763 – 1824) the sixth Marquess of Lothian. She was married (1913) to Captain Hon. (Honourable) Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland (1882 – 1914), the eldest son of the second Baron Dunleath, and became Lady Mulholland (1913 – 1914). Captain Mulholland was killed in action during WW I at Ypres in France (Nov 1, 1914) and Lady Hester bore him a posthumous daughter Daphne Norah Mulholland (born 1915). She later married Sir John Guthrie Wood (born 1909) of St Margaret’s Bay near Dover in Kent, as his second wife, and left issue.
As the Dowager Lady Mulholland, Hester was appointed to serve at court as lady-in-waiting to HRH the Princess Royal (1918 – 1922), daughter of George V and Queen Mary. Lady Hester then became the second wife (1922) of Frederick Rudolph Lambart (1865 – 1946), tenth Earl of Cavan and became the Countess of Cavan (1922 – 1946). Lady Cavan then resumed her former duties at court part-time and served the Princess Royal as an extra lady-in-waiting. Queen Mary and the Princess Royal stood as sponsors to her elder daughter Elizabeth whilst the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) stood sponsor at the christening of her youngher Joanna (1929).
The countess accompanied the Duke and Duchess of York (George VI and Queen Elizabeth) on their world tour (1927) and served as lady-in-waiting and chief of staff. In recognition of this service she was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1927) by King George V and could be styled Dame Hester Lambart. Lady Hester survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Cavan for three decades (1946 – 1976) and resided mainly in London retaining her close connections with the royal family. Her elder daughter Elizabeth Lambart served as one of the bridesmaids to Princess Elizabeth at her wedding with Philip Mountbatten (1947) at Westminster Abbey in London. She left two daughters by Lord Cavan,

1) Lady Elizabeth Mary Lambart (born 1924). She became the wife of Mark Frederic Kerr Longman (died 1972) of Bishopstone House in Salisbury, Wiltshire and left issue.

2) Lady Joanna Lambart (born 1929). She became the wife of Major Michael Godwin Plantagenet Stourton of Great Rollright and Cripping Norton, Oxon.

Cavanagh, Kit – (1667 – 1739)
Irish soldier
Born Christian Cavanagh in Dublin, she was the daughter of a wealthy brewer, and spent her early life running a local inn. Her first husband, Richard Welsh, a former servant, had been pressed into service with the Duke of Marlborough’s army, and she travelled to Flanders in search of him, disguising herself as a soldier, and enlisted under the name of Christopher Welsh. She saw active service at the Battle of Blenheim (1704), before being reunited with her husband (1706). Richard Welsh was killed at the Battle of Malplaquet (1709), and her second husband, Hugh Jones, was killed in 1710. Returning to England she was formally presented to Queen Anne and then returned to Dublin where she remarried a third time. She later retired to London, where she was known as ‘Mother Ross.’ Kit Cavanagh eventually died at the Chelsea Pensioner’s Hospital, and was interred with military honours.

Cavanna, Betty – (1909 – 2001)
American juvenile story writer
Betty Cavanna was born (June 24, 1909) in Camden, New Jersey. She sufferred from polio as a child, and the forced inactivity engendered her love of reading. She attended the New Jersey College for Women and then worked as an art director with a publishing house. Cavanna was married firstly to the author Edward Headley, and secondly to George Russell Harrison, with whom she travelled extensively around the world. Betty Cavanna published well over six dozen novels, stories, and other works, and was particularly remembered for her stories for young girls such as Spurs for Suzanna (1947), A Girl Can Dream (1948), Paintbox Summer (1949) and Jenny Kimura (1964).
Cavanna used various pseudonyms including ‘Betsy Allen’ and ‘Elizabeth Headley,’ and also wrote stories concernings pet dogs such as Puppy Stakes (1943), The Black Spaniel Mystery (1945) and Pick of the Litter (1955). She also wrote various non fiction works such as The First Book of Sea Shells (1955) and Touch of Magic (1961) a biography of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of the famous blind activist Helen Keller. Two of her works Spiceland Mystery (1970) and The Ghost of Ballyhooly (1972) were runners-up for the Edgar Allan Poe Prize. Her last published work was Banner Year (1987). Betty Cavanna died (Aug 13, 2001) aged ninety, two, at Vezelay in France.

Cavell, Edith Louisa – (1865 – 1915)
British nurse and war heroine
Edith Cavell was born at Swardeston in Norfolk, the daughter of a clergyman. She trained as a nurse and was later appointed as the first matron of the Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels, Belgium (1907). During WW I her institute was transformed into a Red Cross hospital, and Cavell became a member of the underground movement, led by Philippe Baucq, which enabled British, Belgian, and French soldiers to be concealed in her hospital, and then organized their escape into Holland and safety. Cavell was eventually arrested by the Germans and was charged with organizing and assisting with the escapes of over two hundred Allied soldiers. She was court-martialled and sentenced to execution, togther with Baucq. Edith Cavell never denied the charges, and despite diplomatic interventions and protests, she was shot (Oct 12, 1915) by a German firing squad.

Cavendish, Elizabeth – (1654 – 1734)
British heiress
Lady Elizabeth Cavendish was born (Feb 22, 1654), the eldest daughter and heiress of Henry Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, and his wife Frances Pierrepoint. She was married firstly (1669), at The Cockpit, at Whitehall Palace, London to Christopher Monck (1653 – Oct 26, 1688), who succeeded as second Duke of Albemarle (1670). Her behaviour was already causing her family cause for concern before the death of her husband in Jamaica (1688). She remarried secondly (1692) to Ralph Montagu (1638 – 1709), who later became first Duke of Montagu (1705).
The duchess was very wealthy, and, by the time of her second marriage, almost totally deranged. She had declared that she would give her hand to no-one but a crowned head. Consequently her second husband, Montagu, is said to have decked himself out in oriental costume, announced that he was the emperor of China, and the duchess accepted him. This marriage resulted in several lawsuits concerning the Albemarle property, one of which, between Montagu and Lord Bath, lasted for seven years, and cost the litigants twenty thousand pounds between them. It was finally settled by compromise (1698). Before the death of her second husband (1709), the duchess had been kept in such close seclusion that it was rumoured that she was dead, and that Montagu had concealed her death in order to retain enjoyment of her seven thousand pounds a year income. However, Elizabeth Cavendish survived Montagu by twenty-five years, and was popularly known as ‘the Mad Duchess.’ Elizabeth Cavendish died (Aug 28, 1734) aged eighty, at Newcastle House, Clerkenwell, in Middlesex. She was interred in Westminster Abbey. Both marriages had remained childless.

Cavendish, Emma Elizabeth Lascelles, Lady – (1838 – 1920)
British courtier
Emma Lascelles was the sixth daughter of Hon. (Honourable) Henry William Saunders Sebright Lascelles (1798 – 1851), and the granddaughter of Henry Lascelles, second Earl of Harewood. Her mother was Lady Caroline Georgiana Howard, the daughter of George Howard (1773 – 1848), sixth Earl of Carlisle. She became the wife (1865) of Lord Edward Cavendish (1838 – 1891), a younger son of William Cavendish, seventh Duke of Devonshire. They had three children. Prior to her marriage Lady Emma had served at court as one of the maids-of-honour in attendance upon Queen Victoria, but after her marriage she served as Lady of the Bedchamber to the queen’s daughter Helena, HRH Princess Christian. She survived her husband for almost three decades as the Dowager Lady Cavendish (1891 – 1920) and when her eldest son succeeded to the dukedom of Devonshire (1908) her two younger sons were granted the style and precedence of the sons of a duke. Lady Emma Cavendish died (Sept 24, 1920). Her children were.

1) Victor Christian William Cavendish (1868 – 1938). He succeeded his uncle as the ninth Duke of Devonshire (1908 – 1938) and left children.

2) Lord Richard Frederick Cavendish (1871 – 1946). He married and left issue.

3) Major Lord John Spencer Cavendish (1875 – 1914). He served in South Africa (1899 – 1900) and was killed in action during WW I. He was unmarried.

Cavendish, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire    see   Devonshire, Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of

Cavendish, Grace Talbot, Lady – (1559 – after 1616)
English Tudor courtier and letter writer
Lady Grace Talbot was the daughter of George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, and his first wife, Lady Gertrude Manners, the daughter of Thomas Manners, the first Earl of Rutland. Her first intended marriage with the son and heir of Lord Dacre of Gilisland was ended with the death of her young betrothed. Grace was later married (1568) at Sheffield Cathedral, to her stepbrother Henry Cavendish (1550 – 1616), the younger son of her stepmother, the famous Bess Hardwick by her previous husband, Sir William Cavendish. The marriage remained childless, and Grace’s illegitimate stepson, Henry Cavendish (the son of a mistress), became ancestor of the later Barons Waterpark. Lady Grace remained on particularly friendly terms with her stepmother/mother-in-law, the redoubtable Bess Hardwick, and several of her letters have survived.  Grace and her husband became burdened with massive debts and resided at Tutbury Abbey, nearby to Tutbury Castle, where Queen Mary Stuart was kept imprisoned. Henry Cavendish was an abusive womaniser, but Lady Cavendish retained a dignified and dutiful demeanour which was admired and commented upon. Accusations made her husband to Grace in anger of committing adultery need not be taken seriously. Her portrait, arrayed in full black mourning, beside her virginals, is preserved at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

Cavendish, Jane   see   Cheyne, Jane Cavendish, Lady

Cavendish, Dame Katherine    see   Ogle, Katherine

Cavendish, Lucy Caroline Lyttelton, Lady – (1841 – 1926)  
British social and educational reformer
Hon. (Honourable) Lucy Lyttelton was the daughter of George, Lord Lyttelton, and the niece of Prime Minister William Gladstone. Brought up at Hagley, in Worcestershire, she served as maid-of-honour to Queen Victoria (1863) and married (1864) Lord Frederick Cavendish, who was later assassinated by Fenians (1882). Lady Cavendish was in contact with many influential politicians of both parties, and campaigned vigorously on behalf of social causes in which she believed, such as religious education, the union of peoples in South Africa, peace-making in troubled Ireland, and the plight of the Christians in Turkey. She evinced great enthusiams for the promotion of education for young women, and her efforts in this field were formally recognized when she was appointed a member of the Royal Commission of Secondary Education (1894). Lady Lucy Cavendish died (April 22, 1926) aged eighty-four. The Lucy Cavendish Hall for female graduate students at Cambridge University was established in her memory (1965).

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle     see    Newcastle, Margaret Lucas, Duchess of

Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady Anne – (1916 – 2002)
British aristocrat and landowner
Born Lady Alexandra Margaret Anne Cavendish-Bentinck (Sept 6, 1916), she was the elder daughter of William Cavendish-Bentinck, seventh Duke of Portland and his wife Ivy Gordon-Lennox, the daughter of Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox (1847 – 1921). She refused the suit of Prince Charles of Belgium, and when her family refused their permission for her to marry the eleventh Duke of Leeds she refused all other suitors and remained unmarried. With the death of her father (1977) the dukedom passed to a cousin, but Lady Anne inherited the family estate of Welbeck Abbey and her father’s private fortune, her only sister having died in 1955. She owned considerable estates in Nottinghamshire and in Scotland, which were estimated to be worth almost one hundred and sixty million pounds. Lady Anne died (Dec 29, 2008) aged ninety-two, at Welbeck.

Cavendish-Bentinck, Dame Ivy    see   Portland, Ivy Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of

Cavendish-Bentinck, Dame Winifred    see   Portland, Winifred Anna Dallas-Yorke, Duchess of

Caverhill, Frances – (1834 – 1897)
Anglo-New Zealand diarist
Hannah Rebecca Frances King was born (Nov 22, 1834) in Northamptonshire or Warwickshire, the daughter of a farmer. She came to Lyttelton in New Zealand as a teenager with her mother and siblings aboard the Cressy (1850). She was married (1885) there to the explorer and farmer John Scott Caverhill, to whom she bore eight children. They ran a farm at Motunatu in North Canterbury before removing with their family to Hawkswood, near Christchurch (1859).
Mrs Caverhill spent most of her time caring and raising her children, and being occupied with domestic affairs. Her husband was a great deal absent due to business affairs and Frances wrote to him daily and acted as his business secretary. During this time she suffered much from recurring bouts of ill-health. The family later resided for several years (1872 – 1875) at Highfield in North Canterbury before removing to the North Island where they settled on a farm near New Plymouth. Frances and her husband later returned to Christchurch where John died (April 17, 1897). Mrs Caverhill survived her husband for only four months and died (Aug 11, 1897) aged sixty-two. Her private letters and journal were edited and published posthumously as A Year at Hawkswood (1981).

Cavolaja of Florence – (c1345 – c1410)
Italian farmer and merchant
Her real name remains unknown, the popular appellation ‘Cavaloja’ referring to her trade as a seller of cabbages. Of poor background, and possessing a farm outside the city of Florence, Cavaloja made her fortune by hawking her produce on a daily basis within the city. She became so successful that when she died, the bells tolled for her and she was buried within a fine tomb which she had provided from her own acquired fortune.

Cavoye, Marie de – (c1603 – 1665)
French courtier
Born Marie de Lort de Serignan, she served at the court of Louis XIII, as lady-in-waiting to his queen, Anne of Austria. Her son Eustace Dauger (1637 – 1703) has been identified as the real ‘Man in the Iron Mask,’ the subject of Alexandre Dumas’s fictional novel. It was because of Madame de Cavoye’s loyal service to the queen mother that Louis XIV caused her son to be imprisoned for the rest of her life, instead of being put to death for treason. Her third son, Louis Dauger, Marquis de Cavoye (1639 – 1716) was a prominent courtier of Louis XIV at Versailles.

Cayford, Dame Florence Evelyn – (1897 – 1997)
British government councillor and civil servant
Florence Bunch was born (June 14, 1897) in London and attended secretary school St Pancras before studying at the Paddington Technical Institute. She was married (1923) to John Cayford and bore him two children. Mrs Cayford served as an alderman with the London County Council (1946 – 1952) and was a member of the Health and Welfare Committees. She served for almost thirty years (1937 – 1965) as the member for Hampstead Borough Council and was then the deputy mayoress (1967 – 1968) and then mayor (1969) of the Camden Borough Council. She was a member of the management committee of Leavesden Hospital (1948 – 1963) and served as the minister for Health Council for Training in Social Work (1962 – 1965). Florence Cayford was awarded the Order of the Crown of Thailand by the Thai government (1964) and was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1965) in recognition of her valuable community work.

Cayla, Zoe Victoire Talon, Comtesse du – (1785 – 1852)
French Bourbon courtier
Zoe Talon was born (Aug 25, 1785) at Le Boullay-Thierry, the daughter of a member of the Paris Parlement. After her marriage with a member of the old aristocracy to whom she bore two children, she was presented at court to the Emperor Napoleon I. Intelligent and attractive, with the Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty (1814) Madame du Cayla established her salon, though her marriage was not a success and she had desired a separation from her husband (1817) in which she was supported by her mother-in-law. a separation was arranged throughthe intervention of Elie Decazes and the Comte du Cayla retired from court to his country estates.
Madame du Cayla then became the mistress (1820) of the elderly Louis XVIII (1814 – 1824) with the connivance of the Vicomte Sosthene de La Rochefoucald, a leading member of the ultra-royalist party, as a way of representing their interests. With the removel of Elie Decazes who had formerly kept control of their political ascendancy over the king, and to which Madame du Cayla was a party, and with the increasing age and infirmity of King Louis Madame du Cayla’s influence increased considerably, and she was rumoured to have been involved with the fall of the government of the Duc de Richelieu (1821). During the king’s last illness, and at the urging of the royal family, Madame du Cayla was the one who urged the king to seek religious consolation in preparation for his death.
With the king’s death (1824) her political influence ceased, but she received a considerable pension from Charles X as well as being permitted to keep the furniture and property that Louis had given her. Apart from attending court from time to time the comtesse retired to private life at the estate of Saint-Ouen. Madame du Cayla survived the downfall of the Bourbon (1830) and Orleans (1848) dynasties and lived on into the Second Empire of Napoleon III. Some of her considerable correspondence with Sosthene de La Rochefoucald has survived. Her portrait with her two children by Gerard is preserved in the collection of the Prince de Beauvau at the Chateau d’Haroue near Nancy in Lorraine. Madame du Cayla died (March 19, 1852) aged sixty-six, at Saint-Ouen.

Caylus, Marthe Margeurite le Valois de Villette de Murcay, Marquise de – (1673 – 1729)
French memoirist and courtier
Marthe Margeurite le Valois was the daughter of Philippe le Valois, Marquis de Villette de Murcay, and his wife Marie Anne de Chateauneuf. She was a cousin to Madame de Maintenon, the second wife of Louis XIV, who obtained custody of her because of her father’s adherence to the Huguenot faith (1680). Raised as a Catholic as court she was married (1686) to Jean Aime, marquis de caylus, a gentlemen of the household of the Dauphin Louis. The marriage was not a happy one, and the exposure of her infidelity with the Duc de Villeroy earned her dismissal from the court of Versailles (1695). When her husband was killed in battle in the wars with England a decade later (1704), the marquise was forgiven by Louis XIV and returned to Versailles, where she also continued her former relationship with her former lover, the duc de Villeroy. Madame de Caylus wrote valuable memoirs of the court of Louis XIV entitled Souvenirs. These were lated edited by Voltaire (1770) and by many later editors, notably Charles Asselinieau (1860). She was the mother of Anne Claude, Comte de Caylus, marquis d’Esternay and Baron de Bransac (1692 – 1765), the noted archaeologist and man of letters.

Cazalet-Keir, Thelma – (1899 – 1989)
British politician and memoirist
Thelma Cazalet was born (May 28, 1899) at Whitehall Gardens in London, the daughter of William Marshal Cazalet (1865 – 1932), of Fairlawne, Kent, and his wife Maud Lucia Heron (1867 – 1952), the daughter of Sir John Maxwell (1836 – 1910), seventh baronet, of Springkell, in Dumfriesshire in Scotland. It was through her childhood upbringing that Thelma acquired and retained her ardent interest in feminism and the Christian Science creed. At her parents home at Fairlawne, Thelma became used to the company of many important people from the arts and the fields of social reform, such as Beatrice Webb and her husband Sidney, Mrs Pankhurst and her daughters, and the poet Rudyard Kipling, and and her especial friend was Megan Lloyd-George, daughter to the prime minister.
Cazalet decided to enter conservative politics, despite her own views being rather radical, and served for a seven year period (1924 – 1931) as the member for the London county council, after which she became an alderman. She was unsuccessful when she contested the seat of East Islington in a by-election (1931), but was returned as the National Party Member of Parliament there the following year (1932). She was married (1939) to David Keir, a lobby correspondent of the News Chronicle, and adopted his surname with her own. Whilst in the House of Commons, her main area of interest remained in education, a cause which she had always championed. She served as parliamentary private secretary to Kenneth Lindsay (1937 – 1940) when he was parliamentary secretary to the Board of Education. Cazalet-Keir was a member of the committee which supported an amendment to the successful bill which demanded equal pay for male and female teachers (1944), and thus inflicted upon the government of Sir Winston Churchill, its only wartime defeat. Though the prime minister was able to insist upon the deletion of the clause, an important point had been made and he established a royal commission to review the question of equal pay for equal work, which Cazalet lived to see become legislation (1970).
Thelma Cazalet-Keir was also prominent in artistic circles, and was a founder member of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) (1940), which quickly evolved into the Arts Council. She served as governor of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) (1956 – 1961), was president of the Fawcett Society (1964) and was appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) (1952) in recognition of her work in politics and as patron of the arts.  She wrote a volume of memoirs, From the Wings (1967). Widowed in 1969, she lost her sight during her later years. Thelma Cazalet-Keir died (Jan 13, 1989) aged eighty-nine, at her home in Eaton Square, London.

Cazalla, Maria – (fl. 1531 – 1534)
Spanish suspected heretic
Maria Cazalla was arrested and imprisoned by the agents of the Inquisition. She was interrogated and kept imprisoned for several years. Her personal testimony at her trial survives, and it appears that she was eventually released.

Cazenove d’Arlens, Constance de – (1755 – 1825)
French memoirist
Madame Cazenove d’Arlens survived the upheavals of the Revolution and left a memoir from the period of Napoleon. This was published posthumously in Paris as Journal. Deux mois a Paris et a Lyon sous le Consulat (fevrier – avril, 1803) (1902).

Cazimir, Otilia – (c1885 – 1967)
Romanian poet and children’s writer
Born Alexandra Gavrilescu at Cotul Vamesului, she published her first poetic work using the pseudonym ‘Ottilia Cazimir’ (1912). Her work included the collections of verse, Lumini si umbre (Lights and Shadows) (1923), Cintec de comoara (Treasure Song) (1930) and, Poezii (Poems) (1939). She contributed to such papers and periodicals as Viata romaneasca and Adevarul literar, and was awarded a prize from the Romanian Academy (1927). She later received the National Prize for Literature (1937) and her contributions to contemporary literature caused her to be awarded the national Ordinul Muncii (1954). Otilia Cazimir was appointed as the inspector-general of the theatres in Moldavia (1937 – 1947). She died at Iasi.

Ceausescu, Elena – (1916 – 1989)
Romanian scientist and politician
Elena Petrescu was born (Jan 7, 1916) at Scornicesti, Wallachia, into a poor family, and was educated as a chemical engineer at the College of Industrial Chemistry and the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest. She joined the Communist party in her youth (1937), and was married (1947) to the politician, Nicolae Ceausescu, to whom she bore several children. Despite marriage and motherhood, Madame Ceausescu was able to continue with her own career, and published her research into molecular compounds, and was the author of The Science and Progress of Society (1985). She became a full member of the Romanian Communist Party Executive Political Committee in 1973, the year before her husband became president of Romania. As First Lady, Elena Ceausescu wielded enormous power, and was considered by many to be her husband’s evil genius.
Madame Ceausescu was appointed chairman of the National Council on Science and Technology (1979), and her sphere of influence broadened when she was made one of the three first Deputy Prime Ministers (1980). She was made deputy chair of the Supreme Council on Socio-Economic Development (1982), but her power and influenced caused her to be more and more loathed by the Romanian people, who referred to her as ‘Queen Elena, and despised her husband because of his inability to free himself from what was more and more viewed as her malign influence. She was held responsible for the end of birth-control in Romania, which led to the crisis conditions of the 1970’s and 1980’s, when many unwanted children languished neglected in orphanages throughout the country.Elena initially fled with her husband after the Romanian Revolution broke out in Timisoara, and he was removed from power, but they were quickly captured. She refused to answer all questions during their trial, denying the legitimacy of the court, and was executed with him (Dec 25, 1989) by lethal injection at Targoviste, aged seventy-four. Ceausescu’s written works included Research work on synthesis and characterization of macromolecular compounds (1974) and Stereospecific Polymerization of Isoprene (1982).

Cecil, Eileen Cumming – (1893 – 1982)
American interior designer
Eileen Cecil was born in Australia. She had a long career in advertising and fashion, and as decorating editor of Vogue magazine, before joining the department store founder Adam Gimbel, in creating the new image required for his new store, Saks Fifth Avenue. From 1933 – 1936 Eileen was advertising manager of the firm Bonwit Teller, and then retired to private life. With the death of her sister Rose in 1966, Eileen returned as president of the Rose Cumming Inc, an interior decorating and antique shop. Eileen Cumming Cecil died in New York.

Cecil, Lady Gwendolen – (1860 – 1945)
British biographer
Lady Gwendolen was born (July 2, 1860) at Hatfield House, the second daughter of Robert Cecil, third Marquess of Salisbury and his wife Georgina Charlotte Alderson. She and her elder sister Maude, Countess of Selborne, were not beauties and were referred too in society as ‘the Salisbury Plains.’ She was a close friend to Lady Margaret Howard and it was rumoured that Gwendolen would marry that lady’s widowed brother, the fifteenth Duke of Norfolk, but this marriage did not eventuate.
Lady Gwendolen never married and remained resident with her parents at Hatfirld, where she acted as private secretary to Lord Salisbury, who saw several terms as Prime Minister. Her nephew Lord David Cecil described Lady Gwendolen thus ‘She was an extraordinary mixture of simplicity and wisdom. For, along with an incurable innocence that led her to believe improbable tales of misfortune, she possessed an unusually powerful intellect – my grandfather though her the cleverest of his children – always working at full pitch, reflecting, analyzing, drawing conclusions on religion, on social reform, on politics. Her political judgement was penetrating … ’ With her father’s death (1903) Lady Gwendolen retired to her won residence at Hatfield Park, and devoted her energy to writing her father’s biography which took forty years to complete and ultimately appeared as The Life of Robert, Marquess of Salisbury to 1892. Lady Gwendolen Cecil died (Sept 28, 1945) aged eighty-five.

Cecil, Mildred – (1524 – 1589)
English scholar
Mildred Cooke was the daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, of Gidea Park in Essex, being sister to Lady Elizabeth Russell, Lady Anne Bacon, and Catherine Killigrew. Due to the efforts of her father and the famous scholar, Roger Ascham, Mildred and her sisters received a thorough humanist education. She was married (1545) to William Cecil, later Lord Bughleigh, the famous chief minister and secretary of state to Elizabeth I. She was the mother of Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury (1563 – 1612). Though she attended the court of Queen Elizabeth, and entertained her and the court at the family estate at Theobalds, Mildred Cecil was more concerned with domestic matters, and the extent of her influence over her husband remains debatable. She provided an exhibition for two scholars and four yearly sermons at St John’s College at Cambridge. She also gave several books in Greek and Hebrew to St John’s, and to Christ Church, Oxford, and Westminster College. No written works or translations of her won survive, but her scholarly accomplishments can be appreciated through the letters written by Sir Richard Morison to her husband. Some of her letters survive.

Cecil, Lady Violet    see   Milner, Violet Georgina Maxse, Lady

Cecilia (Caecilia) – (c205 – 230 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Cecilia was born into a patrician family, and was married to a noble named Valerian. With the aid of St Urban, Cecilia converted her husband and her brother-in-law. The two brothers were arrested and imprisoned because of their Christian beliefs during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus (222 – 235 AD). They converted thei jailor, Maximus, and all three were executed together. Cecilia caused all three to be buried in the cemetery of St Callixtus, along the Via Appia, outside Rome. The Roman prefect, Almachius, then condemned Cecilia to death, fearing that her high rank and wealth would promote the Christian cause. An executioner was sent to her home as an act of courtesy. An attempt to drown her in her bath failed, as did a clumsy attempt to behead her, and she took three days to die. At her request, Pope Urban dedicated her house as a church, and St Cecilia’s is the only antique private bath that exists in Rome. Her bath is now a chapel in the church of St Cecilia in Trastevere. Considered the patron saint of music, her feast was observed annually (Nov 22) and she was considered one of the four great patronesses of the Western church. St Cecilia is usually represented in religious art playing the organ.

Cecilia Capet – (1094 – after 1145)
Princess of France
Princess Cecilia was the elder daughter of Philip I, King of France (1060 – 1108) and his second wife Bertrada of Montfort, formerly the wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou. Her father arranged for Cecilia to marry (1106) Prince Tancred of Antioch (1076 – 1112). At the same time time her elder half-sister Princess Constance was remarried to Bohemond I of Antioch. Cecilia sailed to Palestine with a magnificent escort and was married to Tancred upon her arrival. This marriage added immense personal prestige to her new husband’s family, though due to Cecilia’s youth the marriage remained childless.
Little is recorded of Princess Cecilia during Tancred’s lifetime, though Matthew of Edessa recorded that with the death of Kogh Vasil, Prince of Kaisun (Oct, 1112), his widow sent costly presents to Tancred, including her own diadem as a gift to Princess Cecilia, in a bid to secure the succession in Kaisun for her adopted son. Tancred then died (Dec 2, 1112) probably of typhoid, having requested that Count Pons of Tripoli (c1097 – 1137) should marry his widow, then eighteen years old. The marriage took place soon afterwards (early 1113).
Sometime before 1119 Count Pons quarreled with Roger of Antioch’s, Tancred’s successor, concerning Cecilia’s dowry. The princess claimed Jabala as part of her dower but eventually both parties settled for a compromise. Cecilia accepted Chastel Rouge and Arzghan in exchange for her rights to Jabala, and settled her own vassals on these fiefs. Count Pons was later ambushed by Turks and fled to the castle of Montferrand (1133). At Cecilia’s request King Fulk of Jerusalem went to his successful rescue, the former uneasy relations between these princes was healed. Pons was later captured and put to death by the Moslems (1137) and Cecilia became the Dowager Countess of Tripoli. She remained an honoured figure at the court of her son Raymond, and was still living in 1145 when her name appears on a surviving charter. Her two children by Pons were,

1) Raymond II (1114 – 1152). He succeeded his father as Count of Tripoli (1137 – 1152) and was married to Hodierna, the sister of Queen Melisande of Jerusalem and left issue.

2) Agnes of Tripoli (c1117 – after 1152). She became the wife of Reynald II of Mazoir, Lord of Marqab.

Cecilia da Carrara – (1346 – 1427)
Electress consort of Saxony
Gigliola da Carrara was the eldest daughter of Francesco da Carrara Il Vecchio of Padua (1325 – 1393), and of his wife Fina da Pataro Buzzacarini, and was the sister of Francesco Novello da Carrara (1359 – 1406). Gigliola was the aunt of Stefano da Carrara (c1375 – 1449), Bishop of Padua and Archbishop of Rossano. Her two younger sisters were also married to important German lords, Caterina to Stefan Frangepan (died 1389), Count of Veglia, and Lieta to Count Friedrich of Ortenburg.
Gigliola and her siblings were raised in the Palazzo di Levante in Padua and became the wife (1367) of Prince Wenzel (Wenceslas) of Saxe-Wittenberg (1343 – 1388) and became the Duchess of Saxe-Wittenberg. Her dowry consisted of sixty thousand ducats and a bridal trousseau of thirty thousand ducats in precious stones, rich clothing and jewels. Her Saxon subjects called her Cecilia and she became Electress consort of Saxony after Wenzel succeeded as Elector of Saxony (1370 – 1388). The electress received the bequest of six thousand ducats from the will of her mother Fina da Carrara (1378). The elector was killed in battle at Acre in Palestine and Cecilia became the Dowager Electress of Saxony for almost four decades (1388 – 1427).
Very soon after the death of Wenzel, Francesco da Carrara arranged for the widowed middle aged electress to be remarried to the widower Count Hermann II of Cilly (Celje) in eastern Croatia (1365 – 1435) who was two decades her junior, as her father desired a closer alliance with the Hungarian border. Not surprisingly this marriage remained childless. Herman was the son of Count Hermann I of Cilly (died 1385) and his wife Princess Katharina Kotromanica of Bosnia. Cecilia died at Zahna aged eighty (1427), and was interred within the Franciscan monastery in Wittenberg. Her children were,

1) Rudolf III (1369 – 1419). He succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony (1388 – 1419) and married twice. As he left only daughters he was succeeded by his brother.

2) Prince Eric of Saxony (born 1370). He died young.

3) Princess Margarete of Saxony (c1372 – 1418). She became the wife if Bernard I (1354 – 1434), Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg.

4) Prince Wenzel of Saxony (c1373 – 1402). He became a priest and was appointed as Archbishop of Magdeburg.

5) Princess Anna of Saxony (c1381 – 1440). She married firstly to Friedrich I, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (1357 – 1400) and secondly to Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia (1337 – 1406).

6) Albert III (c1383 – 1423). He succeeded his elder brother as Elector of Saxony (1419 – 1423). He was married but left no issue.

Cecilia of Comminges    see also    Comminges, Cecilia de

Cecilia of Comminges – (c1313 – c1357)
French mediaeval noblewoman
Cecilia was the daughter of Bernard VII, Count of Comminges and his second wife Mathe de L’Isle-Jourdain, the daughter of Seigneur Odon II de L’Isle-Jourdain. She was married firstly to the Gascon lord Comte Amanieu d’Astarac (died 1331), the younger son of Comte Bernard IV d’Astarac and his first wife Mathe de Foix, the daughter of Comte Roger Bernard de Foix. They produced an only son and heir, Comte Centule IV d’Astarac, who married Mathe de Fezensaguet and left descendants.
Cecilia survived her husband as the Dowager Comtesse d’Astarac (1331 – 1337), and then became the first wife (1337) of the Italian lord Giovanni II Palaeologus (1310 – 1372), Marchese di Montferrato and became the Marchesa di Montferrato. Her father had held the vicomte of Turenne from his first wife Margeurite, the heiress of Raymond VII, Vicomte de Turenne. Their marriage had been childless but at Margeurite’s death (1311) Count Bernard had appropriated the county for the children of his second marriage. Renaud III, Seigneur de Pons, a relative of Margeurite’s, later claimed the vicomte (1332) which had been then divided into two parts. Cecilia had inherited this fief upon the death of her brother (1339) but later sold it (1350) to Guillaume Roger de Beaufort, the husband of her younger sister Eleonore of Comminges. Cecilia was living (June 23, 1354) but had died prior to 1358 when the Marchese Giovanni married his second wife Isabel of Majorca. Her second marriage remained chidless.

Cecilia of Ferrara (the elder) (1) – (c1456 – 1511)
Italian nun and saint
Cecilia was married (1478) to an appropriate husband, but they parted for religious reasons in 1486. He became a Dominican monk, whilst Cecilia became a Dominican nun at the convent of Santa Caterina (the Martyr) in Ferrara, dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria, which sisters were known locally as ‘Le Martiri.’ She was renowned for her religious sanctity and piety, and was credited with miracles. Cecilia was venerated as a saint, and her feast is recorded in the Acta Sanctorum (March 7).

Cecilia of Ferrara (the younger) (2) – (c1480 – 1507)
Italian nun and saint
Cecilia became a Dominican nun in Ferrara at an early age. According to her biographer she prayed to experience purgatory in this life, and then suffered much from continual ill-health. She was confined to bed as an invalid and there suffered more from temptation than she had ever been when healthy. Devoted to the Virgin Mary and the rosary she died young. Her hands were said to smell of roses after her death (Jan 25, 1507) and she was revered as a saint, though she was never formally canonized.

Cecilia of Lorraine – (c897 – c953)
Carolingian princess
Cecilia was the second daughter of Zwentibold (870 – 900), King of Lorraine (895 – 900) and his wife Oda of Saxony, the daughter of Otto I, Duke of Saxony (880 – 912). Her stepfather was Count Gerhard I of Metz and Cecilia was the maternal-half-sister to Archbishop Wigfried of Cologne (Koln) (died 953). Cecilia never married and became a nun with her two sisters at Susteren. As their father died when all three were infants, the fact that all were consigned to live their lives as nuns, and thus not marry and produce heirs for Zwentibold to the kingdom of Lotharingia may not have been entirely voluntary. She succeeded her elder sister Benedicta as Abbess of Susteren (c945). Cecilia and her two sisters Benedicta and Rolenda, who predeceased them, were venerated for their religious sanctity and were jointly commemorated as saints (Aug 17).

Cecila of Normandy – (c1058 – 1127)
Princess of England
Cecilia was born at Rouen Castle, probably the third daughter of Duke William II and his wife Matilda of Flanders, the daughter of Baldwin II, Count of Flanders. She was dedicated (1066) to the church at her mother’s new foundation the Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen, but did not immediately become a novice and her childhood was passed with her family. The same year her father won the English throne from Harold II, and Cecilia and her siblings travelled to England with Queen Matilda two years later (1068). She was the sister to kings William II (1087 – 1100) and Henry I (1100 – 1135).
Cecilia became a novice at Caen (1075) prior to taking her final vows at Fecamp (1076), amidst the great Easter festivities, being veiled by Archbishop John of Rouen. The chronicler Ordericus Vitalis recorded Cecilia becoming a nun noting that she ‘had been educated with great care in the convent of Caen, where she had been instructed in all the learning of the age and several sciences.’ She was taught Latin grammar, rhetoric and logic by Arnulf of Chocques, the chaplain at Caen and Queen Matilda left her jewels to the abbey at her death (1083). Cecilia was trained for her future position as head of this community under the first abbess Matilda de Caen.
With Matilda’s death Cecilia succeeded her as abbess (1112 – 1127). One of her charters survives in which she described herself as Caecilia, daughter of the king, by God’s grace, Abbess of the Holy Trinity at Caen, and the abbess is recording as maintaining a dumb child at her expense at Caen. An ode addressed to Cecilia written by Baudric, Abbot of Bourgeuil hass survived.
Princess Cecilia died (July 3, 1127) at Caen and was buried there.

Cecilia of Provence – (1068 – 1150)
French mediaeval heiress
Cecilia was the only child and heir of Bertrand II, Count of Provence (1051 – 1094) and his wife Matilda of Toulouse, the daughter of Pons II, Count of Toulouse. Cecilia was married (1083) to Bernard Aton IV (c1060 – 1129), Count de Carcassone and Viscount of Nimes and she became the Countess of Carcassone. She received part of the comital domain of Arles, erected as a viscounty, as her dowry, and this remained with Cecilia’s descendants until the Albigensian crusade.
As Sisiliae vicecomitissae de Carcassona she witnessed a surviving charter (1101) which granted property to the Abbey of La Grasse. In another charter recording a donation to the same monastery the countess was described as Cecilie uxoris eius, Rogerii filius eius. Caecilia vicecomitissa witnessed another surviving charter (Oct, 1146) with several other family members including her eldest daughter Ermengarde. She survived Bernard Aton for three decades as the Dowager Countess of Carcassone (1129 – 1150). Her children were,

1) Ermengarde of Carcassone (c1088 – 1156). She became the wife of Arnald Gosfredo III, Count of Rousillon (died 1163) and left issue.

2) Amable of Carcassone (c1090 – before 1128). She became the wife of Centule II (died 1129), Count of Bigorre and left issue.

3) Roger I (c1095 – c1150). He succeeded his father as Count of Carcassone (1129 – 1150) and married twice but left no issue.

4) Raymond Trencavel (c1100 – 1167). He succeeded his elder brother as Count of Carcassone (1150 – 1167) and married twice and left issue.

5) Bernard Aton V (c1102 – 1166). He succeeded his father as Viscount of Nimes (1129 – 1166) and married and left issue.

6) Ermesinde of Carcassone (died after 1129). She became the wife of Rostaing, Seigneur de Posquieres and left issue.

7) Matheline of Carcassone (died after 1129). She became the wife of Bertrand I, Seigneur de La Tour (died after 1141) and left issue.

Cecilia of Rethel – (c1085 – after 1130)
French Crusader princess
Cecilia was the daughter of Hugh I, Count of Rethel and his wife Melisande of Montlhery, the daughter of Guy, Seigneur de Montlhery and Corbeuil. Cecilia, sometimes called Hodierna in some sources was the sister of Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem. She was married firstly (c1100) to Herbrand de Hierges by whom she was the mother of Manasses de Hierges, the future Constable of Jerusalem who left descendants. After the death of Herbrand (1114) Cecilia was remarried (c1115) to Roger of Salerno (1082 – 1119), Princess of Antioch soon after his accession to that throne.
Prince Roger proved to be a notoriously unfaithful husband, and the marriage remained childless. Despite this he remained on affectionate terms with Cecilia’s brother King Baldwin. William of Tyre and Walter the chancellor both confirm the facts and relationships involved in Cecilia’s marriage. Her husband was killed in battle (June 28, 1119) in the great battle against the Moslems known as the ‘Field of Blood.’ The princess had awaited news of the battle in Antioch, and in the following August she was amongst those who joyfully received her brother Baldwin and the remainder of his troops into the city. Soon afterwards, at the battle of Hab, the king sent his own ring to Princess Cecilia by special messenger so that she would be the first to know the success of the campaign.
King Baldwin then ruled Antioch as regent for the infant Prince Bohemond II, Roger’s successor, and Cecilia retired to her dower lands which consisted of the cities of Tarsus and Adana as the Dowager Princess of Antioch. She was mentioned in a surviving charter dated 1126, and was still administering her estates in 1130.

Cecilia of Sangerhausen – (c1037 – c1075)
German heiress
Cecilia was born into the countly Sangerhausen family, though precise details of her parentage remain lacking. She was the heiress of Sangerhausen which she brought as her dowry when she was married (c1050) to Ludwig I Cum-barba (the Bearded) (c1030 – 1080), Count of Thuringia. The Historia Brevis Princpum Thuringiae recorded her marriage as Ceciliam de Sangirhusen. Cecilia bore Ludwig five children and there is no evidence that she survived him. The title of count of Sangerhausen passed to Cecilia’s second son Berengar. Her children were,

1) Hildegarde of Thuringia (c1053 – after 1080). She married firstly to Count Poppo I of Henneberg (died 1078) and secondly to Count Thimo of Nordeck, leaving issue from her first marriage.

2) Uta of Thuringia (c1055 – after 1080). She became the wife of Count Dietrich von Lindenbach.

3) Ludwig II der Springer (c1057 – 1123). He succeeded his father as Count of Thuringia (1080 – 1123) and married twice leaving descendants.

4) Berengar of Thuringia (c1063 – 1110). He became Count of Sangerhausen and married Bertrada of Wettin and left issue.

5) Adelaide of Thuringia (born c1065). She became the wife of Ludwig I, Count von Wippra.

Cecilia of Urgel – (1379 – 1460)
Spanish noblewoman
Cecilia of Urgel was the second daughter of Infante Pedro of Aragon (1340 – 1403), Count of Urgel and his second wife Margherita Palaeologina, the daughter of Giovanni II Palaeologus (1310 – 1372), Marchese di Montferrato. She became the second wife (1409) of Bernardo IV de Cabrera y Bas (1352 – 1423), the first Conde of Modica and became the Condesa de Modica. The marriage remained childless and Cecilia survived Bernardo as the Dowager Condesa of Modica for nearly forty years (1423 – 1460). Countess Cecilia died (Oct 24, 1460) aged eighty-one.

Cecilia of York (Cecily) – (1469 – 1507)
English Plantagenet princess
Princess Cecilia was the third daughter of King Edward IV, and his wife Elizabeth Woodville. The sister of Edward V, who died in the Tower of London, Cecily was betrothed to James (IV) of Scotland (1473 – 1482), but Edward IV broke off the match. She resided in sanctuary in Westminster Abbey after the death of her father (1483 – 1484). Later resided at the court of her uncle Richard III, who provided financial support, but had Cecily and her sisters declared illegitimate. She was present at the marriage of her sister Elizabeth with Henry VII (Jan, 1486) and carried her nephew, Prince Arthur, at his christening (Sept, 1486), and her sister’s train at her coronation (Nov, 1487).
During the reign of Richard III, it had been suggested that Cecily should marry the Portugese infante Manoel (Manoel I). When this union was again suggested (1486), her uncle, Sir Edward Woodville, acted as unofficial intermediary between England and Portugal, but the union never eventuated. Henry VII then offerred his mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, as a wife to James III of Scotland, and Cecily as the bride for his son and heir (1487), but these arrangements, if serious, came to nothing, and Cecily was married firstly (1487), John, seventh Viscount Wells, who left her all his property at his death (1498), and secondly (c1504), Thomas Kyme, of East Standen, on the Isle of Wight, though her royal relations appear to have ignored her second marriage.
Princess Cecily died aged thirty-eight (Aug 24, 1507) and was interred at Quarr Abbey, on the Isle of Wight. Her monument was destroyed during the Reformation, but her features were preserved in the stained glass windows of Canterbury Cathedral, and Little Malvern Church. She left two daughters by her first marriage, both of whom died young.

Cecilia Vasa (1) – (1540 – 1627)
Princess of Sweden
Princess Cecilia was born (Nov 6, 1540) in Stockholm, the second daughter of Gustavus I Vasa (1496 – 1560), King of Sweden and his second wife Margareta Leijonhufvud, the daughter of Erik Abrahamsson Leijonhufvud pa Loholmen, the governor of Westergotland (Vastergotland). She was married (1564) in Stockholm to Christopher II (1537 – 1575), Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern, the son of Margrave Bernhard IV of Baden-Rodemachern and his wife Francoise de Luxembourg-Ligny.
The princess and her family visited the English court of Queen Elizabeth I during the 1560’s. The princess caused some considerable embarrassment to the queen because she refused to pay her bills, with the result that Queen Elizabeth had to intervene so that the visiting daughter of a foreign king should not suffer the indignity of having the bailiffs empty her house of her possessions. With her husband’s early death Cecilia ruled Baden as regent (1575 – 1581) for her eldest son Edward. Princess Cecilia survived her husband for over fifty years as the Dowager Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (1575 – 1640). Despite her comparative youth she never chose to remarry. With the death of Edward (1600) Cecilia assisted her daughter-in-law the Margravine Maria with the government and civil administration of Baden during the minority of her grandsons Wilhelm and Hermann. Princess Cecilia died (Jan 27, 1627) aged eighty-six, in Brussels. Her six sons were,

1) Edwad Fortunatus (1565 – 1600). He succeeded his father as the reigning Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (1575 – 1600) and was married and left issue.

2) Margrave Christopher Gustavus of Baden-Rodemachern (1566 – 1609). He died unmarried.

3) Margrave Philip of Baden-Rodemachern (1567 – 1620). He died unmarried.

4) Margrave Karl of Baden-Rodemachern (1569 – 1590). He died unmarried.

5) Margrave Bernhard of Baden-Rodemachern (1570 – 1571). He died in infancy.

6) Margrave Johann Karl of Baden-Rodemachern (1572 – 1599). He died unmarried.

Cecilia Vasa (2) – (1807 – 1844)
Princess of Sweden
Princess Cecilia Vasa was born (June 22, 1807) in Stockholm, the second daughter of Gustavus IV, King of Sweden, who was deposed (1809), and his wife Frederica of Baden. Her parents were divorced (1812) and thereafter the princess resided in her mother’s household. She was married in Vienna (1831) to Paul Friedrich Augustus (1783 – 1853), Grand Duke of Oldenbourg as his third wife and was Grand Duchess consort (1831 – 1844). She bore him two surviving children, Peter II (1827 – 1900) who succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Oldenbourg (1853 – 1900), and Duke Egilmar of Oldenbourg (1844 – 1895) who was married morganatically. Grand Duchess Cecilia died (Jan 27, 1844) aged thirty-six, at Oldenbourg, never recovering from the birth of her fourth child.

Cecilia Augusta Maria – (1886 – 1954)
Crown Princess of Prussia
Princess Cecilia was born (Sept 20, 1886) at Schwerin in Mecklenburg, the younger daughter of Freidrich Franz III (1851 – 1897), Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his wife Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, daughter of the Romanov Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievitch the son of Tsar Nicholas I (1825 – 1855). Cecilia was married (1905) in Berlin, to the Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882 – 1951), the eldest son and heir of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888 – 1918). The marriage was a success dynastically and produced six children. Though the marriage had initially been a love match, Princess Cecilia associated herself with her husband’s political friends, who would eventually urge Germany into war. However her husband was a known womanizer whose escapades caused her constant humiliation and the situation between the two became unsettled. In an effort to heal gthe breach between them the Kaiser sent them abroad together on state visits (1910). They travelled to gether to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India, after which Cecilia travelled alone to Egypt. They then travelled to the Imperial court at St Petersburg to be present at the birthday celebrations of Tsar Nicholas II, after which they travelled to England to represent the Kaiser at the coronation of George V and Queen Mary (1911).
With the end of WW II and Germany’s defeat, Crown Prince Wilhelm fled ignominiously from the front to the Dutch border with four attendants, and was interred at Wieringen, an island on the edge of the Zuider Zee, under guard. Though she would have been permitted to join Wilhelm there, Cecilia preferred to remain with her children in Potsdam. After the suicide of her brother-in-law Prince Joachim (1920) she took her sons to visit their father ar Wieringen. With her husband she attended the wedding anniversary celebrations of the Emperor and Empress Augusta Victoria at Doorn in Holland. With ther death of the empress (April, 1921) Cecilia’s visits to the Kaiser became briefer, as both she and her husband disliked the emperor’s proposed second wife Hermine von Reuss, and declined to attend their wedding (1922). She survived her husband as the Dowager Crown Princess of Prussia (1951 – 1954). Crown Princess Cecilia died (May 6, 1954) aged sixty-seven, at Bad Kissingen. Her children were,

1) Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906 – 1940). He renounced his rights to the succession in order to marry Dorothea Salviati. He became Prince von Hohenzollern and left two daughters.

2) Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Prussia (1907 – 1994). He was the heir to the former Prussian throne (1941 – 1994). He married and left issue.

3) Prince Hubertus of Prussia (1909 – 1950). He was married twice and left issue.

4) Prince Friedrich of Prussia (1911 – 1966). He married a British aristocrat and left issue.

5) Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1915 – 1980). She remained unmarried.

6) Princess Cecilia of Prussia (1917 – 1975). She was married to an American, Clyde Kenneth Harris (1918 – 1958).

Cecilia Renata of Austria – (1611 – 1644)
Queen consort of Poland (1637 – 1644)
Archduchess Cecilia Renata was born (July 16, 1611) at Graz, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and his wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. She became the wife (Sept 13, 1637) of Vladyslav IV Sigismund (1595 – 1648), King of Poland and was crowned as queen consort the same day at the Cathedral of St John at Krakow. Her own court party was quite naturally pro-Hapsburg and she supported the chancellor Kerzy Ossolinksi. The queen was also a strong upholder of the church for which she worked in concert with Albrecht Stanislaw Radziwill, but was well liked because of unassuming polite manner, and because of her youthful energy.
The queen’s married life remained under a cloud due to the influence of King Vladyslav’s childhood friend Adam Kazanowski over him. Kazanowski worked against Cecilia Renata and plotted with the chancellor Piotr Gembicki to reduce the Austrian influence at the Polish court. Her portrait survives. Queen Cecilia Renata died (March 24, 1644) aged thirty-two, at Vilna. Her two children Prince Kasimir Sigismund (1640 – 1647) and Princess Maria Anna Isabella of Poland (1642 – 1643) both died young.

Cecilie of Greece – (1911 – 1937)
Princess
Princess Cecilie was born (June 22, 1911) at Tatoi Palace, near Athens, the third daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and his wife Alice of Battenberg, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her godparents were King George V of England, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Duchess Vera of Wurttemburg. She bore the additional title of Princess of Denmark. Her only brother was Prince Philip of Greece (born 1921) who became the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of England and was created Duke of Edinburgh. Cecilie and her three sisters were all bridesmaids at the wedding of their uncle Louis Mountbatten to Edwina Ashley (1922).
Princess Cecilie was married (1931) at Darmstadt to Prince George Donatus, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstad and the Rhine, the son of her godfather. She bore him three children. Husband and wife both joined the Nazi Party (1937) and soon afterwards succeeded as the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt with the death of her father-in-law. The couple left Darmstadt and traveled by air to England to attend the wedding of her husband’s brother Prince Ludwig. The Grand duchess was pregnant with her fourth child, and they were accompanied by their two sons, Ludwig Ernst (born 1931) and Alexander (born 1933), and her mother-in-law, the Dowager Grand Duchess Eleonore. Her daughter Johanna (born 1936) had been left behind with her nurse in Darmstadt due to her frail health. The plane hit a chimney at Ostend and crashed in flames killing all on board (Nov 16, 1937). The entire family, grandmother, son, daughter-in-law, and children were interred in the royal tomb at Rosenhohe in Darmstadt. Princess Johanna was adopted by her uncle. Grand Duke Ludwig V, but died in infancy of meningitis and was interred with her family.

Cecra – (d. c303 AD)
Graeco-Roman Christian martyr
Sometimes referred to as Cacra or Etere (French), she was a native of Tripoli in Africa. She was put to death with over two hundred and fifty other Christians who refused to make sacrifice to the pagan gods during the persecutions initiated by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Daia. Her feast (Oct 16) was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum.

Cegnani, Elisa – (1911 – 1996)
Italian actress and costume designer
Sometimes known as ‘Elga Sandri,’ she was born in Piedmont and made nearly sixty films. She played Nora Bandi in her first movie Aldebaran (1935), and Marcella in La Contessa di Parma (1937), but one of her more notable roles was playing the role of the Christian Helena, the mother of Cornell Wilde in Costantini il Grande (Constantine and the Cross) (1962). Elisa’s last film appearance was in the role of Mariangela’s mother in Domani si balla (1985). Elisa Cegnani died in Rome.

Ceinwen    see   Keyna

Ceionia Fabia – (125 – after 180 AD)
Roman Imperial patrician
Ceionia Fabia was the daughter of Lucius Aelius Caesar (formerly L. Ceionius Commodus) and his wife Plautia, the daughter of L. Aelius Plautius Lamia Aelianus, consul 80 AD. She was sister to the emperor Lucius Verus (130 – 169 AD), son-in-law and co-ruler with emperor Marcus Aurelius, and of Ceionia Plautia. Ceionia was originally betrothed to Marcus Aurelius, but this match was broken by emperor Antonius Pius, so that Marcus Aurelius could marry his daughter and hiress, Faustina II. She later married Plautius Quintillus, consul 159 AD, and their son, Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus, consul 177 AD, later married the daughter of Marcus Aurelius. She later escorted the widowed princess Lucilla, to Ephesus, for her remarriage with Ceionia’s brother. When the empress Faustina died (175 AD), there were rumours that the emperor would take Ceionia as his second wife. It is said that Ceionia herself made the offer, but that the emperor refused her, as he did not wish to set a stepmother over his children. She survived into the reign of Commodus (180 – 192 AD).

Ceionia Plautia – (fl. c150 – c170 AD)
Roman Imperial courtier
Ceionia Plautia was the sister of Ceionia Fabia, and of emperor Lucius Verus, husband of Lucilla, daughter of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. She was married to Quintus Servilius Pudens, consul ord. 166 AD, and proconsul of Crete and Cyprus. Their daughter Servilia became the wife of Quintus Hedius Rufus Lollianus Gentianus, proconsul of Asia (209 AD), and she was perhaps the ancestress of Lollianus Mavortius, consul 355 AD and praetorian prefect of Illyricum (355 – 356 AD), the grandfather of Caecinia Lolliana.

Celerina – (d. c203 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Celerina perished at Carthage in Africa during one of the persecutions instigated during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193 – 211 AD). She was put to death together with her son Laurentius and his brother-in-law, the soldier Ignatius. Their were mentioned in several of the letters of St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage which were addressed to the priest and deacon Celerinus, the grandson of Celerina. She was venerated as a martyr (Feb 3) and a church dedicated to St Celerina was in existence at Carthage in the early fifth century (c420 AD).

Celesia, Dorothea – (1738 – 1790)
British Hanoverian poet and dramatist
Dorothea Mallet was baptized (Oct 11, 1738) at Chiswick in London, daughter of the poet David Mallet. As a young girl Dorothea became the wife of the Genoese patrician Signor Pietro Paolo Celesia (died 1806) who was then the acting ambassador to Britain (1755 – 1759). Madame Celesia resided with her husband in Genoa until 1784 when she accompanied him on his posting to the Spanish court in Madrid where he had been appointed as minister plenipotentiary. Madame Celesia produced an adaptation of Voltaire’s Tancrede (1768) which was produced by David Garrick and performed at Drury Lane Theatre as Almida (1771). Her other works included Indolence, a poem, by the author of Almida (1772). Madame Celesia died (Sept, 1790) aged fifty-two, in Genoa.

Celeste, Madame – (c1811 – 1882)
French stage actress and dancer
Celeste was born (Aug 6, c1811) in Paris of humble parentage and her birth name remains unknown. Always showing the talent that would make her famous Celeste was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire and was trained in acting and dance. She appeared on stage as Talma in Le Vieux Celibataire and in Medea in Paris prior to traveling to America where she performed in Philadelphia, New York and New Orleans. She was married to a man named Elliott to whom she bore a daughter. With his early death Celeste returned to England.
Celeste toured the rural areas appearing in pantomime and ballets. Her first major role was as a young Arab boy in French Spy performed at the Queen’s Theatre (1831) which was written especially for her. Celeste later toured Italy, Germany, Spain and Ireland. She returned to the English stage appearing in Maid of Cashmere (1833) and as Fenella in Masianiello (1833) at Drury Lane. She then made a financially successful tour of the USA (1834 – 1837) and upon her return to England she appeared in Child of the Wreck by Planche which was written especially for her. Her most famous roles however were those of Miami in Green Bushes, Elmire in Tartuffe, the Gypsy Queen in Flowers of the Forest and the Willow Copse. Madame Celeste later performed at the Lyceum and Adelphi Theatres in London and retired in 1874. She then retired to live in Paris. Madame Celeste died (Feb 12, 1882) in Paris, aged about eighty.

Celestria – (fl. c1236 – 1243)
English mediaeval nun
Celestria served as the prioress of the convent of Ankerwyke in Buckinghamshire. She was attested from surviving charter evidence where she was named as prioress from 1238, 1239 and 1241. She apparently succeeded Prioress Emma (1236) and was later succeeded (1243) by Prioress Juliana, though whether she died or resigned her office due to illness remains unknown.

Celeswintha     see    Galswintha

Celfryth (Celfrida) – (c790 – c836)
Anglo-Saxon queen consort
Celfryth’s parentage remains unknown, though she was presumably of royal or noble ancestry. She became the wife of Wiglaf (c780 – 840), King of Mercia and was the mother of his son Wigmund (c805 – 839) who later ruled jointly with his father. Queen Celfryth predeceased her husband and was buried in the Abbey of Croyland in Lincolnshire, beside St Alfrida, who had been greatly revered by King Wiglaf, and near the tomb of St Guthlac. Her son Wigmund was later interred with her.
The invading Danes later plundered Croyland (870) and, according to the historian Dugdale, being disappointed on breaking open the tombs in the hopes of rich booty, removed the bodies in an unceremonious heap and burnt down the church and convent together, thus destroying the tombs and shrines alike.

Cella – (fl. c350 – c380 AD)
Vandal princess
Her family antecedents remain unrecorded, and only the bare facts of her life are known. Cella was the wife of the Vandal prince Radagaisus, and was the mother of his son King Godegisl of the Vandals (c370 – 406 AD). Through her grandson King Gaiseric (Genseric) (died 477 AD) Cella was the ancestress of the Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties of England and of their numerous descendants.

Celle, Sophia Dorothea von    see   Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle

Cellier, Elizabeth – (fl. c1660 – 1688)
English midwife and political intriguer
Elizabeth Cellier was born into a Protestant family in Buckinghamshire. She converted to Roman Catholicism prior to her marriage to a French merchant, and practises as a midwife in St Clement Dane’s in London. Cellier played an important role in the Popish Plot crisis of the 1670’s, and she became involved with the notorious conspirator Thomas Dangerfield, with whom she plotted to make the Protestant Nonconformists appear to be guilty instead of the Catholics. Known as the ‘meal-tub’ plot, this conspiracy was finally exposed (Oct, 1679) when incriminating documents were discovered in Madame Cellier’s home. She was imprisoned on a charge of high treason, but was ultimately released (June, 1680), despite the fact that Dangerfield had accused her of plotting the assasination of Charles II, when she revelaed to the court that Dangerfield was a convicted criminal and therefore not a credible witness. However, with the publication of her own defence, Malice Defeated (1680) she was again arrested, tried for libel, sentenced to the pillory, and fined, being popularly known as the ‘Popish Midwife.’ During the reign of James II (1685 – 1688) she published an address in which she called for the midwives of London to become a corporation in order to prevent abuses and the unnecessary deaths of mothers and infants, and the murders of unwanted illegitimate children.

Cely, Margery – (fl. 1484)
English mediaeval letter writer
Margery was the wife of George Cely, a London merchant or businessman. One of her own personal letters (1484) survives in the documents collectively referred to as the Cely Papers. This letter was sent to George whilst he was absent on business in Calais, France.

Cena – (fl. c720 – c750)
German letter writer
Cena resided in a remote part of Germany. She corresponded with St Boniface and her one surviving letter which sends him her greetings, also asked whether Cena could be of some practical assistance to the Anglo-Saxon missionaries then spreading throughout Germany.

Cenci, Beatrice – (1577 – 1599)
Italian tragedy figure
Beatrice Cenci was born in Rome, the daughter of the wealthy patrician Francesco Cenci. In 1595 Cenci imprisoned Beatrice and her stepmother Lucrezia in his remote castle of La Petrella, in Aquila, where he treated both women with great brutality. Beatrice became involved in a liasion with the castellan, Olimpio Calvetti, but all plans to escape met with frustration. Finally, with the connivance of her lover, her brother Giacomo, and others, Beatrice arranged for the murder of her father (1598) his body being thrown from a balcony to imitate an accident. The entire family were arrested, and placed under torture. When her brother Bernardo broke down and confessed, Beatrice confessed as well.
Despite the efforts made to save them, Pope Clement VIII remained unmoved, and Beatrice, Lucrezia and Giacomo were publicly executed at Rome (Sept 11, 1599), their property being confiscated by the Vatican. Her tragic story was recorded in popular novels such as The Cenci (1819) by the British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and, Beatrice Cenci (1958) by Alberto Moravia. Her portrait, by Guido Reni, is preserved in the Galleria Nazionale in Rome.

Centelli, Maria Grazia – (1518 – 1602)
Italian dramatist
Maria Grazia was the daughter of Lorenzo Centelli and became a nun (1531) at the Dominican convent of San Vincenzo in Prato. She served twice as prioress within this community (1578 – 1580) and (1584 – 1586) during which time the nuns strongly protested against the enforced enclosure of the nuns being insisted upon by the Council of Trent. She wrote plays which were performed within the convent for the benefit of the community and her five-act play Tragedia di Eleazzaro ebreo has survived, which was et during the reign of the pagan Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV (died 165 BC) and a comedy was commissioned from San Vincenzo by the nuns of Santa Caterina da Siena in Florence (1594). Sister Maria Grazia died (May 7, 1602) aged eighty-four, being attended on her deathbed by St Caterina de Ricci.

Centlivre, Susannah – (1667 – 1723)
British dramatist
Born Susannah Freeman at Holbeach in Lincolnshire (Nov 20, 1667), the facts conerning her early life remain much confused, and she may have married tow or three times prior to 1700, when she produced the tragedy, The Perjured Husband. Her last husband, whose name she kept, was Joseph Centlivre who she married (1707). Exceptionally attractive and talented, Centlivre herself appeared on the stage, performing at Bath in her own comedy, Love at a Venture (1706), which was followed in the same year by The Platonick Lady. Around this time she took her last husband, Joseph Centlivre, who served at Windsor Castle, as chief chef to Queen Anne (1702 – 1714). Centlivre produced almost twenty plays, mainly comic farces such as, The Busie Body (1709), A Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret (1714), and A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1717), which remainedextremely popular with British theatre patrons. Susanna Centlivre died in London, where she had presided over a popular literary salon.

Ceolburga (Ceolburh) – (c750 – 807)
Anglo-Saxon abbess
Ceolburga was the wife of earldorman Aethelmund, of the court of Offa II, king of Mercia (757 – 796), who was probably the ruler of the Hwicca tribe in Essex. Her husband was killed leading the Hwiccan attack on Wessrx (802), and Ceolburga became a nun, becoming abbess of the family monastery at Berkeley. Her son Aethelric took the trouble to prove his right to the monastery of Westbury before a royal council (804), and then promised it by will to his mother, to protect her from ‘the Berkeley people,’ but stipulated that it was to revert to the bishopric of Worcester after her death. From surviving charter evidence it would appear that earl Aethelric was trying to protect his family monastery of Westbury from the claims of Ceolburga’s family, by eventually promising it to Worcester. There is record of the community of Berkeley disputing Worcester’s claim after Ceolburga’s death (824), and the bishop had to swear his right to Berkeley by charter.

Cera (Cyra) – (c610 – 679)
Irish saint
Cera was the daughter of Duibhre, of the royal line of the kings of Connor. Cera and five other well-born virgins approached St Munna (Fintan Munnu) at Heli, asking for a place of their own where they might observe the religious life. Munna and his monks moved elsewhere and Cera and her nuns took up their abode at Tech Telle. Cera later founded a monastery for nuns at Kilcrea, and died as abbess of that house.

Cercyra     see    Kerkyra

Cereta, Laura – (1469 – 1499)
Italian scholar and letter writer
Laura Cereta was born in Brescia, the daughter of Silvestro Cereta, an attorney and local magistrate and his wife Veronica di Leno. Educated by the nuns, she read the classics at home and pursued her own scholarly interest there. Cereta was married (1484) to a merchant, Pietro Serina. His early death (c1487) from the plague left her a childless widow. Cereta lectured publicly on the place of women in society, and their contributions to it. She asserted the rights of women for higher education, and was against the ‘slavery’ engendered by marriage. She was on friendly terms with many leading humanists and academics of the period, such as Clemenzo Longolio, Lodovico Cendrata, and Giovanni Olivieri, amongst many others, and may have secured the literary patronage of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, though this remains uncertain. Cereta never remarried, and died aged only thirty. Her work Epistolae familiares survives.

Cergeaux, Philippa – (1380 – 1420)
English Plantagenet noblewoman
Philippa Cergeaux was the second daughter of Sir Richard Cergeaux and his wife Philippa, the daughter of Sir Edmund Fitzalan. Through her maternal grandfather Edmund, Philippa was a descendant of King Edward I (1272 – 1307) through his daughter Joan of Acre, Countess of Gloucester. Her stepfather was John Cornwall, Lord Fanhope. She was married firstly to Sir Robert Pashley (c1370 – before 1409) and secondly to William Swinburne, and left issue from her first marriage,

1) Anne Pashley (c1397 – 1444). She became the second wife of Edward tyrell (c1378 – 1442) of Downham, Essex.

2) Sir John Pashley (1407 – 1453). He was married to Elizabeth Wydeville who was related to Queen Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Edward IV.

Cerrito, Fanny – (1817 – 1909) 
Italian ballerina and choreographer
Francesca Cerrito was born in Naples (May 11, 1817), the daughter of a military officer, and made her stage debut (1832) there, before achieving international recognition after successful performances in London (1840), where she choreographed her first piece, a pas de trois for Alma (1842). Cerrito’s greatest triumph was in Ondine, a role which had been created especially for her by Jules Perrot, in London (1843), and which she performed before Queen Victoria. She then appeared in conjunction with Carlotta Grisi, Lucille Grahn, and Marie Taglioni, in Perrot’s Pas de quatre (1845). She was married (1845 – 1851) to the choreographer Arthur de Saint-Leon, who created La Fille de marbre for her debut with the Paris Opera (1847). After touring in Russia and performing at the coronation celebrations of Tsar Alexander II, she retired from the stage (1857) after sufferring shock from a near fatal accident. She survived this event for over five decades. Fanny Cerrito died (May 6, 1909) aged ninety-one, in Paris.

Cerutty, Dorothea – (1913 – 1998)
Australian teacher and educator
Cerutty was the only daughter if George Cerutty, a clergyman, and attended Melbourne Ladies’ College. She then attended Melbourne University where she trained as an English teacher and returned to her old alma mater as a tutor in English at the Women’s College there, and later as the head of the English department (1959 – 1966). Cerutty was later appointed as the principal of Toorka College at Mount Eliza (1966 – 1976).
After retiring as headmistress Dorothea Cerutty continued working as a teacher at Braemar College and the Ballarat Grammar School. Cerutty travelled to England where she pursued research at the universities of Durham and Oxford, and with her return to Australia she became a lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne, where she also finished a postgraduate course when aged almost eighty. Her valuable work as an educator was recognized when she was appointed OAM (Order of Australia Medal) (1998). Dorothea Cerutty died soon afterwards aged eighty-four.

Cesarini, Livia – (c1653 – 1712)                                          
Italian heiress
Livia Cesarini was the elder daughter of Giuliano Cesarini III, Count di Celano, and his wife Margherita, daughter of Prince Bernardino Savelli. Livia had been preparing to become a nun of the order of the Sette Dolori. However, Federico Sforza, Duke di Segni (1651 – 1712) was in need of a rich wife to restore his family’s failing fortunes, and he abducted Livia from the convent and married her by force, thus inheriting part of the Cesarini fortune. He also adopted Livia’s surname with his own in a belated acknowledgment of her assistance in restoring the Sforza family honour. This marriage had important political repercussions, as it much angered the Colonna family, into which Livia’s younger sister Clerica had married, and they were allied with Louis XIV of France. Livia was the mother of Gaetano Sforza-Cesarini, Duke di Segni (1674 – 1727).

Cesis, Sulpitia – (fl. 1619)
Italian composer and musician
Sulpitia Cesis was trained during her youth to play the lute with considerable talent, and then became a nun at the convent of San Agostino in Modena, where she continued to compose musical works. Her only recorded work was the Motetti Spirituale (1619), published in Modena, a collection of twenty-three religious motets, written for two to twelve voices, some of the scores utilizing unusual instruments such as trombones and cornets.

Cespedes y Bertini, Alba de – (1911 – 1997)
Cuban-Italian novelist
Alba de Cespedes was born (March 11, 1911) in Rome, the daughter of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes y Quesada, the President of Cuba and his Italian wife Laura Bertini y Alessandri. Her paternal grandfather was the Cuban politician Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. She became the wife of Francesco Bounous who was employed with the Italian Foreign service. She worked as a journalist for several publications such as Epoca and La Stampa. Her first published work was L’Anima Degli Altri (1935).
This work was followed by the novels Prigionie (1936), Concerto (1937), and Nessuno Torna Indietro (1928) and La Fuga (1940) which were both banned. With the end of WW II Cespedes went to reside in Paris. Her later novels included Dalla Parte Di Lei (The Best of Husbands) (1949), Quaderno Proibito (The Secret Diary) (1952), Prina E Dopo (Between Then and Now) (1956), La Bambalona (1967), Sans Autre Lieu Que La Nuit (1973) and Nel Buio Della Notte (1976). She donated her grandfather’s personal correspondence to the Cuban National Archives (1968). Alba de Cespedes died (Nov 14, 1997) aged eighty-six, in Paris.

Cetamoria – (c410 – c470 AD)
Irish virgin saint
Cetamoria was converted through the preaching of St Patrick. She took vows of chastity and established a religious house for women at Druimduchan, in Tyrone. The furture saint Kinna was placed under her care by Patrick to be educated for her own future religious role as an abbess.

Cetto, Sibilia – (c1350 – 1421)
Italian founder and public benefactor
Sibilia Cetto was the daughter of a rich merchant of Padua, Gualperto Cetto. She married firstly (c1370) Bonaccorso Naseni, who was hanged by the Carrara in 1390, and secondly (1393) Baldo Bonafari, a prominent Paduan lawyer, who died in 1418.  Sibilia used her family fortune to build and endow the Hospital Church and convent of San Francesco in Padua, which possessed linked courts for men and women, and its own private chapel. Sibilia de Cetto was interred within the precincts of her foundation in the robe of a Franciscan nun, as she had directed in her will.

Ceu, Violante do – (1602 – 1693)
Portugese poet, dramatist, and musician
Born Violante Montesino, she became Sister Violante do Ceu after she took the veil as a nun. She was the author of the surviving collection of verse entitled Rimas Varias (1646).

Chabi – (c1225 – 1281) 
Mongol empress
Chabi was the second wife of the Emperor Khubilai Khan (1215 – 1294). Intelligent and of a literary mind, Chabi retained paramount influence over Khubilai until her death, and she was an ardent supporter of the Tibetan Lama-Buddhist sect. When Khubilai conquered China and became emperor there, Chabi received the ladies of the deposed Soong Dynasty into her own household in Peking (Beijing). The empress herself designed a hat of Mongol design which provided protection from the sun, and even garments for the Mongol soldiers, which were more suitable for the warmer climate of China.  Chabi’s son Zhen Ji (c1244 – 1285) who predeceased his father was himself the father of the future Emperor Temur Oljeitu (1265 – 1307) and grandfather of the Emperor Khaishan (1281 – 1311).

Chabrillan, Celeste, Comtesse de     see    Mogador, Celeste

Chabrillan, Innocente Aglae du Plessis, Comtesse de – (1747 – 1776)
French society figure
Innocente Aglae Vignerot du Plessis-Richelieu was the daughter of Emanuel Armand Vignerot du Plessis-Richelieu, Duc d’Aiguillon and his wife Louise Felicite de Brehan-Plelo, the daughter of Louis Robert de Brehan, Comte de Plelo. She became the wife of Joseph Guigues de Moreton (1744 – 1793), Comte de Chabrillan. The Comte and Comtesse attended the court of Louis XV at Versailles and were present at the coronation of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Rheims (1775). Madame de Chabrillan was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole and attended the salon of Madame Du Deffand in Paris. The comtesse died young (June 13, 1776). Her husband long survived her and perished under the guillotine during the Revolution.

Chabris, Marie de Beauvilliers, Marquise de – (c1613 – 1698)
French society figure and courtier
Marie de beauvilliers was the daughter of Honorate de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan and his wife Jacqueline de la Grange de Montigny. Marie was married (1629) to Hippolyte de Bethune (1603 – 1665), Marquis de Chabris and Comte de Bethune and de Selles to whom she bore seven sons and six daughters. The marquis and marquise attended the court of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan at Versailles. Marie survived her husband for over thirty years as the Dowager Marquise de Chabris (1665 – 1698). Madame de Chabris died (Nov 12, 1698) aged about eighty-five. Her children included,

1) Henri de Bethune (1632 – 1690). He became the Comte de Selles and married and left issue.

2) Marie de Bethune (1633 – after 1698). She became a nun and was appointed as Abbess of Montreuil.

3) Armand de Bethune (1635 – 1703). He entered the church and became Bishop of Saint-Flour (1661) and of Puy (1664).

4) Hippolyte de Bethune (c1641 – 1720). He also entered the church and became the Bishop of Verdun (1681).

5) Louis de Bethune (c1646 – 1728). He became the Marquis de Bethune and de Chabris and was appointed Governor of Ardres in Flanders.

6) Anne Berthe de Bethune. She became a nun and was appointed as Abbess of Beaumont-les-Tours.

Chace, Marian – (1896 – 1970)
American dancer and dance therapist
Marian Chace was born (Oct 31, 1896) in Providence, Rhode Island, into an old New England family, the daughter of a journalist and a poet. A pioneer in the field of dance as a health therapy, she is credited as having created dance therapy into a respected profession. With a group of others, Chace co-founded the American Dance Therapy Association (1965) and served as the first president (1965 – 1970). She was the recipient of the Oveta Culp Hobby Award (1955), and received another award from the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1956) for her valuable contribution to public health. Marian Chace died (July 20, 1970) aged seventy-three, in Washington.

Chacel, Rosa – (1898 – 1994)
Spanish novelist and poet
Rosa Chacel was born in Vallodolid in Castile, but much of her life was spent in Italy and Brazil. She remained virtually unknown in Spain until the publication of her novel La sinrazon (The Wrong) (1960), when she was aged over sixty. Chacel’s earlier worls included her first novel, Estacion, ida y vuelta (Station, Round Trip) (1930), and she was greatly influenced by the Spanish critic Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883 – 1955). Later works included, Memorias de Leticia Valle (Memoirs of Leticia Valle) (1945), in which a young and attractive girl relates the effect her beauty and sexuality have upon her male teacher.

Chadwick, Cassie L. – (1859 – 1907)
American swindler
Born Elizabeth Bigley in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada, she established her career as a clairvoyant, hypnotist and fortune teller, and had several aliases before she married a respectable physician, Leroy Chadwick, of Cleveland, Ohio. Chadwick travelled to New York (1894) where she convinced rich and gullible investors that she was the illegitimate daughter of the wealthy financier, Andrew Carnegie. Issuing worthless promissory notes, purportedly from Carnegie, Chadwick was able to obtain enormous loans which she used to establish herself in society, where she became popularly known as the ‘Queen of Ohio.’ Having hoodwinked a private millionaire, Herbert Newton from Massachusetts, her guilt was suspected and she was publicly exposed as a fraudster and swindler. Arrested in the possession of one hundred thousand dollars (1904), she was convicted and jailed for ten years. Cassie Chadwick died in prison.

Chadwick, Florence – (1918 – 1995)
American swimmer
Florence Chadwick was born (Nov 9, 1918) in San Diego, California. Having trained as a swimmer from her childhood, Chadwick broke Gertrude Ederle’s record (1950), when she successfully swam the Channel between France and England in thirteen hours and twenty minutes. She then became the first and only woman to have swum the English Channel from both sides (1951). She bested her own record twice more in the Channel (1953) and (1955). Chadwick swam the Catalina Channel in California (1952), completing the course in thirteen hours and forty-seven minutes, becoming the first woman to do so. She also made records swimming the Straits of Gibraltar and the Bosporus (1953). Chadwick later worked as a stockbroker. Florence Chadwick died (March 15, 1995) aged seventy-six, in San Diego.

Chadwick, Helen – (1953 – 1996)
British photographer and installation artist
Helen Chadwick was born in Croydon, London, and studied at the Brighton Polytechnic (1973 – 1976) and at the Chelsea School of Art (1976 – 1977). Chadwick became a lecturer at Chelsea and later at the Royal College of Art. Her work was varied and unusual, taking in sculpture, photography, and installation and performance art, becoming one of Britain’s most provocative modern abstract artists, producing such unusual work as her series of meat abstracts entitled, Enfleshings 1 (1989) and her extremely suggestive Cacao (1994), which was a pile of melted chocolate. She had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1995), and examples of her art are preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Birmingham Art Gallery in Lancashire.

Chadwick, Nora Kershaw – (1891 – 1972)
British historical scholar
Born Nora Kershaw, in Lancashire, she was the daughter of a mill-owner. She was educated in Southport and at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she specialized in medieval and modern languages. Nora lectured at St Andrews University in Scotland (1914 – 1919), after which she was married (1919) to H.M. Chadwick, her former lecturer. Over a period of two decades Nora Chadwick produced readers in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Irish and Russian literature, and co-wrote with her husband, The Growth of Literature (1932 – 1940). Chadwick later became a research fellow and lecturer at Newnham College (1941 – 1944) and was then lecturer in British culture at Cambridge University (1950 – 1958). She was then director of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic studies at Girton College (1951 – 1962). Her written works included, Poetry and Letters of Early Christian Gaul (1955), The Druids (1966) and, The Celts (1970).

Chalais, Marie Francoise de Rochechouart, Princesse de – (1686 – 1762)
French Bourbon courtier
Marie Francoise de Rochechouart attended the courts of Louis XIV, the Regency of Philippe II d’Orleans (1715 – 1723) and then the court of the young Louis XV (1715 – 1774) at Versailles, she was the daughter of Louis de Rochechouart, Duc de Vivonne, and his wife Jeanne Marie Colbert, the daughter if Louis XIV’s famous minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Marigny. Her paternal aunt was the infamous Athenais, marquise de Montespan, mistress of Louis XIV. Marie Francoise was married firstly to Michel Chamillart, marquis de Cany, and left a daughter, Marie Elisabeth Chamillart de Cany (c1714 – 1788), who was married to Daniel de Talleyrand-Perigord, Marquis de Talleyrand (1706 – 1745).  Their son Comte Charles Daniel de Talleyrand-Perigord (1734 – 1788) was the father of of the famous statesman, Charles Maurice, Prince de Talleyrand, her great-grandson. With Cany’s death Marie Francoise remarried to to Louis Charles de Talleyrand, Prince de Chalais, who was killed at the battle of Tournai (1745). She survived him as the Dowager Princesse de Chalais (1745 – 1762), and was admired as a woman of strong religious principles, being admired by the court, and the peasants on her estates, alike. Madame de Chalais died aged seventy-four.

Challans, Eileen Mary    see    Renault, Mary

Challinor, Hannah    see   Woolley, Hannah

Challis, Margaret Joan – (1917 – 1994) 
British educator
Margaret Challis was born (April 14, 1917) and received her own education at Girton College and Cambridge, from which she graduated (1939) and (1943) respectively. From 1940 – 1944 she was mistress of English at Christ’s Hospital, Hertford, and from 1944 – 1945 at Dartford School for Girls, and from 1945 – 1957 at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. From 1949 – 1957 Margaret was housemistress at Cheltenham, and in 1958 was appointed headmistress of the prestigious Queen Anne’s School at Caversham. Margaret Challis died (Sept 14, 1994) aged seventy-seven.

Chalons, Charlotte de – (c1470 – 1528)
French mediaeval heiress
Charlotte was the daughter of Charles de Chalons, Seigneur de Vitteaux et de L’Orme and Comte de Joigny and his wife Jeanne de Banquetin, the widow of Artus de Chatillon, Seigneur de la Ferte-en-Ponthieu, and the daughter of Jacques de Banquetin, Seigneur de Beaupre and his wife Marie de Mailly. She was the paternal granddaughter of Jean de Chalons, Seigneur de l’Orme and his wife Marie d’Enghien. Charlotte was married twice and both her husband held the county of Joigny and the lordship of L’Orme-Chalons in her right when she inherited these fiefs from her father (1485).
Cahrlotte de Chalons was firstly (1480) to Adrien de Sainte-Maure (died 1504), Comte de Nesle, to whom she bore three children, Jean de Sainte-Maure (c1490 – 1545), Seigneur de L’Orme-Chalon who left descendants, Claude de Sainte-Maure who married twice and left issue, and Barbe de Sainte-Maure who became the wife of Antoine de Jaucourt-Dinteville. Adrien de Sainte-Maure died in 1504 and the comtesse remarried to Francois de Tourzel d’Alegre (died 1525), Seigneur de Precy. She survived her second husband for three years as the Dowager Dame de Precy (1525 – 1528). The lordship of L’Orme passed through several descendants from the children of Charlotte from her first marriage until it ultimately passed to the possession of the Gondi family (1603).

Chalupec, Barbara Appollonia   see   Negri, Pola

Chambefort, Marie – (fl. c1850 – c1860)
French daguerreotypist photographer
Marie Chambefort may have studied under Louis Jacques Daguerre (1789 – 1851), inventor of the daguerreotype. She is the first known female photographer of this type, and her work was well known in the region of Saone-et-Loire during the decade of the 1850’s. Few details are recorded of her life, and only a few examples of her work survive, such as the child portrait, Stephanie Poyet, agee de 7 ans, who was depicted with her favourte doll.

Chamberlain-Garrington, Elsie Dorothea – (1910 – 1991)
British churchwoman and minister
Elsie Chamberlain attended the Trinity College of Music and the Central School of Art in London. She had originally decided upon dressmaking as a career but then studied religion at King’s College at Cambridge, and became an assistant minister in Liverpool in Lancashire (1939) before going on to become the minister of Christchurch at Friern Barnet (1941 – 1946). Miss Chamberlain was the first woman to serve as an army chaplain to the military. She was married to a fellow clergyman and adopted his surname to her own becoming the Reverend Mrs Elsie Chamberlain-Garrington (1947).
After the war she was appointed as the minister of the Vineyard Congregational Church at Richmond (1947 – 1954) and later joined the religious department of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) (1950 – 1967). She was later appointed as the minister of the Hutton Free Church in Brentwood (1971) and served as president (1973 – 1975) and then chairman (1975) of the Congregational Federal Council. Her last appointment was as the minster of the Congregational Church Centre in Nottingham (1983). Reverend Chamberlain-Garrington was the editor of Lift Up Your Hearts (1959) and of the spiritual anthology entitled Calm Delight (1970).

Chambers, Anna    see   Temple, Anna Chambers, Countess of

Chambers, Charlotte – (1833 – 1857) 
Anglo-Indian mutiny victim
Charlotte Chambers was the wife (1856) of Captain Chambers, who was stationed at Meerut, near Delhi. Heavily pregnant at the time, she was one of the first British women to be killed during the initial outbreak of the Mutiny in Meerut (May 10, 1857). Charlotte and her infant were interred in the church of St John, at Meerut.The most horrific stories concerning her death were circulated, namely that she had been ripped open, her unborn child taken out, and ‘put around the poor lady’s neck.’ The rumour also stated that her murderer was a butcher from the bazaar, to whom she had complained several days earlier of having sold her spoiled meat. Yet another version of the story has it that the butcher surprised Charlotte in her house, whilst her husband was absent on parade, that he cut her throat, and that her servants caught him and killed him. The story of her brutal death is also recorded in the memoirs of Harriet Tytler, who knew Charlotte’s husband. It is thought however, that Mrs Chambers was actually shot, and thus ‘did not suffer any protracted pain, torture and indignity.’ Whatever may be the real truth concerning the details of her murder, the more sensational version of events were, and still are, wideley accepted.

Chambers, Dorothea Katharine Lambert – (1878 – 1960) 
British lawn tennis player
She was born Dorothea Douglass, at Ealing, Middlesex. Also interested in badminton and field-hockey, she established herself as the leading female tennis competitor prior to World War I. Chambers won the Wimbledon singles seven separate times (1903 – 1904 : 1906 : 1910 – 1911, and 1913 – 1914), the record being only passed two decades later by American Helen Wills Moody.  Chambers played on the British doubles team for the Wightman Cup, and reached the quarter-finals of the American championships at the age of forty-six (1925). Chambers later lost to French champion Suzanne Lenglen in a match that was long remembered (1929). Dorothea Chambers died (Jan 7, 1960) in London.

Chambers, Fanny Wilton, Lady – (1757 – 1839)
British devotional author
Frances Wilton was the only daughter of Joseph Wilton, the celebrated sculptor and one of the foundation members of the Royal Academy. Fanny Wilton became the wife (1774) of Robert Chambers (1737 – 1803), the Anglo-Indian judge just before his departure for India. Mrs Chambers was then aged in her sixteenth year and according to Samuel Johnson was ‘exquisitely beautiful.’ Mrs Thrale also admired her and wrote that ‘she stood for Hebe at the Royal Academy.’
Fanny Chamber and her husband sailed to India aboard the Anson and arrived in Calcutta. She became Lady Chambers after her husband was knighted by King George III (1777). Lady Chambers and her husband suffered the loss of their eldest son in the wreck of the Grosvenor East Indiamen (1782), and this tragedy was followed soon afterwards by that of Mrs Chambers, Sir Robert’s mother, who had accompanied them out to India. They returned to England eventually (1799) due ti Sir Robert’s ill-health. By 1802 Sir Robert’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent that his physicians ordered him to visit the south of France and Lady Fanny accompanied him there. Sir Robert died in Paris (May 9, 1803) and Lady Chambers accompanied his body back to England and attended the internment at Temple Church.
Lady Fanny survived her husband as the Dowager Lady Chambers for thirty-five years (1803 – 1839). A portrait of Sir Robert, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds for Mr Thrale’s study in Streatham, was purchased by Lady Chambers for eighty-four pounds. She published a volume of family prayers (1821) and she arranged the private publication of the Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts collected during his residence in India by the late Sir Robert Chambers with a brief memoir by Lady Chambers (1838). Lady Chambers died (April 15, 1839) aged eighty-one, and was interred with her husband at Temple Church.

Chambers, Jessie Ralph   see   Ralph, Jessie

Chambers, Lucy – (1839 – 1894)
Australian contralto vocalist
Chambers was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the daughter of Charles Chambers, a physician. She had some vocal training during childhood, and had performed at an amateur level before meeting the famous singer, Catherine Hayes, who promoted Chambers and her early career. She had further training under Manuel Garcia (1805 – 1906) at the London Conservatory, and with Romani in Italy, before making her stage debut in Florence (1864), where she met with considerable success. Six years later Lucy returned to Australia, and established herself as reputable singing instructor in Melbourne, Victoria. Lucy Chambers died (June 8, 1894) aged fifty-four, in Melbourne.

Chambers, Maud Isabel – (1887 – 1961)
Australian nurse
Maud Baker was born (Sept 19, 1887) in Perth, Western Australia, and was educated privately at home by a governess. She trained as a nurse with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), and served in Egypt and France during WW I as a nursing sister aboard the ship Kyarra. Towards the end of the war (1917), Nurse Baker was married to a physician, Roy Chambers. She remained a member of the Returned Nurses Club, which she served as president (1953 – 1959). Chambers was also president of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Auxiliary (1947 – 1961) and was a member of the Edith Cavell Trust Fund. She was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1956), in recognition of her war service and community work. Maud Chambers died (Aug 28, 1961) aged seventy-three, in Melbourne.

Chamillart, Elisabeth Therese de – (1657 – 1731)
French courtier
Born Elisabeth Therese le Rebours, she inherited the seigneurie of Chamillart and was known as the Dame de Chamillart. She never married and attended the court of Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon at Versailles, being mentioned in the Memoires of the court historian Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon.

Chaminade, Cecile Louise Stephanie – (1857 – 1944)
French composer and pianist
Cecile Chaminade was born (Aug 8, 1857) in Paris into a wealthy family, the daughter of a violinist, and studied musical composition under Benjamin Godard and Martin Marsick. She made her recital debut at the age of eighteen (1875), and later made her debut in London (1892) to great success. Chaminade toured and performed in the USA, where she played the solo part of Concertstuck with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1908). Her light piano pieces, written mainly for the salon, enjoyed widespread popularity, and she wrote numerous songs. Other works included the ballet Callirhoe, Les amazones for chorus and orchestra (c1888) and a Flute Concertino (1902). She was awarded the Legion d’Honneur (1913), the first female composer to be son honoured by her country. Chaminade was married (1901 – 1907) to a music publisher from Marseilles, Louis Mathieu Carbonel. With his death, she did not remarry. Madame Chaminade died (April 18, 1944) aged eighty-six, in Monte Carlo.

Chamlee, Ruth Miller – (1893 – 1983)
American operatic soprano
Ruth Miller was born in Portland, Oregon, and studied as a singer. She performed with Enrico Caruso and John McCormack at the Metroplitan Opera in New York. She retired from the stage after her marriage with the tenor Mario Chamlee. Ruth Chamlee taught singing for several decades at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and published the memoirs entitled Once Upon a Time (1972). Ruth Miller Chamlee died (June 28, 1983) at Van Nuys in California.

Chamoun, Patti Morgan – (1928 – 2001) 
Australian model and actress
Born Patricia Joan Morgan at Darling Point, Sydney, she was educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School. She he left school (1944) and became an accomplished dancer, starring in Windy City Kitty of Chicago, a production organized by the American Red Cross. This made Patti the model for the central character in a strip cartoon of that name in the US forces paper, Yanks Down Under. This ensured her celebrity status. In 1946 she went to London and appeared in two films, The Booby Trap and Idol of Paris. She became a model for Norman Hartnell, and was photopgraphed by Norman Parkinson and Richard Avedon. Patti was married twice, the second time (1957) to Dany Chamoun, the son of Camille Chamoun, the president of Lebanon. Until 1974 she resided in Beirut, and opened a modelling school there, the first in the Middle East, and travelled widely, promoting causes for women. With the eruption of civil war (1974) she fled to London. Diovrced in 1988, her former husband was assassinated in 1990. Patti Morgan Chamoun died in London.

Champagne, Eustacia de – (c1145 – c1173)
Anglo-Norman royal
Eustachia de Champagne was the illegitimate daughter of Eustace IV of Blois, Duke of Normandy and joint-king of England (1153), the eldest son and heir of Stephen of Blois, King of England (1135 – 1154). Through her father she was a descendant of William the Conqueror, and through her paternal grandmother she was descended from St Margaret of Scotland. Her mother was an unnamed concubine but she was recognized by Eustace as his daughter and was probably raised in the household of his mother Matilda of Boulogne until that lady’s death (1152).
This Eustacia is identical with the lady of that name, described as a kinswoman of Henry II (1154 – 1189), who was married (c1157) to Geoffrey de Mandeville (c1120 – 1166), second Earl of Essex who was buried at Walden Abbey in Essex. In surviving charters dated (c1157 – c1158) she is referred to as ‘Eustacia comitissa.’ Lord Essex however, refused to live with Eustacia as his wife, and the marriage appears to have been forced upon him by King Henry. The union remained childless and ended in divorce (c1160). Surviving charter evidence reveals that Eustacia, at the intervention of the king himself, was then remarried (c1161) to Anselm Candavene (c1132 – 1174), Count of St Pol in France, as his second wife, and predeceased him.
Her two children were Hugh IV (c1162 – 1205), Count of St Pol, who left descendants, and Beatrice of St Pol (c1163 – after 1204) who became the third wife of Jean I (c1140 – 1191), Count of Ponthieu and left issue. Eustacia de Champagne is sometimes confused with her contemporary Eustacia de Say, a connection of her first husband’s, who founded Westwood Priory in Worcestershire, but they are two distinct women. Countess Eustacia was an ancestor of King Edward III (1327 – 1377), through whom she was then ancestor of most of the royal and aristocratic families of Europe.

Champernowne, Katherine – (c1519 – 1594)
English Tudor noblewoman
Katherine Champernowne was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne of Modbury. She was married firstly to Otto Gilbert (died 1547), of Compton, near Dartmouth, Devon, to whom she bore several children including Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539 – 1583), the famous navigator, who left descendants. She then became the third wife of Sir Walter Raleigh (c1496 – 1581) of Fardell, Devon. She survived her second husband as the Dowager Lady Raleigh (1581 – 1594). Katherine bore Walter Raleigh three children, a daughter Margaret Ralegh, and two sons, Sir Carew Raleigh (c1550 – c1625) who left descendants, and the famous Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 – 1618), the favourite of Elizabeth I who was executed by James I.

Champigne, Aremburga de – (c955 – after 1016)
French mediaeval heiress
Aremburga was related to Fulk III, Count of Anjou, being perhaps his niece by marriage and the daughter of Ratburnus II, Vicomte of Vienne. Aremburga was married firstly (c970 to Hubert I, Seigneur d’Aulnay (c940 – c980) to whom she bore several children, and secondly (c981) to Herve the Razor (c950 – before 1016), Seigneur de Sable to whom she also bore children.
Fulk of Anjou had granted Aremburga and Hubert the lands of Bauge to hold in his interest. With Hubert’s death Aremburga’s son was a small child, and Fulk and Geoffrey de Sable, a major supporter of Fulk’s in that region, arranged for her remarriage to Herve de Sable, one of Geoffrey’s vassals. As a dowry Fulk granted the couple half of the seigneurie of Champigne-sur-Sarthe which they held in his name. Count Fulk later arranged for the marriage of Aremburga’s son Hubert II to the daughter and heiress of Isembard, Seigneur de Lude on the Loir, known as Chateau-du-Loir. Hubert II d’Aulnay, and her two sons by Herve were all killed at the battle of Pontlevoy (1016) and she survived them. Aremburga was then made a grant, for her lifetime, by the Abbey of Saint-Aubin at Angers, of half of the Church of Champigne-sur-Sarthe.

Champion de Crespigny, Mary Clarke, Lady – (c1743 – 1812)
British Hanoverian novelist
Mary Clarke was the daughter and heiress of Joseph Clarke, and was the eventual heiress of Isaac Heaton of Peckham Lodge, Camberwell. She became the wife (1764) of Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734 – 1818), later created first baronet by George III, and was the mother of his son and heir Sir William Champion de Crespigny (1765 – 1829) who succeeded his father as second baronet (1818 – 1829) and left children. A patron of the dramatist Mariana Starke and of the biographer Ann Thicknesse her ladyship was the author of two popular novels which were published in London under her married name, The Poor Soldier; An American Tale (1789) and the four volume novel The Pavilion (1796). The novelist Eliza Parsons dedicated her novel Ellen and Julia (1793) to ‘Mrs Crespigny.’ Lady Mary Champion de Crespigny died (July 20, 1812)

Champmesle, Marie – (1642 – 1698)
French actress
Born Marie Desmares at Rouen in Normandy, she was the daughter of an actor. She married the actor Charles Chevillet Champmesle (1666), and both became members of the Theatre du Marais troupe in Paris. She appeared on the Paris stage in the title role of Boyer’s Fete de Venus (1669). The couple joined the Hotel de Bourgogne (1670), where she enjoyed her first success in the role of Hermione in Racine’s Andromaque (1670). Her greatest acting triumphs were to be in roles written for her by Racine, who became her lover, such as the title role of Berenice, Roxane in Bajazet, Monime in Mithridate, and the tragic heroines Phedre and Iphigenie. She left the Hotel (1679) to become part of the joint Moliere-Marais troupe which formed the nucleus of the newly formed Comedie Francaise (1680), of which Champmesle would remain the shining star and first lady until her death. Marie Champmesle died (May 15, 1698) at Auteuil. Her roles were inherited by her pupil and understudy Madamoiselle Duclos.

Champrond, Marie de   see   DuDeffand, Marie de Vichy-Champrond, Marquise

Chandler, Dorothy Buffum – (1901 – 1997)
American publisher and director
Dorothy Buffum was born at Lafayette, Illinois, the daughter of a department store owner, and married Norman Chandler (1899 – 1973), owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times newspaper. Chandler greatly contributed to the running and success of the Los Angeles Mirror, which her husband had instituted as a foil for the more conservative Times. Chandler was appointed administrative assistant to her husband, then president (1948), and was later made a director of the Times-Mirror Company (1955). She originated and founded the Los Angeles Times woman of the year awards (1950), bestowed for achievements in the arts, science, and public philanthropy. Her husband retired as publisher (1960), to be succeeded by their son, Otis Chandler (born 1927). Widowed in 1974, Chandler was later awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan (1985). Dorothy Buffum Chandler died (July 6, 1997) aged ninety-six, in Hollywood, California.

Chandler, Mary – (1687 – 1745)
British poet
Mary Chandler was born in Malmesbury in Wiltshire, the eldest daughter of a dissenting minister. She resided with her parents in Bath, and because of a deformity, remained unmarried. Family finances forced her to earn an income, and Mary established herself as a successful milliner in Bath, though she retained friendships with women of note such as Elizabeth Rowe and the Countess of Hertford. Mary Chandler received critical acclaim in The Female Advocate with her published verse, which included the poem ‘Temperance.’ She published anonymously a history of Bath in verse, A Description of Bath (1733). She appended her name to the second edition of this work (1734) which she dedicated to the Princess Amelia, the daughter of George II (1727 – 1760). Mary Chandler died (Sept 11, 1745) aged fifty-eight.

Chandos, Elizabeth Grey, Lady – (c1500 – 1559)
English Tudor peeress
Elizabeth Grey was the daughter if Edward Grey, first Baron Grey de Wilton. She was married to Sir John Brydges (c1490 – 1556), the first Baron Chandos and became the Baroness Chandos. Lady Elizabeth was the mother of Edmund Brydges (c1520 – 1573) who succeeded his father as the second Baron Chandos (1556 – 1573). Lord Chandos was later granted Sudley Castle, the former home of the ill-fated Admiral Sir Thomas Seymour after his execution (1549) which became part of the family estates.
Lord and Lady Chandos were present at the coronation ceremonies of Queen Mary I (1554). Lord John died (April 12, 1556) at Sudley Castle and Elizabeth survived him as the Dowager Baroness Chandos (1556 – 1559). Lady Chandos died (Dec 29, 1559) and was interred in the Chapel of St Faith in St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Her tomb and monument were destroyed during the Great Fire (1666).

Chandos, Lydia Catherine von Halten, Duchess of – (1692 – 1750)
British Hanoverian heiress and peeress (1736 – 1744)
Lydia was the daughter of John von Halten and his wife Lydia Davall. She was married firstly to her maternal kinsman, Sir Thomas Davall, of Romney, Essex. After his death she became the third wife (1736) of James Bridges (1673 – 1744), the first Duke of Chandos, bringing him a fortune of forty thousand pounds. Mrs Pendarves writing to Dean Swift, recorded that ‘ the Duke of Chandos’s marriage has made a great noise: and the poor Duchess is often reproached, with her having being bred up Burr Street, Wapping.’ With the death of the duchess’s only son Thomas Davall (1710 – 1718), there ensued a long chancery suit (1719 – 1722) for the Davall estates, which ended by a compromise which left the duchess most of the wealth belonging to her first husband. She survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Chandos (1744 – 1750). The duchess died (Nov 18, 1750) aged fifty-eight, at Shaw Hall, Berkshire.

Chanel, Coco (Gabrielle) – (1883 – 1971)
French couturiere and dress designer
Coco Chanel was born in Saumur, and established herself as the ‘queen’ of Parisian haute couture for six decades, being especially remembered for her ‘little black dress,’ as well as innovative designs in costume jewellery. Orphaned at the age of six (1889), Chanel first opened a small millinery shop in fashionable Deauville (1913). Her use of trousers, sweaters, skirts, and accessories gradually coaxed women out of uncomfortable, corseted fashions, and persuaded them to adopt the newer, more comfortable, yet nonconformist, classic style. Her emphasis on simplicity and comfort helped to revolutionize the French fashion industry for the next three decades. She herself ran an empire which consisted of a fashion house, perfume laboratories, jewellery workshops, and a textile business, which employed over three and a half thousand people. Chanel never married and retired in 1938, remaining famous in society circles for her liasions with famous and powerful men such as the Duke of Westminster. She re-emerged to introduce her famous suit design, the collarless, braid-trimmed cardigan jacket, with matching skirt (1954). Coco Chanel died (Jan 10, 1971) in Paris.

Chaney, Sarah Alantha – (1923 – 1943)
American poet
Sarah Chaney was born (Feb 23, 1923) at Hickory, in Newton County, Mississippi. She attended the University of Southern Mississippi, and became a public school teacher. Chaney died young, aged only twenty, and her collection of verse was published posthumously as, Poems of Sarah Alantha Chaney (1946).

Chant, Laura Ormiston – (1848 – 1923)
British lecturer, preacher and composer
Laura Ormiston Dibbin was born at Chepstow in Monmouthshire, and was educated at home. She was married (1876) to Thomas Chant (died 1913) to whom she bore four children. Mrs Chant had worked as aschoolteacher and as a nurse at the London Hospital prior to her marriage, after which she campaigned for various causes included the suffrage movement, and took a contigent of nurses to Greece and Crete for which she received the Red Cross from Queen Victoria.
Mrs Chant’s published works included the novel Sellcut’s Manager and the collection of short sermons entitled The Prodigal. She produced the collection of verse entitled Verona and other Poems and composed the music for the song ‘Ode to the Skylark’ and several other collections of songs such as Action Songs, Golden Boat Action Songs and The Wise Owl Action Songs. Laura Ormiston Chant died (Feb 16, 1923) at Pinvin, near Pershore.

Chantal, Jeanne Francoise Fremiot, Baronne de – (1572 – 1641)
French religious founder and saint
Jeanne Francoise Fremiot was born at Dijon, Burgundy, the daughter of Benigne Fremiot, Seigneur de Thoste, a royal councillor and presidente of the Parlement of Burgundy, and his wife Margeurite de Berbisey, of the family of St Bernard of Clairvaux, being a descendant of Bernard’s sister Humbeline de Fontaines and her husband Anseric II de Chacenay. Jeanne was married (1592) to Christophe II de Rabutin, Baron de Chantal (1563 – 1601), to whom she bore six children. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident. Jeanne desired herself to live a life of religious contemplation and prayer, but with four children to raise, and manage the household of a difficult father-in-law, she also had to act as hostess at her father’s home in Dijon. From 1604 she came under the spiritual direction of St Francis de Sales, after meeting him at her brother’s house. They met again at St Cloud, and Jeanne took her two young daughters with her to Annecy, where she founded, in conjunction with St Francis, the convent and school of the Visitation Order (1610), for educating young women to take care of the sick and elderly.
By the time of her death, nearly ninety of these religious schools had been established throughout France. Canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XIV (1767) her feast was observed on Aug 21. Madame de Chantal died (Dec 13, 1641) at Moulins. Her only surviving son, Celse Benigne de Rabutin, Baron de Chantal (1596 – 1627) was father to the famous letter writer, Madame de Sevigne. Her second daughter Francoise de Rabutin-Chantal became the wife of Antoine, Comte de Toulongeon.

Chao Li-hua – (fl. c1400 – c1600)
Chinese poet
Chao Li-hua attended the Imperial court as a lady-in-waiting sometime during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). Her poem ‘Farewell ’ has survived and been reprinted in modern anthologies.

Chapelain, Magdelaine – (1655 – 1724) 
French suspected poisoner
Magdelaine Chapelain worked variously as a fortune teller, and was supposedly interested in participating in satanic rituals. She had married to a former coachman, and owned some property.
Madame Chapelain was an associate of the poisoner La Filastre, and implicated with her mistress in the ‘Affair of the Poisons ‘(1679 – 1680) because of their asssociation with the abortionist La Voisin. She was arrested (Dec, 1679) by order of Nicolas Le Reynie, the captain of the Paris police, interrogated and tried, though many of the records concerning her interrogations mysteriously disappeared.  Thought to have at least participated in several murders, and of having performed abortions, she was spared the death penalty, but was imprisoned for life in the fortress of Bellisle (1682), where she was kept in conditions of extreme physical discomfort, and died there (June, 1724) over four decades afterwards, aged sixty-eight.

Chaplin, Oona O’Neill, Lady – (1925 – 1991)
Irish-American literary figure
Oona O’Neill was the daughter of the famous dramatist Eugene Gladstone O’Neill (1888 – 1953), she attended Brearley College and became a society beauty. She trifled with an acting career but then caused a scandal by eloping with and becoming the fourth wife (1943) of the noted actor Charles Chaplin (1885 – 1977), over five decades her senior. She bore him a large family of eight children, three sons and five daughters, one of whom was veteran actress Geraldine Chaplin (born 1944). Her husband was a prominent critic of the policies of the American government and in 1952 Chaplin and his family went into self-imposed exile in Switzerland where they received political and literary figures such as Pablo Casals and Nikita Khrushchev at their residence the Manoir de Born.
When Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England Oona became Lady Chaplin (1975 – 1977). Oona survived Charlie as the Dowager Lady Chaplin (1977 – 1991) and continued to reside at Manoir de Ban, overlooking the village of Corsier-sur-Vevey, above Lake Geneva in Switzerland though she remained a recluse and was rarely seen in public. Lady Chaplin died (Sept 27, 1991) aged sixty-six at Manoir de Born.

Chapman, Dorothy – (1878 – 1967)
British educator
Dorothy Chapman was educated at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and at the University College in London. She served as warden of the the female students at the University College of North Wales in Bangor (1909 – 1911), before becoming Latin lecturere at the University of Liverpool, a post she held for two decades (1911 – 1931). Chapman was then appointed as principal of Westfield College at the University of London (1931 – 1939), after which she retired. Chapman remained unmarried. Dorothy Chapman died (Jan 28, 1967) aged eighty-eight, at Rotherfield, near Crowborough in Sussex.

Chapman, Gladys Doten – (1886 – 1980)
American suffrage leader
Gladys Doten was born in Portland, Maine, the daughter of a grain merchant. She attended Wellesley College and where she took up the cause of female suffrage and founded the College Equal Suffrage Union. Gladys became the wife of Philip Chapman, a prominent Portland lawyer. Gladys bore him two children. Mrs Chapman was a prominent figure in civic affairs in Portland and served for over a decade as the president of the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), and as the president of the Portland League of Women Voters. she also worked as abook reviewer for the Portland Evening News publication. Gladys Doten Chapman died (March 24, 1980) aged ninety-three, in Portland.

Chapman, Maria Weston – (1806 – 1885) 
American abolitionist and author
Maria Weston Chapman was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and married (1830) Henry Grafton Chapman, a Boston merchant. Becoming prominent in abolitionist circles in Boston, Chapman founded the Anti-Slavery Society (1832) in conjunction with twelve other women. She became the chief assistant of the radical anti-slavery leader William Lloyd Garrison, and assisted him with the organization of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, and the publication of the abolitionist publication The Liberator. Chapman herself published the pamphlett Rights and Wrongs in Masachusetts (1839) which stated that the issue of women’s rights was the cause of the deep divisions which ran through the Abolitionist party. Chapman was later the editor (1839 – 1842) of the Non-Resistant, Garrison’s publication for the New England Non-Resistance Society. Chapman wrote the biography Memorials of Harriet Martineau (1877), the British author, and also composed Songs of the Free and Hymns of Christian Freedom (1836). Maria Weston Chapman died (July 12, 1885) in Weymouth.

Chapone, Hester – (1727 – 1801)
British poet and writer
Born Hester Mulsho in Twywell, Northamptonshire, she was educated at home. She was married (1760) to the lawyer, John Chapone, who died soon afterwards (1761), and never remarried.
A friend to several prominent literary figures, such as the novelist Samuel Richardson (1689 – 1761), Dr Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Carter, the noted ‘bluestocking,’ and Elizabeth Montagu, to whom Chapone dedicated her best known work, Letters on the Improvement of the Mind (1773). She also wrote articles for several popular periodicals and magazines such as The Rambler (1750), The Adventurer (1753) and The Gentleman’s Magazine.

Charbonnet-Kellerman, Alice Ellen – (1859 – 1914)
Australian pianist
Born Alice Charbonnet in Paris, she was the daughter of a French father and an American mother. She studied the piano in Paris, and then travelled to Sydney in New South Wales, where she was married (1882) to Frederick William Kellerman. They were parents to the famous dancer and swimming star, Annette Kellerman (1888 – 1975). Having established herself prior to her marriage as a piano recitalist of some comsiderable talent, in Australia, Madame Charbonnet-Kellerman ran her own msuic studio in Philip Street in Sydney, and remained active in many musical associations. She was founder of the Quintet Society (1893), and later returned to Paris, where she died (Aug, 1914), just prior to the outbreak of WW I.

Charen, Eugenie Margeurite Honoree Lethiere – (1786 – after 1824)
French painter
Eugenie Charen specialized in genre period paintings, and was awarded medals by the Paris salons of 1808 and 1817 for her work. Charen’s Matilda makes Malek Abdel promise to become a Christian (1812) was engraved by Madame Soyer, whilst the evocative Inez de Castro and her Children at the feet of the king of Portugal remained at the Trianon Palace, at Versailles, near Paris. She was also known as Madame de Servieres.

Charisse, Cyd – (1922 – 2008)
American dancer and film actress
Born Tula Ellice Finklea (March 8, 1922) at Amarillo in Texas, the daughter of a jeweler, and she trained as a dancer and ballet performer with the Ballets Russe. She used the professional names of Celia Siderova, Maria Istromena and lily Norwood before she finally adopted the professional name of ‘Cyd Charisse after her marriage with the dancer Nico Charisse (1939).’ Her early film appearances with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer included roles in Mission to Moscow (1943), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Unfinished Dance (1947) and East Side, West Side (1949).
Famous for her beautiful legs which were insured for one million dollars, Charisse also possessed breathtaking beauty, and she was best known for her lead appearances in such popular musicals as Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Brigadoon (1954), It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), Invitation to Dance (1957) and Silk Stockings (1957) where she appeared with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Her later film credits included Assassination in Rome (1967) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). Charisse also appeared in movies for television such as Call Her Mom (1972), Portrait of an Escort (1980) and Swimsuit (1989). With her second husband the vocalist Tony Martin she published the joint autobiography entitled The Two of Us (1976) which gave details of their careers together as nightclub performers. She retired from films in 1980 and later appeared in the London West End musical Charlie Girl (1986). Cyd Charisse died (June 17, 2008) aged eighty-seven, ay Los Angeles in California.

Charito – (fl. 578 – 582)
Byzantine princess
Chariot was born (c559) the elder daughter of the Emperor Tiberius II Constantinus (578 – 582) and his wife Anastasia (formerly Ino). Her sister Constantina was the wife of the Emperor Maurice (582 – 602). She became the wife of Germanus, who was probably the son of Justinianus and a connection of the family of the Emperor Justinian I. Justinianus had served as the magister militiae of the East (575 – 577).
Charito was married to Germanus in 582, and he was then created Caesar, together with his brother-in-law Maurice (Aug 5, 582). Because of his natural humility Charito’s husband refused to ascend the Imperial throne on the death of his father-in-law, and Maurice succeeded as sole emperor. Nothing more was recorded of Princess Charito or her husband after this date. Her marriage was recorded by Theophanes in his Chronogrophia and by Joannes Zonaras in his Epitome Historiarum.

Charito, Aelia – (fl. 363 – 364 AD)
Roman Augusta
Aelia Charito was the daughter of Lucillianus, the Imperial military commander who was killed during an army uprising at Rheims in Gaul (363 AD). She was the wife of the emperor Jovian at his accession to the throne in the same year, and the mother of his infant son Varronianus who held the consulship with his father (364 AD). Empress Charito and her son survived Jovian’s death by many years, and she was later buried beside him in the Church of the Apostles in Byzantium. She may be identical with the Imperial widow mentioned as living in fear of her life and that of her son (c380 AD) by St John Chrysostem, but this lady may have been Artemisia, widow of the usurper emperor Procopius (died 365 AD). Two coins of Jovian have survived, one from Thessalonika and the other from Constantinople but neither Charito or her son were portrayed on them.

Charixena – (fl. c700 – c600 BC)
Greek poet
The period in which she lived remains obscure but she flourished sometime after the epic poet Homer. Apart from composing lyric poetry she was also a talented musician. The ancient expression ‘from the time of Charixena’ was a reference to something considerably dated.

Charke, Charlotte – (1713 – 1760)
British actress
Charlotte Cibber was born in the noted theatre family, the Cibbers, and was on the stage from early childhood, though she was especially remembered for her male roles. She was married to Richard Charke but they quickly seperated and remained childless. Her career definitely suffered because of her irresponsible and unreliable disposition, and after retiring from the stage and writing the satirical play The Art of Management (1737) she was variously employed as a puppeteer, a tavern keeper and a gentleman’s valet, and even gave birth to an illegitimate daughter. Charke was employed with strolling companies that toured the provinces, but her career never panned out. Charlotte Charke returned to London, and died in poverty at Islington, legend said, on a dung-heap. Her autobiography was published posthumously (1775).

Charlemont, Anne Bermingham, Countess of – (1780 – 1876)
Irish peeress and courtier
Anne Bermingham was the youngest daughter of William Bermingham of Ross Hill in County Galway, and his wife Mary Rutledge, the daughter of Thomas Rutledge. Anne was married (1802) to Francis William Caulfield (1775 – 1863), second Earl of Charlemont and became the Countess of Charlemont for over six decades (1802 – 1863). She bore him four children. Lord Glenbervie described Lord Charlemont (1811) as ‘the honest, the cheerfuk, the frank husband of a wife, who … seems to love her husband more than any of the wits or literates … who daily offer their frigid incense and pedantic verses at her shrine.’
Lady Granville wrote (1814) that ‘Lady Charlemont is here in great beauty, but not making much sensation as she has no coquettrie, not even desir de plaira, which repels a Frenchman, just as much as a humpback.’ She and her husband were present at the coronations of George IV (1821), Willian IV (1831) and of Queen Victoria (1838). With the accession of Queen Victoria (1837) the countess was appointed to serve at court as Lady of the Bedchamber, which position she retained until 1854. Lady Anne survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Charlemont (1863 – 1876). Lady Charlemont died (Nov 23, 1876) aged ninety-six, at her residence in Grosvenor Street in Middlesex, London. Her children were,

1) James William Caulfield (1803 – 1823). He was styled Viscount Caulfield and died unmarried predeceasing his father.

2) Hon. (Honourable) William Francis Caulfield (1805 – 1807). He died in infancy.

3) Lady Maria Melosina Caulfield (1807 – 1827). She died unmarried.

4) Lady Emily Charlotte Caulfield (1808 – 1829). She died unmarried.

Charles, Dame Eugenia – (1919 – 2005)
Prime minister of the Dominican Republic (1980 – 1995)
Mary Eugenia Charles was born near Roseau, the daughter of a wealthy planter and the granddaughter of a former slave. Educated in convents in Dominica and Grenada, she studied law at the University of Toronto, in Canada, and became the first practising female law in Dominica (1947). Actively involved in politics, when the Labour Party passed sedition laws in order to silence their critics, she organised the Freedom Fighters group and spoke at protest rallies (1968). The Freedom Fighters evolved into the Dominica Freedom Party, and she joined the Dominican legislature (1970). After formal independence (1978), Charles led the opposition to the discredited Labour government headed by Patrick John, which was forced out of office (1979). The interim government led by James Searaphine did little better, and the disaster of Hurriacane David in the same year led to a general election, which was won by Charles and her party (July 21, 1980).
Charles was the clear leader of her administration, taking on foreign affairs and development and finance on top of her prime ministerial duties. Corruption rooted out, and the defence force, which had been found to be selling arms to marijuana growers, forced to hand over their weapons. She foiled two coup attempts organized by Patrick John, who was arrested and sent to prison. Charles then launched wide ranging reforms in the fields of education, health, and economic development. Eugenia Charles attracted international attention when she persuaded the US president, Ronal Reagan, to send American troops to Grenada (1983), Dominica’s neighbour, in order to defeat a military coup organized by Cuban leftists, who had murdered the prime minister, Maurice Bishop. Charles won two further five year terms (1985 – 1995) before ultimately retiring from public political life at the age of seventy-five. Her political will and her determination to stabilize her small country earned her the popular epithet of the ‘Iron Lady of the Caribbean.’ Dame Eugenia Charles died (Sept 6, 2005) aged eighty-six.

Charles, Julie Francoise Bouchaud des Herettes – (1784 – 1817)
French salon figure and letter writer
Julie Bouchard des Herettes was born (July 4, 1784) in Paris, the daughter of a merchant from Nantes in Brittany. Her mother was a Creole from Santo Domingo where she was raised until the rebellion of the slaves there when she was brought to safety in France (1792). For the next decade she resided in poor circumstances and was frequently ill with the tuberculosis which would later cause her death. She became the wife (1804) of the celebrated physicist Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles (1804), almost four decades her senior. Her husband enabled her to maintain a literary salon at her Paris home, and she later met the poet Lamartine (1816), with whom she may or may not, have had an affair. To him Madame Charles became the adored and sentimentalized ‘Elvire’ of his surviving letters. Anatole France later published several letters from his correspondence with Madame Charles. Julie Charles died (Dec 18, 1817) aged thirty-one, in Paris.

Charlesworth, Lilian – (c1895 – 1970)
British educator
Lilian E. Charlesworth was attended secondary school at Clapham in London, and was trained as a schoolteacher at the Royal Holloway College. She remained unmarried. Miss Charlesworth was appointed as headmistress of the Kensington High School in London for almost a decade (1931 – 1939) after which she served for two decades as headmistress of the Sutton High School (1939 – 1959). During this tenure Charlesworth served as president of the Association of Headmistresses (1948 – 1950) and was the honorary director of the Royal Academy of Dancing.
In recognition of her valuable contribution to education Charlesworth was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1954) by Queen Elizabeth II and she served as a director of the Thomas Wall Trust. Lilian Charlesworth died (Nov 20, 1970) in London.

Charlotte de Bourbon (1) – (1388 – 1422)
Queen consort of Cyprus (1409 – 1422)
Charlotte de Bourbon was the daughter of Jean I de Bourbon, Comte de La Marche, and his wife Catherine de Vendome. She married (1409) Janus of Lusignan, King of Cyprus (1375 – 1432) and bore him six children, including John II (1413 – 1458) and Anne (1418 – 1462), the wife of Louis, Duke of Savoy. The queen was very popular with the Cyprians, who supposed her to be the bringer of good luck to the island, as her arrival had coincided with the dying down of a great locust plague. Charlotte and Janus are depicted together in a wall painting in the Latin chapel of Pyrga in Cyprus, built in 1421, but it is extremely doubtful whether the portraits are genuine likenesses.

Charlotte de Bourbon (2) – (1546 – 1582)
Princess of Orange
Charlotte de Bourbon was the daughter of Louis III de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier, and his first wife, Jacqueline de Longwy, Comtesse de Bar-sur-Seine. Brought up a Catholic as the abbey of Jouarre, she was forced to become a nun (1559) and then made abbess in succession to her aunt. She drew up a formal list of complaints, and finally, thoroughly imbibed with the Protestant convictions of her relations Charlotte fled the convent with two nuns, and fled to Heidelburg (1572). In Germany she was received with favour by the elector Palatine Frederick III, and his wife, Dorothea of Denmark, and met William I of Orange (1533 – 1584), whose third wife she became (1575). The marriage proved a contented one, and when William was wounded in a duel, she nursed him herself. Princess Charlotte died (May 5, 1582) aged thirty-five, at Antwerp. She left six daughters.

Charlotte de Valois – (1516 – 1524)
Princess of France
Princess Charlotte was born in Paris (Oct 23, 1516), the second daughter of King Francois I (1515 – 1547) and his first wife Claude d’Orleans, daughter of Louis XII (1498 – 1515). She was named in honour of the emperor Charles V. At the Treaty of Noyon (1516), King Francois had promised the emperor the hand of his elder daughter Louise, with Naples as her dowry, and it was stipulated that if she should die before the marriage could take place, her place as bride would be taken by her sister Charlotte. The Regent of Scotland, John, Duke of Albany, extracted a promise from Francois (Aug, 1517) that Charlotte should marry James V of Scotland, and if Charles should claim her, then James would marry her next sister Madeleine. The governess of Charlotte and Louise was their father’s mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d’Etampes. Her portrait, painted by Jean Clouet, and preserved in the collection of the Louvre Palace, reveals the princess as an extremely pretty child. Princess Charlotte died (Sept 8, 1524) aged seven, and was buried at the Abbey of St Denis at Rheims.

Charlotte Grimaldi – (1898 – 1977)
Princess of Monaco
Charlotte Grimaldi was born (Aug 30, 1898), the only child and heiress of Prince Louis II and his mistress, Juliette Louvet. She was later legitimated (1911) and formally accorded the rank of heiress with the title of Madamoiselle de Valentinois by her paternal grandfather, Prince Albert I. She was created Duchesse de Valentinois (1919).  Charlotte was married (1920) to Comte Pierre de Polignac (1895 – 1964), who was created Duc de Valentinois. When her father ascended to the Monegasque throne (June, 1922), Charlotte then assumed the style of hereditary Princess of Monaco. She later divorced de Polignac (1933). She was mother of Prince Rainer III (1923 – 2005), whose wife was the famous American actress, Grace Kelly, and of Princess Antoinette, the Baronne de Massy (born 1920), who has married three times, and bore children. Princess Charlotte died (Sept 30, 1977) aged seventy-nine.

Charlotte of Austria – (1921 – 1989)
Hapsburg archduchess
HIH (Her Imperial Highness) Archduchess Charlotte Hedwig Franziska Josepha Maria Antonia Roberta Ottonia Pia Anna Ignatia Macus d’Aviano was born (March 21, 1921) at Prangins, the second daughter of Emperor Karl I (1916 – 1918) and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the daughter of Roberto I, Duke of Parma. She bore the additional titles of Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, and Princess of Lorraine and Tuscany. With her father’s early death (1922) Charlotte remained under the guardianship of her mother the Dowager Empress Zita.
Archduchess Charlotte was married finally at the age of thirty-five (1956) becoming the second wife at Pocking of George Alexander (1899 – 1963), Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The civil marriage ceremony (July 21, 1956) was followed by a religious service two days later. Charlotte was his duchess consort (1956 – 1963) but the marriage remained childless. She survived her husband for over two decades as the Dowager Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1963 – 1989). Archduchess Charlotte died (July 23, 1989) aged sixty-eight, at Munich in Bavaria.

Charlotte of Belgium     see     Carlotta of Belgium

Charlotte of Bohemia – (1628 – 1631)
Princess
Princess Charlotte was born (Dec 19, 1628) at The Hague, the Netherlands, the fourth daughter of frederick V, King of Bohemia and Elector Palatine of the Rhine, and his wife Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of James I, King of Great Britain (1603 – 1625). Charlotte bore the additional title of Countess Palatine of the Palatine and the Rhine and was the maternal aunt of George I, King of England (1714 – 1727), the son of her younger sister, Sophia of Hanover, and was first cousin to Charles II and James II, kings of England. Princess Charlotte died in infancy (Jan 23, 1631) aged two years. She was interred in the Cloister Church in The Hague.

Charlotte of Burgundy – (1476 – 1500)
French heiress
Charlotte was the only child of Jean I of Burgundy, Comte d’Etampes, Nevers and Rethel and his second wife Pauline de Brosse-Penthievre, the daughter of Jean II de Brosse, Seigneur de Boussac and Nicole de Chatillon de Blois, Comtesse de Penthievre. She was the paternal granddaughter of Philip III the Good, Duke of Burgundy (1419 – 1467) and was married (1486) to Jean de Albret (1463 – 1524), Baron d’Orval the brother of her stepmother Francoise d’Albret. With her father’s death (1491) Charlotte became the Comtesse de Rethel (1491 – 1500). Comtesse Charlotte died (Aug 23, 1500) at Chasteau-Meillan, and left three daughters,

1) Marie d’Albret (1491 – 1549). She succeeded her mother as Comtesse de Rethel and was married to Charles of Cleves (died 1521), Count of Nevers.

2) Helene d’Albret (1495 – 1519). She remained unmarried.

3) Charlotte d’Albret (c1500 – 1540). She became the wife of Odet de Foix (c1495 – 1528), Comte de Cominges.

Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel – (1627 – 1686)
German electress consort of the Palatine-Rhine
Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel was born (Nov 20, 1627) at Kassel, the daughter of Wilhelm V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and his wife Countess Amalia Elisabeth von Hanau, the daughter of Count Philip Ludwig von Hanau. She was married (1650) at Kassel to Karl Ludwig I (1617 – 1680), the Elector Palatine of the Rhine and became his consort (1650 – 1680). This alliance with Protestant Hesse-Kassel ensured the succession to the Palatine, and Charlotte bore her husband two children, the future elector Karl Ludwig II (1651 – 1685) and Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatine (1652 – 1722), the second wife of Philippe I, Duc d’Orleans, brother of Louis XIV of France and known to history through her letters as ‘Liselotte.’
Despite the production of children however, the marriage proved a failure. Tall and blonde, possessed of a lovely figure and legs, and an excellent horsewoman, the electress was possessed of an evil temper, which fact the elector had been forewarned of by his own mother-in-law prior to the wedding. Karl Ludwig remained under the spell of his wife for only a few years until he transferred his attentions to a mistress Louise von Degenfeld (1655). The electress proved to be violently jealous of the affair and on one occasion, after catching the two of them together, had the guards not intervened to prevent it Charlotte would have killed the girl. Karl Ludwig desired to divorce Charlotte but she refused to consider it, her husband openly confessing his frustration that he could not prove her guilty of adultery as a means of ridding himself of her.
Thereafter the electress lived separated from her husband, and eventually she left Heidelburg and returned to the Hessian court at Kassel, taking her children with her. Electress charlotte was never reconciled with her husband, though she did attend his funeral in Heidelburg twenty years later (1680). She survived her husband as the Dowager Electress Palatine of the Rhine (1680 – 1686) and lived in retirement in Kassel. The electress died there (March 16, 1686) aged fifty-eight, and her remains were brought to Heidelburg for burial. Her sister-in-law the Duchess Sophia of Hanover remarked caustically on receiving news of her death that for the maids that wrapped her in her burial shroud ‘It’ll be the first time that anyone has dressed the Electress without being beaten’ in reference to Charlotte’s infamous temperament.

Charlotte of Lorraine – (1714 – 1773)
French princess
Princess Anne Charlotte was born (May 17, 1714), the eighth daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine, and his wife Charlotte Elisabeth d’Orleans, the daughter of Philippe I, Duc d’Orleans, the brother of Louis XIV (1643 – 1715). Charlotte’s eldest brother Franz Stephen (1708 – 1765) became Holy Roman emperor as the husband of Maria Theresa, whilst her brother Charles Alexander (1712 – 1780) was married to the empress’s younger sister, the Archduchess Maria Anna, who died childless (1744). She refused to marry and leave her homeland, so she took vows as a nun and was appointed abbess of Essen in Westphalia (1757 – 1773). An enthusiastic participant in the hunt, it was a passion she shared with her favourite brother, the emperor, firing over 9000 shots during one single hunting party.
Charlotte was a constant visitor to the Imperial court in Vienna, and was aunt to the emperors Joseph II (1765 – 1790) and Leopold II (1790 – 1792), and of Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, and related to many other Hapsburg and European royal houses. During the journey of Marie Antoinette to France for her marriage to the future Louis XVI (1770), her niece stayed with the princess at Gunzburg in Bavaria, during which time they attended religious services in the Lorraine family chapel at Koniginbild. Princess Charlotte died (Nov 7, 1773) aged fifty-nine.

Charlotte of Lusignan – (1442 – 1487)
Queen regnant of Cyprus (1458 – 1464)
Charlotte was the only surviving child of King John II and his second wife, Helena Palaeologina, the daughter of Theodore II, Despot of the Morea. The sole heiress of her father after the early death of her elder sister Cleopatra, she was raised in the Byzantine manner by her mother and spoke fluent Greek. Charlotte was married firstly (1456) to the Infante Joao of Portugal (1430 – 1457), Duke of Coimbra. Her marriage with a Roman Catholic prince had been arranged by Cyprian dignitaries as a means of counter-balancing the Greek sympathies instilled in her by Queen Helena. There were no children of this marriage and the Infante died soon afterwards, not without suspicion of poison.
With the death of King John II Charlotte succeeded him as queen of Cyprus (July 26, 1458) but the death of her mother sometime earlier (April) had left her without a valuable political adviser. Queen Charlotte was remarried several months later (1458) in the Cathedral of St Sophia in Limassol, to Louis of Savoy, Count of Geneva (1436 – 1482) the brother of Amadeus IX of Savoy, and her coronation took place a week afterwards (Oct 7, 1458). This marriage had been arranged by the Genoese who promised political assistance to the queen to retain her precarious hold on the kingdom of Cyprus. Their only child, a son, died in infancy (1464).
Despite his apparent amity with Charlotte her brother James never ceased to covet the throne. A plot organized by him was exposed by loyal servants and he was forced to flee to Egypt (Dec, 1458) but he gathered Egyptian Mameluke soldiers and entered the city of Nicosia as the conqueror (1460). The queen had originally fled to the fortress of Kyrenia with her husband for safety and from there she and Louis escaped by sea to Rome (1464) after she was formally deposed by her brother and the Convertendi Palace in the Trastevere quarter of Rome was placed at her disposal. Pope Pius II who saw her at this time described Queen Charlotte as ‘a woman of about twenty-four, of middle height: bright eyes, complexion betwixt dark and pale; speech smooth and flowing torrent like after the manner of the Greeks; French costume; manners becoming her royal blood.’
Queen Charlotte later established her small court on the Island of Rhodes where she intrigued continually but unsuccessfully to regain her lost kingdom and refused to renounce her claims to the throne. Her later efforts to remove James’s widow Caterina Cornaro from power likewise failed (1479), though Caterina was eventually removed from power by the Venetians. Queen Charlotte was left a widow in 1482 and was received in the Vatican Palace with great honour and state by Pope Sixtus IV (Nov, 1483) who granted her a chair of the same height and dignity as his own. Queen Charlotte died (July 16, 1487) aged forty-five, in Rome. She was interred within the Chapel of St Andrew and St Gregory in the basilica of St Peter. Pope Innocent III paid the queen’s funeral expenses.

Charlotte of Prussia    see   also    Alexandra Feodorovna (1)

Charlotte of Prussia (1) – (1716 – 1801)
German duchess consort of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1735 – 1780)
Princess Philippina Charlotte was born (March 13, 1716) in Berlin, the daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm III, king of Prussia (1713 – 1740) and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, the daughter of George I, King of Great Britain (1714 – 1727). Charlotte was raised in Berlin under the constant threat of her father’s tyrannical temper, and possessed few academic talents. She was married in Berlin (1733) to Duke Karl I of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1713 – 1780), and created a small version of Versailles at their palace in Wolfenbuttel where she later received Voltaire (1743).
Charlotte she survived her husband for two decades as Dowager Duchess of Brunswick (1780 – 1801). She was the mother of the famous general Duke Karl II Ferdinand for whom she engaged the services of the Protestant court chaplain J.F.W. Jerusalem as his tutor. With the death of King Friedrich Wilhelm I and the accession of her brother Friedrich the Great (1740), the Duchess of Brunswick made frequent visits to the court there and to the Palace of Monbijou, the residence of the Queen Dowager Sophia Dorothea. A proud, haughty and extravangant woman, her taste for luxury ruined the economy of Wolfenbuttel and when her son ascended the ducal throne he found the royal treasury much depleted.
Duchess Charlotte bore a total of thirteen children. Her daughter Elizabeth Christina became the first wife of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia (1786 – 1797), from whom she was divorced, whilst her youngest daughter Augusta Dorothea served as the last Protestant princess-abbess of Gandersheim (1777 – 1803). Her granddaughter, Frederica of Prussia (1767 – 1820), became the wife of Frederick, Duke of York, the second son of George III, but died childless. Duchess Charlotte died (Feb 16, 1801) aged eighty-four, in Brunswick. Her children were,

1) Karl II Ferdinand (1735 – 1806). He succeeded his father as Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1780 – 1806) and was a famous general. He was married to Princess Augusta Charlotte of
Great Britain, the sister of King George III, and their daughter Caroline of Brunswick was the unhappy wife of George IV.

2) Prince George of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1736 – 1737). He died in infancy.

3) Princess Sophia Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1737 – 1817). She became the second wife of Heinrich of Brandenburg (1711 – 1763), Margrave of Schwendt.

4) Prince Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1738 – 1742). He died young.

5) Princess Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1739 – 1807). She became the wife of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and left issue.

6) Prince Friedrich August of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1740 – 1805). He was married to Frederica of Wurttemburg-Oels (1751 – 1789).

7) Prince Albert of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1742 – 1761). He died unmarried.

8) Princess Louisa of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1743 – 1744). She died in infancy.

9) Prince Wilhelm Adolphus of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1745 – 1776). He remained unmarried.

10) Princess Elisabeth Christina of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1746 – 1840). She became the first wife of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (1744 – 1797) (later King Friedrich Wilhelm
II) to whom she bore a daughter and from whom she was divorced.

11) Princess Frederica of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1748 – 1758). She died during childhood.

12) Princess Augusta Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1749 – 1810). She remained unmarried and was appointed as the Protestant Abbess of Gandersheim.

13) Prince Maximilian of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1752 – 1785). He died unmarried.

Charlotte of Prussia (2) – (1831 – 1855)
German princess
Princess Frederica Louisa Wilhelmina Marianne Charlotte of Prussia was born (June 31, 1831) at Schonhausen Castle, near Berlin, the eldest daughter of Prince Albert of Prussia (1809 – 1872) and his wife and first cousin Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, the daughter of Wilhelm I, King of the Netherlands (1815 – 1840) and his first wife Wilhelmina, the daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia (1786 – 1797). Charlotte was the paternal granddaughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia (1797 – 1840).
Princess Charlotte became the first wife (1850) at Charlottenburg, of Prince George (1826 – 1914), the Hereditary Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, who succeeded after her death to the throne as Duke George III (1882 – 1914). The Hereditary Duchess died (March 30, 1855) at Meiningen, Thuringia, aged twenty-three, from the effects of childbirth. Her son did not survive her. Her other children were,

1) Bernard III (1851 – 1928). He succeeded his father as Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1914 – 1918) but was deposed at the end of WW I. he was married and left an only daughter.

2) Prince Albert of Saxe-Meiningen (1852 – 1855). He died young.

3) Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen (1853 – 1923). She remained unmarried.

Charlotte of Prussia (3) – (1860 – 1918)
German princess and duchess consort
Princess Victoria Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte of Prussia was born (July 24, 1860) at the Neue Palais, near Potsdam, the eldest daughter and second child of the Emperor Friedrich III (1888) and his wife Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Prince Consort. She was the sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888 – 1918) and was called Charlotte, which was shortened to ‘Ditta’ during her early childhood, despite the disapproval of Queen Victoria for the name Charlotte which she considered suitable for housemaids, despite the fact that her own paternal grandmother was Charlotte of Mecklenburg, the wife of George III, who had made the name popular in England.
Charlotte was much under the rebellious influences of her brother Wilhelm, and though she became an attractive girl, her relationship with her parents quickly became unpleasant. She was indiscreet and tactless in public, and her mother’s enemies used every nonsensical word she uttered seriously so that the phrase ‘even her own daughter says’ became common at the court of Berlin. Her paternal grandmother the Empress Augusta, widow of Wilhelm I, indulged Charlotte almost as much as she did Prince Wilhelm, and though she did not active encourage the girl to criticize her parents, she did not rebuke such outbursts.
Princess Charlotte was married (Jan 18, 1878) to Prince Bernard of Saxe-Meiningen (1851 – 1928), the son and heir of Duke George III of Saxe-Meiningen (1882 – 1914). It was reputed to have been the result of romance but Charlotte’s mother the Crown Princess Vicky, in her letters alluded to her daughter’s rather cool and calculating attitude towards marriage. The marriage was attended by the Prince of Wales, Charlotte’s maternal uncle, but Prince Bismarck pleaded ill-health. Charlotte produced her only child (1879) and then lived the life of a socialite, resenting any parental interference. She was present at her father’s deathbed (June, 1888) but her life remained without proper purpose. Her cousin Queen Marie of Romania left an unflattering description of Charlotte as ‘one of the most fickle and changeable women … with a single word of disdain she could shrivel up your ardent enthusiasm, make your dearest possession seem worthless or rob your closest friend of her charm’ though she was forced to admit that despite this she possessed a melodious voice with ‘a purr that could charm a tiger.’ Her relationship with the rest of her family was never particularly close.
In middle age the princess smoked cigarettes heavily and remained pre-occupied by matters of clothing and jewellery. Princess Charlotte was present for the funeral obsequies for her mother the Dowager Empress Victoria in Berlin (Aug, 1901) and in the following year she and Prince Bernard visited the English court and attended the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (1902). Just prior to the outbreak of WW I (1914) Bernard succeeded his elderly father as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Charlotte became the duchess consort. Bernard was deposed at the end of the war (1918) and Charlotte was the last duchess consort. Duchess Charlotte died (Oct 1, 1919) aged fifty-eight. Her only child was the Princess Feodora Victoria of Saxe-Meiningen (1879 – 1945) who became the wife (1898) of Prince Heinrich XXX of Reuss (1864 – 1939).

Charlotte of Savoy – (1441 – 1483)
Queen consort of France (1461 – 1483)
Princess Charlotte was born (before March 11, 1441), the daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, and his wife Anne, daughter of Janus of Lusignan, King of Cyprus. She married (1451) Louis XI of France (1423 – 1483) as his second wife, despite the disapproval of his father, King Charles VII. Because of her youth, the couple did not resided togther until she was sixteen (1457). The queen was a patient and submissive woman, and with her children and sisters, resided quietly at the castle of Amboise, on the Loire River, joining her husband whenever he should send for her. She was entertained at Hesdin by Philip II of Burgundy (1463) and received the English earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV at Amboise (1470). Finally, after nineteen years of marriage, Queen Charlotte gave birth to a healthy son and heir, the Dauphin Charles (VIII) (1470 – 1498) amidst great rejoicing. When a fourth son, Francois, died in infancy (1473) Louis swore never to have relations with any woman other than his wife, a vow that the historian Philippe de Commynes affirms that he scrupulously kept. Queen Charlotte died (Dec 1, 1483) aged forty-two, having survived Louis barely three months. They were interred together in the Church of Our Lady of Clery in the Orleanais. In her will the queen distributed her possessions amongst her favourite religieuses and servants, but there is no mention of her surviving children, Anne de Valois, Dame de Beaujeu (1461 – 1522), Jeanne de Valois (1464 – 1505), the first wife of the future Louis XII, and Charles.

Charlotte Stuart    see    Stuart, Charlotte

Charlotte Adelgunde Elise Marie Wilhelmine – (1896 – 1985)
Reigning Grand duchess of Luxemburg (1919 – 1964)
Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Charlotte was the born (Jan 23, 1896) at Colmar-Berg Castle, Luxemburg, the second daughter of Grand Duke William IV and his wife the Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal. During the German occupation in WW I the princess remained resident with her family at the castle of Colmar-Berg. Her elder sister Marie Adelaide abdicated (Jan, 1919) and became a nun in Italy. Princess Charlotte then took the reigns of government after a public referendum eighty per cent in her favour. She was married (Nov 6, 1919), to Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893 – 1970) to whom she bore six children. He was naturalized and given the title of Prince of Luxemburg and Nassau.

During WW II the Nazi occupation forced the Grand duchess, together with her family and government went into exile in England and Canada, and Charlotte became the visible symbol of her people’s liberty. In Sept 1944 her eldest son and heir, Prince Jean, returned to Luxemburg amidst the joyous acclamations of the populace, as was Charlotte herself greeted, when she returned home (1945). In 1951 she bestowed upon her son the title of Lieutenant Representative, which made him his mother’s regent. On May 2, 1961 the Grand duchess turned over her sovereign powers as head of state to her son, prior to her official abdication (Nov 12, 1964) after which she and her husband Prince Felix retired to private life. Widowed in 1970, Charlotte retired to Fischborn Castle, being rarely seen in public. Grand Duchess Charlotte died (July 9, 1985) aged eighty-nine, at Fischborn. Her eldest son Grand Duke Jean of Luxemburg (born 1921) himself abdicated in favour of his son (1999).

Charlotte Aglae d’Orleans – (1700 – 1761)
Duchess consort of Modena (1737 – 1761)
Princesse Charlotte Aglae d’Orleans was born (Oct 20, 1700) in Paris, the daughter of Philip II, Duc d’Orleand and Regent of France (1715 – 1723) and his wife Francoise Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. A beautiful girl she was educated at the Abbey of St Marie, at Chelles, near Paris, and was seduced in her youth by the Duc de Richelieu. Plans for her marriage with the Comte de Charolais, the Prince de Dombes, and the Duke of Savoy came to naught, and her father arranged her marriage (1720) with Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena (1698 – 1780), to whom she bore nine children.
Her married life was unhappy, and court life at Modena boring, and the couple briefly seperated (1724). When her husband joined the Austrian army (1735), the princess became a boarder at the convent of Val-de-Grace, in Paris. When Prince Francesco succeeded as duke (1737), Charlotte returned to Modena to take up her royal duties as duchess consort, and turned the court into a smaller version of Versailles, but when Italy was engulfed by the War of the Austrian Succession (1743), the duchess fled to Versailles, where Louis XV provided her with apartments. She accompanied the French court to Flanders, and nursed the king’s unpopular mistress, Madame de Chateauroux, on her deathbed (1744). The pre-eminence of Madame de Pompadour saw the duchesse retire from court to reside at the Palais Royale, and she eventually returned to Italy (1759). The Duchess of Modena died (Jan 16, 1761) aged sixty, at the Luxembourg Palace, Paris.

Charlotte Agnes of Saxe-Meiningen – (1899 – 1989)
German princess consort of Prussia
Princess Charlotte Agnes Ernestina Augusta Bathildis Marie Therese Adolfine was born (March 4, 1899) at Potsdam, near Berlin, the eldest daughter of Ernst II (1871 – 1955), Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his first wife Princess Adelaide, the daughter of Wilhelm Karl Augustus (1834 – 1906), Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. She bore the additional title of duchess of Saxony. The princess was married (1919) at Herrenhaus at Hemmelmark, near Eckenforde, to Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896 – 1978) the son of Prince Heinrich, younger brother of Kaiser Wilhlem II (1888 – 1918), and his wife Irene of Hesse-Darmstadt, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and sister of the Russian tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II. She bore him several children, her son being borne at Finca San Miguel in Costa Rica (1924). After WW II the family resided at Finca San Miguel near Barranca, where the prince ran a plantation for several decades. Prince Sigismund died at Puntarenas (Nov 14, 1978) and she survived him as the Dowager Princess Sigismund of Prussia (1978 – 1989). Princess Charlotte Agnes died (Feb 16, 1989) aged eighty-nine. Her children were,

1) Princess Barbara of Prussia (1920 – 1994). She was married to Christian Ludwig, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1912 – 1996) and left issue.

2) Prince Alfred of Prussia (born 1924). He was married to Maritza Farkas (born 1929) but remained childless.

Charlotte Amalia of Hesse-Kassel – (1650 – 1714)
Queen consort of Denmark (1670 – 1699)
Landgravine Charlotte Amalia of Hesse-Kassel was born (April 27, 1650) at Kassel, the eldest daughter of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and his wife Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg, the daughter of George Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg. She became the wife (1667) of Crown Prince Christian of Denmark (1646 – 1699) and was Crown Princess until he succeeded his father Frederik III on the Danish throne as King Christian V (1670).
The queen had been raised in the Reformed faith and refused to convert to Lutheranism. She established the first Reformed church in Denmark (1688) but was never crowned as queen due to hostility of the Danish clergy. Despite this Queen Charlotte Amalia was a popular consort with the people and when the Danes established a colony on the Island of St Thomas in the Virgin Islands (1672) it was named Charlotte Amalie or Amalienborg in her honour. Though later renamed St Thomas in the early twentieth century (1921) sixteen years afterwards the city reverted to its former royal name (1936).
Though she generally remained clear of political matters, when Charles XII of Sweden invaded Zealand the queen bravely galvanized the army and people to the defence of the capital of Copenhagen (1700). Queen Charlotte Amalia survived Christian as Queen Dowager of Denmark (1699 – 1714) during which time she resided at her dower palace of Charlottenburg near Copenhagen and served as the sheriff of that county. This palace later became the Royal Danish Academy of Art (1754). She died (March 27, 1714) aged fifty-three, in Copenhagen, and was interred within Roskilde Cathedral. Her children were,

1) Frederik IV (1671 – 1730). He succeeded his father on the Danish throne (1699) and left issue.

2) Prince Christian of Denmark (1675 – 1695). He died unmarried aged twenty.

3) Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark (1677 – 1735). She remained unmarried.

4) Princess Christina Charlotte of Denmark (1678 – 1689). She died during childhood.

5) Prince Karl of Denmark (1680 – 1729). He remained unmarried.

6) Prince William of Denmark (1687 – 1705). He died unmarried aged eighteen.

Charlotte Augusta of Great Britain – (1796 – 1817)
Hanoverian princess and heiress
Princess Charlotte Augusta was born (Jan 7, 1796) at Carlton House, London, the only child of George IV and his wife Caroline, the daughter of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, and his wife Augusta, the sister of George III. Her parents seperated almost immediately after her birth, and she was brough up in strict seclusion at Carlton House, as the sole heir to her father. She spoke fluent German, French, Italian, and Spanish, and played the harp, piano and guitar, besides being educated in the constitutional history of her own country. Betrothed (Dec, 1813) originally to Prince William of Orange, Charlotte herself violently opposed this proposed marriage, and ultimately broke off their engagement (1814) because she did not wish to leave England. This action so incensed her father that the Prince Regent dismissed every member of her household, and Charlotte fled to her mother’s house in Connaught Place. Urged to return to her father, she did son, and then resided in seclusion at Cranbourne Lodge, near Windsor. In 1816 she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1790 – 1865) who later became king of the Belgians as Leopold I (1831). Charlotte’s death in childbirth at Claremont (Nov 5, 1817), plunged the Hanoverian family into a dynastic crisis, and several of her elderly unmarried royal uncles were then required to put away their mistresses, taking legitimate spouses, and provide an heir for the throne.

Charlotte Augusta Matilda – (1766 – 1828)
Queen consort of Wurttemburg (1806 – 1816)
Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda was born (Sept 29, 1766) at Buckingham House, London, the eldest daughter of George III, King of Great Britain, and his wife Charlotte Sophia, the daughter of Charles Louis, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and was styled Princess Royal from birth. Conscious of her seniority, the princess was somewhat aloof in manner, and had few especial accomplishments, apart from copperlate handwriting. She was her father’s companion during the drive when his insanity declared itself (Nov 5, 1788). Charlotte was betrothed (1796) to Duke Friedrich of Wurttemburg (1754 – 1816), and their marriage took place at St James’s Palace (May 18, 1797). Their only child was a still-born daughter (1798), but Charlotte supervised the upbringing and education of her three stepchildren. Duke Frederick became king in 1806, and Charlotte the queen consort. Rumours that she suffered from ill-treatment at his hands, were indignantly denied by the queen in a letter to her brother, the Prince Regent. Widowed in 1816, the queen stood godmother to her niece, the future Queen Victoria (1819), whom she later met during a visit to England (1827). She sufferred much from dropsy, and had paid a visit to England in order to gain relief from the ministrations of Sir Astley Cooper, and other prominent British physicians. Queen Charlotte died (Oct 6, 1828) aged sixty-two, at Ludwigslust, near Stuttgart.

Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick – (1694 – 1715)
Grand Duchess of Russia
Princess Charlotte was born (Aug 29, 1694) at Brunswick, the third daughter of Ludwig Rudolphus, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and his wife Christina Ludovica of Oettingen. She was introduced to the Romanov heir Grand Duke Alexis Petrovitch (1690 – 1718), the son of Tsar Peter I the Great at Karlsbad (1709). She was possessed of charm and an agreeable temperament and was marriage was arranged, despite the fact that Alexis remained antagonistic about marrying a woman he considered a foreigner. Politically the marriage was in line with the Tsar’s desire to open up Russia to western influences. Charlotte was raised a Protestant and refused to convert to Russian Orthodoxy but the wedding took place at Torgau (1711).
Charlotte then accompanied Alexis to Thorn, but was left destitute at Elbing by her husband, who was seeking to arrange for the movement of army supplies and river transport. When her position was discovered by Prince Alexander Menshikov and reported to the Tsar, Peter ordered his daughter-in-law to come tom him at St Petersburg. However sick in health and miserable due months of privation already endured, Charlotte baulked at the thought of the long trip to the Russian court and fled instead to her parents in Brunswick. Peter was angry and wrote expressing his disapproval ‘for we would never have thwarted your wish to see your family if only you had informed us beforehand.’ The Tsar later visited Charlotte at Brunswick (Feb, 1713) after which she went to St Petersburg and settled with Alexis in their new palace along the Neva River.
The marriage was not happy and her husband ignored her except when he was drunk when he treated Charlotte with considerable coarseness and abuse. Her first child Grand Duchess Natalia Alexievna (1714 – 1728) was born during Alexis’s absence in Karlsbad. Grand Duchess Charlotte then gave birth to a son and heir the future Tsar Peter II (1715 – 1730) but her health quickly declined. She repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Tsar Peter for his many kindnesses to her and in her extremity Alexis was much distraught and affected. Grand Duchess charlotte died at midnight (Oct 22, 1715) aged twenty-one, and was interred within the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in Moscow.

Charlotte Elisabeth d’Orleans – (1676 – 1744)
Duchess consort of Lorraine (1698 – 1729)
Princesse Charlotte Elisabeth d’Orleans was born (Sept 13, 1676) at the Palace of St Cloud, the only daughter of Philippe I, Duc d’Orleans, the brother of King Louis XIV (1643 – 1715), and his second wife Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatine-Rhine (Liselotte), the daughter of Karl Ludwig I, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, and was a descendant of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. The princesse appears to have grown distant from her mother due to that lady’s rather dictatorial character and criticisms, but was possessed of considerable personal charm and of an agreeable temperament.
When her brother Philippe II d’Orleans was married (1692) to Madamoiselle de Blois it was rumoured that Charlotte Elisabeth would marry the Duc du Maine, but Louis XIV dropped the idea. She was married instead at Fontainebleau (1698) to Duke Leopold Joseph of Lorraine (1679 – 1729), the son and successor of Duke Charles V. The marriage turned out to be a congenial one and produced many children. The Duchess of Lorraine later visited Paris when her brother Philipe was Regent (1718) and was magnificently entertained by her niece the Duchesse de Berry. She again visited a decade later (1728) when her nephew the Chevalier d’Orleans entertained the duchesse at the Louvre Palace, as the official host of Louis XV.
Duke Leopold died at Luneville (March 27, 1729) and Charlotte Elisabeth became the Dowager Duchess of Lorraine (1729 – 1744). When France invaded Lorraine during the War of the Polish Succession (1733) Louis XV offered the duchesse a refuge in Paris, but she preferred to reside at Luneville under the protection of the French garrison. The ensuing peace (1737) gave Lorraine to Louis XV’s father-in-law Stanislas Leczscynski, the former King of Poland, and the duchesse was compensated with the fief of Commercy which was placed under her direct sovereign rule, and with a large yearly annuity. The duchesse later paid a visit to the court of her daughter-in-law the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna (1740). The empress entertained her mother-in-law at Innsbruck and ‘treated her with the greatest reverence.’ Duchesse Charlotte Elisabeth died (Dec 23, 1744) aged sixty-eight, and was buried within the convent of the Cordeliers at Nancy. She left fourteen children, six sons and eight daughters,

1) Prince Leopold of Lorraine (1699 – 1700). He died in infancy.

2) Princesse Elisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine (1700 – 1711). She died during childhood.

3) Princesse Louise Christine of Lorraine (1701). She died in early infancy.

4) Princesse Marie Gabrielle Charlotte of Lorraine (1702 – 1711). She died during childhood.

5) Prince Louis of Lorraine (1704 – 1711). He died during childhood.

6) Princesse Josephe Gabrielle of Lorraine (1705 – 1708). She died young.

7) Princesse Gabrielle Louise of Lorraine (1706 – 1710). She died young.

8) Prince Leopold Clement of Lorraine (1707 – 1723). He died during childhood.

9) Prince Francis of Lorraine (1708 – 1765). He married the Archduchess Maria Theresa, elder daughter and heir of the Emperor Karl VI (1711 – 1740). She became Queen of Hungary but
Francis was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor as Franz I (1745 – 1765). They had sixteen children.

10) Princesse Charlotte of Lorraine (1709 – 1773). She remained unmarried and was appointed as Abbess of Remriemont in Lorraine.

11) Princesse Eleonore of Lorraine (1710). She died in early infancy.

12) Princesse Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine (1711 – 1741). She became the third wife of Carlo Emanuele III (1701 – 1773), King of Sardinia.

13) Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712 – 1780). He became a general with the Imperial army and married Archduchess Maria Anna, sister of Empress Maria Theresa. They had no
surviving children.

14) Princesse Anne Charlotte of Lorraine (1714 – 1773). She remained unmarried and was appointed as Abbess of Essen (1757).

Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – (1784 – 1840)
German princess consort of Denmark (1806 – 1810)
Princess Charlotte was born (Dec 4, 1784) the third daughter of Friedrich Franz I (1756 – 1837), Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1815 – 1837) and his wife Louise of Saxe-Gotha, the daughter of Johann Augustus of Saxe-Gotha (1704 – 1767), Duke of Saxony. She bore the additional title of duchess of Saxony. She was married at ludwigslust (1806) to Prince Christian of Denmark (1786 – 1848) to whom she bore two sons of whom the elder died in infancy (1807) and the younger Frederik survived.
The marriage proved unhappy and Charlotte indulged in an affair with the Frenchman Edouard de Puy after the birth of her younger son. She and Christian were then divorced (1810). Thirty years later Christian succeeded to the Danish throne as King Christian VIII (1839), and he was succeeded by Charlotte’s son Frederik (1808 – 1863) who became King Frederick VII (1848 – 1863). He was married three times but died childless. Princess Charlotte never remarried and eventually retired to live in Rome, Italy, where she died (July 13, 1840) aged fifty-five, being interred within the Church of Santa Maria in Campo Santo.

Charlotte Frederica of Nassau-Siegen – (1702 – 1785)
German princess consort
Princess Charlotte Frederica of Nassau-Siegen was born (Nov 30, 1702) the eldest daughter of Prince Adolf of Nassau-Siegen, and his first wife, Landgravine Juliana of Hesse-Homburg.
The princess was married firstly (1725) to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Kothen (1694 – 1728), as his second wife, and became Princess consort of Kothen (1725 – 1728). Their two children died young. She survived her first husband as Dowager Princess of Kothen (1728 – 1730). The Princess Dowager was remarried secondly (1730), to Albert Wolfgang (1699 – 1748), the reigning count of Schaumburg-Lippe, as his second wife, and became countess consort of Schaumburg (1730 – 1748). This marriage remained childless and the countess survived her second husband for almost forty years (1748 – 1785) as Dowager Countess of Schaumburg-Lippe. Countess Charlotte Frederica died (July 22, 1785) aged eighty-two.

Charlotte Georgina Louisa Frederica – (1769 – 1818)
German literary patron
Princess Charlotte was born in Hanover (Nov 17, 1769), the daughter of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and his first wife Frederica, daughter of George, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the niece of Charlotte, wife of George III of England. With her mother’s death (1782) she was educated with her sisters at Darmstadt and received the childhood nickname of ‘Lolo.’ Possessed of a fine soprano voice, she received professional training from an operatic diva. She was married (1785) to Duke Frederick I of Saxe-Hilburghausen (1763 – 1834) to whom she bore twelve children, including Duke Joseph (1789 – 1868) and Therese, the wife of Ludwig I, king of Bavaria. Her marriage was not congenial and the duchess sought solace in the patronage of the arts. She herself wrote verses and the novelist Jean Paul Richter (1763 – 1826) attended her salons at the court of Hildburghausen. The duchess died (May 14, 1818) aged forty-eight, at Hildburghausen.

Charlotte Louisa Augusta of Great Britain – (1819)
Hanoverian princess
Princess Charlotte was born (March 27, 1819) at the Furstenhof Palace in Hanover, the elder daughter of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George III (1760 – 1820), and his wife Adelaide, the daughter of George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. She bore the titles of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess of Hanover and Duchess of Saxony. The child was born prematurely and lived for only a few hours. She was interred beside the body of George I (1714 – 1727) in the crypt of the royal palace. The coffin rests upom a scaffold three and a half feet high of polished mahogany, and was embellished with gilded armorials. The head of the tomb bore the British and Saxon royal arms in massive size and this was supported by the lion and the unicorn. Above the arms was the ducal crown and the arms of the Duke of Clarence underneath which was her short monumental inscription.

Charlotte Margaret Stuart – (1682)
Princess of England
Princess Charlotte Margaret was born (Aug 15, 1682) at St James’s Palace in London, the fourth daughter and fifth child of Prince James, Duke of York, later King James II (1685 – 1688), and his second wife Mary Beatrice of Modena-Este. During the period of high unpopularity of her parents in England as catholics prior to the princess’s birth, it had been rumoured that the substitution of a male child had been entertained. Nevertheless the birth of the child caused her parents great personal happiness, as her elder brothers and sisters had all died in infancy.
However Princess Charlotte Margaret died less than a month later (Oct 2, 1682). In December following all the London tradesmen whose shops bore the arms of the Duke of York had been insulted by the mob, and the infant princess’s grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Modena, who had attended the child’s funeral in London, appears to have feared for her life. The princess was interred within the Chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey, near Mary, Queen of Scots. During the reign of Queen Victoria (1867) Dean Stanley instituted a search in the abbey for the tomb of King James I and during the ensuing search the coffin of this infant, together with those of her brothers and sisters, and the many children of Queen Anne Stuart were all found piled around the tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Charlotte Maria of Saxe-Jena – (1669 – 1703)
German duchess and heiress
Duchess Charlotte Maria of Saxe-Jena was born (Dec 20, 1669), the only daughter of Duke Bernhard I of Saxe-Jena and his French wife Marie de La Tremoille, the daughter of Henry de La Tremoille, Duc de Thouars. She was married (1683) to her cousin Wilhelm Ernst (1662 – 1728), Duke of Saxe-Eisenach (1683 – 1690) soon after his accession to the ducal throne and Charlotte Maria became duchess consort of Saxe-Eisenach (1683 – 1690). However the marriage remained uncongenial to both parties and remained childless.
Duke Wilhelm Ernst divorced Charlotte Maria (1690) and she returned to the court of her brother Duke Johann Wilhelm in Jena. With his death soon afterwards (Nov, 1690), the duchess became the sole heiress of the former ducal estates and properties though not of the ducal title. Charlotte Maria retained the enjoyment of these estates until her death (Jan 6, 1703) aged thirty-three.

Charlotte Marie Ida Louise Hermine Mathilde – (1864 – 1946)
Queen consort of Wurttemburg (1891 – 1918)
Princess Charlotte was born (Oct 10, 1864) at Ratiboritz in Bohemia, the eldest daughter of Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1834 – 1906) and his wife Bathildis of Anhalt. A keen sportswoman she became an avid skier. She became the second wife (1886) of Prince Wilhelm of Wurttemburg (1848 – 1921). There were no children but the marriage remained contented. Wilhelm and Charlotte visited the English court (1890) and resided at White Lodge during their stay, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. Princess May (later Queen Mary) wrote to her aunt the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, ‘we liked Charlotte very much. She is a good honest soul tho’ rather too brusque, she seems to get on well with all the members of the Wurttemburg family which denoted great tact.’ She also impressed the German Empress Dowager Victoria who thought her ‘very pleasing.’
Her husband succeeded to the throne in 1891. As queen consort Charlotte presided over a typical stiff and formal court in Stuttgart but during the spring she and her husband retired to reside quietly at their villa of Marienwahl near Ludwigsburg. Many though Queen Charlotte not really suited to her position and the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz wrote to her niece, ‘I heard …. That she was too jolly and off-hand for a Queen, and so ugly besides’ (1892).The king and queen received a state visirt from the Prince and Princess of Wales (1904) later George V and Queen Mary.
The queen was a supporter of the feminist movement and became actively involved with organizations which trained young girls for particular professions. During WW I the queen was involved in work for the war effort but William II was forced to abdicate (Nov 29, 1918). They were granted their properties and estates by the new Republican government and retired to Bebenhausen Castle, where the king died (1921). Charlotte survived him as the last Dowager Queen of Wurttemburg (1921 – 1946) and was granted a pension from the new Republican government. Queen Charlotte died (July 16, 1946) aged eighty-one, at Bebenhausen. She was interred with her husband at Ludwigsburg.

Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg – (1744 – 1818) 
Queen consort of Great Britain (1761 – 1818)
Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born (May 19, 1744), at Mirow, near Strelitz, the younger daughter of Karl Ludwig, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and his wife Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Carefully educated, fond of botany, music and natural history, she married (1761) King George III (1738 – 1820) to whom she bore a large family of fifteen children, nine sons and six daughters. Her portrait was painted by Allan Ramsay, Zoffany, Benjamin Webster (1779) and Gainsborough (1782). She had little knowledge, nor influence over political matters and during the first period of the king’s illness in 1788, his disposition, and that of his household were placed in her hands. The treatment Queen Charlotte received from the hands of her eldest son the Prince of Wales, at this time, due to his eager desire to be proclaimed regent, aroused the indignation of the other members of the royal family, and her cause was taken up by her four elder daughters, on their mother’s behalf.
The court during her long presidence was decorous and very dull, and women of dubious antecedents were not admitted. When on one occasion, a lady of such description asked the novelist Fanny Burney, then serving as a lady-in-waiting, to get her an interview with the queen, she hesitantly broached the matter with the queen who replied;  Tell her you dare not ask me.’ In 1810 the king became permanently insane, and as the Princess of Wales was living permanently abroad, the queen remained the first lady of the court during her son’s regency. The king remained under care at Windsor Castle, but the queen resided seperately at Kew, and visited him accompanied by their daughters. In 1814 with her son she entertained Tsar Alexander I of Russia and his sister the Grand Duchess Catherine at Carlton House. Such was her reputation that when Sir Walter Scott received news of her death he exclaimed, ‘The weight is gone that slammed the palace door on whores.’
Queen Charlotte died (Nov 17, 1818) aged seventy-four, at Kew Palace, sitting upright in her chair, her hand clasped in that of her favourite child, the Prince of Wales (George IV). Interred in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in Berkshire, in her will she left most of her considerable collection of jewels to her second daughter Princess Augusta Sophia. She was portrayed on the screen by actress Dame Helen Mirren in The Madness of King George (1994), with Sir Nigel Hawthorne in the title role.

Charlotte Wilhelmine of Hesse – (1755 – 1785)
German princess and letter writer
Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine of Hesse was born (Nov 5, 1755) in Darmstadt, the daughter of George Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and his wife, Countess Marie Louise Albertina of Leiningen-Dagsburg, Heidesheim. Charlotte was raised at the Imperial court in Vienna, and was a friend from childhood of the future Queen Marie Antoinette of France. She and her sister Louise became the queen’s closest female friends. Over three dozen letters have survived of this correspondence, which was published in, Lettres de la Reine Marie-Antoinette a la Landgrave Louise de Hesse-Darmstadt (1865). Marie Antoinette retained portraits of Charlotte and her sister amongst her most treasured personal possessions.
Charlotte visited the French court with her parents (1780), and was ell-received by Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI at Versailles, where she sat with the queen in her private opera box, attended her at the Petit Trianon, and attended a ball given by comtesse Diane de polignac, sister-in-law to the queen’s famous favourite, Yolande de Polignac. Marie Antoinette’s letter to Charlotte, in which she described her feelings at the birth of her eldest son (1781), has survived. Charlotte had agreed to be married at Darmstadt (1784) to Duke Karl II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741 – 1816) (Grand duke from 1806), as his second wife, with great personal misgivings. Her husband had been the widower (1782) of Charlotte’s elder sister Frederica, and she thus became the stepmother to her own nieces and nephews, who included the famous Queen Louise (1776 – 1810), the wife of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.  However, Charlotte was haunted by the fear of dying in childbirth, like her sister, and her fear proved correct. Duchess Charlotte died (Dec 12, 1785) aged thirty, two weeks after giving birth to an only son, Duke Karl August (1785 – 1837). He died unmarried and childless.

Charlton, Eleanor de Holland, Lady   see    Holland, Eleanor de

Charlton, Marie – (1859 – 1928)
Australian civil servant
Marie Charlton was born (Sept 24, 1859) in Durham, England. She arrived in Brisbane, in Queensland with her husband (1884), a teacher, who had been appointed as first teacher to the Ithaca State School. Mrs Charlton later taught school at Wynnum and Linden, but was eventually appointed to serve as a lady inspector (1908 – 1916) under the Factories and Shop Act. She was then appointed to head (1916) the Government Labour Agency until her retirement (1924). Marie Charlton died (March 27, 1928) in Brisbane.

Charny de Bauffrement, Margeurite – (c1388 – 1460)
French medieval religious patron
Marguerite de Charny was the daughter of Geoffrey II de Charny, seigneur de Montfort and de Lirey, and his wife Margeurite de Poitiers. She was married firstly Jean de Bauffrement, Seigneur de Montfort, who was killed in battle against the English at Agincourt (1415). She was remarried (1416) to Humbert de Villersexel, Comte de la Roche-en-Mortagne (d. 1437) and was famous as the owner of the original relic known as the ‘Turin Shroud’ the authenticity of which modern scientific techniques have now virtually disproved.

Charolais, Louise Anne de Bourbon-Conde, Princesse de – (1695 – 1758)
French courtier
Princesse Louise Anne de Bourbon-Conde was the granddaughter of Louis XIV, prominent during the regency period of Philippe, Duc d’Orleans (1715 – 1723). Mistress to the Duc de Richelieu, amongst others, the princess was notorious for her scandalously liscentious behaviour. She had her portrait painted in the habit of a Franciscan nun. She never married. The Princesse de Charolais died in Paris.

Charpentier, Constance Marie – (1767 – 1841)
French painter
Born Constance Blondelu in Paris, she studied painting under Louis David (1748 – 1825). She specialized in sentimental family scenes and thirty of her paintings were exhibited in various salons over a period of more than twenty years (1795 – 1819). Charpentier received a gold medal from the Musee Royale (1819) whilst her famous neo-classical portrait Madamoiselle Charlotte du Val d’Ognes was long attributed to David, and only revealed as her work in 1951.

Charriere, Isabelle Agnes Elisabeth de (Belle van Zuylen) – (1740 – 1805)
Dutch-Swiss novelist
Isabelle van Tuyll van Serooskerken was born at Zuilen, near Utrecht, Holland, the daughter of the Baron van Tuyll van Serooskerken. An arranged marriage with the French marquis de Bellegarde did not eventuate, and she married instead to her brother’s Swiss tutor and settled at Colombier, near Neuchatel. Influenced by the writings and ideals of Denis Diderot, Rousseau, and James Boswell, Mme de Charriere wrote critically concerning contemporary aristocratic privilege and moral conventions in her Trois femmes (1797). She took her pen name of ‘Zelide’ from the name of a family property near Utrecht. Her work, Lettres trouvees sous la niege (1794), reveal that Charriere, whilst extremely critical of the overpowering religious orthodoxy and widespread poverty, remained opposed to the concepts of revoutionary radicalism. Madame de Charriere wrote the novels, Caliste, ou lettres ecrites de Lausanne (1786) and, Lettres neuchateloises (1784). Her portrait was painted by Jens Juel. Madame de Charriere died (Dec 27, 1805) at Colombier.

Charskaia, Lidia Alexievna – (1875 – 1937)
Russian children’s author, poet and actress
Born Lidia Alexievna Voronova, she was the daughter of a military officer. Her married name was Churilova, but she adopted the literary pseudonym of ‘Charskaia.’ She became the most famous author of works for children in Russian history, producing almost eighty books in a fifteen year period (1901 – 1916). During this time she was also employed as a character actress with the Alexandrinski Theatre. Her published works included Princess Dzhavakha (1903), which was based on Georgian legends, A Daring Life (1905), which dealt with the career of the famous female soldier Nadezhda Durova, and The Little Siberian (1910). As well as several novels for young girls, Charskaia wrote several autobiographical novels such as, For What? (1909). After the revolution she was not permitted to publish under her own name, and her works were removed from library shelves. The theatre dismissed her in 1924, and she retired to live on a small pension. Her works were translated into English and republished in America in 1990, where they proved to be a resounding success. Lidia Charskaia died (March 18, 1937) aged seventy-one, in Smolensk.

Charsley, Fanny Anne – (1828 – 1915)
British botanical illustrator
Fanny Charsley was born (July 23, 1828) in Beaconsfield, England. She immigrated to Australia (1856) and resided in Melbourne, Victoria, with her married sister for a decade. She produced various watercolour paintings of native wildflowers, many of which were published in, Wildflowers around Melbourne. She remained unmarried and later returned to England. Fanny Charsley died (Dec 21, 1915) aged eighty-seven, at Hove in Sussex.

Charteris, Catherine Morice – (1835 – 1918)
Scottish Women’s Guild supporter
Catherine Morice Anderson was the daughter of Sir Alexander Anderson, Lord Provost of Aberdeen, and was married to the noted churchman, Archibald Hamilton Charteris. Mrs Chateris was a promoter and strong supporter of the Women’s Guild, which had been established by her husband and his committee, and she served as national president of this association for almost two decades (1887 – 1906). Apart from activities associated with the Guild, Catherine Charteris organized homes for the children of missionaries and missions in slum areas.

Chartroule, Marie Amelie – (b. 1850)
French erotic novelist
Her first work Les Vestales de l’Eglise (Vestals in the Church) (1877) aroused the ire of the Catholic Church because of its anti-clerical content, which stemmed from the authors own unfortunate experience with nuns. Her work was published using the pen-name ‘Marc de Montifaud.’ After the publication of her the two novels Les Devoyes (The Delinquents) (1879) and Mme Ducroisy (1879) the authorities took action and Chartroule was sentenced to several months of imprisonment. This led to the writing and publication of the pamphlet Mme Ducroisy, la presse et la justice (Mme Ducroisy, Justice and the Press).

Charvin, Yvonne – (1879 – 1917)
Australian pianist
Yvonne Leverrier was born in Sydney, New South Wales, of a French father, Guillaume Andre Charles Leverrier. She was married (1910) to an army officer, Captain Armand Charvin. As Madamoiselle Levrier she studied the piano under the Bohemian pianist Josef Kretschman (1838 – 1918) in Sydney (1896), and then travelled to Europe for futher lessons under the Polish pianist Theodor Leschetitsky (1830 – 1915) in Vienna (1898). She herself taught and performed in Paris, prior to returning to Australia (1903). She held a concert performance at the Sydney Town Hall (1904) and then taught at the New South Wales Conservatory. During WW I, Madame Charvin gave concerts to entertain the troops, her work being recognized by the French government who awarded her the Croix Rouge Francaise. Yvonne Charvin died (Nov 14, 1917) aged thirty-eight, in Sydney.

Chase, Edna Woolman – (1877 – 1957)
American editor of Vogue magazine
Born Edna Woolman Alloway (March 14, 1877) in Ashbury Park, New Jersey, she was raised by Quaker grandparents after the early death of her father. She was married (1902) to Francis Dane Chase, a member of an old Boston family, and was the mother of actress, Ilka Chase. Chase was employed in the circulation department of the then, small weekly magazine, Vogue, founded in 1892, and by the time the publication was taken over by Conde Nast (1909), she was a fulltime fashion journalist. Chase divorced her first husband (1914), and remarried (1921 – 1950) to the British engineer, Richard Newton, though she retained her former married name. Nast promoted her to managing editor (1911) and then editor-in-chief (1914), and Chase then oversaw the publishing of both the French and British editions of the magazine. Chase wrote memoirs entitled, Always in Vogue (1954). Edna Woolman Chase died (March 19, 1957) aged eighty, at Sarasota in Florida.

Chase, Eleanor Emily – (1895 – 1926)
Australian zoologist
Eleanor Chase was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of William St John Chase, and was educated at St Catherine’s Church of England School for Girls in Sydney, and then at the University of Sydney, where she was awarded the Hazewell Prize for zoology (1917). Chase was then employed as a demonstrator at the university, and later a lecturer (1923). She was a member of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, of the state branch Linnaean Society (1921) and served as vice president of the Sydney University Science Society. Eleanor Chase died (May 17, 1926) aged only thirty, in Sydney.

Chase, Ilka – (1905 – 1978)
American actress, author and newspaper columnist
Ilka Chase was born (April 8, 1905) in New York, the daughter of Francis Dane Chase, and his wife Edna Woolman Alloway, who, as Edna Chase, became famous as the editor of Vogue magazine. She was raised in a convent school from the age of five years. Chase was best known for her appearances in films such as South Sea Rose (1929), The Animal Kingdom (1932), Stronger than Desire (1939), Now, Voyager (1942), with Bette Davis, Gladys Cooper, and Claude Rains, and Ocean’s Eleven (1960). She also appeared in the role of Sylvia Fowler in the stage play, The Women (1936 – 1938), which role was taken by Rosalind Russell in the film (1939). Chase later appeared in the telelvision series, The Trials of O’Brien (1965), and left three volumes of autobiography, Past Imperfect (1945), In Bed We Cry (1943), and, Free Admission (1948). Her other written works books on travel, and, The Carthaginian Rose (1961), Straight from the Laundry (1967), and The Varied Airs of Spring (1969). Ilka Chase died (Feb 15, 1978) aged seventy-two, in Mexico City.

Chase, Josephine Streeper – (1835 – 1894)
American diarist
Josephine Streeper was a member of the Mormon sect in Utah. She became the second concurrent wife of George Ogden Chase to whom she bore sixteen children. Having been a local Sunday school teacher for many years, during the last thirteen years of her life, Josephine kept a daily domestic diary. It was published as, The Josephine Diaries: Glimpses of the Life of Josephine Ctreeper Chase, 1881 – 1894 (1978), and provided an insight into the domestic life of a plural wife in Utah.

Chase, Lucia – (1907 – 1986)
American ballet director
Lucia Chase was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and was educated at St Margaret’s School at Waterbury, and at the Theatre Guild School in New York. She remained absent from the stage during the period of her marriage (1926 – 1933) with businessman Thomas Ewing, only returning after his early death. Chase studied ballet under the Bolshoi ballet teacher, Mikhail Mordkin, performing lead roles with his company from 1937. She became a member and devoted supporter of the American Ballet Theater (1940) and remained there as principal dancer until 1960. She was especially noted for her dramatic interpretations of various ballets such as Anthony Tudor’s Pillar of Fire and Dark Elegies. She later played the role of the mother in Agnes De Mille’s ballet Fall River Legend, which dealt with the life of the infamous murderess, Lizzie Bordern. Lucia Chase was co-director with Oliver Smith of the American Ballet Theater (1945 – 1980), and was awarded the New York Handel Medallion (1975) and the Medal of Freedom (1980).

Chase, Marian Emma – (1844 – 1905) 
British water colour painter
Marian Chase was born in London, the daughter of John Chase, the artist, and his wife Georgiana Ann Harris. She studied painting and perspective under her father, who had been a pupil of John Constable (1776 – 1837), and received additional instruction from Margaret Gillies and Henry Warren. Marian became a professional in water colours, painting landscapes, gardens and interiors, but is best known for her water colour flower paintings and still-life. She successfully exhibited her works at the Royal Academy, the Dudley Gallery (1875), and other prestigious artistic institutions from 1866 till her death, and in 1879 she was made a member of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours. In 1888 the Royal Botanical Society awarded her a silver medal. She remained unmarried. Marian Emma Chase died (March 15, 1905) in London.

Chase, Mary Agnes – (1869 – 1963)
American suffragist and botanist
Born Mary Agnes Meara (April 20, 1869) in Iroquois County, Illinois, she was the daughter of a railroad worker. With her father’s early death she removed to Chicago with her mother, and attended a local grammar school, before leaving to work in order to assiste her mother to supoort the family. She was married (1888) to William Ingraham Chase, a minor newspaper editor, who died the following year. There were no children. Chase worked as a proof reader and was later employed (1903) with the US Department of Agriculture Bureau and Plant Industry and Exploration. Her botanical research assisted with the production of disease resistant crops. During WW I she strongly supported Alice Paul in the cause of political enfranchisement for women, and was active in several militant movements and was imprisoned on several occasions.  Her written works included monographs on various genera of grasses such as First Book of Grasses (1922) and Index to Grass Species (1962), which she co-wrote with Cornelia D. Niles. Mary Agnes Chase died (Sept 24, 1963) aged ninety-four, at Bethesda in Maryland.

Chase, Mary Coyle – (1907 – 1981)
American dramatist
Mary Coyle was born (Feb 25, 1907) in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of a salesman. She was employed as a journalist before her marriage (1928) to Robert Chase, a newspaper reporter, to whom she bore three sons. Mary Chase then worked as a freelance correspondent with the International News Service and United Press (1932 – 1936), and was the publicity director for the National Youth Administration in Denver (1941 – 1942) and for the Teamsters Union (1942 – 1944).
Her earliest play, originally entitled Me Third (1936), was later performed in New York under the title Now You’ve Done It (1937) but was not well received by the critics. Mary Chase is best remembered as being author of the extremely popular comic play Harvey(1944), concerning an acloholic and his invisible rabbit companion, for which she received the William MacLeod Raine Award from the Colorado Authors League (1944) and which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama (1945) and later made into a film (1950).
Apart from writing several children’s books such as Loretta Mason Potts (1958), Chase wrote several other plays including Mrs McThing (1952), which was produced on Broadway with Helen Hayes in the title role, The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden (1968) and Cocktails with Mum (1974). Mary Coyle Chase died (Oct 20, 1981) aged seventy-four, in Denver, Colorado.

Chase, Mary Ellen – (1887 – 1973)
American scholar, educator, and writer
Mary Ellen was born (Feb 24, 1887) at Blue Hill, Maine, and graduated from the University of Maine (1909). After various school teaching positions Chase attended the Univeristy of Minnesota, where she obtained a degree in English (1922) and was employed as assistant professor (1922 – 1926). During this period, Chase studied in England, and maintained her connections there, producing her volume of essays, This England (1936). Her later scholastic career consisted of three decades as a teacher at the prestigious Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1926 – 1955). She died at Northampton aged eighty-six (July 28, 1973).
Chases’s earlier works, the autobiographical works, A Goodly Heritage (1932), A Goodly Fellowship (1939), and, The White Gate: Adventures in the Imagination of a Child (1954) were memorials of her early teaching experiences. She produced several books for children such as The Girl from the Big Horn Country (1916) and Mary Christmas (1926), but was best remembered for her powerful novels Mary Peters (1934) and Silas Crockett (1935) which dealt with the lives of Maine seafaring families. Her later novel Dawn in Lyonesse (1938) was a resetting of the ancient myth of Tristan and Isolde in a contemporary New England setting.

Chassaigne, Anne Marie Olympe    see   Pougy, Liane de

Chasse, Charlotte Chantale Pauline Georgine de Villeneuve-Vence, Marquise de la – (1808 – 1860)
French aristocrat
A direct descendant of the famous letter writer and salonniere, the Marquise de Sevigne (1626 – 1696), she was born in Paris (June 6, 1808), the fourth daughter of Helion de Villeneuve-Vence, marquis de Vence, and his wife Juliette d’Harcourt. Charlotte was married (1831) to Charles Francois d’Andigne, Marquis de la Chasse (1791 – 1879) who long survived her, and to whom she bore three daughters, including Juliette d’Andigne de la Chasse (1834 – 1871), who was married to Jean, Marquis d’Harcourt (1813 – 1891) and left descendants, and Marie d’Andigne de la Chasse (1837 – 1928), the wife of Comte Raimond de Nicolay (1818 – 1893), by whom she left descendants. Marquise Charlotte died (Oct 20, 1860) aged fifty-two, at the Chateau de la Chasse, near Iffendic.

Chasteau, Margeurite   see   Tinayre, Marcelle

Chastellux, Angelique Victoire de Durfort-Civrac, Comtesse de – (1752 – 1816)
French courtier and émigré
Angelique Victoire de Durfort-Civrac was born (Dec 2, 1752) the daughter of Aymeric Joseph de Durfort, Duc de Civrac and his wife Anne Marie de La Faurie de Monbadan. She was sister to Laurent de Durfort-Civrac, Duc de Lorge (1746 – 1826) and the Marquise de Donnissan. Her godmother was Princess Victoire, the daughter of Louis XV, and was educated at Sint-Cyr, the school established by Mme de Maintenon. Angelique was married (1773) to Henry Georges Cesar, Comte de Chastellux, and later succeeded her mother (1786) as lady-in-waiting to Princess Victoire, whilst her husband was appointed as gentleman-in-waiting (1787). With her court appointment the comtesse had expected to be created a duchess, and when she learned otherwise she considered resigning her post. However, the joint entreaties of the princesses Adelaide and Victoire persuaded her to remain at court. Several letters from the princess to the comtesse have survived. She herself survived the horrors of the Revolution. Madame de Chastellux died (Nov 14, 1816) aged sixty-three, in Paris.

Chastenay-Lanty, Henriette Louise Philiberte de Laguiche, Comtesse de – (1779 – 1863)
French salonniere
Henriette Louise de Laguiche was the daughter of Charles Amable, Marquis de Laguiche, and his wife Jeanne Marie Louise Philibert de Clermont, dame de la Croix Etoilee-Montoison, being born in Paris (Sept 6, 1779). Henriette was married (1797) at Saillant, near Charolles, Saone-et-Loire, to Henri Louis, Comte de Chastenay-Lenty (1772 – 1834) but the marriage remained childless.  The comtesse was a friend of Madame de Boigne, and held an impressive literary salon during the reign of King Louis Philippe (1830 – 1848). Her salon was frequented by the likes of Prosper Merimee, Saint-Beuve, the Comte de Laborde, and the Vicomte de Chateaubriand, amongst others. Madame de Chastenay-Lanty died (April 26, 1863) aged eighty-three, in Paris.

Chastenay de Lenty, Louise Marie Victorine – (1770 – 1838)
French salonniere, translator and memoirist
Born into an aristocratic family of Erard, Louise received an excellent education studying botany and history, and becoming an accomplished musician. She never married and desiring to live independently she became a canoness which entitled her to use the form ‘Madame’ and maintained her own household. She read the work of the philosophes and was influenced by the revolutionary ideals then becoming prevalent. She spent some time in prison during Robespierre’s Terror but managed to escape the guillotine.
During the directoire period she was officially known as citoyenne Victorine.  Her interest in natural history led to the publication of Calandrier de Flore (Calendar of Plants) (1802 – 1803) and the historical work Les Chevaliers normands en Italie et en Sicile (The Normans in Italy and Sicily) (1816). Madame Chastenay de Lenty also translated into French the works of such popular British novelists as Oliver Goldsmith and Ann Radcliffe. Her private Memoires (1896) were published posthumously in Paris, and were redited in the late twentieth century (1987).

Chateaubourg, Benigne Jeanne de Chateaubriand, Comtesse de – (1761 – 1848)
French society figure
Benigne de Chateaubriand was the sisister of the famous Vicomte de Chateaubriand. She was married firstly (1780) to Comte Jean Francois Xavier de Quebriac (1742 – 1783) and became the Comtesse de Quebriac and attended the court of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Versailles. With his death the Dowager Comtesse de Quebriac was remarried (1786) to Paul Marie Francois de la Celle (1752 – 1816), Comte de Chateaubourg and became the Comtesse de Chateaubourg. The comtesse and her second husband emigrated abroad once the revolution continued to spread and were thus spared the horrors of Robespierre’s Terror. She survived her second husband for over three decades (1816 – 1848) as the Dowager Comtesse de Chateaubourg and survived into the reign of King Louis Philippe (1830 – 1848), being mentioned in her brother’s surviving correspondence. Madame de Chateaubourg died (May 16, 1848).

Chateaubriand, Apolline Jeanne Suzanne de Bedee, Comtesse de – (1726 – 1798)
French aristocrat
Apolline de Bedee was the daughter of Ange-Annibal, Comte de Bedee (1696 – 1761) and his wife Marie Anne de Ravenel de Boisteilleul (1698 – 1795). She became the wife (1753) of Comte Rene Auguste de Chateaubriand (1718 – 1786). Madame de Chateaubriand survived the horrors of the Revolution and died (July 31, 1798). Her children were,

1) Geoffrey Rene Marie de Chateaubriand (born 1758). He died young.

2) Comte Jean Baptiste Auguste de Chateaubriand (1759 – 1794). He perished during Robespierre’s Terror and left issue.

3) Marie Anne Francoise de Chateaubriand (1760 – 1860). She became the wife of Francois Jean Geffolot, Marquis de Marigny.

4) Benigne Jeanne de Chateaubriand (1761 – 1848). She married firstly to Comte Jean Francois de Quebriac (died 1783) and secondly to Paul de la Celle, Comte de Chateaubourg (died 1816).

5) Julie Marie Agathe de Chateaubriand (1763 – 1799). She became the wife of Annibal, Comte de Farcy de Montvallon.

6) Lucile Angelique de chateaubriand (1764 – 1804). She became the wife of Comte Jacques Louis de Caud (died 1797).

7) Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (1768 – 1848). The Chevalier and Vicomte de chateaubriand was a famous émigré figure and writer

Chateaubriand, Celeste Buisson de Lavigne, Vicomtesse de – (1774 – 1847)
French memoirist
The daughter of the Comte de Lavigne and younger sister of the Comtesse Anne Louise Parscau du Plessix (1769 – 1846), Celeste became the wife of the famous Francois Rene, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768 – 1848). The marriage was not a particular success and the couple resided mainly apart. Her private journal were edited and published posthumously as Les cahiers de Madame de Chateaubriand (1909) in Paris.

Chateau-du-Loir, Mathilde de – (c1075 – 1099)
Norman noblewoman and dynastic figure
Mathilde was the only child and heiress of Gervais II, Seigneur de Chateau-du-Loir in Maine, Anjou, and his first wife Eremburge. She became the first wife (1090) of Helie I de La Fleche (c1050 – 1110), Count of Maine and then became the Countess consort of Maine (1093 – 1099). Her dowry consisted of the castles of Chateau-du-Loir, Mayet, Luce-le-Grand and Outille. A surviving donation charter dated (June 2, 1085 – 1095) of Count Helie to the Abbey of St Vincent reveals that Mathilde and her mother Eremburge, then dying, were both present and witnessed it.
The chronicler Ordericus Vitalis recorded Mathilde’s parentage and her marriage. Countess Mathilde died (March 25, 1099). Count Helie then granted a private family chapel as the base of La Tout de Chateau-du-Loir to the Abbey of Saint-Guingalois for the benefit of her soul. Through her only surviving child Countess Eremburga of Maine (1094 – 1126) the first wife of Fulk V, Count of Anjou (1092 – 1143) (later King of Jerusalem) Mathilde was the paternal great-grandmother of Henry II, King of England (1154 – 1189).

Chateau-du-Loir, Rorans de – (fl. c1970 – c1000)
French mediaeval matriarch
The parentage of Dame Rorans remains unknown, as does the identity of her husband, who was the first seigneur of Chateau-du-Loir in Maine, Anjou. Her only child was Hamon (or Hamelin) (c978 – 1030) who became Seigneur de Chateau-du-Loir, whilst Rorans’s grandson Gervais de Chateau-du-Loir (1007 – 1067) took holy orders and became the Bishop of Le Mans and then Archbishop of Rheims. A surviving letter (c1055 – 1067) of Gervais of Rheims, addressed to Even, Abbot of Saint-Melaine recorded that Rorans avia mea had been granted the fief of Argentine as her dower. Dame Rorans was the ancestress of Henry II, King of England (1154 – 1189).

Chateau-Gontier, Emma de – (c1230 – c1270)
French medieval heiress
Emma de Chateau-Gontier was the daughter of Jacques, seigneur de Chateau-Gontier, in Anjou. She was married to Goeffrey, seigneur de La Guerche and Segue, who held Chateau-Gontier in her right after the death of her father (c1259). The fief later passed to Emma’s daughter, Jeanne de La Guerche, the wife of Jean de Brienne, Vicomte de Beaumont, and later to the noble houses of Chamaillard, Alencon, and Bourbon-Vendome.

Chateauroux, Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle, Duchesse de – (1717 – 1744)
French royal mistress
Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle was born in Paris (Oct 5, 1717), the fifth daughter of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle and bore the title of Madamoiselle de Monchy. With the early death of her mother (1729), she was raised in the household of her step-grandmother, the Duchesse de Mazarin. Her desire to marry the Duc d’Aiguillon was frustrated by the intervention of the infamous Duc de Richelieu, and she was married instead (1734 – 1740) to the Marquis Louis de La Tournelle, whose early death left her a childless and beautiful widow.
Two of her elder sisters, Madame de Mailly and Madame de Vintimille had been mistresses to Louis XV in succession. When her cast his eye upon Madame de La Tournelle, she was coached by de Richelieu, and demanded official recognition at court as the king’s mistress (maitresse en titre) before she agreed to be his mistress (1742). She then demanded, and received, the duchy of Chateauroux and its appurtenances from the king (1743). Politically the duchesse allied herself with the court faction that had involved France in the War of the Austrian Succession, and persuaded the king to take the field himself. Permitted to join the king with the army in the Austrian Netherlands (June, 1744) her prescence there remained highly unopopular. When Louis fell ill at Metz in the following August, the clergy persuaded the king to send Mme de Chateauroux away. Chased by the mob with her sister Mme de Lauraguais, she made an undignified escape, and her carriage leaving Metz, passed that of the queen who had come to nurse her husband.
With Louis’s unexpected recovery, Madame de Chateauroux retained her position as mistress, but her health had sufferred. She arose too early from her sickbed, sufferred a relapse, and died suddenly and agonizingly of peritonitis at Paris shortly afterwards (Dec 8, 1744). She was buried at night in order to spare her corpse the insults of the crowd. Her portrait was painter by Jean Marc Nattier (1685 – 1766) and has survived, whilst her correspondence was later collected and edited by the novelist and writer, Marie Armande Gacon-Dufour (1753 – 1835).

Chateautiers, Anne de – (1662 – 1741)
French courtier
Born Anne de Foudras, she inherited the fief of Chateautiers and was known as the Dame de Chateautiers. Anne attended the court of Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon at Versailles, where she served as lady-in-waiting to Madame, the Duchesse d’Orleans, formerly Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatine. Though offered marriage by a princely suitor Anne refused to consider marrying, and remained with the duchesse until that lady’s death (1722) as her closest friend. With the death of her patron Anne retired to live in quiet seclusion in Paris for the remainder of her life. She was mentioned in the Memoires of the court historian Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon who referred to her as ‘a talented, unselfish woman of redoubtable virtue.’

Chatelain, Marie – (1823 – 1897)
French-Anglo Catholic nun
Henriette Marie Chatelain was born in Paris, and after the early deaths of her parents, she was raised by relatives in Geneva, Switzerland. Marie took vows as a nun and joined the Sisters of Charity (1844). Despite sufferring from tuberculosis, Marie served as secretary to the mother superior, and then served during the Crimean War as a nurse. Recalled to Paris (1855), she was placed in charge of a large orphanage there, before transferring to work at Sheffield in England. There she continued to work, though hampered by lack of English and continuing ill-health. She soon established a new school for poor working people, and nursey in Carlisle Street in London, with financial assistance made available by Catholic philanthropists.

Chatelet, Diane Adelaide de Rochechouart-Mortemart, Duchesse du – (1733 – 1794)
French society figure
Diane Adelaide de Rochechouart was the elder daughter of Francois Charles de Rochechouart, Marquis de Faudoas, and his wife Marie Francoise de Conflans d’Armentieres. She was of the family of the notorious Madame Athenais de Montespan, the mistress of Louis XIV she was married (1751) to Florent Laurent Marie de Lomont, Duc du Chatelet-Lomont (1727 – 1793), son of the famous Marquise Gabrielle du Chatelet so beloved of Voltaire.
The duchesse du Chatelet and her husband attended the courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at Versailles. She attended the court of George III and Queen Charlotte in London when her husband served as ambassador to the Court of St James’s (1768 – 1770) and was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole. Madame du Chatelet was a close friend of the Duchesse de Gramont, sister to the foreign minister, the Duc de Choiseul. Both women were guillotined in Paris during Robespierre’s Terror, Madame de Gramont refusing to provide information to the Revolutionary Tribunal concerning the activities and whereabouts of the Duchesse du Chalet’s son, for whom they were searching. Madame de Chatelet and Madame de Gramont shared their tumbril with the Princesse de Lubomirska and members of the Malesherbes family.

Chatelet, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du – (1706 – 1749)
French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher
Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil was born in Paris, the daughter of Louis Nicolas Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Baron de Preuilly (1648 – 1728), and his second wife, Gabrielle Anne de Froulay. Excellently educated in literature, science, and music, she married (1725) Florent Claude de Lomont, Marquis du Chatelet (1695 – 1766), the governor of Semur-en-Auxois, in Burgundy, to whom she bore three children. Her husband was frequently absent on military duties, and Mme du Chatelet returned to Paris, where she established her own popular salon. She became involved in liasions, both intellectual and physical, with the astronomer and mathematician Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, and the mathematician Alexis Clairaut, before finally becoming entangled with Voltaire (1733). He had fled Paris under the treat of arrest, and had taken refuge with Mme du Chatelet at her estate of Cirey in Champagne.
At Cirey the marquise and Voltaire worked closely togther on their scientific and philosophical projects. They later competed independently for a prize offerred by the Academie des Sciences, for a dissertation on the properties of fire (1738). Despite the fact that the prize was awarded to the German methematician Leonhard Euler, Mme du Chatelet’s own Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu (1744) was published at the expense of the Academie. As well as treatises on religion and philosophy, she also produced Institutions de physique (1740), which was influenced by the ideas of Samuel Konig, the mathematician, and those of the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz. Madame du Chatelet retained the affections of her husband and Voltaire, even after she became involved in a liasion with the poet, Jean-Francois de Saint-Lambert, and when she died in childbirth, at Luneville, Lorraine (Sept 10, 1749), all three were present at her deathbed. Her translation of Isaac Newton’s Principia Methematica, was later published in part, with a preface by Voltaire, and under the direction of Clairaut (1756). The marquise left three children by her husband,

• Francoise Gabrielle Pauline de Lomont du Chatelet (1726 – 1792). She was married (1743) Alfonso Carafa, Duca di Montenero (died 1760). She perished under the guillotine.

• Florent Laurent Marie de Lomont, Marquis and then Duc du Chatelet (1727 – 1793). He was a diplomat under Louis XV and was one for the first victims of the Revolution, whilst his wife perished during the Terror.

• Victor Esprit de Lomont du Chatelet (b. 1734). He died young.

Chatelet-Fresnieres, Adelaide Marie Therese d’Urfe, Marquise du – (1717 – after 1776)
French society figure
Adelaide d’Urfe was the sister of Louis Christophe de La Rochefoucald de Laskaris (1704 – 1734) Marquis d’Urfe and was sister-in-law to Jeanne Camus de Pontcarre, the gullible patron of the adventurer Giacomo Casanova. She was a descendant of Anna Laskarina, Countess of Tende and the ancient emperors of Constantinople. Adelaide made a suitable marriage with the Marquis Alexis du Chatelet-Fresnieres to whom she bore two sons, Alexandre Jean du Chatelet (died 1756) and Arnulfe du Chatelet-Fresnieres (died 1757).
With the death of her childless nephew Alexandre Francois de La Rochefoucald de Laskaris (1742), Adelaide’s two sons successively inherited the marquisate of Urfe in the Loire region of the Lyonnais through their mother, but died without issue. Madame du Chatelet-Fresnieres then sold Urfe to the Marquis de Simiane (1758) who sold it two decades later to the M. Demeaux, lieutenant-general to Louis XVI at Montbrison. The Marquise was mentioned in Casanova’s memoir History of My Life.

Chater, Nancy – (1915 – 2000)
British educator
Nancy Chater was born (July 18, 1915) and attended secondary school at Northampton. She went on to study mathematics at Girton College at Cambridge, and then trained as a teacher. She served as the assistant headmistress at the Huddersfield Grammar School for Boys (1940 – 1942) and at a girls’ school in Manchester before being appointed as the senior maths mistress at the Thistley Hough secondary school at Stoke-on-Trent (1945 – 1949).
After this Chater became the senior lecturer at the Newland Park Training College for teachers (1949 – 1955) and was then the deputy headmistress of the Whitley Abbey Comprehensive School in Coventry (1955 – 1963). Her last position was as the headmistress of the Stanley Park Comprehensive School in Liverpool (1964 – 1975) and she was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1974) in recognition of her services to education. Nancy Chater remained unmarried and died (June 14, 2000) aged eighty-four.

Chatfield-Taylor, Brenda Frazier Kelly    see   Frazier, Brenda Diana Duff

Chatham, Hester Grenville, Countess of     see   Pitt, Hester

Chatillon, Adrienne Emilie Felicite de La Baume le Blanc, Duchesse de – (1740 – 1812)
French society and literary figure, and letter writer
Adrienne de La Baume le Blanc was the daughter of Louis Cesar, Duc de La Vallierre and Anne Louise Julie de Crussol. She was married (1756) to Louis Gaucher, Duc de Chatillon (1737 – 1762) to whom she bore two daughters, the younger of whom, the Princesse de Tarente was lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Antoinette, and left memoirs. Madame de Chatillon was a member of the salons of the philosophes such as Jean d’Alembert, Madame Du Deffand, and her protégé Julie de Lespinasse. She was visited by Voltaire himself, and corresponded with the British antiquarian Horace Walpole, who knew everyone in Parisian society.
The duchesse honestly admired Mlle de Lespinasse, but her feelings were not entirely reciprocated, and Lespinasse, despite admitting Madame de Chatillon’s obvious good qualities, found her friendship something of a burden. She observed concerning the duchesse’s character after a charitable visit to the Invalides hospital; ‘She saw no suffering because she herself felt none, she was calm and full of curiosity, an excellent disposition for the purpose of amusement or instruction, but neither is of any use to me any more,’ and further; ‘Her head is empty, and her soul is a real desert.’ Rather harsh criticism indeed, considering that the duchesse’s real grief at her friend’s death in 1776 is recorded in many other contemporary sources. Arrested and imprisoned in Paris during the Terror, the duchesse survived the horrors of the Revolution, and died in Paris during the last years of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Chatillon, Agnes de – (1170 – 1192)
French mediaeval heiress
Agnes de Chatillon was the daughter and heiress of Guy I, Count of Nevers, and his wife Matilda of Burgundy. She succeeded her kinsman William V as ruler of Nevers whilst still a child (1181). Politics denoted her marriage (c1184) with Pierre de Courtenay (1155 – 1217), as his first wife. He was later Latin emperor in Constantinople as Pierre II. Agnes died young, probably from the effects of childbirth. The county of Nevers passed to her only child, Matilda de Courtenay (1188 – c1255), who was married successively to Herve IV de Donzy and Guy IV, Count of Forez.

Chatillon, Anne Gabrielle le Veneur de Tillieres, Duchesse de – (1699 – 1781)
French aristocrat
A courtier of Louis XIV at Versailles, the Duchesse de Chatillon was a prominent pre-Revolutionary society figure, being he mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian, Sir Horace Walpole. She was born (Dec 2, 1699), the daughter of Jacques Tanneguy le Veneur, Comte de Tillieres, and his wife Michelle Gabrielle du Gue de Bagnolles. She was married firstly to Roger Constant Madaillon, Comte de Manicamp, and secondly (1725), to Alexis Madeleine Rosalie, Comte, and later first Duc de Chatillon (1690 – 1754), as his second wife. She survived him as the Duchesse Dowager de Chatillon (1754 – 1781). The Duchesse de Chatillon died (Jan 3, 1781) aged eighty-one. She left four children,

• Louis Gaucher, second and last Duc de Chatillon (1754 – 1762) (July 1737 – Nov 15, 1762). He was married but left only two daughters.

• Olympe Rosalie Gabrielle de Chatillon (June 9, 1728 – May 10, 1735). She died young.

• Anne Louise Rosalie de Chatillon (Oct 19, 1729 – Dec 26, 1734). She died young.

• Gabrielle Louise de Chatillon (1731 – after 1789). She became the wife of Maximilien Antoine Armand de Bethune, Duc de Sully. 

Chatillon, Anne Therese de Moret de Bournonville, Comtesse de – (1667 – 1703)
French aristocrat
A courtier of Louis XIV at Versailles, Anne Therese de Moret was the daughter of Louis de Moret, Seigneur de Bournonville, and his wife Madeleine Berbier du Metz. She was married (1684) to Claude Elzear, Comte de Chatillon (March 29, 1646 – Nov 2, 1720). The comtesse died (March 28, 1703) aged thirty-five, leaving two children,

• Philip Gaucher de Chatillon, Marquis d’ Argenton (April 10, 1686 – 1703). He died unmarried.

• Alexis Madeleine Rosalie de Chatillon (Sept 22, 1690 – Feb 15, 1754). He was created first Duc de Chatillon (1736 – 1754) by Louis XV, married twice and left descendants.

Chatillon, Charlotte Vautrude Voisin, Comtesse de – (1693 – 1723)
French aristocrat
A courtier of Louis XIV during the last years of his reign, Charlotte Voison was the daughter of Daniel Francois Voisin and his wife Charlotte Trudaine. She was married (1711), as his first wife, to Alexis Madeleine Rosalie, Comte de Chatillon (first Duc from 1736) (1690 – 1754). Comtesse Charlotte died (April 12, 1723) aged twenty-nine, leaving three children,

• Gaucher Daniel de Chatillon (Sept 20, 1712 – Sept 30, 1717). He died young.

• Alexis Gaucher de Chatillon (Nov 24, 1721 – July 15, 1723). He died young.

• Charlotte Rosalie de Chatillon (1719 – 1753). She became the wife of Louis Marie, Duc de Rohan.

Chatillon, Elisabeth de – (c1610 – 1668)
French nun
Elisabeth de Chatillon was the third and youngest daughter of Gilles de Chatillon, baron de La Greve d’Argenton de Bouville, and his wife Marie de Vivonne de Chataigneraye. Elisabeth never married and took holy orders like her sister Louise. With Louise’s death she served as Abbess of Bonneval at Thouars, in Poitou, for over two decades (1646 – 1668). Elisabeth de Chatillon died (June 4, 1668) aged in her late fifties.

Chatillon, Francoise Yolande de – (1650 – 1676)
French nun
Francoise Yolande de Chatillon was born (Jan 8, 1650), the second daughter of Francois de Chatillon, siegneur de Boisrogues and de la Rambaudief, by his wife, Madeleine Francoise Honore du Clos. She was dedicated to the church during her early childhood, and became a nun at the Abbey of Bonneval, near Thouars, under the rule of her paternal aunt, Elisabeth de Chatillon. At her aunt’s death (June, 1668), Francoise Yolande, then aged only eighteen, succeeded her as abbess. She ruled Bonneval for eight years but died young. Francoise Yolande de Chatillon died (April 27, 1676) aged only twenty-six. She was succeeded in office by her younger sister, Madeleine Angelique Marie de Chatillon.

Chatillon, Olympe de – (1688 – 1730)
French nun
Olympe de Chatillon was the eldest daughter of Alexis Henri, Marquis de Chatillon, and his wife Marie Rosalie de Brouilly de Piennes, the daughter of Antoine de Brouilly, Marquis de Piennes. Her two sisters were Marie Rosalie, Marquise de Guebriant a member of the Regency society which centred round the Duc d’Orleans, and Pulcherie, Marquise de Bacqueville.

Olympe was dedicated to the church by her parents, becoming a nun at the abbey of St Loup-sur-Semoise in Haute Saone, under the rule of her paternal aunt, Louise Charlotte de Chatillon. With her aunt’s death (Feb, 1711) Olympe was appointed to succeed her as abbess. During her last years, Olympe shared the abbacy with her last surviving aunt, Francoise Marie Anne, who died in May, 1729, after which she ruled alone until her own death.

Chatterton, Henrietta Georgiana Lascelles Tremonger, Lady – (1806 – 1876)
British writer
Hemrietta Tremonger was born (Nov 11, 1806) at Piccadilly in London, the daughter of Lascelles Tremonger, the Prebendary of Winchester, and his second wife Harriet Gambier, the sister f Admiral Lord Gambier. She was married (1824) to Sir William Abraham Chatterton (1794 – 1855) of Castle Mahon in County Cork in Ireland. Her first published work was the children’s collection entitled Aunt Dorothy’s Tales (1837) and this work was followed by the travel narrative Rambles in the South of Ireland (1839) which proved extremely successful, and Cardinal Newman praised the refinement of thought in her fiction.
Lady Henrietta and her husband resided at Blaxworth in Dorsetshire (1845 – 1852) until they removed to Rolls Park in Essex. With the death of Sir William Henrietta became the Dowager Lady Chatterton (1855 – 1876). Lady Chatterton remarried several years afterwards and became the first wife (1859) of Cholmley Edward John Deering (1827 – 1892), the Rector of Pluckley in Kent, who was two decades her junior. Dering had entered the Church of Rome but Lady Henrietta remained hesitant. Eventually, after a lengthy correspondence with the Bishop of Birmingham Lady Chatterton converted to Catholicism (1875).
Her published works included novels such as A Good Match, The Heiress of Drosberg and The Cathedral Chorister (1840), Allainston or The Infidel (1843), and Leonore, a Tale and other Poems (1864). She wrote the play Oswald of Deira (1867) and translated The Consolation of the Devout Soul (1876) from the Italian. Her other travel-logues included Home Sketches and Foreign Recollections (1841) and, The Pyrenees With Excursion in to Spain (1843). Lady Henrietta’s other works included Extracts from Jean Paul F. Richter (1851), Memorials of Admiral Lord Gambier (1861) and Selections from the Works of Plato (1862). Lady Chatterton died (Feb 6, 1876) aged sixty-nine, at Malvern Wells.

Chatterton, Ruth – (1893 – 1961)
American actress and novelist
Chatterton was born (Dec 24, 1893) in New York, where she was educated. She made her first stage appearance at the age of fourteen (1907) and later became a leading stage actress in Hollywood achieving fame for her performance in Daddy Long Legs (1914) and later performed in La Tendresse (1922). Though she continued with her stage work until 1937 Chatterton later turned to films and became leading lady from the late 1920’s until WW II. Her film credits included Madame X (1929) Sarah and Son (1930) for both of which performances she received Academy Award nominations. One of her later films was the movie classic Dodsworth (1936) in which she appeared as the archetypal silly and spoilt American wife.
Her other film credits included Paramount on Parade (1930), The Magnificent Lie (1931), The Rich Are Always With Us (1932), Lady of Secrets (1936) and A Royal Divorce (1938). With her retirement from movies Chatterton established a career for herself as a successful novelist her published works including Homeward Borne (1950), The Betrayers (1953), Pride of the Peacock (1954) and Southern Wild (1958). From 1940 she performed with various repertory companies appearing in such roles as Regina Wentworth in Lillian Hellman’s Little Foxes and Eliza in Pygmalion. One of her last stage roles was as Mrs St Maugham in The Chalk Garden (1956). Ruth Chatterton died (Nov 24, 1961) aged sixty-seven, at Norwalk in Connecticut.

Chattopadhaya, Kamaldevi – (1903 – 1988)
Indian social reformer and crafts movement leader
Kamaldevi was born into a wealthy family in Mangalore, near Karnataka. Educated at the Bedford College in London, and the London School of Economics, Kamaldevi was married during childhood, but was left a widow whilst still at school. She remarried to the poet and dramatist, Harindranath Chattopadhaya (1920 – 1933), though this union was later dissolved. Madame Chattopadhaya became interested in politics and the progressive views of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and was an active participant in the Non-co-operation movement, and eventually joined the Congress Socialist Party (1948). Greatly interested in the burgeoning women’s movement, she was a member of the Congress Working Committee and was appointed as president of the All India Women’s Conference and chairman of All India Handicrafts Limited (1952). She was given the Magasaysay Award (1966) in recognition of her civic leadership, and was vice-president of the India International Centre (1978 – 1980).

Chaucer, Agnes – (c1325 – c1381)
English mediaeval gentlewoman
Born Agnes de Copton, she was married firstly to Henry Northwell. With his death Agnes became the second wife (c1340) of John Chaucer (c1312 – 1368), vintner of London, and was stepmother to the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 – 1400). Some sources call Agnes the mother of Geoffrey but this is incorrect, Geoffrey’s mother was Joan de Esthalle, John Chaucer’s first wife. With her second husband’s death Agnes remarried a third time to Bartholomew atte Chapel. Agnes Chaucer was the stepgreat-grandmother of Alice Chaucer, the Duchess of Suffolk. Agnes appears as a minor character in the historical novel Katherine (1954) by Anya Seton.

Chaucer, Alice – (1404 – 1475)
English Plantagenet patron and peeress
Alice Chaucer was the daughter of Thomas Chaucer (1367 – 1434), the chief butler to Richard II (1377 – 1399) and Henry IV (1399 – 1413), the son of the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Her paternal grandmother was Philippa de Roet, sister to Katherine Swynford, mistress and later third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Her mother was Maud de Burghersh (1379 – 1437) the daughter of John de Burghersh (1343 – 1391), third Baron Kerdeston and his second wife Ismania de Hanham. Alice was married firstly (c1413) to Sir John Phillip as his third wife. He was killed at the battle of Harfleur leaving Alice a widow at the age of eleven (1415).
Lady Phillip was later remarried (1424) to Thomas de Montacute (1388 – 1428) fourth Earl of Salisbury whom she accompanied to France after their wedding. Lady Salisbury was considered a beauty and Prince John, Duke of Bedford paid her attentions which her husband resented. Lord Salisbury died in 1428 directing in his will that a tomb for himself and his two wives to be built with a chapel behind the high altar at Bisham. One of its provisions was that his beloved wife should serve three poor persons with food and drink with her own hands. William de La Pole (1396 – 1450) Earl of Suffolk had license to marry Lady Salisbury (1431) and she was assigned Garter Robes as Countess of Suffolk (May 21, 1432). With Lord Suffolk Alice jointly founded an almshouse at Ewelme for the poor (1437) which was stil operating nearly five hundred years afterwards (1900). Lady Alice was granted the wardship of her son John by her husband in the event of his death (1444).
Suffolk was created a Duke by Henry VI and Alice became the Duchess of Suffolk. Her husband was later murdered on board a ship near Dover, and was interred at Wingfield and she became the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk (1450 – 1475). She was indicted for treason because of involvement with the rebellion of Jack Cade (1450) but had soon made her peace with the Duke of York. Alice was appointed as joint-constable of Wallingford Castle together with her son. She was present at the marriage in London of Edward IV to Elizabeth Woodville (1464) and was present at the marriage of the queen’s brother Sir John Woodville with the elderly Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Alice held court at her manor of Cotton which she retained after a lawsuit of some standing.
Duchess Alice died (May 20, 1475) aged seventy-one, and was buried at Ewelme. The shields of the magnificent tombs at Ewelme of the duchess, her father and mother, were fully described in the Oxoniensia of E. Greening Lamber. Her funeral effigy depicts Alice wearing the Order of the Garter. This was once quoted to Queen Victoria as a precedent for the way ladies should wear the Garter, on the left arm. By Suffolk Alice was the mother of John de La Pole (1442 – 1492), second Duke of Suffolk who was married to Elizabeth of York, sister to Edward IV and Richard III, by whom he left many children.

Chaucer, Elizabeth – (c1365 – after 1397)
English mediaeval gentlewoman
Elizabeth Chaucer was born probably in Aldgate, London, the eldest daughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340 – 1400) and his wife Philippa de Roet, the sister of Lady Katherine Swynford, mistress, and later third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Elizabeth was dedicated to the church and entered the Benedictine priory of St Helen’s in London as a novice (1377), being nominated for entry to this house through the influence of King Richard II, and her dowry being paid by the duke of Lancaster. Several years afterwards Elizabeth entered the royal abbey of Barking, where the duke again paid a generous dowry for her. There she joined her first cousin, Margaret Swynford, who later became the duke’s stepdaughter. Elizabeth Chaucer was living in 1397, when she was amongst the group of nuns who swore allegiance to the newly elected abbess.

Chaugy, Francoise Madeleine de – (1611 – 1680)
French nun and historian
Born Jacqueline de Chaugy at Cuzy in the Nivernais region, she was raised in the household of her aunt, comtesse Francoise de Toulongeon, and was the great-niece of Jeanne de Chantal. She entered the Order of the Visitation at Annecy (1628) taking the name of Sister Francoise Madeleine. She served as private secretary to her great aunt until that lady’s death (1641). She then became the convent historian but became involved in an altercation with Bishop d’Arenthon d’Alex of Annecy, and was sent to become the superior of the Visitation convents in Montferrand, Crest, Carpentras, and Turin in Piedmont. Her published work included L’histoire des fondations de l’Ordre de la Visitation Sainte-Marie (1637 – 1638) and Memoires sur la vie et les vertus de Jeanne-Francoise Fremyot de Chantal (1642). Her correspondence was published almost two hundred and fifty years after her death as Lettres de la venerable mere Francoise-Madeleine de Chaugy (1838). Francoise died in Turin.

Chauhan, Subhadra Kumari – (1904 – 1948) 
Indian poet and social reformer
Subhadra Chauhan was born in Allahabad. She joined the Theosophical School at Benares, but later joined with her husband in the Noncooperation Movement, being jailed for her subversive activities in 1940 and 1942. Subhadra fought for the rights of Indian women and was opposed to the traditional marital burden of the dowry. Elected to the Berar Legislative Assembly (1946), she was killed in an automobile accident. One of her best remembered poems, Jhansi Ki Rani commemorates the courage of Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi, during the period of the Indian Mutiny. Her collection of poems, published in the Mukul periodical were awarded the seksaria prize by the All-India Sahitya Sammelan, and she she received the same prize for her collections of short stories Bhikre Moti (1933).

Chaulnes, Charlotte de Clermont d’Ailly, Comtesse de – (c1604 – 1681)
French heiress
Charlotte was the daughter of Philibert de Clermont d’Ailly and his wife Louise d’Ongnies, Comtesse de Chaulnes, a descendant of Antoine d’Ongnies (died 1478), the Governor of Lille in Flanders. Through her father, Charlotte was a direct descendant of Robert de Clermont (died 1384), Seigneur d’Ailly and his wife Dame Margeurite II de Picquigny, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Picquigny, Seigneur de Fluy. Madame de Chaulnes inherited the county of Chaulnes from her mother, which title was born by her husband Honore de Luynes. She also inherited the seigneurie of Picquigny in the Somme region of Picardy.
The county of Chaulnes was created into a dukedom for their son Charles d’Albert d’Ailly (1625 – 1698) the Gover of Brittany under Louis XIV, who, together with his wife, was a friend and correspondent of the famous salonniere and letter writer Madame de Sevigne. Duc Charles and his wife left no surviving issue so the dukedom of Chaulnes eventually passed to the descendants of Duc Honore’s brother Charles, Duc de Luynes in whose descendants the title remain vested until the Revolution (1792).

Chaumpaigne, Cecily – (fl. 1380 – 1381)
English mediaeval litigant
Cecily was the stepdaughter of Alice Perrers, the mistress of King Edward III (1327 – 1377). She accused the poet Geoffrey Chaucer of raping her. She was perhaps the mother of his son Lewis Chaucer (1381 – after 1403). However, Chaucer provided four important witnesses including King Richard II’s chamberlain and Cecily was then persuaded to drop the charges. Despite this Chaucer paid her a rather large financial compensation settlement soon afterwards which would seem to indicate that her claim had some substance.

Chauncy, Nan – (1900 – 1970)
Anglo-Australian juvenile writer
Nancen Beryl Chauncy was born in England but came to Australia with her family during childhood and was raised in Tasmania, where she resided for the remainder of her life. She published over a dozen novels for children, all set in the Tasmanian bush including the trio Tiger in the Bush (1957), Devil’s Hill (1958) and Tangara (1960), all of which were winners of the Children’s Book of the Year Awards.

Chauvel, Elsa May – (1898 – 1983)
Australian actress, scriptwriter and film producer
Born Elsie May Wilcox (Feb 10, 1898) in Melbourne, Victoria, she was partly raised in South Africa, where she first became associated with acting. There she established herself as a creditable stage actress, taking the professional name of Elsie Sylvaney. Sylvaney later returned to Australia (1924), where she appeared in several silent films, including Greenhide (1926), produced by director Charles Chauvel (1897 – 1959), whom she married (1927).
Marriage brought the end of her own acting career, but she instead moved into film direction, collaborating on films such as In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940), Jedda (1955), and the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) television series Walkabout (1958). With her husband’s death she concerned herself with the perservation of their work together at the National Film and Sound Archive. She was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her service to the film industry. Chauvel was author of the memoir, My Life with Charles Chauvel (1973). Elsa Chauvel died (Aug 23, 1983) aged eighty-five, at Toowoomba, Queensland.

Chaworth, Matilda de (Maude) – (c1282 – 1322)
English Plantagenet noblewoman
Matilda de Chaworth was the daughter of Sir Patrick de Chaworth, Lord of Kidwelly in Ireland, and his wife Lady Isabella de Beauchamp (c1263 – 1306), the daughter of William de Beauchamp (died 1298), first Earl of Warwick. She was married (1297) to Henry of Grosmont (1281 – 1345), the grandson of King Henry III (1216 – 1272) soon after his return from Scotland. The couple attended the coronation of Edward II (Feb 25, 1308) and Prince Henry carried the rod with the dove during the ceremony.
A surviving charter (Feb 19, 1317) reveals that the countess was a patron of the priory of Mottisfant as heir of William de braose, one of the founders. Henry was only formally restored as Earl of Lancaster after Matilda’s death (1324). Matilda died (before Dec 3, 1322) aged about forty, and was interred in Mottisfant Priory. Two of her sons died in infancy and her surviving children were,

1) Henry of Grosmont (1300 – 1361). He succeeded his father as second Earl of Lancaster (1345) and was created Duke of Lancaster (1351 – 1361). He left two daughters of whom the
younger, Blanche of Lancaster, became the first wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third son of Edward III, and was the mother of King Henry IV (1399 – 1413).

2) Blanche of Lancaster (c1305 – 1380). She became the wife of Thomas Wake (1298 – 1349), second Baron Wake of Liddell.

3) Matilda of Lancaster (Maud) (c1310 – 1377). She was married firstly to John de Burgh (1312 – 1332), third Earl of Ulster, and secondly to Sir Ralph de Ufford (died 1346), leaving an
only daughter from each marriage.

4) Joan of Lancaster (c1312 – 1349). She became the wife of John Mowbray (1310 – 1361), third Baron Mowbray, and left issue.

5) Isabella of Lancaster (1317 – 1347). She was married to Henry de la Dale, but being left a child-widow, she became the Prioress of Amesbury in Wiltshire (1344 – 1347).

6) Eleanor of Lancaster (1318 – 1372). She was married firstly to John de Beaumont (1318 – 1342), second Baron Beaumont, and secondly to Richard Fitzalan (1313 – 1376), third Earl of
Arundel, whose mistress she had been prior to their marriage. Eleanor left children from both unions.

7) Mary of Lancaster (1321 – 1362). She became the wife of Henry Percy (1322 – 1368), third Baron Percy of Alnwick, and was ancestress of the Earls of Northumberland and their
descendants.

Chaworth, Sybil de – (c1100 – before 1147)
Anglo-Norman heiress
Sybil de Chaworth was the daughter of Patrick de Chaworth, of Kempsford, Gloucester. She became the wife of Walter de Salisbury, of Chitterne, Wiltshire, the sheriff of Wiltshire (c1115) and founder if Bradenstock Abbey. Sybil predeceased her husband, dying during the chaotic reign of King Stephen (1135 – 1154). Through her daughter, Sybil de Salisbury, the wife of John FitzGilbert (died 1165), known as ‘John the Marshal,’ Sybil de Chaworth was the grandmother of William Marshal (1146 – 1219), Earl of Pembroke. Her son Sir Patrick de Salisbury (killed in battle, March 27, 1168) was the second husband of Ela Talvas, the widow of William de Warenne, third Earl of Surrey.

Chebotarevskaia, Anastasia Nikolaievna – (1876 – 1921)
Russian critic, editor, and translator
Anastasia Chebotarevskaia was born in Kursk, the daughter of a lawyer. She was raised in Moscow after her mother committed suicide (1880). She attended school till secondary level, but then had to support herself by writing after financial problems beset her family. She spent four years in Paris (1900 – 1905) then returned to Russia where she was employed to write for several Russian periodicals for workers such as Zhurnal dlia vsekh (Journal for All) and Tovarishch (Comrade). Anastasia was married (1908) to the Symbolist writer Fedor Sologub and then spoke at the First All Russian Women’s Congress, where she called for the abolition of marriage, and collective child-rearing. Husband and wife worked togther, and were active publicists for liberal causes and the Symbolist movement generally. Togther they published the journal Dnevniki pisatelei (Writer’s Diaries) (1914).
Chebotarevskaia wrote concerning social issues, edited collections of verse and letters, and translated the works of several French authors. Refused permission by the Soviet government to travel abroad, Anastasia fell into despair, and committed suicide in Petrograd, aged forty-four, by jumping off a bridge (Sept 23, 1921). Her works included the short story Staryi dom (The Old House) (1909), which was dedicated to her brother Mikhail Chebotarevsky, who had been executed as a revolutionary, and the Symbolist plays Liubov’ nad bezdnami (Love over the Abysses) (1910) and Put’ v Damask (The Road to Damascus) (1910). Her last work, Zhenshchina nakanune Revoliutsii 1789 (Women on the Eve of the 1789 Revolution) was published posthumously by her husband (1922).

Cheeseborough, Blanche   see   Molineux, Blanche

Cheesman, Evelyn – (1881 – 1969)
British explorer and entomologist
Lucy Evelyn Cheesman was born at Westwell, near Ashford, Kent, the daughter of a shopkeeper, and was educated there and at Brighton, London, as well as spending several years in Europe (1904 – 1905). Thwarted in her desire to become a veterinary surgeon, Cheesman served temporarily as a civil servant during WW I, after which she was invited to become keeper of the Insect House at the Regents Park Zoo (1920) and then enrolled in an entomology course at the Imperial College (1920 – 1922).
Cheesman joined the scientific expedition which involved travel to the Marquesas and the Galapagos Islands in the southwest Pacific regions (1924), and upon her return to London she worked as a volunteer, classifying specimens at the British Museum. Later she made solo expeditions to Papua, Dutch New Guinea and New Caledonia, collecting new specimens all the time. She wrote and lectured in order to raise finances to enable her to fund her travels and research, and was awarded a Civil List Pension (1953) and was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of her valuable work.
Miss Cheesman’s written works included, Everyday Doings of Insects (1924), Islands near the Sun: Off the Beaten Track in the Far, Fair Society Islands (1927), Hunting Insects in the South Seas (1932), The Two Roads of Papua (1935), Land of the Red Bird (1938), and, Six-Legged Snakes in New Guinea: A Collecting Expedition on two Unexpected Islands (1949), as well as two volumes of memoirs entitled Things Worth While (1957) and Time Well Spent (1960). Evelyn Cheesman died (April 15, 1969) aged eighty-eight.

Cheetham, Erika – (1939 – 1998)
British mediaeval linguist and scholar
Erika McMahon-Turner was born (July 7, 1939) in London, the daughter if the Under Cesretary of the Admiralty. She was raised in a convent school and later studied mediaeval languages at St Anne’s College at Oxford. She was married to James Milne Cheetham, an officer with the Grenadier Guards, to whom she bore a son. Her interest in the sixteenth century physician and astrologer Michel Nostradamus (1503 – 1566) was aroused after she read an old book concerning his rhymed prophecies from his work Centuries (1555) which he had written in French, Latin, Greek, Italian and English.
Cheetham became internationally famous for her translation of his predictions and she published the works The Prophecies of Nostradamus (1965), The Further Prophecies of Nostradamus and The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus, which became international best sellers and millions of copies were sold. She wrote the screenplay for the film The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1982) in which Nostradamus was depicted by actor Orson Welles. Erika Cheetham died (May 3, 1998) aged fifty-eight, in London.

Chefaliady-Taban, Maria – (1863 – 1932)
Romanian pianist and composer
Maria was born (Nov 4, 1863) at Iasi and studied the piano at the conservatory there under Anetta Boscoff. She travelled to Vienna in Austria, where she studied under Joseph Dachs and the younger Joseph Hellmesberger at the Akademie fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst (1883 – 1885). She performed the works of Bach, Beethoven and Grieg in concert and became a singing teacher in Iasi and Bucharest. Her own style was romantic with folk-lore influences and included the choral work Hora carturarului Urechia (Scholar Urechia’s Ring Dance) (1901), Imnul studentilor universitari romani (Romanian Students’ Anthem) (1901) and she wrote the songs, Atit de frageda (So Tender) (1900) and O, ramii (Oh, don’t Go) (1905). Her students included Julieta Missir and Mircea Stefanescu. Maria Chefaliady-Taban died (June 11, 1932) aged sixty-nine, in Bucharest.

Chekhova, Olga    see    Knipper-Chekhova, Olga

Chenchy, Lucie de – (fl. 1261 – after 1277)
French Crusader noblewoman
Lucie was the daughter of Jean de Chenchy and his wife Stephanie de Brie, who was a descendant of Anseau de Brie and his wife Helvis d’Hierges, herself a descendant of Manasses d’Hierges (died after 1152), the Constable of Jerusalem under Queen Melisande. Lucie became the second wife (1261) of Balian d’Ibelin (1239 – 1277), Lord of Arsur, the widower of the Queen Dowager Plaisance of Cyprus.
The Lignages d’Outremer recorded the marriage of Balian with Lucie, la fille Johan Guauvrain. This marriage produced four children. Lucie survived Balian and remarried very soon after his death (Sept, 1277) to Eudes Poilechien, the nephew of Pope Martin IV (1281 – 1285), who commanded the Angevin troops in the East. The children of her first marriage were,

1) Emmeline d’Ibelin (died after 1277). She married an unidentified nobleman from Apulia in Sicily.

2) Jeanne d’Ibelin (died after 1277). She became the wife of Baudouin du Morf, Lord of Stambole.

3) Nicole d’Ibelin (c1267 – before 1300). She became the first wife of Thibaut, Lord of Bethsan (Bessan).

4) Jean d’Ibelin (c1270 – 1309). He succeeded his father as Lord of Arsur and was married to his kinswoman Isabella d’Ibelin and left issue.

Chenevix, Elizabeth – (c1700 – 1755)
British toymaker
Elizabeth Deards was the daughter of William Deards of Pall Mall, London, a noted manufacturer of toys, and was married to fellow toymaker, Paul Chenevix. With the death of her husband (1742), Elizabeth carried on his business in Charing Cross, whilst her sister, Mrs Bertrand, had established herself in the same profession with success in Bath. It was from Elizabeth Chenevix that the antiquarian and letter writer, Horace Walpole, purchased the lease of the Strawberry Hill estate in Twickenham (1747).

Cheney, Ednah Dow Littlehale – (1824 – 1904)
American educator, reformer and novelist
Ednah Dow Cheney was born (June 27, 1824) in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Joseph Hale Abbott Girls’ School there. She wrote the Handbook for American Citizens (1864), as well as several novels and verse translations, such as Patience (1870), Sally Williams, the Mountain Girl (1873), and Nora’s Return (1890). A leader in philosophy, her best known work was her Life, Letters and Journals of Louisa May Alcott (1889). Edna Dow Cheney died (Nov 19, 1904) aged eighty.

Ch’eng-Tien-Hou – (c1115 – 1168)
Chinese queen and ruler
Ch’eng-Tien-Hou was the daughter of King Te Tsung of the Ch’I-tan Lioa dynasty, of northern China. She succeeded her brother (1154) as sole ruler, and was the mother of King Mochu (c1132 – 1199).

Chen Jiao – (c156 – c110 BC)
Chinese empress consort
Chen Jiao was the daughter of Chen Wu, Marquess of Tangyi and the Han Princess Liu Piao. Chen became the first wife (c144 BC) of her cousin Liu Che, Prince of Jiadong (153 – 150 BC), the son of the Han Emperor Jingdi (157 – 141 BC) and became princess of Jiadong. This interdynastic marriage strengthened the political position of Liu Che who was eventually made crown prince in place of his elder brother.
When Liu Che ascended the Imperial throne at the death of his father as the Emperor Wudi (141 – 87 BC), Chen Jiao was granted the Imperial titles and styles. Though the emperor remained much attached to Chen Jiao during the early years of his reign, the fact that she did not bear him a son, and her ill-concealed jealousy concerning his concubines, led to a serious decline in her favour with the emperor. Finally it was revealed, apparently with some truth, that the empress had consorted to witchcraft as a means of removing the emperor’s favoured concubine Wei and achieving her own restoration to Imperial favour. Chen Jiao was placed under confortable house arrest before being deposed as empress (130 BC). Sevweral hundred witches were then exterminated. Wudi remarried to Wei who was proclaimed empress. The former Empress Chen Jiao then resided in retirement and died two decades afterwards.

Chenoweth, Alice    see   Gardener, Helen Hamilton

Chen Tiejun (Ch’en Tieh-chun) – (1904 – 1928)
Chinese feminist and revolutionary
Chen Tiejun was the daughter of a merchant, and was educated at the progressive Jihua School for Girls (1920). Against her family’s wishes, she eschewed an arranged marriage and was trained instead as a school teacher. Chen Tiejun later attended university in Peking (Beijing), where she became increasingly involved with radical socialist ideals and finally joined the Communist Party (1926). She later became involved in a liasion with Zhen Wen-jiang (Chen Wen-chiang), the commander of the Red Guard under General Chiang Kai-Shek. Chen Tiejun became involved with an underground women’s movement which supplied weapons to other Communists. Chen Tiejun was betrayed, arrested, found guilty and publicly executed.

Chernysheva, Avdotia – (1693 – 1747)
Russian Imperial courtier
Avdotia was the wife of Count Grigory Chernyshev, the friend of Tsar Peter I the Great. She used her influence with the Tsar to serve the interests of his nieces Anna and Catherine Romanovna, daughter of Ivan V. With Anna’s accession as empress (1730) the countess enjoyed a favoured position at the court and her sons were later supporters of Catherine the Great. She was the mother of Count Zacharias Chernyshev (1722 – 1784), a field-marshal who served as viceroy of Belorussia and Count Ivan Grigorivich Chernyshev (1726 – 1797) served as an admiral of the Fleet and was an ambassador to the court of George III and Queen Charlotte in London (1768 – 1770).

Cheron, Elisabeth Sophie – (1648 – 1711)
French portrait painter
Elisabeth Sophie Cheron was born in Paris, the daughter of the miniaturist Henri Cheron. She was trained as an artist by her father before he deserted the family, and she worked as a miniature portraitist in enamel and water colours in order to help the family finances. Elected to the Academie Royale (1672) after she painted her Self-Portrait, and she enjoyed the patronage of the court of Louis XIV. In order to continue enjoying this patronage, Elisabeth and her sister Marie Anne, also a miniaturist and wife of Alexis Simon Belle, renounced their Protestant faith and converted to Catholicism.
Also known for her musical talent and poetic verses, she was married (1692) to Jacques de la Hay, a royal engineer, and was elected a member of the Accademia dei Ricoverati in Padua (1699) with the classical name ‘Erato.’ Her translation of the Psalms was published with illustrations by her younger brother, Louis Cheron. Examples of her works are preserved in the Louvre Museum and at the Palace of Versailles.

Cherry, Frances – (1871 – 1941)
Australian nurse
Frances Cherry was born (March 18, 1871) in Port Wakefield, South Australia, the daughter of Francis Cherry. She decided early upon a nursing career and received her training in an Adelaide training school and private hospital. Cherry was later employed as the private nurse to the governor Lord Tennyson and his family (1902), and was sent to oversee the local hospital in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, after an outbreak of typhoid (1904). Nurse Cherry decided to settle in Perth, where she served as chief of the Silver Chain district nursing organization for over three decades (1904 – 1941). She remained unmarried. Frances Cherry died (July 4, 1941) aged seventy, in Perth.

Cherry, Georgiana – (1805 – after 1835)
Anglo-Indian diarist
Georgiana Cherry was the daughter of Peter Cherry, a civil servant connected with the East India Company in Madras. Georgiana travelled from England with her sister, and kept a short, but lively and extremely interesting journal of her voyage to India (Feb – June, 1821). She later married Captain Charles Morgan Chase, ADC to the governor of Madras, and later returned to India for a visit (1835).

Cherufini, Francesca Gherardi, Contessa – (1709 – 1778)
Italian society figure
Born Francesca Gherardi, her marriage with the Conte Cherufini produced several children including two daughters, Vittoria and Maddalena Cherufini. The Contessa Cherufini held a prominent salon in her palace, and was a friend to the famous adventurer Giacomo Casanova who called her by the nickname ‘Cecca’ and was mentioned in his personal memoir History of My Life.

Chesnut, Mary Boykin Miller – (1823 – 1886)
American Civil War diarist
Mary Boykin Miller was born at Pleasant Hill, South Carolina, the daughter of a prominent political figure. Educated at private schools in Camden and Charleston, she married (1840) James Chesnut Jr, who later served as a senator in South Carolina before becoming actively involved with the Secessionist cause within the Confederacy. Chesnut accompanied her husband on his military missions during the Civil War, and her personal journal A Diary from Dixie records her won views and observations during the period (1861 – 1865), but was not published till twenty years after her death (1905). Mary Boykin Chesnut died (Nov 22, 1886) at Camden, South Carolina.

Chesson, Nora   see    Hopper, Nora

Chester, Alice – (c1430 – 1485)
English merchant
Her husband, Henry Chester, was a prosperous merchant in Bristol, and with his death (1470), Alice took over the running of his business interests. She proved extremely successful in this venture and and exported cloth and imported iron between Spain, Portugal, and Flanders. Her wealth enabled Chester to build an imposing three story house, with business premises on the ground floor. She became involved in philanthropic works to benefit the city of Bristol, and financed a large barrel crane, which she used to unload iron imported from Spain. She also made expensive donations and gifts to the All Hallows Church in High Street, including an elaborate rood screen.

Chester, Ermentrude of Clermont, Countess of    see   Clermont, Ermentrude de

Chesterfield, Anne Thistlethwayte, Countess of – (c1756 – 1798)
British Hanoverian peeress
Anne Thistlethwayte was the daughter of Robert Thistlethwayte of Norman Court and Southwick Park in Hants, a clergyman. She became the first wife (1777) of Philip Stanhope (1755 – 1815), the fifth Earl of Chesterfield and Anne became the Countess of Chesterfield (1777 – 1798). Their only child Lady Harriet Stanhope died unmarried (1803). Her portrait was painted (1778) by Sir Thomas Gainsborough as a companion to that of her husband. A bust of Lady Chesterfield, also by Gainsborough, descended through the Thistelthwayte family. Lady Chesterfield died (Oct 20, 1798).

Chesterfield, Catherine Wotton, Countess of     see    Kirkhoven, Catherine

Chesterfield, Elizabeth Butler, Countess of – (1640 – 1665)
English Stuart peeress, courtier and beauty
Lady Elizabeth Butler was born (June 29, 1640) at Kilkenny in Ireland, the daughter of James Butler, first Duke of Ormonde and his wife Elizabeth, Baroness Dingwall. She was raised strictly by her pious mother and became the second wife (1660) of Philip Stanhope (1634 – 1714), the second Earl of Chesterfield and became the Countess of Chesterfield and attended the court of Charles II and Catharine of Braganza at Whitell Palace and Hampton Court.
Lord Chesterfield’s subsequent neglect of Elizabeth did not prevent him from being a jealous husband. He ordered Elizabeth to be removed from the court to Derbyshire (Jan, 1663) in order to end the amorous intentions of Prince James, Duke of York, the brother of Charles II. Samuel Pepys recorded ‘I was told the occasion of my Lord Chesterfield’s going and taking his lady, my Lord Ormonde’s daughter, from court. It seems he hath long been jealous of the Duke of York; but … the lady by all opinions is a most good, virtuous woman.’ Another of Lady Chesterfield’s admirers was her cousin James Hamilton, and the history of their amour was detailed in the Memoires de Gramont written by Anthony Hamilton who described the countess as ‘one of the most agreeable women in the world: she had a most exquisite shape though she was not very tall, her complexion extremely fair with all the expressive charms of a brunette; her manners were engaging; her wit lively and amusing: but her heart open to tender sentiments, was neither scrupulous in point of constancy, nor nice in point of sincerity.’
Lady Chesterfield died (July, 1665) aged twenty-five, at Wellingborough in Derbyshire. Her insanely jealous husband is said to have poisoned the wine administered for her sacrament, a rather ludicrous assertion. Her daughters included Lady Anne Stanhope (1663 – 1723) the wife of John Lyons (1663 – 1712), second earl of Strathmore in Scotland, and Lady Mary Stanhope (1664 – 1703) the wife of Thomas Coke.

Chesterfield, Petronilla von der Schulenburg, Countess of   see   Walsingham, Countess of

Chesterton, Ada Elizabeth – (1870 – 1962)
British traveller, journalist, dramatist and philanthropist
Ada Chesterton was born in London into a literary family. She established herself as a feature writer in magazines and periodicals, assuming the pseudonym of ‘Sheridan Jones.’ She was married (1917) to Cecil Chesterton, assistant editor of the New Witness periodical, and brother to the literary critic and detective novelist, Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 – 1936). With the death of her husband in during WW I (1918), Ada Chesterton travelled abroad in Europe, visiting Russia, Poland, and the East, recording details of her various journies in My Russian Adventure (1931) and Young China and New Japan (1933).
However, she is best remembered for the book she wrote concerning her experiences in the poorest and most desperate parts of the city entitled In Darkest London (1926). She established Cecil Houses for homeless women and Cecil Residential Clubs for the elderly and poorly paid. Chesterton was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) by King George VI (1938) in recognition of her contributions to literature. She co-wrote the plays, The Man who was Thurdsday (1926), adapted from her husband’s novel, and The Love Game (1927), and also wrote several novels using the pseudonym John Keith Prothero. Ada Chesterton died (Jan 20, 1962) aged ninety-one, at Croydon.

Chevalier, Caroline – (c1833 – 1917)
New Zealand writer and traveler
Caroline Wilkie was born in London the daughter of the painter Frederick Wilkie and his wife Sarah Drew, and was related to the Scottish painter David Wilkie. She came to Melbourne in Victoria, Australia with her family and was married (1857) in Melbourne to the Russian born traveller and artist Nicholas Chevalier (1828 – 1902). Her husband went to New Zealand as an established painter and Caroline joined him there (1866) after which they travelled together to the westcoast region.
The journey was long and arduous and Caroline Chevalier is believed to have been the first European woman to make the journey. She later published her own account of the trip as Reminiscences of a journey across the South Island in 1866. The couple returned to England in 1870 and remained there for the remainder of their lives. Widowed in 1902 Caroline presented many of her late husband’s painting from his time in New Zealand to the National Art Gallery in Wellington. Caroline Chevalier died (Dec 26, 1917) in Bournemouth. She left unpublished notes to be used for a short biography of her husband.

Chevalier, Elizabeth Pickett – (1896 – 1984)
American author, editor and film director
Elizabeth Chevalier was born (March 25, 1896) in Chicago, Illinois. She served with the Red Cross after WW I (1918 – 1923) and assisted with the writing of the Official History of American Red Cross Nursing Service (1921), and was the author of The American International Red Cross: Its Origin, Purposes and Service (1922). Having learnt to write and edit propaganda films chevalier later worked as a scenarist for Fox Studios in New York City, and later in Hollywood (1923 – 1928).
Elizabeth Chevalier wrote the novel Redskin (1928) which was adapted into the film of the same name (1929) and later published the novel Drivin’ Woman (1942) which was set in the South after the Civil War. She was later attached to the US Treasury Department and was once considered for the post of Treasurer by J.F. Kennedy (1960). She later served as a delegate to the United Nations World Health Organization Assembly. Elizabeth Pickett Chevalier died (Jan 3, 1984) aged eighty-seven, at Brentwood in California.

Chevigne, Laure de Sade, Comtesse de – (1860 – 1936)
French salonniere and socialite
Laure de Sade was a descendant of the infamous Alphonse Donatien, Marquis de Sade (1740 – 1814). She was a famous beauty, and as a married woman established her own popular salon and was admired by Marcel Proust.

Chevreuse, Jeanne Marie Therese Colbert, Duchesse de – (1650 – 1732)
French courtier
Jeanne Colbert was the eldest daughter of Jean Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Marigny and his wife Marie Charon de Menars. She became the wife (1667) of Charles Honore d’Albert, Duc de Chevreuse (1646 – 1712) to whom she bore several children. The duchesse and her husband were prominent figures at the court of Louix XIV at Versailles, and were mentioned in the Memoires of the Duc de Saint-Simon. Jeanne survived her husband for two decades (1712 – 1732) as the Dowager Duchesse de Chevreuse. The duchesse died (June 26, 1732). Her children were,

1) Honore Charles d’Albert (1669 – 1704). He became Duc de Luynes and was married and left issue.

2) Marie Therese d’Albert de Luynes (1673 – 1743). She was married firstly to Comte Michel Adelbert de Morstein (died before 1698), and secondly to Rene Ismidon, Comte de Sassenage
(1672 – 1730) and left issue from her second marriage.

3) Marie Francoise d’Albert de Luynes (1678 – 1734). She became the wife of Charles Eugene, Duc de Levis (1669 – 1734) and left issue.

Chevreuse, Marie Aimee de Rohan-Montbazon, Duchesse de – (1600 – 1679)
French courtier, adventurer, and political conspirator
Marie Aimee de Rohan was born (Dec, 1600) the daughter of Hercule de Rohan, Duc de Montbazon, and his first wife Madeleine de Lenoncourt. She married firstly (1617) Charles Honore d’Albert, Duc de Luynes (1578 – 1621), Grand Falconer and favourite of Louis XIII, and secondly (1622), Claude de Lorraine, Duc de Chevreuse (1579 – 1657), younger son of Henri I, Duc de Guise, to whom she bore three daughters. Appointed to the position of superintendent of the household of Anne of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII (1618), the duchesse attempted to involve the queen in an amorous liasion with the English George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. The duke’s scandalous declaration of public passion for the queen spelt the end of this plan (1625), and the duchesse was exiled to Poitou (1626) after the failure of another plot directed against Cardinal Richelieu, minister to Louis XIII.
Withdrawing to the court of Charles IV of Lorraine at Nancy, the duchesse continued to plot against Richelieu’s government with Buckingham. Exiled to Touraine after she was found to have betrayed state secrets to her lover, the Marquis de Chateauneuf (1633), the discovery by Richelieu of her treasonable correspondence with the Spanish court, which she had conducted with the connivance of Anne of Austria, caused her to flee to Madrid (1637). With the regency of Anne of Austria, Madame de Chevreuse was permitted to return from exile, but became immediately involved in political controversy, being involved in an abortive plot to assasinate Cardinal Mazarin (1643). Later the duchesse helped form the political coalition that supported the revolt of the Prince de Conde (1651) during the Wars of the Fronde (1648 – 1653), but she became reconciled to Mazarin after Conde reneged on his agreement to marry her daughter Charlotte.
With the death of Charlotte, her favourite daughter (1652), Madame de Chevreuse retired to her estate at Dampierre. By her first husband Madame de Chevreuse was the mother of Louis Charles d’Albert, Duc de Luynes (1620 – 1690), a prominent court of Louis XIV at Versailles. The Duchesse de Chevreuse died (Aug 13, 1679) aged seventy-eight, at Gagny. Her three daughters by her marriage with the Duc de Chevreuse were,

• Princesse Anne Marie de Lorraine-Chevreuse (1624 – Aug, 1652). She remained unmarried, and died as Abbess of Pont-aux-Dames.

• Princesse Charlotte Marie de Lorraine-Chevreuse (1627 – Nov 7, 1652). She died unmarried.

• Princesse Henriette de Lorraine-Chevreuse (1631 – 1694). She remained unmarried, and was later appointed (1655) as Abbess of Jouarre.

Cheyne, Anne Broughton, Lady – (c1510 – 1561)
English Tudor noblewoman
Anne Broughton was the daughter and coheir of Sir John Broughton (1490 – 1518) of Toddington, near Luton in Bedfordshire, and his wife Anne sapcote, later the wife of the Earl of Bedford. Anne became the second wife (c1529) of Sir Thomas Cheyne (c1485 – 1559) of Toddington, to whom she bore an only child Sir Henry Cheyne (1539 – 1587) later created Baron Cheyne of Toddington. Anne brought the family estate of Toddington to the Cheyne family.
Sir Thomas and Lady Cheyne entertained Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn at their estate of Shurland Hall, which her husband had recently built on the model of Hampton Court. She later attended upon Henry’s last wife Catharine Parr, and was received at the courts of Mary I and Elizabeth I. With the death of Sir Thomas (Dec 15, 1559) Anne became the Dowager Lady Cheyne (1559 – 1561). Her husband was interred within the Cheyne chapel in the Church of Minster at Sheppey. Lady Anne died (May 16, 1561) aged about fifty, and was buried in the parish church of Toddington. Her elaborate inscription has survived, though somewhat damaged. The inscription read,

Here lyeth Dame Anne Cheyne, daughter and heyre to Sir John Broughton, knight, marryed to Sir Thomas Cheyne, Knight, Lord Warden of the Cinq Portes, Treasurer of Her Majestie’s Household, of the Order of the Garter, and one of Her Majestie’s Privie Counsell, who had but one only chylde, the same being the Lord Henry Cheyne, and she died the 16th daie of maie, the third year of Elizabeth.Her raigne Anno Domini 1561.

Cheyne, Jane Cavendish, Lady – (1621 – 1669)
English writer and Royalist supporter
Lady Jane Cavendish was the daughter of William Cavendish, Duke of Newscastle, and his first wife Elizabeth Bassett, the widow of Lord Henry Howard, and daughter of William Bassett, of Blore, Staffordshire. The famous writer, Margaret Cavendish, nee Lucas, Duchess of Newcastle, was her stepmother. She was married (1654) to Charles Cheyne (1624 – 1698) of Cogenho, in Northamptonshire, who became viscount Newhaven after her death (1681).
During the Civil War, Lady Jane and her sister maintained a small garrison to defend Welbeck Abbey (1643), but were ultimately taken prisoner by Parliamentarian forces, and were somewhat roughly handled, though when her former gaoler was condemned to death, Lady Jane successfully pleaded for his life. Lady Jane later managed to intercede successfully on behalf of her Royalist brothers, and was also able to save some of the family tapestries and paintings from Welbeck and Bolsover, which included several works by Sir Anthony Van Dyck. Apart from several poems, Lady Cheyne wrote the play, The Concealed Fancies (1643 – 1644) with her sister Elizabeth, Countess of Bridgewater, in honour of their father, the surviving manuscript being preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. She suffered from epilepsy during the last years of her life. Lady Cheyne died (Oct 8, 1669) aged forty-eight, in Chelsea, London.

Chezy, Helmina von – (1783 – 1856)
German novelist and poet
Helmina Christiane von Klencke was raised by her grandmother the poet Anna Louisa Karsch (1722 – 1791). After moving to reside in Paris she became the published of the journal Franzosische Miscellen (French miscellany) (1803 – 1807). After the breakup of her marriage Madame Chezy travelled extensively throughout Germany and published the novel Emmas Prufungen (The Trials of Emma) (1817). She composed the libretto for Rosamunde (1820) by Franz Schubert. She dictated her memoirs in old age and they were published posthumously in two volumes at Leipzig in Saxony as Unvergessenes.Denkwurdigkeiten aus dem Leben von H. von Chezy (1858).

Chiang Ch’ing    see    Jiang Qing

Chiang Kai-shek, Madame    see   Soong Mei-ling

Chiappini, Maria Stella Petronilla – (1773 – 1843)
Italian adventuress
Chiappini, who later claimed to be a princess of Bourbon-Orleans, was in fact born (April 16, 1773) at Modigliana, near Forli, the daughter of Lorenzo Chiappini, Constable of Modigliana and his wife Vincenza Viligenti. She was trained as a singer and dancer and performed onstage in Florence. She was married firstly (1786) to the English peer Sir Thomas Wynn (1736 – 1807), the first Baron Newborough, and secondly (1810) to the Russian count Edward von Ungern-Sternberg, and styled herself the ‘Marchesa di Modigliana.’
When her father died (1821) he left a letter stating that Maria Stella’s real father was not him but a nobleman who had exchanged her for Chiappini’s son who had later died. Finding that in 1773 a couple traveling as the Comte and Comtesse de Joinville had been at Modigliana, Maria Stella built up a story that these two were the Duc and Duchesse de Chartres (Philippe Egalite and Louise Adelaide de Bourbon-Penthievre), and that the Duc had exchanged a daughter for Chiappini’s son in order to keep the Penthievre inheritance in his own house. The son whose parentage was contested was Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orleans later King of France. The ecclesiastical court of Faenza accepted Chiappini’s story but rejected the identification of the nobleman in question with the Duc de Chartres.
Maria Stella then published the memoir entitled Maria Stella ou un echange d’une demoiselle du plus haute rang centre un garcon de plus uile condition (1830) coincided with the accession of King Louis Philippe (1830). Its publication may have been arranged by the partisans of the Duchesse de Berry, as a counterblast to pamphlets which cast doubt on the parentage of her own son the future Henry V. The book was twice reprinted (1839) and (1843). Maria Stella Chiappini died (Dec 28, 1843) aged seventy, in Paris. She was interred within the Cemetery of Montmartre. Her claim was similar to that of the British Mrs Olivia Serres, who claimed to be the Princess of Cumberland.

Chiara di Gonzaga    see    Clara di Gonzaga

Chiaramonte, Sancia di   see   Sancia of Taranto

Chiaureli, Sofiko – (1937 – 2008)
Georgian stage and film actress
Chiaureli was born (May 21, 1937) in Tbilisi, the daughter of director Mikheil Chaiureli and the famous actress Veriko Andjaparidze. She trained to be an actress and appeared with the companies of various Georgian theatres such as the Kote Mardzhanishvili where her career spanned over four decades (1964 – 2008) and the Rustavelli Theatre. Sofiko was married twice and bore two children from her first marriage.
Chiaureli appeared in various films but was best remembered for the classic movie Sayat Nova (1968) in which she played six separate roles, and for her role in Khevsurian Ballad (1965) for which she received the best actress award from the Locarno International Film Festival. Her other film credits included Don’t Grieve which was produced by Georgi Daneliya and Ischite zhenshinu. Sofiko Chiaureli died (March 2, 2008) aged seventy, in Tbilisi.

Chiave, Margherita delle – (c1510 – 1570)
Portugese nun
Margerita delle Chiave was a widow, native of Ponta Delgada in the Azores Islands, who took religious vows. She died aged about sixty (Sept 8, 1570), and was immediately regarded as a saint. A church built in her honour was eventually dedicated to St Margaret of Scotland (1587). The translation feast of her relics (June 20) was celebrated annually.

Chick, Dame Harriette – (1875 – 1977)
British nutritionist
Harriette Chick was born in London (Jan 6, 1875), the daughter of a merchant, and was educated at the University College there. After further studies abroad, she was appointed as the first woman to be employed by the Lister Institute (1905), despite opposition from within that institution. Chick worked at the Institute for over six decades until her final retirement at the age of ninety-five (1970). Chick studied nutritional disorders in Vienna at the behest of the British Medical Research Council. Together with two female colleagues, Elsie Dalyell and Margaret Hume, Chick did extensive research into the childhood disease ricketts, and they proved that sunlight and cod-liver oil could altogether eliminate this prevalent disease. Between 1919 and 1932 she published a series of monographs which began with, The Present State of Knowledge Concerning Accessory Food Factors (Vitamins).Chick later served as Secretary of the Accessory Food Factors Committee (1918 – 1945), and she was created CBE (Commander of the British Empire) (1934) by King George V, for her contribution to nutritional science. King George VI appointed her DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) (1949), and she later served as president of the British Nutrition Foundation (1956 – 1959). Dame Harriette Chick died (July 9, 1977) aged one hundred and two, at Cambridge.

Chidestre   see    Kynedride

Chidiock, Elizabeth – (c1403 – 1464)
English Plantagenet peeress
Elizabeth Chidiock was the daughter of Sir John Chidiock of Chidiock in Dorset, and his wife Eleanor Fitzwarin, the daughter and heiress of Sir Ivo Fitzwarin of Caundle Haddon in Dorset. Through her mother Lady Chidiock Elizabeth was a descendant of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (800 – 814). She was married firstly to William Massey, a squire of Henry VI, secondly (before 1430) to Walter Fitzwalter (c1400 – 1431), the seventh Baron Fitzwalter (1415 – 1431) and became the Baroness Fitzwalter. As the Dowager Baroness Fitzwalter (1431 – 1464) she remarried a third time (1458) to Sir Thomas de Cobham of Sterborough in Surrey. Her daughter Elizabeth Fitzwalter (1430 – 1485) succeeded her father in infancy as the eighth Baroness Fitzwalter. Through her daughter’s first marriage with John Radcliffe (1430 – 1461), Elizabeth Chidiock was ancestress of the later Earls of Sussex. Lady Elizabeth died (June 14, 1464) aged about sixty, and was interred with her second husband Lord Fitzwalter in Dunmow Priory in Essex.

Chidley, Catherine – (c1590 – 1667)
English religious radical and religious separatist
Catherine Chidley was the wife of Daniel Chidley, a yeoman from Shropshire, who was later employed as a tailor in Shrewsbury, to whom she bore eight children. During the 1620’s Catherine Chidley became involved with a group of radical religious seperatists. Her activites aroused the ire of the local clergy, and the family removed to London, where her husband and eldest son established themselves in the haberdashery business until Daniel’s death (1646). Catherine and her son Samuel became known for their sectarian stance, and together they co-wrote their Justification of the Independent Churches of Christ (1641), which was followed by A New Yeares Gift for Mr Thomas Edwards and Good Counsel to the Petitioners for Presbyterian Government (1645). Both these works appealed for religious toleration and attacked the prevalent atmosphere of Presbyterian authoritarianism. With her son she established the sect known as the Levellers in Bury St Edmunds, and Catherine led the campaign by Leveller women for the release from gaol of their leader, John Lilburne, when she herself lead a deputation of twelve women before the Barebones Parliament (1653). Catherine Chidley is believed to have resided in London till her death.

Chilcot, Harriet   see   Meziere, Harriet

Child, Julia – (1912 – 2004)
American culinary expert, author and television personality
Born Julia McWilliams (Aug 15, 1912), in Pasadena, California, sher was educated at Smith College. She first met artist Paul Child, and both worked in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during WW II.
With the end of the war she returned to California, where Julia studied at the Beverly Hills Cookery School and finally married Child (1946) and moved to Washington. Her husband was a member of the Foreign Service and the couple resided in Paris for several years (1948 – 1954), where Julia studied at the Cordon Bleu School. With two others she co-founded the L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes cookery school in Paris.
When she and her husband returned to the USA and settled in Massachusetts, Julia became a well known television personality, and was hostess of the popular program, The French Chef (1963 – 1973), and appeared on several other cookery programs. Child wrote several cookbooks such as as, The French Chef Cookbook (1968), Julia Child and Company (1978 – 1979), and, The Way to Cook (1989), and received an Emmy Award (1966) and the National Book Award (1980). She was recipient of the French Ordre National de Merite (1974), and was co-founder of the American Institute of Food and Wine (1982). Julia Child died (Aug 16, 2004) aged ninety-two. She was portrayed by actress Maryl Streep in the film Julie & Julia (2009).

Child, Lydia Maria Francis – (1802 – 1880) 
American author and abolitionist
Lydia Child was born at Watertown, Massachusetts, and spent the early part of her career as a teacher, writing historical novels and a volume of domestic advice entitled The Frugal Housewife (1829), as well as founding a children’s magazine, Juvenile Miscellany (1826). Child decided to devote her life and energy to the cause of abolitionism, after a meeting with the radical anti-slavery leader William Lloyd Garrison. Her Appeal in Favour of that Class of Americans Called Africans (1833) denounced the inequalities of education and opportunities for employment available for black Americans, and she allowed her home to be used as a half-way house for runaway slaves. She later transcribed the personal stories of freed slaves and edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard (1841 – 1843). Child’s later works included A Romance of the Republic (1867) and Aspirations of the World (1878). Lydia Maria Child died (Oct 20, 1880) in Wayland, Massachusetts.

Childechinde – (567 – 580)
Merovingian princess and saint
Childechinde was the second daughter and youngest child of Chilperic I, King of Neustria (561 – 584) and his first wife Audovera. Her birth secured the dismissal of her mother from her position as queen and her exile from the court, after the king’s evil mistress Fredegonde had persuaded Queen Audovera to stand godmother to her own daughter. This ignorant transgression of religious law was all Chilperic needed to discard an unwanted wife.
The infant princess accompanied her mother to the convent of Le Mans, where she was raised and educated. When Childechinde was thirteen, she and Audovera were both tut to the sword on Queen Fredegonde’s order. The church venerated Childechinde as a saint, her murder supposedly having procured for her the crown of a religious martyr, but her feast date remains unknown. Childechinde was mentioned in the Lignum Vitae of Wion and the Menologium Benedictinum of Bucelinus.

Childe-Pemberton, Harriet Louisa – (1852 – 1921)
British author and writer for juveniles
Harriet was born (April 1, 1852) the younger daughter of Charles Orlando Childe-Pemberton of Millichope Park, Salop, the High Sherriff of Shropshire (1859), and his wife Augusta Mary Shakespear. She remained unmarried. Her works for children included All My Doing, or Red Riding-Hood Over Again (1882), The Fairy Tales of Every Day (1882), Olive Smith; or, an Ugly Duckling (1883) and No Beauty (1884). Miss Childe-Pemberton was a member of the Christian Knowledge Society and many of her didactic works were published through this organization. These works included Prince, A Story of the American War and Other Narrative Poems (1883) and Birdie; A Tale of Child-Life (1888) and Fire and Water (1891). Harriet Childe-Pemberton died (Dec 13, 1921) aged sixty-nine. She was buried in the Church of St Peter at Kinlet in Shropshire.

Childress, Alice – (1917 – 1994)
Black American novelist, screenwriter and children’s writer
Alice Childress was born (Oct 12, 1917) in Charleston, South Carolina, and was raised in Harlem in New York by relatives where she attended school. Childress studied to be an actress at the American Negro Theater, or which she was later appointed as director. She later lectured at the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1966 – 1968) and edited Black Scenes: Collections of Scenes from Plays Written by Black People about Black Experience (1971).
Her published work included Conversations from a Domestic Life (1956) and Mojo and Strings (1971). Her work for children included the novels A Hero A’int Nothin’But a Sandwich (1973) for which she received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1975) and the Jane Addams Award for best young adult novel, When the Rattlesnake Sounds (1975), Let’s Hear It for the Queen (1976) and These Other People (1989). Her own play Florence(1950) which was produced in New York made Childress the first black woman to have a drama produced professionally. Alice Childress died (Aug 14, 1994) aged seventy-seven.

Chilonis I – (fl. c700 BC)
Greek queen
Chilonis I was the wife of King Theopompus who ruled Sparta (720 – 675 BC). When her husband was captured in battle by the Arcadians Queen Chilonis travelled there and was permitted to visit Theopompus in prison. She arranged for his escape dressed in her clothes whilst she remained behind in his stead. When Theopompus later captured a priestess of Diana at Pheneus the Arcadians agreed to exchange Queen Chilonis for the priestess and thus she was restored to her husband.

Chilonis II – (fl. 272 – 265 BC)
Greek queen
Chilonis II was the granddaughter of a Spartan king and the historian Dio referred to her as ‘a beautiful woman of royal lineage.’ She was married firstly to King Kleonymus, the son of Kleomenes II who was considerably her senior in age. Queen Chilonis formed a romantic attachment for the much younger Spartan prince Akrotatus, the son of King Areus I, and abandoned her husband for him. Kleonymus joined forces with Pyrrhus I, King of Epirus and besieged the Spartans (272 BC). The queen was said to have kept a rope around her neck throughout the siege vowing to commit suicide rather than fall into the hands of her former husband. The attackers were repelled and Chilonis was divorced by Kleonymus and then married Akrotatus who succeeded him as king of Sparta. By Akrotatus Chilonis II was the mother of King Leonidas II. Akrotatus died in 265 BC, being killed at Megalopolis by the tyrant Aristodemus, and Chilonis survived him as Queen Dowager.

Chilonis III – (fl. c249 – 241 BC)
Greek queen
Chilonis III was the daughter of King Leonidas III of Sparta and his wife Kratesikleia. She was married to King Kleombrotus to whom she bore two children. Her husband usurped the throne from her father, and when Leonidas was exiled to Tegea Chilonis left her husband in order to join her father. Later the enemies of Kleombrotus restored Leonidas to the throne and the usurper fled to the temple of Poseidon for sanctuary. With her two children present she pleaded successfully with Leonidas for the life of her husband. The historian Plutarch recorded in his lives of Agis and Kleomenes that ‘all beholders were moved to wonder and tears at the fidelity and devotion of the woman.’
The king ordered Kleombrotus into exile but begged Chilonis to remain in Sparta. The queen refused and with her children loyally accompanied her husband into exile. Plutarch observed ‘that if Kleombrotus had not been wholly corrupted by vain ambition, he would have considered that exile was a greater blessing for him than the kingdom, because it restored to him his wife.’

Chimay, Diane Gabrielle Victoire de Mancini, Princesse de – (1672 – 1716)
French courtier
Diane Gabrielle de Mancini was the daughter of Philippe Julien de Mancini, Duc de Nevers, and his wife Daine Gabrielle de Damas de Thianges and was the niece of the king’s famous mistress Athenais de Rochechouart de Montespan. She attended upon King Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon at Versailles. She was married (1699) to Charles Louis d’Henin-Lietard d’Alsace (1674 – 1740), second Prince de Chimay as his first wife and became the Princesse de Chimay. She remained childless. Her husband’s second wife (1722) was daughter to the famous memoirist Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon. The Princesse de Chimay died (Sept 12, 1716) aged forty-four.

Chimay, Madeleine Charlotte Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau, Princesse de – (1723 – 1794)
French courtier
Madeleine Charlotte Le Pelletier was born (May 7, 1723). She was married (April 25, 1754) to Thomas Alexandre Marc Henri d’Henin-Lietard, the fourth Prince de Chimay, ten years her junior. The prince was killed in battle at Minden (Aug 1, 1759), and the couple’s only child, Thomas Alexandre Marc Maurice, the fifth and last Prince de Chimay, who was born posthumously, died an infant in 1761. The princess never remarried, and during her widowhood she resided in Paris, at her estate of Issy. During the revolutionary Terror of 1794, the princess was arrested as a suspect aristocrat, and imprisoned at des Oiseaux, in the rue d’Sevres, Paris. The revolutionary Fouquier-Tinville caused her to be removed to the prison of the Conciergerie, from whence she was sent to be guillotined two days later (July 27). Madame de Chimay has the distinction of being the last of Robespierre’s many victims.

Chindok – (c590 – 654) 
Korean ruler
Chindok was queen regnant of Silla from 647 – 654, she was the daughter of Prince Kuk-pan, and niece to King Chin-p’yong. She succeeded her first cousin, Queen Sondok in 647, and was the last ruler of the Holy Bone Dynasty. Silla was constantly at war during her reign, but was saved from ruin by an alliance promulgated with China, that had been nurtured by her predecessor.

Chisholm, Dame Alice Isabel – (1856 – 1954)
Australian war worker and canteen operator
Alice Isabel Morphy was born (July 3, 1856) near Goulburn in New South Wales. Her married name was Chisholm, and she was the mother of a son who served in WWI, and was wounded at Gallipoli in Turkey (1915). Chisholm travelled to Cairo Hospital in Egypt to visit her son, and there established, despite opposition from the military hierarchy, a successful canteen for soldiers which provided meals, showers, and sleeping quarters for men returning from the front. Many others were quickly established, their services becoming extremely popular with the troops. The profits form this organization were then used to provide comforts for soldiers who were returning home. Alice Chisholm was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) in recognition of her work for the war effort. Dame Alice Chisholm died (May 31, 1954) aged ninety-seven, in Sydney.

Chisholm, Caroline – (1808 – 1877)
Australian philanthropist
Born Caroline Jones near Northampton, England, she was the daughter of a yeoman farmer. She married (1830) Archibald Chisholm, an officer of the East India Company. Chisholm set up a school for the daughters of European soldiers in Madras, and the family later settled at Windsor, near Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia (1838). In Australia she established a home for destitute immigrant girls, for whom she founded respectable employment, having cared for over eleven thousand such girls before she returned to England eight years later (1846). Her report, Female Immigration, Considered in a Brief Account of the Sydney Immigrant’s Home (1842), was the first recorded work by an Australian authoress. Chisholm returned to Australia in 1854, but her health quickly deteriorated (1857) and the family later returned to England for good, where the government granted her a pension (1867). Caroline Chisholm died (March 25, 1877) in London.

Chitenden, Agnes – (c1450 – 1511)
English Lollard heretic
Agnes Chitenden was a member of the parish of St George in Canterbury, Kent. Accused of Lollard beliefs and activities, Agnes was arrested and interrogated by the commission established by William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury. She confessed to sharing the beliefs of other Lollard activists, and, after being forced to watch the burning of several others of her sect, she was herself put to death.

Ch’iu Chin     see     Qiu Jin

Chivekiar   see   Sivekiar Fehmi

Chivers, Elizabeth – (1682 – 1712)
British murderess
Elizabeth Chivers was born into a poor family at Spitalfields in London. She worked as a domestic servant before being seduced and abandoned by a married attorney named Ward. After bearing Ward’s child (1712), Mrs Ward, discovering the liasion caused her husband to break off with Chivers, and made public her shameful condition. Unsure of what to do, and in desperation, Chivers drowned the infant in a pond, but was immediately apprehended and taken before a magistrate. Chivers was tried and condemned to be hanged (Aug 1, 1712), aged thirty.

Chiyo, Uno – (1897 – 1996)
Japanese writer, feminist and autobiographer
Uno Chiyo was born (Nov 28, 1897) in Iwakkuni in the south-western region of Japan, and was raised by her stepmother. She went to Tokyo as a young girl, and worked as a waitress in a tea-shop frequented by writers, which stimulated her own desire to become one. Famous for her classical beauty and unconventional behaviour, after a brief stint as a teacher’s assistant in Kawashima, she took several lovers and frequented the Bohemian community in the Magome Literati Village, outside Tokyo. She caused considerable outrage to contemporary Japanese mores when she adopted Western fashion and bobbed her hair.
A prolific author, Chiyo wrote Confessions of Love (1933), perhaps her most popular work, and the autobiographical, I Will Go on Living (1983), which was produced on the stage at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, and was dramatised for television. Her story, Tell Me Why Poppies Are Red dealt with her relationship with the romantic painter, Seiji Togo. Considered the grande dame of Japanese letters, Chiyo founded Japan’s first fashion magazine, Style (1987). Uno Chiyo died (June 10, 1996) aged ninety-eight.

Chiyo-ni, Fukuzoyo (Kaga no Chiyo) – (1703 – 1775)
Japanese painter and poet
A noted figure of the Edo period, she was born in Matto in Kanga province, the daughter ofa picture frame maker. She studied poetry from an early age and became adept at composing haiku verses, and studied under the poet Matsuo Basho. Admired as one of the greatest of all female haiku poets, she was best remembered for her haikus which celebrated the morning-glory flower. Chiyo-ni died (Oct 2, 1775).

Chlodeberga – (c565 – 584)
Merovingian princess
Chlodeberga was the daughter of King Guntram of Burgundy and his second wife Austrechilde. She was the great-granddaughter of King Clovis I (488 AD – 511) and his saintly wife Clotilde of Burgundy. She never married and she and her sister Clothilda both became nuns. Chlodeberga had died by the summer of 584. She was mentioned in the Concilia Galliae as ‘bonae memoriae.’’

Chlodechildis     see    Clotilda

Chodowiecka, Suzette – (1763 – 1819)
Polish painter
Suzette Chodowiecka was the daughter of artist Daniel Chodowiecki. She married a man whose surname was Henry a student of her father’s, later appointed as the librarian and superviser of the royal antiquities at the Prussian court. Taugh the art of painting by her father, Chodowiecka was appointed portraitist to the Hohenzollern royal house, and was elected a member of the Berlin Academy (1789). She continued to hold exhibitions till the year before her death. Her portrait of St Elizabeth of Hungary (1207 – 1231) is preserved at the Stadtmuseum in Danzig.

Choiseul, Louise Honorine de Crozat, Duchesse de – (1735 – 1801)
French courtier, salonniere, and letter writer
Louise Honorine de Crozat was granddaughter of the rich financier and war contractor, Antoine de Crozat, Marquis du Chatel. By 1745 she was the richest heiress in France and a ward of the crown. Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, arranged for her marriage (1749) to Etienne Francois de Choiseul (1719 – 1785), then Comte de Stainville, as a reward for his assistance in removing a rival from the court. The comte, who was later created duc de Choiseul by Louis XV, was appointed as ambassador to the Vatican court in Rome and to the Imperial court in Vienna, and the duchesse accompanied him on his postings, attracting much admiration for her beauty, virtue, social prescence, and loyalty to her husband, for whom she rejected the amorous attentions of the king himself. Despite this, she bore with fortitude his infatuation with his coarse sister, the Duchesse de Gramont, and the British antiquarian Horace Walpole, admired her continued forbearance and patience.
A woman of cultured tastes, Madame de Choiseul attended the salons of Mme Geoffrin and Mme Du Deffand in the Rue St Dominique in Paris. She discussed religion with Voltaire, Suzanne Necker and Prince Frederick William of Prussia. Together with Walpole, the duchesse denounced Potter’s exculpation on behalf of Catherine the Great of Russia (1763). When her husband fell from favour at Versailles (1770), the duchesse accompanied him to their estates at Chanteloup. With the accession of Louis XVI (1774) the couple returned to Versailles and the duchesse obtained a position in the household of Queen Marie Antoinette. With the death of her husband (1785) she retired from the court. She remained quietly resident in Paris during the upheaval of the Revolution, but survived its horrors. Her correspondence survives. The Duchesse de Choiseul died (Dec 3, 1801) aged sixty-six, in Paris. 

Choiseul-Beaupre, Charlotte Rosalie de Romanet, Comtesse de – (1733 – 1753)
French courtier and royal mistress
Charlotte Rosalie de Romanet was cousin to Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV. Madame de Pompadour and her kinswoman, Madame d’Estrades arranged her marriage with the Comte de Choiseul, and their wedding festivities were held at the royal Chateau de Belleville (1752). Admitted to the inner circle of the king’s friends at Versailles, the Prince de Croy in his memoirs states that she aimed to become the king’s mistress, and she employed her cousin, Mme d’Estrades as her intermediary. She demanded the exile of Madame de Pompadour as the price of her capitulation, and the smitten king unwisely wrote her a letter in which he promised to do this. Charlotte’s powerful kinsman, the Duc de Choiseul stepped in to reveal the plot to Madame de Pompadour. She then revealed to the king that the letter that he had written to Madame de Choiseul-Beaupre had been shown by her to other members of the court. Enraged, Louis XV ordered her husband to remove Charlotte, then pregnant (by her husband) from the Palace of Fonatinebleau. Six months later the comtesse died in childbirth, aged only nineteen.

Choiseul-Beaupre, Marie Francoise Lallemant de Betz, Comtesse de – (c1731 – 1793)
French society figure and courtier
Marie Francoise Lallemant became the wife (1749) of Comte Marie Gabriel Florent de Choiseul-Beaupre, a relative of the Duc de Choiseul, the Prime Minister of Louis XV. With the fall of Choiseul (1770) the comte and comtesse visited him ad his wife and sister Madame de Gramont at the estate of Chanteloup, and was lavishly entertained there. Madame de Choiseul-Beaupre corresponded with the famous salonniere Madame Du Deffand and was known as ‘la petite Choiseul’ or ‘la petite sainte.’ She was mentioned in the letters of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole.

Choiseul-Gouffier, Sophie de Tisenhaus, Comtesse de – (1752 – 1817)
Russian-French memoirist
Sophie de Tisenhaus served at the court of the Empress Catherine II in St Petersburg, and became the wife of the French peer the Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier. The comtesse served at the Russian court as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Elisabeth, the wife of Alexander I (1801 – 1825). Her personal reminiscences and letters were edited and published posthumously in Paris as Memoires historiques sur l’empereur Alexandre et la cour de Russie publies par Mme la comtesse de Choiseul-Gouffier (1829). This work was later translated into English by Mary Berenice Patterson as Historical Memoirs of Emperor Alexander I and the Court of Russia (1900).

Cholmondeley, Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, Marchioness of – (1764 – 1838)
British Hanoverian heiress and peeress (1815 – 1827)
Lady Georgiana Bertie was born (Aug 7, 1764) the second daughter of Peregrine Bertie, third Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven and his second wife Mary Panton, the daughter of Thomas Panton. She was married (1791) to George James Cholmondeley (1749 – 1827) who was later created the first Marquess of Cholmondeley (1815). Lady Cholmondeley was coheiress of the barony of Willoughby de Eresby and of the office of Great Chamberlain of England. She survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley (1827 – 1838). Lady Cholmondeley died (June 23, 1838) aged seventy-three, at her house in Carlton House Terrace, London. She was interred at Malpas in Chester with her husband. Her children were,

1) George Horatio Cholmondeley (1792 – 1870), Viscount Malpas. He succeeded his father as the second Marquess of Cholmondeley (1827 – 1870) and was married twice, firstly to Caroline
Campbell (1795 – 1815) who died as Viscountess Malpas, and secondly to Lady Susan Somerset (1804 – 1886), but died childless.

2) Lady Charlotte Georgiana Cholmondeley (1796 – 1828). She was married to Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Seymour (1790 – 1821) and left issue.

3) Lord William Henry Cholmondeley (1800 – 1884). He succeeded his brother as the third Marquess of Cholmondeley (1870 – 1884) and left issue.

Cholmondeley, Mary (1) – (c1729 – 1811)
British society figure and author
Mary Cholmondeley was a prominent figure at various literary salons in London during the reign of George III (1760 – 1820), and was mentioned in the correspondence of Samuel Johnson, Fanny Burney, Horace Walpole, and others. She died aged about eighty.

Cholmondeley, Mary (2) – (1859 – 1926)
British novelist
Mary Cholmondeley was born at Hodnet in Shropshire, the daughter of a clergyman. She was educated privately and remained unmarried. She was the great-niece of Bishop Heber When her father retired (1896), Mary removed with him to London. Cholmondeley wrote several novels such as the detective story, The Danvers Jewels (1887), whilst her best remembered novel, Red Pottage (1899), made her a popular celebrity. Apart from other novels, she also wrote a volume of memoirs, Under One Roof (1918). Mary Cholmondeley died (July 25, 1926) in London.

Cholmondeley, Mary Halford, Lady – (1563 – 1626) 
English litigant
Mary Halford was born at Nether-Peover, Cheshire, the daughter of Christopher Halford, of Halford, Cheshire, and his wife Elizabeth, the widow of Richard Shakerley, and daughter to Sir Randle Manwaring, of Over-Peover. She was married at seventeen (1580) to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley, of Cholmondeley, Cheshire (1513 – 1596), fifty years her senior, to whom she bore a son, Robert Cholmondeley, first earl of Leinster (1584 – 1659), and five daughters. At her father’s death (1581), Mary entered into lawsuits to succeed to his property and estates. She was challenged by her uncle, George Halford, of Newborough, who claimed the estates as the next male heir. Lady Cholmondeley persisted with her suit, and the legal wrangling continued over a period of forty years. Finally the two took an equal share, Lady Mary receiving Halford Manor. James I referred to her as, ‘the bold lady of Cheshire.’ Lady Cholmondeley died (Aug 15, 1626) at Halford Manor.

Cholmondeley, Sybil Sassoon, Marchioness of – (1894 – 1989)
Anglo-Jewish peeress (1923 – 1968) and WRNS superintendent
Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon was born (Jan 30, 1894) the only daughter of Sir Edward Albert Sassoon (1856 – 1912), second baronet, and his wife Aline Caroline de Rothschild, the daughter of Baron Gustave Salomon de Rothschild (1829 – 1911). A famous pre-WW II beauty, she was presented at the court of George V and Queen Mary (1912) prior to her marriage with George Horatio Cholmondeley (1883 – 1968), Earl of Rocksavage, who succeeded in 1923 as the fifth Marquess of Cholmondeley, and to whom she bore three children including George Hugh Cholmondeley (born 1919), Earl of Rocksavage, who succeeded his father as the sixth Marquess of Cholmondeley (1968), and who was married and left issue. During WW I (1914 – 1919) Lady Cholmondeley served as the assistant principal of the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service), a position she reprised during WW II when she served as superintendent of the WRNS (1939 – 1945). Her valuable volunteer contribution towards the war effort was acknowledged when Lady Cholmondeley was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by King George VI (1946). Lady Sybil survived her husband as the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley (1968 – 1989) and died aged ninety-five.

Chomley, Mary Elizabeth – (1872 – 1960)
Australian public activist
Mary Chomley was born in Melbourne, the daughter of Arthur Wolf Chomley. She was a supporter of female suffrage and higher educational opportunities for women, and joined the Victorian League (1909), serving as secretary to that organization for a five year period (1909 – 1914). During WW I Chomley was employed at Princess Christian’s Hospital for Officers in London (1915 – 1916), and was also affiliated with the Red Cross, serving in the Prisoners of War branch of the Australian organization (1916 – 1919). For these services she was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by King George V (1918). After the war chomley served with the British delegation to arrange a report on female migration (1919 – 1920) and later served as president of the women’s section of the British League (1928 – 1933). She later returned to Australia, and remained unmarried. Mary Chomley died (July, 1960) aged seventy-eight, in Melbourne.

Ch’on-myong – (fl. c600 – c620)
Korean princess
Princess Ch’on-myong was the second daughter of Chin-pylong, King of Silla, and his first wife, Ma-ya. She was the younger sister to Queen Sondok who succeeded their father as king (632). She was married to her cousin, Yong-ch’un, the son of King Chinji (ruled 576 – 579) and her son Mu-yel became the first member of the Bone Dynasty to rule Silla (654 – 661).

Chopin, Kate O’Flaherty – (1850 – 1904) 
American poet and novelist
Katherine O’Flaherty was born in St Louis, Missouri, the daughter of an Irish immigrant father and a French-Creole mother. Well educated at the St Louis Academy by nuns of the Order of the Sacred Heart, Kate was launched into southern society, and married (1870) Oscar Chopin, a Creole cotton trader from Louisiana, to whom she bore six children. Widowed in 1882, and needing to provide financial security for herself and her brood of young children, Kate began to compse sketches of her former plantation life, which appeared in ‘Old Natachitoches’ periodicals, such as Bayou Folk (1894) and  A Night in Acadie (1897).
These works received immediate acclaim, as did her first novel, At Fault (1890). However, her later novelssuch as, The Awakening (1899), which dealt bluntly and truthfully with a novel concerning sexual passion on a realistic fashion, which was widely condemned. She wrote nearly a hundred short stories, poems, essays, plays, and reviews. Kate Chopin died (Aug 22, 1904) aged fifty-four, in St Louis.

Chorley, Jean Travers – (1904 – 1992) 
American vocalist
Jean Travers was born in Manhattan, New York as Jeanette Baumohl. She married firstly Morris Treistman and secondly (1941) Kenneth Chorley. From 1934 – 1941 Jean performed professionally as mezzo-soprano with the stage name of Jean Travers, and also gave concerts in Europe and Canada. Chorley was actively involved with the American Revolution historical organization in Trenton. Jean Chorley died in Skillman, New Jersey.

Choumnaina, Irene – (1291 – 1355)
Greek empress, scholar and nun
Irene was the daughter of Nikephoros Choumnos (died 1327), the prime minister of Emperor Johannes II Palaeologus, and became the wife (1303) of Johannes Palaelogus (1286 – 1307), the son of Emperor Johannes II. She received an excellent education and was a famous and reknowned scholar. Her husband was created Emperor of Thessalonika so Irene bore the imperial title and styles. Their marriage remained childless and the dowager empress never remarried which would have dishonoured her as an imperial widow.
Taking guidance from her spiritual adviser, Bishop Theoleptos (died 1322) of Philadelphia in Asia Minor, she chose to embrace the religious life, and founded the Abbey of Christ Philanthropos (c1312) in Constantinople, situated near the Cathedral of St Sophia. Irene was appointed as first abbess of this house and took the religious name of Eulogia, her mother joining her there as a nun after the death of her father.
Irene was admired by the historian Nikephoros Gregoras as a ‘true basilissa’ because of her strong stance against what they both viewed as the religious heresy promoted by Gregory Palamas (1296 – 1359), the leader of the hesychasts. She supported the monk Gregory Akindynos and gave him shelter when he was hunted by the authorities. She died in 1355 shortly after making a bequest to a convent in Macedonia.

Chretien, Hedwige – (1859 – 1944)
French composer and music teacher
Hedwige studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Ernest Giraud and later became a professor there. She composed in entirety about one hundred and fifty different works including a ballet, comic operas, chamber and orchestral works, some fifty songs and another fifty piano pieces. Some of her songs were translated into English. Her comic operas were Le menuet de l’imperatrice (1889) and La cinquantaine (1891). Her orchestral works included Arabesque (1921), Berceuse, Grand Caprice, Polonaise and Wind Quintet which was reprinted in the USA.

Chrisman, Agnes – (c1860 – c1900)
American biographer
Agnes was the daughter of Captain Thomas Chrisman of Copiah County in Mississippi. Her father was killed in the civil war whilst she was a child and Agnes then resided at the plantation of her maternal grandparents. She later accompanied her mother to the town of Beauregard, where Mrs Chrisman worked as a schoolteacher to support her two daughters. Agnes remained unmarried and died at Beauregard. She wrote the life of her sister entitled A Living Sacrifice, Holy, Acceptable unto God: Anna Clara Chrisman (1891).

Christ, Lina – (1881 – 1920)
German novelist and writer
Christ was born the illegitimate daughter of a common cook and was raised by her grandparents in Bavaria. Her own experiences as a child provided the background for her first novel Erinnerungen einer Uberflussigen (Memoirs of a Superfluous Woman) (1912). Her novel Rumpelhanni (1916) was later made into a film. Lina Christ committed suicide.

Christaller, Helene – (1872 – 1953)
German novelist and writer
Helene became the wife of a Protestant clergyman. When her husband lost his living she turned to writing in order to support them. Her works revolved around her own life in a small village in the Black Forest region of Bavaria, and proved extremely popular.

Christen, Ada – (1839 – 1901)
Austrian poet
Christen was born into a financially burdened middle class family and tried her hand at a stage career in order to provide for herself. She ended this career upon marrying (1864) but with the deaths of both husband and child she resorted to writing in order to support herself. Her collection of verse entitled Lieder einer Velorenen (Songs of a Lost Woman) (1868) riveted popular attention due to heir natural and erotic style. Her later collection was entitled Aus der Tiefe (From the Abyss) (1878).

Christensen, Inger – (1935 – 2009)
Danish poet and novelist
Christensen was born (Jan 16, 1935) at Vejle in Jutland, the daughter of a tailor. She attended school locally prior to further study in Copenhagen, and she trained as a school teacher. Her husband was the noted poet and critic Poul Borum (1934 – 1995) from whom she was later divorced (1976). She worked as an arts instructor in Holbaek before turning to professional writing. Especially known for her experimentalist style her early collections of published verse included Lys (Light) (1962), det (It) (1969) and Alfabet (1981) which was considered her greatest work.
Christensen wrote radio plays and works for children such as Den store ukendte rejse (The Big Unknown Journey) (1982) and several of her works were translated into various languages. She published several collections of essays such as Del af labyrinten (Part of the Maze) (1982) and Hemmelighedstilstanden (The State of Secrecy (2000). Christensen was appointed a member of the Royal Danish Academy (1978) and won various restigious literary awards such as the Nordic Prize of the Swedish Academy (1994) and The America Award (2001). Inger Christensen died (Jan 2, 2009) aged seventy-three.

Christian, HRH Princess     see     Helena Augusta Victoria

Christian of Galloway    see   Forz, Christian de

Christian, Gerda – (1913 – 1997) 
German Reich secretary
Born Gerda Daranowski, in Berlin, she was employed firstly as an office clerk at the Elizabeth Arden Company in that city. From 1937 Gerda, popularly known as ‘Dara,’ became a secreatary attached to Adolf Hitler’s personal adjuntancy office. From 1939 she became more closely attached to Hitler, and she eventually married General Eckhard Christian of the Luftwaffe, Hitler’s liasion officer. Gerda acted as Hitler’s private secretary during WW II, and attended his secret wedding to Eva Braun in 1945 in his Berlin bunker.  Gerda fled from the Reich Chancellery and managed to reach West Germany. There she was arrested and firstly imprisoned in an internment camp near Frankfurt by the Allied forces. Subsequently released, Gerda was later wanted as a witness at the Nuremburg tribunal. However, she went into hiding and never testified. Gerda Christian died aged eighty-three, in Dusseldorf, Cleve.

Christian, Sophie – (1854 – 1857)
Anglo-Indian captive
Sophie Christian was the daughter of J.George Christian, the British Commissioner of Khairabad, based at the station of Sitapur. She was rescued by a soldier responding to a desperate plea from her mother during the Indian Mutiny uprising (June 22, 1857) at Sitapur, though her parents and infant sibling were all murdered. Sophie passed to the care of two other fugitive British women, Madeline Jackson and Annie Orr, who joined the party at Mithowlie. The party was later sent under guard to Lucknow, but the rigours of captivity caused the child’s health to decline.

Sophie Christian died (Nov 22, 1857) at the Kaiserbagh Palace, Lucknow. Palace servants buried the child in the royal gardens at night.

Christiane Eberhardine of Bayreuth – (1674 – 1727)
Queen consort of Poland (1697 – 1704) and (1709 – 1733)
Princess Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was born (Dec 29, 1674) at Bayreuth, the daughter of Christian Ernst of Brandenburg, Margrave of Bayreuth, a member of the Hohenzollern dynasty, and his wife Sophia Louisa, the daughter of Eberhard III, Duke of Wurttemburg. She was married at Bayreuth (1693) to Prince Friedrich August the Strong of Saxony (1670 – 1733) the younger brother of Elector Johann George IV of Saxony (1691 – 1694).
With the death of her brother-in-law without issue she became electress consort of Saxony when her husband succeeded as Elector Friedrich August I (1694 – 1727). When the elector was elected to the throne of Poland as King Augustus II and she was proclaimed as queen consort (1697 – 1704). However she remained a staunch Protestant and did not attend her husband’s coronation in Poland, and remained resident at Castle Pretzsch on the Elbe River outside Dresden. Augustus was deposed (1704) in Poland but was later reinstated as king (1709). Christiane Eberhardine regained her rank of reigning queen consort which she retained until her death.
Though both beautiful, well educated, musical and cultured, her husband’s constant succession of low-born and grasping mistresses caused the queen to retire to her own interests and the couple appeared together only at ceremonial occasions. She spent much time in the company of her mother-in-law the Dowager Electress Amalia Sophia, a princess of Denmark, who though she retained affectionate terms with her son refused to attend the court because of the liscentious lifestyle there.
When Augustus had converted to Roman Catholicism the couple separated on a more permanent basis, and Queen Christiane Eberhardine retired with her own court to the Castle of Pretzsch where she died (Sept 5, 1727) aged fifty-two. Johann Sebastian Bach composed the Cantata No 198 commonly known as the Trauer Ode (Lass, Furstin, lass noch einen strahl) specifically for her funeral service. Her only child was Friedrich Augustus II (1696 – 1763), Elector of Saxony (1733 – 1763) and King of Poland as Augustus III (1733 – 1763). He was married to the Archduchess Maria Josepha the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I (1705 – 1711) and left many children.

Christians, Mady – (1900 – 1951)
American actress

Christich, Artemisia – (c1849 – after 1906)
Serbian courtier
Artemisia Chritich was the mistress of King Milan I Obrenovic. She was the daughter of a timber merchant and was raised in Constantinople. Fluent in Greek, Turkish, and French, she later returned to Belgrade, where she became the wife of Milan’s private secretary, Milan Christich. Not particularly prepossessing of figure or face, and older than the king, she nonetheless possessed lustrous black hair and beautiful eyes and completely captivated the king, with the full approval of her husband.
The liasion was not popular with the government, who believed that Christich and her husband were in the pay of the pro-Russian party. Artemesia hoped that she could manipulate the king into divorcing Queen Nathalie, and marry her, she by now having borne him an illegitimate son, Obren. However, her influence succeeded only in destroying Milan politically and he was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Alexander, and was exiled to Paris (1889). Christich’s liasion with Milan now ended and she later threatened to publish his letters to her, but to no avail. She returned for a time to reside in Constantinople, but later returned to Belgrade (1906) in order encourage support for the claims of her son Obren, as a pretender to the Serbian throne, but could raise no support. She retired into obscurity.

Christie, Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa – (1890 – 1976)
British novelist
Agatha Miller was born at Torquay, Devon, the daughter of Frederick Alvah Miller, and his wife Clara Boehmer, and was educated at home by her mother, before going to Paris to study singing and the piano. She worked as a VAD nurse in Torquay during World War I, and was married firstly to Col. Archibald Christie (1890 – 1962), to whom she bore a daughter (1915), this marriage ending in divorce (1928). She married secondly (1930) the noted archaeologist, Sir Maxwell Mallowan (1904 – 1978).

Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Syles (1920) introduced the famous, eccentric Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who would go on to appear in over two dozen successive novels before returing to Styles in Curtain, Poirot’s Last Case (1975), where he finally dies. Her other principal detective figure, the elderly, but shrewd and observant spinster, Jane Marple, from the village of St Mary Mead, made her appearance in Murder at the Vicarage (1930). Perhaps her best remembered novel from this period was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), believed by many to be her masterpiece, which was followed by over seventy novels, which were serialized in popular magazines in Britain and the USA, and included Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), with And Then There Were None (Ten Little Niggers) (1941), all of which were later adapted for film with famous all star casts.
Of Christie’s famous plays, The Mousetrap (1952) ran for twenty-one successive years at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, before moving to another theatre, whilst Witness for the Prosecution (1953) was adapted for the successful film (1958) which starred Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. She wrote romantic novels such as Absent in the Spring (1944) under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and her Autobiography (1977) was published posthumously. She was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1971), in recognition of her services to literature. Dame Agatha Christie died (Jan 12, 1976) at Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

Christie, Audrey – (1900 – 1953)
British soprano
Grace Audrey Louisa Mildmay was born (Dec 19, 1900) in Sussex, the daughter of Sir Aubrey Neville St John Mildmay, tenth baronet, a clergyman. She received vocal training in Vancouver, Canada, during her youth, and later in London, and in Vienna, Austria under Theodore Lierhammer. Audrey toured the USA and Canada, performing in The Beggar’s Opera (1927 – 1928). She and performed the roles of Zerlina and Nedda with the Carl Rosa Opera Company prior to her marriage with John Christie (1931).
Together with her husband, she established, and was the driving force behind the establishment of the Glyndebourne Opera (1934). Particularly noted for her performances of the works of Mozart, she resided in America during WW II, where she appeared in public concerts to provide financial support. With the end of the war she returned to England where she acted as hostess at Glyndebourne annually, except when ill-health prevented her. Audrey Christie died (May 31, 1953) aged fifty-two, after a long illness.

Christie, Rosalind   see   Hicks, Rosalind Margaret Clarissa

Christina Aetheling – (c1048 – c1100)
Anglo-Saxon princess
Princess Christina was the younger daughter of Prince Edward the Exile, the only surviving son of Edmund II (1016). Her mother was Agatha, the daughter of Luidolf of Brunswick, Margrave of Friesland, and she was sister to the young king, Edgar II Aetheling, and of St Margaret, queen of Scotland. Christina first came to England with her family as a child in 1057, her father dying soon afterwards. Christina resided at Winchester with her mother under the protection of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor.
With the Norman Conquest she then fled to Scotland with her family (1067) and several nobles who had supported her brother’s claim to the English throne and were there supported at the court of King Malcolm III, who married her sister. Princess Christina obtained several estates in England and was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as holding the property of bradwell in Oxfordshire, at Ulverly and Icenton in Warwickshire, which were recorded as a gift from William the Conqueror. With the deaths of Margaret and Malcolm (1093) and the retirement of her mother to a convent (1094), Christina, who had remained unmarried, travelled to England and joined the community of Benedictine nuns at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire.
The chronicler William of Malmesbury connects her with Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire but this remains unlikely. The historian Dugdale claimed Christina as abbess in his list of the abbesses of Romsey, but this information remains unauthenticated. Her niece Edith (later Matilda) was raised there by her, and forced to wear the habit against her will. Christina opposed the marriage of her niece with Henry I, but had died prior to Nov, 1100, when an official conclave declared the couple free to marry, and at which Christina did not appear to give evidence. According to the Menologium Benedictinum of bucelinus Christina was venerated as a saint (Aug 11) whilst other sources give her feast date as Nov 26.

Christina ferch Gronw     see    Cristin

Christina Fernandez (Cristina) – (c1041 – c1073)
Spanish aristocrat
Christina Fernandez was the daughter of Fernando Gundemariz and his wife, the Infanta Ximena Alfonsez, daughter of Alfonso V, King of Leon. She was married to Diego Rodriguez, count of Oviedo (c1025 – c1075). She was the mother of Bernardo Diaz, count of the Asturias (c1063 – c1119), and of Ximena Diaz (Jimena, Chimene), wife to the famous hero Rodrigo de Vivar, better known as ‘El Cid.’

Christina of Bolsena – (c285 – c302 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Christina of Bolsena was the daughter of Urbanus, governor of Tyro, near Bolsena. Refusing ro recant her Christian beliefs, she was condemned by order of her own father. Her feast was observed annually (July 24). Because of her youth, she was considered the patron saint of children, and was adopted as the patron of the Congregation of St Chretienne for education, founded at Metz by Bishop Jauffret (1807). Christina of Bolsena is the patron of Torcello in Venice, of the Venetian States, Bolsena, and Paternio, and of children at Orleans in France.

Christina of Dendermonde – (fl. c750)
Flemish saint
Christina was the patron saint of Dendermonde in Brabant, where her relics were long kept in the collegiate church. According to her legend she was the only child of Migranimus, a heathen Saxon king and his Scottish wife Marona. Her mother had been childless for many years prior to Christina’s birth and when the princess grew Migranimus built a pagan temple to the goddess Venus and placed his daughter there as chief priestess, with seven maidens to care for her.
One day Christina gave alms to a Christian pilgrim, which meeting resulted in her eventual conversion and baptism as a Christian. Christina then departed to Dickelven on the Scheldt River, where she lived as a solitary recluse until she was later martyred and buried there. In the ninth century her remains were transferred to Dendermond. The church venerated her as a saint (July 25) her feast being recorded in the Anacleta Juris Pontificii.

Christina of Denmark – (1521 – 1590)
Duchess of Lorraine
Princess Christina of Denmark was born the younger surviving daughter of Christian II, King of Denmark and his wife Isabella of Austria, the daughter of Philip of Austria, King of Castile and his wife Juana La Loca of Aragon, and was the niece of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1519 – 1555). Through her father Christina was a claimant to the thrones of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. She fled to Malines in Flanders with her parents as an infant (1523) and with her mother’s early death Christina was raised in the household of her aunt Margaret, Duchess of Savoy in Brussels. She was married by proxy (1533) to Francesco II Sforza (1494 – 1535), Duke of Milan in a bid by the emperor to exert further control in Italy, despite the reservations expressed by his sister the Queen of Hungary on account of Christina’s youth. Duke Francesco’s death the following year left her a childless widow of fourteen.
The Bavarians later contemplated a marriage alliance with the young duchess in the hope of gaining possession of the duchy of Milan through her (1537) but the emprer forestalled them but telling them of the interest of Henry VIII with his niece as a possible wife. When Henry VIII of England was looking for a fourth wife after the death of Queen Jane Seymour (1537) Duchess Christina was suggested as a bride to further a projected Imperial alliance. The court painter Hans Holbein was sent to Brussels to paint the duchess (1538), then dressed in mourning, and this portrait has survived. Though her marriage was at the disposal of the emperor Duchess Christina was herself averse to the projected marriage and was supposed to have told the English ambassador that she would only marry Henry if she ‘had two heads.’ Officially the negotiations faltered because Christina was great-niece to Henry VIII’s first wife Catharine of Aragon.
Christina later remarried (1541) in Brussels to Francois (1517 – 1545), Duc de Bar who succeeded his father as Duke Francois I of Lorraine (1544) and Christina became duchess consort (1544 – 1545). With her second husband’s early death Christina ruled Lorraine as regent (1545 – 1552) for her infant son Duke Charles III (1543 – 1608). In 1552 the French seized Retz, Toul and Verdun and Christina’s son was sent to be educated at the French court. She later visited the court of England where she unsuccessfully pressed the suit of her kinsman Emanuel Philibert of savoy for the hand of the Princess Elizabeth Tudor (1557) and was received coldy by Queen Mary due to the interest and admiration shown her by the queen’s husband Philip of Spain.
The duchess paid several visits to the court of France, being present at the funeral of Henry II (1559) and the coronation of Francois II and Mary Stuart (1560) at Rheims Cathedral. An ardent Catholic Christina supported the Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day (1572) but was horrified by the carnage. Of her two daughters Renata of Lorraine (Renee) (1544 – 1602) became the wife of Wilhelm III (1548 – 1626) Duke of Bavaria and left issue, whilst Dorothea of Lorraine (1545 – 1620) became the wife of Eric II (1528 – 1584), Duke of Brunswick-Kalenburg and then of Marcus van Rye (died 1598). Duchess Christina died (Dec 10, 1590) aged sixty-nine, at Tortona in Italy, and was interred within the convent of the Cordeliers at Nancy.

Christina of England     see     Christina Aetheling

Christina of France – (1606 – 1663)
Duchess consort and regent of Savoy
Christine Marie de Bourbon, Princesse of France was born (Feb 10, 1606) at the Louvre Palace in Paris, the second daughter and third child of Henry IV, King of France (1589 – 1610) and his second wife Marie de Medici, the daughter of Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Archduchess Johanna of Austria. She was the sister of King Louis XIII (1610 – 1643) and of Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I, King of England. Christina was married in Paris (1619) to Prince Vittorio Amadeo of Savoy (1587 – 1637), the son and heir of Duke Carlo Emanuele I. She bore her husband seven children. With the death of Carlo Emanuele her husband succeeded as the reigning Duke Vittorio Amadeo I of Savoy and Christina became the duchess consort (1630 – 1637).
At the time of his accession to the ducal throne Vittorio amadeo had inherited little more than a title, but due to his alliance with France and marriage with Christina he managed to regain most of his former territories. With the death of Vittorio Amadeo (1637) the Dowager Duchess Christina ruled the dukedom of Savoy as regent for her elder son Duke Francesco Giacinto. With his death the following year at the age of six (1638) Christina’s second son Carlo Emanuele II became Duke of Savoy with her as regent. An able and capable administrator Christina remained as regent until her son came of age to rule (1648) and was popularly known as ‘Madama Reale.’ In spite of her French origins the duchess resisted the attempts of Cardinal Richelieu to gain control of the government of Savoy, but her quarrels with her brother-in-law Tommaso Francesco, Prince of Savoy-Carignano led to civil war, in which the prince obtained the help of Spain and Christina that of France. Eventually the duchess succeeded in ending the feuds and saving the dynasty.
Christina survived her husband for over twenty-five years (1637 – 1663) as the Dowager Duchess of Savoy. She travelled in great state to the French court of her nephew Louis XIV during the 1650’s in a bid to arrange a marriage between her daughter Violante Margarita and the young king. Louis treated his aunt with great honour and respect, and organized lavish entertainments for her but the hoped for marriage alliance never eventuated. Duchess Christina died (Dec 27, 1663) aged fifty-seven, at Turin in Piedmont. Her grandson Vittorio Amadeo II of Savoy became King of Sardinia and was married to Anne Marie d’Orleans the granddaughter of Christina’s brother Louis XIII. Her seven children were,

1) Prince Luigi Amadeo of Savoy (1622 – 1628). He died young.

2) Princess Ludovica Maria of Savoy (1629 – 1692). She became the wife of her uncle Prince Maurizio of Savoy (1593 – 1657) but died without issue.

3) Francesco Giacinto of Savoy (1632 – 1638). He became Duke of Savoy (1637 – 1638) but died a child.

4) Prince Carlo Emanuele of Savoy (1634 – 1675). He succeeded his elder brother as Duke Carlo Emanuele II (1638 – 1675) and was married twice and left issue.

5) Princess Violante Margarita of Savoy (1635 – 1663). She became the first wife of Ranuccio II Farnese (1630 – 1694), Duke of Parma but left no issue.

6) Princess Adelaide Henrietta of Savoy (1636 – 1676). She became the wife of Ferdinand Maria (1636 – 1679), Elector of Bavaria and left issue.

7) Princess Caterina Beatrice of Savoy (1636 – 1637). She died in infancy.

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp – (1573 – 1625)
Queen consort of Sweden (1604 – 1611)
Princess Christina was born (April 13, 1573) the daughter of Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and his wife Christina of Hesse, the daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. She became the second wife (1592) of Duke Charles of Sodermanland (1550 – 1611), who became regent (1599) and then king of Sweden as Charles IX (1604). Christina accompanied Charles on his various journeys to Estonia and Finland. Though possessed of a dominating personality, she did not achieve influence over her husband, though their marriage appears to have been a contented one. They were crowned together at Uppsala Cathedral (1607). Queen Christina ruled as regent during her husband’s absence abroad (1605), and worked to prevent her younger son from being enthroned as tsar of Russia, and ruled Sodermanland for him as regent (1611 – 1622). Though not appointed as regent for her son Gustavus Adolphus, she maintained considerable influence over the young king and successfully thwarted his desire to marry his mistress Ebba Brahe and make her queen consort. Queen Christina died (Dec 8, 1625) aged fifty-two. She left four children,

1) Princess Christina of Sweden (1593 – 1594). She died young.

2) Gustavus II Adolphus (1594 – 1632). He succeeded his father as King of Sweden (1611 – 1632) and was the father of the famous Queen Christina.

3) Princess Maria Elisabeth of Sweden (1596 – 1618). She was married to her first cousin Johann, Duke of Ostergotland (1589 – 1618), the youngest son of Johann III, King of Sweden.

4) Prince Karl Philip of Sweden (1601 – 1622). He became Duke of Sodermanland and died childless.

Christina of Lorraine – (1565 – 1636)
Grand Duchess and regent of Tuscany
Princess Christina was born (Aug 6, 1565) the daughter of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine and his wife Claude de Valois, the daughter of Henry II King of France (1547 – 1559). With her mother’s death (1576) she was raised and educated in the household of her maternal grandmother Catherine de Medici, who was devotedly attached to this granddaughter. Christina was married (1588) to Ferdinando I de Medici (1547 – 1609), the Grand Duke of Tuscany, bringing with her as her dowry all her grandmother’s property in Naples including the Medici villa in the Via Larga, and her claim to the dukedom of Urbino. This marriage symbolized the Grand Duke’s policy of rapprochement with France in order to counteract Spanish influence in Italy.
Grand Duchess Christina was the patron of such artists and painters as Giovanni di Bologna and Jacope Cansi. Though possessed of little ability Christina was a thoroughly good woman, and she completely reformed the dissolute Tuscan court. With her husband’s death Christina became the Dowager Duchess of Tuscany (1609 – 1621). Together with her husband’s counsellor Belisario Vinta she managed to guide her son Cosimo II in establishing a political balance between France and Spain which he accomplished in 1615 by arranging the marriages of Louis XIII of France with Anne of Austria and Philip IV of Spain with Elisabeth de Bourbon. With Cosimo’s death (1621) Christina became the Grand Dowager Duchess (1621 – 1636) and ruled Tuscany as regent 1621 – 1627) jointly with her daughter-in-law Maria Magdalena of Austria, the Dowager Duchess for Grand Duke Ferdinando II, with the assistance of four ministers until he assumed control of the government.
As regent Christina’s subordination to priestly influences produced corruption and misgovernment in every department of public affairs, and Tuscany fell into a period of poverty and misrule, the poverty due mainly to the extravagance of the Grand Duchess herself which left the treasury much depleted. Christina supervised the arrangements for Ferdinando’s marriage with Vittoria Feltria della Rovere (1634) and retained her influence over affairs of state unti she died (Sept 19, 1636) aged seventy-one. Her nine children were,

1) Cosimo II de Medici (1590 – 1621). He succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Tuscany and left issue.

2) Eleanora de Medici, Princess of Tuscany (1591 – 1617). She remained unmarried.

3) Catherine de Medici, Princess of Tuscany (1593 – 1629). She became the wife of Ferdinando I di Gonzaga (1587 – 1626), Duke of mantua but died childless.

4) Francesco de Medici, Prince of Tuscany (1594 – 1614). He died unmarried.

5) Carlo de Medici, Prince of Tuscany (1596 – 1666). He entered the church and was appointed as a Cardinal.

6) Filippo de Medici, Prince of Tuscany (1598 – 1602). He died young.

7) Lorenzo de Medici, Prince of Tuscany (1599 – 1648). He died unmarried.

8) Maddalena de Medici, Princess of Tuscany (1600 – 1633). She died unmarried.

9) Claudia de Medici, Princess of Tuscany (1604 – 1648). She was married firstly to Federigo Ubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, and secondly to Leopold V of Austria (1612 – 1662),
Count of Tyrol and left issue.

Christina of Markyate – (c1096 – c1163)
Anglo-Norman religious recluse and mystic
Christina was born in Huntingdonshire, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon noble named Auti. She successfully resisted the amorous attentions of Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, encouraged by her own aunt, Alveva, and refused to consider a marriage he wished to arrange for her with one of his cronies. Christina had taken achildhood vow of chastity and later resided at Markyate, near St Albans, under the protection of Roger the Hermit, being appointed as prioress after the Benedictine convent was established there (1145).
Her reputation as a mystic and spiritual adviser to Geoffrey of Gorham, abbot of St Albans, ensured that her fame travelled outside England to the Continent. Archbishop Thurstan had wanted Christina to rule his foundation of St Clement in York, and also suggested her as superior for the French convents of Marcigny and Fontevrault, but she resisted all of these appointments.
Christina participated in the struggles of the English church against the regime of King Stephen (1135 – 1154), and later sent an embroidered gift to Pope Adrian IV as a gift (1155). The St Albans’ Psalter was compiled for her especial use, and her posthumous Life was composed by an anonymous monk from St Albans, who had known and admired her.

Christina of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – (1639 – 1693)
German duchess
Princess Christina was born (Aug 8, 1639) the second daughter and third child of Adolphus Friedrich I, Duke of Meckleburg-Schwerin ans his second wife Duchess Maria Katharina of Brunswick-Dannenberg, the daughter of Heinrich Julius (1571 – 1636), Duke of Brunswick-Dannenberg. She never married and joined the religious community at the Abbey of Gandersheim, near Goslar. Christina was then appointed as abbess (1681) a position she retained until her death. Christina died (June 30, 1693) aged fifty-three.

Christina of Naples (Cristina) – (1779 – 1849)
Queen consort of Sardinia (1821 – 1831)
Princess Maria Cristina Amelia Teresa of Naples and the Two Sicilies was born (Jan 17, 1779) at Caserta, the fifth daughter and seventh child of Ferdinando I, King of Naples (1759 – 1819) and his first wife the Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria and Lorraine, the daughter of Emperor Franz I and Empress Maria Theresa. She was niece to the Holy Roman emperors Joseph II (1765 – 1790) and Leopold II (1790 – 1792) and to Queen Marie Antoinette of France. She was a twin with her sister Princess Maria Cristina Amelia (1779 – 1783) who died in infancy and sister to King Francesco I of Naples (1825 – 1830).
Princess Christina became the wife (1807) of Carlo Felice of Savoy (1765 – 1831), Prince of Sardinia the brother of King Vittorio Emanuele I. The marriage took place by proxy in Palermo (March 7, 1807) after which the bride travelled to Turin in Piedmont where they were married in person a month later (April 6). The marriage of Christina and Carlo Felice remained childless. Christina became the queen consort when Carlo Felice succeeded his brother as king of Sardinia (1821). She survived him for nearly two decades as Queen Dowager of Sardinia (1831 – 1849). Queen Christina died (March 11, 1849) aged sixty, at Savona.

Christina of Saxony (1) – (c845 – 919)
Princess and nun
Christina was the third daughter of Luidolf I (died 866), Duke of Saxony and his wife Oda of Franconia, the daughter of Count Billung of Franconia, and was the sister of Duke Otto I of Saxony (836 – 912). She never married and became a nun at the Abbey of Gandersheim, near Goslar, which had been founded by her mother. There she resided under the rule of her two elder sisters Hadamunda and Gerberga. Christina succeeded Gerberga as abbess and held that office for over three decades (886 – 919). Abbess Christina died (April 1, 919) and was interred within the abbey church of Gandersheim.

Christina of Saxony (2) – (1505 – 1549)
German princess
Princess Christina was born (Dec 25, 1505) in Dresden, the daughter of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony and his wife Barbara, the daughter of Kasimir IV, King of Poland. She was married (1523) in Kassel to Philip I (1504 – 1567), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, surnamed the Magnanimous, to whom she bore ten children. Despite the birth of so many children, her husband, when he became the champion of the Protestant cause in Germany, wished to divorce Christina in order to marry his mistress, Margaretha van der Saale. As this could not be arranged Philip, on the advice of Martin Luther, married his mistress bigamously. When the secret leaked out it caused considerable consternation at the Imperial court, and Philip was threatened with being put to death, as bigamy was a crime that had the death penalty in the empire. Landgravine Christina was said to have been amenable to this unusual arrangement, which caused great scandal at the time, as both ladies were pregnant with Philip’s children. The joint portrait of Christina and her husband by Jobst von Hoff has survived. Landgravine Christina died (April 15, 1549) aged forty-three, at Kassel. She left ten children,

1) Princess Agnes of Hesse-Kassel (1527 – 1555). She married firstly to Maurice (1521 – 1553), Elector of Saxony, and secondly to Johann Friedrich II of Saxe-Gotha (1529 – 1595), Elector of
Saxony.

2) Princess Anna of Hesse-Kassel (1529 – 1591). She was married to Wolfgang (1526 – 1589), Count Palatine of Zweibrucken and left issue.

3) William IV (1532 – 1592). He succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1567 – 1592) and left issue.

4) Prince Philip Ludwig of Hesse-Kassel (1533 – 1535). He died young.

5) Princess Barbara of Hesse-Kassel (1536 – 1597). She married firstly to George I (1498 – 1558), Duke of Wurttemburg, and secondly to Count Daniel von Waldeck (1530 – 1577).

6) Ludwig IV (1537 – 1604). He became Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg but died childless.

7) Princess Elisabeth of Hesse-Kassel (1539 – 1582). She became the first wife of Ludwig VI, Elector Palatine of Simmern (1539 – 1583) and left issue.

8) Philip II (1541 – 1583). He became Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels, but died childless.

9) Princess Christina of Hesse-Kassel (1543 – 1604). She was married to Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and left issue.

10) George I the Pious (1547 – 1596). He became Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and left issue.

Christina of Silesia – (c1145 – 1208)
Polish duchess consort
Christina came from an unknown background. She became the second wife (1163) of Boleslav I (1127 – 1201), Duke of Silesia and Breslau. The Chronicon Polono-Silesiacum called her a sister of Gertrude of Sulzbach, the wife of the German king Conrad III (1093 – 1152), but named her Adelaide (Adilheidis). However this identification remains impossible because the name Christina was unknown in the Sulzbach family. The duchess’s relationship with her stepson Jaroslav was uneasy and the prince later displaced his father on the Silesian throne because of his hatred of his stepmother, as recorded by the Chronicon Polono-Silesiacum. Boleslav was later restored to his throne and Jaroslav was created Duke of Oppeln and Bishop of Neisse. Christina survived Boleslav as the Dowager Duchess of Silesia (1201 – 1208). Duchess Christina died (Feb 21, 1208) her death being recorded by the Epytaphia ducum slezie. She was interred with Boleslav in the Abbey of Pforte am der Saale. She left six children,

1) Prince Boleslav of Silesia (c1165 – before 1181). He was buried in the Abbey of Pforte with his parents.

2) Princess Adelaide of Silesia (Zwyslawa) (c1166 – after 1213). She became the wife of Dypold II (died 1190), Margrave of Moravia.

3) Prince Konrad of Silesia (c1167 – before 1190). He was buried in the Abbey of Pforte with his parents and elder brother.

4) Prince Johann of Silesia (c1169 – before 1174). He died young and was buried at Pforte.

5) Heinrich I (1170 – 1238). He became Duke of lower Silesia and Krakow (1231 – 1238) and was married to St Hedwig, the daughter of Berthold III, Duke of Meran and left issue.

6) Prince Vladyslav of Silesia (c1172 – before 1199). He died unmarried.

Christina of Stommeln – (1243 – 1312)
German mystic
Christina of Stommeln was born into a poor family, and had visions and ecstasies form an early age. She claimed to have undergone a mystical form of marriage with Jesus Christ at the age of ten years. For almost three decades, beginning at the age of fifteen, she sufferred from all sorts of physical manifestations of religious piety, including the stigmata, which ended at the age of forty-six (1289). She was venerated as a saint.

Christina of St Trond – (1150 – 1224)
Flemish religious mystic
Christina was born in Liege and refused all offers of marriage, becoming desirous of living as a lay religious, and yook vows of chastity. She was noted for her extreme ascetic regimen, and one fell into a deep trance, and was actually pronounced dead, before reviving and levitating high in the air inside church (1182). Popularly referred too as ‘Christina the Astonishing’ her Vitae was written by Thomas de Cantimpre (1232).

Christina of Sweden (Kristina Alexandra) – (1626 – 1689)
Queen regnant of Sweden (1632 – 1654)
Christina was the only child of Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, and his wife Maria Eleanora of Brandenburg. The philosopher Rene Descartes was her tutor. Until she came of age (Dec, 1644) the kingdom was ably governed by her late father’s chancellor, Count Axel Oxenstierna. When she managed to take control of affairs, she showed some flair for foreign policy, and succeeded in bringing to an end the ruinously expensive Thirty Years War (1648). The establishment of a new mining industry and the publication of the first Swedish newspaper were amongst the new ideas brought to fruition during her reign. She was crowned in Oct, 1650.

After ruling for over twenty years, and having remained unmarried and without an heir of her own, she organized for her cousin Charles Gustavus to become her heir, and abdicated in 1654, and granted a generous pension, in order to convert to Catholicism, an idea which shocked the rest of Europe. Christina left Sweden to travel in style to Italy, and was openly received into the Catholic Church at Innsbruck in Austria and then proceeded onwards, entering Rome on horseback and being received at the Vatican by Pope Alexander VII.  The former queen then settled in Rome, where she held her own salon, and established a library. She attracted such famous literary figures as Salamatius and Hugo Grotius, and her former mentor Descartes had died at her court in 1650.
Christina made several unsuccessful attempts to regain the Swedish throne, as well as make a bid for the thrones of Naples and Poland, but none of these schemes ever came to fruition. The queen remained resident in Rome as a papal pensioner, establishing for herself the reputation of a serious patron of the arts and sciences, her generosity helping the sculptor Bernini and the composers Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli. Her liasion with Cardinal Azzolino at the Palazzo Riario was well known and commented upon in their time. Queen Christina died peacefully in Rome (April 19, 1689) aged sixty-two, with Azzolino at her side. She was interred in the Cathedral of St Peter there, where her impressive monument survives.

Christina Catherine of Salm – (1575 – 1627)
Duchess consort of Lorraine (1624 – 1627)
Princess Christina was born (May, 1575) the only daughter and heiress of Paul, Count of Salm in Germany (died 1584) and his French wife Marie le Venneur de Tillieres, the daughter of Tanneguy le Venneur, Comte de Tillieres and his wife Madeleine de Pompadour. Her only brother Charles died young (1588) and Christina became the heiress of half of the county of Salm, as well as the lordships of Ruppes, Domremy and La Pucelle (1600). She was married (1597) to Francois de Lorraine, Comte de Vaudement (1572 – 1632), to whom she bore six children. The count succeeded as the reigning duke of Lorraine as Duke Francois II (1624) and Christina became duchess consort. Duchess Christina died (Dec 31, 1627) aged fifty-two. Her children were,

1) Prince Henry of Lorraine (1602 – 1611). Has styled Marquis de Hattonchatel but died young.

2) Charles IV (1604 – 1675). He succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine, and married three times and left issue.

3) Princess Henriette of Lorraine (1605 – 1660). She was married four times, her first husband being Louis de Guise, Prince of Pfalzburg (1588 – 1631) and her second Carlo Guasco (died
1646), Marquis di Gallerco.

4) Prince Nicholas Francois of Lorraine (1609 – 1670). He was appointed as Bishop of Toul (1625) and then a cardinal (1627). He renounced his religious vows in order to become Duke of
Lorraine in place of his brother (1634).

5) Princess Margeurite of Lorraine (1615 – 1672). She became the second wife of Gaston de Bourbon, Duc d’Orleans (1608 – 1660), the younger brother of Louis XIII (1610 – 1643) and left
issue.

6) Princess Christina of Lorraine (1621 – 1622). She died in infancy.

Christina Frederica of Wurttemburg – (1644 – 1674)
German princess consort (1665 – 1674)
Princess Christina Frederica was born (Feb 28, 1644) at Stuttgart, the third daughter of Eberhard III, Duke of Wurttemburg, and his first wife Anna Dorothea, the daughter of Johann Kasimir, Rheingrave of Salm-Kyburg. She became the first wife (May 28, 1665) of Albert Ernst I (1642 – 1683), the reigning Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen. Two months afterwards, in a double dynastic alliance, her husband’s sister, Princess Maria Dorothea Sophia of Oettingen, became her own stepmother, when she became the second wife of Duke Eberhard III of Wurttemburg.
Princess Christina Frederica died (Oct 30, 1674) aged thirty, at Stuttgart. Her children included,

• Albert Ernst II (1669 – 1731). He succeeded his father as ruling Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen (1683 – 1731) and left descendants.

• Princess Christine Ludovica of Oettingen (1671 – 1747). She became the wife of Ludwig Rudolf (1671 – 1735), Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, and left issue.

• Princess Henrietta Dorothea of Oettingen (1672 – 1728). She became the wife of George August Samuel (1665 – 1721), Prince of Nassau-Idstein.

Christina Ludovica of Oettingen – (1671 – 1747)
German duchess and dynastic matriarch
Princess Christina Ludovica of Oettingen was born (March 20, 1671) the daughter of Prince Albert Ernst I of Oettingen and his wife Princess Christina Frederica of Wurttemburg, the daughter of Eberhard III Ludwig, Duke of Wurttemburg. She became the wife (1690) of Ludwig Rudolf (1671 – 1735), Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and became the duchess consort of Brunswick-Wolfebuttel. She survived her husband as the Dowager Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1735 – 1747) and was the maternal grandmother of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa, of the Russian tsar Peter II (1715 – 1730) and of Elisabeth Christina, the Queen consort of Friedrich II the Great of Prussia. Some of her letters have survived. Duchess Christina Ludovica died (Nov 12, 1747) aged seventy-six. Her children were,

1) Elisabeth Christina of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1691 – 1750). She became the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI (1711 – 1740) and left issue.

2) Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1694 – 1715). She became the wife of the Russian tsarevitch Alexis Petrovich (1690 – 1718) and left issue.

3) Antoinette Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1696 – 1762). She became the wife iof Ferdinand Albert II (1680 – 1735), Duke of Brunswick-Bevern and left issue.

Christina Margaret of Mecklenburg-Gustrow – (1615 – 1666)
German princess and duchess
HSH (Her Serene Highness) Princess Christina Margaret was born (March 31, 1615), the second daughter of Johann Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gustrow (1610 – 1636) and his second wife Margaret Elisabeth of Mecklenburg, the daughter of Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch. She was married firstly (1640) to Duke Franz Albert of Saxe-Lauenburg (1589 – 1642) a younger son of Franz II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1588 – 1619) and his second wife Duchess Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, the daughter of Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel (1589 – 1613). The duke’s death in battle soon afterwards (1642) left Duchess Christina Margaret a childless widow. She was then remarried (1650) to Christian Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1623 – 1692).
When he succeeded to the throne as Duke Christian Ludwig I Christina Margaret became duchess consort of of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1658 – 1692) but this marriage also remained childless. The duchess later left her husband because of his behaviour towards her after he installed the French Duchesse Isabella Angelique de Chatillon at Gustrow as his mistress. The duchess retired to the court of her brother-in-law Duke Augustus in Wolfenbuttel. Christian Ludwig then divorced Christina Margaret (1663), converted to Roman Catholcism and married Madame de Chatillon who was installed as duchess consort in her place. Duchess Christina Margaret died (Aug 16, 1666) aged fifty-one. She was interred within the ducal vault at Wolfenbuttel.

Christina Sophia Albertina of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – (1735 – 1794)
German princess
HSH (Here Serene Highness) Princess Christina was born (Dec 6, 1735) at Castle Mirow, near Strelitz, the elder surviving daughter of Karl Ludwig (1708 – 1752), Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his wife Elisabeth Albertina of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Her younger sister Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744 – 1818) became the wife of George III, King of Great Britain (1760 – 1820) and Christina was the maternal aunt to the Hanoverian kings George IV (1820 – 1830) and William IV (1830 – 1837).
With her father’s death (1752) Chrisitna and her siblings were raised and educated under the supervision of their mother at Mirow Castle. Christina and her sister were both invested as canonesses of the Protestant Abbey of Herford (1760). A tall and attractive woman of twenty-five by 1761 when in that year George III of England was searching for a wife, Christina’s prior claim as the elder sister was politely put aside due to her age. The king successfully negotiated for the hand of her youngr sister instead though this marriage ended any hopes for her own. Princess Christina had formed an attachment with the Scottish peer John Ker (1740 – 1804), third Duke of Roxburgh, who had assisted with her sister’s marriage negotiations and who had engaged her affections.
A marriage between the princess and the duke may have been informally sanction by Duke Adolf Friedrich, her brother, but when King George had decided upon marrying their sister Charlotte it was deemed necessary to forbid the proposed marriage of Christina and Roxburgh. Propriety did not permit the sister of the king of England’s wife to be the wife of one of his subjects. It was recorded that ‘both parties evinced the strength of their attachment by devoting their afterlives to celibacy.’ Until the marriage of her brother Duke Karl II (1768) Princess Christina remained the first lady of the court of Strelitz in Mecklenburg, with her own retinue of ladies-in-waiting (Dames de Cour). She remained at her brother’s court all of her life and was affectionately remembered as a kind aunt to all her numerous family. Princess Christina died (Aug 31, 1794) aged fifty-eight, and was interred within the Church of Mirow. Christina appears as a character in the historical novel The Third George (1969) by Jean Plaidy.

Christina Wilhelmina of Hesse – (1653 – 1722)
German duchess and ruler
Princess Christina Wilhelmina of Hesse was born (June 30, 1653), the eldest daughter of Wilhelmm Christopher, Landgrave of Hesse-Birgenheim-Homburg and his wife Princess Sophia Eleanora of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Princess Christina Wilhelmina was married (1671) to Friedrich I (1638 – 1688), Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow and became duchess consort (1671 – 1688). The duchess bore her husband five children of whom one was stillborn.
With the early death of Duke Friedrich (April 28, 1688), the Dowager Duchess was appointed to rule the principality of Homburg as regent for her eldest son Duke Friedrich Wilhelm. She administered the government for three years until he came of age (1691) and then retired from public life as dowager duchess. From 1713 until her death the care and management of her deranged daughter the Dowager Queen of Prussia was her responsibility as was the organization and administration of her household. Duchess Christina Wilhelmina died (May 16, 1722) aged sixty-eight. Her four surviving children were,

• Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm) (1675 – 1713). He succeeded Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow and Schwerin (1688 – 1713), and was married to Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (1679 – 1749) but died childless.

• Charles Leopold (Karl) (1678 – 1739). He became Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1713 – 1739). Through his second marriage with the Russian grand duchess Catherine Ivanovna, was the grandfather to the unfortunate Tsar Ivan VI (1740 – 1764).

• Christian Louis II (1683 – 1746). He succeeded as Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1739 – 1746), and was married and left descendants.

• Princess Sophia Louisa (1685 – 1735). She became the third wife to Frederick I, King of Prussia (1657 – 1713). She died mad and childless.

Christine de Pisan     see      Pisan, Christine de

Christman, Elisabeth – (1881 – 1975)
German-American labour organizer and reformer
Elisabeth Christman was born (Sept 2, 1881) in Germany, and immigrated to America with her parents as a child, being raised in Chicago, Illinois. She began her working career in a glove factory. Christman led striking workers and established the IGUWA (Internation Glove Workers Union of America. She served as secretary and tresurer of this organization, and was later vice-president (1931 – 1937). Closely involved with the National Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL), she served as administrator of the League’s Training School for Women Organizers (1914 – 1926), and edited the League’s monthly newsletter, Life and Labor Bulletin. When the WTUL was later disbanded (1950), Christman became the legislative representative for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. She retired in 1952. Elisabeth Christman died (April 26, 1975) aged ninety-three, in Delphi, Indiana.

Christodora – (fl. 609)
Egyptian matron
Christodora was a native of the city of Athribis in Lower Egypt. The chronicler John of Nikiu recorded that after the murder of her brother Christodora gave her support to the Emperor Phokas (1602 – 610) and the consul Bonosus against the forces of the future emperor Heraklius I.

Chrodilda – (566 – after 590)
Merovingian princess
Chrodilda was the daughter of Charibert I, King of Paris (561 – 567) and his wive Marcoveifa. With her father’s death her uncle Guntram of Bugundy forced the infant princess to enter the convent o Sainte-Croix at Poitiers where she became a nun. As she grew older she became discontented with convent life, and after eliciting no help from appeals to her male relatives, Chrodilda led a revolt against the Abbess Leubovera (590), forcibly taking over the convents estates and threatening the abbess with physical violence.
Chrodilda failed and was excommunicated and exiled from Poitiers. She and a band of brigands then attempted to take the convent by force, but eventually her uncle King Guntram sent troops to Poitiers to calm the situation. Chrodilda was placed on trial and then claimed the protection of her nun’s habit. She was pardoned by King Childebert II and granted a private estate near Poitiers. These details were recorded by Gregory of Tours in his Historia Francorum, but no details survive concerning her later life.

Chrona of Burgundy – (c472 AD – c520)
Merovingian princess
Princess Chrona was the elder daughter of King Chilperic II of Burgundy, and his Gallo-Roman wife Agrippina. Gregory of Tours named her ’Chroma’ in his Historia Francorum. Her younger sister Clotilda became the wife of Clovis I. With the murder of their parents and two brothers (491 AD), the two sisters fled Burgundy and evaded capture at the hands of their uncle King Gundobad, who had orchestrated the murders. The chronicler Fredegar called her Sedeleuba regina and stated that she founded the church in Geneva where the body of St Victor was interred. This implies that Chrona had married an unidentified king and the name Sedeleuba may have been adopted at the time of her marriage. As a widow she became a nun in Geneva.

Chrothrudis/Chrotrude    see   Rotrude

Chrysanthiana – (d. c303 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Chrysanthiana was killed in Rome with many other victims, during the persecutions instigated by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Daia. Her feast day was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum (Feb 17).

Chrysostomides, Julian – (1928 – 2008)
Greek scholar, Byzantine historian, and literary figure
Iouliane Chrysostomides was born (April 21, 1928) in Constantinople, Turkey, the daughter of a businessman. Becoming fluent in French and Turkish, she studied at the Greek Lyceum for Gils and briefly at the Sorbonne in Paris. She studied the classics at the College of St Anne in England (1951), her tutor being Dame Iris Murdoch. Chrysostomides was the model for the character Rain Carter in Murdoch’s novel, The Sandcastle (1957). Chrysostomides then studied under Joan Hussey at the Royal Holloway College, and became a lecturer in history there (1965). She rose to become the senior lecturer (1983) and reader (1992), and established her own publishing company, Porphyrogenitus. She was appointed professor emeritus at her retirement (1993), having firmly established a centre for Byzantine scholarship at Holloway, specializing in the salvaging and translating of Byzantine texts and records. She remained unmarried. Julian Chrysostomides died (Oct 18, 2008) aged eighty.

Chryssoveryi, Crystallia – (1862 – 1904)
Greek poet
Crystallia was born in Athens and trained as a teacher at the Arsakion School. She was married to Leonidas Daskalapoulos and was one of the most notable contributors to the feminist publication Efimeris ton Kyrion (the Ladies’ Newspaper). Her verse was published in Efimerithos ton Kyrion (Almanac of the Ladies’ Newspaper) (1892) and (1893).

Chubb, Ann – (1938 – 2006)
British fashion and cosmetics journalist
Ann Chubb became a leader in the field of royal watching, and was the author of several popular works such as royal magazines, Fashion and Beauty Secrets: Discover for Yourself What Really makes the Royals Look So Good (1992) and, Royal Fashion and Beauty secrets: An Intimate Look at How Princess Diana Achieves Her Radiance, Style, and Grace – Revealed for Women Everywhere (1992).

Chubb, Corinne Roosevelt Alsop – (1912 – 1997)
American socialite and philanthropist
Corinne Roosevelt Alsop became the second wife (1932) of Percy Chubb, a former chairman of the Chubb insurance group to whom she bore five sons. Mrs Chubb was the patron of the Victoria Foundation, a social service education program established in Newark, New Jersey. It provided scholarships and offered educational opportunities for the poorer classes. Under her patronage the Victoria Foundation provided several million dollars towards the building of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (1992). She was later elected to the board of this organization (1955) and served as a trustee until her death. Mrs Chubb died (Dec 9, 1997) aged eighty-five, in Chester, New Jersey.

Chudleigh, Elizabeth – (1720 – 1788)
British adventuress
Elizabeth Chudleigh was the daughter of Col. Thomas Chudleigh, lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and his wife Harriet, the daughter of Sir George Chudleigh, of Ashton. Appointed maid-of-honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, the mother of George III (1743), her beauty made much of an impact at the court of George II, and she was originally courted by the powerful Duke of Hamilton, as well as being paid marked attentions by George II.

Chudleigh was involved in several romantic liasions before secretly marrying (1744) Augustus John Hervey, a naval lieutenant, and younger brother of the earl of Bristol. Concealing the birth and death of their infant son (1747), she obtained a seperation from Hervey. When she was being courted by the eligible widower, Evelyn Pierrepoint, second Duke of Kingston, whose mistress she became (1760), Elizabeth denied the existence of her first marriage, and bigamously remarried the duke (1769), for whom she caused Kingston House, in London, to be built. With the duke’s death (1773), Elizabeth inherited his estates, but she was accused of bigamy by his his nephew. She was tried and found guilty (1776), and her marriage with Hervey, who had now succeeded his brother to the earldom of Bristol, was delcared valid. She herself was exempted from punishment because of her rank. Elizabeth visited the court of St Petersburg, in Russia, travelling as the countess of Bristol (1777), and then purchased two houses in Paris. She later resided in Rome, where she attracted much scandal, and was even said to have received an offer of marriage from Prince Radziwill. Elizabeth Chudleigh was the real-life model for the literary characters produced by William Makepeace Thackeray, Beatrix Esmond in The History of Henry Esmond (1852) and Baroness Bernstein in The Virginians (1857 – 1859). Elizabeth Chudleigh died suddenly in Paris (Aug 26, 1788).

Chudleigh, Mary Lee, Lady – (1656 – 1710)
English author and feminist
Mary Lee was the daughter of Richard Lee, of Winsdale, in Devonshire. She was married (1685) to Sir George Chudleigh of Ashton, Devonshire, to whom she bore three children, including Colonel Thomas Chudleigh (1690 – 1726), father of the notorious adventuress Elizabeth Chudleigh. Her marriage was unhappy, and in 1701 she published the essay, The Ladies Defence, which created quite a stir, and was followed by Poems on Several Occasions (1703) which was dedicated to Queen Anne. In 1710 she wrote Essays upon Several Subjects, which was dedicated to Sophia, electress of Hanover, who sent her an autographed letter of thanks. Posthumous editions of her Poems were printed in 1713 and 1722, and her Ladies Defence was reprinted in 1755 in Poems of Eminent Ladies.

Chuenring, Agnes von – (c1235 – 1261)
Bohemian courtier
Agnes von Chuenring was born into a wealthy family, and became the mistress to Ottokar II (1230 – 1278), King of Bohemia. Her relationship with the king began in her youth (1253) and lasted until her death. Agnes left several children, including a son Nicholas (1255 – 1318). He was recognized by his father and legitimated (1260) being created duke of Troppau (1269 – 1318) as Nicholas I, and was the founder of a dynasty. Her daughters married into the Bohemian nobility, such as the Strakonicz, von Wartenberg, and the von Krawacz families. She and Ottokar may have been the parents of Elisabeth, the wife of Vikard, Lord of Polna and Burgrave of Brunn. Agnes died young (Oct 25, 1261), aged only in her mid-twenties.

Chughtai, Ismat – (1915 – 1991)
Indian dramatist, novelist and social reformer
Ismat Chughtai was born at Badayun in Uttar Pradesh, the daughter of a civil servant. She was raised in Jodhpur and attended Aligarh University. She became intent on a feminist writing career in her native Urdu. Her first story entitled ‘Lihaaf’ (The Quilt) (1941) which dealt with the subject of lesbianism caused the author to be arrested and for obscenity, though she was released eventually without charge. Chughtai was later a member of the Urdu Progressive Writer’s Movement in Lucknow and appeared in the film Junoon (1978). Her novels included Terhi Lakeer (The Crooked Line) (1944) and she published her autobiography Kaghazi hai pairahan. Ismat Chughtai died in Bombay.

Chunsina – (fl. c527 – c530)
Merovingian concubine
Her parentage and antecedents remain unknown. She became the mistress of Clotaire I, King of Neustria (511 – 561) during the lifetime of his first wife Queen Guntheuca who only bore the king a daughter. Some sources call her a queen but it seems more likely that Chunsina was only a concubine and was perhaps a palace servant. Chunsina bore the king a son Chramnus who was recognized by his father, but who predeceased him without issue.

Chuo Wen-chun   see   Zhuo Wenjun

Church, Ruth Ellen – (1910 – 1991)
American food critic and author
Mrs Church was for for almost forty years (1936 – 1974) years a food critic for The Chicago Tribune, and wrote using the pseudonym of ‘Mary Meade.’ she became one for the first American to write a regular column devoted to wine (1962) and wrote Entertaining With Wine (1970). Her other published works included The Indispensable Guide for the Modern Cook (1955) and Mary Meade’s Sausage Cookbook (1967). Ruth Church was founded murdered in her home (Aug 20, 1991) aged eighty-one, in Chicago, having been strangled by a burglar.

Churchard, Margaret    see   Denny, Margaret Bertha Alice

Churchill, Arabella (1) – (1648 – 1730)
British courtier and royal mistress
Arabella Churchill born at Ashe in Devonshire (Feb 23, 1648), the daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, of Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, and of Nunthern, Dorsetshire, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Drake, of Ashe, Devonhire. She was elder sister of the famous general, John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough (1650 – 1722). As a young girl she was appointed to the household (1665) of Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, the first wife of Duke James (1633 – 1701), the brother of Charles II, whom he succeeded as King James II (1685 – 1688), and she appeared at various court masques and entertainments. Tall and skeletal in figure, despite her lack of beauty, though she was known to possess particularly attractive legs, and is said to have used this beauty to attract the duke’s attentions during a hunt.
Arabella became James’s mistress, and bore him two sons, who were recognized and ennobled, James Fitzjames (1670 – 1734), first Duke of Berwick and Henry Fitzjames (1673 – 1702), Duke of Albemarle (1688), and two daughters, Lady Henrietta Fitzjames (1667 – 1730), who was married (1684) to Sir Henry Waldegrave of Chewton, and became ancestress of the earls Waldegrave, and Lady Ignatia Fitzjames (1684 – 1704), who took religious vows and became a’Blue nun’ at Pontoise in France (1690). Arabella was later granted a pension by the crown out of Irish revenues, and was married to Colonel Charles Godfrey (d. 1714), who was appointed through the graces of the Duke of Marlborough, as clerk controller of the green cloth and master of the jewel office during the reigns of William III and Queen Anne. To him she bore two daughters, Charlotte Godfrey, who served Queen Caroline, wife of George II, and became the wife of Viscount Falmouth, and Elizabeth Godfrey, married to Edmund Dunch, second Baron Burnell (1657 – 1719). Her portrait was painted by Sir Peter Lely, and remains in the collection of Earl Spencer at Althorp. Arabella Churchill died (May 4, 1730) aged eighty-two, and was interred in Westminster Abbey in London.

Churchill, Arabella (2) – (1949 – 2007)
British philanthropist and festival organiser
Arabella Churchill was born (Oct 30, 1949) in London, the daughter of Randolph Churchill and his second wife June Osborne. She was the paternal granddaughter of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, and was married twice and left two children. Arabella attended school at Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, and was then employed by the organization Lepra, which raised fundes for sufferrers of leprosy. After this she worked briefly with London Weekend Television. As a prominent society figure, her name was romantically linked with that of the Swedish king, Carl XVI Gustaf (1970). Churchill played an important role in the establishment iof the annual Glastonbury Festival (1971), and later estasblished both the Children’s Area and the Theatre Area within it (1979). Having lived as a squatter in London during her youth, during her later years Arabella embraced Buddhism, and when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she refused all treatment. Arabella Churchill died (Dec 20, 2007) aged fifty-eight, at Glastonbury, Somerset.

Churchill, Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, Lady Spencer – (1885 – 1977)
British society figure and political wife
Clementine Hozier was born in London (April 1, 1885) the daughter of Sir Henry Hozier, and his wife, Lady Blanche Ogilvy, daughter of David, tenth Earl of Airlie. She was educated at the Berkhamsted Girls’ School and later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Clementine was married (1908) to the future prime minister, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874 – 1965).
During the two world wars, Lady Churchill, or ‘Clemmie’ as she was known to her husband, was involved with work on behalf of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) and the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), but otherwise preferred to concentrate her efforts on her family life. Despite this, she appeared publicly with her husband as required, and gave public speeches in support of Winston during electioneering. During WW II Lady Churchill was appointed (1941) as chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund, popularly known as ‘Mrs Churhill’s Fund,’ and she was later invited to visit Russia by the Russian Red Cross (1945). She was created a life peeress as Baroness Spencer-Churchill of Chartwell (1966) by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of her husband’s and her own lifelong service to Great Britain. Lady Churchill died in London (Dec 12, 1977), aged ninety-one. The actress Sarah Churchill (1914 – 1982) was her daughter.

Churchill, Deborah – (1677 – 1708)
British thief
Deborah Churchill was born into a decent family and provided with a good education. However, after her early marriage with an army ensign, John Churchill, she took to the sretts of London and worked as a prostitute and pickpocket. Together with her lover, the confidence trickster and blackmailer Richard Hunt, Churchill spent several years milking various wealthy merchants, and though arrested on several occasions, her escape was engineered through bribery. When she tried to pick the pocket of a merchant, she was angrily detected by him, and he was killed by Hunt and their other associates. She was arrested, tried and condemned (Feb, 1708). She was granted a reprive when she temporarily convinced the authorities that she might be pregnant, but when official relized the ruse, she was taken to Tyburn and hanged (Dec 17, 1708), aged thirty-one.

Churchill, Jennie Jerome, Lady – (1854 – 1921)
American-Anglo public figure
Jeanette Jerome was born in Brooklyn, New York (Jan 9, 1854), the second daughter of Leonard Jerome, a prominent and wealthy financier, and his wife Clara Hall. She was raised in New York and abroad in Paris. She accompanied her family to England (1870), where she met Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill (1849 – 1895), a younger son of George, eighth Duke of Marlborough, at the Cowes Regatta and they were quickly married (1873) at the British Embassy in Paris, despite the opposition of both sets of parents.
Beautiful and popular with men, Lady Jennie became a prominent figure in fashionable society, led by the Prince of Wales. With the scandal of her husband’s involvement in the Aylesford affair (1876), she went with her husband to reside in Dublin for several years (1876 – 1879). With their return and successful re-entry in London society, Lady Jennie devoted herself to the furtherance of her husband’s political career. Both husband and wife were members of the intimate circle of friends that surrounded the Prince of Wales. Indeed, gossip connected Jennie’s name with that or the prince, but the truth will never be knonw. Nevertheless, their friendship lasted until his death (1910), and Queen Alexandra always remained fond of her. The couple had two sons, the elder of whom was the famous British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965).
With the early death of her husband (1895), Jennie became editor of The Anglo-Saxon Review (1899 – 1900), serving as a correspondent on the hospital ship Maine in South Africa during the Boer War. Lady Jennie remarried twice, both times to younger men, George Conrwallis-West (1900 – 1913), from whom she was divorced, and (1918) to Montagu Porch. Lady Jennie wrote several plays such as His Borrowed Pennies (1909), The Bill (1912), and Small Talks on Big Subjects (1916). She also left memoirs entitled The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill (1908). Lady Jennie Churchill died (June 29, 1921) aged sixty-seven, after breaking her leg in a fall down some stairs in her London home.

Churchill, Odette     see    Hallowes, Odette

Churchill, Sarah      see     Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of

Churchill, Sarah Millicent Hermione – (1914 – 1982)
British actress
The daughter of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, she was born (Oct 7, 1914) and was educated at home and attended secondary school, after which she studied ballet. She made her first stage appearance at the Adelphi Theatre in London in the chorus of Follow the Sun (1935). She married (1936) the actor Vic Oliver (1898 – 1964), considerably her senior, much to the anger of her father. During WW II she left the theatre in order to work in photo intelligence as a section officer with the Women’s Air Force (1939 – 1945). Sarah Churchill accompanied her father abroad on two famous trips, his visit to Franklin D. Roosevelt in Teheran (1943) and to the Yalta conference (1945) with Josef Stalin and Roosevelt.
Sarah and Oliver were later divorced (1945) and she travelled to the USA where she appeared on stage as Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story (1949). She worked in American television but continued her stage work, returning to Britain to tour as Eliza in Pygmalion. She remarried secondly (1947) to the photographer Anthony Beauchamp who later died from an overdose (1957). Her third and last marriage was (1962) with Thomas Percy Henry Touchet-Jesson (1913 – 1963), the twenty-third Baron Audley, as his second wife and she became Baroness Audley (1962 – 1963). With his death soon afterwards Lady Sarah became the Dowager Baroness Audley (1963 – 1982) and resided mostly in the USA for the remainder of her life. Known for her outgoing personality Sarah Churchill published her memoirs entitled Keep on Dancing (1981). Lady Audley died (Sept 24, 1982) aged sixty-seven, in London.

Churchill, Savannah – (1920 – 1974)
American jazz and blues vocalist
Born Savannah Valentine (Aug 21, 1920) in Colfax, Louisiana, to Creole parents, she was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and decided to take up a singing career after the death of her husband, David Churchill, in a car accident, necessitated Savannah finding employment to support the family. Savannah signed up with Beacon records and produced the easy and popular song ‘Fat Meat Is Good Meat’ (1942), but her first real hit came with ‘Hurry, Hurry,’ which she recorded with the Benny Carter Orchestra and Capitol Records (1943). Churchill was particularly remembered for her renditions of the rhythmn and blues song “ I Want To Be Loved (Bit Only By You)’ (1945) and ‘I Want to Cry’ (1948). Churchill’s success as a singer led to several film roles, and she appeared in Miracle in Harlem (1948) and Souls of Sin (1949). She was later associated with RCA Victor and Decca records, but her career was cut tragically short due to a freak accident. She was badly injured when a drunken man fell from a balcony on top of her one night whilst she was performing on stage. She never fully recovered from the injuries sustained, and died in Brooklyn, New York (April 19, 1974) aged fifty-three.

Churilova, Lidia de    see    Charskaia, Lidia Alexievna

Chu Shu-chen – (fl. c1182 – 1200)
Chinese poet
Several of her verses survive such as ‘Stormy Night in Autumn,’ ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Spring Joy,’which appear in several modern anthologies.

Churston, Jessie Smither, Lady    see   Orme, Denise

Chute, Beatrice Joy – (1913 – 1987) 
American novelist and author
Beatrice Chute was born (Jan 3, 1913) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of William Young, a real estate agent and his wife Edith Mary Pickburn. She was educated in private and secondary schools, and later attended Minnesota University. Originally employed as her father’s secretary (1931), she wrote professionally for over five decades (1931 – 1987). Until 1950 she wrote predominantly boys’ sports stories, such as Blocking Back (1938), Shattuck Cadet (1940), Camp Hero (1942) and Teenage Sports Parade (1949), but her later novels, such as, The Fields Are White (1950) and, Greenwillow (1956), which was adapted as a Broadway musical in 1960, were written for adults. Her collection, The Blue Cup and Other Stories, appeared in 1957.
Later works included the novel, The Moon and the Thorn (1961), the anthology, One Touch of Nature, and Other Stories (1965) and, Katie: An Impertinent Fairy Tale (1978). Chute taught creative writing at Barnard College from 1964, and was a volunteer worker for the New York Police Department for over forty years (1942 – 1987). Beatrice Chute died of a heart attack (Sept 6, 1987) aged seventy-four, in New York.

Chute, Marchette Gaylord – (1909 – 1994)
American mediaeval historian and historical novelist
Chute was born (Aug 16, 1909) in Minnesota, the daughter of William Young Chute. She attended the University of Minnesota and Western College and Carleton College. She remained unmarried. She wrote articles which were published in such magazines as the Saturday Review and the Virginia Quarterly. She became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a member of the Renaissance Society of America. Miss Chute wrote poetry for children such as Rhymes About Ourselves (1932), Rhymes About the Country (1941), Rhymes About the City (1946) and Rhymes About Us (1974). Her historical publications included Geoffrey Chaucer of England (1946), Shakespeare of London (1950), Ben Jonson of Westminster (1953), The Lives of George Herbert and Robert Herrick (1959) and The First Liberty: A History of the Right to Vote in America, 1619 – 1850 (1969). Because of her contribution to literature Chute received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota, her old alma mater (1959).

Ciara    see    Piala

Ci-An (Tz’u-an) – (1837 – 1881)
Chinese empress
Ci-An was born Xiao Chen (Hsiao Cheng-hsien), and was the daughter of Muyangga, Duke Yujiyang, of the Niuhuru clan. She became the second official consort (1852) of the emperor Xianfeng (1851 – 1861), whose first childless wife had been her own elder sisterthough the couple produced an only daughter, Princess Jung-shou (1854 – 1911) and no male heir. When Xianfeng died at the palace of Jehol, after a reign beset by disasters, she was appointed as empress-dowager, adopting the official name of Ci-An. She ruled together with Cixi, the mother of her stepson, emperor Tonghzi (1861 – 1874). The two empresses were supported in their regency by Prince Kong, Ci-An’s brother-in-law, who then served them as chief councillor. As Empress Dowager Ci-An supported the westernisation of China and managed to put an end to much government corruption. With the death of Tongzhi (1874), she supported Cixi’s nephew Guangxu (1875 – 1908), the two women again ruling as joint dowager empresses. Ci-An’s death at Peking (Beijing), at the age of forty-three (April 9, 1881) was said to have been caused by Cixi sending her poisoned cakes, she being no longer content to share the power behind the throne. She was interred beside her later husband.

Ciardi, Fina – (c1215 – 1253)
Italian saint
Seraphina Ciardi was born into a poor but noble family in San Gemmignano in Tuscany. She was afflicted with a painful spinal condition but worked to help support her parents’ household. With the death of her mother Fina’s aged nurse Beldia attended her during her debilitating illness. Forced to lay one one side for five years and enduring appalling sanitary conditions Fina was read the works of St Gregory and was venerated by the local populace due to the patience and forbearance she exhibited during her frightful physical sufferings.
Fina died (March 12, 1253) at San Gemmignano and was venerated as a saint (March 12). A chapel was later built in her memory in the Church of La Collegiata in San Gemmignano, which was decorated with frescoes by Ghirlandajo. The native yellow wallflowers and white violets called Fiori di Santa Fina were said to have sprouted from where the saint had lain during her illness.

Cibber, Susannah Maria – (1714 – 1766)
British actress and vocalist
Susannah Arne was born in London, the daughter of an upholsterer, and was sister to the noted composer, Thomas Arne (1710 – 1778). She was married (1734) to the actor, Theophilus Cibber (1703 – 1758), the son of the famous dramatist and actor Colley Cibber. Cibber made her stage debut in the production of her brother’s work, Rosamund (1733), and was especially noted for her oratorio performances, George Frederic Handel writing parts specifically for her in his Messiah and Samson. Her husband forced Susannah to bestow her favours upon a wealthy lover for a price, but public news of theis arrangement caused considerable scandal, and her husband was obliged to retire to France, and she to retire briefly from the stage as a result. From 1753 she worked at the Drury Lane Theatre under David Garrick, remaining with his company until her death.

Cibbini-Kozeluch, Catharina – (1785 – 1858)
Austrian musician and composer
Catharina Kozeluch was born (Feb 20, 1785) the daughter of the noted pianist and conductor Leopold Kozeluch. She studied under her father and Muzio Clementi before making hr musical debut in Vienna (1805). She was married (1812) to the court lawyer Anton Cibbini (1763 – 1836) and thereafter published her music under her double name. She performed in piano recitals in Vienna until 1825 when she retired in order to take up a position at the royal court as chief lady-in-waiting to the Empress Caroline Augusta, widow of Franz II. She continued in this post in the household of the Empress Maria Anna, the wife of Emperor Ferdinand. A friend to Robert Schumann and his wife Clara, she later became a teacher and her most notable pupil was Leopoldine Blahetka. Her most famous works were Divertissements brilliants op. 3 for solo piano and La riemembranza op. 10 for two pianos and cello.

Cibo, Caterina – (1501 – 1557)
Italian ruler
Caterina Cibo was the wife of Giovanni Maria da Varani, Duke of Camerino (formerly count). She was born (Sept 13, 1501) the daughter of Franceschetto Cibo, Count di Anguillara and Ferentilla, and his wife Maddalena, daughter of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Florence. Caterina was the maternal niece of Pope Leo X. With the election of her uncle to the papal throne in 1513, Caterina’s husband was created duke of Camerino, granted the city of Senigallia, and was appointed prefect of Rome in 1520. After Giovanni’s death in 1528, the duchess attempted to retain the county of Camerino as the inheritance of their daughter Giulia da Varana (1523 – 1547), who became the first wife of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, duke of Urbino (1514 – 1574). The duchess was eventually deposed, and retired to Florence to live in exile. Duchess Caterina died (Feb 17, 1557) aged fifty-five, in Florence.

Cilento, Margaret – (1923 – 2006)
Australian painter
Margaret Cilento was born (Dec 23, 1923) the elder daughter of the famous physician, Sir Raphael West Cilento (1893 – 1985) and his wife Phyllis Dorothy McGlew, and was raised in Brisbane, Queensland. Her younger sister was the actress Diane Cilento. Margaret attended art schools at home, and then travelled abroad to Paris and New York (1947), where she established herself as a member of the avant-garde set. Her early abstract work was not well-received in Sydney so Margaret went to Britain during the 1950’s. In England she committed to further study at the Central School of Art her work was exhibited with great success. Cilento was especially known and admired for her representations of the human form and her paintings of various types of circus performers, reciving her inspiration from a variety of sources but including the famous French Cirque du Soleil. She was married (1963) to the journalist, Geoffrey Maslen to whom she bore two children. Margaret Cilento’s last major exhibition, ‘Circus: Dream and Reality,’ was shown in Sydney and Melbourne (2004). Margaret Cilento died (Nov 21, 2006) aged eighty-two.

Cilento, Phyllis Dorothy McGlew, Lady – (1894 – 1987)
Australian physician and author
Phyllis McGlew was born March 13, 1894) in Sydney, New South Wales, and received her education atat the University of Adelaide in South Australia. She married (1920) to Sir Ralph West Cilento (1893 – 1985), and they became the parents of actress and author Diane Cilento (b. 1934), and was at one time mother-in-law (1962 – 1973) to the famous Scottish actor, Sean Connery.
After doing postgraduate research Malaya and Rabaul, and then in Asia, in London and Paris, in Europe and in New York in the United States, Phyllis became a lecturer in Mothercraft and Obstetrical Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. She founded the Mothercare Association of Queensland (1930) serving as president until 1933, and again (1935 – 1948). Throughout this period, she also served as president of the Queensland Medical Women’s Association (1938 – 1947).  Lady Cilento’s particular area of interest lay in family planning, nutrition, and childbirth education, and she lectured, wrote, and broadcast wideley on these subjects, producing many newspaper articles and books such as, Square Meals for the Family (1934), Nutrition for the Elderly (1980), Nutrition for the Child (1981), Medical Mother (1982), and The Cilento Way (1984). Her extensive work and research in these fields were recognized when she was named Queensland Mother of the Year (1974) and was later awarded membership (AM) of the Order of Australia. Lady Cilento left memoirs entitled, Lady Cilento: My Life (1987). Lady Cilento died (July 26, 1987) aged ninety-three, in Brisbane.

Cinna     see    Kinna

Cintron, Conchita – (1922 – 2009)
Chilean bullfighter
Concepcion Cintron Verrill was born (Aug 9, 1922) at Antofagasta, the daughter of a Puerto-Rican businessman and an American mother. Conchita was raised at Lima in Peru and was taught the art of bullfighting under the famous Portugese horseback bullfighter (rejoneador). After two appearances in the bullring in Lima (1936) and (1938) she established her reputation as a professional rejoneadora. During a bullfight in Mexico City (1940) Cintron was gored and had to be rushed to hospital but returned to the ring and killed the bull. She performed throughout the bullfighting circuit appearing with great success in Portugal, France, Colombia and Venezuela.
Despite her talent laws designed to protect female modesty meant that she was never permitted to fight as a matadora in Spain, though at Jaen (1949) she did so in front of President Franco, who had publicly denied her permission to do so. She was arrested upon leaving the arena for breaking the law which banned women fighting on foot, but the crowds rioting so much in protest that the governor pardoned and released her. Nevertheless her appearance in the ring the following year (1950) was the end of her bullfighting career. Cintron married a Portugese nobleman and became a Portugese citizen. Conchita Cintron died (Feb 17, 2009) aged eighty-six, in Lisbon, Estramadura. The introduction to her reminiscences entitled Memoirs of a Bullfighter (1968) was written by actor Orson Welles.

Citta – (fl. c500 – c480 BC)
Indian Buddhist poet
Citta was born into a patrician family in Rajagaha. After hearing the preaching of Gautama Buddha she was ordained as a nun, but did not attain spritual fulfillment until she reached old age and had been residing as a recluse for some years. One of her poems survives in the Therigatha and deals with the religious revelation she finally achieved when she climbed atop a small mountain commonly called the ‘Vulture Peak.’

Civitanova, Marchesa di    see   Farnese, Clelia

Civrac, Marie Anne de La Faure de Monbadon, Duchesse de – (1720 – 1786)
French courtier
Marie Anne de La Laure de Monbadon became the wife of Aymeric Joseph, Duc de Civrac, and bore him several children including Laurent de Durfort-civrac (1746 – 1826) the Duc de Lorge, Marie Francoise de Durfort-Civrac (1747 – 1839), the wife of the Marquis de Donnissan, and Angelique Victoire de Durfort-Civrac (1752 – 1816), the wife of Henri Georges Cesar, Comte de Chastellux.
The duchesse served at the court of Versailles as lady-in-waiting to the Mesdames, the princesses Adelaide, Victoire, Sophie and Louise, the unmarried daughters of King Louis XV. She later specifically served Princess Victoire, the post being inherited at her death by her daughter the Comtesse de Chastellux. The Duchesse de Civrac died (Aug 20, 1786).

Cixi (Tz’u-hsi) – (1835 – 1908)
Chinese empress
Cixi was born (Nov 29, 1835) with the name Yehonala in Peking (Beijing), and was the daughter of a minor Manchu mandarin, Kuei Siang, later duke of Hui-cheng. She was sent to the Imperial palace (1850) to be a concubine to the emperor Xianfeng (1851 – 1861), and eventually became the mother of his only son, emperor Tongzhi (1861 – 1874). With her husband’s death, Cixi ruled jointly with the senior Imperial widow, Ci-An as joint empress dowager and regent for her five year old son. Her grasp of politics had become apparent during the life of the late emperor when Cixi managed to put an end to the Taiping rebellion (1850 – 1864) and repulsed an invasion of the northern provinces by England and France. Though supposedly the junior partner in the regency, Cixi quickly became the prominent figure, and used every ruthless means at her disposal, including bribery and cruelty to become one of the most powerful women in Chinese history. She is said to have encouraged the dissolute lifestyle of her son in order to retain a firmer grip on power herself.
When her son came of age (1873) she refused to step aside, considering her son unworthy of Imperial power, and with his death (1875) she engineered the succession of her own nephew, Guangxu (1875 – 1908), despite the laws concerning the succession. She is said to have brought about the death of empress Ci-An in order that she did not have to share power, despite the fact that the elder lady did not interfere with her plans. Again, when her nephew reached the age to rule himself, she refused to step aside, and remained in firm control of Imperial power (1889). Her appropriation of state funds earmarked for the navy, which she used to construct a magnificent summer palace north of the capital, was directly responsible for China’s naval defeat by Japan (1894), which forced the country to sue for a humiliating peace. Feared but not loved she remained a firm conservative force at the Imperial court and was known by the nicknames of ‘Old Buddha’ and the ‘Dragon empress.’ Her misguided support of the Boxer rebellion (1899 – 1900) which was aimed as removing the influence of foreigners in China, led to the massacres and deaths of hundreds of foreign nationals resident in Peking (Beijing). However, after the capture of Tientsin (Tianjin) by a combined international force, the empress was forced to flee the capital by cart, disguised as a peasant woman, taking Guangxu with her after she caused his favourite concubine to be thrown alive down a well. She only returned when peace terms were agreed upon (1901) and re-assumed the rule of the country, though the power of the dynasty was now much diminished.
Empress Cixi died in Peking (Nov 15, 1908), aged seventy-three, after having sufferred a stroke, and had her nephew quietly executed the day before her own death. She was interred beside her late husband Xianfeng and his second wife Ci-An. She had named another relative Pu-Yi as emperor prior to her death, and he was the last of the Imperial Manchu dynasty (1908 – 1911).

Claes-Vetter, Stephanie – (1884 – 1974)
Dutch novelist
Stephanie Vetter was born (Feb 25, 1884) in Zutphen and became the wife of the author Ernest Claes, a specialist in Flemish literature. Stephanie became the co-editor of the popular women’s magazine De Lelie (The Lily) (1909 – 1914) and published the novel Eer de Mail Sluit (Before the Mail Closes) (1915) and the collection of stories Verholen Krachten (Hidden Forces) (1927). Her psychological novels included Als de dagen Lengen (When the Days Lengthen) (1940) and, Martine – Een Ontgoocheling (Martine – a Disappointment) (1954). Stephanie Claes-Vetter died (Oct 9, 1974) aged ninety, in Elsene, Belgium.

Claflin, Tennessee (Tennie) – (1845 – 1923)
American feminist, editor and educator
Born in Homer, Ohio, she was the daughter of Reuben Buckman ‘Homer’ Claflin, of New York, and was the younger sister to Victoria Claflin Woodhull. She was married firstly (1866) to John Bartels, but retained her maiden name and the couple were later divorced. With her sister Victoria she travelled performing in spiritual and clairvoyant shows, and when they made the acquaintance of Cornelius Vanderbilt in New York, he took them under his wing, and financed the sisters as stockbrokers. They became the first female stockbrokers in the USA and co-founded Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly periodical (1870 – 1876). In their magazine the sisters joined Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in advocating equal rights for women. However, their own particular campaigns which advocated free love and the legalization of prostitution caused considerable scandal and public backlash. Together they produced The Communist Manifesto (1871). Tennessee later resided in England with her sister (1877), where Tennie was eventually married (1885) to Sir Francis Cook (1817 – 1901), a British baronet, as his second wife, and became Lady Cook. With her husband’s death she inherited a considerable fortune, which she used to establish homes for reformed prostitutes. Lady Cook died (Jan 18, 1923) aged seventy-eight, in London.

Claire, Ina – (1892 – 1985)
British actress
Claire was born (Oct 15, 1892) in Washington, D.C. she made her first movie roles in sound films and her credits included The Wild Goose Chase (1915), The Puppet Crown (1915), and the National Red Cross Pageant (1917) in which she appeared as Jeanne d’Arc. Her sound film credits included The Royal Family of Broadway (1930), The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932), Ninotchka (1939) in which she appeared as the Russian Grand Duchess Swana, and Claudia (1943) which was her last film. Claire appeared as herself in the WW II film Stage Door Canteen (1943). Ina Claire died (Feb 21, 1985) aged ninety-two, in San Francisco, California.

Clairemont, Claire – (1798 – 1879)
British literary figure
Claire Clairemont was the mistress of George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788 – 1824), the famous poet. Born Clara Mary Constantia Jane Clairemont, her stepfather was the noted philosopher and political theorist, William Godwin (1756 – 1836), the widower of Mary Wollstonecraft. Her stepsister, Mary Godwin, was the wife of the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822). Claire accompanied Mary Godwin and Shelley when they eloped together (1814), but soon returned to London. There she became involved in a liasion with the now famous Lord Byron, which resulted in the birth of their daughter Allegra (1817), who was removed from her mother’s care by Byron, who disapproved of her child-rearing methods. Allegra died in a convent in Ravenna, at the age of five years. Claire remained in Europe until 1828, earning her living as a governess in various wealthy and noble families in Vienna and then in Moscow With her return to England, she worked as an Italian tutor for the next fifteen years. After inheriting an allowance from Shelly (1844), Clairmont retired to live in Florence, Italy. Claire Clairmont died aged eighty-one, in Florence.

Clairon, Madamoiselle – (1723 – 1803)
French actress
Born illegitimate as Claire Josephe Hippolyte Leris de La Tude, at Conde-sur-l’Escaut, and began her impressive career as a soubrette. She made her first stage appearance with the Comedie Italienne (1736), and made her debut at the Comedie Francaise (1743) in the role of Phedre created by Racine. Clairon established herself as a leading actress at the Comedie Francaise, and appeared in roles created by Voltaire, Jean-Francois Marmontel, Bernard Joseph Saurin and Pierre Corneille. Marmontel influenced her declamatory style, whilst the influence of Denis Diderot led to more realism in her costuming. Clairon retired in 1766, though she still appeared in court theatricals. She was for many years the official mistress of Charles Alexander, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, though she was ultimately displaced by Elizabeth Berkeley, whom he married. She left, Memoires (1798). Mademoiselle Clairon died in poverty (Jan 29, 1803) aged seventy-nine, in Paris.

Clampitt, Amy – (1920 – 1994)
American poet
Clampitt served as the secretary and the director of promotions at Oxford University Press in New York (1943 – 1951) and then became the reference librarian for the National Audubon Society (1952 – 1959). Until 1977 she worked freelance and then became the editor for the Dutton publishing company in New York (1977 – 1982). Amy Clampitt was the writer in residence at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia (1984 – 1985) and was the Grace Hazzard Conkling poet in residence at Smith College (1993 – 1994). Her published works included Multitudes, Multitudes (1974), The Summer Solstice (1983), Homage to John Keats (1984), Archaic Figure (1987) and Westward (1990). Amy Clampitt edited the volume The Essential Donne (1988).

Clancarty, Isabel Maude Bilton, Countess of    see   Bilton, Belle

Clanmorris, Lady      see     Bingham, Madeleine

Clanranald, Penelope Louisa – (c1676 – 1743)
Scottish Jacobite courtier and peeress
Penelope Mackenzie was the daughter of Colonel Alexander Mackenzie who served as the Governor of Tangiers during the reign of King Charles II, and his French wife Louise Bouvinot. She became the wife (1694) of Allan Macdonald (1675 – 1715), the Chief of Clanranald. There were no surviving children. Clanranald took part in the rising of 1715 and died at Drummond Castle from wounds received at the battle of Sheriffmuir (Nov 15, 1715). In recognition of her husband’s loyal service King James III created Penelope the Baroness Clanranald (1716). With her death twenty-five years later without heirs, this peerage became extinct.

Clapp, Margaret Antoinette – (1910 – 1974)
American author, college administrator, and educator
Margaret Clapp was born (April 10, 1910), in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of an insurance broker, and attended school there before going to Wellesley College to finish her education.
Appointed as the eighth president of Wesley College (1946 – 1966), she later served briefly as head of the Lady Doak women’s college at Mandurai in southern India (1966 – 1967). Clapp was then appointed as as cultural attache (1968 – 1970) and counsellor for cultural affairs (1970 – 1971) at the American Embassy in Delhi, India. Her biography, Forgotten First Citizen: John Bigelow (1947), won her the Pulitzer Prize. Margaret Antoinette Clapp died (May 3, 1974) aged sixty-four, at Tyringham, Massachusetts.

Clappe, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith – (1819 – 1906)
American writer and humourist
Louise Clappe was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Using the pseudonym ‘Dame Shirley’ she wrote The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851 – 52 (1922) which were published posthumously. Louise Clappe died (Feb 6, 1906).

Clara di Gonzaga – (1464 – 1503)
Italian iterary patron and salon hostess
Clara di Gonzaga was born (July 1, 1464) the eldest daughter of Federigo I di Gonzaga, Marchese of Mantua (1478 – 1484) and his wife Margaret of Bavaria. She was the sister of Cardinal Sigismondo di Gonzaga (1469 – 1525), of Duke Francesco I of Mantua and of Duchess Elisabetta di Gonzaga of Urbino. Her governess was Violante de Preti. Clara became the wife (1481) of Gilbert de Bourbon (1443 – 1496), Comte de Montpensier, to whom she bore several children.
Clara made a state visit to Mantua five years after her marriage (1486) and there prepared to recived her brother Duke Francesco there. His absence on state business delayed the entertainments she and her two sisters had prepared for him, and her letter to Francesco concerning this subject, written jointly with her two sisters Elisabetta and Maddalena, has survived. Several letters addressed to Clara by her sister-in-law Isabella d’Este have survived. Clara survived Gilbert as the Dowager Comtesse de Montpensier (1496 – 1503). With the death of her son Louis in the wars in Italy (1501) Clara retired to the Mantuan court where she resided during her widowhood. Clara died (June 2, 1503) aged thirty-eight. Her children were,

1) Louis II de Bourbon (1483 – 1501). he succeeded his father as Comte de Montpensier (1496 – 1501) but died unmarried.

2) Louise de Bourbon-Montpensier (1484 – 1561). She married firstly to Andre IV, Comte de Chauvigny (died 1502) and secondly to Louis de Bourbon-Vendome (1473 – 1520) Prince de La
Roche-sur-Yon, and left issue from her second marriage.

3) Charles III de Bourbon-Montpensier (1489 – 1527). He became the Duc de Bourbon but left no surviving issue.

4) Francois de Bourbon-Montpensier (1490 – 1515). He became the Duc de Chatellerault but died without issue.

5) Renee de Bourbon-Montpensier (1494 – 1539). She became the wife of Anthony II (1489 – 1544), Duke of Lorraine.

6) Anne de Bourbon-Montpensier (1496 – after 1510). She died unmarried.

Clara of Anduze     see    Anduze, Clara d’

Clara of Assisi (Clare) – (1193 – 1253)  
Italian nun and saint
Born in Assisi, Spoleto, she was the daughter of Faverone Sciffo, Conte dei Offreiduccio, and his wife Ortolana di Fiumi. Influenced by the teachings of St Francis, she refused to marry her chosen husband and fled to the Porziuncola Chapel, where St Francis veiled her as a nun (1212). Clara was quickly joined her her mother, sister Agnes, and many other women, and she was appointed abbess of the Poor Clares at the convent of San Damiano, near Assisi (1216). The rule which she composed for the Poor Clares, gave special relevance to the power of penetential prayer, which reflected the spirit of St Francis, and replaced the former Benedictine order, was approved by Pope Gregory IX only two days before his death (1241).
Clara died at Assisi (Aug 11, 1253), having been visited twice daily on her deathbed by Pope Innocent IV, who granted her absolution. The citizens of Assisi credited Clara with saving their town from destruction on two separate occasions because of her piety, and she was canonized by Pope Alexander IV (1255). Clara was considerd the patron of gilders, embroiderers, washerwoman and ironers, and was invoked against sore eyes. Pope Pius XII later declared her the patron saint of television.

Clara of Brunswick – (1532 – 1595)
German Protestant convert
Princess Clara of Brunswick was born (Nov 16, 1532), the third surviving daughter of Heinrich III, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1514 – 1568), and his first wife Maria of Wurttemburg, the daughter of Henry of Wurttemburg, Count of Mompelgard. Clara was appointed during early childhood as abbess of the Roman Catholic abbey of Gandersheim (1539 – 1547) after the death of her elder sister Maria, but converted to Protestantism during the Reformation and resigned her office (1547) returning to her father’s court at Wolfenbuttel.
Princess Clara then married (1560) to her kinsman, Duke Philip II of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (1532 – 1596), but the marriage remained childless. Duchess Clara died (Nov 13, 1595) aged sixty-two, at Herzeburg. She was interred at Osterode where the following inscription was raised to her, Anno 1595, 13 Novembris prie Christa obit illustrissima Principissa CLARA, Ducissa Brunsweicensis et luneburgensis, uxor Illustrissimi Principis PHILIPPI.

Clara of Scheldt – (c590 – 654)
Merovingian nun
Clara was the daughter of Arnoald I, Margrave of Scheldt and Bishop of Metz and his wife the Merovingian princess Bilchilde, the daughter of Clotaire I, King of Nesutria (511 – 561) and his wife Arnegunde of Thuringia. She was the sister of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, the ancestor of the Carolingian dynasty and their descendants, of St Gertrude the Abbess of Hamage and of Queen Berthetrude, the second wife of Clotaire II, King of Neustria. Clara never married and became a nun. She was appointed to rule as the second Abbess of the convent of St Mont, near Remriemont in Lorraine. Clara was revered as a saint.

Clara of Jesus   see   Warner, Trevor Hanmer, Lady

Clare, Ada    see    McElheney, Jane

Clare, Amicia de – (1220 – 1284)
Anglo-Norman religious founder and Royalist supporter
Lady Amicia de Clare was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester and his wife Lady Isabella Marshall. Her father died in 1230, and her stepfather was Richard Plantagenet, earl of Cornwall, and later King of the Romans, the younger brother of Henry III. Amicia was married (1226), to Baldwin de Redvers (1216 – 1245), Earl of Devon, to whom she bore a son and heir Baldwin (1236 – 1262) whom she survived, and a daughter, Lady Isabella de Redvers, who became the wife of William de Forz, earl of Aumale. In 1248 the king granted his consent to the marriage of the widowed Amicia with Robert, the son of Arnoul II, Comte de Guines, to which arrangement she herself had consented, but this projected alliance never took place. She founded the Abbey of Buckland instead. During the civil disturbances caused by the rebellion of Simon de Montfort, countess Amicia remained loyal to the crown, whilst her daughter Isabella supported the claims of de Montfort and the barons. Mother and daughter were later reconciled in (1274).

Clare, Elizabeth de – (1295 – 1360)
English founder
Lady Elizabeth de Clare was born (Sept 16, 1295) at Tewkesbury, the third and youngest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, seventh Earl of Hertford and and his wife Princess Joan, the daughter of Edward I (1272 – 1307). She was married firstly (1308), in the presence of Edward II and Queen Isabella at Waltham Abbey in Essex, to John de Burgh (1290 – 1313), heir of the Irish earldom of Ulster. After his early death she remarried twice more, secondly to Theobald, Lord Verdun (1278 – 1316), and thirdly to Sir Roger, Lord Damory (died 1321), and left issue by all three marriages.
With the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, who was killed at the battle of Bannockburn (1314), the extensive family lands were divided between Elizabeth and her two sisters, and she was then known as Dominae Clarae (Lady of Clare). The countess was later imprisoned within the abbey of Barking (1322) on the orders of Hugh le Despenser, where, under duress and fear of death for herself and her son, she was forced to grant her lordships and properties to the young Despenser and his wife. She was released after signinbg a bond in which she promised not to marry again and disperse her wealth, on pain of forfeiting all she possessed. However, her estates and rights were restored by Edward III (1327), and from that time she enjoyed, in her own right, a large portion of the property of the earldom of Gloucester. She was the founder of Clare College at Cambridge (1336), for which she provided a set of governing statutes (1359).
Her granddaughter and her ultimate heiress, Elizabeth de Burgh (1332 – 1363), became the wife of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second son of King Edward III. Elizabeth de Clare died (Nov 4, 1360) aged sixty-five, and was buried with her third husband in the church of St Mary, Ware, Hertfordshire. Her remains were later reinterred at the convent of the Minoresses, outside Aldgate in London.

Clare, Emma de – (c1130 – after 1168)
Anglo-Norman heiress
Emma de Clare was the elder daughter and senior coheiress of Baldwin Fitzgilbert (de Clare) and his wife Adeline, the daughter of Richard de Rullos, the court chamberlain to King Henry I (1100 – 1135). Through her mother Emma was a descendant of the famous Anglo-Saxon resistance hero Hereward the Wake. She was married to Hugh Wake (Wac) (c1110 – 1172), Seigneur de Negroville in Normandy, to whom she brought the lorship of Bourne in Lincolnshire as her dowry. Emma was the mother of Baldwin Wake (c1150 – 1198), and was the ancestress of the family of the feudal barons of Wake. Her grandson was the warrior and crusader, Hugh Wake of Bourne (c1206 – 1241). Emma was living in 1168, when she was mentioned in a charter connected with her husband’s foundation of the Benedictine abbey of Longues, in Calvados, Normandy.

Clare, Margaret de (1) – (1249 – 1313)
English Plantagenet noblewoman
Lady Margaret de Clare was the daughter of Richard de Clare (1222 – 1262), Earl of Gloucester and Hertford and his second wife Matilda de Lacy, the daughter of John de Lacy, Earl of Cornwall. Her father was stepson to Richard Plantagenet (1209 – 1272), Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans, younger brother to King Henry III (1216 – 1272). Margaret was married (1272) at Ruislip Chapel, middlesex, to her half-uncle Prince Edmund Plantagenet (1249 – 1300), Earl of Cornwall, the son of her paternal grandmother Isabella Marshall (1200 – 1240), Dowager Countess of Gloucester and her royal second husband. The marriage remained childless and the couple were either legally seperated or actually divorced two decades later (Feb, 1293). Countess Margaret died (Feb, 1313) aged fifty-three, and was interred within Chertsey Abbey, Surrey.

Clare, Margaret de (2) – (1292 – 1342)
English Plantagenet heiress
Lady Margaret de Clare was born (Oct, 1292) at Caerphilly Castle, the second daughter and coheiress of Gilbert de Clare (1243 – 1295), third Earl of Gloucester and his second wife Princess Joan Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward I (1272 – 1307) and his first wife Eleanor of Castile, commonly called ‘Joan of Acre’ from her birthplace in Palestine. She was married firstly (1307) to Piers de Gaveston (1284 – 1312), native of Bearn in Gascony, the favourite of the youthful Edward II (1307 – 1327). They had two daughters and Gaveston was created Earl of Cornwall. After he was executed for treason she remained a widow for five years before being forced to remarry (1317) at the king’s desire, to Hugh d’Audley (c1289 – 1347), Baron Audley. With the death of her elder sister Eleanor le Despenser, Margaret’s husband Hugh was created Earl of Gloucester in her right and she rose from being Baroness Audley (1317 – 1337) to being the Countess of Gloucester (1337 – 1342). Countess Margaret died (April 9, 1342). She was probably buried at Tonbridge Priory with her husband. Her daughter, Lady Margaret d’Audley (1325 – 1348) became the wife of Sir Ralph, second Baron Stafford (1301 – 1372) (first Earl of Stafford after her death 1350) and was ancestress of the Earls of Stafford and the Dukes of Buckingham, as well as many baronial families. Of her two daughters from her first marriage, Joan de Gaveston (1309 – 1325) became a nun at the royal Abbey of Amesbury, Wiltshire, whilst the younger Amy de Gaveston (born 1312) became the wife of John de Driby of Wokefield, Berkshire, and left issue.

Clare, Mary – (1892 – 1970)
British actress
Mary Clare was born (July 17, 1892) in London, and was educated at Wood Green. Originally trained to work in an office, Mary began her career in a repertory company (1910), and made her stage debut in the opera Turandot (1913). She was married to an army officer to whom she bore two children. Clare had notable successes with plays such as The Skin Game, The Ghost Train, and in particular, The Likes of Her (1923) in which she appeared with Hermione Baddeley. Noel Coward wrote his work Cavalcade (1931) especially for her. She also went to South Africa (1929) where she appeared on stage as Dolores Mendez in The Squall and Countess Polda in The Lonely House.
During the early 1920’s, Clare appeared in several silent films, such as Becket (1924), and later made the change to sound, appearing in the title role of Mrs Pym of Scotland Yard (1940). She specialized in matronly roles during the latter part of her career, and film credits included, The Night Has Eyes (1942), Mrs Fitzherbert (1947), Oliver Twist (1948), Portrait of Clare (1950), Penny Princess (1952), and Mambo (1954), amongst many others. She also appeared sporadically on the stage, most notably as the duchess in Alice in Wonderland (1956) and as Almina Clare in Waiting in the Wings (1960). Mary Clare died (Aug 29, 1970) aged seventy-eight.

Clare, Matilda de – (d. c1285)
English bookowner
In her will Matilda left her copy of Ancrene Wisse, composed especially for religious women, to the Abbey of Canonsleigh.

Clarebout, Valerie – (1906 – 1982)
Anglo-American sculptor
Clarebout was born in Surrey, England, and studied art and sculpture at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and had further instruction at the Julien Studio in Paris. She travelled extensively throughout Central and Southern America and Africa, where she studied various local artists and their styles. During WW II Valerie worked as a volunteer in air defense. Afterwards she came to live in the USA and became a citizen (1952). She remained unmarried.
Her best known work was the dozen eight-foot-high wire trumpeting angels which became the centerpiece of the annual Christmas display in the Channel Gardens of the Rockefeller Center in New York. She also produced tapestries and mosaic. Some of her work appeared in a New York’s Fair Exhibition, and she created other wire sculptures for the department store Saks Fifth Avenue and for the Constitutional Plaza in Hartford, Connecticut. Valerie Clarebout died (Oct 21, 1982) aged seventy-four.

Clarendon, Charlotte Capel, Countess of – (1721 – 1790)
English Hanoverian heiress and peeress
Lady Charlotte Capel was the edlest surviving daughter of William Capel (1697 – 1743), third Earl of Essex and his first wife Lady Jane Hyde, the daughter of Henry Hyde (1672 – 1753), fourth and last Earl of Clarendon and second Earl of Rochester of that line. Lady Charlotte was married (1752) to the Hon. (Honourable) Thomas Villiers (1709 – 1786) to whom she bore four children.
Villiers was created Baron Hyde of Hinton in Wiltshire by King George II (1756) with the remainder to his male heirs by Lady Charlotte. If there were no sons the title of Baroness Hyde was to devolve upon Charlotte, and the dignity of Baron would then pass to her legitimate male heirs by another husband. Lord Hyde was created the first Earl of Clarendon by King George III and Charlotte became the Countess of Clarendon (1776 – 1786). Charlotte survived Thomas as the Dowager Countess of Clarendon (1786 – 1790). Lady Clarendon died (Dec 3, 1790) aged sixty-nine. Her children were,

1) Thomas Villiers (1753 – 1824). He succeeded his father as second Earl of Clarendon (1786 – 1824) but died unmarried.

2) Hon. John Charles Villiers (1757 – 1838). He succeeded his brother as the third Earl of Clarendon (1824 – 1838) but left an only daughter.

3) Lady Charlotte Barbara Villiers (1761 – 1810). She remained unmarried.

4) Hon. George Villiers (1765 – 1827). He was married and was the father of George William Villiers (1800 – 1871) who succeeded as the fourth Earl of Clarendon (1838 – 1871).

Clarence, Margaret de Holland, Duchess of – (1384 – 1439)
English Lancastrian royal
Lady Margaret de Holland was the daughter of Thomas de Holland, second Earl of Kent, and his wife Lady Alice fitzalan, the daughter of Richard Fitzalan, third Earl of Arundel. She was married firstly (1397) to John Beaufort (1372 – 1410), Marquess of Somerset, first cousin to Richard II (1377 – 1399). At this time they were granted certain manors in the counties of Stafford, Wallingford, Wiltshire, and Norfolk, which had formerly been held by Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Lord Somerset died in the Hospital of St Katherine-by-the-Tower, and was interred in the Chapel of St Michael in Canterbury Cathedral, Kent. Margaret bore Beaufort five children,

1) Henry Beaufort (1401 – 1418). He became second Earl of Somerset but died unmarried and childless.

2) John Beaufort (1403 – 1444). He became first Duke of Somerset, and was the father of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and the grandfather of Henry VII (1485 – 1509).

3) Edmund Beaufort (1405 – 1455). He succeeded his brother as second Duke of Somerset (1444 – 1455), and left issue.

4) Lady Jane Beaufort (1406 – 1445). She became the wife of James I (1394 – 1437), King of Scotland, and left issue, and remarried secondly to Sir James Stewart of Lorn.

5) Lady Margaret Beaufort (1409 – 1442). She became the wife of Thomas Courtenay (1414 – 1458), fifth Earl of Devon.

Soon afterwards the marchioness was remarried (1410) to Prince Thomas Plantagenet (1388 – 1421), Duke of Clarence, a younger son of Henry IV (1399 – 1413) and brother of King Henry V (1413 – 1422). The mayor and the city of London, as well as escheators in several counties, were ordered to provide the duchess with her dower estates. She was entrusted with the keeping of all the lands of her late husband and his possessions, except the castle and lordship of Corfe, and with the custody of her elder son, Henry Beaufort, until he was fifteen. Her second marriage remained childless. She received Garter robes (1399 – 1420).
The duke was killed by French forces at the battle of Bauge in Anjou (1421), whilst Margaret’s two sons, John, earl of Somerset, and Edmund Beaufort, became prisoners of war. Soon afterwards, Comte Jean d’Angouleme, already held as a hostage in England, was transferred to the care of the duchess at Maxey in Northamptonshire, where she is said to have treated him with some harshness, and she refused to exchange prisoners. Also captured by the French in 1421 was one Sir Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Perche, whose identity remains obscure. The duchess was particularly anxious for his release, which was finally secured just prior to his death (1436). There is speculation that Thomas was the duchess’s natural son. Together with Duchess Philippa of York the Duchess of Clarence served as lady-in-waiting to Katherine de Valois, the queen of Henry V (1413 – 1422).
The Duchess of Clarence died (Dec 30, 1439) aged fifty-five, at the Abbey of St Saviour, Bermondsey, London, and was interred with both of her husbands in Canterbury Cathedral, where she had caused to be built a magnificent monument of Purbeck marble, with alabaster effigies of herself and her two spouses. The duchess appears as a character in the historical novel Crown in Candlelight (1978) by Rosemary Hawley Jarman.

Clarencieux, Susan – (c1510 – 1564)
English Tudor courtier
Susan Clarencieux was the favourite lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary Tudor (1553 – 1558). She was born Susan White in Essex, and became the wife of Thomas Tonge, the Clarencieux king of arms, which provided the surname by which she is known to history. Perhaps as a widow, Susan joined the household of the Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon, and became one of her closet friends. The Imperial ambassadors believed that she wielded enormous power over Queen Mary, and indeed, many rich and costly gifts came her way, not to mention annuities, pensions, and wardships. When the Venetian ambassador Michieli handed over his own expensive coach and horses as a gift to the queen, she gave them to Susan Clarencieux.
However, modern biographers tend to believe that her political influence has been much overstated. During the time of Queen Mary’s supoosed pregnancy (1555) it was Susan who encouraged her to hope that a child was possible. With Queen Mary’s death Clarencieux accompanied Jane Dormer, and her grandmother, Lady Dormer, into exile in Europe, despite the fact that Queen Elizabeth had granted Susan an estate in Essex (1559). She appears to have remained in the household of the Spanish Duque de Feria, who had married Jane Dormer, and died there.

Clarendon, Flower Backhouse, Countess of – (1640 – 1700)
English Stuart courtier
Flower Backhouse was the daughter of Sir John Backhouse, and his wife Flower Henshaw. Flower Backhouse was married firstly to William Bishop. With his death she was remarried to her cousin, Sir William Backhouse, after which she was presented at court to Catharine of Bragnza, the wife of Charles II. With the death of her second husband (1669), Lady Backhouse remarried for a third time (before 1674), becoming the second wife of Henry Hyde (1638 – 1709), second Earl of Clarendon, the paternal uncles of the Stuart queens, Mary II and Anne.
Lady Clarendon succeeded to the position of first Lady of the Bedchamber to her niece the Princess Anne, after the death of Anne’s governess, Lady Frances Villiers (1678). According to surviving letters of the princess’s favourite, Sarah Churchill, Lady Clarendon was disliked by her niece and by Sarah Churchill for what was viewed as her excessive religious practices, the sincerity of which was doubted. Not all shared this opinion, and Sarah noted tersely that ‘They call her a good woman. I suppose because like her lord she made a great rout with prayer.’
Lady Clarendon eventually left her niece’s household (1685) in order to accompany her husband to to Dublin, when he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The journey took a month, and included Christmas festivities held at Chester, and a memorable crossing of Penmaenmauur in Caernarvonshire, in three coaches and a wagon. The couple arrived in Dublin (Jan, 1686) and remained there until Lord Clarendon was recalled to London (Jan, 1687). After this the couple resided quietly at her own manor of Swallowfield, near Cornbury, Berkshire, and at Tunbridge Wells. When Lord Clarendon was later arrested and sent to the Tower of London by William III, Lady Clarendon kept him company there, firstly for two months (1690) and then for six months (1691). Lord Clarendon was later released due to ill-health. Lady Clarendon died (July 17, 1700) aged sixty, and left the manor of Swallowfield to the Clarendon family.

Clarendon, Frances Aylesbury, Countess of – (1617 – 1667)
English Stuart courtier and peeress (1661 – 1667)
Frances Aylesbury was baptised (Aug 25, 1617) at the Church of St Margaret at Westminster in London, the daughter of Sir Thomas Aylesbury, one of the Masters of Requests to King Charles I and his wife Anne Denman. She became the wife (1634) of Sir Edward Hyde (1609 – 1674) her dowry greatly enhancing his political fortune, though for a few years after their marriage the couple resided at Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor Park, Berkshire the home of Lady Hyde’s father.
With the execution of the king Lady Hyde left England with her four children (May, 1649) and resided at Breda in Antwerp, and her daughter Anne joined the household of the Princess of Orange (Mary Stuart) as maid-of-honour. The princess later assigned Lady Hyde a residence in Breda (1653) and the family returned to England at the Restoration (1660) when Sir Edward served as councillor to King Charles II who created him the first Earl of Clarendon (1661). Lady Hyde then became the Countess of Clarendon. Her daughter Anne Hyde became the first wife of James, Duke of York the brother of Charles II which created much scandal when the secret marriage became public knowledge. Lady Frances was in her daughter’s confidence and behind her husband’s back had connived for the lovers to spend time together in order to facilitate the duke’s attachment to Anne. But King Charles ensured that Anne was received and honoured as the Duchess of York.
Thus Lady Frances became the mother-in-law of King James II (1685 – 1688) and was the maternal grandmother to two queens, Mary II (1688 – 1694) and Anne Stuart (1702 – 1714). Lady Clarendon was formally presented to Queen Catharine of Braganza upon her arrival in London (1662). Lady Clarendon died suddenly (Aug 8, 1667) aged fifty, at St James’s Palace in London. She was buried in the Chapel of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey. Her five children were,

1) Lady Anne Hyde (1627 – 1671). She became the first wife of James Stuart, Duke of York (1633 – 1701) and bore him two surviving daughters.

2) Henry, Lord Hyde (1638 – 1709). He succeeded his father as the second Earl of Clarendon (1674 – 1709), and married twice but left no male issue.

3) Sir Laurence Hyde (1641 – 1711). He was created first Earl of Rochester and then succeeded his elder brother as the third Earl of Clarendon (1709 – 1711) and left issue.

4) Lady Mary Hyde. She became the wife of Thomas Keightley, of Hertingfordbury in Hertfordshire, the Vice-Treasurer of Ireland.

5) Edward Hyde (1645 – 1665). He died unmarried.

Clarendon, Jane Leveson-Gower, Countess of – (1674 – 1725)
British peeress and society beauty
Jane Leveson-Gower was born the younger daughter of Sir William Leveson-Gower (c1636 – 1689), fourth baronet, of Sittenham in Yorkshire, and his wife Lady Jane Grenville (1653 – 1696), the daughter of John Grenville (1628 – 1701), the first Earl of Bath. She became the wife (1692) of Henry, Lord Hyde (1672 – 1753), the son and heir of Sir Laurence Hyde, first Earl of Rochester, the maternal unce to queens Mary II (1688 – 1694) and Anne Stuart (1702 – 1714).
At the time of their marriage Lord and Lady Hyde were considered to be an attractive and popular society couple, and she became a ‘top toast’ in Tory political circles. Two of their daughters, Lady Essex and the Duchess of Queensberry became celebrated as great beauties and lionized by London society, but even these ladies were considered to be inferior in beauty to their mother Lady Hyde. She was complimented in verse by her kinsman George Grenville, Lord Lansdowne and by Matthew Prior who extolled her as ‘Myra’ in his Judgement of Venus. Jonathan Swift referred to her as his ‘mistress’ and Alexander Pope praised Lady Jane’s beauty as a means of arousing the jealous ire of Martha Blount. Her husband succeeded his father as the second Earl of Rochester (1711) and Jane became the Countess of Rochester. When Hyde succeeded as the fourth Earl of Clarendon (1724) she became the Countess of Clarendon, as that was the older title.
Lady Clarendon died (May 24, 1725) aged fifty. Her portrait was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller and two portraits of the countess by the Swedish painter Michael Dahl (1656 – 1743) were preserved in the Clarendon gallery at Watford (1900). Many years after her death, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu cast dubious but venemous aspersions concerning her fidelity to her husband.

Clarens, Juliette – (1887 – 1978)
French silent film actress
Clarens was born (April 10, 1887) in Paris. She made her first silent film appearance in Rigadin n’est pas sage (1910) and Justice Royale (1910). Her credits included Leocadie veut se faire mannequin (1911), Les Surprises du divorce (1912), La Vie de Boheme (1916) and L’Argent qui tue (1919). Clarens retired from films after her appearance in Au Travail (1920) and survived her movie career by six decades. Juliette Clarens died (Oct 10, 1978) aged ninety.

Claricia – (d. after 1228)
English mediaeval nun
Claricia was the first recorded abbess of the Cistercian convent of All Saints at Tarrant in Dorset, which had been founded by Ralph de Kahaines (died c1173). Surviving charter evidence reveals that Claricia made a public declaration to Richard Poore, Bishop of Salisbury, at the time of her offical installment as abbess, which took place sometime prior to 1228. Claricia was later succeeded as abbess by one Emelina.

Claricia of Augsburg – (fl. c1200 – c1230)
German illuminator
Claricia was sent to the convent of Augsburg as a child to be educated before she took final vows as a nun. She was trained in bookmaking and painting, and worked as an illuminator in the convent scriptorium. She produced a self-portrait of herself in tha tail of the letter ‘Q’ in a surviving psalter preserved at The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Clarina, Alice Erin Allhusen, Lady – (1884 – 1961)
British war worker
Alice Allhusen was the fourth daughter of Wilton Allhusen, of Pinhay, Dorset (1840 – 1924), and his wife Adelaide, the daughter of Major Thomas Pakenham Vandeleur, of Belfield, Limerick, Ireland. Her grandfather was Christian Augustus Allhusen (1806 – 1890), of Stoke Court, in Buckinghamshire, son of a Danish merchant. She was married (1906) to Eyre Nathaniel Massey, sixth Baron Clarina (1880 – 1952), and bore him an only daughter. The title became extinct with her husband’s death (1952).  Lady Clarina was the organiser of military canteen units for the Allied troops in Belgium, Serbia, and Italy during WW I. The Serbian government awarded Lady Clarina the Order of St Sava in recognition of her service to the Serbian army, and she received honourable mention in British despatches. Lady Clarina died (May 12, 1961) aged seventy-six.

Clarinda    see   Maclehose, Agnes

Claritas – (c340 – c371 AD)
Roman adultery law victim
Claritas was a matron of patrician rank, who was accused and convicted of adultery during the reign of the Emperor Valentinian I. She was put to death after being convicted by the notorious prefect Maximinus.

Clark, Agnes Elisabeth     see    Lutyens, Elisabeth

Clark, Ann Dennis – (1935 – 1997)
Australian religious educator
Ann Dennis was born (March 26, 1935) at Randwick in Sydney, New South Wales. She attended the College of St Vincent in Potts Point and later studied the arts and sciences at the University of New England. Dennis trained as a teacher in the Catholic school system and was married. Mrs Clark then served as deputy director and then acting director of education in Bathurst before becoming a consultanbt in secondary education with the Catholic Education Office in Sydney a position she held for two decades (1979 – 1997).
Ann Clark became the first woman to be appointed to head a Catholic school system in the state of NSW when she became the founding head of the schools in the diocese of Parramatta (1987). She served as the minister to the board of governors of the University of Western Sydney (1989) and to the NSW Board of Studies (1990). In recognition of her contribution to education Ann Clark was appointed AM (Member of the Order of Australia) (1995). Ann Dennis Clark died of cancer (Jan 27, 1997) aged sixty-one, in Sydney.

Clark, Catherine Anthony – (1892 – 1977)
Anglo-Canadian children’s phantasy writer
Born Catherine Smith in London, and later immigrated to Canada with her family (1914). She married there and produced a family. Clark died not publish her first novel for children until she was almost sixty, The Golden Pine Cone (1950). This successful work was followed by several other books in the same genre, such as The Sun Horse (1951), The One-Winged Dragon (1955), The Diamond Feather (1962), and The Hunter and the Medicine Man (1966), amongst others. Her work was greatly influenced by the legends and stories of the native Canadian Indians, and most were set in the wilderness of British Columbia, a setting Clark was familiar with.

Clark, Eleanor – (1913 – 1996)
American novelist and literary critic
Eleanor Clark was born (July 6, 1913) in California, and attended Vassar College. She was married (1952) to the noted poet, novelist, and literary critic, Robert Penn Warren (1905 – 1989), and bore him two children. Her published works included Rome and a Villa (1952), Song of Roland (1960), The Oysters of Locmariaquer (1964), for which she received the National Book Award for Arts and Letters (1965), and Baldur’s Gate (1970).

Clark, Emily Lodge – (1906 – 1992) 
American diplomatic and social figure
Emily Sears was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, the daughter of Henry F. Sears, a physician, and was tutored at home, being partly educated in France. She was married firstly (1926), to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, later a vice-presidential nominee (1960) who died in 1985, and secondly (1987) to Forrester A. Clark, an investment banker. Mrs Lodge accompanied her first husband into his public life whilst he was senator in Massachusetts, and also served as a political and diplomatic hostess when he seved as ambassador to South Vietnam and West Germany. Emily Lodge Clark died (June 6, 1992) aged eighty-six, in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Clark, Esther – (1707 – 1794)
British poet
Esther Lewis was born in Holt, Wiltshire, the daughter of Reverend John Lewis, of St Katharine’s, Holt, an antiquarian who probably stimulated her early literary interests. With the death of her mother (1744) Clark remained at Holt, running her father’s household, but several of her poems had appeared in the Bath Journal prior to 1749, under the pseudonym ‘Sylvia.’ Several of her wroks also appear in Samuel Bowden’s Poems on Various Subjects (1754). With her father’s death (1761), she quickly married to a widower, Robert Clark, of Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Clark became actively involved in local philanthropic activities, and a collection of her work, Poems Moral and Entertaining (1789), were published for the benefit of several charitable organizations in Bath, Gloucester, and Tetbury. Esther Clark died (May 8, 1794) aged eighty, at Tetbury.

Clark, Hilda – (1881 – 1955)
British relief worker and pacifist
Hilda Clarke was born in Somerset, the daughter of a Quaker shoe manufacturer. Hilda was educated privately at home and at the Mount School in York, and then studied medicine in Birmingham and at London University, where she successfully trained as a physician. Clark was a supporter of the new tuberculin injection treatment, which had been devised to treat tuberculosis, and was the author of Dispensary Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (1914). Together with Edmund Harvey she co-founded the Friends War Victims Relief, and served as a medical organizer in France with Edith Pye. Clark and Pye then went to Vienna (1919), where they established schemes to provide food and milk for Child Welfare Centres, and helped to fight against malnutrition and tuberculosis. An advocate of female suffrage, Clark was closely involved with the League of Nations and the Women’s International League, and served in Geneva, Switzerland as the honorary secretary of the Women’s Peace Crusade. She worked helping refugees and other war victims from various countries such as Greece, Austria, Spain, and France, and was a member of the board of directors of the International Commission for Refugee Children. Hilda Clark died at Street, in Somerset.

Clarke, Edith (1) – (1844 – 1926)
British educator and culinary teacher
Edith Clarke was born at Shooter’s Hill, Kent (Oct 27, 1844), the daughter of a naval officer. She was the granddaughter to the noted general, Sir Edward Nicolls and of Thomas Love Peacock, the chief examiner to the East India Company, and she was educated privately. Edith was married (1876) to a civil servant with the company, Charles Clarke. The couple had three daughters. She is remembered as a pioneer in the field of domestic training for women. She founded and was principal (1875 – 1919) of the National Training School for Cookery and Domestic Subjects, and wrote several books on the subject, such as Workhouse Cookery and the Plain and High Class Cookery Book, as well as a biography of her maternal grandfather, Thomas Peacock. Edith Clarke died (Aug 20, 1926) aged eighty-one, in London.

Clarke, Edith (2) – (1883 – 1959)
American electrical engineer
Edith Clarke was born (Feb 10, 1883) in Maryland. She studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin (1911 – 1912), and was then employed as a mathematician with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Later employed by General Electric, and her pioneering work included research into newly built electrical power systems, and how they they were affected by faulty conditions. Clarke was the author of two important papers, ‘Three-Phase Multiple-Conductor Circuits’ (1932), and, ‘Stability Limitations of Long distance A – C Power Transmission Systems’ (1941), and produced the two volume reference work, Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems (1943). She became the first woman to be elected a fellow of AIEE (American Institute of American Engineers (1948) and was the recipient of the Society of Women Engineers’ Achievement award (1954). She retired in 1956. Edith Clarke died (Oct 29, 1959) aged aged seventy-six, in Olney, Maryland.

Clarke, Elizabeth – (c1580 – 1645)
English accused witch
Elizabeth Clarke was a native of Manningtree in Essex. Elderly, widowed, poor, and disabled, she was the unfortunate first victim of Matthew Hopkins, the infamous witchfinder. Hopkins kept Clarke under observation, depriving her of sleep, and stated that he saw spirits sent by the Devil, who came to visit her in prison. A group of seven women were accused of being witches and meeting at Clarke’s house, their supposed victim being one Richard Edwards, a local estate owner, who accused her and a friend, Anne Leech, of bewitching his son. Both women were sent to trial at Chelmsford, found guilty, and hanged.

Clarke, Elizabeth Bleckly – (1915 – 1993)
British educator and lawyer
Elizabeth Clarke was born (May 26, 1915) in Cranborne, Dorset, the daughter of a Justice of the Peace and attended school in Boscombe, Hants before going on to study at St Hilda’s College at Oxford. Whilst serving as assistant headmistress of schools in Hindhead and at Benenden she studied for her law degree and was later called to the bar at Middle Temple (1949). She served as vice-principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College (1950 – 1954) before returning for two decades as the headmistress of the Benenden School (1954 – 1975). Her services to education were acknowleged when she was appointed CVO (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) by Queen Elizabeth II (1969). Elizabeth Bleckly Clarke died (Oct 18, 1993) aged seventy-eight.

Clarke, Elizabeth Dodge – (1884 – 1976)
American philanthropist
Elizabeth Dodge was born in New York, and attended the Brearley School there. She was married firstly (1916) to George E. Huntingdon, the vice-president of Robert College in Istanbul, and she resided in that city with her husband for some years. Widowed in 1953 Elizabeth Huntingdon remarried (1955) to a clergyman Dumont Clarke. Mrs Clarke served on the boards of both the Robert College and the American Hospital in Istanbul. She was a member of the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) and of the International Student Service of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). Elizabeth Dodge Clarke died (Jan 9, 1976) aged ninety-one, in New York.

Clarke, Mary Anne – (1776 – 1852)
British courtesan, swindler and adventuress
Born Mary Anne Thompson in London, she was educated at Ham. She eloped with one Joseph Clarke, a stonemason, when she was sixteen (1793), and bore him three children. When he became bankrupt several years afterwards (1798), Mrs Clarke decided to take wealthy lovers, such as Sir Charles Milner, Sir James Brudenell, and Lord Barrymore, in order to survive
Clarke tried her hand as an actress at the Haymarket Theatre, and eventually became the mistress (1803 – 1806) of Frederick, Duke of York (1763 – 1827), the second son of George III, who was commander-in-chief of the army.
However, because of her large debts, the duke had permitted Clarke to take bribes from those wishing military promotions, which revelations caused considerable public scandal. Apart from this, Clarke had once entered the church at Weybridge in Surrey, in order to observe the Duchess of York at her prayers. The duchess indignantly wrote to the Prime Minister, William Pitt, demanding that such an outrage never be permitted again. Clarke was later examined by the Commons (1809) because of her bribery involvement, which caused her royal lover great embarassment, though he was exonerated after ahearing, and she was twice twice for libel (1809) and (1813), after which she was sentenced to a period of imprisonment (1814 – 1815). She later travelled to France, where she resided for several decades, and maintained a popular salon in Paris. Mary Anne Clarke died (June 21, 1852) in Boulogne.

Clarke, Mary Stetson – (1911 – 1994)
American historian and children’s writer
Clarke became a trustee of the Melrose Public Library (1970 – 1994) and was then appointed as a director of the Melrose Historical Society (1976). Her published work included Petticoat Rebel (1964), Piper of the Clan (1970), Emigration in Colonial Times (1973), Women’s Rights in the US (1974), and The Old Middlesex Canal (1974). She edited the works entitled Growing Up in Melrose (1981) and History of Trinity Parish, Melrose (1982).

Clarke, Mary Victoria Cowden – (1809 – 1898)
British author and novelist
Mary Victoria Novello was the daughter of the composer, Vincent Novello, and his wife, Mary Sabilla Hehl, and was sister to singer Clara Novello. She was educated privately at home by a governess, and later attended school in France. She was married (1828) to Charles Cowden Clarke. Clarke wrote on a variety of subjects, and her written books included the, Complete Concordance of Shakespeare (1829 – 1845), The Adventures of Kit Bam, Mariner (1848), The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Heroines (1850), The Iron Cousin (1854), The Song of a Drop o’ Wather, by Harry Wandworth Shortfellow (1856), World-noted Women (1857), Trust and Remittance. Love Stories in Metred Prose (1873), and, A Rambling Story (1874). Clarke, who was editor of the periodical the Musical Times (1853 – 1856), also wrote biographies of her father and brother, and produced the autobiography, My Long Life (1896). Mary Victoria Cowden Clarke died (Jan 12, 1898) aged eighty-eight.

Clarke, Rebecca Sophia – (1833 – 1906)
American children’s author
Rebecca Clarke was born at Norridgewock in Maine, where she resided her entire life. Using the pseudonym ‘Sophie May’ she wrote over forty books for children. She is best remembered for her six volume Little Prudy series (1863 – 1865), the six volume Dotty Dimple series (1867 – 1869) and the six volume Flaxxie Frizzle series (1876 – 1884), amongst others. She later wrote the  six volume Quinnebasset series (1871 – 1891) and the Little Prudy’s Children series (1894 – 1901) for juvenile girls. Rebecca Sophia Clarke died (Aug 16, 1906) aged seventy-three.

Clarke, Rebecca Sophie Thatcher – (1886 – 1979)
British violinist and composer
Rebecca Clarke was born (Aug 27, 1886) in Harrow, near London, the daughter of Joseph Clarke, an amateur musician. She received her musical training at the Royal College of Music, London (1902 – 1904), where she studied violin under Hans Wesseley, and harmony with Percy Miles. She later had viola tuition from Lionel Tertis. Her first composition was a piano trio (1921), was produced before she moved to America, and was awarded second prize at the Berkshire Festival.
Her other works included her very evocative, Chinese Puzzle for violin and piano (1922) and her Rhapsody for cello and piano (1923), performed by Dame Myra Hess. Her Midsummer Moon (1924) for violin and piano was dedicated to and first performed by Adila d’Aranyi. With the outbreak of World War II she was unable to return to England for the duration, and took employment as a governess in Connecticut, New Hampshire. She then produced Passacaglia on an Old English Tune (1941) for viola and piano, which published in New York, and Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale (1941), performed at the International Society of Contemporary Music Festival, in San Francisco in 1942. She married a fellow teacher, James Friskin (1944), and retired to New York City. Rebecca Sophie Clarke died (Oct 13, 1979) aged ninety-three, in New York.

Clarke, Shirley – (1919 – 1997)
American film director
Born Shirley Brimberg in New York, she was educated at John Hopkins University and the University of North Carolina. She originally trained as a dancer, receiving instruction and performing with Martha Graham before deciding to try her talent in film, without any formal training in that field. Her first film, The Connection (1962), brought her into contact with the cinema verite movement. Clarke co-founded the Film-Makers Co-operative with the Lithuanian film maker, Jonas Mekas, with the aim of distributing independently made films. She was one of the signatories to the Statement for a New American Cinema, and later taught film and video production at the University of California in Los Angeles, where she was appointed as professor in film (1975). During her later years she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Clarke’s film credits included the short film, Skyscraper (1959), The Cool World (1963), Portrait of Jason (1967), Lions Love (1969), and the documentaries, Robert Frost, A Lover’s Quarrel with the World (1963), and, Ornette: Made in America (1986).

Clarkstone, Bessie – (d. 1625)
Scottish devotional author
Bessie sufferred a crisis of religious faith which lasted for several years, and resulted in her composing several vereses which were printed posthumousy in, The Conflict in Conscience of a deare Christian, named Bessie Clarkstone, in the Parish of Lanark, which she lay under three yeare & a half (1631), which was published by John Wreittoun.

Claude de Valois – (1547 – 1576)
Princess of France
Princess Claude de Valois was born (Nov 12, 1547) at Fontainebleau Palace, the second daughter of Henry II, King of France (1547 – 1559) and his Italian wife, Catherine de Medici. Claude was sister to the kings of the Valois dynasty, Francois II (1559 – 1560), Charles IX (1560 – 1574), and Henry III (1574 – 1589), and sister-in-law to the first king of the Bourbon dynasty, Henry IV (1589 – 1610). Possessed of a placid, retiring nature, the princess also possessed attractive looks, which is revealed by the surviving miniature of her by Jean Clouet.
Princess Claude remained forever awed by the influence of her mother, Queen Catherine. She was raised during her earliest years by her father’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, and in the company of their Scottish cousin, the child queen, Mary Stuart. She was married (1559) to Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (1543 – 1608) at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Henry II commissioned the famous dramatist Jacques Grevin (c1539 – 1570) to compose his comedy work La Tresoniere to celebrate Claude’s marriage. As duchess consort of Lorraine (1559 – 1576), Claude held her court at Nancy but made several visits to the French court of the next fifteen years, and was in Paris during the fateful Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day (1572). Duchesse Claude died (Feb 21, 1576) aged only twenty-eight, at Nancy, leaving nine children,

1. Henry I (1563 – 1624). He became Duke of Bar and Duke of Lorraine (1608 – 1624), and was married and left descendants.

1. Princess Christina of Lorraine (1565 – 1636). She became the wife of Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1547 – 1609) to whom she bore children.

1. Prince Charles of Lorraine (1567 – 1607). He remained unmarried, took holy orders, and was appointed a cardinal.

1. Princess Antoinette of Lorraine (1568 – 1610). She became the second wife of Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Cleves (1562 – 1609), but died childless.

1. Princess Anne of Lorraine (1569 – 1579). She died during childhood.

1. Francois II (1572 – 1632). He became Duke of Lorraine (1624 – 1632), and was married and left descendants.

1. Princess Catherine of Lorraine (1573 – 1648). She remained unmarried, became a nun, and was appointed as Abbess of Remriemont.

1. Princess Elisabeth of Lorraine (1574 – 1635). She became the second wife of Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria (1573 – 1651), but died childless.

1. Princess Claude of Lorraine (1574 – 1576) She died in infancy.

Claude d’Orleans – (1499 – 1524)
Queen consort of France (1515 – 1524)
Princesse Claude d’Orleans was born (Oct 13, 1499) at Romorantin, the elder surviving daughter and heiress of Louis XII, King of France and his second wife Anne of Brittany, the widow of Charles VIII. Claude was betrothed to the future Charles V of Austria by the Treaty of Blois (1504), which had been organized by her mother, Queen Anne, as a means of keeping Brittany out of French control. The treaty promised the emperor Brittany, Burgundy, and the county of Blois, but was highly unpopular at home. However this elaborate plan was broken two years later when Claude was betrothed instead to Francois of Angouleme (1494 – 1547), the future Francois I, who succeeded her father. With the death of Queen Anne (Jan, 1514), Claude inherited the duchy of Brittany, and was married to Francois several months later. With his accession (1515) Brittany remained forever joined to the crown of France. Of a quiet, retiring character, Queen Claude devoted her short life to the upbringing of her children. Her children included the Dauphin Francois (1518 – 1536), Henry II (1519 – 1559), and Margeurite, the wife of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. Queen Claude died (July 26, 1524) aged twenty-four, at Blois, and was interred at the Abbey of St Denis, at Rheims, near Paris, bequeathing Brittany to the king in her will.

Claude of Lorraine – (1612 – 1648)
French heiress and sovereign duchess
Princess Claude of Lorraine was born (Oct 6, 1612) at Nancy, the second daughter and coheiress of Duke Henry I of Lorraine and his second wife Margherita di Gonzaga, the daughter of Vincenzo I di Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua in Italy. Her elder sister Nicole became the wife (1621) of their cousin Prince Charles of Lorraine-Mercoeur, and he was recognized as Duke of Lorraine (1624 – 1634).
However when over a decade afterwards Claude became the wife (1634) of Charles’s brother, Prince Nicolas Francois of Lorraine-Mercoeur (1609 – 1670), her husband was officially recognized and installed as sovereign duke of Lorraine in Claude’s right, Duchess Nicole having remained childless. Claude was then the duchess consort of Lorraine (1634 – 1648).
Duchess Claude died (Aug 2, 1648) aged thirty-five. Apart from two daughters who died in infancy Claude left two children, Prince Ferdinand Philip of Lorraine (1639 – 1659) who died unmarried, and Charles IV Leopold (1643 – 1690) who ruled jointly with Duke Nicolas Francois (1661) and then succeeded his father as sole ruler (1670 – 1690). He married and left issue.

Claudel, Camille – (1864 – 1943)
French sculptor
Camille Claudel was born (Dec 8, 1864) in La Fere-en-Tardenois, the daughter of a civil servant, and was sister to the celebrated poet and diplomat, Paul Claudel (1868 – 1955). Camille herself was perhaps more famous for her relationship with the sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917), whose mistress she became (1884). Claudel is thought to have contributed some of the figure in Rodin’s work, Gates of Hell. Their relationship was fiery and unstable, Claudel being Rodin’s muse, mistress, and model, and it caused her lasting mental anguish. Her best known works included Buste de Jeune Fille (1887), Le Jeune Romain (1885), and a portrait of Rodin (1892). The couple later parted company (1898), and she continued to produce works on her own, but her mental capacity continued to diminish, and eventually she was confined to an asylum (1913), where she remained for three decades until her death. Her tragic life was the subject of the film, Camille Claudel (1989).

Claudia – (b. & d. 63 AD)
Roman Augusta
Claudia was born (Jan 21, 63 AD) at Antium, the only child of the Emperor Nero (54 – 68 AD), borne to him by his second wife Poppaea Sabina, the daughter of the equestrian, Titus Ollius, and granddaughter of consul Poppaeus Sabinus. She was granted the Imperial title and style but lived for only four months dying in the following May. She was deified by the Senate and was represented on the coinage.

Claudia de Medici – (1604 – 1648)
Italian princess of Tuscany and Florence
Princess Claudia de Medici was born (June 4, 1604) in Florence, the fourth daughter of Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Christina of Lorraine. She received an excellent education at the court of her brother Cosimo II, and became refined and cultured with a noted religious piety. She was married firstly (1620) to Francesco Ubaldo della Rovere (1605 – 1625), Duke of Urbino. Her husband died the victim of his own youthful excesses leaving Claudia with an only child, Victoria Feltria della Rovere, the heiress of Urbino, who was later married (1638) to her Medici cousin, Grand Duke Ferdinando II of Tuscany, and left issue.
Duchess Claudia returned to the Medici court in Florence with her daughter, and her brother Cosimo then arranged for her remarriage at Innsbruck (1626) to the Archduke Leopold (1586 – 1632), Count of Tyrol, the brother of the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II. She settled with her husband at Ambras Castle where the archduchess collected together many of the portraits of her family that reain there to the present day. There remain extant several portraits of this princess, one painted during her youth is preserved in the Pitti Gallery in Florence, whilst another painted in maturity (1634) by Sustermans and preserved in the Uffizi Gallery, portrays the archduchess as the Roman empress Galla Placidia, holding a crucifix in her and, with a broken idol on the table before her. Another portrait preserved at Innsbruck depicts the archduchess seated on her throne, presiding over a meeting of the Landstag (parliament).
With Leopold’s death Claudia was appointed to rule Tyrol as regent for her young son the Archduke Karl Ferdinand. She ruled with considerable ability during a period of great difficulty. She not only improved the civil administration and resources of Tyrol, but her political astuteness saved the county from being drawn into the Thirty Years’ War which engulfed the rest of the German Empire. She resigned her powers as regent when her son came of age to rule (1646). Archduchess Claudia died (Dec 25, 1648) aged forty-four, at Innsbruck. She left five children from her second marriage,

1) Archduchess Maria Eleanora of Austria, Countess of Tyrol (1627 – 1629). She died in infancy.

2) Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria (1628 – 1662). He succeeded his father as the reigning Count of Tyrol (1632 – 1662) and was married (1646) to his first cousin Anna de Medici, by
whom he left issue.

3) Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria, Countess of Tyrol (1629 – 1685). She became the wife of Carlo di Gonzaga (1629 – 1665), Duke of Mantua.

4) Archduke Sigismund of Austria, Count of Tyrol (1630 – 1665). He took holy orders and became a priest, being appointed as Bishop of Augsburg in Bavaria. He was later made a Cardinal.

5) Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria, Countess of Tyrol (1632 – 1649). She became the second wife of her cousin the Emperor Ferdinand III (1608 – 1657).

Claudia Acte     see    Acte, Claudia

Claudia Capitolina – (c56 – after 98 AD)
Roman-Greek queen
Claudia Capitolina was the daughter of Tiberius Claudius Balbillus, prefect of Egypt (55 AD). She was probably the granddaughter of Balbillus, astrologer to the emperor Tiberius (14 – 37 AD). Claudia Capitolina was married (c80 AD) to the client ruler Antiochus V Epiphanes, King of Commagene, as his second wife. The queen was stepmother of C. Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappus, consul (109 AD), who was called king as a courtesy, but was probably the mother of Julia Balbilla the poet, who frequented the court of Emperor Hadrian. With the king’s death (c90 AD) Claudia Capitolina remarried to Junius Rufus, prefect of Egypt (94 – 98 AD), and she was perhaps the mother of his son Marcus Junius Mettius Rufus, consul suffect (128 AD). Her second marriage was revealed by a surviving inscription from Pergamum in Asia Minor, erected in honour of Junius Rufus. An inscription from Egypt referred to her specifically with the title regina.

Claudia Felicitas of Tyrol – (1653 – 1676)
Holy Roman empress (1673 – 1676)
Archduchess Claudia Felicitas was born in Innsbruck, the daughter of Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Tyrol and his wife Anna, the daughter of Cosimo II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Her father was the last male, but one in the cadet line of the Hapsburg house of Tyrol amd Claudia Felicitas had no surviving siblings. An acknowledged beauty, which fact is born out by her portrait by Carlo Dolci, she was sought as a second wife for James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II of England (1672), sending Lord Peterborough as his ambassador, but these negotiatioins came to nothing when the recently widowed emperor Leopold I decided to marry her himself (1673), she being chosen for him by his advisors, Baron Hoche and Emmerich Sinelli, Bishop of Vienna. The marriage was opposed by Prince Wenzel Lobkowicz, who antagonized the empress’s clique by tactless and insulting remarks concerning her mother, and was stripped of his offices and banished from court (1674). The empress died (April 18, 1676) aged only twenty-two, in Vienna. Her two daughters died young.

Claudia Marcella     see    Marcella Maior, Claudia    and   Marcella Minor, Claudia

Claudia Metrodora – (fl. c54 – 68 AD)
Graeco-Roman civic leader
Claudia Metrodora was the daughter of Claudius Kalobrotos of Teos, and was the adopted daughter of Skytheinos of Kios. Details preserved from a fragmentary inscription from Ephesus reveal that Claudia piad from her own finances to provide public meals, and that she also erected public baths. She held the honorary rank of gymnasiarch on four separate occasions, and provided supplies of olive oil for the public on two occasions. She was honoured as a basileia of the Ionian League.

Claudia Pulchra – (12 BC – 26 AD)
Roman Imperial princess and political victim
Claudia Pulchra was the daughter of Marcus Valerius Barbarus Appianus, consul (12 BC) and his wife Claudia Marcella Minor, the niece of emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). Her brother M. Valerius Barbatus Messalla was the mother of Messallina, the infamous wife of the emperor Claudius I (41 – 54 AD). Claudia Pulchra was married (c3 AD) to Publius Quinctilius Varus (c50 BC – 9 AD), consul (13 BC) as his third wife. She bore him a son Quinctilius Varus (c4 AD) who was betrothed as a child to one of the daughters of Prince Germanicus. With her husband’s death in Germany (9 AD) Claudia Pulchra did not remarry and formed a close friendship with her cousin, the elder Agrippina, widow of Germanicus, which personal alliance would cost her dearly.
Claudia Pulchra was eventually prosecuted by Domitius Afer, at the instigation of Aelius Sejanus, Agrippina’s enemy, and her trial was recorded by Tacitus in his Annales. She was charged with indulging in immoral relations with Furnius, and of attempting to use black magic and poison to encompass the death of the Emperor Tiberius. Claudia and Furnius were put to death, as was her son Varus not long afterwards (27 AD).

Claudia Quinta    see   Quinta, Claudia

Claudia Rufina – (36 – 97 AD)
Celtic-Romano patrician
Claudia Rufina was born at Regnum (Chichester) in Britain, the daughter of King Caradoc (Caractacus). She married the Roman senator Rufius Pudens Pudentius, to whom she bore two daughters who were regarded as saints, Praxedia and Pudentiana. The Roman poet Martial wrote verses in her honour, and she died in Umbria, Italy.

Claypole, Elizabeth Cromwell, Lady – (1629 – 1658)
English Parliamentary figure
Elizabeth Cromwell was born (July, 1629) at Ely in Huntingdon, the sixth child and second daughter of the future Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and his wife Elizabeth Bourchier, the daughter of Sir James Bourchier. She was married at Ely (1646) to Sir John Claypole (1623 – 1688) to who she bore four children. Known as ‘Lady Bettie’ she was Cromwell’s favourite child, and though she retained the distinctive Cromwell nose she was an attractive and vivacious young woman. She was present at the marriage of her younger sister Frances Cromwell to Robert Rich (1657) and presented the bride with two candle sconces worth one hundred pounds apiece.
Lady Claypole’s youngest son Oliver died (June, 1658) and she, now seriously afflicted with cancer, withdrew to Hampton Court Palace. Soon afterwards she was taken to Tunbridge Wells to take the waters but this remedy proved useless. Andrew Marvell praised her naturally sweet disposition, and open nature which combined ‘the elevation of mind and dignity of deportment, of one born of the royal stem.’ Lady Claypole died (Aug 6, 1658) aged twenty-nine, and was interred in Westminster Abbey in London. Whitelocke recorded in his Memorials (1658) ‘News of the Death of the Lady Elizabeth Claypole yesterday at Hampton Court; she was a Lady of excellent Parts, and courteous and friendly to all Gentlemen of her acquaintance; her Death did much grieve her father.’ Her resting place was not disturbed after the Restoration (1660) and her tomb remains intact. Sir John Claypole remarried secondly (1670) to Blanche, the widow of Lancelot Staveley, who survived him as the Dowager Lady Claypole.

Clayton, Mrs Charlotte    see   Sundon, Charlotte Dyve, Lady

Clayton, Ethel – (1884 – 1966)
American actress
Clayton was a stage performer who became a silent film actress. Her credits included Her Own Money (1912), The College Widow (1915), Sham (1921) and If I Were Queen (1922). She appeared in the classic Mother Machree (1928) and also appeared in sound movies during the 1930’s after which her career declined. Her credits in this field were many and included Continental (1932), Artists and Models (1937), The Buccaneer (1938) and Ambush (1939).

Cleaver, Alice – (c1891 – 1984)
Anglo-American children’s nurse
Hsving borne an illegitimate child that she killed in despair when her lover deserted her, Alice was released by a sympathetic judge and obtained work as a children’s nurse. She was engaged in Southampton, England to be the nurse for the two small children of Mr and Mrs Hudson Allison, who were traveling aboard the ill-fated Titanic returning the the USA (1912). Alice took the couple’s infant son Trevor to safety in a lifeboat, but his parents and young sister were drowned.

Cleggett, Ella – (1884 – 1960)
Australian educator and civic leader
Ella Cleggett was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of John Cleggett. She was trained as a teacher with the South Australian Education Department. After WW I Cleggett actively campaigned for better treatment and continuing health care for returned servicemen who were stricken with tuberuclosis. She served for four decades (1920 – 1960) as secretary of the Tuberculosis Soldiers Aid Society, and her work was recognized when she was appointed MBE (Member of the British Empire) by King George VI (1951). She remained unmarried. Ella Cleggett died (March 27, 1960) aged seventy-five, in Adelaide.

Cleghorn, Sarah Norcliffe – (1876 – 1959)
American poet, socialist, and pacifist
Born (Feb 4, 1876) in Norfolk, Virginia, she was the author of such popular poems as, ‘Contented at Forty,’ and, ‘Come, Captain Age,’ which appeared in collections such as poems as, Portraits and Protests (1917), and, Poems of Peace and Freedom (1945). Cleghorn published her autobiography entitled Threescore (1936). Sarah Cleghorn died (April 4, 1959) aged eighty-four.

Cleitagora    see   Kleitagora

Clemence of Barking – (fl. c1150 – c1169)
Anglo-Norman translator
Clemence was a member of the religious community at Barking Abbey. She translated the Life of Saint Catherine (of Alexandria) from Latin into Norman-French, producing a modernized adaptation of a standard vita, somewhere between c1163 and 1169.

Clemence of Hungary (Clementia) – (1293 – 1328)
Queen consort of France (1315 – 1316)
Princess Clementia was born (Feb, 1293) the daughter of Charles I Martel, King of Hungary and his queen, Clementia of Hapsburg, the youngest daughter of Rudolf I, King of Germany.
Reputed to be one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses in Europe, Clemence became the second wife (1315) of Louis X le Hutin (the Strong) (1298 – 1316), King of France (1314 – 1316), after his divorce from Margeurite of Burgundy, the marriage being arranged by the French chancellor, Hughes de Bourges.
Clemence was crowned with Louis at Rheims, near Paris (Aug 3, 1315), and accompanied him on his expedition to Flanders, where she became pregant. She was the mother of his posthumous son, Jean I (1316). The queen was present at her husband’s bedside at Vincennes when he died of pleurisy (June 5, 1316).  The succession now depended on the sex of Clemence’s unborn child. If she gave birth to a daughter, the throne went to her brother-in-law, Philip of Poitiers, who was appointed as regent till the birth, Queen Clemence being placed under his especial protection. During the night (Nov 13 – 14, 1316), the queen gave birth to a son who was proclaimed as Jean I. Five days later the infant king died (Nov 19) and Poitiers was proclaimed king as Philip V. Decades later a man called Gianino in Florence persuaded Queen Clemence’s nephew, Louis I of Hungary, that he was Jean I, but otherwise he met with little success, and died in jail in Naples (1363). After this Queen Clemence was treated honourably by Philip V, and she retired to a Dominican convent and died there (Oct 12, 1328) aged thirty-five. She was interred in the royal basilica of St Denis, at Rheims, near Paris. Rumour attributed her death to murder, though the reason for this remains obscure and the charges were almost certainly no more than vicious slander.

Clemens, Mary Strong – (1873 – 1968)
Australian botanist
Born Mary Knapp Strong in New York, USA, she was later married (1896) to an American army chaplain, who served in Europe and in South East Asia over a sixteen year period (1902 – 1918). Mrs Clemens accompanied her husband on his postings, and being herself a committed and intrepid botanist, she collected tens of thousands of plants from remote regions in the Philippine, Borneo and China. Her husband died in New Guinea (1935) she remained on there to collect specimens until she was forced to evacuate during WW II (1941), when she retired to Brisbane in Queensland. Clemens continued collecting throughout various regions of Queensland such as Stanthorpe and Jericho, and discovered several new species. Mary Strong Clemens died (April 13, 1968) aged ninety-four, in Brisbane.

Clement, Bertha – (1852 – 1930)
German writer and publisher
Bertha Clement was born (Aug 25, 1852) at Ludwigslust, and was educated at home with a governess, with lessons from her father. Bertha did not begin her career as a writer until she was about forty. She wrote several prose works for juvenile readers such as Amstrichters Tochtor (1903), which were published in Leipzig in Saxony and remained popular until the end of WW I. Bertha Clement died (Aug 22, 1930) aged seventy-seven, at Ludwigslust.

Clement, Margaret – (1508 – 1570)
English scholar and religious exile
Born Margaret Gigs in Norfolk, she was adopted by the famous Sir Thomas More, who raised her with his own children, and made reference to her scholarliness, especially in arithmetic and algebra, in his letters, as did John Coke in his work, The Debate (1550). Margaret was married (1530) to John Clements, the royal physician. She witnessed her adopted father’s execution (1535), and assisted his daughter Margaret Roper with the arrangements for his burial. She later attempted to help the Carthusian monks, who were left to starve to death in Newgate Prison. With the accession of the Protestant Edward VI (1547), Margaret and her husband fled England and went to reside in the Netherlands, where they remained until the accession of Mary I (1558), when they returned home. With Queen Mary’s death (1558), the couple returned to the Continent, and both died at Mechlin.

Clement, Therese    see   Sutter, Therese

Clementi, Marie Penelope Rose – (fl. c1900 – 1947)
British traveller, mountaineer and author
Marie Clementi was the wife of the colonial secretary of Georgetown, Guyana. In 1915 the couple travelled through British Guiana, Venezuela, and Brazil, over a period of forty-three days. Mrs Clementi was the first white woman to climb Mt Roraima, and was author of the travelogue, Through British Guiana to the Summit of Roraima (1920).

Clementia    see also   Clemence

Clementia of Austria – (1274 – 1295)
Queen consort of Hungary
Clementia was the sixth daughter of Rudolf I of Hapsburg, King of Germany, and his first wife Anna (formerly Gertrude), the daughter of Burchard III, Count of Hohenberg. She became the wife of Charles Martel (1271 – 1295), King of Hungary. Queen Clementia died (after Feb 7 in 1295) aged only twenty, in Naples. She had borne three children,

1) Charles I Robert (Carobert) (1288 – 1342). He succeeded as King of Hungary, and left issue.

2) Princess Beatrice of Hungary (1290 – 1354). She became the wife of Jean II (died 1319), Dauphin of Vienne.

3) Princess Clementia (Clemence) of Hungary (1293 – 1328). She became the second wife of Louis X, King of France (1314 – 1316), and was mother to the short-lived, Jean I (1316).

Clementia of Burgundy – (c1078 – 1133)
Countess consort of Flanders
Countess Clementia was the daughter of William I Tete-Hardi, Count of Burgundy and Macon, and his wife Stephanie of Metz-Longwy. She was married firstly to Robert II, count of Flanders to whom she bore three sons in three years. So that her sons would not quarrel over the patrimony when they grew up, Clementia reverted to abortions to prevent bearing any more male heirs. With her husband’s death (1111), Clementia ruled Flanders as regent for her young sons, but when all her sons died young without issue, it was popularly viewed as God’s punishment upon her. Her second marriage was with Godfey I of Louvain, Duke of Lower-Lorraine, and she became the stepmother of Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of Henry I of England.

Clementia of Zahringen (Clemence) – (c1133 – 1174)
Duchess consort of Saxony (1150 – 1163)
Princess Clementia was the daughter of Conrad I, Duke of Zahringen and his wife Clementia of Namur, the daughter of Godfrey, Count of Namur. She was married (1150) to Henry IV the Lion (1129 – 1195), Duke of Saxony as his first wife. Of her three children only her daughter Gertrude of Saxony (1155 – 1197) survived infancy and was considered Duke Henry’s heiress. Finally in 1163, Clementia was divorced legally on the grounds of consanguinity, but in reality so that Henry could remarry and beget a male heir.
The sentence of divorce was pronounced by a papal court in Constanz, but the duchess was discarded without any dishonour to herself, or to the legitimacy of their daughter. She was later remarried (1164) to Umberto III, Count of Savoy (1136 – 1189) but died childless a decade afterwards. Her daughter Gertrude became the wife successively of Friedrich of Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia and of Knud VI, King of Denmark and left a daughter from her second marriage.

Clementia Ermengarde of Poitou – (1048 – 1130)
French mediaeval heiress
Clementia Ermengarde was the younger daughter of Guillaume (William) VII of Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife Ermesinde of Longwy, the daughter of Adalberon of Metz-Longwy, Duke of Upper Lorraine. With her father’s death (1058) the ducal throne passed to her uncle, Guillaume VIII (formerly Count Guy-Geoffrey), as the next male heir. She was then married (c1068) to Conrad I (c1035 – 1086), Count of Luxemburg (1073 – 1086), to whom she bore six children,

1) Heinrich III (c1069 – 1096). He succeeded his father as Count of Luxemburg (1086 – 1096) as a child, but died unmarried.

2) Conrad of Luxemburg (died after 1080). He died unmarried.

3) Rudolf of Luxemburg (c1073 – 1099). He died unmarried.

4) Ermesinde of Luxemburg (c1075 – 1143). She was married firstly to Count Adalbert I of Metz and Dagsburg (died 1098), and then became the second wife of Godfrey, Count of Namur
(c1067 – 1139), leaving issue by both marriages.

5) Adalberon of Luxemburg (c1076 – 1097). He died unmarried.

6) Guillaume I (William) (c1079 – c1130). He succeeded as Count of Luxemburg, and left issue.

With the death of Count Conrad, Countess Clementia ruled Luxemburg as regent for her eldest son (1086 – c1089). With her mother’s death (c1090) the countess inherited the county of Longwy, her elder sister, the countess Agnes of Maurienne, having died in 1089. She then made a second dynastic marriage, becoming the wife of Count Gerhard I of Wassenberg in Gueldres (died 1138), at which time she took the name of Ermengarde. She predeceased Count Gerhard, and died aged over eighty. She bore Gerhad a further three children,

1) Gerhard II (c1090 – 1141). He succeeded his father as Count of Gueldres (1138 – 1141), and left issue.

2) Yolande of Wassenberg (died after 1125). She was married firstly to Baldwin III (1087 – 1120), Count of Hainault, and secondly to Godfrey de Ribemont, Seigneur de Bouchain, and left
children from both marriages.

3) Judith of Wassenberg (1093 – 1151). She became the wife of Waleran III (1085 – 1139), Duke of Limburg, and left issue.

Clementina – (fl. 590 – 600)
Roman patrician matron
Clementina was probably the daughter of the military commander Clementinus, who held the rank of patricius (546). She was perhaps the wife of Eutherius (died 590), and wrote a letter in that year to Pope Gregory I. In reply, the pope sent her a letter of consolation (Dec, 590). These and other letters of the pope to Clementina who styled her Clementinae patriciae, gloria vestra, and gloriosa filia were recorded in his Epistolarum Registrum.

Clementina of Hesse-Rheinsfeld – (1747 – 1813)
German princess and nun
Princess Clementina of Hesse-Rheinsfeld-Rothenburg was born (June 5, 1747) the eldest daughter of Landgrave Constantine of Hesse-Rheinsfeld-Rothenburg (1716 – 1778) and his wife Countess Maria Eva Sophia von Starhemberg (1722 – 1773), the widow of Wilhelm Hyacinth (1666 – 1743), Prince of Nassau-Siegen and daughter of Count Conrad Sigismund von Starhemberg. Clementina never married and became a nun at the royal Abbey of Susteren. She was later appointed as abbess (1778) and served in that capacity for almost twenty-five years. Princess Clementina resigned her office (1802) and died (July 6, 1813) aged sixty-six.

Clementine d’Orleans – (1817 – 1907)
Princess of France
Princess Marie Clementine Caroline Leopoldine Clothilde d’Orleans was born (June 3, 1817) at the Chateau de Neuilly, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, the third daughter of Louis Philippe, King of France (1830 – 1848), and his wife Marie Amelie of Naples, the daughter of Ferdinando I, King of Naples and Maria Carolina of Austria. Through her mother she was the great-niece of Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. She was married (1843) at the Palace of St Cloud to Prince August of Saxe-Cobrug-Gotha, Duke of Saxony (1818 – 1881), cousin to Queen Victoria of England. Clementine plotted tirelessly but unsuccessfully for the restoration of the Orleans dynasty in France. She survived her husband as the Dowager Princess August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1881 – 1907). Princess Clementine died (Feb 16, 1907) aged eighty-nine, in Vienna. Her children were,

1) Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1844 – 1921). He was married to Princess Louise, the daughter of Leopold II, King of the Belgians and left issue.

2) Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1845 – 1907). He married Princess Leopoldina, the daughter of Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil and left issue.

3) Princess Marie Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1846 – 1927). She married the Archduke Joseph of Austria (1833 – 1905) and left issue.

4) Princess Amalia of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1848 – 1894). She married Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria (1849 – 1893) and left issue.

5) Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1861 – 1948). He was elected Prince (1887) and then Tsar of Bulgaria as Ferdinand I (1908 – 1918). He married twice and left issue and abdicated
in favour of his eldest son (1918).

Clementine of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha    see   Klementine

Clements, Lady    see    Hammond, Kay

Cleobulina     see   Kleobulina

Cleopa Malatesta – (c1401 – 1433)
Byzantine Augusta
Cleopa di Malatesta was born in Italy, and was cousin of the Roman pope Martin V. She was married (1421) Theodore II Palaeologus (1394 – 1448), Emperor of the Morea and Misithra, brother to the Byzantine Emperor Johannes VIII, the marriage having been negotiated (1418) by the Greek minister Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes, the ambassador of the Emperor Manuel II to the Council of Constance. She sailed to Constantinople for her marriage being accompanied by Sophia of Montferrat, who was being married to Johannes VIII.

Cleopa’s married life was rendered unhappy due to her husband’s moody and neurotic temperament. To the great anger of the pope she converted to the Greek Orthodox Church as she has ‘endured so many and grave ills … being harried by a domestic warfare and internal strife’ to abandon Roman Catholicism, and the papacy blamed Theodore for her conversion. However, it appears to have been Cleopa’s own decision. Her court was a highly cultured and literate one, and the philosopher George Gemistus Pleton was particularly devoted to the Imperial couple, The French composer Guillaume Dufay celebrated their wedding in his Vasilissa ergo gaude. Their daughter Helena Palaeologina (1424 – 1458) became queen consort of Cyprus.

Cleopatra       see also      Kleopatra

Cleopatra I – (210 – 176 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra I was the daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great. She was married (193 BC) to Ptolemy V, King of Egypt, as part of the Peace of Lysimacheia, which had brokered peace between Syria and Egypt, and brought the revenues of the important province of Coele-Syria as her dowry. With Ptolemy’s death (180 BC), Cleopatra I ruled Egypt as regent for their young son Ptolemy VI Philometor. She ruled ably, maintaining peace with Syria, whilst making no move that would antagonize or alienate Rome, thus keeping Egypt free of foreign invasion.

Cleopatra II – (c188 – 115 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra II was the daughter of Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I, she was married successively to her two full brothers, Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VII. She was the mother of Cleopatra III and Cleopatra Thea. Her second husband replaced her with her daughter, Cleopatra III, and the queen appealed to the people of Alexandria. Public disturbances caused Ptolemy VII to flee the capital and take refuge in Cyprus, whilst Cleopatra assumed command in the capital. From 129 BC Ptolemy began coming to terms with his former wife, but the final restoration only occurred in 118 BC, when the king issued an act of Grace of ‘Queen Cleopatra the Sister,’ and ‘Queen Cleopatra the Wife.’

Cleopatra III – (c156 – 101 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra III was the daughter of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II. She was married (c140 BC) to her stepfather and uncle, Ptolemy VII, who repudiated her mother. This resulted in a civil war which lasted until 118 BC, the two women sharing the throne togther, both as queen. Cleopatra was the mother of Ptolemy VIII Lathyrus, Ptolemy IX, Cleopatra IV, and Cleopatra V Selene.

Cleopatra III became the ruler of Egypt after Ptolemy’s death (116 BC), but was compelled by the Alexandrians to proclaim her eldest son, Ptolemy Lathyrus, as king, despite her own preference for his younger brother, Ptolemy IX. She later accused Lathyrus of attempted murder, and he fled Egypt (c108 BC), whereupon she recalled Ptolemy IX from Kyrene, and installed him as king. She successfully plotted with the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII and Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judaea, against her rebellious elder son, and was dissuaded from annexing Palestine to the Egyptian crown by her Jewish general, Ananias, who pointed out that such a move would alienate the Jews in her own kingdom. Her death may have been murder.

Cleopatra IV – (c140 – 112 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra IV was the daughter of Ptolemy VII and his second wife, Cleopatra II. She was married (c124 BC) to her eldest brother, Ptolemy VIII Lathyrus, by whom she was the mother of Berenike IIII. Divorced by Lathyrus (116 BC), Cleopatra IV remarried to the Seleucid pretender, Antiochus X Cyzenicus, who established himself as king in Antioch. Her husband was defeated by his rival, Antiochus VIII, husband of her younger sister Cleopatra Tryphaena, and managed to escape. The queen fled to the temple of Apollo at Daphne for sanctuary, but her sister brutally hacked her to pieces as she clung to the altar. Her son, Antiochus X Eusebius (c114 – 83 BC) later married his stepmother, her youngest sister, Cleopatra V Selene.

Cleopatra V Selene – (c134 – 68 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra V Selene was the youngest daughter of King Ptolemy VII, and his second wife and niece, Cleopatra III. She was married firstly (c114 BC) to her eldest brother, Ptolemy VIII. Their sons died in infancy. She was then divorced (c110 BC), and remarried to the Seleucid ruler Antiochus VIII. This marriage was childless. With his death (96 BC) she married his successor, Antiochus IX, and then fourthly, and finally, she was married to her own stepson and nephew, Antiochus X, to whom she bore two sons, including Antiochus XIII Asiaticus (c94 – 65 BC), the last king of the Seleucid dynasty. With the death of her last husband (83 BC), Cleopatra Selene ruled in Antioch as regent of Syria. However, with the death of the Roman dictator Sulla, Tigranes of Armenia made war upon her, though she managed to hold out at Ptolemais. Tigranes eventually made her his prisoner, replacing her with the satrap Magadates, and she was forced to reside in poverty until Tigranes finally ordered her beheaded.

Cleopatra VI Tryphaena – (c95 – 57 BC)
Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra VI Tryphaena was the sister-wife of Ptolemy XI Auletes, they both being children of Ptolemy IX. She was the mother Berenike III and Cleopatra VII. When Ptolemy paid an extended visit to Rome in 59 BC, Queen Cleopatra and their eldest daughter ruled together in Alexandria as regents. She was living on Dec 5, 57 BC, whilst Auletes was still absent in Rome, but died very soon afterwards, when her daughter and son-in-law, Archelaus of Cappodocia took the throne. She may have been murdered.

Cleopatra VII – (69 – 30 BC)
Queen regnant of Egypt (51 – 30 BC)
The last of the Macedonian dynasty, she was the second daughter of Ptolemy XI Auletes and his sister-wife, Cleopatra VI Tryphaena. She was married to her younger brother, Ptolemy Dionysius (51 BC), but was forced into exile by his advisor and guardina, the ambitious eunuch, Pothinus (49 BC). Retreating to Syria, Cleopatra then aroused the interest of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, being smuggled into his prescence rolled in a carpet. After he conquered Egypt she was restored to power (48 BC), became his mistress, and bore him a son, Ptolemy Caesarion (47 BC). She resided with Caesar in Rome for two years (46 – 44 BC), but after his assassination she returned to Egypt with her son, where she married her remaining brother, Ptolemy XIV, whom she soon poisoned (44 BC).

Cleopatra formed a relationship with Mark Antony, Caesar’s devoted friend, and they remained together until their deaths twelve years later, she bearing him three children, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and the twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene. His relationship with Cleopatra cost Antony much support in Rome, especially after he divorced his wife Octavia, the sister of Octavian, nephew and legal heir of Caesar. After his heavy defeat at the battle of Actium (31 BC) Antony attempted suicide, and Cleopatra fled to her mausoleum. Antony, still living was lifted up to her, and he died in her arms. According to some sources, Cleopatra then made an attempt to win over Octavian, but managed to gain time to put her affairs in order, Octavian intending to make her part of a humiliating public spectacle at his triumph in Rome. Tricked, he went away, and Cleopatra poisoned herself by applying an asp to her bosom, her faithful maidservants, Iras and Charmian dying in the same manner as their mistress.

Cleopatra – (fl. c150 – c200 AD)
Roman medical writer
Cleopatra resided in the capital during the latter part of the second century AD, during the reigns of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Cleopatra wrote concerning skin diseases and about cosmetic treatments, and one of her treatises, De Geneticis, concerning gynaecology, was widely used during the Middle Ages. Her work was much copied by successive writers, but was collected and reprinted during the Reniassance period.

Cleopatra the Alchemist – (fl. c300 – c350 AD)
Alexandrian scientific scholar
She hid her true identity under the name of Cleopatra. She is remembered as author of the classic text Chrysopeia (gold-making), which survives in a tenth or eleventh century text, and contains emblems of Gnostic and Hermetic philosophy, as well as detailed diagrams and descriptions of various technical processes and drawings of furnaces used for the gold producing process. The Arabic encyclopedia, Kitab-Fihrist (988), mentions Cleopatra with great reverence.

Cleopatra of Byzantium – (c588 – 605)
Greek princess
Cleopatra was the daughter of the Emperor Maurice (582 – 601) and his wife Constantina, the stepdaughter of the Emperor Tiberius II (578 – 582). With the failure of the abortive revolt organized by her mother against the usurper emperor, Phokas (605), who had murdered her father and brothers (602), the princess was at first imprisoned in the monastery of St Mamas, and then executed with her mother and sisters in the harbour of Eutropius in Chalcedon. She was probably interred in the Church of St Mamas, as her mother was buried there, but if son, her tomb has not survived. Princess Cleopatra is mentioned in the, Chronicon Paschale. This princess is thought to be idetified with one Sopatra, named as a daughter of the Emperor Maurice, and a disciple of St Eustolia in the, Synaxium of Constantinople.

Cleopatra of Jerusalem – (fl. c20 – c4 BC)
Hebrew queen
Cleopatra was a native of the city of Jerusalem, and became the fourth wife of Herod I the Great, King of Judaea (73 – 4 BC), and the mother of his son, Herod Philip (c20 BC – 34 AD), who was tetrarch of Ituraea, and of another, also called Herod, of whose career nothing is known. The historian Josephus mentions Cleopatra’s union with Herod in his Antiquitates Judaicae, recording the fact that her sons were raised at the Imperial court in Rome.

Cleopatra of Phrygia – (fl. c700 BC)
Macedonian queen consort
According to ancient tradition Cleopatra was the sister to the dynast Midas of Phrygia (not the King Midas of the famous legend), who held part of the Macedonian agricultural territories. She became the wife of Perdikas I of Macedonia and was the mother of his son King Argaeus. She was the first Macedonian queen to be identified by name in the history of the royal house by the historian Satyrus of Alexandria, and may be the earliest identifiable queen who bore that name. She may have been killed or set aside when Perdikas felt safe enough to take on Midas whom he ejected from Macedonia and regained his patrimony. Queen Cleopatra was an ancestor of Alexander III the Great (336 – 323 BC).

Cleopatra of Pontus – (110 – before 55 BC)
Queen consort of Armenia
Princess Cleopatra was the daughter of Mithridates VI Eupator (132 – 63 BC), King of Pontus (120 – 63 BC) and his sister wife Queen Laodike Prisca, they being children of King Mithridates V Euergetes. Mithridates gave Cleopatra in marriage (94 BC) to Tigranes II the Great (140 – 55 BC), King of Armenia, who desired to estend his kingdom at the expense of Syria. One of the first results of this marriage was the invasion of Cappodocia by Tigranes (93 BC), acting for his father-in-law, but Roman intervention resulted in the restoration of the local king Ariobarzanes.
Queen Cleopatra was a patron of the arts and literature and when the Greek writer and rheotorician Amphikrates, who had been given refuge at her court, died the queen caused him to be honourably interred at Sapha. Plutarch recorded that Amphikrates had ‘… attached himself to Cleopatra, the daughter of Mithridates and wife of Tigranes, but speedily fell into disfavour, and, being excluded from intercourse with Greeks, starved himself to death.’
After the battle of Artaxata Tigranes the Great entered into a treaty with the Romans, against the interests of Mithridates. Cleopatra was appalled and instigated her eldest son Zariadares (c92 – 68 BC) to rebel gainst his father. This resulted in Zariadares being executed for treason at his father’s order. Her second son Tigranes (born c89 BC) was taken to Rome as a hostage (66 BC) but escaped due to the help of Publius Clodius Pulcher (58 BC) according to the Roman historian Asconius. With the execution of her son Queen Cleopatra escaped to the court of her father in Pontus where she remained.
It remains unknown whether Queen Cleopatra survived the fall of Mithridates (63 BC) but she certainly predeceased Tigranes. Her other children included Artavasdus II (c84 – 31 BC) who succeeded his father as King of Armenia (55 – 31 BC) and left issue. An unnamed daughter of Cleopatra became the wife of Prince Pacorus of Parthia (c80 – 38 BC), the son of Orodes II (c100 – 37 BC), King of Parthia.

Cleopatra Selene – (40 BC – 6 AD)
Queen of Mauretania
Princess Cleopatra Selene was born (Dec 25, 40 BC), the daughter of Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt and of the Roman general and triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), and was twin sister of Alexander Helios. Her father officially acknowledged her as his child (37 BC) and then created her queen of Cyrenaica and Crete (34 BC). With the deaths of her parents (30 BC), the princess walked in Octavian’s triumph in Rome before being entrusted to the care of Antony’s Roman widow Octavia, and raised and educated in her household. The emperor Augustus gave Cleopatra Selene in marriage to the learned Numidian prince, Juba of Mauretania, who was granted the gift of that client kingdom (25 BC). Surviving coins reveal the joint portraits of the king and queen, who appear to have ruled as co-sovereigns and give her the title of basilissa (queen). The queen assisted with the establishment of the capital city of Caesarea (Cherchel) which became an important literary and artisitc centre, and the city of Volubillis. She was the mother of Ptolemy (c22 BC – 40 AD), who succeeded his father as king (23 – 40 AD) and was forced to commit suicide by the emperor Gaius Caligula who was jealous of his wealth, and perhaps of several daughters. Queen Cleopatra Selene was commemorated by the Roman epigrammatist Crinagoras, and the famous Queen Zenobia claimed descent from her.

Cleopatra Thea -  (165 – 121 BC)
Seleucid queen
Cleopatra Thea was the daughter of Ptolemy VI of Egypt, and his sister Cleopatra II. She was the elder sister of Cleopatra III. She was married firstly to Alexander Balas, King of Syria, and then successively to two Seleucid kings, Demetrius I Nikator, and Antiochus VII Sidetes. She bore her first husband a son, Antiochus VI Dionysius (148 – 142 BC), who was set up as king in opposition to her father, by Alexander’s general, Diodotus, and she herself was married off to Demetrius II. Diodotus then murdered the child and took the throne for himself, styling himself Antiochus VII Tryphon. Demetrius was captured by Mithridates I of Parthia, and kept in captivity. Cleopatra Thea ruled as regent and then married Sidetes (138 BC), having Tryphon out to death. She bore Sidetes five children, before he was killed in battle (129 BC), and Cleopatra Thea ruled for their young sons.

Cleopatra Thea then abandoned her newly released former husband Demetrius, unable to endure his incompetence, and is said to have prevented Demetrius from escaping to safety (125 BC). Disposing of the pretender, Alexander II Zabinas (123 BC), the queen mother retained sole power for herself. When her eldest son by Demetrius, Seleucus V, seized the throne soon afterwards, Cleopatra Thea had him poisoned, and set up her younger son, Antiochus VIII Grypus (142 – 96 BC), as her co-ruler. Grypus anticipated his own fate, by having his mother murdered first.
Cleopatra Thea is the only recorded Seleucid queen who minted coins with her own portrait as Thea Eueterias, the goddess of fertility. By Demetrius she also had a daughter named Laodice, who was married to Phraates II, king of Parthia (c175 – 128 BC), and her children by Sidetes includied King Antiochus IX Cyzenicus.

Clerc, Jeannette – (c1480 – 1539)
Swiss witchtrial victim
Jeannette Clerc was accused of dabbling in witchcraft and sorcery after the death of a neighbour’s cow. The authorities in Geneva ordered Jeannette to put under torture. She confessed to being sexually active with a devil named Simon, with whom she flew on a broomstick to attend the Black Mass meetings of their unnatural coven. Jeannette Clerc was executed.

Clere, Alice Boleyn, Lady – (c1487 – 1539)
English Tudor courtier
Alice Boleyn was one of the younger daughters of Sir William Boleyn (c1451 – 1505) of Hever Castle, Kent, and his wife Lady Margaret Butler, the daughter of Sir Piers Butler, Earl of Ormonde, in Ireland. Alice’s brother, Sir Thomas Boleyn, was the father of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603). Alice Boleyn was married (c1505) to Sir Robert Clere (c1475 – 1531), a prominent courtier, and after his death, Lady Clere attended upon her niece at court. Her three sons included Sir John Clere (c1510 – 1557) who was married to Anne Tyrrell and left descendants.

Clere, Helewise de – (fl. c1150 – c1158)
Anglo-Norman religious founder
Helewise de Clere was the wife of Roger de Clere. She founded the convent of Yedingham in Yorkshire, also known as ‘Little Maries.’ After Roger’s death, Helewise remarried to Joscelin d’Aroi.

Clerieux, Philippa de    see   Fay, Philippa de

Clerke, Agnes Mary – (1842 – 1907)
Irish scientist and astronomer
Agnes Clerke was born in County Cork, the daughter of John William Clerke, bank manager, and the younger sister of the journalist and novelist Ellen Mary Clerke. Agnes resided in Italy (1870 – 1877) and began writing for the Edinburgh Review (1877) besides submitting articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Dictionary of National Biography. She made astronomical observations at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1888) and travelled by yacht to Copenhagen, Stockholm and St Petersburg (1890).

Clerke was awarded the Acton Prize for her research in astronomy (1893), and wrote the Hodgkins essay on Low Temperature Research at the Royal Institution (1901). Her written works include A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century (1885), The Systems of the Stars (1890), and The Herschells and Modern Astronomy (1895). She co-wrote Astronomy, the Concise Knowledge Series (1898), and Problems in Astrophysics (1903), the year she was made an honorary member of the Royal astronomical Society, and Modern Cosmogonies (1906). Educated in the classics by her father, she had always retained an interest in this field, and produced Familiar Studies in Homer (1892).

Clerke, Ellen Mary – (1840 – 1906)
Irish journalist and novelist
Ellen Clerke was the daughter of John William Clerke, and elder sister of the scientist and astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke. Ellen travelled extensively for several years in Italy, and wrote in that language. She published stories and sketches in Florentine periodicals and also contributed articles to British magazines. Some of her works included, Volume of Verse, The Flying Dutchman, Fable and Song in Italy (1899) and Flowers of Fire (1902). She also produced a volume of astronomy entitled, Jupiter and his System, and the Planet Venus.

Clermont, Beatrice de – (c1279 – 1320)
French-Anglo heiress and letter writer
Beatrice de Clermont was the daughter of Raoul de Clermont, Seigneur de Nesle, the Constable of France. Sometime prior to 1295 Beatrice entered the household of Joan de Munchensy, Countess of Pembroke, wife of Willaim de Valance, in preperation for her eventual marriage (1296) to her son, Aymer de Valance (c1255 – 1324), Earl of Pembroke, as his first wife. A letter written by Beatrice to Aymer (1296) has survived. At her husband’s request, Beatrice was granted a house at Marlborough by the crown (Aug, 1297), whilst Aymer was absent from England on campaign with Edward I. Later in the same year (Dec), Beatrice joined her husband in France. Likewise the countess later travelled to Scotland to join her husband (1302), who attended the king during his campaign there. Her personal expenses for 1312 and 1315, granted by her husband, remain recorded. The countess accompanied Queen Isabella, the wife of Edward II, to the French court (June, 1320), but she died shortly afterwards (Sept, 1320) aged about forty-one, and was buried in Stratford, London. After her death, Lord Pembroke became embroiled in legal wranglings with Beatrice’s sister, Alice, Dame de Nesle, which would appear to have involved ownership of estates belonging to Beatrice.

Clermont, Emma de – (c1097 – c1151)
French medieval heiress
Emma was the daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont and his Norman wife Ermentrude of Chester. She became the wife of Matthieu I, Count of Beaumont (d. 1155), whom she predeceased and to whom she bore three sons, Ives, Matthieu II (c1115 – c1174), and Hugh, Viscount of Beaumont and seigneur de Persan. Emma inherited one half of the signeurie of Luzarches in the Ile de France, the other half being held by her brother, Count Renaud II of Beaumont. However, her husband seized her brother’s portion of the seigneurie, which was however restored to Renaud after a successful war was instituted on his behalf by King Louis VI.

Clermont, Ermentrude de – (c1070 – before 1120)
Norman heiress
Ermentrude was the daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont-Beauvais and his wife Margaret of Roucy, the daughter of Hilduin I of Montdidier, Count of Roucy. Through her mother Ermentrude was a descendant of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (800 – 814) and of the earlier Merovingian kings. She was married (before 1090) to Hugh d’Avranches (1047 – 1101) the first Earl of Chester and she became the Countess of Chester.
The chronicler Eadmer in his Historia Novorum recorded that both lord and Lady Chester were friends and admirers of St Anselm. When they caused the ancient Church of St Werburga at Chester to be rebuilt, and endowed it as a monastery for four monks from the Norman Abbey of Bec, they installed Anselm as chaplain and first Abbot of that foundation. Ermentrude and her husband were amongst those nobles who attended the court of King William II at Salisbury (Jan, 1096). Lord Hugh died (July 27, 1101) and Ermentrude survived him as the Dowager Countess of Chester. She kept a herd of dairy cows and produced Cheshire cheeses, several of which she presented to Archbsihop Anselm. Agnes Strickland records this fact in her life of Matilda of Scotland in her Lives of the Queens of England (1849) but mistakenly names the countess Constance. Ermentrude’s date of death remains unknown but she appears to have predeceased the deaths of her son and son-in-law (1120). Her children were,

1) Giva d’Avranches (c1092 – c1140). She became the wife of Geoffrey Riddell (died 1120), Lord of Wittering and founded the Benedictine priory of Conwell in Staffordshire.

2) Richard d’Avranches (1094 – 1120). He succeeded his father as the second Earl of Chester (1101 – 1120) and was officially invested eas earl (1107). He perished in the wreck of the White
Ship together with his wife Matilda Lucia of Blois, the sister of Stephen of Blois, King of England, and granddaughter of William the Conqueror.

3) Emma d’Avranches. She became the wife of Mathieu I, Seigneur de Beaumont-sur-Oise (died c1151) and left issue.

Clermont, Frances Cairnes Murray, Countess of – (1734 – 1820)
British society hostess
Frances Cairnes Murray was the daughter of Colonel John Murray and his wife Mary, Dowager Baroness Blayney, the daughter of Sir Alexander Cairnes, baronet. She was married (1752) to William Henry Fortescue, later first Earl of Clermont (1722 – 1806), but the couple remained childless. A fashionable society hostess, her London residence in Berkeley Square became famous for the exquisite dinner parties she held there. Lady Clermont entertained the Prince of Wales (George IV) and Mrs Fitzherbert and their set, and during the Gordon riots (1780), Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, was forced to take refuge from the mob in her drawing room. She visited the court of Versailles and became a prominent friend to Queen Marie Antoinette. She survived her husband as the Dowager Countess of Clermont (1806 – 1820). Lady Clermont died (Dec 3, 1820) aged eighty-six, at Hastings.

Clermont, Marie Anne de Bourbon, Princesse de – (1697 – 1741)
French courtier
Princesse Marie Anne de Bourbon was born (Oct 16, 1697) in Paris, the daughter of Louis III de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, and his wife Louise Francoise, the illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV. Mlle de Clermont never married, and held the post of superintendante of the household of Queen Marie Leszcynszka, wife of Louis XV for fifteen years (1726 – 1741). However, with her death (Aug 11, 1741) at Paris, aged forty-three, this particular position was allowed to lapse. It was not restored until Marie Antoinette did so for the ill-fated Princesse de Lamballe over thirty years later.

Clermont, Philippa de – (1401 – c1450) 
French saint
Philippa was a native of Clermont, Auvergne. Orphaned in childhood, she was educated in a patrician household run by the sister of the Bishop of Vienne. Philippa despised court life, gave her inheritance to her surviving brothers, and made a pilgrimage to Rome. Philippa especially extended her kindness and charity to pilgrims and criminals. She died on the plague, and was especially revered in the Dauphine region. She was honoured by the church (Oct 15).

Clermont, Sanchia de    see   Sancia of Taranto

Clermont-Gallerande, Gabrielle Francoise de Villiers d’O, Marquise de – (c1688 – 1765)
French courtier
Gabrielle Francoise de Villiers d’ O, was the daughter of the Marquis d’ O. She was married (1706) to Pierre Gaspard de Clermont (1682 – 1756), the Marquis de Clermont-Gallerande. Their daughter Louise Francoise de Clermont-Gallerande became the second wife of Antoine III, Duc de Villars-Brancas (1663 – 1739). The Marquise served at the court of Versailles as lady-in-waiting to the Duchesse de Bourgogne, the mother of Louis XV. With Madame de Bourgogne’s death (1712) Madame de Clermont-Gallerande joined the household of the Duchesse d’Orleans in the same capacity. Afterwards the marquise served at court in the same position to the daughters of Louis XV. She survived her husband as the Dowager Marquise de Clermont-Gallerande (1756 – 1765) and died (Sept 30, 1765).

Clermont-Tonnerre, Elisabeth de Gramont, Duchesse de – (1875 – 1954)
French author and salonniere
Born Antonie Corisande Elisabeth de Gramont, in Nancy, Lorraine, she was the daughter of Agenor, Duc de Gramont, and his first wife Isabelle de Beauvau-Craon. Her stepmother was Margeurite Alexandrine de Rothschild. She was married (1896) to Philibert, Duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, which marriage ended in divorce (1920). A relative of Robert, Comte de Montesquiou the duchesse became an intimate friend of the writer Marcel Proust, and she and her husband were entertained by him at the Ritz Hotel, in Paris, while they received him at the Chateau de Glisolles. After Word War I, the duchesse was a member of the literary coterie surrounding Natalie Barney, Renee Vivien and Lucie Dealrue-Mardus. With de Montesquiou’s death (1921) the duchesse received Proust’s last letter to him, and wrote the works, Robert de Montesquiou et Marcel Proust (1925) and Marcel Proust (1948). The duchesse also translated into French some poetry of John Keats, which was published in Le Livre (1908). Other of her works include, Histoire de Samuel Bernard et de ses enfants (1914), Les Marroniers en fleurs (1929), Clair de lune et taxi-auto (1932), Barbey d’Aurevilly (1946), La famille des Clermont-Tonnerre (1950), and, Le Comte d’Orsay et lady Blessington, which was published posthumously (1955).

Clermont-Tonnerre, Genevieve Armande de La Rochefoucald, Comtesse de – (1691 – 1745)
French courtier
Genevieve de La Rochefoucald was born the elder daughter of Charles de La Rochefoucald de Roye, Comte de Blanzac and his wife Marie Henriette d’Aloigny, Comtesse de Gien, the daughter of Henri Louis d’Aloigny, Marquis de Rochefort. She was half-sister to the Marshal de Nangis and became the wife (1708) of Comte Philippe Aimard de Clermont-Tonnerre (c1683 – 1751) and bore him three daughters, Marie Madeleine (1710 – 1714) who died in infancy, Marie Charlotte Felicite, Marquise de Crevecoeur (1721 – 1774) the wife of Hyacinth Gaetan, Comte de Lannion (c1710 – 1762), and Alison (1724 – 1752) the wife of Louis Claude de Clermont (1722 – 1765), Marquis de Montoisson. The Comtesse de Clermont-Tonnerre served at the court as lady-in-waiting to Francoise de Bourbon, Duchesse d’Orleans, the widow of the Prince Regent. Madame de Clermont-Tonnerre died (Oct 24, 1745) in Paris.

Clery, Marie Elisabeth – (1761 – after 1795)
French harpist and composer
Marie Elisabeth Duverger was born in Paris and trained both as a musician and in composition. She performed publicly as Madamoiselle Duverger probably from an early age as her song Tout ce que je vois me rappelle was published when she was but fifteen (1776). She played the harp at the Concert Spirituel (1780 – 1782) and was married to Jean-Baptiste Cant-Hanet. She published three sonatas for the harp accompanied by the violin. During the Revolution Monsieur and Madame Clery waited upon Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during part of their imprisonment, clery being appointed to serve the king as valet de chambre. They were replaced by the revolutionaries for not being harsh enough with their prisoners and husband and wife later fled France and went to Vienna, where Monsieur Clery entered the household of Madame d’Angouleme, the daughter of Louis XVI.

Cleveland, Barbara, Duchess of    see    Villiers, Barbara

Cleveland, Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope, Duchess of – (1819 – 1901)
British historian and memoirist
Lady Catherine Stanhope was the only daughter of Philip Henry Stanhope (1781 – 1855), the fourth Earl Stanhope and his wife Catherine Lucy Smith (1786 – 1843), the daughter of Robert Smith (1752 – 1838), the first Baron Carrington. She was married firstly (1843) to Archibald Primrose (1809 – 1851), Lord Dalmeny and she became Lady Dalmeny. Her husband was the eldest son and heir of Archibald John Primrose (1783 – 1868), the fourth Earl of Rosebery. Lady Dalmeny bore her first husband four children, of whom the three younger received a patent of precedence (May 30, 1868) as the younger children of an earl with the requisite courtesy titles,

1) Lady Mary Catherine Constance Primrose (1845 – 1935). She became the wife of Henry Walter Hope (1839 – 1913) of Luffness, Aberlady and left issue.

2) Lady Constance Evelyn Primrose (1846 – 1939). She became the wife of Henry Wyndham (1830 – 1901), the second Baron Leconfield and left issue.

3) Archibald Philip Primrose (1847 – 1929). He succeeded his father as Lord Dalmeny and his grandfather as the fifth Earl of Rosebery (1868 – 1929) and was married and left issue.

4) Hon. (Honourable) Colonel Everard Henry Primrose (1848 – 1885). He served as military attaché in Vienna and died unmarried at Abu Fatmeh in Egypt.

Lady Catherine survived her husband as the Dowager Lady Dalmeny (1851 – 1854) and then remarried to Lord Harry (Henry) George Vane (1803 – 1891). Her second marriage remained childless, and when Lord Harry succeeded as the fourth and last Duke of Cleveland and adopted the additional surname of Powlett Lady Vane became the Duchess of Cleveland (1864 – 1891). Catherine survived Harry as the Dowager Duchess of Cleveland (1891 – 1901) and compiled and published The Roll of Battle Abbey. The duchess died (May 18, 1901)

Cleveland, Frances Fulsom – (1864 – 1947)
American First Lady (1893 – 1897)
Frances Folsom became the wife of Grover Cleveland (1837 – 1908), three decades her senior, at the end of his term as twenty-second President of the USA (1885 – 1889). She became First Lady when Cleveland was elected to serve a second term as the twenty-fourth president a few years afterwards (1893 – 1897). She survived her husband for almost forty years and later remarried to Thomas Jex Preton Jr. The five children from her first marriage included Richard Folsom Cleveland (1897 – 1974) and Esther Cleveland (1893 – 1980) the wife of William Sidney Bence Bosanquet, both of whom left children.

Cleveland, Grace Caroline Lowther, Duchess of – (1792 – 1883)
British eccentric, she was the daughter of William Lowther, first earl of Lonsdale, and his wife Lady Augusta Fane, daughter of John, seventh earl of Morley. She married (1815) William Vane, third Duke of Cleveland, but they remained childless. Of an intolerant and sarcastic nature, the duchess did not hesitate to give her opinions in a most unpleasant manner. From 1870 the duchess sympathised with William Henry Turnour, who claimed to be the legitimate son of the sixth Lord Poulett, when, in fact, he was the illegitimate son of the earl’s first wife, and Lord Poulett had never acknowledged him. Though the duchess assisted Turnour financially, her motive remains unknown, and there is no evidence that she acutally accepted his claims. Nevertheless, she continued to help his impoverished family, providing for two of his daughters to be educated abroad in French convents, and leaving his son William, born in 1870, a bequest of five thouand pounds. The duchess died (Nov 1, 1883) aged ninety-one, at Osterley Park, Middlesex.

Cleyre, Voltairine de – (1866 – 1912)
American feminist, anarchist, writer, poet and educator
Born (Nov 17, 1866) in Leslie, Michigan, she was raised by nuns in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, which resulted in her becoming an atheist. She eventually returned home to her father. Influenced by the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and Clarence Darrow, Cleyre contributed articles to various periodicals, but became an anarchist after the executions of the Haymarket protestors (1887). An ardent and passionate speaker, she won the admiration of Emma Goldman, who had formerly disliked her, though she viewed herself as an individualist, rather than as a communist.  
Cleyre later rejected these principles, and accepted that socialism and communism was the only way in which the ordinary working class could manage their own industry, and produced the essay The Commune is Risen (1908), and Direct Action, (1912). Long plagued by illness, she survived an assassination attempt by a former pupil (1902), from which never properly recovered. Her works were published posthumously as The Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre (1914). Voltairine de Cleyre died (June 20, 1912) aged forty-five, in Chicago, Illinois.

Clifden, Eliza Horatia Frederica Seymour, Viscountess – (1833 – 1896)
British courtier, she was born (July 16, 1833) the daughter of Frederick Charles Seymour, and his second wife, Lady Augusta Hervey, the daughter of Frederick Hervey, the first marquess of Bristol. She was the elder sister of Adelaide, Countess Spencer. Eliza Seymour, was married firstly (1861) to Henry Agar-Ellis (1825 – 1866), third viscount Clifden of Gowran, and secondly (1875) to Colonel Sir Walter George Stirling (1839 – 1934), third baronet, of Middlesex, London. After the death of her first husband, Lady Clifden served at court for five years as lady of the Bedchamber to to Queen Victoria (1867 – 1872). From 1872 she retired from full-time service and was kept on as an Extra Lady of the Bedchamber until her second marriage, of which the queen greatly disapproved. Lady Clifden died (April 23, 1896) aged sixty-two, at Burr’s Wood, and was interred at Groombridge Church in Kent. She left three children from her first marriage,

1. Hon (Honourable). Lilah Georgiana Augusta Constance Agar-Ellis (1862 – 1944). She became the wife of Luke White (1857 – 1922), third Baron Annaly and left descendants.

1. Henry George Agar-Ellis (1863 – 1895), third viscount Clifden (1866 – 1895). He died unmarried of pnuemonia.

1. Hon. Lucia Georgiana Mary Agar-Ellis (1864). She died in infancy.

Cliff, Clarice – (1899 – 1972)
British ceramic designer
Clarice Cliffwas born (Jan 20, 1899) in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and attended local art schools before setting up her own design studio at Wilkinson’s Newport Showroom in Burslem. Known for her especial use of bold and colourful abstract designs, Cliff’s wide range of work, which was particularly famous during the pre WW II period, was marketed under the trade name of ‘Original Bizarre.’ She later evolved a new range ‘Fantasque’ (1928 – 1936) which included many art deco designs, which later became collectors items. After the war she was forced simply by the times to stick to more traditional themes in her pottery. She held her first solo exhibition at Brighton in East Sussex and died soon afterwards (Oct 23, 1972), aged seventy-three. The Wedgwood Visitors Centre held the exhibition the ‘Bizarre Art of Clarice Cliff’ (1999) to celebrate the centenary of her birth.

Clifford, Lady Anne – (1590 – 1676) 
English diarist
Lady Anne Clifford was the only child and heiress of George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and his wife Lady Margaret Russell, the daughter of Francis, Earl of Bedford. She married firstly Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1589 – 1624) to whom she bore two daughters, Margaret, countess of Thanet and Isabella, countess of Northampton, and secondly to Philip Herbert, fourth Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, as his second wife. With the death of Henry, fifth Earl of Cumberland (Dec, 1643), Lady Anne inherited the extensive Clifford family estates, and she rebuilt many castles and churches throughout her vast network of lands. She erected a monument to the poet Edmund Spenser in Westminster Abbey at her own expense. Her diary entitled, A Summary of the Records and a True Memorial of Me, the Life of Lady Anne Clifford was later published. The Countess died at Brougham Castle, and was buried in the church of Appleby.

Clifford, Elizabeth Bonham, Lady   see   de la Pasture, Elizabeth Lydia Rosabelle

Clifford, Matilda de – (c1390 – 1446)
English Plantagenet aristocrat
Matilda was married firstly (1406) to John Neville (1382 – 1432), the sixth Baron Latimer of Corby, and then became the second wife (1414) of Prince Richard of York (of Conisburgh) (1375 – 1413), Earl of Cambridge, the grandson of Edward III (1327 – 1377). Matilda had divorced Lord Latimer because of his impotence but her second marriage remained childless also. Earl Richard was executed for treason against the crown and Matilda survived for over three decades as the Dowager Countess of Cambridge (1413 – 1446).
During her long widowhood Countess Matilda resided in state at Conisburgh Castle, Sandal Castle and Turnham Hall. Her heir was her nephew Thomas, eighth Baron Clifford. Matilda died (Aug 26, 1446) and was interred within Roche Abbey in Yorkshire. Her will and testament has survived.

Clifford, Rosamund – (c1153 – 1176)
English royal mistress
Popularly known as ‘the Fair Rosamund,’ she was the daughter of Walter de Clifford, a minor of Welsh nobleman. She is said to have become mistress to King Henry II at the eage of sixteen (c1169), and remained with him until her early death. The king is said to have constructed the maze in Woodstck Palace for her, as protection from Queen Eleanor. He mourned her greatly when she died, and Rosamund was buried before the high altar in the abbey of Godstow, in Oxfordshire, though the tomb was later removed from the abbey to the local churchyard by the local bishop, who was shocked that the nuns had tended it as though she had been a saint. According to worthless legend, Rosamund was either forcibly bled to death in a hot bath by Henry’s jealous wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, or that the queen confronted her in her silken bower, and offerred her choice of a dagger or a bowl of poison. During the reformation her remains were exhumed and burnt, and her ashes scatterred.

Clifford, Sophia Campbell, Lady de – (1743 – 1828)
British Hanoveriab peeress and courtier
Sophia Campbell was the third daughter of Samuel Campbell of Mount Campbell in Leitrim, Ireland. She became the wife (1765) of Edward Southwell (1732 – 1777), the twentieth Baron de Clifford at St George’s in Hanover Square in London and became Baroness de Clifford (1765 – 1777). She bore him five children before his death at Avenay, near Nice in France (Nov 1, 1777). She never remarried and remained the Dowager Baroness de Clifford for over five decades (1777 – 1828).
As a widow Lady de Clifford was appointed to be the governess (1796 – 1813) of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of the Prince Regent (George IV). Lady Charlotte Bury described Lady Sophia as ‘a goodnatured and commonplace person.’ Lady de Clifford died (Aug 3, 1828) aged eighty-five, at her home in South Audley Street in Middlesex, London. She was buried at Henley. She signed her will Sophia de Clifford. Her children were,

1) Edward Southwell (1767 – 1832). He succeeded his father as the twenty-first Baron de Clifford (1777 – 1832) but died unmarried.

2) Hon. (Honourable) Catherine Southwell (1768 – 1801). She became the wife of Colonel Kein Hayward George Coussmaker (died 1801) and left issue.

3) Hon. Sophia Southwell (1771 – 1795). She became the first wife of John Thomas Townshend (1764 – 1831), first Viscount Sydney and left issue.

4) Hon. Henrietta Southwell. She became the wife of Frederick Delme.

5) Hon. Elizabeth Southwell (1776 – 1817). She became the first wife of William Charles Keppel (1772 – 1849), fourth Earl of Albemarle and left issue.

Clift, Charmian – (1923 – 1969)
Australian writer
Charmian Clift was born (Aug 30, 1923), at Kiama in New South Wales, and attended secondary school in Wollongong. She later served with the AWAS (Australian Women’s Army Service) during WW II, after which she went to Mel bourne in Victoria, where she trained as a journalist at the Argus under George Johnston (1912 – 1970) the novelist and journalist, whom she married. Clift collaborated with her husband to produce several novels, such as High Valley, which was chosen as best novel by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper competition (1948). Over the next fifteen years, the couple resided in England, and then in the Greek islands of Kalymnos and Hydra. During this time Clift produced three novels of her own, all with Greek themes, Mermaid Singing (1958), Peel Me a Lotus (1959), and Honour’s Mimic (1964). Returning to Sydney Clift wrote a column for the Sydney Morning Herald, but later committed suicide (July 8, 1969) in Sydney, aged forty-five. She left a volume of memoirs, The World of Charmian Clift (1970), published posthumously, and was the mother of the noted poet Martin Johnston (1947 – 1990).

Clifton, Lady Bertha   see   Grey de Ruthyn, Bertha Lelgarde Rawdon-Hastings, Lady

Clifton, Elizabeth Adeline Mary Bligh, Lady – (1900 – 1937)
British lawyer and peeress
Lady Elizabeth Bligh was born (June 22, 1900) the only child and heiress of Edward Henry Stuart Bligh, the seventh Earl of Darnley and his wife Jemima Adeline Beatrice Blackwood. With Lord Darnley’s death when Elizabeth was only nine months old, the earldom of Darnley passed to a male cousin whilst she in hertied the English barony of Clifton becoming the Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold which title she held until her death four decades later (1901 – 1937).
The widowed countess remarried to Admiral Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson and Elizabeth was raised in her stepfather’s household. She attended university where she studied law and became a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn Fields (1926), and then established her own practice. Lady Clifton never married and died (July 5, 1937) aged thirty-seven. The barony of Clifton of Leighton Bromswold then passed to her cousin the ninth Earl of Darnley.

Clifton, Fanny    see   Stirling, Fanny

Clifton, Josephine – (1812 – after 1840)
American actress
Josephine Clifton was one of the first ‘manufactured’ actress stars produced by the theatrical entrepeneur and agent Thomas Hamblin. Tall and beautiful, but quite untrained, she nevertheless performed leading roles from 1831 onwards, but was bound by rather severe contractual conditions, which provided expenses, but no actual salary. When Josephine performed in Philadelphia, it was remarked that, apart from her looks, she possessed no other attributes desirable in an actress. In 1832 she appeared with Naomi Vincent at Hamblin’s Bowery Theatre in New York. She was probably Hamblin’s mistress and the lessening of her stage appearances, explained away by ill-health, may have been caused instead by a breakdown in this relationship. From 1832 – 1834 Josephine visited London, but was scorned by the critics, and was reduced to secondary roles. She returned to New York (1836) and appeared in Bianca Visconti (1837) especially written for her by the journalist N.P. Willis. Her modestly successful career continued into the 1840’s.

Clifton, Violet Mary – (1883 – 1961) 
British traveller and author
Violet Beauclerk was born (Nov, 1883) the daughter of William Nelthorpe Beauclerk, of Little Grimsby Hall, Lincolnshire, and his wife Jane Isabella Rathbone. Educated abroad in Brussels, she was married (1907) to John Talbot, of Kidalton Castle in the Hebrides, by whom she left five children. Violet travelled extensively throughout India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Southern and Northern America, and Honolulu, and served with the nursing corps during WW I. For her war service she was awarded the Mons Star with Ypres Bar. Her work, The Book of Talbot in 1933, won for her the prestigious James tait Black Memorial Prize. Other written works included, Pilgrims to the Isles of Penzance and Islands of Queen Wilhelmina. From 1950 –1956 she took holy orders, joining the Order of the Poor Clares as Sister Mary Seraphim. Violet Clifton died (Nov 20, 1961) aged seventy-eight.

Cline, Genevieve Rose – (1878 – 1959)
American lawyer and judge
Genevieve Cline was born (July 27, 1878) in Warren, Ohio. She studied as a stenographer, and attended Oberlin College. Having headed the Committee on Legislation and State Institutions for the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs (1916), Cline organized reforms of the civil service, child labour laws, and health care. She went on to study law at the Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland and became a lawyer (1921). Cline became the vice-president of the National Association of Women Lawyers in Ohio (1927), and she was then appointed as a judge on the United States Customs Court by President Calvin Coolidge (1928). Despite some opposition Genevieve Cline became became the first American woman to sit as a judge on a federal bench. She retired in 1953. Genevieve Cline died (Oct 25, 1959) aged eighty-one, in Cleveland.

Cline, Patsy – (1932 – 1963)
American country vocalist
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley (Sept 8, 1932) in Gore, near Winchester, Virginia, she was the daughter of a blacksmith and a seamstress. She performed as an amateur singer on the popular television shows such as the, Jimmy Dean Show, and, Talent Scout (1957), after which she was signed up by the Decca label. She was married firstly to Gerald Cline, from whom she was divorced, and secondly, to Charlie Dick, but retained her first husband’s name as part of her stagename.
Cline disliked working for companies as it curtailed her choice of performing material, but was signed with Four Star Records (1955 – 1960) and later with Decca (1960 – 1963). She was famous for her strong, forceful singing voice, her greatest hits included, ‘Crazy’ (1961) and, ‘She’s Got You’ (1962), copies of which sold in the millions. Other popular songs included, ‘I Fall to Pieces,’ ‘South of the Border,’ ‘She’s Got You,’ ‘Back in Baby’s Arms,’ and ‘Walking After Midnight’ (1957) which established her as a national star. Patsy Cline died tragically young being killed in a plane crash over Tennessee (March 5, 1963) aged only thirty.

Clinton, Agnes de – (fl. c1150 – c1167)
Anglo-Norman religious patron
Agnes was the wife of the feudal lord Geoffrey II de Clinton. They founded the convent of Bretford in Warwickshire (c1150) under prioress Naomi. This house did not last and eventually (1167) Agnes’ husband gave permission for the nuns to transfer their endowment to the canons of Bretford.

Clinton, Elizabeth – (1574 – 1630)
English writer
Elizabeth Knyvett was the daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry Knyvett, of Charlton, Wiltshire, and became the wife (1584) of Thomas Clinton (1568 – 1619), Earl of Lincoln from 1616, to whom she bore eighteen children before his death. Elizabeth was the author of, The Countess of Lincoln’s Nurserie (1622), a treatise concerning child-rearing for upper class women, whom she exhorted to breast feed their own children, rather than let hired nurses perform this task. She was the mother of Theophilus Clinton, fourth Earl of Lincoln (1600 – 1667), who married twice and left descendants.

Clinton, Louisa – (1797 – 1854) 
British letter writer
Louisa Clinton was the daughter of General Sir William Clinton, GCB, and his wife Lady Louisa Holroyd, the daughter of Lord Sheffield. Louise first met Lady Louisa Stuart, the daughter of the earl of Bute in 1815, and the two women corresponded together over a period of eighteen years 1817 – 1835. Many of these letters are dated from Ditton Park, near Windsor, the home of her brother Col. Frederick Clinton. This correspondence was accidentally discovered over forty years later, at Ashley Clinton manor, and was published in 1901. Louisa remained unmarried.

Clinton, Margaret Fortescue, Lady    see   Fortescue, Margaret

Clinton-Baddeley, Madeleine Angela     see    Baddeley, Angela

Clisby, Harriet Jemima Winifred – (1830 – 1931) 
Anglo-Australian physician and feminist
Harriet Clisby was born in London, and immigrated to Australia with her family as a child (1854). At the early age of fifteen she began to train as a journalist (1845) in Adelaide, South Australia, before moving to Melbourne in Victoria (1856), where, with Caroline Dexter, she co-produced the radical political journal, The Interpreter. Clisby then decided to train as a physician, and worked as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital in London, before travelling to American for further study at the New York Medical College for women. There she finished her training as an accredited doctor (1865). Harriet founded the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union in Boston, Massachusetts (1871). With her retirement she went to reside in Geneva, Switzerland, where she founded L’Union des Femmes publication.

Clisson, Jeanne de – (c1318 – 1359)
French heiress
Jeanne de Belleville was the wife of the Breton knight Sir Oliver III de Clisson and was the mother of his son Oliver de Clisson (1336 – 1407) later the Constable of France. Her husband was beheaded in Paris on the orders of King Philip VI (1343) on suspicion of having wished to surrender the city of Nantes to the English. Dame Jeanne immediately removed to Brittany and placed her son under the protection of the Dowager Duchess Jeanne, who brought him to safety in England (1349). Her son remained under the care of the duchess until her death.
Jeanne de Clisson remained the king’s avowed enemy, and from Brittany she organized military raids and harassed French shipping. When her troops captured a French occupied castle, Jeanne’s soldiers killed the entire garrison. Jeanne later retired to England where she remarried a second time to an Englishman Walter (Gautier) de Bentley.

Clitheroe, Sylvia Benita Frances Hotham, Lady – (1903 – 1991)
British civic leader
Hon. (Honourable) Sylvia Hotham was the elder daughter of Frederick William, sixth Baron Hotham, and his wife Eliza Benita Sanders, of Sanders Park, Charleville, in Cork. She was married (1924) to Ralph Assheton, first Baron Clitheroe (1901 – 1985), to whom she bore five children. Lady Clitheroe was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), and was a governor of the Westminster Hospital in London. A member of the Council of Lancaster University, during and after WW II she served as a member of the War Agricultural Executive Committee (1941 – 1948), and then of the Agricultural Executive Committee (1948 – 1959). Lady Clitheroe died aged eighty-seven.

Clitherow, Margaret – (1556 – 1586)
English Catholic martyr
Born Margaret Middleton at York, she was the daughter of a candle maker, and became the wife of a widowed butcher, John Clitherow (1571). Though raised a Protestant, Margaret converted to Roman Catholicism (1574), and refused to attend the Anglican Church. Clitherow was fined repeatedly for her intransigence, but was eventually designated a recusant (1576). However, the fact of her pregnancy prevented her from being forced to appear before the council, though after the birth of her child she was imprisoned for over a year. She continued her covert Catholic activities, holding secret masses in her home, and hiding priests from the authorities, and was eventuallt arrested in her home. Clitherow refused to plead, maintaining that only God could judge her, and she was condemned to death. She was executed at York, aged twenty-nine, by being placed underneath an eight hundred pound weight, and slowly crished to death (March 25, 1586). Margaret Clitherow was one of the Forty English martyrs, executed during the reign of Elizabeth I, for hiding priests. She was canonized a saint (1970) by Pope Paul VI.

Clive, Kitty – (1711 – 1785) 
Irish actress, commedienne and vocalist
Born Catherine Raftor in London, she was the daughter of a Jacobite lawyer. After establishing herself as a popular actress in London, under Colley Cibber, she became one of the leading ladies of the Drury Lane Theatre, achieving the first of her considerable stage successes in the role of Nell in Charles Coffey’s popular comic farce, The Devil to Pay (1731). Kitty was married to George Clive, a barrister, but the couple later seperated by mutual consent. A founding member of David Garrick’s company (1747) Kitty remained with him for over twenty tempestuous and temperamental years before she finally retired (1769). She also performed the oratorios of Handel to great popular acclaim. In old age the antiquarian Horace Walpole provided her with a cottage on his estate to live out her retirement in some comfort. Kitty Clive died (Dec 6, 1785) at Twickenham, near London.

Cloatilla – (fl. 41 – 42 AD)
Roman conspirator
The identity of Cloatilla’s husband remains unknown, though it is known that he perished in the downfall of Scribonianus (42 AD). Cloatilla buried her dead husband, who had committed suicide, and for this act she was prosecuted in the senate, being defended by the notorious Domitius Afer. The Emperor Claudius pardoned her, but it has been argued that Domitius later defended her at a second trial that was concerned with financial sureties.

Clode, Dame Frances Heather – (1903 – 1994)
British volunteer activist
Emma Frances Heather Marc was born (Aug 12, 1903) and was educated privately under the supervision of a governess. Frances Marc became the wife (1927) of Charles Clode, an officer in the Royal Norfolk regiment, to whom she bore a son. During WW II Mrs Clode volunterred for the war effort and served with the Cambridge WRVS (Women’s Royal Voluntary Service) (1940 – 1945) for which she was appointed MBE by King George VI (1951) and then OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1955). She later served as vice-chairman (1967) and then chairman (1971 – 1974) of the WRVS. Her valuable lifetime contribution to voluntary service was again recognized when she was created DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth (1974).

Clodesinde – (c560 – c608)
Merovingian nun and saint
Clodesinde was the daughter of Duke Wintrio of Champagne and his wife Godila. Her father was later assassinated by order of the infamous Queen Brunhilda (598). Clodesinde had been married to a nobleman named Oboleno, but immediately after their marriage he was arrested and imprisoned on the orders of Chilperic I of Neustria (561 – 584) for some unknown crime. One year later he was executed.
Duke Wintrio wished Clodesinde to remarry but she refused to consider it. Wintrio took her to visit her aunt Rotelinda, who was a nun at Treves, hoping that she would be able to persuade her niece to obey her father. However, Clodesinde fled to Metz and took refuge in the Church of St Stephen there. Her father eventually relented and Clodesinde was permitted to join her aunt at Treves, where she was trained in the monastic life. Her parents provided her with land to found a convent at Metz, which housed over one hundred nuns at her death. Clodesinde was venerated by the church (July 20) and (July 25). She was considered the patron saint of the city of Metz.

Clodia (Claudia) – (c53 – c39 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Clodia was the daughter of Publius Clodius Pulcher and his wife Fulvia, the daughter of Marcus Fulvius Bambalio, and later the wife of the triumvir Marcus Antonius. She was niece to the famous Clodia Metella, the mistress of the poet Catullus. Clodia was betrothed (42 BC) to Octavian (later Augustus) for political reasons, and went to reside in his household. The arrangement, whether or not there was an actual marriage remains unclear) was later broken off (41 BC), before it had been consummated, and Clodia was returned to her family. The repudiation may probably have had political reasons behind it. The historian Cassius Dio recorded that Octavian could not endure the temper of Clodia’s mother Fulvia;  ‘.. choosing to be at odds with her rather than witn Antony, sent back her daughter, with the remark that she was still a virgin – a statement that he confirmed by an oath, - indifferent whether it should be thought that the woman had remained a virgin in his house so long a time for other reasons, or whether it should seem that he had so planned it along in advance by way of preparing for the future.’ Popular belief was that Octavian had deliberately left the match unconnsumated so that he could abandon the match when the political situation suited him. Clodia is believed to have died young.

Clodia Laeta – (c190 – 213 AD)
Roman priestess
Clodia Laeta was dedicated from childhood to the service of the goddess Vesta. She was one of the four Vestal virgins sentenced to death by the emperor Caracalla. Whilst being taken to be immured alive, Clodia screamed all the while that Caracalla knew she was innocent. The emperor had raped her himself, and then callously condemned her.

Clodia Metella Prima – (c96 – after 68 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Clodia Metella Prima was the eldest daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul (79 BC), and his wife Caecilia Metella Balearica, the daughter of Quintus Metellus Balearicus, consul (123 BC). She became the first wife (c78 BC) of the famous general, Lucius Licinius Lucullus (110 – 56 BC), consul (74 BC). Her father’s death had left the family in financial straits, but the historian Varro recorded that when Lucullus married Clodia, he refused to accept a dowry, her lineage being considered enough. She arranged the marriage of Sulla’s daughter Cornelia with Gaius Memmius whilst her husband was absent in the East (c69 BC). Clodia became involved in several extramarital liasions, and finally, after a decade, Lucullus divorced her (68 BC). He then accused her, along with her two sisters of indulging in incest with her brother Publius, which caused the historian Suetonius to refer to her as ‘a liscentious and base woman.’

Clodia Metella Secunda – (94 – after 45 BC)
Roman Republican beauty and political salon figure
Clodia Metella Secunda was the second daughter of Appius Clodius Pulcher, consul (79 BC), and his wife Caecilia Metella Balearica, the daughter of Quintus Metellus Balearicus, consul (123 BC).   Clodia was married (c79 BC) to her first cousin, Quintus Metellus Celer, consul 59 BC. This Clodia was famous as the mistress of the poet Catullus, becoming the ‘Lesbia’ of his poems, though she was accused of bringing about his death by poison (54 BC). Twenty-six of his surviving poems are thought to have some reference to Clodia. She was also an avowed enemy of the famous statesman and man of letters, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who charged her with the murder of her husband (59 BC), and of committing incest with her brother, Publius Clodius Pulcher.
Cicero was particularly venemous towards her in his Pro Caelius, she having taken Marcus Caelius Rufus (82 – 48 BC) as her lover. When Caelius was charged with the attempted murder of Clodia, amongst other crimes (56 BC), he was ably defended by Cicero, who referred to her as ‘quadrantaria Clytaemnestra,’ a reference to the death of her first husband. However, with the death of Catullus, Clodia remarried to her former adversary, Caelius, who was captured and executed by Julius Caesar at Thurii. She was living in 45 BC, and was the mother of Caecilia Metella.

Clodia Metella Tertia – (c90 – c50 BC)
Roman Republican patrician
Clodia Metella Tertia was the youngest of the three daughters of Appius Clodius Pulcher, consul (79 AD) and his wife Caecilia Metella Balearica, the daughter of Metellus Balearicus. She became the wife (c72 BC) of Quintus Marcius Rex (died 61 BC). She was later accused of incestuous relations with her brother, Publius Clodius (68 BC).

Clodius, Julie Friederike Henriette – (1755 – 1805)
German writer
Born Julie Stoltzel at Altenburg, Saxony, she became the wife of the poet Christian Clodius (1737 – 1784) and was the mother of his son Christian August Heinrich Clodius (1772 – 1836), the noted philosopher and writer. Madame Clodius wrote articles which were published in various journals and also made translations of English verse. She published the last two volumes of her husband’s work Neue vermischte Schriften (1784) whilst her novel Eduard Montrefeuil (1806) was published posthumously. Julie Clodius died (March 3, 1805) in Dresden.

Clodt-Jurgensburg, Elisabeth von – (1840 – 1912)
German poet
Elisabeth was born (Jan 30, 1840) in Warsaw, Poland the daughter of a landowner. She worked as a governess and trevelled throughout Europe and England. After retiring she settled at Clarens near Montreux, where she devoted herself to artistic and literary pursuits, and wrote in several languages. She wrote the hymns including the popular ‘Nichts, nichts kannst du tun zur Erlosung’ which was published in the collection entitled Evangeliumslieder (1880) by Ernst Gebhardt. Elisabeth von Clodt-Jurgensburg died (Dec 7, 1912) aged seventy-two, at Clarens.

Cloeter, Hermine – (1879 – 1970)
Austrian writer
Cloeter was born (Jan 31, 1879) in Munich, Bavaria and studied languages, history and music from early childhood, becoming proficient in all. She wrote articles which were published in such periodicals as the Neue Freie Presse and the Jahrbuch der Grillparzer-Gesellenschaft, being eventually elected to the board of the latter publication (1949). Her research led to the discovery of the grave of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the cemetery of St Mark in Vienna. She founded the museum at Mariahilfe (1958). Hermine Cloeter died (Feb 22, 1970) aged ninety-one, at Weissenkirchen in der Wachau.

Clonbrock, Augusta Caroline Crofton, Lady – (1839 – 1928)
Irish peeress
Hon. (Honourable) Augusta Crofton was born (Oct 16, 1839) the only daughter of Edward, second Baron Crofton (1806 – 1869), and his wife Lady Georgiana Paget, the daughter of Henry William Paget, first Marquess of Anglesley. Augusta Crofton was married (1866) at Roscommon in Ireland, to Hon. Luke Gerald Dillon (1834 – 1917), the son and heir of Lord Clonbrcok and became Hon. Mrs Dillon (1866 – 1893). When her husband succeeded his father in the peerage as the fourth Baron Clonbrock (1893), Augusta became Baroness Clonbrock (1893 – 1917). She survived her husband as the Dowager Baroness Clonbrock (1917 – 1928) and resided mainly at Clonbrock, near Ahascragh, County Galway. Lady Clonbrock was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) by King George V, in recognition of her valuable volunteer work supporting the ambulance and nursing services for the army during WW I. Lady Clonbrock died (Sept 5, 1928) aged eighty-eight. Her children were,

1. Robert Edward Dillon (1869 – 1926). He succeeded his father as the fifth and last Baron Clonbrock (1917 – 1928). He remained unmarried and with his death the title became extinct.

1. Hon. Edith Augusta Dillon (born 1878). She was married (1905) to Sir William Henry Mahon (died 1926), fifth baronet.

1. Hon. Ethel Louisa Dillon (born 1880). She remained unmarried.

Clonbrock, Letitia Greene, Lady – (1757 – 1841)
Irish peeress
Letitia Greene was the only daughter and heiress of John Greene, of Old Abbey, County Limerick, Ireland, and of his wife Catherine Toler, sister of John Toler, the first Earl of Norbury. Letitia was married (1776) to Robert Dillon (1754 – 1795), who was created first Baron Clonbrock in the Irish peerage, by King George III (1790), which made Letitia the first Baroness Clonbrock (1790 – 1795). She was the mother of Luke Dillon (1780 – 1826) who succeeded his father as the second Baron Clonbrock, and left descendants. Letitia survived her husband for over four decades as the Dowager Baroness Clonbrock (1795 – 1841). Lady Letitia was remarried secondly (1802) at Buxton, to Clement Archer (died 1806), the state surgeon in Ireland. There were no children of this marriage. Lady Clonbrock died (May 28, 1841) aged eighty-three.

Clonmell, Henrietta Louisa Greville, Countess of – (1785 – 1858)
Anglo-Irish peeress
Lady Henrietta Greville was the daughter of George Greville, second Earl of Brooke, and Earl of Warwick, and his second wife Henrietta, the daughter of Richard Vernon. Lady Henrietta was married (1805) in Berkeley Square, London, to Thomas Scott (1783 – 1838), the second Earl of Clonmell in Ireland, and became the Countess of Clonmell (1805 – 1838). She and her husband attended the coronations of George IV (1821) and William IV (1831). She survived her husband for two decades as the Dowager Countess of Clonmell (1838 – 1858). Lady Clonmell died (Nov 8, 1858) aged seventy-three, at St Leonard’s-on-Sea. Her children were,

1) Lady Harriet Margaret Scott (1805 – 1891). She became the wife (1827) of Sir Edward Lloyd-Mostyn (1795 – 1884), the second Baron Mostyn, and left descendants.

2) Lady Louisa Augusta Scott (1806 – 1873). She became the wife (1828) of John Slater Harrison, of shelswell Park, Oxon.

3) Lady Charlotte Rachel Scott (1808 – 1891). She became the wife (1830) of Henry Arbuthnot.

4) Lady Caroline Sophia Scott (1810 – 1855). She remained unmarried.

5) Lady Frances Mary Scott (1812 – 1896). She remained unmarried.

6) Lady Sophia Louisa Scott (1814 – 1895). She remained unmarried.

7) John Henry Scott (1817 – 1866). He succeeded his father as third Earl of Clonmell (1838 – 1866) and left issue.

8) Colonel Hon. (Honourable) Charles Grantham Scott (1818 – 1895). He was the father of Beauchamp Scott, the sixth Earl of Clonmell.

9) Lady Augusta Anne Scott (1820 – 1886). She remained unmarried.

Clothilda of Saxony (Clothildis) – (fl. c1000 – c1020)
Imperial noblewoman
Clothilda was the illegitimate daughter and only documented child of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (983 – 1002) by an unidentified mistress. The identity of her husband remains unknown, but through Clothilda’s only child Dada, the wife of Conan, seigneur of Montfaucon (died c1065) she was the grandmother of Hugh de Montfaucon, the famous abbot of Flavigny in Burgundy (1097 – 1100) who recorded these sparse details of his ancestry in his Chronicon. Clothilda was ancestress of the later counts of Montbeliard (Mompelgard) and the counts of Neufchatel.

Clotilda of Burgundy (Chlodechildis) – (474 AD – 545)
Merovingian queen consort (491 AD – 511)
Princess Clotilda was the daughter of Chilperic II, King of Burgundy and his wife Agrippina, and was raised a pious orthodox Catholic. With the murder of her parents and two brothers by her uncle, Gundobad, Clotilda fled to the Merovingian court. Clotilda was married (491 AD) to King Clovis I (466 AD – 511) at Soissons, as his second wife, and bore him four sons, Ingomer, who died young, and the future kings Chlodomir of Orleans (511 – 524), Childebert I of Paris (511 – 558), and Clotaire I of Neustria (511 – 561). The queen relentlessly urged Clovis to renounce his Arian faith in favour of orthodoxy, and his final acceptance and baptism by St Remi (496 AD) was made to honour a vow made during a battle against the Alemanni. With the death of Clovis (511), Queen Clotilda retired to Tours, where she gained a reputation for religious piety, sanctity, charity, and generosity to the church. The deaths of her two grandsons, the sons of Chlodomir, at the hands of their uncles (524) horrified her, and she herself bore their bodies to burial. Queen Clotilda died (June 3, 545) at Tours, and was interred with Clovis in the church of Sainte-Genevieve in Paris. She was revered as a saint (June 3).

Clotilda of the Franks (Chlodechildis) – (c502 – 531)
Visigothic queen consort (c518 – 531)
Princess Clotilda was born in Paris, the only daughter of the Merovingian ruler, Clovis I of the Salian Franks (481 AD – 511), and his second wife Clotilda, daughter of Chilperic II, King of Burgundy. She was married (c518) to Amalric, king of the Visigoths (c504 – 531), to whom she bore a daughter, Clotilda, who became the wife of the French count, Brunulf of Cambrai. The marriage had been engineered to prevent the Franks from encroaching upon Visigothic territories, but this did not happen, and on a personal level also, her marriage was unhappy. Amalric appears to have treated her with some violence, the queen sending her family a scarf covered in blood as proof of her husband’s ill-treatment of her. Her brother Childebert then declared war on Septimania. Amalric was killed by his own troops at Narbonne, and Childebert defeated his army. Queen Clotilda died at Narbonne soon afterwards, aged barely thirty. Her brother escorted her body and her daughter safely back to France, where Clotilda was interred within the Church of the Holy Apostles there.

Clotilda Maria Teresa Luisa – (1843 – 1911)
Princess of Savoy and Italy
Princess Clotilda was born (March 2, 1843) at Turin in Piedmont, the eldest daughter of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia (1849) and of Italy (1861 – 1878) and his first wife the Archduchess Adelaide of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Rainier of Austria. she was married when aged only fifteen (1859) in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin Cathedral to Prince Napoleon de Bonaparte (1822 – 1891) known as ‘Plon-Plon’ and from 1879 the Head of the Imperial House of Bonaparte. The marriage had been one of political necessity but dispite the obvious disparity in ages was the bride’s own choice. Clotilda bore Napoleon three children.
Upon her arrival in Marseilles the Marechal de Castellane was much impressed by her appearance and the graciousness of her manners, but Clotilda was not attracted by court life at the Tuileries and preferred her own apartments at the Palais Royal, where she devoted her time to charitable and philanthropic concerns. She spent most of her dress allowance on the poor, and even unsewed her elaborate trousseau to use for the adornment of religious statues. She accompanied Napoleon on his visit to New York (1861) and with the fall of the Second Empire (1870), unlike the Empress Eugenie, who had to flee the capital in disguise Princess Clotilda left with dignity by carriage and travelled to Italy before returning to join her husband at their estate of Prangins. The new regime later advised the prince and princess to leave the country. Napoleon remained behind in Paris with their sons (1877) whilst Clotilda returned to the Savoyard court of her brother Umberto I with their daughter. Umberto granted Clotilda the royal chateau of Moncalieri, near Turin for her residence.
Known as the Contessa di Moncalieri, she withdrew to private life there and devoted her time to pious works. Prince Napoleon visited there from time to time, and Clotilda corresponded with Pope Pius IX and his successors. Madame de Loynes wrote of her ‘Princess Clotilde is a saint, how many times did I try to bring the prince round to an apparent respect – hypocritical if you like – for the conventions. My efforts were in vain. Deference, even veneration he had for her, one could not get anything else.’ Princess Clotilda was present at her husband’s deathbed at Prangins (1891). Princess Clotilda died (June 25, 1911) aged sixty-eight, at Moncalieri, and was interred within the royal basilica at Superga, near Turin. Years of religious piety had earned her the epithet ‘the saint of Moncalieri.’ Her children were,

1) Prince Victor Napoleon de Bonaparte (1862 – 1926). He succeeded his father as the Head of the imperial House of Bonaparte (1891) and married Princess Clementine of Belgium and left
issue.

2) Prince Louis de Bonaparte (1864 – 1932). He remained unmarried.

3) Princess Letizia de Bonaparte (1866 – 1926). She became the wife of her maternal uncle Amadeo of Savoy (1845 – 1890), Duke of Aosta and left issue.

Clotilde de Bourbon – (1759 – 1802)
Queen consort of Sardinia (1796 – 1802)
Princesse Marie Adelaide Clotilde Xaviera de Bourbon was born at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, the daughter of the Dauphin Louis, and his wife Marie Josephe of Saxony, and sister to Louis XVI, being the granddaughter of Louis XV. The death of their mother in 1767 placed her and her younger sister Elisabeth under the supervision of their paternal aunts, the Mesdames, the unmarried daughters of Louis XV. Pretty and sweet tempered, but somewhat plump, her grandfather nicknnamed her ‘Le Gros Madame’ (the Fat Lady).
Cltilde was married (1775) Carlos Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia (1751 – 1819) but there were no children.  In 1796 her husband became king, but in December of that year, with the advent of Napoleon, Clotilde and the royal family left Turin, and in 1797 travelled to Sardinia where the court would remain till Napoleon’s downfall (1814). Queen Clotilde died in Rome. With the execution of her brother and sister-in-law in 1793, Clotilde wore penitential mourning dress for the rest of her life.  Visitors to Turin still admire the queen’s private oratory, and in her country of adoption she was venerated as a saint. Admired by Pope Pius VII, he had her declared ‘venerable’ (1808) and began the initial steps towards her canonization, though this process was never finished. The church honours her memory (March 7).

Clotsinda of Neustria (Chlodosinde) – (c537 – c564)
Queen consort of Lombardy
Clotsinda was the daughter of Clotaire I, King of Neustria, and his wife Ingunde, the daughter of Basinus, king of Thuringia. Through her father she was the granddaughter of Clovis I and St Clotilda. She was married (c555) to Alboin, king of Lombardy (c535 – 572), as his first wife. The couple had an only daughter, Albsuinda, who was later taken to the Imperial court in Constantinople (573). The queen died before she was thirty, and was the addressee of a survivng letter written to her by Nicetous, Bishop of Trier, and which was preserved in the Epistulae Austrasicae, which referred to her as ‘ad Chlodosuindam reginam Langobardorum.’ Her marriage is recorded by Gregory of Tours in his, Historia Francorum and by Paulus Diaconus in his Historia gentis Langobardorum.

Clotsinda of Ostrevant (Clothsendis) – (c639 – 714)
Merovingian nun
Clotsinda was one of the younger daughters of Count Adalbald of Ostrevant and his wife Rictrude of Gascony. She was sister to Abbess Eusebia of Hamage, Adalsinda and Maurentius, Abbot of Douai. Her father was killed in a dispute (646) and Countess Rictrude took the veil at the Abbey of Marchiennes in Flanders and became the first abbess of that house. Clotsinda and her two sisters were trained for the religious life from early childhood. When she reached a suitable age Clotsinda entered the convent of Marchiennes and was veiled as a nun (c651).
Clotsinda lived under her mother’s rule for almost four decades until she succeeded Rictrude as the second Abbess of Marchiennes (688 – 714) and ruled for over twenty-five years. Abbess Clotsinda died (June 30, 714) aged about seventy-four. She was venerated for her religious sanctity and was honoured as a beata (blessed) (June 30) though she was never formally canonized as a saint.

Clough, Anne Jemima – (1820 – 1892) 
British educator
Anne Clough was born in Liverpool, the daughter of a cotton merchant, and was sister of poet Arthur Hugh Clough (1819 – 1861) and aunt of Blanche Athena Clough. She spent her formative years (1822 – 1836) living in Charleston, Carolina, in America. After her return to England she ran a school 1841 – 1846 because of financial necessity. After employment in three more schools, she removed to Ambleside, Cumbria, with her widowed mother in 1852, where she opened another school for the children of friends.
Anne was deeply interested in the education of women, and her circle of friends included Barbara Bodichon, Millicent Fawcett, Frances Buss, and Henry Sidgwick. After helping to found the Higher Education for Women, of which she served as secretary (1867 – 1870) and eventually president (1873 – 1874). Anne Clough was the first principal for women students at a house at Cambridge, this project culminated in the building of Newnham Hall (1875) and to the building of the present Newnham College, Cambridge (1880). Anne Clough’s personal belief was that female education was a valuable pursuit within itself and not just a means of advancement. This led to her becoming a widely respected authority on a myriad of educationally related matters. Anne Jemima Clough died (Feb 27, 1892) at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Clough, Blanche Athena – (1861 – 1960)
British educator and feminist
Blanche Clough was born at Combe Hurst, Richmond, Surrey, the daughter of the poet, Arthur Hugh Clough (1819 – 1861). Her father died a few months after her birth and she was raised by her grandparents. She was related to several famous figures such as Florence Nightingale, Barbara Bodichon, and was niece to Anne Jemima Clough. Blanche was educated at Hendon and at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she acted as secretary to her aunt (1884 – 1892). She was appointed as tutor to Clough Hall (1896 – 1920), and later succeeded Katharine Stephen as principal of Newnham (1920 – 1923). A pioneer supporter of female suffrage and of educational improvements for women, Clough was a member of the Council of the Roedean School, and of the London and National Society for Women’s Service. Blanche Clough died (June 14, 1960) aged ninety-eight, in Hampshire.

Clough, Prunella – (1919 – 1999)
British painter, etcher, and printmaker
Prunella Clough was born in London, the daughter of the poet, Eric Clough Taylor. She was educated privately and trained as a figurative artist at the Chelsea School of Art, her early work being inspired by everyday people working for the common cause during WW II. However, with the arrival of the 1960’s, Clough’s style evolved into a more abstract and geometric approach. She was friendly with artists such as Ithel Colquhoun, Keith Vaughan and John Minton, and she taught at several art schools such as Chelsea and Wimbledon. Her work was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery (1964), the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield (1972), and at the Serpentine Gallery (1976), amongst others, and she was the recipient of the City of London Midsummer Prize (1977) and the Jerviswood Prize (1999). Prunella Clough died (Dec 26, 1999) aged eighty.

Clutterbuck, Kate Mary – (1861 – 1946)
Anglo-Australian Anglican churchwoman
Katherine Clutterbuck was born in Wiltshire, England. She chose to go into practical religious service, took vows, joining the Kilburn Sisters and working amongst the worst areas of the poor and homeless in London. Clutterbuck and a female friend arrived in Fremantle in Western Australia with a group of British orphans (1901), which she eventually settled on a property which she purchased at Parkville in the Darling Ranges, and where she established an orphanage, where she also accepted locally born orphans. She later established a similar home for the care of Aboriginal children, her homes being held in exceptional regard by former orphans in later years. Kate Clutterbuck died (July 31, 1946) aged eighty-five, in Western Australia.

Clydai – (fl. c470 AD – c520)
Welsh virgin saint
Clydai was one of the many children of Brychn, King of Brecknock and his wife Ribrawst. She joined her sisters Cymorth and Cenedlon in the religious life at Emlyn. The church venerated her as a saint (Nov 1).

Clytemnestra      see    Klytaemnestra

Cneoburg – (fl. c710 – c730)
Anglo-Saxon abbess
Cneoburg was the abbess of an unidentified religious house in England. She composed a surviving Latin letter which she sent to St Boniface on behalf of the heads of three religious houses, which is an indication of her importance.

Coates, Florence Earle – (1850 – 1927)
American poet
Florence Van Leer Earle Coates was born (July 1, 1850) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was educated in New England and in a convent in France. Florence became the wife (1879) of Edward Horner Coates the President of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, to whom she bore a daughter. Mrs Coates served as the president of the Browning Society of Philadelphia (1895 – 1908) and was one of the founders of the Transatlantic Society of America. She was also a member of the Colonial Dames of America and of the Society of Mayflower Descendants.
Coates contributed articles to The Athenaeum, Harper’s Magazine and Scribner’s Atlantic Monthly. Her published collections included Mine and Thine (1904) and The Unconquered Air, and Other Poems (1912), and her better known poems included ‘Youth and Age’ and ‘The World is Mine.’ She was chosen as the poet laureate of Pennsylvania (1919) by the State Federation of Women’s Clubs. Florence Earle Coates died (April 6, 1927) aged seventy-six.

Coates, Odia – (1942 – 1991)
Black American vocalist
Odia Coates was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the daughter of an evangelical clergyman. From her youth she performed with the local church choir, and was later chosen to perform with the Southern Californian State Choir. Coates first attracted public attention when she performed the hit song ‘Country Roads’ with singer John Denver (1971), but is best remembered for the duet, ‘(You’re) Having My Baby,’ which she performed with Paul Anka (1974) and went to No. 1 on the pop charts. The couple performed several other popular renditions such as, ‘One Man Woman/One Woman Man’ (1974) and ‘There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love’ (1975). Odia Coates died of breast cancer (May 19, 1991) aged forty-nine.

Coatsworth, Elizabeth Jane – (1893 – 1986)
American poet and novelist
Born in Buffalo, New York (May 31, 1893), she was married to Henry Beston. She wrote several collections of poetry entitled Fox Footprints (1923), Atlas and Beyond (1924) and Compass Rose (1929). She received the Newbery Award (1931) for her children’s book The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1930).

Cobbe, Frances Power – (1822 – 1904)
Irish author and philanthropist
Frances Cobbe was the daughter of Charles Cobbe, of Newbridge, near Dublin, and was educated privately at home, and at Brighton, near London (1836 – 1838), and also studied geometry and Greek. Cobbe was the founder (1875), and, for nearly twenty years, she served as the honorary secretary of the Victoria Street Society for Protections of Animals from Vivisection. She was later appointed president of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (1898), an association she had formed after she had fallen out with the Victoria Street Society.

Cobbe travelled in Europe and to Palestine (1857), and, apart from writing concerning vivisection and the Poor Laws, she was the author of several works such as Essays on the Pursuits of Women (1863), Why Women Desire the Franchise (1869), Hopes of the Human Race, Duties of Women (1881), Darwinism in Morals and other Essays (1872), Alone to the Alone, and her autobiography, the Life of Frances Power Cobbe by Herself (1894). Her most important work was, The Theory of Intuitive Morals (1855, reprinted 1902), which was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804). Frances Power Cobbe died (April 5, 1904) aged eighty-one.

Cobbold, Blanche Katherine Cavendish, Lady – (1898 – 1987)
British ATS commandant
Lady Blanche Cavendish was born (Feb 2, 1898) the second daughter of Victor Cavendish, ninth Duke of Devonshire and his wife Lady Evelyn Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, the daughter of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, first Marquess of Lansdowne. She was educated at home under the supervision of French and German governesses. Lady Blanche became the wife (1919) of John Murray Cobbold (1897 – 1944) of Glemham Hall, Woodbridge, Suffolk, to whom she bore three children including John Cavendish Cobbold (born 1827) the director of the Tollemache Cobbold Breweries. Lady Cobbold served with the nursing and ambulance services during WW I and was created D.St.J (Dame of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem) in recognition of her war service. During WW II she served as a senior commandant of the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). She provided her own personal reminiscences of her childhood at Chatsworth House and Devonshire House, which included visits by Edward VII and George V to the estate of Bolton Abbey, to the writer John Pearson, which appeared in his history of her family entitled, Stags & Serpents: The Story of the House of Cavendish and the Dukes of Devonshire (1983).

Cobbold, Evelyn Murray, Lady – (1867 – 1963)
British traveller and writer
Lady Evelyn was the author of Pilgrimage to Mecca (1934) and Kenya: The Land of Illusion (1935). Lady Cobbold died (Jan 23, 1963) aged ninety-five, at Glencarron Lodge, Ross-shire, Scotland.

Cobbold, Hermione Lytton, Lady – (1905 – 2004)
British peeress
Lady Margaret Hermione Millicent Lytton was born (Aug 31, 1905), the elder daughter of the second Earl of Lytton, the governor of Bengal, and the temporary viceroy of India, and his wife Pamela Chichele-Plowden, the daughter of Sir Trevor John Chichele Chichele-Plowden. Crown Princes Margaret of Sweden (nee Princess of Connaught) stood sponsor at Hermione’s christening. Known by her second name of Hermione she became the wife (1930) of Cameron Fromanteel Cobbold (1904 – 1987) to whom she bore four children, and became Lady Cobbold (1930 – 1960).
On her father’s death (1947) Lady Hermione succeeded to the family estate of Knebworth House in Hertfordshire where the family resided thereafter. When Cameron was created the first Baron Cobbold (1960) Lady Hermione became the Baroness Cobbold (1960 – 1987). Lord and Lady Cobbold later handed over the property to their eldest son David Lytton-Cobbold (1972) who then opened up the house and park to the public as the venue for popular music concerts, and was a longtime supporter of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). She survived her husband as the Dowager Baroness Cobbold (1987 – 2004) and resided at Knebworth House during her widowhood. Lady Cobbold died (Oct 27, 2004) aged ninety-nine.

Cobbs, Ellen Kramer – (1940 – 1984)
American civil rights lawyer
Ellen Kramer was born in the Bronx in New York, and attended Radcliffe College before studying at the New York University School of Law and qualifying as a lawyer. After her marriage Ellen Cobb worked with the New York City government for a decade (1970 – 1980) and became a specialist in civil rights lawsuits brought by the city, and was involved with the development of laws pertaining to age and sex discrimination, juvenile rights, particularly as regard rights to contraception, and personal privacy. Mrs Cobb also served as an attorney for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (1981 – 1983) and then served as a consultant with the Federation. Ellen Kramer Cobbs died (April 29, 1984) aged forty-three, in Manhattan.

Cobham, Anne de – (c1462 – 1526)
English medieval heiress
Anne de Cobham was the daughter and heiress of Thomas de Cobham, of Sterborough. Anne was the heiress general and representative of Sir Reginald de Cobham, of Sterborough, who was summined to parliament as Lord Cobham of Peterborough (1342). Anne was married firstly to Edward Blount, second Baron Mountjoy, and secondly (1477) to Edward, second Baron Borough (1463 – 1528), as his first wife, and to whom she bore three sons, including Thomas Borough (1487 – 1550), who succeeded his father as third Baron Borough (1528 – 1550). After Lady Anne’s death (June 26, 1526), Lord Borough took as his second wife, the very youthful Catharine Parr, who became the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII (1509 – 1547).

Cobham, Eleanor de – (c1402 – 1454) 
English royal mistress and political victim
Eleanor de Cobham was born at Sterborough Castle, Kent, the daughter of Sir Reginald de Cobham, Lord Cobham of Sterborough, and his first wife Eleanor, the daughter of Sir Thomas Culpeper. She and came to the court of Henry V as a lady-in-waiting to Jacqueline of Bavaria, the wife of the king’s brother, Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester (1391 – 1447).
Greatly admired for her beauty, Eleanor became the duke’s mistress and bore him two children before his divorced his first wife and married her (1428).
The duke’s admirer, John Lydgate condemned Eleanor in verse as the ‘Cyreness.’ She shared Humphrey’s interest and predilection for astronomy, but her influence and dominant hold over his affections and those of the child king Henry VI, and her friendship with the queen mother, Joan of Navarre, the widow of Henry IV, were greatly feared, and she was ultimately accused of attempting to procure the young king’s death through witchcraft (1441). Eleanor fled to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, which could not save her, and she vainly attempted to escape London by water before being apprehended. She was confined at Leeds Castle, Kent until being formally arraigned.
The ensuing trial enabled the duke’s enemies to destroy his political credibility. Eleanor confessed some of the charges, but denied others, and was sentenced to three days public penance in London, after which she was to be imprisoned for life. Of her accomplices, the astronomer Roger Bolingbroke was hung, drawn, and quartered, whilst the Witch of Eye, Margery Jourdemain, was burnt at the stake at Smithfield. Eleanor spent the remainder of her life in comfortable incarceration firstly at Chester Castle, then to Kenilworth (1443) and then to Peel Castle, on the Isle of Man (1446). She died at Beaumaris Castle. She was the first peeress to be tried for treason and felony by a lay commission, and her case ensured that in the future, peeresses, like peers, should be tried by the judges and the peers of the realm. Eleanor de cobham appears as a character in the historical novel Crown by Candlelight (1978) by Rosemary Hawley Jarman.

Cobham, Elizabeth Chidiock, Lady de   see   Chidiock, Elizabeth

Cobham, Frances Newton, Lady – (c1540 – 1592)
English Tudor courtier
Frances Newton was the daughter of Sir Jon Newton (sometimes referred to as Sir John Cradock). She became the wife (1560) of William Brooke (1527 – 1597), the tenth Baron Cobham and became the Baroness Cobham (1560 – 1592). Lady Cobham was appointed to serve at court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I and together with Lady Clinton, the queen ‘trusted more than all others,’ but when she was asked her opinion by Elizabeth to the proposed marriage of the queen and the Duc d’ Anjou, and gave an honest but negative reaction on the grounds of the prince being two decades younger than Elizabeth, she incurred the queen’s pique and suffered a short period of displeasure. However, despite her favoured position within the court her duties were evidently exacting and Robert Dudley, Lord Leicester reported that Lady Frances wished to retire to visit her husband ‘to rest her weary bones awhile, if she could get leave.’ (1575). Lady Cobham died (Oct 17, 1592). Her eleven children included,

1) Frances Brooke (1562 – before 1623). She was married firstly to John Stourton (1553 – 1588), the ninth Baron Stourton, and secondly to Sir Edward Moore of Odiham in Hants and Worth
in Sussex, and left issue from her second marriage.

2) Elizabeth Brooke (1563 – 1597). She became the wife of Sir Robert Cecil (1563 – 1612), the son of Lord Burghley, and later the first Earl of Salisbury, and left issue.

3) Henry Brooke (1564 – 1619). He succeeded his father as the eleventh Baron Cobham (1597 – 1619) and was married but died without issue.

4) Margaret Brooke. She became the wife of Sir Thomas Sondes (died 1592) of Throwley in Kent and left issue.

5) Hon. (Honourable) George Brooke (c1569 – 1603). He became the Prebendary of York but was executed fro treason. George Brooke was the father of Sir William Brooke, who but for the
attainder would have become the twelfth Baron Cobham.

Cobham, Nan    see   Berkeley, Anne Savage, Lady

Coburn, Eleanor    see   Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell

Coca, Imogene – (1908 – 2001)
American comic actress
Coca was born (Nov 18, 1908) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of vaudeville performers. She began her stage career as a child and then appeared in musical revues in New York. Coca then partnered Leonard Sillman in a vaudeville dance act and was cast by him in New Faces of 1934, New Faces of 1936, and New Faces of 1937. She then appeared on Broadway in Straw Hat Revue (1939) produced by Max Liebman. She later performed in nightclubs such as the Blue Angel and Café Society Uptown.
Imogene Coca worked in television, most notably with Sid Caesar in Max Liebman’s variety show The Admiral Broadway Revue (1949) and in Your Show of Shows (1950 – 1954). She received an Emmy Award for best television actress (1951) and then hosted The Imogene Coca Show (1954 – 1955) with Caesar. She worked in regional theatre productions and appeared with Jack Lemmon in the film Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963). Imogene Coca died (June 2, 2001) aged ninety-two, at Westport, Connecticut.

Cocceji, Barbarina Campanini, Baroness von   see   Campanini, Barbarina

Coccia, Maria Rosa – (1759 – 1833)
Italian musician and composer
Coccia was born (Jan 4, 1759) in Rome. She was a musical prodigy as a child and produced a canonic exercise before the Accademia di S. Cecilia at the age of fifteen (1774). Soonafterwwards she was made a member of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. Her other works included a Magnificat (1774) for voices and organ, a Dixit dominus (1775) for choir and organ, and a Cantata per musica a 4 voci (1783). Letters in praise of her talent have survived by Farinelli, Pietro Metastasio and Padre Martini. Maria Rosa Coccia died (Nov, 1833) aged seventy-four, in Rome.

Coccinelle – (1931 – 2006)
French entertainer and transexual actress
Her real name was Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, and was born a male (Aug 23, 1931) in Paris. After entering showbusiness there as a transgender showgirl (1953) she adopted the stage name ‘Coccinelle’ which means ‘ladybug.’ Coccinelle’s was the first sexual reassignment case in France that became widely publicized, the operation having been performed in Casablanca (1958). This ensured that she became a national celebrity, and she had already achieved fame with her talent as a nightclub singer, and her resemblance to the glamorous American actress Marilyn Monroe, most notably at the Le Carousel de Paris nightlcub.
Coccinelle appeared in the film Europa di notte (1959) produced by director Alessandro Blasetti, and the popular Italian singer Ghigo Agosto dedicated to her the song ‘Coccinella’ (1959), which caused considerable public controversy. She appeared in the films, Los Viciosos (1962) and Dias de Viejo Color (1968), and achieved incredible publicity by appearing in her own revue Cherchez la Femme (1963) at the Paris Olympia Theatre. The actress became involved in work on behalf of transgendered people and founded the organization Devenir Femme, which sought to provide practical and emotional support for people undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. She wrote the autobiography Coccinelle (1987). Coccinelle died (Oct 9, 2006) aged seventy-five, in Marseilles.

Cocea, Sofia – (1839 – 1861)
Romanian poet and journalist
Sofia was born in Falticeni and received an extensive education from early infancy. She translated works from French into Romanian at the age of thirteen (1842) and tranalted Madame de Genlis’s famous novel as Palmira si Flaminia sau Secretul (Palmira and Flaminia or The Secret) (1852). Sofia also wrote the play Maria sau Mustrarile de cuget ale unei mame (Maria or The Qualms of Conscience of a Mother) (1852). Refused financial assistance to stgudy abroad Sofia became a teacher and was a firm supporter of the unification of Romania. Her political essays were published in various publications including Tribuna romani, Foiletonul Zimbrului, and the Gazeta de Moldavia. Sofia Cocea died at Vaslui.

Cochetta   or   Cochettina, La     see    Gabrielli, Caterina

Cochran, Jacqueline – (1910 – 1980)
American aviatrix
Born in Pensacola, Florida, she was reared in poverty by foster parents. Employed in a Georgian cotton mill from the age of eight, Cochran later managed a beauty salon and ran her own successful business. She learnt to fly (1932), partly as an advertising ploy for her cosmetics company, and married (1936) the industrialist and banker, Floyd Odlum. A record breaker in aviation, Cochran became the first woman to enter the Bendix Trancontinental Air Race (1935), and then the first woman to win it (1938), and established a further record time for women when she crossed North America (1938). During World War II Cochran served as a captain in the British Air Force Auxiliary, and organized female pilots who flew military aircraft. She later trained women to fly transport planes, and was appointed director of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (1943).  Cochran broke the world speed records for both sexes in a Sabre jet (1953), and in the same year she became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). She later broke this record becoming the first woman to fly at twice the speed of sound (Mach 2) (1961). She retired from the Air Force Reserve as a colonel (1970), but continued as a consultant for NASA. She wrote the autobiography, Stars at Noon (1954). Jacqueline Cochran died (Aug 9, 1980) at Indio, California.

Cock, Julia – (c1849 – 1914)
British physician
Julia Cock she passed her degree at Edinburgh University and became a consulting physician at the New Hospital for Women. Julia was later appointed dean and joint lecturer of medicine, at the London Royal Free Hospital, and the School of Medicine for Women. Ultimately Julia was appointed to be medical examiner for the Board of Education. As a physician she was the author of papers concerning the study of rheumatoid arthritis, and articles such as the Medical Inspection of secondary Schools for Girls. Julia Cock died (Feb 7, 1914).

Cockacoeske – (c1644 – 1686)
American Indian chieftain
Cockacoeske was the wife of Totopotomoi, chief of the Paminkey tribe in the region of Tidewater, in Virginia. With her husband’s death she succeeded him as queen (squaw sachem). Cockacoeske soon learnt the English language and customs, this knowledge facilitated by her own liasion with the Englishman John West, to whom she bore a son. She signed a treaty with the colonial government which enhanced her area of influence and power (1676), though this treaty was later violated by Nathaniel Bacon. Finally, a second peace agreement was negotiated, the Treaty of Middle Plantation (1677). Because of her own stated admiration for the English king, Charles II, and her concerted efforts to negotiate peace, the colonists honoured Cockacoeske with a silver medallion and presented her with rich gifts of clothing. She remained in peaceful control of her territories until her death.

Cockayne, Dame Elizabeth – (1894 – 1988)
British nursing officer
Elizabeth Cockayne was born at Burton-on-Trent. She trained as a nurse with the Royal Infirmary in Sheffield, and then studied midwifery at the Maternity Hospital in Birmingham, Lancashire. She served as matron of several hospitals including the West London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital. She was appointed as the supervisor of training at the London County Council training School and was the chief nursing officer at the Ministry of Health (1948 – 1958). Cockayne was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1955) in recognition of her valuable service. Dame Elizabeth Cockayne died (July 14, 1988).

Cockayne, Dame Mary – (c1612 – 1683)
English Stuart literary figure
Mary Kniveton was the daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton of Merfaston and Bradley in Derbyshire, and his wife Lady Frances Dudley, the legitimate daughter of Sir Robert Dudley (1573 – 1649), Duke of Nortumberland and his first wife Alicia Leigh. Mary was married (after July, 1632) to Sir Aston Cockayne (1608 – 1684), the son of Thomas Cockayne (1587 – 1638) and his wife Anne Stanhope, and bore him three children. Dame Mary was the ‘My Mall’ of the epigram to Sir Aston’s wife. With the death of her mother-in-law (1664) Mary and her husband acquired the manor of Ashbourne. Dame Mary Cockayne died (May, 1683) and was interred at Polesworth.

Cockburn, Alison – (1713 – 1794)
Scottish poet
Alison Rutherford was born at Fairnilee in Selkirkshire, daughter of Robert Rutherford. She was taught arithmetic by her father and later attended a private boarding school. She was married (1731) to a legal advocate, Patrick Cockburn. Their son, Adam Cockburn (1732 – 1780) was a noted military officer. With her husband’s death (1753), Alison retired to Edinburgh, where she was prominent figure at the literary salons of the period. She entertained David Hume, Lord Monboddo, Sir Walter Scott, to whom she was related, and the poet, Robert Burns, amongst many other notable guests. She was the author of the lyrics ‘The Flowers of the Forest’ written to an old Scottish tune, which was published in The Blackbird (1765) in Edinburgh. During her last years Cockburn was stricken with deafness and blindness. Alison Cockburn died (Nov 22, 1794) aged eighty-one.

Cockburn, Catherine – (1679 – 1749)
British novelist and philosopher
Catherine Trotter was born in London (Aug 16, 1679) to Scottish parents, the daughter of a naval captain, David Trotter. Her foray into writing began as a necessity to support the family after her father died of the plague leaving them without sufficient means (1684). Trotter’s first work was published when she was fourteen, The Adventures of a Lady (1693), later retitled Olinda’s Adventures. Her first published play, Agnes de Castro, a verse dramatization of the story of the same title by Aphra Behn, was staged two years later (1695). She satirized with Mary de La Riviere Manley and Mary Pix in the anonymous satire, The Female Wits (1696). Her most popular play was, The Fatal Friendship, first performed on the stage (1698), and she was encouraged in her writing career by the noted dramatist, William Congreve, and was followed by the philosophical work, A Defence of Mr Lock’s Essay of Human Understanding (1702). Trotter was married (1708) to a clergyman, Patrick Cockburn, who was later appointed to the Chapel of St Paul in Aberdeen (1726). Her last work was Remarks Upon the Principles and Reasonings of dr Rutherford’s Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue (1747). A two volume collection of her works was published posthumously under the title, The Works of Mrs Catherine Cockburn, Theological, Moral, Dramatic, and Poetical (1751). Catherine Cockburn died (May 11, 1749) aged sixty-nine.

Cockburn, Florence Mary    see    Bonneau, Florence Mary

Cocker, Annie – (1857 – 1939)
Australian painter
Annie Cocker was born in Spreyton, Tasmania, the daughter of the noted enterpreneur, David Cocker (1830 – 1907), a native of Dalton in Yorkshire, England. Cocker never married and served as manager of the Post and Telegraph office in Burnie (1875 – 1883), and then travelled to England, where she studied art in London. After her return to Tasmania, she taught in Launceston before settling in Devonport. She specialized in watercolour paintings of native wildlfowers, and examples of her work were preserved at the British Art Exhibition in London. She remained unmarried. Annie Cocker died (March 10, 1939) aged eighty-one, at Spreyton.

Cocks, Kate Boadicea – (1875 – 1954)
Australian policewoman and welfare activist
Fanny Kate Boadicea Cocks was born (May 5, 1875) in Moonta, South Australia, and was educated at home by a governess. She was trained as a teacher, and served as a headmistress before being signed on as a clerk with the State Children’s Council. She remained unmarried. Cocks started as a probationary officer (1906), dealing with first time offenders, and eventually joined the South Australian Police Force (1915), as the first female constable.  She dealt mainly with female offenders and was placed in charge of the plain-clothes women’s branch. After her retirement from the force (1935), Cocks worked with unmarried women and abandoned children. Kate Cocks died (Aug 20, 1954) aged seventy-nine.

Codona, Lillian    see   Leitzel, Lillian

Coe, Emma Eliza – (1850 – 1913)
Samoan trading entrepreneur
Emma Eliza Coe was the daughter of Jonas Myndersse Coe (1822 – 1891), the American commercial agent situated at Apia, Samoa, and a Samoan princess, Le’utu Taletale of the Malieota family, and was born Princess Tui Malietoa Coe. Beautiful and well-educated, she was married firstly to James Forsayth, a Scottish trader, and secondly to a Prussian officer, Paul Kolbe. Her sister Phebe Clotilda Coe (1863 – 1944) was married to the noted botanist and natural historian, Richard Heinrich Parkinson, the natural son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Coe inherited the fortune of her father and using her own commercial geniusbuilt up an impressive trading empire in the Pacific region, becoming so famous as to be popularly known as ‘Queen Emma.’ Her struggle to gain control of Samoa, which eventually failed, involved her with such important figures at the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Kalakaua of Hawaii and the American president Ulysses S. Grant. Emma Coe died (July 21, 1913) aged sixty-two, in Monte Carlo, two days after the death of her second husband, in mysterious circumstances that have never been properly explained.

Coelia Palaestina – (c150 – 212 AD)
Roman Imperial matron
Of free status, and perhaps a former slave, her funerary inscription survives. She left her fortune to her three heirs, Memphius, Irenaeus, and Renatus, whom she was raised in her own household. These three erected a monument to her memory, which reveals that Coelia was connected to two important freedmen, Aelius Provincialis and Aelius Viator, who served in the household of the joint emperors Caracalla and Geta (211 – 212 AD).

Coelifloria – (d. c303 AD)
Roman Christian martyr
Coelifloria was killed in Africa during the persecutuins instigated by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian Daia. Her feast was recorded in the Acta Sanctorum (Jan 5).

Coello, Isabel Sanchez – (1564 – 1612)
Spanish painter
Isabel Sanchez Coello was the daughter of the artist Mateo Gilarte (died c1680). Taught by her father, she became a portraitist in his style, and was also known to have made copies of his portraits of figures at the Spanish court.

Coetfano, Felicie de Lopriac de Coetmadeuc, Marquise de – (1735 – 1794)
French aristocrat and courtier
Felicie was the daughter of Guy de Lopriac, Marquis de Coetmadeuc and his wife Marie Louise de La Rochefoucald, the daughter of Charles de La Rochefoucald, Comte de Blanzac. She was married (1752) to Louis Joseph Marie de Kerkhoent de Locmaria (1718 – 1782), Marquis de Coetfano. Madame de Coetfano and her husband attended the court of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour at Versailles, and both attended the coronation of Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Rheims (1775).
Felicie survived her husband as the Dowager Marquise de Coetfano (1782 – 1794). She remained in Paris throughout the early years of the Revolution but was later arrested during the Terror and was condemned to death for treason. Madame de Coetfano was guillotined (July 26, 1794) and was amongst the last of Robespierre’s victims. She was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole.

Coetquen, Margeurite Gabrielle Charlotte de Rohan-Chabot, Marquise de – (1646 – 1720)
French patrician and courtier
Margeurite Gabrielle de Rohan-Chabot was the eldest daughter of Henri de Rohan-Chabot, Duc de Rohan (1616 – 1655), and his wife Margeurite de Rohan, Duchesse de Rohan. She was married to Malo de Coaquin, Marquis de Coetquen, who died in 1679. Madame de Coetquen and her husband were prominent figures at the court of Louis XIV at Versailles. She served as lady-in-waiting to Henrietta Anne, the first Duchesse d’Orleans, and was later implicated in the infamous ‘Affair of the Poisons’ (1679 – 1680).

Coeuvres, Marquise Francoise de    see   Babou, Francoise

Cogan, Alma – (1934 – 1966)
British actress and vocalist
Cogan was born in St John’s wood, the daughter of a haberdasher. She was educated by nuns at Reading, by from an early age she desired to be a singer. Alma was performing with a dance band from the age of thirteen (1948), and appeared on the chorus of High Button Shoes (1951). She quickly developed into a radio star, appearing in such plays as Gently, Bentley and Take it from Here. Possessed of an unusual and captivating beauty which was matched by her voice, she quickly developed into a famous variety star and performed throughout Europe. She made several recordings. Her continued ill-health forced Cogan to cancel a singing tour of Sweden. Alma Cogan died (Oct 26, 1966) aged thirty-two.

Coghlan, Eliza – (1787 – 1900)
Australian centenarian
Eliza Coghlan was born in Westmeath, Ireland, and had been employed in Scotland as a domestic before arriving in Melbourne, Victoria, aboard the ‘Thomas Arbuthnot,’ with her illegitimate son James Duffus. For over forty years she acted as housekeeper to her son on his property on Philip Island, in Victoria. She died aged one hundred and thirteen years. Cemetery Road on Philip Island, was renamed Coghlan Road in her honour (1968).

Cogniet, Marie Amelie – (1798 – after 1843)
French portrait painter
Cogniet was best known for her work Atelier for Young Woman.

Cohan, Agnes Nolan – (1883 – 1972) 
American dancer
The wife of theatrical producer George M. Cohan (1877 – 1942), she was born Agnes Nolan in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1905 Agnes first appeared in her Cohan’s first musical production, Little Johnny Jones, and she thereafter toured as a dancer with the ‘Four Cohans’ family act. She became Cohan’s second wife in 1907, and devoted herself to domestic life. Widowed in 1942, Agnes resided quietly in Queens for thirty years. At the time of her death most of her neighbours had no idea of her former connection with the theatre. She was interred in the Cohan family crypt in Woodlawn Cemetery, in the Bronx.

Cohen, Fanny – (1887 – 1975)
Australian educator
Fanny Cohen was born (June 9, 1887) in Grafton, New South Wales, and was educated in a private school in Sydney and at Sydney University, where she studied geology. Cohen won the geology medal and then demonstrated at the university for two years (1909 – 1911). Her stint at Cambridge University in England was cut short due to family illness and responsibilities.
Cohen was appointed to the Fort Street School, where she taught mathematics (1912), and served as headmistress of Maitland West (1922 – 1926) and then of St George Girls’ High Schools (1926 – 1929). After these short stints, Cohen returned to Fort Street, where she served as headmistress for over two decades (1929 – 1952). After her retirement she served as director of the Sydney University Women’s Union (1953 – 1959) and translated books into braille for the Royal Blind Society. Cohen remained unmarried. Fanny Cohen died (Aug 21, 1975) aged eighty-eight, in Sydney.

Cohen, Harriet – (1895 – 1967)
British concert pianist
Harriet Verney-Cohen was the daughter of Joseph Verney-Cohen, of Aldershot, Hants, a minor composer and studied at the Royal Academy of Music (1912 – 1917), and later, under Dame Myra Hess at the Matthay School. Elegant, though her career was hampered by the smallness of her hands, which limited her repertoire, Cohen made successful tours of Europe and was a pioneer of ‘expressive’ method of pianoforte, as well as popularising the works of sixteenth century music masters such as William Byrd (1534 – 1623) and Orlando Gibbons (1583 – 1625). Sir Arnold Bax (1883 – 1953) dedicated his Second Sonata to her, and, after she sufferred a hand injury, he composed his Concertante for Orchestra with Piano (Left Hand) for her.
Bax also became the founder and first president of the Harriet Cohen International Music Awards. Chosen to represent Britain at international festivals at Salzburg in Austria, Washington and Chicago in the USA, and Frankfurt-Homburg in Germany, Cohen performed in most of the principal cities of Europe, Russia, America and Palestine. She served as vice-president of the Women’s Freedom League, and was appointed CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by King George VI (1938) for her services to music. She retired in 1960 and left memoirs, A Bundle of Time (1969), published posthumously. Harriet Cohn died (Nov 13, 1967) aged seventy-two.

Cohen, Mary Gwendolen – (1893 – 1962)
Scottish club organizer
Mary Frankenburg was born (July 15, 1893) at Salford, in Lancashire, the daughter of Isidore Frankenburg, an alderman, and was educated at the Roedean School. She was married (1918) to Arthur Cohen, to whom she bore three daughters. Cohen became involved in working with the union of girls’ clubs, and became chairman of the Scottish Association of Mixed Clubs and Girls’ Clubs (1931 – 1950). In recognition of this work, she was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) by King George VI (1945). She served as the emergency Officer for Youth in Glasgow during WW II (1939 – 1943), and was the founder, and first chairman of the Glasgow Girls’ Training Crops (1942 – 1945). Cohen later served the government by serving as a member of the departmental committee set up to eaxmine homosexual offences and prostitution (1954 – 1957). Mary Gwendolen Cohen died (May 16, 1962) aged sixty-eight, at West Kilbride, in Ayrshire.

Cohen, Rose – (1860 – 1934)
Australian vocalist and civic leader
Rose Hast was born in London, England, the daughter of Marcus Hast, a clergyman. She was married there (1886) to Francis Lyon Cohen, and the couple came to Sydney, Australia (1905), where she established herself as a popular performing of Jewish songs and ballads. Cohen served with various charitable and philanthropic orgaizations, and was treasurer with Women’s Liberation League and was a committee member of the Women’s Club. Active within the Red Cross organization, Cohen was a prominent member of the National Council of Women. Rose Cohen died in Sydney (Nov 19, 1934), aged seventy-four.

Cohn, Fannia Mary – (1885 – 1962)
American labour leader and educator
Fannia Cohn was born (April 5, 1885) at Kletzk, in Minsk, Russia, the daughter of a miller. She came to America with her family as a young woman (1904). Having formerly been involved with the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia, she forsook a career as a pharmacist in order to become a garment maker. She became the general organizer of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), and arranged a successful strike of dressmakers, and other workers in Chicago (1915). Cohn helped with the establishment of the Workers’ Education Bureau (1921), and the Brookwood Labor College, a residential school for ordinary workers. Cohn wrote articles which appeared in such publications as, Labor Age, and, American Federationist. Fannia Cohn died (Dec 24, 1962) aged seventy-seven, in New York.

Cohn, Ola – (1892 – 1964)
Australian sculptor
Born Carola Cohn (April 25, 1892) in Bendigo, Victoria, she studied painting and technique at the Bendigo School of Mines, the Swinburne Technical College, and the Royal College of Arts in London, where she studied under the graphic artist and sculptor Henry Moore (1898 – 1986). Cohn established her studio in East Melbourne, and was considered to be the leading exponent of the modernist school of sculpture. She served as president of the Society of Women Painters and Sculptures in Melbourne (1948 – 1964) and was the first sculptor to win the Crouch Prize (1954). Ola Cohn died (Dec 23, 1964) aged seventy-two, in Cowes, Victoria.

Coignard, Gabrielle de – (c1545 – 1594)
French poet
Gabrielle was born into a noble family in Toulouse and became the wife of the the Sieur de Mansencal de Miremont, the president of the Paris Parliament. She was left a widow at a young age and retired from public life in order to educate her two daughters. Several of her religious verses have survived being published posthumously by her children as Oeuvres chrestiennes de feue dame Gabrielle de Coignard (The Christian Works of the Late Lady Gabrielle de Coignard) (1595).

Coigny, Aimee de – (1769 – 1820)
French émigré and memoirist
Born Anne Francoise Aimee de Franquetot de Coigny, and was married firstly (1784) to Andre Hercule Rosset de Rocozel de Perignan, marquis and Duc (1788) de Fleury. The union proved incompatible and the couple seperated in 1792. They were divorced in 1793. She remarried (1795) to Claude Philibert Hippolyte de Mouret, Comte de Montrond, but this marriage ended in divorce as well (1802). She was known afterwards as Madame Aimee de Coigny. Originally a supporter of the Revolution, she formed a member of the coterie which surrounded Philippe Egalite, Duc d’Orleans. She travelled in Italy (1790 – 1792), and left Paris for England, shortly after the infamous September Massacres. She returned to France in Nov, 1792. She left memoirs which dealt with the Revolution, the Empire under Napoleon I, and the Bourbon Restoration entitled Memoires d’Aimee de Coigny. Introduction et notes par Etienne Lamy (1902).

Coincoin, Marie Therese – (1742 – 1816)
Black American slave and planter
Marie Coincoin was born (Aug, 1742) at Natchitcohes in Louisiana, the child of slaves. As her father was attached to this military oupost, Marie Therese and her sister were trained in pharmacology and nursing. She later bore five children during a liaison with an American Indian slave, and was the leased to the French merchant Claude Thomas Metoyer and became his concubine (1765). Metoyer freed Marie Therese (1778) and continued for a further decade until he married a Creole widow. Metoyer granted Marie Therese seventy acres of rich land when they separated and gradually freed their eight children.
Coincoin then earned her living as a tobacco planter and a merchant of oils, shipping her produce to New Orleans. She later proved successful in her application for a Spanish grant and received 666 acres of land west of the Cane River. Her son Pierre Metoyer later filed a land claim in his mother’s name calling her ‘ his mother, Marie Therese, freed negresse’ (1806) without reference to her surname and she was recorded her under her son’s surname of Metoyer. Her eldest son Augustin Metoyer established the Creole parish church of St Augustine at Natchez, also known as Isle Brevelle (1829), which is believed to be the first church for black people to be founded by free blacks, whilsta younger son Louis Metoyer built the famous Melrose Plantation at Cane River. After her death she remained an important figure in Louisiana folk-lore.

Coislin, Marie Anne Louise de Mailly-Nesle, Marquise de – (1732 – 1817)
French courtier and royal mistress
Born Marie Anne Louise Adelaide Melanie Francoise de Mailly-Nesle, she was cousin to the Marquise de Vintimille and the Duchesse de Chateauroux, the mistresses of Louis XV. She was married (1750) to Charles George Rene du Cambout, Marquis de Coislin (1728 – 1771).  An admired beauty at the court, Louis XV paid her marked attentions towards the end of 1755, and she became his mistress, but she gave herself haughty airs, and presumed to upstage the king’s established maitresse en titre Mme de Pompadour, during a game of cards at Marly.
In the end Madame de Coislin overplayed her hand, asking for too many favours too quickly, and succeeded only in frightening him away. Madame de Coislin survived the upheaval of the Revolution, and lived to be eighty-five, having survived her husband nearly fifty years and was a prominent member of the the old Bourbon court which remained in the Faubourg St Germain in Paris. Her chief topic of conversation for the rest of her life was always that period of her involvement with the king, her account of which contained an over-exaggerated view of both her importance in the king’s life, and of her influence over him. Madame de Coislin was mentioned in the correspondence of the British antiquarian Horace Walpole.

Coit, Mehetabel Chandler – (1673 – 1758)
American colonial diarist
Mrs Coit resided at New London in Connecticut and kept a diary from her teenage years (1688) until a few years before her death (1749). This was published was published one hundred and forty years after her death as Mehetabel Chandler Coit, Her Book (1895).

Coke, Frances – (1603 – 1645)
English Stuart courtier
Frances Coke was the daughter of the jurist Sir Edward Coke and his second wife Elizabeth Cecil the widow of Sir William Hatton. Frances was married (1617) at Hampton Court Palace to Sir John Villiers (c1590 – 1658), the first Viscount Purbeck, son of Sir George Villiers and Mary Beaumont, Countess of Buckingham. Lady Coke had been opposed to this marriage and pleaded that Frances was precontracted to marry Henry de Vere, Earl of Oxford, but to no avail. King James I had insisted upon the marriage taking place and under these conditions it is not surprising that the union was a complete failure, and as well her husband was subject to periodic fits of insanity.
Lady Purbeck became involved in an adulterous affair with Sir Robert Howard. This intrigue became known after Frances was delivered of an illegitimate son Robert Wright (1624 – 1674), of whom Howard was reputedly the father. By order of the Duke of Buckingham Howard was arrested and committed to the Fleet Prison, whilst Lady Frances was sentenced to a fine of five hundred marks and to be imprisoned during the pleasure of the high commission court of the Star Chamber, and then to do penance at the Savoy in London. Frances evaded these penalties by escaping abroad with the connivance of the Savoyard ambassador and went to live in France for some time.
Frances later returned to England and continued to reside with Robert Howard at his house at Clun in Shropshire, bearing him several other children. The original proceedings of the Star Chamber were later renewed (1635) and Howard was again imprisoned and Lady Frances placed in confinement. Howard was ordered to keep from her company. Frances then cohabited with William Clun in Shropshire. Frances Coke died (June 4, 1645) and was interred within the Church of St Mary at Oxford.

Coke, Jane Wharton, Lady – (1706 – 1761)
British Hanoverian letter writer
The daughter of the first Marquess of Wharton, she married twice becoming firstly Lady Holt and secondly Lady Coke. She conducted a lengthy correspondence with Mrs Eyre which was edited posthumously by Florence Ada Ambrose and published as Letters of Lady Jane Coke to Her Friend Mrs Eyre at Derby, 1747 – 1758 (1899).

Coke, Mary Campbell, Lady – (1726 – 1811) 
British courtier and memoirist
Lady Mary Campbell was born (Feb 6, 1726) the youngest child of John Campbell, second Duke of Argyll, and his second wife Jane Warburton. She was married (1747) to Edward, Viscount Coke, the only son and heir of Thomas Coke, first Earl of Leicester, but the marriage remained childless and was unhappy. Mary applied for a divorce on the grounds of ill-treatment (1750) but these proceedings were eventually rendered unnecessary with Edward’s death (Aug, 1753).
Lady Coke was for many years a fixture of the court of George III and Queen Charlotte, and in old age she much impressed the novelist Fanny Burney by her knowledge of court etiquette. Miss Burney herself observed Lady Mary making her obeisance to the king and queen after which she kicked her train behind her and ‘… backed out of the room in capital style.’ For many years Lady Mary kept up a voluminous diary as ‘Poll Coke’. Part of this work has been privately printed by Lord Home. It is a marvellous epitome of the life of a lady of this period, who, though without much force of character or literary power, is yet of a singularly entertaining personality. Lady Mary Coke died (Sept 30, 1811) aged eighty-five.

Coker, Dame Elizabeth – (1916 – 1988)
British health worker and educational reformer
Elizabeth Lowe attended secondary school at Wrexham prior to studying at the Queen Mary College at the University of London. She was married (1947) to Frank Coker to whom she bore a daughter. Elizabeth Coker joined the civil service and became a member (1959) and later the chairman (1971 – 1974) of the Essex County Council. She served as vice-president of the County Councils Associatiob (1868 – 1974), the Association of County Councils (1974 – 1981).
Coker was a chairman of the Council of Local Education Authorities (1974 – 1979) and was a member of the council of Essex University. She was appointed DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1976). Dame Elizabeth was apoointed as governor of her old alma mater Queen Mary College (1977) and of the United World College of the Atlantic at St Donats (1980). Dame Elizabeth Coker died (Oct 9, 1993).

Coker, Elizabeth Boatwright – (1909 – 1993)
American historical novelist
Elizabeth Boatwright was born (April 21, 1909) in Darlington, South Carolina, and studied at Converse College in Spartanburg. She became the wife of James Lide Coker, a company president, to whom she bore several children. Elizabeth Coker achieved national fame as the author of popular historical romance novels, which were set in her native state. Her novels included Daughter of Strangers (1950), The Day of the Peacock (1952), India Allan (1953), La Belle (1959), Lady Rich (1963) and the family saga The Bees: A Story of a Family (1968). She was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame (1992) in recognition of her contribution to the state’s culture and history.
Mrs Coker died (Sept 1, 1993) aged eighty-four, in Hartsville, South Carolina.

Colaco, Branca de Gonta – (1880 – 1944)
Portugese poet and critic
Branca was the daughter of the poet Tomas Ribeiro and became the wife (1898) of the painter Jorge Colaco. She established a popular literary salon within her home and published the collection of verse, Matinas (Matins) (1907) which was followed by three others. Her other published work was Poetas de Ontem (Poets of Yesterday) (1915) and Cartas de Camilo Castello Branco a Tomis Ribeiro (Letters from Camilio Castello to Tomis Ribeiro) (1922).

Colaco Osorio-Swaab, Reine – (1881 – 1971)
Dutch musician and composer
Reine was born (Jan 16, 1881) in Amsterdam, but did not begin her career as a composer until aged overty forty, studying with Henk Badings. She was particularly known for her chamber pieces such as her Suite for Wood-wind Quintet (1948), Flute Quartet (1952), and her String Quartet (1955). She also composed the dramatic piece Genezing van den Blinde (1955). Reine Colaco Osorio-Swaab died (April 14, 1971) aged ninety, in Amsterdam.

Colbert, Claudette – (1903 – 1996)
French-American actress
Born Lily Claudette Chauchoin (Sept 13, 1903) in Paris, she was educated in New York. Originally intending to become a fashion designer, she was lured into an acting career after a bit-part in the stage production of, The Wild Westcotts (1923). Colbert’s theatrical credits included, The Marionette Man (1924), A Kiss in a Taxi (1925), and the extremely popular, The Barker (1927). She made her film debut the same year in For the Love of Mike (1927), which gained her a contract with Paramount Pictures. Famous for her appearances as the Empress Poppaea, wife of Nero in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and in the title role of Cleopatra (1934), produced by Cecil B. De Mille, Colbert also excelled in glamourous comic roles such as It Happened One Night (1934) with Clark Gable, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and appeared in many well known films such as Imitation of Life (1934), I Met Him in Paris (1937), Arise My Love (1940), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Since You Went Away (1944), The Egg and I (1947), and Three Came Home (1950). Colbert made over sixty films, and retired from movies in 1961, though she continued to work in theatre, appearing in stage productions of The Kingfisher (1978) and Aren’t We All (1984). She also appeared in the television mini-series, The Two Mrs Grenvilles (1987) with Ann-Margaret. Her first husband (1928 – 1935) was the actor and film director, Norman Foster (1900 – 1976). Claudette Colbert died (July 30, 1996) aged ninety-two, in Barbados.

Colbran, Isabella Angela – (1785 – 1845)
Spanish soprano, musician and composer
Isabella Colbran was born (Feb 2, 1785) in Madrid and had singing training under Francisco Pareja and the castrato Girolamo Crescentini. She performed with impressive success at the Imperial court of Napoleon I in Paris and was an extrememly successful performer in Italy reigining for a decade (1811 – 1821) as the primadonna of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. The composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792 – 1868) composed eighteen operas especially for Isabella and they were later married (1822 – 1836) though the union ended in divorce. Isabella retired in 1829. Isabella Colbran died (Oct 7, 1845) aged sixty, at Castenaso near Bologna.

Colcord, Joanna Carver – (1882 – 1960)
American social worker
Joanna Colcord was born (March 18, 1882) aboard ship in New Caledonia, in the South Pacific Ocean. She was raised in Maine, and was trained as a rural schoolteacher. Colcord studied chemistry and biological chemistry of the University of Maine, and worked as a fiedl representative for the Red Cross in the Virgin Islands (1920 – 1925). She succeeded Mary Richmond as the director of the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation (1929), and wrote articles concerning unemployment, public health, and subsistence farming, and other Depression related issues. She was the author of the social welfare manual, Your Community: Its Provisions for Health, Safety, and Welfare (1939). Her collection of American sea-shanties was published as Roll and Go (1924). Joanna Colcord died (April 8, 1960) aged seventy-eight, in Lebanon, Indiana.

Cole, Belle – (c1856 – 1904) 
American contralto
Born at Chautauqua, she received her first instruction in music from her father. She later became a soloist at the church in Fifth Avenue, and was the leading contralto under Theodore Thomas, during his Grand Festoval Tour (1883). Belle arrived in London (May, 1888) and sang Elijah at Eton College under the direction of Sir Joseph Barnby. Later she was commanded by Queen Victoria to appear before her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, where she sang Sir Arthur Sullivan;’s Golden Legend. Mme Cole achieved great successes at the Handel Festival, the Royal Albert Hall, the Crystal Palace, and the Monday Popular and Boosey Ballad concerts. Belle later led a festival tour throughout Australia and New Zealand, and in 1900 she toured South Africa before making a tour of the world in 1901, during which she visited America. She returned to England (1902) and died there.

Cole, Helen Maria Eva – (1875 – 1964)
Australian matron
Born Helen Swannell (Feb, 1875) in Victoria, she was raised by relatives after the deaths of her parents. Swannell trained as a nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a mental hospital, and also studied midwifery at the Crown Street Women’s Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales. After her marriage (1900), Cole resided in Western Australia, and two decades later finally settled in Perth (1919), when she was administrator of the Infant Welfare Centre for three decades (1923 – 1955). When aged eighty, Cole finally retired to live in Melbourne. Helen Cole died (Nov 18, 1964) aged eighty-nine, in Melbourne.

Cole, Dame Margaret Isabel – (1893 – 1980)
British historian and political analyst
Margaret Postgate was born (May 6, 1893) in Cambridge, the daughter of a Latin professor, John Postgate, and was educated privately before attending the Roedean School in Brighton, and then Girton College in Cambridge. She was married (1918) to G.D.H. Cole. Cole had been inculcated with socialism from an early age and was a supporter of political enfranchisement for women. She worked as a teacher ar St Paul’s School in London before becoming a researcher with the Fabian Society. With her husband she co-wrote over two dozen detective stories, as well as the political works, An Intelligent Man’s Review of Europe Today (1933), and A Guide to Modern Politics (1934). Cole herself wrote The Makers of the Labour Movement (1948) and a biographer of the socialist reformer Beatrice Webb (1945). She was appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) and DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II (1970), in recognition of her contributions to political history. She was the original Valentine Wannop in The Fifth Queen, a trilogy by Ford Madox Ford and her written works included Growing Up Into Revolution (1949) and The Story of Fabian Socialism (1961). Dame Margaret Cole died (May 7, 1980) aged eighty-seven, at Goring on Thames.

Cole, Ulric – (1905 – 1992)
American musician and composer
Frances Ulric Coleman was born (Sept 9, 1905) in New York and studied under Homer Grunn in Los Angeles, California. She learnt composition from Percy Goetschius and a fellowship from the Juilliard School enabled her to study under Nadia Boulanger. She later worked as a member of the editorial staff at Time magazine (1945 – 1952) and spent some years living in the South Pacific region. She was best known for her Piano Quintet and the Violin Sonata no. 1 which received awards from the Society of the Publication of American Music. Ulric Cole died (May 21, 1992) aged eighty-six at Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Colee, Nema Weathersby – (1894 – 1952)
American pianist and author
Nema Weathersby was born (Nov 17, 1894) in Liberty, Mississippi, and attended the Mississippi State College for Women. She studied music under Winona Poindexter, at the American Conservatory in Chicago, and then pursued for instruction under Stnaley R. Avery in Minneapolis. After her marriage with a physician Mrs Colee taught piano in Magnolia for over three decades. She performed in concert throughout the state of Mississippi, and performed works of her own composition. She published the historical work entitled Mississippi Music and Musicians (1948). Nema Colee died (Feb 10, 1952) aged fifty-seven.

Coleman, Bessie – (1892 – 1926)
Black American aviatrix
Bessie Coleman was born in Texas to poor parents. Having established herself in business successfully in a chilli parlour in Chicago, Bessie became fascinated by flying, determined to become the first black female pilot, and took work as a manicurist in order to pay for flying lessons. Refused lessons in America because of her race, she sold her business in Chicago, and gained her license in France, with the help of Robert Abbot, editor of the Chicago Weekly Defender, being the first woman to hold an international pilot’s license. She established a flying school, afetr her return to America, and became well known for her exhibition performances from 1922. She was eventually killed in a plane crash in Florida.

Coleman, Edith – (1876 – 1951)
Anglo-Australian naturalist
Edith Coleman was born in Woking, Surrey, and immigrated to Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia, as a child with her parents, and was married there. Coleman was trained and worked as a schoolteacher, but she published almost one hundred and fifty articles in the Victorian Naturalist periodical from 1922. She became the first woman to be awarded the Australian natural history medallion (1945). Edith Coleman died in Melbourne

Coleman, Ellen – (1886 – 1973)
British musician and composer
Ellen Coleman was born in London and educated at home by a governess. She studied under Lawrance Collingwood and had close friendships with other musicians such as Fyodor shalyapin and the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. She composed a mass which was performed at Freiburg Cathedral in Germany (1928) and three other of her compositions were performed at the Salle Pleyel-Chopin in Paris prior to WW II, one of which was attended by Andre Gide. She also published the opera The Walled Garden and over three hundred songs, though she was best known for the Cello Sonata in A minor (1937) and cycle of five songs based on the lyrics of Robert Nichols entitled Swansong (1935). Ellen Coleman died (Feb 5, 1973) in London.

Coleman, Emily Holmes – (1899 – 1974)
American novelist
Emily Holmes was born (Jan 22, 1899) in Oakland, California, and graduated from Wellesley College (1920). She was married (1921) to the psychologist Loyd Ring Coleman, to whom she bore two children. Emily Coleman took up journalism and became the society editor of the Paris Tribune. She was alo the European editor of the Chicago Tribune. Herself a victim of part patrum psychosis, she drew upon her own experiences as a mental patient in order to write her critically acclaimed novel, The Shutter of Snow (1930). She also produced poetry, plays and short stories. Emily Holmes Coleman died (June 13, 1974) aged seventy-five, at Tivoli, New York.

Coleman, Kit   see   Ferguson, Catherine

Colenso, Frances – (1816 – 1898)
British churchwoman and letter writer
Frances Bunyon became the wife of John Colenso, the colonial Bishop of Natal in Africa. Her correspondence over a period of almost thirty years (1865 – 1893) with Lady Mary Lyell and Katherine Lyell in England were edited posthumously by Wyn Rees and published as Colenso Letters from Natal (1958).

Coleraine, Constantia Lucy, Lady – (c1641 – 1680)
English figure of legend
Constantia Lucy was the daughter of Sir Richard Lucy, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and his first wife Elizabeth Cock. She married (c1667) Henry Hare, Baron Coleraine (1636 – 1708), as his first wife, and bore him three children. According to long standing local legend, Lady Coleraine was a great beauty, and jealously guarded by her husband. Eventually he caused her to be locked up in a turret apartment of his house, and only he and the servants were allowed access. She is said to have thrown herself from the window in despair at her enforced captivity.

Coleridge, Christabel Rose – (1843 – 1921)
British novelist and editor
Christabel was born in Chelsea, London, the daughter of Derwent Coleridge, a clergyman. She was educated at home under the supervision of a governess and remained unmarried. Miss Coleridge was the editor of the Friendly Leaves magazine and her novels included Lady Betty (1869), The Constant Prince (1878), An English Squire (1881), Reuben Everett (1888), Amethyst (1891), Waynflete (1893) and The Winds of Cathrigg (1901). She also published the anthology entitled The Face of Carlyon, and Other Stories (1875) and the biography Charlotte Mary Yonge (1903). Christabel Coleridge died (Nov 14, 1921) aged seventy-eight, at Torquay in Devon.

Coleridge, Georgina Hay, Lady – (1916 – 2003) 
British journalist
Lady Georgina Hay was the daughter of the Marquess of Tweeddale, and was married (1941) Arthur Coleridge, of the War Cabinet Office, who died in 1988. From 1936, Georgina was contributing articles for Harper’s Bazaar, and in 1937 she joined the advertising department of the National Magazine Company. Coleridge was the editor of Homes and Gardens magazine (1947 – 1963), and was also a director of Country Life magazine. Together with the war heroine Odette Hallowes and Antonella, Marchioness of Lothian, she established the Woman of the Year Award (1955). Lady Coleridge served as director of the special projects for IPC magazines (1971 – 1974). Keenly interested in horse-racing, her compilation of verses and sketches was published as Grand Smashional Pointers (1933), later followed by her memoir That’s Racing (1978).

Coleridge, Mary Elizabeth Taylor – (1861 – 1907)
British poet, author, biographer, and educator
Mary Coleridge was born in London, and was the great-niece to the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834). Educated privately at home, she wrote verse from childhood and also contributed essays and revirews to various periodicals. Her works included several novels such as, The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (1893), which was praised by Robert Louis Stevenson, though it did not prove a financial success, The King with Two Faces (1897), Non Sequitur (1900), The Fiery Dawn (1901), and The Lady on the Drawing Room Floor (1906). Her collection of verse, Fancy’s Following (1896) was published under the pseudonym ‘Anados,’ whilst her biography of the pre-Raphaelite painter, William Holman Hunt (1827 – 1910) was published posthumously (1908). From 1895 Coleridge became a teacher at the Working Women’s College, a position she retained until her death. Mary Taylor Coleridge died (Aug 25, 1907) aged forty-six.

Coleridge, Sara – (1802 – 1852)
British author
Sara Coleridge was born in Keswick, Cumberland, the daughter of the poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834) and his wife Sara Fricker.  Her father was often absent during her childhood, and she was raised by her mother, coming mainly under the influence of the poet Robert Southey. Sara was married (1829) to her cousin, Henry Nelson Coleridge, and wrote Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children (1834) and the fairy story Phantasmion (1837) for the entertainment of her own children. She also published a translation from the Latin of Dohbritzhoffer’s Account of the Abipones (1821) in three volumes, and a translation from the French of, The History of the Feasts, Guests and Prowess of the Chevalier Bayard (1825) in two volumes. With her husband’s death (1843) she took up the unfinished task of editing her father’s works. Sara Coleridge died (May 3, 1852) in London. 

Coleridge-Taylor, Avril – (1903 – 1998)
British pianist, composer, and conductor
Avril Coleridge-Taylor was born (March 8, 1903) in London, daughter of the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 – 1912) and his wife, the musician, Jessie Walmisley, and was the sister of Hiawatha Coleridge-Taylor (1900 – 1980). Originally named Gwendolyn, she later adopted the name Avril and studied music at the Trinity College of Music, being taught composition by Gordon Jacob and Alec Rowley. She made her debut as a conductor at the Royal Albert Hall (1933), and later wrote the Ceremonial March to celebrate Ghana’s Independence (1957). Other works included Sussex Landscape (1936), chamber music, and over thirty-five songs all composed over a five decade period (1917 – 1971). These included, Goodbye Butterfly (1917), The Dreaming Water Lily (1923), O’ er all the hill-tops (1957) and, I can face it, Lord (1971). Avril Coleridge-Taylor died (Dec 21, 1998) aged ninety-five, at Seaford.

Coles, Dame Mabel Irene – (1904 – 1993)
Australian civic leader, director and patron
Mabel Johnston became the wife (1927) of Sir Edgar Coles (died 1981) to whom she bore three children. A noted and hardworking philanthropist, Mabel Coles was associated for over three decades with the Royal Women’s Hopsital in Melbourne, Victoria and served as president of that hospital (1968 – 1972) and was also appointed as the director of Asthma Foundation of Victoria. In recognition of her valuable public service Mabel Coles was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1965) and then DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) (1971) by Queen Elizabeth II. Dame Mabel Coles was a patron of the Family Planning Association of Victoria and was a life member of the Australian National Memorial Theatre Trust.

Colet, Louise – (1810 – 1876)
French novelist and poet
Born Louise Revoil (Aug 15, 1810) at Aix-en-Provence, she was the daughter of a businessman, and was married (1834) to Hippolyte Colet, a musician. Soon afterwards she published her first collection of verse entitled Fleurs du Midi (1836). Colet established a popular and influential literary salon in Paris, which was attended by such figures as the the poets, Alfred de Musset and Alfred de Vigny, the philosopher Victor Cousin, and the famous novelist, Gustave Flaubert, with whom she conducted a liasion that lasted almost a decade, she being the inspiration behind his famous novel, Madame Bovary (1857). It was during this time that Flaubert composed his Lettres, which he addressed to Madame Colet under the pseudonym of ‘The Muse.’ The affair faltered and when Colet published her bitter novel, Lui (Him) (1859) their estrangement was complete. Colet was later granted a civil pension in recognition of her work, through the intervention of Victor Cousins. Her other novels included La Jeunesse de Mirabeau (Mirabeau’s Youth) (1841) and Les Coeurs brises (Broken Hearts) (1843), whilst her best known works included the poems, Ce qui est dans le coeur des femmes (‘In Women’s Hearts) (1852) and Le Poeme de la femme (‘The Woman’s Poem’). Louise Colet died (March 9, 1876) aged sixty-five, in Paris.

Colette, St     see    Boillet, Colette

Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine – (1873 – 1954)
French novelist
Born at Saint-Saveur-en-Puisaye, her talent for novel writing was discovered by her first husband, Henri Gauthier-Villars, who kept her prisoner and forced her to produce novels which were published under his pseudonym of ‘Willy.’ After her divorce from Gauthier-Villars (1906), she took up a stage career as a music-hall performer, and later remarried (1912) to Henri de Jouvenel, the editor in chief of the newspaper Le Matin, to which Colette contributed articles and stories. She continued her writing career solo, and Colette’s semi-autobiographical ‘Claudine’ novels became extremely popular, as she possessed a keen eye and was uniquely cognizant of the foibles of human behaviour. Her novels included La Vagabonde (The Vagrant) (1910), Cheri (1920), La Fin de Cheri (1926), which dealt with a liasion between a young man and an older woman, Claudine in Paris (1929) and La Chatte (The Cat) (1936).
Colette’s later novel, Gigi (1944) was the basis of a successful musical of the same title (1958). She later divorced de Jouvenel (1934) and remarried (1935) to the writer, Maurice Goudeket, who was imprisoned by the Nazis during WW II. Colette was made a member of the Belgian Royal Academy (1935), the French Academie Goncourt (1945), and was appointed a grand officer of the Legion d’Honneur. Increasingly housebound by arthritis, Colette continued to reside in her apartment at the Palais-Royal in Paris. Colette died (Aug 3, 1958) aged eighty-one, in Paris.

Coligny, Henriette de   see   La Suze, Henriette de Coligny, Comtesse de

Coligny, Louise de – (1555 – 1620)
French Huguenot Princess of Orange and letter writer
Louise de Coligny was the daughter of the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519 – 1572). Louise escaped from the bloody Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Day in Paris (1572) but her father and her husband Charles de Teligny were murdered. She resided in exile in Switzerland and wrote letters to several powerful Protestant figures including Queen Elizabeth of England. A collection of about two hundred of Louise’s letters were edited and published posthumously by P. Marchegay as Correspondance de Louise de Coligny (1887).
Louise became the last wife of Wilhelm I the Silent, Prince of Orange (1583) but he was murdered the following year and she never remarried, surviving him for almost four decades (1583 – 1620) as the Dowager Princess of Orange. Their son was Prince Frederik Henrik of Orange, Count of Nassau (1584 – 1647) through whom Louise was ancestress to William III of Orange (1650 – 1702) the husband of Mary II of England. Princess Louise later resided in France but with the assassination of King Henry IV (1610) the princess returned to Holland and resided mainly at The Hague. Princess Louise died at the Chateau de Fontainbleau, near Paris.

Colinet, Marie    see    Hilden, Marie de

Collard, Hermine    see   Compton, Hermine de

Colledge, Cecilia – (1920 – 2008)
British figure skater
Magdalena Cecilia Colledge was born (Nov 28, 1920). She trained as a professional figure skater and her talent was favourably compared with that of the Norwegian skater Sonja Henie.
Colledge participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid at the age of only eleven, and remains the youngest person ever to become an Olympic competitor. Cecilia was British champion five times and won a silver medal in the 1936 Olympics after competing in the ladies’ singles at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. She was the European Champion three times and became the 1937 World Champion. After WW II Colledge became an ice show performer, and was the winner of Open Professional Championship (1947) and (1948). She became a skating coach and was inducted into the US Figure Skating Association Hall of Fame (1980). Cecilia Colledge died (April 12, 2008).