This is an old one but recently has been brought up again by BBC News as part of a broader article discussing black British history.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52939694
The article doesn't cite any sources, but if you're familiar with this debate you'll probably have seen The Guardian's article on the same subject from a few years ago:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/12/race-monarchy
Again, while he's not the first to suggest this, a lot of the modern discussion of this seems to have been generated by Mario de Valdes y Cocom, a historian of African diaspora. His two main points that Charlotte may have been African or of African descent are based on some of her portraits, and an ancestral link. The portraits as evidence seems the more shaky of the two, since they are based on subjective opinion of whether or not you think they show African features, and are stacked up against many other portraits which don't seem to hint at any heritage. The ancestral link is that one of Charlotte's ancestors 15 generations (and 500 years before her) was a lady called Madragana, mistress of King Afonso III of Portugal, and she may possibly have been Moorish... or she may possibly have been a local Iberian Christian who grew up in a Moorish kingdom.
I'd like to get a second opinion, but this seems very flimsy to me. The key ancestor in question is of unknown heritage, but even if we accept best case scenario for this hypothesis and assume Madragana was Moorish, at 15 generations back the degree of her genetic contribution to Charlotte is negligible. The new BBC article suggests that Madragana's son married into a family which may have had African heritage, thus adding to the contribution in Charlotte's genetic make up... but again, no sources are cited and I cannot actually find where this comes from.
It's worth noting that I've also seen other debates online try to address the distance in ancestry issue by suggesting that perhaps Madragana has nothing to do with it and Charlotte was in fact illegitimate, the product of an affair her mother may have had... but again, no evidence to back up this idea. Not to mention that notion can't account for the appearance of Charlotte's siblings and children, the lack of any whiff of scandal or absence of paternal rage or disownment, and as quoted in The Guardian article Desmond Shawe-Taylor noting that
... keep reading on reddit β‘does anyone know a full portrait of luise? because this is just a half-shot of this portrait, I think there is more than this single face.
I don't know if this is her but, it looks identical to her death mask. she still looks beautiful!
##General Situation
The Duchy of Mecklenburg is currently led by the old Duke Magnus II, who rules at the ripe age of 60. Currently doing relatively well for itself, as the reforms of Magnus were able to relatively diminish the debt that was created by his father Henry IV the Heavy's lavish court lifestyle. Despite being unable to drive forward his grand plans for Mecklenburg, including the Lake Schwerin Canal and quality of coinage reforms.
Nevertheless, the Duchy sits in fairly good stead, with potential for the future.
##Succession
Magnus II has three male children, Henry, Eric, and Albert, as well as one brother, Balthasar. His daughters, Sophie and Anna, are married to Johann, son of Ernest of Saxony, and William II of Hesse, with his third and youngest daughter Catherine remaining unmarried at the age of 15.
##Future
Mecklenburg faces a potentially tenuous situation upon the death of Magnus, as it appears that Henry, Eric, Albert, and Balthasar all have some form of vested interest in ruling the nation. Regardless, it appears as though the situation regarding Denmark interests the nation, as Magnus's wife is the sister of Bogislaw X, and Mecklenburg does have a claim, albeit very distant, to both Sweden and Denmark.
[M:] hey im back and i wanna be meck and their sexy colours
I wish to swap my claim from Montechiarugolo to the Duchy of Mecklenburg, currently ruled by Duke Magnus II.
Magnus II is much more practical than his father, and has done countless efforts to remove the massive amounts of debt caused by the lavish lifestyle of Henry IV. He also has plans for the future of Mecklenburg, that are possible if funding can be gained, such as expanding the existing Stecknitz Canal through Lake Schwerin and reforming the coin of Mecklenburg, and potentially expanding his political holdings of Mecklenburg to Schwerin and Ratzeburg.
(Basically just want a more relevant claim for the week and a half I have before I'm gone for a month, xoxo)
Winds of change are blowing over the Reich, heretical faith of Lutheranism spreads like wildfire across the forgotten duchies and princedoms, promising an answer to the many ills the catholic church has been corrupted by. These are uncertain times in the duchy, the former quad-duchy of Henry V, Eric II, Albert VII and Balthasar has now been wilted down to just Henry and Albert who watch over the events in the south with cautious eyes.
Henry himself has earned the title "the peaceful" for his preference to rely on diplomacy rather than sword to maintain the dominance the duchy has on the north, this naturally is countered by his younger brother Albert who wishes to build on the lands of his predecessors and press his linage's claims to the Danish throne. Though the two have always been close who know what twists of fate could drive these brothers apart, age makes strangers of us all..
In the Winter of 1513, the Duchy of Mecklenburg stands out amongst the fractured mapscape of Central Europe. Henry V (Heinrich), the Duke of Mecklenburg was the son of Magnus II and Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin.
During this time Henry was called "The Peaceful" due to his solely diplomatic actions in maintaining his sizeable territory in the jigsaw of Germanic Europe. But that was about to end. In the cold north, the Danish were even further from their original borders than ever before, and to the east lay Brandenburg, the second largest state in Central Europe at the time. If the Duchy did not act it would eventually be swallowed up by either nation.
It was during a council held between the Duke and his loyal subjects that a peasant farmer expressed concern at the state of near constant warfare further south beyond Brunswick, in what the people of the Duchy called "The Fractured Lands". Henry acknowledged the fact that his past 10 years of idleness had put their nation into a three way deadlock. Something had to be done.
The Duke rose on that day and proclaimed his future intentions. The Duchy of Mecklenburg would carve out a territory of peace in Northern Germany. To become a beacon of hope for the countless microstates trying futilely to preserve their cultures and borders. But first, Henry would need to ensure the survival of his own nation. Alliances and bargains needed to be made...
Hereβs the short version:
Tim Moore is currently the Republican Speaker of the House. As this yearβs redistricting began, there was some speculation that he wanted to run for Congress and would use the map-drawing process to create that opportunity for himself.
And thatβs what happened. His party drew a congressional map that created a safely Republican, open seat that happened to include his home. They were essentially handing him a congressional seat on a silver platter.
He joked about it and played coy: βI guess it tells me thereβs a lot of people here that want to get rid of me for some reason, right? That want to send me somewhere else. I donβt know.β
Rep. Cawthornβs district changed a little in the redistricting, but not much.
But hereβs the thing: The new district drawn for Speaker Moore is overwhelmingly Republican, roughly R+20, meaning the Republican should normally win by about 20 points.
Cawthornβs district, by comparison, is just R+6. Under the right circumstances, it could flip.
Yesterday, Cawthorn shocked people by announcing he would switch to the new district, the one drawn for Speaker Moore. Cawthorn doesnβt live there, but technically you donβt have to.
For a moment, this created intense speculation about whether Speaker Moore would still run, challenging Cawthorn in a primary.
But word came last night: Speaker Moore would not challenge Cawthorn. He stepped aside.
The reason he stepped aside is that - despite being Speaker for many terms, and despite actually representing the new district for all of that time, he would have almost certainly lost to Cawthorn in a primary. Cawthorn simply has established the type of brand that is heavily preferred among Republican primary voters, and Moore knew it.
Assuming the new maps are upheld in court, Cawthorn is highly likely to be elected in the new district, even though it will now include the western edge of Mecklenburg.
I'm wanting to build tall in Bohemia, earliest start-- but I need the kingdom of Bohemia, and I'm unsure what duchy is best to take for building tall. I'm thinking of taking the southern duchy, but I'd like some opinions!
https://preview.redd.it/op570xf4un221.jpg?width=1160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5b16a4cb3a15245987581667c0204003ecf3a57
