This novel will tell the story in words, songs, and pictures about a Young Lord name Lord Andrew Charles Howard who is in the pursuit of a heir/heiress, but won't marry just any aristocrat woman on Star Base 12.
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Lady Karissa calls her children and reads to them about A Royal Wedding That Served Up Death.
When it comes to history, there are few events more anticipated, more idealized, or more relished than a royal wedding. Although modernity has mostly swept away the need for such spectacles, the idea of two bejeweled hands reaching out to clasp the glittering future of an entire kingdom still holds a certain allure. For many centuries, the convenient union of two fitting royals not only offered an opportunity to don fine velvet's, it afforded the populace a chance to connect with their leaders on a more intimate level and support them in a shared effort to gain peace, stability, and prosperity in the future—or at least that was the idea. The merging of two influential houses meant a lot more than sex on silken sheets, it could mean the end to regional conflicts and the promise of a richer, safer, and more engaging life.
Because many people under the monarchy lived in relative serfdom, laboring under a feudal system favoring nobility, their success in feeding their families and staying alive depended greatly on the good fortune of those above them. The fact that royal weddings were rarely organized in the name of love was of little consequence, mostly because the two individuals being joined were simply taking part in duties far beyond themselves—they were symbols of a better future for everyone. Such a union was never intended to bring happiness to the bride and groom per se but rather to legitimize their bloodline and ensure their ongoing power. When the Royals were happy, the kingdom was happy. And so, the event was typically arranged, planned, and executed by outside forces, all of whom expected to benefit in some way. A successful union meant a lot more than just finding contentment—it could seal the fate of a nation by dictating societal realities around war, religion, prosperity, and cultural preservation.
Such was the scheduled marriage in 1592 between Margaret of Valois—the daughter of King Henri II of France and the infamous Catherine de' Medici—and Prince Henry of Navarre from the House of Bourbon. As a result of the union, Henry's less prestigious family would rise, while giving him a legitimate shot at the French throne. The marriage was intended to bring stability and accord to a tenuously peaceful France who had been battling religious separatism between the Huguenots and the Catholics for decades. So, the announcement of a wedding between Henry's Protestant family and Margaret's staunchly Catholic one seemed like an ideal solution.
Saint-Bartholomew-Day-Massacre-history-religion-Huguenots-Medici-France-Catholic-Protestant-Reformation-but what was supposed to be a lavish ceremony for the people of Paris soon gave way to one of the most violently shocking episodes in French history. The elegant spectacle promising champagne and canapés quickly devolved into an affair so brutal, it left thousands of people dead in the streets and turned the vibrant city into a chaotic swirl of fear and murder. This two-month season of blood, otherwise known as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, traded matrimonial bliss for sheer terror and set the tone for years of civil unrest in the region.
