Her husband’s devotion is so endearing! My favorite anecdote is when she put that bishop in his place after he tried “mansplaining” protestantism. Absolutely hilarious!❤
Why oh why, do modern women insist on forcing their 21st century sensibilities on history. By doing so, you negate all what those men and women had accomplished. Truly disappointed.
Her husband wasn’t exactly “devoted.” He was well known to be unfaithful and on her deathbed when she told him to remarry he replied he’d only have mistresses. Not exactly my idea of romantic. Having their coffins put together IS impressive and showed he did love her. Some may say it was the culture of the time (especially as king) to have mistresses - once with her best friend. But there are other royals in history - even longer ago than George II - that were faithful to their queens. To me it’s more a character thing. So no, this wasn’t THAT great a love story.
The great composer Georg Frederick Handel, originally German of course, wrote the coronation anthems including the sublime "Zadok the Priest" for the coronation of Caroline's husband George II in 1726. Handel also wrote the music for the funeral of Caroline and the music is called "The ways of Zion do mourn." Handel, who became a British celebrity is buried in Westminster Abbey in poet's corner with a fine monument showing him with the manuscript of his great oratorio "Messiah." Handel was born in Halle in Saxony not that far from Ansbach which was ruled by a branch of the Hohenzollern family - the dynasty of Frederick the Great and of Kaiser William II of World War One fame.
What an amazing life she led prior to the hernia. I can just imagine her looking through a desk or cabinet & finding two hundred year old Holbein drawings & then being a smart lady she knew better than to burn them or reuse the paper. 👑🏰
Caroline's remarkable wit never left her, even during the agonising operation that attempted to fix her hernia - she told one of the performing surgeons (who was going through a bitter divorce) to imagine she was his estranged wife and what would he give to cut into her now. Another surgeon accidentally set his wig on fire while holding a candle and Caroline had to ask him to stop operating so she could laugh.
Dr Kat, I am on bed rest at 35 weeks pregnant and your videos and the History Hit subscription I got with your discount is saving my sanity! Thanks so much.
Your presentation style is so great. It makes us viewers feel as we know the historical people personally, even though they were alive so many centuries ago. Keep up the good work, Dr. Kat!🍀 Best wishes from Norway
Thank you for this, I'm a historian focusing more on social and cultural history, but have never been interested in the Georgian era and although I'd heard of Caroline, have never studied her life. This was so interesting, I feel I need to go and read more about her, amazing woman!
My introduction to Caroline of Aunsbach was in the fictional series The Baroque Cycle by Neil Stephenson, who prefaced it by saying he became interested in that time period since it isn't something taught in (American) schools. Caroline is simply fascinating.
Dr. Kat...you are simply the best. That warning was so awesome and pertinent. Not only did you give to me a newfound appreciation for this clever, talented and strong woman and the lasting impact she had on our world and society; with your descriptions of her, and my own experience of the pain of a bowel blockage, I was moved to tears to think of the suffering this special woman endured in her last days, having undergone such surgery without modern painkillers. Honesty, I am told by medical professionals that I have a high pain tolerance. I have suffered from migraines for 40 years and back pain daily for almost 30. But that was the worst pain I have experienced. It altered my level of consciousness. I could not respond to questions, and was incoherent if I did try! I thank God daily for modern medicine and pain drips.
Dr. Kat, I knew some about George but Caroline has to me been a personality only in the description as the Gearge's wife, and not so much of her own very remarkable life. First, courage. She must have had real staunch and stoic courage to have survived all that she did as a child, let alone that often indignancy of what she suffered as first Princess of Wales, then as Queen Consort. I'm not sure if you've read any of my comments in the past, but I'm a Registered Nurse in Critical Care or CCRN. What you describe of her medical mishaps takes enormous grace and perseverance to have withstood. Her end, I can't even imagine how painful that would have been. (I keep thinking, what were those doctors doing? Did they not recognize bowel when they saw it? not much practice in any medical sense to me even in that time frame.) And being driven in a carriage at high speed through London while in labour is just plain horrific. Anyone who has given birth "naturally", myself included of a bouncing 8.5lb girl, just groans and clutches her gut in sympathy. And that's only two pieces of it. I can imagine her as a very charming, intelligent and caring human being to have done so much on her own account, aside from being The Queen of England. Now that I do know something about her, I'll be interested to see if my snarled-up family tree includes her. It probably will as nobility and royalty are famous for intermarrying to an almost dizzying degree. As a direct Stuart descendant, I'm either cousin or daughter to some degree or another. She must have been quite a lady.
@@AthenaisC Nice to meet you, cousin! Are you from the Stuart branch that connects the Spencers? That would be too cool. Diana and now Charles, Sarah and Jane are third cousins, and the connection is hilarious. The connection is of course from "the wrong side of the sheets" but Asenath Stetson got the best of the deal I think. There are three Stetson women in my family tree right around the time of the 3rd Earl Spencer, Frederick. The Spencers are direct and legitimate descendants of the Stuart line, as I am through a different line. Back to Freddy and the girls. The three ladies in question were all named Stetson, three generations of them, Asenath then her daughter Lusanna and then her daughter Asenath. You with me so far? They landed at Po9rtsmouth New Hampshire, the younger Asenath being heavily pregnant. I pondered this question for months. How could three generations of women all have the same surname without a man to be seen in any direction. Finally, when I looked to the birth record of the child Asenath was carrying, I saw the name Charles Stuart Spencer. Hmm where have I heard that name before? The name listed as his father was Frederick John Spencer. I looked up the days and dates of all of the characters and I had my answer. I decided to call Althorpe (I mean, why not? The worst they could do was hang up on me.) and to make a long story longer, there was a record at Althorpe of a pretty large lump sum payment to Asenath Stetson the elder for her, her daughter and granddaughter and for the education/dowry for the baby. Then I heard a brief pause on the phone and then, "This is Charles. Are you Ms. Osborne?" I wasn't expecting that. It would seem that the Earl had an interest in that subject and had no idea what happened to the Stetsons after his family paid them to disappear. Then it all unfolded. The Stetsons were a family of women who were courtesans. The youngest, Asenath, was paid to teach Viscount Frederick the ways of a woman's body prior to his wedding night. The current Earl Charles wanted to know who we were, what had become of the baby and all about my own family's heritage, of which the Spencers could be said to be a delightful and amusing side note. It does mean, however, that William and Harry are third cousins to me once removed. Little George will be my granddaughter's fifth cousin. I'm a Plantagenet descendant from Eleanor of Aquitaine. I found it very curious that, in my family going back to Roman times, it's been the women who have been the stronger links and the survivors. Margaret Beaufort is a good example. As a descendant of John of Gaunt, Beaurfort would have been a third cousin, god knows how many times removed. There was nothing stopping Margaret Beaufort. The portcullis on her Arms is very well earned. Part of the Osborne Crest has the Beaufort Portcullis on it. After I had done a couple of years' work on my own genealogy, it occurred to me that there were many, many names that no one will ever know: the children lost in infancy, the brothers killed in battle or by misfortune, the women who died in childbed and all the others who didn't live long enough to reproduce. They far outnumber those who survived. With the curiosities and delights also comes the realization that the world is a lens with two parts.
@@lucyosborne9239 Wow, that is a fascinating story. How cool you got to speak to the Earl himself! I'll look up my Stuart connections and let you know!
Lucky you! to get to 'be' Queen Caroline! years and years ago, when I was a graduate student in English, my area of interest was Alexander Pope and his circle - I became a huge fan of Caroline - thank you for making this wonderful woman better known.
I found this video a couple of days ago, Dr Kat, thank you, she is my 1st cousin, 10 times removed. I am a descendant of her fathers sister. By the way she was also a descendant of Juanna the mad Queen of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.
I am a week out from surgery for bowel cancer during which some feet of my gut were removed. Even when done well in a modern hospital, this is a brutally painful surgery only endurable thanks to narcotic pain relief - which doesnt really work well. I cannot imagine being hacked at by clueless surgeons several centuries ago and to suffer through torture without modern analgesia. This poor woman had an agonizing death. Poor Caroline, how she must have suffered. Thanks for this, Dr. Kat
I had the same experience. As do you, I can't imagine having anything like it without modern medicine's advantages, especially the painkillers and antibiotics.
I was not aware of Caroline of Ansbach's intellectual prowess nor her foresight when it came to the small pox vaccine. What most stories focus on is the terrible rift between King George II and Queen Caroline, and their son, Frederick, the Prince of Wales. Possibly because this animosity between generations seemed to have been a Hanoverian "tradition" so it became a prime story. Thank you for focusing your informative video on a most interesting woman.👑👑👑
A complete relief after all those Tudors for a start. I think she set an example for how to do things properly. I am very glad also to hear of a loving marriage for her.
It's been ages since I read a Jean Plaidy novel about Caroline. It's nice to hear her get attention! Timmy will be asking his teacher questions about hernias and bowels.
I'm not working in the medical field, but I know that autopsies on humans at that time were not allowed and had not been for centuries. And as she had been hiding the prolapsing parts for so long what the doctors saw in the end might have been a dried up and/or nectrotised mass. I'm not so sure if it had saved her if they had just pushed that back and tried to close the hernia. But that must have been a horribly painful passing for her and traumatising for her husband.
Dr. Kat, I have read that the Hanovarian monarchs had the worst relationships with their heirs, and your story today seems to emphasize that point. However, I was wondering which English/British dynasty YOU think had the most generational fall-out. I confess I am thinking of the Plantagenets. Thank you for your wonderful videos! 👑👑👑
What a fascinating woman! I especially love the she found those sketches hidden about like that. It's little things like that which preserves art for the future
An excellent book about the Hanoverians is The Strangest Family by Janice Hadlow. It details how so much of George The Third’s life was an attempt to reject the ‘malign inheritance of emotional dysfunction that had been handed down from generation to generation’ including the keeping of mistresses among many other things.
Caroline sounds really rad! These early Hanoverians seem to have had some really lovely marriages (thinking about George 3 and Charlotte M-S, Victoria and Albert)
A friend of mine did her thesis for a Public Health degree by extrapolating how many people living today owe their lives to Caroline's work for small pox vaccine adoption. I don't remember the exact number, but it was something like 1 in 30 in the UK. (But don't quote me.)
I live close to Hannover, so this part of history makes me feel really connected to the UK. I also like the letters of Lieselotte von der Pfalz ( Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate). She wrote them after to her aunt Charlotte who raised her. The letters are both very affectionate and personal and at the same time of astute observation, filled with historical and political details. She also has a great sense of humour.
Being born near Heidelberg in Germany, I am so touched to see Liselotte mentioned here. I heard that she too was interested in science and thus likeminded.
Thank you Dr Kat for that fascinating examination of the life and career of this clearly very erudite and accomplished Queen. I believe Lucy Worsley in one of her documentaries on the Hanovers remarked that Caroline was one of her favourite queens as well. Like you, I’ve always been intrigued by the scholarly bent that characterised the Electress Sophia, her daughter the Queen in Prussia and only sister of George I, who cared for and educated Caroline at her court in Berlin. I think one of my favourite Hanoverians was Queen Anne’s namesake, and Caroline’s eldest daughter Anne Princess Royal, whose life went on to parallel that of the previous Stuart princesses, the two Marys who would go on to become Princesses of Orange in the century before Anne would follow them to Holland.
👸🏼 ❤ so many medical mysteries of the past could be easily remedied today. I hope that can still be said from now on. She was fortunate to have been encouraged in her curiosity. So proud of her for responding clearly to that impertinent archbishop. Good for her! I can see your love for this woman, Dr. Kat. She was very modern and may even have had a sense of humor worth attending.
I enjoyed meeting you a couple weeks ago at Hampton Court, Dr. Cat. Your play that was put on for the children in the Great Hall was fun to watch. I appreciated the sharing of your knowledge, too, on Margaret Beaufort's portcullis crest that is so often seen in many an old English royal place. Thank you!
Caroline Was very fascinating and what a Diplomat she was. It was sad that her and Fredrick hadn't reconciled. Maybe they should have brought him to England
Truly horrible! There was a long time in which you were better off NOT being able to afford top of the line medicine. Better to rely on the humble, and more cautious, apothecary.
I love Caroline of Ansbach and the way you presented her story. It is easy to understand why she is your favorite queen. She was not only extremely intelligent and so far ahead of her time; her husband and the country loved and trusted her. Her son, Fredrich, disappointed both his parents. Perhaps Britain was lucky that he pre-deceased his father. Dr Kat, I have listened to so many of your videos on RUclips and have learned so much about history. I am a retired psychologist but would have loved to have become a historian.
Thank you for yet another marvelous video Dr. Kat! This was so great! Caroline and George's devotion to each other was just beautiful, and him keeping his dying wife company was so touching. Peritonitis is a terrible way to die, poor lady. What I don't understand is why Frederick did what he did. Why in the world did he bundle his poor laboring wife to another chapel? Not only for her sake but what was he trying to achieve? It is so bizarre. Wonderful tribute to a great lady that I knew very little of. Thanks again!
My understanding is that the Home Secretary (or other official observer) was required to witness all royal births up until that of Prince Charles. Apparently King George VI thought it was an unnecessary intrusion into the process and did away with it. So unnecessary these days. And whoever thought even a newborn child was small enough to fit into a warming pan anyway?
I too have held this remarkable woman Caroline of Ansbach in high esteem and affection for quite a few years now, she was a REAL character and her death was tragic and horrific!! I did read a biography of her some years ago (certainly before covid) but can't remember the title nor author. but being over 60 now would do that to one's memory. your piece here was a good refreshing of my aging memory
Caroline of Ansbach has always been my favourite Hanoverian since reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle where she is presented first as a quick-witted girl who, under the tutelage of Queen Sophia Charlotte and Electress Sophia, blooms into a humanistic and fiercely intelligent woman, able to spar with natural philosophers yet show genuine interest in the plights of her British subjects - what a pleasure to hear her story afresh in Dr Kat's engaging manner. On a pedantic note, be careful of German lieb/leib - lieb is 'leeb', think Liebling or ich liebe dich (or Liebfraumilch) and leib is 'libe' (rhymes with 'vibe') such as in Leibniz (libe-nitz).
My German professor told us that, "When two vowels go walking, the second one does the talking." It's an easy key to pronunciation of an unfamiliar word.
It was nice to 👂🏻 of a female royal who was educated. It’s understandable why the generational trauma of being separated from your parents might be repeated…but unfortunate that they didn’t seem to learn from it!
👑 Ive been learning more about rhe Hanovarians. "Daughters of the Winter Queen" is a great book about Princess Elizabeth and her children. Thanks for another great vid!
About 3 years ago I was following a family tree thread that led to an unknown daughter of an unknown wife or mistress of the winter queens son Maurice, who with his older brother were the Pirate Princes of the Caribbean. I think that thread had been debunked over time, but the brothers were quite the warriors and were real. Ruperts land became all the Canadian and US tributaries that drained into Hudson Bay. Rupert was a part owner of the original Hudson's Bay Company. He also somehow came to live and die in Buckingham Palace. Maurice his younger brother went down with his ship in a Caribbean hurricane.
Did I miss why Frederick and Augusta snuck away for the birth? Was it just to be away from his parents, or something more? A yes for a video on Henrietta Howard!
I've never heard of Caroline, but will be reading up on her as soon as possible! I've also been catching up on 'Betwixt the Sheets' and your episode was terrific! Kate Lister is so fabulously wonderful and so are you! 👑👑👑
What an interesting video - I hadn’t given this Queen much thought at all, and you have piqued my interest in her. I will see what books might be available ❤ thank you so much!
The most I know of George II and his wife comes from information from the work of Stella Tillyard, "Aristocrats", which is about the children of the Duke of Richmond. (Love to see a video about them!) It's edifying to hear about love matches in history.
Your presentation skills are excellent! I have watched every one of your videos from the time you launched your channel. Each presentation is a masterful essay, supported with outstanding visuals and enjoyable for me, the eager viewer. Thank you for your hard work!
I feel like this episode is a great illustration of my belief that you are better off avoiding all physicians and surgeons up to about the end of the 19th century. It's not the most horrific surgery I've heard about, but it's not good, either.
I love that you gave the “you can eat, and you can watch this video, but you can’t do them both at the same time” disclaimer.😂 That said, as a nurse, I could eat a sandwich over an abscess, and I always find it hilarious when presented with evidence that this is *not* a normal thing that normal people do. Being a nurse is its own special kind of feral, where we don’t have any awareness of good manners and just go on about truly disgusting things while we eat lunch, happily oblivious to the pearl-clutching/gagging/away-scampering of those around us. Been “invited” to leave a particular section of a restaurant once because apparently the other diners were uninterested in talking about medical leeches and medical maggots, as a group of us were doing after a shift.🤣🤣
Lol, the warning was amazing! I was a nurse for 28 years, we discuss such topics while eating on a regular basis! 😂 Not everyone enjoys such topics, so good on you for it. I knew very little about Queen Caroline, I begin to share your regard for her!
Caroline and Her King had an endearing relationship, It is heart breaking that she died so painfully from something that is routinely simple today. Thank heavens for modern surgery and antiseptic practices.
Dr Kat, Your channel is my favorite. Please keep the videos coming! I’ve listened to all of them already and would love to hear more! You’ve done a wonderful job. Keep up the good work ❤
Excellent presentation and I learned so much about this remarkable woman. A forward thinking and intelligent woman. Caroline must have been a very strong woman.
👑while their marital relationship was an inspiration the backbiting and constant feuding with Fredrick was tiresome. Great video as always love your channel!
Excellent discussion of the herniated bowel, and not at all distressing or disgusting, except for the sadness I felt for her having been in such godawful pain. Thank you for making this interesting video; I really am not at all familiar with the Hanoverians. I in fact had to drag myself to watch this and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it (au fond, I am a Tudor fan). Now I have to go watch all your other Hanoverian videos!
I was just taking a look at one of your older videos, and was kind of amazed to realize how much the quality (especially on the audio) has improved. It's the sort of thing people mostly mention when something's *wrong*, but I wanted to take a second to express my appreciation for the work you've put in to make the channel look and sound better over time. The results are definitely worth it!
👑👑👑👑 I can certainly appreciate why you have such admiration and respect for Caroline, such a fascinating person and significant legacy. Thanks for another great video! 👑👑👑👑
👀 !!! I felt like I needed a score card. Poor Caroline. 😢 Very sad. It reminds me of a story that is somewhat going on now. Family not getting along. Love your presentations. ❣️👑👑👑🤩
I came for the Tudors and have happily stayed for all the rest! More Hanoverians, please! (Also, I know this channel is focused on British monarchs and their courtesans, but I would love to hear some about the British royal women who were married out into other monarchies. Did their Britishness go with them to their new courts at all? How many of them had to learn Danish??)
You are such a 👸 of information you make history fun! My daddy majored in history in college but I never enjoyed it till I became a part of it at 50+ lol. Now I can't get enough, and as a homeschooling, g'ma I can't wait till my boys are ready for international history. I plan to use your videos as part of their schooling. Thank you so much for your fun interesting videos!!!😂
Her husband’s devotion is so endearing! My favorite anecdote is when she put that bishop in his place after he tried “mansplaining” protestantism. Absolutely hilarious!❤
"Bishopsplaining" - one of the worst varieties of mansplaining!😅
I love the woman’s sassy attitude with him. 😂 If only there was a Time Machine to go back and see the look on his face. 😂
Why oh why, do modern women insist on forcing their 21st century sensibilities on history. By doing so, you negate all what those men and women had accomplished. Truly disappointed.
Her husband wasn’t exactly “devoted.” He was well known to be unfaithful and on her deathbed when she told him to remarry he replied he’d only have mistresses. Not exactly my idea of romantic. Having their coffins put together IS impressive and showed he did love her. Some may say it was the culture of the time (especially as king) to have mistresses - once with her best friend. But there are other royals in history - even longer ago than George II - that were faithful to their queens. To me it’s more a character thing. So no, this wasn’t THAT great a love story.
as someone who's had a perforated bowel due to crohn's disease, the experience caroline had in her final days is the stuff of nightmares.
The great composer Georg Frederick Handel, originally German of course, wrote the coronation anthems including the sublime "Zadok the Priest" for the coronation of Caroline's husband George II in 1726. Handel also wrote the music for the funeral of Caroline and the music is called "The ways of Zion do mourn." Handel, who became a British celebrity is buried in Westminster Abbey in poet's corner with a fine monument showing him with the manuscript of his great oratorio "Messiah." Handel was born in Halle in Saxony not that far from Ansbach which was ruled by a branch of the Hohenzollern family - the dynasty of Frederick the Great and of Kaiser William II of World War One fame.
What an amazing life she led prior to the hernia. I can just imagine her looking through a desk or cabinet & finding two hundred year old Holbein drawings & then being a smart lady she knew better than to burn them or reuse the paper. 👑🏰
Caroline's remarkable wit never left her, even during the agonising operation that attempted to fix her hernia - she told one of the performing surgeons (who was going through a bitter divorce) to imagine she was his estranged wife and what would he give to cut into her now. Another surgeon accidentally set his wig on fire while holding a candle and Caroline had to ask him to stop operating so she could laugh.
Oh my gosh... she had her wits about her !!!!!
I read the same bless her.
Dr Kat, I am on bed rest at 35 weeks pregnant and your videos and the History Hit subscription I got with your discount is saving my sanity! Thanks so much.
Wishing you all the best for the rest of your pregnancy and for the birth ❤️
Your presentation style is so great. It makes us viewers feel as we know the historical people personally, even though they were alive so many centuries ago.
Keep up the good work, Dr. Kat!🍀 Best wishes from Norway
Dr. Kat, I know that your specialty is the Tudor period, but I really hope that you can make more videos about the Hanoverians in future.
I will put the Hanoverians on my list, thank you 😊
Thank you for this, I'm a historian focusing more on social and cultural history, but have never been interested in the Georgian era and although I'd heard of Caroline, have never studied her life. This was so interesting, I feel I need to go and read more about her, amazing woman!
Her relationship with her husband was so sweet! Seems rare in marriages of the past, especially with royals. Thanks Dr. Kat!
My introduction to Caroline of Aunsbach was in the fictional series The Baroque Cycle by Neil Stephenson, who prefaced it by saying he became interested in that time period since it isn't something taught in (American) schools. Caroline is simply fascinating.
Dr. Kat...you are simply the best. That warning was so awesome and pertinent. Not only did you give to me a newfound appreciation for this clever, talented and strong woman and the lasting impact she had on our world and society; with your descriptions of her, and my own experience of the pain of a bowel blockage, I was moved to tears to think of the suffering this special woman endured in her last days, having undergone such surgery without modern painkillers.
Honesty, I am told by medical professionals that I have a high pain tolerance. I have suffered from migraines for 40 years and back pain daily for almost 30. But that was the worst pain I have experienced. It altered my level of consciousness. I could not respond to questions, and was incoherent if I did try! I thank God daily for modern medicine and pain drips.
Dr. Kat, I knew some about George but Caroline has to me been a personality only in the description as the Gearge's wife, and not so much of her own very remarkable life. First, courage. She must have had real staunch and stoic courage to have survived all that she did as a child, let alone that often indignancy of what she suffered as first Princess of Wales, then as Queen Consort. I'm not sure if you've read any of my comments in the past, but I'm a Registered Nurse in Critical Care or CCRN. What you describe of her medical mishaps takes enormous grace and perseverance to have withstood. Her end, I can't even imagine how painful that would have been. (I keep thinking, what were those doctors doing? Did they not recognize bowel when they saw it? not much practice in any medical sense to me even in that time frame.) And being driven in a carriage at high speed through London while in labour is just plain horrific. Anyone who has given birth "naturally", myself included of a bouncing 8.5lb girl, just groans and clutches her gut in sympathy. And that's only two pieces of it. I can imagine her as a very charming, intelligent and caring human being to have done so much on her own account, aside from being The Queen of England. Now that I do know something about her, I'll be interested to see if my snarled-up family tree includes her. It probably will as nobility and royalty are famous for intermarrying to an almost dizzying degree. As a direct Stuart descendant, I'm either cousin or daughter to some degree or another. She must have been quite a lady.
I'm a direct Stuart descendant as well, albeit way, way back. We are very distant cousins, always cool to meet another one. 😊
@@AthenaisC Nice to meet you, cousin! Are you from the Stuart branch that connects the Spencers? That would be too cool. Diana and now Charles, Sarah and Jane are third cousins, and the connection is hilarious. The connection is of course from "the wrong side of the sheets" but Asenath Stetson got the best of the deal I think.
There are three Stetson women in my family tree right around the time of the 3rd Earl Spencer, Frederick. The Spencers are direct and legitimate descendants of the Stuart line, as I am through a different line. Back to Freddy and the girls. The three ladies in question were all named Stetson, three generations of them, Asenath then her daughter Lusanna and then her daughter Asenath. You with me so far? They landed at Po9rtsmouth New Hampshire, the younger Asenath being heavily pregnant. I pondered this question for months. How could three generations of women all have the same surname without a man to be seen in any direction. Finally, when I looked to the birth record of the child Asenath was carrying, I saw the name Charles Stuart Spencer. Hmm where have I heard that name before? The name listed as his father was Frederick John Spencer. I looked up the days and dates of all of the characters and I had my answer. I decided to call Althorpe (I mean, why not? The worst they could do was hang up on me.) and to make a long story longer, there was a record at Althorpe of a pretty large lump sum payment to Asenath Stetson the elder for her, her daughter and granddaughter and for the education/dowry for the baby. Then I heard a brief pause on the phone and then, "This is Charles. Are you Ms. Osborne?" I wasn't expecting that. It would seem that the Earl had an interest in that subject and had no idea what happened to the Stetsons after his family paid them to disappear. Then it all unfolded. The Stetsons were a family of women who were courtesans. The youngest, Asenath, was paid to teach Viscount Frederick the ways of a woman's body prior to his wedding night. The current Earl Charles wanted to know who we were, what had become of the baby and all about my own family's heritage, of which the Spencers could be said to be a delightful and amusing side note. It does mean, however, that William and Harry are third cousins to me once removed. Little George will be my granddaughter's fifth cousin. I'm a Plantagenet descendant from Eleanor of Aquitaine. I found it very curious that, in my family going back to Roman times, it's been the women who have been the stronger links and the survivors. Margaret Beaufort is a good example. As a descendant of John of Gaunt, Beaurfort would have been a third cousin, god knows how many times removed. There was nothing stopping Margaret Beaufort. The portcullis on her Arms is very well earned. Part of the Osborne Crest has the Beaufort Portcullis on it. After I had done a couple of years' work on my own genealogy, it occurred to me that there were many, many names that no one will ever know: the children lost in infancy, the brothers killed in battle or by misfortune, the women who died in childbed and all the others who didn't live long enough to reproduce. They far outnumber those who survived. With the curiosities and delights also comes the realization that the world is a lens with two parts.
@@lucyosborne9239 Wow, that is a fascinating story. How cool you got to speak to the Earl himself! I'll look up my Stuart connections and let you know!
@@AthenaisC Nice! Welcome to the Spencer/Osborne branch. Yes, it's that Spencer.
Lucky you! to get to 'be' Queen Caroline! years and years ago, when I was a graduate student in English, my area of interest was Alexander Pope and his circle - I became a huge fan of Caroline - thank you for making this wonderful woman better known.
😍Dr Kat is one of the best historians on youtube, and should be on every history enthusiast's watchlist!
You are very kind! Thank you 😊
I agree! I subscribe to and enjoy many historians’ channels, but if I could only subscribe to one it would be to Dr. Kat’s.
Absolutely! I 100% agree!!
I found this video a couple of days ago, Dr Kat, thank you, she is my 1st cousin, 10 times removed. I am a descendant of her fathers sister. By the way she was also a descendant of Juanna the mad Queen of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.
I am a week out from surgery for bowel cancer during which some feet of my gut were removed. Even when done well in a modern hospital, this is a brutally painful surgery only endurable thanks to narcotic pain relief - which doesnt really work well. I cannot imagine being hacked at by clueless surgeons several centuries ago and to suffer through torture without modern analgesia. This poor woman had an agonizing death. Poor Caroline, how she must have suffered. Thanks for this, Dr. Kat
I had the same experience. As do you, I can't imagine having anything like it without modern medicine's advantages, especially the painkillers and antibiotics.
I was not aware of Caroline of Ansbach's intellectual prowess nor her foresight when it came to the small pox vaccine. What most stories focus on is the terrible rift between King George II and Queen Caroline, and their son, Frederick, the Prince of Wales. Possibly because this animosity between generations seemed to have been a Hanoverian "tradition" so it became a prime story. Thank you for focusing your informative video on a most interesting woman.👑👑👑
The Bridgerton series is entertaining. I’m interested in the history of the “Georges” now. And their Queen consorts. Thanks!
i can sometimes get the george's and their wives confused - this was a perfect look into caroline!
A complete relief after all those Tudors for a start. I think she set an example for how to do things properly. I am very glad also to hear of a loving marriage for her.
It's been ages since I read a Jean Plaidy novel about Caroline. It's nice to hear her get attention!
Timmy will be asking his teacher questions about hernias and bowels.
Don't google it😎
I love Jean Plaidy's books!! 😊
Can't wait to hear and learn more about our expat. Greetings from Ansbach.
I'm not working in the medical field, but I know that autopsies on humans at that time were not allowed and had not been for centuries. And as she had been hiding the prolapsing parts for so long what the doctors saw in the end might have been a dried up and/or nectrotised mass.
I'm not so sure if it had saved her if they had just pushed that back and tried to close the hernia.
But that must have been a horribly painful passing for her and traumatising for her husband.
Dr. Kat, I have read that the Hanovarian monarchs had the worst relationships with their heirs, and your story today seems to emphasize that point. However, I was wondering which English/British dynasty YOU think had the most generational fall-out. I confess I am thinking of the Plantagenets. Thank you for your wonderful videos! 👑👑👑
What a fascinating woman! I especially love the she found those sketches hidden about like that. It's little things like that which preserves art for the future
That poor woman😮 And a lesson to grandparents about interfering in a grandchilds life, I should think.👑
An excellent book about the Hanoverians is The Strangest Family by Janice Hadlow. It details how so much of George The Third’s life was an attempt to reject the ‘malign inheritance of emotional dysfunction that had been handed down from generation to generation’ including the keeping of mistresses among many other things.
Sounds familiar, no?
@@anunnakicrown that's what I was just about to write 😅
Caroline sounds really rad! These early Hanoverians seem to have had some really lovely marriages (thinking about George 3 and Charlotte M-S, Victoria and Albert)
I had known nothing of Caroline, but what a stunning woman! Thank you for letting us into her life.
A friend of mine did her thesis for a Public Health degree by extrapolating how many people living today owe their lives to Caroline's work for small pox vaccine adoption. I don't remember the exact number, but it was something like 1 in 30 in the UK. (But don't quote me.)
I love your telling the world of British History.
I live close to Hannover, so this part of history makes me feel really connected to the UK. I also like the letters of Lieselotte von der Pfalz ( Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate). She wrote them after to her aunt Charlotte who raised her. The letters are both very affectionate and personal and at the same time of astute observation, filled with historical and political details. She also has a great sense of humour.
Being born near Heidelberg in Germany, I am so touched to see Liselotte mentioned here. I heard that she too was interested in science and thus likeminded.
What an amazing lady, so sad that things were never resolved between her and her son.
I agree. An amazing lady! The best of the bunch.
👑 I appreciate getting to know this queen. She sounds very strong minded with a high tolerance for pain.
You should do a video on Lord Harvey, he seems he has thousands of original letters with ALL the gossip.
@@londongael414 excellent thanks
Thank you Dr Kat for that fascinating examination of the life and career of this clearly very erudite and accomplished Queen. I believe Lucy Worsley in one of her documentaries on the Hanovers remarked that Caroline was one of her favourite queens as well. Like you, I’ve always been intrigued by the scholarly bent that characterised the Electress Sophia, her daughter the Queen in Prussia and only sister of George I, who cared for and educated Caroline at her court in Berlin.
I think one of my favourite Hanoverians was Queen Anne’s namesake, and Caroline’s eldest daughter Anne Princess Royal, whose life went on to parallel that of the previous Stuart princesses, the two Marys who would go on to become Princesses of Orange in the century before Anne would follow them to Holland.
👸🏼 ❤ so many medical mysteries of the past could be easily remedied today. I hope that can still be said from now on.
She was fortunate to have been encouraged in her curiosity. So proud of her for responding clearly to that impertinent archbishop. Good for her! I can see your love for this woman, Dr. Kat. She was very modern and may even have had a sense of humor worth attending.
I enjoyed meeting you a couple weeks ago at Hampton Court, Dr. Cat. Your play that was put on for the children in the Great Hall was fun to watch. I appreciated the sharing of your knowledge, too, on Margaret Beaufort's portcullis crest that is so often seen in many an old English royal place. Thank you!
I so appreciate that you include sources. It is not done by too many history RUclipsrs
Caroline Was very fascinating and what a Diplomat she was. It was sad that her and Fredrick hadn't reconciled. Maybe they should have brought him to England
I was not aware of even half of this information! I have watched documentaries and they never say this.
What a lovely woman! Thank you for sharing her story, Dr. Kat. 🎉
"late night labouring flight" beautiful turn of phrase 😊
Great video as always. Would have loved to see a picture of you in the Caroline of Ansbach costume. 👸👸🏻👸🏼
👑 Queen Caroline wins the popularity award!
I loved learning about this admirable woman!👑
Poor Caroline! What an awful way to die. Thank you for all this info. Great work as always 👑👑👑
Truly horrible! There was a long time in which you were better off NOT being able to afford top of the line medicine. Better to rely on the humble, and more cautious, apothecary.
I've always loved Caroline of Ansbach. Thank you for doing a video on her to introduce her to others.
I love Caroline of Ansbach and the way you presented her story. It is easy to understand why she is your favorite queen. She was not only extremely intelligent and so far ahead of her time; her husband and the country loved and trusted her. Her son, Fredrich, disappointed both his parents. Perhaps Britain was lucky that he pre-deceased his father. Dr Kat, I have listened to so many of your videos on RUclips and have learned so much about history. I am a retired psychologist but would have loved to have become a historian.
Thank you for yet another marvelous video Dr. Kat! This was so great! Caroline and George's devotion to each other was just beautiful, and him keeping his dying wife company was so touching. Peritonitis is a terrible way to die, poor lady.
What I don't understand is why Frederick did what he did. Why in the world did he bundle his poor laboring wife to another chapel? Not only for her sake but what was he trying to achieve? It is so bizarre.
Wonderful tribute to a great lady that I knew very little of. Thanks again!
My understanding is that the Home Secretary (or other official observer) was required to witness all royal births up until that of Prince Charles. Apparently King George VI thought it was an unnecessary intrusion into the process and did away with it. So unnecessary these days. And whoever thought even a newborn child was small enough to fit into a warming pan anyway?
What a beautiful example of a husband's unending devotion! Thank you for this video!
I too have held this remarkable woman Caroline of Ansbach in high esteem and affection for quite a few years now,
she was a REAL character
and her death was tragic and horrific!!
I did read a biography of her some years ago (certainly before covid) but can't remember the title nor author. but being over 60 now would do that to one's memory.
your piece here was a good refreshing of my aging memory
Caroline of Ansbach has always been my favourite Hanoverian since reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle where she is presented first as a quick-witted girl who, under the tutelage of Queen Sophia Charlotte and Electress Sophia, blooms into a humanistic and fiercely intelligent woman, able to spar with natural philosophers yet show genuine interest in the plights of her British subjects - what a pleasure to hear her story afresh in Dr Kat's engaging manner. On a pedantic note, be careful of German lieb/leib - lieb is 'leeb', think Liebling or ich liebe dich (or Liebfraumilch) and leib is 'libe' (rhymes with 'vibe') such as in Leibniz (libe-nitz).
I can hear Caroline say:" Lieber Leinbnitz, aber......."😀
@@hiwakoo "Lieber Leibniz" is a nice Eselsbrücke for remembering the ie/ei pronunciations :)
My German professor told us that, "When two vowels go walking, the second one does the talking." It's an easy key to pronunciation of an unfamiliar word.
It was nice to 👂🏻 of a female royal who was educated.
It’s understandable why the generational trauma of being separated from your parents might be repeated…but unfortunate that they didn’t seem to learn from it!
Most were educated in fact- especially if they expected to reign.
I hadn't known anything about Caroline, this was really interesting to learn about, thank you!
Wonderful. Fascinating. An extraordinary woman. Thank you for bringing Caroline alive.
👑 Ive been learning more about rhe Hanovarians. "Daughters of the Winter Queen" is a great book about Princess Elizabeth and her children. Thanks for another great vid!
About 3 years ago I was following a family tree thread that led to an unknown daughter of an unknown wife or mistress of the winter queens son Maurice, who with his older brother were the Pirate Princes of the Caribbean. I think that thread had been debunked over time, but the brothers were quite the warriors and were real. Ruperts land became all the Canadian and US tributaries that drained into Hudson Bay. Rupert was a part owner of the original Hudson's Bay Company. He also somehow came to live and die in Buckingham Palace. Maurice his younger brother went down with his ship in a Caribbean hurricane.
Another fabulous video 🥰 You really are the best in the biz! RIP to Caroline, a true legend gone too soon 🙏🏼
Did I miss why Frederick and Augusta snuck away for the birth? Was it just to be away from his parents, or something more?
A yes for a video on Henrietta Howard!
Ansbach reminds me of Asbach brandy filled chocolates; now I'm craving them...
🍫👑
👸family backbiting will forever plague the royals. Thank you for making it fun
I've never heard of Caroline, but will be reading up on her as soon as possible! I've also been catching up on 'Betwixt the Sheets' and your episode was terrific! Kate Lister is so fabulously wonderful and so are you! 👑👑👑
Enjoy all your videos. Would love to learn more about Frederick's 17 years away from his family.
I can certainly look into that ☺️
What an interesting video - I hadn’t given this Queen much thought at all, and you have piqued my interest in her. I will see what books might be available ❤ thank you so much!
with all of her involvement in medical progression not one of her doctors couldnt have figure out to save her
👑loved this video - I didn’t know anything really about Caroline of Ansbach so it was lovely to start to fill in that gap in my Hanoverian knowledge
What a fascinating queen. I can see how you would like her best.
I traveled through Hanover Germany found it very charming rather remote but couldn’t imagine back then
As always I find your video so interesting.
The most I know of George II and his wife comes from information from the work of Stella Tillyard, "Aristocrats", which is about the children of the Duke of Richmond. (Love to see a video about them!) It's edifying to hear about love matches in history.
It’s always a highlight of my day when you release a new video. Thanks!
Oh my goodness. I knew little about this royal lady and now I am so very impressed. Thank you Dr. Kat.
i knew nothing about Caroline of Anspach before this video. Clearly i need to look into her more!
Your presentation skills are excellent! I have watched every one of your videos from the time you launched your channel. Each presentation is a masterful essay, supported with outstanding visuals and enjoyable for me, the eager viewer. Thank you for your hard work!
I feel like this episode is a great illustration of my belief that you are better off avoiding all physicians and surgeons up to about the end of the 19th century. It's not the most horrific surgery I've heard about, but it's not good, either.
I don't know much about the Hanoverians, so I really appreciate this!
I love that you gave the “you can eat, and you can watch this video, but you can’t do them both at the same time” disclaimer.😂 That said, as a nurse, I could eat a sandwich over an abscess, and I always find it hilarious when presented with evidence that this is *not* a normal thing that normal people do. Being a nurse is its own special kind of feral, where we don’t have any awareness of good manners and just go on about truly disgusting things while we eat lunch, happily oblivious to the pearl-clutching/gagging/away-scampering of those around us. Been “invited” to leave a particular section of a restaurant once because apparently the other diners were uninterested in talking about medical leeches and medical maggots, as a group of us were doing after a shift.🤣🤣
Love your channel! So imformative and entertaining!❤❤😊😊
Thank you 😊
I hope Caroline had a microphone to drop after that burn on the bishop
She is said to have told him, as she lay dying, that he should marry again. He sobbed in reply, "No, I shall have mistresses"
And he kept that promise for the rest of his life saying that none of his mistresses were fit to buckle Caroline's shoe
Me, watching this while eating my lunch getting to the end: slowly pushing my salad away at the warning.
Will have to watch the recording - love you Dr. Kat !!
Lol, the warning was amazing! I was a nurse for 28 years, we discuss such topics while eating on a regular basis! 😂 Not everyone enjoys such topics, so good on you for it. I knew very little about Queen Caroline, I begin to share your regard for her!
A great Queen Consort
Caroline and Her King had an endearing relationship, It is heart breaking that she died so painfully from something that is routinely simple today. Thank heavens for modern surgery and antiseptic practices.
Queen Caroline is also my favourite hanoverian queen. Thanks for shine a light on her.
Dr Kat, Your channel is my favorite. Please keep the videos coming! I’ve listened to all of them already and would love to hear more! You’ve done a wonderful job. Keep up the good work ❤
👑👑👑✝✝✝
Enjoyed learning about this intelligent and productive queen.
Excellent presentation and I learned so much about this remarkable woman. A forward thinking and intelligent woman. Caroline must have been a very strong woman.
👑while their marital relationship was an inspiration the backbiting and constant feuding with Fredrick was tiresome. Great video as always love your channel!
Excellent discussion of the herniated bowel, and not at all distressing or disgusting, except for the sadness I felt for her having been in such godawful pain. Thank you for making this interesting video; I really am not at all familiar with the Hanoverians. I in fact had to drag myself to watch this and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it (au fond, I am a Tudor fan). Now I have to go watch all your other Hanoverian videos!
Henrietta Howard video!! Yesss!! We would LOVE a video on her!!
I was just taking a look at one of your older videos, and was kind of amazed to realize how much the quality (especially on the audio) has improved. It's the sort of thing people mostly mention when something's *wrong*, but I wanted to take a second to express my appreciation for the work you've put in to make the channel look and sound better over time. The results are definitely worth it!
Thank you for taking the time to write this, I’m very pleased that you can see the improvements 😊
👑👑👑👑 I can certainly appreciate why you have such admiration and respect for Caroline, such a fascinating person and significant legacy. Thanks for another great video! 👑👑👑👑
Of all of your warnings the prebowel notice was apt and very funny.
👀 !!! I felt like I needed a score card. Poor Caroline. 😢 Very sad. It reminds me of a story that is somewhat going on now. Family not getting along. Love your presentations. ❣️👑👑👑🤩
I came for the Tudors and have happily stayed for all the rest! More Hanoverians, please! (Also, I know this channel is focused on British monarchs and their courtesans, but I would love to hear some about the British royal women who were married out into other monarchies. Did their Britishness go with them to their new courts at all? How many of them had to learn Danish??)
Thank you, will watch the remainder after dinner.
You are such a 👸 of information you make history fun! My daddy majored in history in college but I never enjoyed it till I became a part of it at 50+ lol. Now I can't get enough, and as a homeschooling, g'ma I can't wait till my boys are ready for international history. I plan to use your videos as part of their schooling. Thank you so much for your fun interesting videos!!!😂