Queen Margrethe II & Prince Henrik, Current Events Part 6: July 2017 - February 2018

[iceflower]

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Queen Margrethe handed out Queen Ingrid's Research Prize at Christian IX's Palace, Amalienborg, today, October 11:


** Pic ** stiften.dk: Dronning gav pris til århusforsker ** translation **


** kongehuset.dk: H.M. Dronningen overrakte Dronning Ingrids Forskerpris 2017 ** translation **

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by iceflower

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Queen Margrethe inaugurated the permanent medieval exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Højbjerg today, October 9:



** kongehuset.dk gallery: H.M. Dronningen åbnede middelalderudstilling på Moesgaard Museum **


** tv2ostjylland.dk: VIDEO: Dronningen åbner middelalder-udstilling ** translation **


** BB: Veloplagt dronning Margrethe tog tilbage til middelalderen ** translation **

Thanks, Iceflower

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #41, 2017.
Written by Ken Richter.

QMII is a frequent visitor to Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus. Where there apart from changing themes are permanent exhibitions about the Stone Age, Bronce Age (including a bog mummy), Viking Age and now also Medieval times.
It was the last one QMII opened.

And it was a Queen in fine form who made a speech and opened the exhibition and got a personal tour. - She would no doubt have been willing to walk from Copenhagen to Aarhus!
BTW archeologists have just excavated the first stone-age manor in DK, no price for guessing who is going to visit that excavation!

But back to Moesgaard which now truly a world-class museum after an extensive rebuild and modernization and absolutely worth a visit.

But QMII didn't go alone, with her she brought some of her very old friends.
Merethe von Lüttichau. (Old friend and nobility).
Pernille Burge-Lumsden.
Camilla Carstenskiold. (Nobility).
Ane Vibeke Foss. (Dear friend and LiW and nobility).
Marianne Haslund-Christensen. (Wife to former Master of Ceremonies, Søren Haslund-Christensen).

In her speech a deligted QMII said about people in medieval times: "They lived in perpetual fear for how things would go for them. Because they knew, just as we know, that not everything they did was thaaat good and thaaat great an idea".

- I'm certain QMII gave her five friends an extensive tour of the museum afterwards. And with QMII as tour guide you'd have to have absolutely no interest in history to find it boring.

-------------

Thanks, LibrarianDaisy

[M. Payton]

My what a lifetime thrill it would be to be among the ladies getting that tour, that would for me be very cherished memory indeed. Being someone who loves ancient history of Europe and the Near East there is still so much yet to be discovered and books to be printed and schools to be updated with new information. Thank you Muhler for the translation of what a day it was.

[SLV]

As an archaologist, I really like it that the Queen loves archaeology so much.

[LibrarianDaisy]

Originally Posted by M. Payton

My what a lifetime thrill it would be to be among the ladies getting that tour, that would for me be very cherished memory indeed. Being someone who loves ancient history of Europe and the Near East there is still so much yet to be discovered and books to be printed and schools to be updated with new information. Thank you Muhler for the translation of what a day it was.

I can't think of anything more wonderful than being part of a guided tour of ANYTHING led by Queen Margrethe

You're welcome Muhler - and once again thank you for your translation and sardonic comments ('walk from Copenhagen to Aarhus' ) which never fail to cheer me up

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Thanks, Iceflower

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #41, 2017.
Written by Ken Richter.

QMII is a frequent visitor to Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus. Where there apart from changing themes are permanent exhibitions about the Stone Age, Bronce Age (including a bog mummy), Viking Age and now also Medieval times.
It was the last one QMII opened.

And it was a Queen in fine form who made a speech and opened the exhibition and got a personal tour. - She would no doubt have been willing to walk from Copenhagen to Aarhus!
BTW archeologists have just excavated the first stone-age manor in DK, no price for guessing who is going to visit that excavation!

But back to Moesgaard which now truly a world-class museum after an extensive rebuild and modernization and absolutely worth a visit.

But QMII didn't go alone, with her she brought some of her very old friends.
Merethe von Lüttichau. (Old friend and nobility).
Pernille Burge-Lumsden.
Camilla Carstenskiold. (Nobility).
Ane Vibeke Foss. (Dear friend and LiW and nobility).
Marianne Haslund-Christensen. (Wife to former Master of Ceremonies, Søren Haslund-Christensen).

In her speech a deligted QMII said about people in medieval times: "They lived in perpetual fear for how things would go for them. Because they knew, just as we know, that not everything they did was thaaat good and thaaat great an idea".

- I'm certain QMII gave her five friends an extensive tour of the museum afterwards. And with QMII as tour guide you'd have to have absolutely no interest in history to find it boring.

-------------

Thanks, LibrarianDaisy

Thanks, as always, Muhler, for your translations! I was at Moesgaard museum and hugely enjoyed my time there. One omission however I found troubling....there was no mention of the Viking expedition to Vinland or, as it is called today, Newfoundland in Canada! This summer I was in L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
where there is a reconstruction of the original Viking settlement. Next door, there is a fascinating outdoor museum showing what might have been called Norstead Norstead :: A Viking Port of Trade
had the Vikings stayed in Vinland!
I do wonder why Moesgaard in particular and Scandinavian countries in general do not pay more attention to the North American adventures of their Vikings. In my home town of Toronto, our Royal Ontario Museum will shortly host a Viking exhibit! VIKINGS: The Exhibition | Royal Ontario Museum Come on over Scandinavia!

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by gerry

Thanks, as always, Muhler, for your translations! I was at Moesgaard museum and hugely enjoyed my time there. One omission however I found troubling....there was no mention of the Viking expedition to Vinland or, as it is called today, Newfoundland in Canada! This summer I was in L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
where there is a reconstruction of the original Viking settlement. Next door, there is a fascinating outdoor museum showing what might have been called Norstead Norstead :: A Viking Port of Trade
had the Vikings stayed in Vinland!
I do wonder why Moesgaard in particular and Scandinavian countries in general do not pay more attention to the North American adventures of their Vikings. In my home town of Toronto, our Royal Ontario Museum will shortly host a Viking exhibit! VIKINGS: The Exhibition | Royal Ontario Museum Come on over Scandinavia!

I don't know.
Perhaps because Moesgaard is not a dedicated Viking age museum as the one in Roskilde, which has the ships.
It's more natural for the Roskilde museum to deal with travels, trade and expeditions - also to North America IMO.
While Moesgaard go more into depth about the actual people, how they lived, looked like (*) and dressed. And in that respect very little is known about the colonies (or perhaps rather winter residencies) in Canada.
I imagine that may change once more discoveries are made in North America.
Because the settlements in Greenland went extinct in medieval times. It's presumed the last Viking colonists there were killed off by the Greenlanders going south. At the same time the climate worsened, so many must have left. Most probably to Iceland - but perhaps some tried to settle in North America somewhere?
It's IMO almost certain they did not only go to Newfoundland. They would at least have probed deeper west and south. But such settlements were almost certainly killed off by the locals or alternatively any Viking traces were bred away.
The Greenlandic/Icelandic expeditions could not have been large, well-organized and well-armed ventures, who were able to set up regular well-defended trading posts. The settlements on Iceland and Greenland simply did not have the resources for that.
The nearest to do that were the Norwegian kings, they had other concerns and the Icelanders did not wish to have an expedition from the Norwegian kings anywhere near their coasts, thank you very much!

The interesting thing is to speculate what had happened, had the Norman conquest of England failed, which it very well could have.
The English King Harald was already allied to the DRF and that alliance would have been reinforced in the face of a Norman threat. Norway would have maintained it's trade and colonies on the islands around Scotland and the Irish Sea. Giving Norway time to take control over Iceland and Greenland. Keeping the Inuit at bay and perhaps launch serious expeditions towards North America.
The trade links, intermarriages and contacts across the North Sea in particular would have continued, rather than being severed (at least for a time) by the Normans who had absolutely no interest in seeing a Norwegian-Danish fleet at the east coast of England! A fleet that would very likely have been welcomed by the English. Not to mention the political and economical influence the trade links brought with them had they been allowed to continue.
Just like the Nordic countries, Britain may not have become genuinely feudal for another 2-3 centuries with all that entails.

The population boom prior to the Black Death, meant people, especially in the more entrenched feudal countries had little prospects than a life in poverty, or at least a low-income existence.
In a Nordic sphere of interests around the North Sea, where organized expeditions had been launched towards North America. North America by anno 1200 might have been seen as a land of opportunity for many of what was actually a surplus population - and a place to resettle the disgruntled...
But by 1200's the Europeans would not have had the technological edge over the Native Americans as later, so it's likely the Norse would not have been able to settle in mass, except in Canada. But they would have had the strength and resources to establish, supply and if need be defend a string of trading posts down along the east coast of USA. - Trading posts that would not have been considered a threat by the locals, but rather an opportunity.
It's fascinating to speculate what consequences that would have had for the Native Americans. Economically, politically, demographically, technologically and so on and so on.

As you know it's been estimated by some that the native population of the Americas by the 1400's may have been around 100 million. Most dying from diseases in the 1400 and certainly during the 1500's. While diseases brought along from Europe no doubt killed off many, probably most, it is also suggested that the population of Latin and South America was already being weakened by a local pandemic.
A pandemic Europeans were more immune to, due to much more and varied exposure to livestock.
What would have happened had the European contact with America been slower and less deep? The Norse would have happily married local women as they usually did, mixing their genes and immune systems. The natives may have been subjected to diseases more slowly and gotten help treating the diseases by the Norse traders who may not have been particularly interested in seeing their costumers/suppliers die.
And when the Black Death came, North America, simply by distance may have a fairly safe place. That would have changed the balance between North America and Europe. Europe being weakened while North America isolated itself, at least for a period. The European colonists stranded there, becoming ever more "American".

The only real competitors the Norse would have had in reaching North America in the 1200's would have been the Muslims, who may have send expeditions to central and South America. To what scale we can only imagine.

So to conclude this long speculation. Had the Battle of Hastings had another outcome USA may have been a fact by 1500? Or rather a North American, mainly native, confederation.

[gerry]

I agree that much more scholarship is needed on the question of Viking influence in North America and not all of it speculative! What I found striking when I visited the Viking ship museum in Roskilde was the similarity between the Viking longboat and our Canadian canoes! Clearly early Viking contact could be an impetus for the technological innovations in North America...Queen Margrethe, do shake a few research funding pots please!

[iceflower]

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Yesterday, October 20, Queen Margrethe received the Ambassadors of Finland, India, Burkina Faso, Turkey and Germany at Fredensborg Castle:



** kongehuset.dk gallery ** kongehuset.dk video **

[M. Payton]

In viewing all the pictures one thing really rang strong and true here, it is so very nice to see that there is still traditions from the past being carried out in this day and age. I really enjoyed the pictures, Thank you!

[Osipi]

Question? In the first picture of the gallery, is that Prince Henrik walking behind Queen Daisy? My eyesight isn't so great anymore and what tipped me off is the man is walking with what appears to be a cane or walking stick. If so, its good to see that he's still involved and active somewhat in things like this.

[M. Payton]

No, that is not Prince Henrik as this man is to short in height. I don't remember who he is yet one time Muhler explained his position to me and I forgot. Yet he is very important to in helping Queen Daisy with her duties.

The mind is going sis and can't seem to get it back..... Muhler has all the answers to the DRF and Denmark!

[Dman]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Question? In the first picture of the gallery, is that Prince Henrik walking behind Queen Daisy? My eyesight isn't so great anymore and what tipped me off is the man is walking with what appears to be a cane or walking stick. If so, its good to see that he's still involved and active somewhat in things like this.

NO, it isn’t Prince Henrik. Although just almost looked like him though.

[Muhler]

He is an adjutant. From the Royal Lifeguard Regiment.

QMII once explained that ambassadors are protocol wise considered the direct representatives for the head of state of their countries, so they are received with the pomp and circumstances befitting their status. I.e. one notch under the head of state.

It can be quite an experience many of the ambassadors say. Especially if it's their first posting.

The ambassador is acknowledged as the new ambassador the moment he/she presents the credentials to either QMII, the Regent or a Rigsforstander. Not before.
The credentials consists of a letter authorizing the new ambassador to take over as ambassador in Denmark and at the same time relieve the former ambassador. (Who has already said his/her formal goodbye to QMII at a previous audience.) The letter is a copy. The Foreign Ministry has of course already been notified that a new ambassador is to take over.
It happens that inexperienced ambassadors misunderstand and intend to present the original letter of credentials. But only the copy is needed. The original is after all the proof that he really is the ambassador for whatever country it is.

And since the question was raised by an American: The new American ambassador to DK, who is a woman this time, is also soon to present her credentials.
The former US ambassador has long since said his goodbye at an audience.
But because of the slightly peculiar US system, where the ambassador is usually not a career diplomat, the new administration (which also has to be appointed and find their footing) has to first appoint the new ambassador and then have that ambassador approved by the Congress. - A formality where the approval is guaranteed, but there have been cases where an ambassador hasn't done his homework and come with up with some interesting answers! I guess this little cross examination is a way for the Congress to tease the administration a little.
- Don't worry the new ambassador to DK passed the test in the Congress.

[Osipi]

What would we do without you, Muhler? Ask a simple question and not only get an answer as to who the person asked about really is but also a wonderfully precise explanation of what is going on, the traditions behind it and even the process of appointing a new ambassador in the United States and the process behind it.

I just checked off quite a few "learn something new everyday" boxes for today alone. Many, many thank yous!! Its nice to know too that the US Congress actually does something too.

[iceflower]

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The detailed programme of Queen Margrethe's visit to Rome and Tarquinia (October 26 - 29) has been released:


** kongehuset.dk: Program for besøg i Rom ** translation **

In short:

October 26: Visit to the Caesar Forum

October 27: Visit to the Galleria Borghese, lunch with President Sergio Mattarella at the Palazzo del Quirinale, attendance at the celebration of the Danish Institute's 50th anniversary

October 28: Visit to the town hall of Tarquinia, visit to the Nazionale Etrusco Museum located at the Palazzo Vitelleschi and visit to the Etruscan necropolis outside Tarquinia

[Muhler]

Thanks, Iceflower

Etruscians?
Necropolis?
- That means archeological digs!

Wonder if they will be able to drag QMII away in time for her to give her New Year speech?

[Curryong]

I wouldn't blame her. This is fascinating stuff! I'd be there throughout the winter!

[polyesco]

The Queen starts her visit to Rome. Lovely!
H.M. Dronningen besøger Rom - dag 1 | Kongehuset

[iceflower]

It's great to see that Margrethe can pursue her special interesst and passion!

Here are more pics from today:


** gettyimages/zimbio gallery: Queen Margrethe Visits Rome - Day 1 **