1.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
2.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
3.
Provinces of the Netherlands
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The most populous province is South Holland, with over 3.5 million inhabitants in 2009. With approximately 381,000 inhabitants, Zeeland has the smallest population, in terms of area, Friesland is the largest province with a total area of 5,749 km2. If water is excluded, Gelderland is the largest province in terms of area at 4,972 km2, Utrecht is the smallest at 1,449 km2. In total about 13,000 people were employed by the administrations in 2009. The provinces of the Netherlands are joined in the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands and this organisation promotes the common interests of the provinces in the national government of the Netherlands in The Hague and within the EU in Brussels. The government of each province consists of three parts, The States-Provincial is the provincial parliament elected every four years. The number of members varies between 39 and 55, depending on the number of inhabitants of the province, being a member is a part-time job. The main task of the States-Provincial is to scrutinise the work of the provincial government, the Provincial Executive is a college elected from among the members of the States-Provincial and charged with most executive tasks. Each province has three and seven deputies, each having their own portfolio. The task of the Provincial Executive is the management of the province. The Kings Commissioner is a person appointed by the Crown who presides over the States-Provincial as well as over the Provincial Executive. The Commissioner is appointed for a term of six years, after which reappointment for another term is possible, the members of the States-Provincial are elected every four years in direct elections. To a large extent, the political parties are enlisted in these elections in the national elections. The chosen provincial legislators elect the members of the national Senate within three months after the provincial elections, the elections for the water boards take place on the same date as the provincial elections. The last three elections were held in 2007,2011 and in 2015. The provinces of the Netherlands have 7 core tasks, Sustainable spatial development, also, provinces have income from a part of the Vehicle Excise Duty. Several provinces have made a profit in the past from privatising utility companies originally owned or partly owned by the provinces. An example is Essent, which was owned by six provinces
4.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
5.
Dutch Revolt
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The southern provinces initially joined in the revolt, but later submitted to Spain. The religious clash of cultures built up gradually but inexorably into outbursts of violence against the repression of the Habsburg Crown. These tensions led to the formation of the independent Dutch Republic, the first leader was William of Orange, followed by several of his descendants and relations. This revolt was one of the first successful secessions in Europe, and led to one of the first European republics of the modern era, King Philip was initially successful in suppressing the rebellion. In 1572, however, the rebels captured Brielle and the rebellion resurged, the northern provinces became independent, first in 1581 de facto, and in 1648 de jure. The Southern Netherlands remained under Spanish rule, the continuous heavy-handed rule by the Habsburgs in the south caused many of its financial, intellectual, and cultural elite to flee north, contributing to the success of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch imposed a blockade on the southern provinces which prevented Baltic grain relieving famine in the southern towns. The first phase of the conflict can be considered to be the Dutch War of Independence, the focus of the latter phase was to gain official recognition of the already de facto independence of the United Provinces. This phase coincided with the rise of the Dutch Republic as a major power, in a series of marriages and conquests, a succession of Dukes of Burgundy expanded their original territory by adding to it a series of fiefdoms, including the Seventeen Provinces. Although Burgundy itself had been lost to France in 1477, the Burgundian Netherlands were still intact when Charles V was born in Ghent in 1500 and he was raised in the Netherlands and spoke fluent Dutch, French, Spanish, and some German. In 1506, he became lord of the Burgundian states, among which were the Netherlands, subsequently, in 1516, he inherited several titles, including the combined kingdoms of Aragon, and Castile and León which had become a worldwide empire with the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1519, he became ruler of the Habsburg empire, although Friesland and Guelders offered prolonged resistance, virtually all of the Netherlands had been incorporated into the Habsburg domains by the early 1540s. Flanders had long been a wealthy region, and had been coveted by the French kings for a long time. The other Netherlands had also grown into wealthy and entrepreneurial regions within the empire, Charles Vs empire became a worldwide empire with large American and European territories. The latter were, however, distributed throughout Europe, control and defense of these were hampered by the disparity of the territories and huge length of the empires borders. This large realm was almost continuously at war with its neighbors in its European heartlands, most notably against France in the Italian Wars, further wars were fought against Protestant princes in Germany. The Netherlands paid heavy taxes to fund these wars, but perceived them as unnecessary and sometimes downright harmful, during the 16th century, Protestantism rapidly gained ground in northern Europe. Dutch Protestants, after initial repression, were tolerated by local authorities, by the 1560s, the Protestant community had become a significant influence in the Netherlands, although it clearly formed a minority then
6.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
7.
States General of the Netherlands
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The States General is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets at the Binnenhof in The Hague, the States General originated in the 15th century as an assembly of all the provincial states of the Burgundian Netherlands. The States General were replaced by the National Assembly after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, only to be restored in 1814, the States General was divided into a Senate and a House of Representatives in 1815, with the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. On exceptional occasions, the two form a joint session known as the United Assembly. The President of the Senate serves as President of the States General during a United Assembly, ankie Broekers-Knol has been President of the Senate since 2013. The archaic Dutch word staten originally related to the classes in which medieval European societies were stratified, the clergy, the nobility. The word eventually came to mean the political body in which the estates were represented. Each province in the Habsburg Netherlands had its own staten and these representative bodies in turn were represented in the assembly that came to be known as Staten-Generaal, or Algemene Staten. The English word states may have a meaning as the Dutch word staten. The English phrases States General is probably a translation of the Dutch word. Historically, the term was used for the name of other national legislatures as, for example, the Catalan and Valencian Generalitat. Several geographic place names are derived from the States General, in 1609, Henry Hudson established Dutch trade in Staten Island, New York City and named the island Staaten Eylandt after the States General. Isla de los Estados, now an Argentine island, was named after this institution. Abel Tasman originally gave the name Staten Landt to what would become New Zealand, Staaten River is a river in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Later, regular sessions were held at Coudenberg in Brussels, Brabant, the next important event was the convocation of the States General by the ducal Council for 3 February 1477 after the death of Charles the Bold. In this session the States General forced the grant of the Great Privilege by Mary of Burgundy in which the right of the States General to convene on their own initiative was recognised, in 1576 the States General as a whole, however, openly rebelled against the Spanish crown. In 1579 the States General split as a number of provinces, united in the Union of Arras returned to obedience, while other provinces. After the Act of Abjuration in 1581 the northern States General replaced Philip II as the authority of the northern Netherlands
8.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
9.
Union of Utrecht
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The Union of Utrecht was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain. The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, the treaty was signed on 23 January by Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and the province of Groningen. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the 1579 Union of Arras, during the following months of 1579, other states signed the treaty as well, such as Ghent, cities from Friesland, as well as three of the quarters of Guelders. In the summer of 1579, Amersfoort from the province of Utrecht also joined, together with Ypres, Antwerp, Breda, in February 1580, Lier, Bruges and the surrounding area also signed the Union. The city of Groningen shifted in favor under influence of the stadtholder for Friesland, George van Rennenberg, later on, Zutphen also signed so Guelders supported the Union completely. This happened in April 1580, as did the signing of Overijssel, the United Provinces still recognized Spanish rule after the Union of Utrecht. The Twelve Years Truce of 1609 essentially marked the end of the Dutch struggle for independence and a pause in one of historys longest running conflicts, as Pieter Geyl puts it, the truce marked an astonishing victory for the Dutch. They gave up no land and did not agree to halt their attacks on Spanish colonies, in return the Spanish granted the United Provinces de facto independence by describing them as Free lands, provinces and states against who they make no claim for the duration of the truce. Dutch Revolt List of treaties Geyl, Pieter, the revolt of the Netherlands, 1555-1609. The Union of Utrecht online pp 137-48 Text of Treaty in English translation
10.
Monarchy of Spain
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The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as the Crown, is a constitutional institution and historic office of Spain. It used to be called the Hispanic Monarchy. The monarchy comprises the monarch, his or her family. The Spanish monarchy is represented by King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia, and their daughters Leonor, Princess of Asturias, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 reestablished a constitutional monarchy as the form of government for Spain. The 1978 constitution affirmed the role of the King of Spain as the personification and embodiment of the Spanish State, constitutionally, the king is the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces. According to the constitution, the monarch is also instrumental in promoting relations with the nations of its historical community, the King of Spain serves as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, purportedly representing over 700,000,000 people in twenty-four member nations worldwide. In 2008, Juan Carlos I was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America, a dynastic marriage between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon united Spain in the 15th century. The last pretender of the Crown of the Byzantine Empire, Andreas Palaiologos, sold his title to Ferdinand II of Aragon. However, there is no evidence that any Spanish monarch has used the Byzantine imperial titles, the Spanish Empire became one of the first global powers as Isabella and Ferdinand funded Christopher Columbuss exploratory voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. This led to the discovery of America, which became the focus of Spanish colonization, in 2010, the budget for the Spanish monarchy was 7.4 million euros, one of the lowest public expenditures for the institution of monarchy in Europe. One of the earliest influential dynasties was the House of Jiménez which united much of Christian Iberia under its leadership in the 11th century. From Sancho III of Navarre until Urraca of León and Castile, the Jiménez rulers sought to bring their kingdoms into the European mainstream and often engaged in cross-Pyrenees alliances and marriages, and became patrons to Cluniac Reforms. Urracas son and heir Alfonso VII of León and Castile, the first of the Spanish branch of the Burgundy Family, was the last to claim the title of Spain. The Castilian Civil War ended with the death of King Peter at the hands of his illegitimate half-brother Henry, Henry II became the first of the House of Trastámara to rule over a Spanish kingdom. King Peters heiress, his granddaughter Catherine of Lancaster, married Henry III, reuniting the dynasties in the person of their son, each kingdom retained its basic structure. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Kingdom of Granada in southern Spain and this date marks the unification of Spain. The territories of the Spanish empire overseas were dependencies of the crown of Castile, in the early 16th century, the Spanish monarchy controlled several territories in Europe under the Habsburg King Charles I, son of Queen Joanna of Castile. His reign ushered in the Spanish Golden Age a period of colonial expansion
11.
Philip II of Spain
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Philip II of Spain, called the Prudent, was King of Spain, King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland. He was also Duke of Milan, from 1555, he was lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Known in Spain as Felipe el Prudente, his empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, during his reign, Spain reached the height of its influence and power. This is sometimes called the Golden Age, the expression, the empire on which the sun never sets, was coined during Philips time to reflect the extent of his dominion. During Philips reign there were separate state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1569,1575 and this was partly the cause of the declaration of independence that created the Dutch Republic in 1581. The Ambassador went on to say He dresses very tastefully, the culture and courtly life of Spain were an important influence in his early life. He was tutored by Juan Martínez Siliceo, the future Archbishop of Toledo, Philip displayed reasonable aptitude in arms and letters alike. Later he would study with more illustrious tutors, including the humanist Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella, though Philip had good command over Latin, Spanish, and Portuguese, he never managed to equal his father, Charles V, as a polyglot. While Philip was also a German archduke of the House of Habsburg, Philip felt himself to be culturally Spanish, he had been born in Spain and raised in the Castilian court, his native tongue was Spanish, and he preferred to live in Spain. This would ultimately impede his succession to the imperial throne, in April 1528, when Philip was eleven months old, he received the oath of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile. Philip was also close to his two sisters, María and Juana, and to his two pages, the Portuguese nobleman Rui Gomes da Silva and Luis de Requesens, the son of his governor Juan de Zúñiga. These men would serve Philip throughout their lives, as would Antonio Pérez, Philips martial training was undertaken by his governor, Juan de Zúñiga, a Castilian nobleman who served as the commendador mayor of Castile. The practical lessons in warfare were overseen by the Duke of Alba during the Italian Wars, Philip was present at the Siege of Perpignan in 1542 but did not see action as the Spanish army under Alba decisively defeated the besieging French forces under the Dauphin of France. On his way back to Castile, Philip received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzón. The king-emperors interactions with his son during his stay in Spain convinced him of Philips precocity in statesmanship, Philip, who had previously been made the Duke of Milan in 1540, began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen. Charles left Philip with experienced advisors—notably the secretary Francisco de los Cobos, Philip was also left with extensive written instructions that emphasised piety, patience, modesty, and distrust. These principles of Charles were gradually assimilated by his son, who would grow up to become grave, self-possessed, personally, Philip spoke softly and had an icy self-mastery, in the words of one of his ministers, he had a smile that cut like a sword. After living in the Netherlands in the years of his reign
12.
Social contract
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The question of the relation between natural and legal rights, therefore, is often an aspect of social contract theory. The term takes its name from The Social Contract, a 1762 book by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that discussed this concept, the starting point for most social contract theories is an examination of the human condition absent any political order that Thomas Hobbes termed the state of nature. In this condition, individuals actions are only by their personal power. Each solved the problem of authority in a different way. Grotius posited that human beings had natural rights. Thomas Hobbes famously said that in a state of nature, human life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, though the sovereigns edicts may well be arbitrary and tyrannical, Hobbes saw absolute government as the only alternative to the terrifying anarchy of a state of nature. Hobbes asserted that humans consent to abdicate their rights in favor of the authority of government. Pufendorf disputed Hobbess equation of a state of nature with war, the central assertion of social contract approaches is that law and political order are not natural, but are instead human creations. According to Hobbes citizens are not obligated to submit to the government when it is too weak to act effectively to suppress factionalism, the Lockean concept of the social contract was invoked in the United States Declaration of Independence. The concept of the contract is posed by Glaucon, as described by Plato in The Republic. They say that to do injustice is, by nature, good, to suffer injustice, evil, for no man who is worthy to be called a man would ever submit to such an agreement if he were able to resist, he would be mad if he did. Such is the account, Socrates, of the nature. The social contract theory also appears in Crito, another dialogue from Plato, Social contract formulations are preserved in many of the worlds oldest records. The Buddhist text of the second century BCE, Mahāvastu, recounts the legend of Mahasammata, then gradually the process of cosmic decay began its work, and mankind became earthbound, and felt the need of food and shelter. As men lost their glory, distinctions of class arose, and they entered into agreements with one another, accepting the institution of private property. He was called the Great Chosen One, and he received the title of raja because he pleased the people, in his rock edicts, the Buddhist king Asoka was said to have argued for a broad and far-reaching social contract. Natural justice is a pledge of reciprocal benefit, to prevent one man from harming or being harmed by another. There never was such a thing as justice, but only agreements made in mutual dealings among men in whatever places at various times providing against the infliction or suffering of harm
13.
Seventeen Provinces
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The Seventeen Provinces was a term applied to the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 15th and 16th century. Also within this area were semi-independent fiefdoms, mainly ecclesiastical ones, such as Liège, Cambrai and Stavelot-Malmedy. The Seventeen Provinces arose from the Burgundian Netherlands, a number of fiefs held by the House of Valois-Burgundy and inherited by the Habsburg dynasty in 1482, since 1512 the Provinces formed the major part of the Burgundian Circle. In 1581 the Seven United Provinces seceded to form the Dutch Republic, sometimes one delegation was included in another. In later years the County of Zutphen became a part of the Duchy of Guelders, the Lordship of Drenthe is sometimes considered as part of the Lordship of Overijssel. On the other hand, the French-speaking cities of Flanders were sometimes recognised as a separate province, the largest of these was the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the green area on the map, including the County of Horne. The ethnically and culturally Netherlandish duchies of Cleves and Julich did not join either, in the north, there were also a few smaller entities like the island of Ameland that would retain their own lords until the French Revolution. Historians came up with different variations of the list, but always with 17 members and this number could have been chosen because of its Christian connotation. The Seventeen Provinces originated from the Burgundian Netherlands, the dukes of Burgundy systematically became the lord of different provinces. Mary I of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy was the last of the House of Burgundy, most of these provinces were fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire. Two provinces, the County of Flanders and County of Artois, were originally French fiefs, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 determined that the Provinces should remain united in the future and inherited by the same monarch. Therefore, Charles V introduced the title of Heer der Nederlanden, only he and his son could ever use this title. After Charles Vs abdication in 1555, his realms were divided between his son, Philip II of Habsburg, King of Spain, and his brother, Ferdinand I, the Seventeen Provinces went to his son, the king of Spain. Conflicts between Philip II and his Dutch subjects led to the Eighty Years War, which started in 1568, the seven northern provinces gained their independence as a republic called the Seven United Provinces. Hence, these became known as the Spanish Netherlands or Southern Netherlands. The northern Seven United Provinces kept parts of Limburg, Brabant, and Flanders during the Eighty Years War, Artois and parts of Flanders and Hainaut were ceded to France in the course of the 17th and 18th century. Bruges had already lost its prominent position as economic powerhouse of northern Europe, and Holland was gradually gaining importance in the 15th and 16th centuries. The center of prosperity moved from cities in the such as Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels to cities in the north, mostly Holland, including Amsterdam, The Hague
14.
Habsburg Netherlands
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Habsburg Netherlands is the collective name of Holy Roman Empire fiefs in the Low Countries held by the House of Habsburg and later by the Spanish Empire, also known as the Spanish Netherlands. Then known as Seventeen Provinces, they were held by the Spanish Empire from 1556, in 1581, the Seven United Provinces seceded to form the Dutch Republic, the remaining Spanish Southern Netherlands eventually passed on to Habsburg Austria. Finally the Austrian Netherlands were annexed by the French First Republic in 1795, the Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole of the Low Countries from 1482 to 1581. The centre of the Burgundian possessions was the Duchy of Brabant, deeply disappointed, he entered into the disastrous Burgundian Wars and was killed in the Battle of Nancy. Upon the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, her possessions including the Burgundian Netherlands passed to her son. Through his father Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493, Philip was a Habsburg scion, the period 1481–1492 saw the Flemish cities revolt and Utrecht embroiled in civil war, but by the turn of the century both areas had been pacified by the Spanish rulers. Philips son Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, born in Ghent, succeeded his father in 1506 and his grandfather Emperor Maximilian I incorporated the Burgundian heritage into the Burgundian Circle, whereafter the territories in the far west of the Empire developed a certain grade of autonomy. Attaining full age in 1515, Charles went on to rule his Burgundian heritage as a native Netherlander and he acquired the lands of Overijssel and the Bishopric of Utrecht, purchased Friesland from Duke George of Saxony and regained Groningen and Gelderland. His Seventeen Provinces were re-organised in the 1548 Burgundian Treaty, whereby the Imperial estates represented in the Imperial Diet at Augsburg acknowledged a certain autonomy of the Netherlands. It was followed by a sanction by the Emperor the next year. By a 1522 inheritance treaty with his younger brother Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, Emperor Charles V had established the Austrian, upon his abdication in 1556, the Seventeen Provinces fell to the Spanish Crown. Charless son and successor King Philip II of Spain by his despotism and Catholic persecutions sparked the Dutch Revolt, the Spanish hold on the northern provinces was more and more tenuous. In 1579 the northern provinces established the Protestant Union of Utrecht, after the secession of 1581, the southern provinces, called t Hof van Brabant remained with the House of Habsburg until the French Revolutionary Wars. After the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs and the War of the Spanish Succession, the southern provinces were also known as the Austrian Netherlands from 1715 onwards
15.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
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Charles V was ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506. He voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556, through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four square kilometers and were the first to be described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Charles was the heir of three of Europes leading dynasties, the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and Trastámara and he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and he was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, the personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish Empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charless reign, enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios. The struggle with the Ottoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the Mediterranean, after seizing most of eastern and central Hungary in 1526, the Ottomans’ advance was halted at their failed Siege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother Ferdinand, in the Mediterranean, although there were some successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans’ increasing naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary Corsairs. Charles opposed the Reformation and in Germany he was in conflict with the Protestant Princes of the Schmalkaldic League who were motivated by religious and political opposition to him. Once the rebellions were quelled the essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal to Charles throughout his rule, Charles’s Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec, Castillian control was extended across much of South and Central America. The resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain. Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 34 years of rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’s son Philip II. The two empires would remain allies until the 18th century, Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the Habsburg Netherlands. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life and he was tutored by William de Croÿ, and also by Adrian of Utrecht. He also gained a decent command of German, though he never spoke it as well as French, a witticism sometimes attributed to Charles is, I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse
16.
Guelders
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Guelders or Gueldres is a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. The duchy was named after the town of Geldern in present-day Germany, the county emerged about 1096, when Gerard III of Wassenberg was first documented as Count of Guelders. It was then located on the territory of Lower Lorraine, in the area of Geldern and Roermond, Count Gerards son Gerard II in 1127 acquired the County of Zutphen in northern Hamaland by marriage. Guelders was often at war with its neighbours, not only with Brabant, but also with the County of Holland, however, its territory grew not only because of its success in warfare, but also because it thrived in times of peace. For example, the part of the Veluwe and the city of Nijmegen were given as collateral to Guelders by their cash-strapped rulers. In 1339 Count Reginald II of Guelders, of the House of Wassenberg, was elevated to the rank of Duke by Emperor Louis IV of Wittelsbach, William was confirmed in the inheritance of Guelders in 1379, and from 1393 onwards held both duchies in personal union. The first Egmond Duke, Arnold, suffered the rebellion of his son Adolf and was imprisoned by the latter in 1465, Charles had Duke Adolf captured and imprisoned in 1471 and reinstated Arnold on the throne of the Duchy of Guelders. Charles then bought the reversion from Duke Arnold, who, against the will of the towns, the bargain was completed in 1472–73, and upon Arnolds death in 1473, Duke Charles added Guelders to the Low Countries portion of his Valois Duchy of Burgundy. Subsequently, Guelders was ruled by Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, husband of Charles the Bolds daughter and heir, in 1492, the citizens of Guelders, who had become disenchanted with the rule of Maximilian, ransomed Charles and recognized him as their Duke. Charles, now backed by France, fought Maximilians grandson Charles of Habsburg in the Guelders Wars and expanded his realm further north and he was not simply a man of war, but also a skilled diplomat, and was therefore able to keep his independence. He bequeathed the duchy to Duke William the Rich of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, following in the footsteps of Charles of Egmond, Duke William formed an alliance with France, an alliance dubiously cemented via his political marriage to French King Francis Is niece Jeanne dAlbret. Charles united Guelders with the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands, Charles V abdicated in 1556 and decreed that the territories of the Burgundian Circle should be held by the Spanish Crown. In 1795 Guelders was finally conquered and incorporated by the French First Republic, the coat of arms of the region changed over time. Guelder is also possibly the basis for the kingdom of Guilder in The Princess Bride. Dukes of Guelders Prussian Guelders Spanish Guelders Diana Robin, Anne R. Larsen, encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance, Italy, France, and England. CS1 maint, Uses editors parameter Strage, Mark, Women of Power, the Life and Times of Catherine dé Medici. Pp. xiv,368 p. ill,16 leaves of plates, Francis the First, First Gentleman of France. Map of Upper Guelders in 1789 – Northern Part Map of Upper Guelders in 1789 – Southern Part
17.
Duchy of Brabant
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The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. Today all the former territories, apart from exclaves are in Belgium except for the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Duchy of Brabant was historically divided into four parts, each with its own capital, the four capitals were Leuven, Brussels, Antwerp and s-Hertogenbosch. Before s-Hertogenbosch was founded, Tienen was the fourth capital and its most important cities were Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven, Breda, s-Hertogenbosch, Lier and Mechelen. The modern flag of Belgium takes its colors from Brabants coat of arms, probably first used by Count Lambert I of Louvain, the lion is documented in a 1306 towns seal of Kerpen, together with the red lion of Limburg. Up to the present, the Brabant lion features as the charge on the coats of arms of both Flemish and Walloon Brabant, and of the Dutch province of North Brabant. The regions name is first recorded as the Carolingian shire pagus Bracbatensis, upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun it was part of Lotharingia within short-lived Middle Francia, and was ceded to East Francia according to the 880 Treaty of Ribemont. In earlier Roman times, the Nervii, a Belgic tribe and they were incorporated into the Roman province of Belgica, and considered to have both Celtic and Germanic cultural links. At the end of the Roman period the region was conquered by the Germanic Franks, in 959 the East Frankish king Otto I of Germany elevated Count Godfrey of Jülich to the rank of duke of Lower Lorraine. In 962 the duchy became a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Here, the counts of Leuven rose to power, when about 1000 Count Lambert I the Bearded married Gerberga, the daughter of Duke Charles of Lower Lorraine, and acquired the County of Brussels. About 1024 southernmost Brabant fell to Count Reginar V of Mons, in 1190, after the death of Godfrey III, Henry I also became Duke of Lower Lotharingia. By that time the title had lost most of its territorial authority, according to protocol, all his successors were thereafter called Dukes of Brabant and Lower Lotharingia. After the Battle of Worringen in 1288, the dukes of Brabant also acquired the Duchy of Limburg, in 1354 Duke John III of Brabant granted a Joyous Entry to the citizens of Brabant. In 1430 the Duchies of Lower Lotharingia, Brabant and Limburg were inherited by Philip the Good of Burgundy, in 1477 the Duchy of Brabant became part of the House of Habsburg as part of the dowry of Mary of Burgundy. At that time the Duchy extended from Luttre, south of Nivelles to s Hertogenbosch, the subsequent history of Brabant is part of the history of the Habsburg Seventeen Provinces. The Eighty Years War brought the parts under military control of the northern insurgents. The southern part remained in Spanish Habsburg hands as a part of the Southern Netherlands and it was transferred to the Austrian branch of the Habsburg monarchy in 1714
18.
County of Holland
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The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of North and South Holland in the Netherlands. The oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county as Frisia, before 1101, sources talk about Frisian counts, but in this year Floris II, Count of Holland is mentioned as Florentius comes de Hollant. This title was used after Holland was united with Hainault, Bavaria-Straubing. The titles eventually lost their importance, and the last count, Philip II of Spain, around 800, under Charlemagne, the Frankish Empire covered a great deal of Europe. In much of this empire an important unit of administration, corresponding roughly to a shire or county in England, was the gau. A comes or Count ruled over one or more gaue, because of the low trade, the negative trade balance with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim states, and the disappearance of currency, the economy was more or less reduced to bartering. The kings vassals could only be rewarded by giving them land, from this the system of Feudalism developed. The vassals, who were appointed by the king, strove for a system of inheritance. This become more and more the rule, and in 877 it was legalised in the Capitulary of Quierzy, upon the death of a king, the Frankish kingdom was frequently divided among his heirs. This partible inheritance often caused internal struggle which made centralized government problematic, the Viking Raids further undermined centralized government. At the end of the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious, the power had weakened because of the flood of 838. Upon Lothairs death in 855, the part of Middle Francia was awarded to his second son Lothair II. The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 added the Kingdom of Lotharingia — of which the Low Countries were part — to East Francia, which attempted to integrate it. However, there were no connections there were between the four German Stem Duchies of east Francia, the Franconia, the Saxony, the Bavaria. Lotharingia took a position with a large amount of self-determination. This became clear when Louis the Child, the last Carolingian of East Francia, while the Stem Duchies flocked to Duke Conrad I of Franconia, Lotharingia chose for the Carolingian Charles the Simple, king of West Francia. In Frisia the situation was complex, the power was in the hands of Roriks successor Godfrid the Sea King, who became embroiled in the high politics of the Frankish empire. He was allied with the children of the former Carolingian Lotharingian king Lothair II, the main actor in this murder was Everard Saxo, the count of Hamaland
19.
Mary of Burgundy
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Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, reigned over many of the territories of the Duchy of Burgundy, now mainly in France and the Low Countries, from 1477 until her death. As the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, due to the great prosperity of many of the territories that comprised the duchy, Mary was often referred to as Mary the Rich. Mary of Burgundy was born in Brussels at the castle of Coudenberg, to Charles the Bold, then known as the Count of Charolais. Her birth, according to the court chronicler Georges Chastellain, was attended by a clap of thunder ringing from the otherwise clear twilight sky. Her godfather was Louis, Dauphin of France, in exile in Burgundy at that time and she was assigned Anne of Burgundy as her governess. Philip the Good died in 1467 and Marys father assumed control of the duchy of Burgundy, since her father had no living sons at the time of his accession, Mary became his heiress presumptive. Her father controlled a vast and wealthy domain made up of the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy, as a result, her hand in marriage was eagerly sought by a number of princes. The first proposal was received by her father when she was five years old. Mary assumed the rule of her fathers domains upon his defeat in battle, King Louis XI of France seized the opportunity to attempt to take possession of the Duchy of Burgundy proper and also the regions of Franche-Comté, Picardy and Artois. The king was anxious that Mary should marry his son Charles and thus secure the inheritance of the Low Countries for his heirs, by force of arms if necessary. Mary was compelled to sign a charter of rights known as the Great Privilege in Ghent on 10 February 1477 on the occasion of her recognition as her fathers heir. The duchess also had to not to declare war, make peace, or raise taxes without the consent of these provinces and towns. Mary soon made her choice among the suitors for her hand by selecting Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The marriage took place at Ghent on the evening of 16 August 1477, in the Netherlands, affairs now went more smoothly, the French aggression was temporarily checked, and internal peace was in large measure restored. On 27 March 1482, the duchess died after a fall from her horse near Wijnendale Castle and she loved riding and was falconing with Maximilian when her horse tripped, threw her, and then landed on top of her, breaking her back. She died several days later, having made a detailed will and she is buried in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. Marys marriage into the House of Habsburg would prove to be a disaster for France, since the Burgundian inheritance would later bring it into conflict with Spain, Marys son Philip succeeded to her dominions under the guardianship of his father. Her children were as follows, Philip the Handsome, who succeeded his mother as Philip IV of Burgundy and became Philip I of Castile through his marriage to Joanna of Castile
20.
Viceroy
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A viceroy /ˈvaɪs. rɔɪ/ is a regal official who runs a country, colony, city, province, or sub-national state, in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning in the place of, a viceroys territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjectival form is viceregal, less often viceroyal, the term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more used to indicate a viceroys wife. The title was used by the Crown of Aragon, where beginning in the 14th century, it referred to the Spanish governors of Sardinia. In Europe, until the 18th century, the Habsburg crown appointed viceroys of Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, Navarre, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, with the ascension of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, the historic Aragonese viceroyalties were replaced by new captaincies general. At the end of War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish monarchy was shorn of its Italian possessions and these Italian territories, however, continued to have viceroys under their new rulers for some time, Sardinia would have a viceroy until 1848. These large administrative territories became known as Viceroyalties, New viceroyalties were created for New Granada in 1717 and the Río de la Plata in 1776. These units gathered the local provinces which could be governed by either a crown official, audiencias primarily functioned as superior judicial tribunals, but unlike their European counterparts, the New World audiencias were granted by law both administrative and legislative powers. The Bourbon Reforms introduced the new office of the intendant, which was appointed directly by the crown and had broad fiscal and administrative powers in political and military issues. The government started six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, in 1505, however the post was centered by governor Afonso de Albuquerque, who became plenipotentiary, and remained so. The duration in office was three years, possibly longer, given the power represented, of the thirty-four governors of India in the 16th century. After the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, the governors of Brazil that were members of the Portuguese high nobility started to use the title of Viceroy. Brazil became a permanent Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, the designation Viceroy, although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. The Governor-General continued to be the representative of the Crown. The viceroys reported directly to the Secretary of State for India in London and were advised by the Council of India, alongside the Commander-in-Chief, India, the viceroy was the public face of the British presence in India, attending to many ceremonial functions as well as political affairs. During the offices history, the Governors-General of India were based in two cities, Calcutta during the 19th century and New Delhi during the 20th century, additionally, whilst Calcutta was the capital of British India, the viceroys spent the summer months at Simla. The two historic residences of the viceroys still stand, the Viceroys House in New Delhi and Government House in Calcutta and they are used today as the official residences of the President of India and the Governor of West Bengal, respectively
21.
John of Austria
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He became a military leader in the service of his half-brother, King Philip II of Spain and is best known for his role as the admiral of the Holy Alliance fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. The date of his birth is unknown, with sources indicating that he was born in the year 1545 and others, like G. Parker or P. Pierson. Pierson makes mention that some contemporaries affirmed that he was born in 1545, but that the oldest evidence found in France with regards to public ceremonies, supports the date of 1547. It is likely that John of Austria was conceived in May 1546, when Emperor Charles V was then in Regensburg and it is possible that John had deliberately chosen the 24th of February as his birthday, which was the month and day of his father Charles Vs birth. Shortly after giving birth, Barbara Blomberg was quickly married to Hieronymus Kegel, John of Austrias original name as a child, Geronimo or Jeromín, was an allusion to his stepfather. Charles V then decided that his son should be raised in Spain away from his mother and his Majordomo, Luis de Quijada, had reached an agreement with Francisco Massy, a violist of the imperial court, and married to a Spanish woman, Ana de Medina. In exchange for an income of 50 ducats, the couple had agreed to raise the child. In mid-1551 they together had arrived in Leganés, where Ana de Medina had property, in the summer of 1554, the boy was taken to the castle of Luis de Quijada in Villagarcía de Campos, Valladolid. His wife, Magdalena de Ulloa, took charge of his education, assisted by the Latin teacher Guillén Prieto, the chaplain García de Morales and the squire Juan Galarza. Charles V wrote a codicil, dated 6 June 1554, in which he recognized, For since I was in Germany, after being widowed, I had a child of one unmarried woman. In the summer of 1558, Charles V had ordered Luis de Quijada, his wife Magdalena de Ulloa, the Emperor was already residing nearby at the Monastery of Yuste. From that time forward, and until his own death in September of that year, Charles Vs only surviving legitimate son and heir, now King Philip II after his fathers abdication, was then outside of Spain. Rumors had spread about the paternity of the child, which de Quijada had denied, Charles V replied with a note written by his personal secretary Eraso, in whose erasures and amendments were expressed, the Emperors thoughts about how best to deal with such a delicate matter. It was recommended to wait for Philip IIs return to Spain, Philip II returned from Brussels in 1559, aware of his fathers will. Once he had settled in Valladolid, he had summoned de Quijada to bring along Jeromín to a hunt, the first meeting between the two of them took place on 28 September in the Monastery of Santa María de La Santa Espina. When the King appeared, Luis de Quijada told Jeromín to dismount, when Jeromín did so, Philip II asked him if he knew the identity of his father. When the boy did not know, the King embraced him and explained that they had the same father, in formal style he was your excellency, the address used for a Spanish grandee, and known as Don Juan de Austria. John did not live in a palace, but rather maintained a separate household with Luis de Quijada as the head
22.
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
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Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592. He is best known for his successful campaign 1578-1592 against the Dutch Revolt, in which he captured the cities in the south. His talents as a commander, strategist and organizer earned him the regard of his contemporaries. Alessandro was the son of Duke Ottavio Farnese of Parma and Margaret and he had a twin brother, Charles, who only lived one month. His mother was the half-sister of Philip II of Spain and John of Austria and he led a significant military and diplomatic career in the service of Spain under the service of his uncle the King. He fought in the Battle of Lepanto and then in the Netherlands against the rebels and he accompanied his mother to Brussels when she was appointed Governor of the Netherlands. In 1565 his marriage with Maria of Portugal was celebrated in Brussels with great splendour and it was seven years before he again had the opportunity to display his great military talents. During that time the provinces of the Netherlands had revolted against Spanish rule. In the autumn of 1577, Farnese was sent to join Don John at the head of reinforcements, shortly afterwards Don John, whose health had broken down, died. Phillip appointed Farnese to take his place, both as Captain-General of the Army of Flanders, and as Governor-General, Farnese was confronted with a difficult situation. Perceiving that his opponents were divided between Catholic and Protestant, Fleming and Walloon, he worked to exploit these divisions. By this means, he regained the allegiance of the Walloon provinces for the king, by the treaty of Arras, January 1579, he secured the support of the Malcontents for the royal cause. The rebels in the seven northern provinces then formed the Union of Utrecht, formally abjuring Phillips rule, as soon as he had secured a base of operations in Hainaut and Artois, Farnese set himself in earnest to the task of reconquering Brabant and Flanders by force of arms. Town after town fell under his control, tournai, Maastricht, Breda, Bruges, and Ghent opened their gates. In a war composed mostly of sieges rather than battles, he proved his mettle and he finally laid siege to the great seaport of Antwerp. The town was open to the sea, strongly fortified, and defended with resolute determination and they were led by the famous Marnix van St. Aldegonde and assisted by an ingenious Italian engineer named Federigo Giambelli. The siege began in 1584 and called all of Farneses military genius. He cut off all access to Antwerp from the sea by constructing a bridge of boats across the Scheldt from Calloo to Oordam, the terms offered included the clause that all Protestants had to leave the city within four years
23.
Stadtholder
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In the Low Countries, stadtholder, literally steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. For the last half century of its existence, it became a hereditary role. His son, Prince William V, was the last stadtholder of the republic, whose own son, King William I, became the first king of the Netherlands. The Dutch Monarchy is thus descended from the first stadtholder of the young Republic, William of Orange, the title stadtholder is roughly comparable to Englands historic title Lord Lieutenant. Its component parts literally translate as place holder, or as a cognate, stead holder. Note, however, that is not the word for the rank of lieutenant. Stadtholders in the Middle Ages were appointed by feudal lords to represent them in their absence, if a lord had several dominions, some of these could be ruled by a permanent stadtholder, to whom was delegated the full authority of the lord. A stadtholder was thus more powerful than a governor, who had limited authority. The local rulers of the independent provinces of the Low Countries made extensive use of stadtholders, in the 15th century the Dukes of Burgundy acquired most of the Low Countries, and these Burgundian Netherlands mostly each had their own stadtholder. Only the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and two smaller territories remained outside his domains, stadtholders continued to be appointed to represent Charles and King Philip II, his son and successor in Spain and the Low Countries. Due to the centralist and absolutist policies of Philip, the power of the stadtholders strongly diminished. The stadtholder no longer represented the lord but became the highest executive official, although each province could assign its own stadtholder, most stadtholders held appointments from several provinces at the same time. As these councils themselves appointed most members of the states, the stadtholder could very indirectly influence the general policy, in the army, he could appoint officers by himself, in the navy only affirm appointments of the five admiralty councils. Legal powers of the stadtholder were thus limited, and by law he was a mere official. His real powers, however, were greater, especially given the martial law atmosphere of the permanent Eighty Years War. Maurice of Orange after 1618 ruled as a dictator. The leader of the Dutch Revolt was William the Silent, he had been appointed stadtholder in 1572 by the first province to rebel and his personal influence and reputation was subsequently associated with the office and transferred to members of his house. Maurice in 1618 and William III of Orange from 1672 replaced entire city councils with their partisans to increase their power, by intimidation, the stadtholders tried to extend their right of affirmation
24.
Pacification of Ghent
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Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot, however, remained in his favor as leader of the royalist faction. At first, Alba had little difficulty in repelling the rebel military incursions, however, maintaining a large military presence put a severe strain on the royal finances, especially as Spain at the same time fought expensive wars against the Ottoman Sultan and in Italy. Albas attempts to finance these expenses by new taxes also estranged previously loyal subjects from the cause of the royalists, then, in 1572, an incursion of privateers with letters of marque from Orange into Holland and Zeeland met with unexpected success. Orange was able to take over the government in two provinces, under the guise of his old post of royal Stadtholder, and bring them in open revolt against the government in Brussels. This brought about a state of war between Holland and Zeeland and the fifteen loyalist provinces. This civil war was fought with mercenary troops on both sides, with Spanish Tercios playing a preponderant role on the royalist side. Because of the state of the royalist finances, these Spanish mercenaries went often unpaid. They frequently mutinied, especially after victories, and during such actions they often pillaged nearby towns and this eventually brought disaffection with the Brussels government to a boil in the summer of 1576. Meanwhile, Alba had been replaced by Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens as governor-general in 1573, Requesens was also unable to prevail over the rebels. He was in bad health and died in March,1576 and this caused a power vacuum in the Brussels government, as the difficult communications of the day prevented a speedy replacement from Madrid. Philip appointed his younger brother John of Austria governor-general, but it took Don Juan several months to take up this appointment, meanwhile, in Brussels the Duke of Aerschot stepped into the breach. He had already held inconclusive peace talks with his colleague in the Raad van State. Holland and Zeeland, as provinces, were not invited. Aerschot was now appointed by the States-General, acting in usurpation of the royal prerogatives and this action was the equivalent of the comparable events in Holland and Zeeland, in which royal authority had been usurped by rebels pretending to act in the name of the king. The States General referred to ancient precedent to justify their actions and they had acted similarly after the deaths of Charles the Bold in 1477 and Philip the Handsome in 1506. Now they authorised the provincial States to raise troops to defend against marauding foreign mercenaries, more importantly from a perspective of constitutional history, the States General also embarked on a program of institutional innovation. To facilitate its governance in permanent session they appointed a rotating presidency, the president, from one of the provincial delegations, assisted by one or two of the pensionaries, would preside over the meetings for a week at a time. This system was followed during the existence of the later Dutch Republic, the pensionaries started acting as an executive committee of the States General
25.
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
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Matthias was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611. He was a member of the House of Habsburg, Matthias was born in the Austrian capital of Vienna to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Matthias married Archduchess Anna of Austria, daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and their marriage did not produce surviving children. In 1578, Matthias was invited to the Netherlands by the States-General of the rebellious provinces, Matthias accepted the appointment, although the position was not recognized by his uncle, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the provinces. He set down the rules for religious peace within most of the United Provinces and his work is noted in Article 13 of the 1579 Union of Utrecht, which established freedom of religion as a locally determined issue. Matthias continued as governor for the rebels until they deposed Philip II and declared full independence in 1581. In 1593 he was appointed governor of Austria by his brother and he formed a close association there with the Bishop of Vienna, Melchior Klesl, who later became his chief adviser. In 1605 Matthias forced the emperor to allow him to deal with the Hungarian Protestant rebels. The result was the Peace of Vienna of 1606, which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary, in the same year Matthias was recognized as head of the House of Habsburg and as the future Holy Roman Emperor, as a result of Rudolfs illness. Allying himself with the estates of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia, Matthias forced his brother to rule of these lands to him in 1608. Matthiass army then held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague, until 1611, Matthias had already been forced to grant religious concessions to Protestants in Austria and Moravia, as well as in Hungary, when he had allied with them against Rudolf. Matthias imprisoned Georg Keglević who was the Commander-in-chief, General, Vice-Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia and since 1602 Baron in Transylvania, the start of the Bohemian Protestant revolt in 1618 provoked Maximilian to imprison Klesl and revise his policies. Matthias, old and ailing, was unable to prevent a takeover by Maximilians faction, Ferdinand, who had already been crowned King of Bohemia and of Hungary, succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor. Matthias died in Vienna in 1619, names in other languages, German, Matthias Czech, Matyáš Croatian, Matija II. He was related to other king of Germany. Matthias Gate Media related to Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor at Wikimedia Commons
26.
Union of Arras
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It is to be distinguished from the Union of Utrecht, signed later in the same month. All privileges that were in force before the Dutch Revolt should be reinstated, any other religion should be abolished. Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, used these counties as a base to start his conquest of the separatist parts, text of Treaty in English translation List of treaties
27.
William the Silent
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He was born in the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the branch House of Orange-Nassau, a wealthy nobleman, William originally served the Habsburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish, declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft in 1584. William was born on 24 April 1533 at Dillenburg castle then in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg and he was the eldest son of William, Count of Nassau by his second wife Juliana of Stolberg-Werningerode. Williams father had one surviving daughter by his previous marriage, and his parents had twelve children together, of whom William was the eldest, he had four younger brothers and seven younger sisters. The family was devout and William was raised a Lutheran. In 1544, Williams agnatic first cousin, René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, in his testament, René of Chalon named William the heir to all his estates and titles, including that of Prince of Orange, on the condition that he receive a Roman Catholic education. Williams father acquiesced to this condition on behalf of his 11-year-old son, besides the principality of Orange and significant lands in Germany, William also inherited vast estates in the Low Countries from his cousin. Because of his age, Emperor Charles V, who was the overlord of most of these estates. In Brussels, he was taught foreign languages and received a military and diplomatic education under the direction of Champagney, on 6 July 1551, William married Anna van Egmond en Buren, daughter and heiress of Maximiliaan van Egmond, an important Dutch nobleman. Annas father had died in 1548, and therefore William became Lord of Egmond, the marriage was a happy one and produced three children, one of whom died in infancy. Anna died on 24 March 1558, leaving William much grieved, being a ward of Charles V and having received his education under the tutelage of the Emperors sister, William came under the particular attention of the imperial family, and became a favorite. He was appointed captain in the cavalry in 1551 and received rapid promotion thereafter and this was in 1555, when Charles V sent him to Bayonne with an army to take the city in a siege from the French. William was also made a member of the Raad van State, in 1559, Phillip appointed William stadtholder of the provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, thereby greatly increasing his political power. A stadtholdership over Franche-Comté followed in 1561, William was also dissatisfied with the increasing persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands. Brought up as a Lutheran and later a Catholic, William was very religious but was still a proponent of freedom of religion for all people, lastly, the opposition wished to see an end to the presence of Spanish troops. On 25 August 1561, William of Orange married for the second time, in early 1565, a large group of lesser noblemen, including Williams younger brother Louis, formed the Confederacy of Noblemen. On 5 April, they offered a petition to Margaret of Parma, from August to October 1566, a wave of iconoclasm spread through the Low Countries
28.
Francis, Duke of Anjou
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Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. An attractive child, he was scarred by smallpox at age eight and he changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he was confirmed. In 1574, following the death of his brother Charles IX of France, in 1576, he was made Duke of Anjou, Touraine, and Berry. In 1576, he negotiated the Edict of Beaulieu during the French Wars of Religion, in 1579, he was invited by William the Silent to become hereditary sovereign to the United Provinces. On 29 September 1580, the Dutch States General signed the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with the Duke, during the night of 15 September 1575, Alençon ran from the French court after being alienated by his brother King Henry III. Both Henry III and Catherine de Medici feared he would join the Protestant rebels and these fears proved well founded, Francis joined the prince of Condé and his forces in the south. By ‘secret treaties’ that formed part of this settlement, many on the Protestant side were rewarded with land. Francis was awarded the Duchy of Anjou and thus became the Duke of Anjou, at the same time, in 1579, arrangements began to be made for marrying him to Elizabeth I of England. Alençon, now Duke of Anjou, was in fact the one of Elizabeths foreign suitors to court her in person. He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46, despite the age gap, the two soon became very close, Elizabeth dubbing him her frog. Queen Elizabeth often used unflattering slang names for her favourites such as pygmy for Robert Cecil who was short of stature, thus, her use of the slang name frog was consistent with her habits. Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned marrying Anjou is a debated topic. It is obvious that she was fond of him, knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor. There are many anecdotes about their flirting, the match was controversial in the English public, English Protestants warned the Queen that the hearts will be galled when they shall see you take to husband a Frenchman, and a Papist. The very common people well know this, that he is the son of the Jezebel of our age, referring to the Dukes mother, Catherine de Medici. Of her Privy Council, only William Cecil, Lord Burghley, most notable councillors, foremost among them Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Sir Francis Walsingham, were strongly opposed, even warning the Queen of the hazards of childbirth at her age. In these years Walsingham became friends with the diplomat of Henry of Navarre in England and he returned to England without an agreement. Personally, Walsingham opposed the marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition, Alençon was a Catholic, and as his elder brother, Henry III, was childless, he was heir to the French throne
29.
Henry III of France
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Henry III was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death. He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty, as the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, Henry was not expected to assume the throne of France. He was thus a candidate for the vacant Commonwealth throne. Henrys rule over Commonwealth was brief, but notable, the Henrician Articles he signed into law accepting the Commonwealth throne established Poland as an elective monarchy subject to free election by the Polish nobility. Of his three brothers, two would live long enough to ascend the French throne, but both died young and without a legitimate male heir. He abandoned Commonwealth upon receiving word that he had inherited the throne of France at the age of 22, Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. Henry IIIs legitimate heir was his distant cousin Henry, King of Navarre, the Catholic League, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, sought to exclude Protestants from the succession and championed the Catholic Charles, Cardinal of Bourbon, as Henry IIIs heir. Henry was born at the royal Château de Fontainebleau, the son of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici and grandson of Francis I of France. His older brothers were Francis II of France, Charles IX of France and he was made Duke of Angoulême and Duke of Orléans in 1560, then Duke of Anjou in 1566. He was his mothers favourite, she called him chers yeux and lavished fondness and his elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, partially because he resented his better health. In his youth, Henry was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de Medici, unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother, at one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself a little Huguenot, he refused to attend Mass, sang Protestant psalms to his sister Margaret and his mother firmly cautioned her children against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies. Instead, he became nominally Roman Catholic, reports that Henry engaged in same sex relations with his court favourites, known as the mignons, date back to his own time. Certainly he enjoyed relationships with them. The scholar Louis Crompton provides substantial contemporary evidence of Henry IIIs homosexuality, and it is difficult, he writes, to reconcile the king whose use of favourites is so logically strategic with the man who goes to pieces when one of them dies. In 1570, discussions commenced to arrange for Henry to court Queen Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth, almost 37, was expected by many parties in her country to marry and produce an heir
30.
Ghent
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Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province and it is a port and university city. With 240,191 inhabitants in the beginning of 2009, Ghent is Belgiums second largest municipality by number of inhabitants, the current mayor of Ghent, Daniël Termont, leads a coalition of the Socialistische Partij Anders, Groen and Open VLD. The ten-day-long Ghent Festival is held every year and attended by about 1–1.5 million visitors, archaeological evidence shows human presence in the region of the confluence of Scheldt and Leie going back as far as the Stone Age and the Iron Age. Most historians believe that the name for Ghent, Ganda, is derived from the Celtic word ganda which means confluence. Other sources connect its name with a deity named Gontia. There are no records of the Roman period, but archaeological research confirms that the region of Ghent was further inhabited. When the Franks invaded the Roman territories from the end of the 4th century and well into the 5th century, they brought their language with them and Celtic, around 650, Saint Amand founded two abbeys in Ghent, St. Peters and Saint Bavos Abbey. The city grew from several nuclei, the abbeys and a commercial centre, around 800, Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, appointed Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, as abbot of both abbeys. In 851 and 879, the city was attacked and plundered twice by the Vikings. Within the protection of the County of Flanders, the city recovered and flourished from the 11th century, by the 13th century, Ghent was the biggest city in Europe north of the Alps after Paris, it was bigger than Cologne or Moscow. Within the city walls lived up to 65,000 people, the belfry and the towers of the Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas Church are just a few examples of the skyline of the period. The rivers flowed in an area where land was periodically flooded. These rich grass meersen were ideally suited for herding sheep, the wool of which was used for making cloth, during the Middle Ages Ghent was the leading city for cloth. The wool industry, originally established at Bruges, created the first European industrialized zone in Ghent in the High Middle Ages, the mercantile zone was so highly developed that wool had to be imported from Scotland and England. This was one of the reasons for Flanders good relationship with Scotland and England, Ghent was the birthplace of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Trade with England suffered significantly during the Hundred Years War, the city recovered in the 15th century, when Flanders was united with neighbouring provinces under the Dukes of Burgundy. High taxes led to a rebellion and eventually the Battle of Gavere in 1453, around this time the centre of political and social importance in the Low Countries started to shift from Flanders to Brabant, although Ghent continued to play an important role
31.
Goes
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Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The town of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents, Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek, de Korte Gos. The village grew fast, and in the early 12th century it had a market square, in 1405 Goes received city rights from William, Duke of Bavaria, by his right as count of Holland, and in 1417 it was allowed to build town walls. The prosperity of the city was based upon the cloth industry, in the 16th century Goes declined. Its connection to the sea silted up and in 1554 a large fire destroyed part of the city, in Autumn 1572, during the course of the Eighty Years War, Goes, in the Spanish Netherlands, was besieged by Dutch forces with the support of English troops. The siege was relieved in October 1572 by Spanish Tercios, who waded across the Scheldt to attack the besieging forces, in 1577 the Spanish soldiers who occupied Goes were driven out by Prince Maurits of Nassau. The prince built a wall around Goes, which is still partly standing. From the 17th century Goes did not play an important role, in 1868 a railway was constructed through it, but this did not lead to industrialisation. Agriculture remains the most important economic activity, although The Netherlands were neutral in the First World War, seven bombs hit Goes and Kloetinge, due to an error by a British airplane. A house in Magdalenastreet in Goes was destroyed and one person killed, Goes did not suffer extensive damage during the Second World War, but was under German occupation until 1944. Goes did not experience much growth until the 1970s and 1980s. Then, the city grew fast because of new districts like Goese Meer, Oostmolenpark, Overzuid, Goes is now the fourth largest economic centre in Zeeland. New districts are in preparation, amongst them Goese Schans, Mannee and Aria, eindewege Goes s-Heer Arendskerke s-Heer Hendrikskinderen Kattendijke Kloetinge Oud-Sabbinge Wilhelminadorp Wolphaartsdijk Dutch Topographic map of Goes, Sept.2014. Goes also has some fastfood restaurants like, -Dominos pizza -Mc Donalds -Taba -And snackbar t hapje Roel Felius Frank Harthoorn Media related to Goes at Wikimedia Commons Official website
32.
Mechelen
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Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The Dyle flows through the city, hence it is referred to as the Dijlestad. Mechelen lies on the urban and industrial axis Brussels–Antwerp, about 25 km from each city. Mechelen is one of Flanders prominent cities of art, with Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent. The area of Mechelen was settled on the banks of the river during the Gallo-Roman period as evidenced by several Roman ruins, around 1200 started the building of the cathedral that is dedicated to the saint. Antwerp lost profitable stapelrechten for wool, oats and salt to Mechelen in 1303 when John II, Duke of Brabant and this started a rivalry between these cities that would last well into the 20th century. In the 15th century, the city came under the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, in 1473 Charles the Bold moved several political bodies to the city, and Mechelen served as the seat of the Superior Court until the French Revolution. In 1490, a postal service between Mechelen and Innsbruck was established. During the 16th century the political influence decreased dramatically, due to many governmental institutions being moved to Brussels. In 1961, Brussels was added to the title, resulting in the current Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, Mechelen also retained further relevance as the Great Council of Mechelen remained the supreme court of the territory until the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1572, during the Eighty Years War, the city was burned and sacked by the Spanish, after this pillaging, the city was rebuilt. It was during this time that the tradition of making, still seen today. The city entered the age in the 19th century. In 1835, the first railway on the European continent linked Brussels with Mechelen and this led to a development of metalworking industries, among others the central railway workshops which are still located in the town today. During the Second World War, the extensive Mechlinian railway structure had caused the Nazi occupation forces to choose Mechelen for their infamous transit camp, over 25,000 Jews and Roma were sent by rail to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp from Mechelen. The site of the camp now houses the Jewish Museum of Deportation. Several famous meetings on the Christian religion are connected to the name of the city, one in 1909 is thought to have inaugurated the Liturgical Movement
33.
United States Declaration of Independence
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Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, which was passed on July 2 with no opposing vote cast, a committee of five had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when Congress voted on independence. The term Declaration of Independence is not used in the document itself, John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The next day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, but Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, the date that the Declaration of Independence was approved. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms and it was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for printing has been lost. Jeffersons original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, the best known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, the sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. Having served its purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few in the following years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric, and his policies and this has been called one of the best-known sentences in the English language, containing the most potent and consequential words in American history. The passage came to represent a standard to which the United States should strive. Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose, and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America. By the time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763. Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire. Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the empire, the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, and colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. This tax dispute was part of a divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliaments authority in the colonies. In the colonies, however, the idea had developed that the British Constitution recognized certain fundamental rights that no government could violate, after the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all
34.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
35.
Philippe de Mornay
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Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis Marly, usually known as Du-Plessis-Mornay or Mornay Du Plessis, was a French Protestant writer and member of the anti-monarchist Monarchomaques. He was born in Buhy, now situated in Val-dOise and his mother had leanings toward Protestantism, but his father tried to counteract her influence by sending him to the Collège de Lisieux at Paris. On his fathers death in 1559, however, the formally adopted the reformed faith. Mornay studied law and jurisprudence at the University of Heidelberg in 1565 and the following year Hebrew and German at the University of Padua. During the French Wars of Religion in 1567, he joined the army of Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé and he escaped the St. Bartholomews Day Massacre by the aid of a Catholic friend, taking refuge in England. Returning to France towards the end of 1573, he participated during the two years with various success in the campaigns of the future Henry IV of France, then only King of Navarre. He was taken prisoner by the Duke of Guise on 10 October 1575 was but ransomed for a sum, which was paid by Charlotte Arbaleste. Mornay was gradually recognized as Henrys right-hand man, representing him in England from 1577 to 1578 and again in 1580, and in the Low Countries 1581-1582. He was present at the siege of Dieppe, fought at Ivry, both he and his wife befriended English Protestants like Francis Walsingham, Mary Sidney, and her brother Philip Sydney. His last years were saddened by the loss of his son in 1605 and that of his devoted wife in 1606. He was chosen a deputy in 1618 to represent the French Protestants at the Synod of Dort and he was prohibited from attending by Louis XIII but contributed materially to its deliberations by written communications. Jacques Davy Du Perron, bishop of Évreux, accused Mornay of misquoting at least 500, decision was awarded to Du Perron on nine points presented, when the disputation was interrupted by the illness of Mornay. The Duke of Sully reported that Mornay had defended himself so poorly that he made some laugh, made others angry, Mornay was also instrumental in the drafting of the Edict of Nantes which established political rights and some religious freedom for the Huguenots. He is also consider the most likely—candidate for being author of the Vindiciae contra tyrannos. E. Stahelin, Der Übertritt K. Heinrichs IV. von Frankreich zur katholischen Kirche, Weiss, Article Du Plessis-Mornay by T. Schott in Haucks Realencyklopädie Article by Grube in Kirchenlexikon. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Works by Philippe de Mornay at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Philippe de Mornay at Internet Archive
36.
Calvinism
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Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
37.
County of Flanders
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The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards the Counts of Flanders were one of the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions in Europe, up to 1477, the area under French suzerainty was located west of the Scheldt River and was called Royal Flanders. Aside from this the Counts of Flanders from the 11th century on also held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, an area called Imperial Flanders. Part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1384, the county was removed from French to Imperial control after the Peace of Madrid in 1526. In 1795 the remaining territory within the Austrian Netherlands was incorporated by the French First Republic, the former County of Flanders, except for French Flanders, is the only part of the medieval French kingdom that is not part of modern-day France. Flanders and Flemish are likely derived from the Frisian *flāndra and *flāmisk, the Flemish people are first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius, the Vita sancti Eligii. This work was written before 684, but only known since 725 and this work mentions the Flanderenses, who lived in Flandris. The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with present-day region of Flanders in Belgium, though there it extends beyond West Flanders. Some of the county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191, as a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of the Flemish Community. It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the flag with him from the Holy Land, where in 1177 he supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, in reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg. It is curious that the lion as a symbol was mostly used in border territories. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, in Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables of Aesop. The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory, during the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, for Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates
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County of Zeeland
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The County of Zeeland was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries. It covered an area in the Scheldt and Meuse delta roughly corresponding to the modern Dutch province of Zeeland, the area has always been the prey of its stronger neighbors, the County of Holland, the County of Hainaut and the County of Flanders. In 1167 a war broke out between the counties, after which Count Floris III of Holland had to acknowledge the overlordship of Count Philip of Flanders in Zeeland. Count Floris IV of Holland reconquered Zeeland, which from the accession of Count Floris V, by the 1323 Treaty of Paris between Flanders and Hainaut-Holland, the Count of Flanders reneged from claims on Zeeland and recognized the count of Holland as Count of Zeeland. Nevertheless, Zeeland remained an administrative unit, which in turn was under the administration of the counts of Holland. In 1432 it was annexed by the Burgundian duke Philip the Good, after the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, Zeeland according to the Treaty of Senlis was one of the Seventeen Provinces held by the House of Habsburg, which in 1512 joined the Burgundian Circle. After the Eighty Years War, Zeeland was one of the United Provinces of the Dutch Republic established in 1581, after establishment of the States-General of the Netherlands in 1583, Middelburg initially became the place of assembly. From 1585 on they were held in The Hague, as a independent state the county Zealand ceased to exist under the Batavian Republic in 1795, when it became a département. Together with Zeeuws-Vlaanderen it today forms the province of Zeeland
