Louis VII of France
Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young, was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180, the sixth from the House of Capet. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI, hence his nickname, married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe; the marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced. After the annulment of her marriage, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine and produced five male heirs; when Henry became King of England in 1154, as Henry II, he ruled as king, duke or count over a large empire of kingdoms and counties that spanned from Scotland to the Pyrenees. Henry's efforts to preserve and expand on this patrimony for the Crown of England would mark the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. Louis VII's reign saw the founding of the disastrous Second Crusade. Louis and his famous counselor, Abbot Suger, pushed for a greater centralization of the state and favoured the development of French Gothic architecture, notably the construction of Notre-Dame de Paris.
He died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II. Louis was born in the second son of Louis VI of France and Adelaide of Maurienne; the early education of Prince Louis anticipated an ecclesiastical career. As a result, he became well-learned and exceptionally devout, but his life course changed decisively after the accidental death of his older brother Philip in 1131, when he unexpectedly became the heir to the throne of France. In October 1131, his father had him crowned by Pope Innocent II in Reims Cathedral, he spent much of his youth in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger, an advisor to his father who served Louis well during his early years as king. Following the death of Duke William X of Aquitaine, Louis VI moved to have his son married to the newly ascended Duchess Eleanor, William X's successor, on 25 July 1137. In this way, Louis VI sought to add the large, sprawling territory of the duchy of Aquitaine to his family's holdings in France. On 1 August 1137, shortly after the marriage, Louis VI died, Louis VII became king.
The pairing of the monkish Louis and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure. There was a marked difference between the frosty, reserved culture of the northern court in the Íle de France, where Louis had been raised, the rich, free-wheeling court life of the Aquitaine with which Eleanor was familiar. Louis and Eleanor had two daughters and Alix. In the first part of his reign, Louis VII was zealous in his prerogatives, his accession was marked by no disturbances other than uprisings by the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers, who wished to organise communes. He soon came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II, when the archbishopric of Bourges became vacant; the king supported the chancellor Cadurc as a candidate to fill the vacancy against the pope's nominee Pierre de la Chatre, swearing upon relics that so long as he lived, Pierre should never enter Bourges. The pope thus imposed an interdict upon the king. Louis VII became involved in a war with Theobald II of Champagne by permitting Raoul I of Vermandois, the seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife, Theobald II's niece, to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, sister of the queen of France.
As a result, Champagne decided to side with the pope in the dispute over Bourges. The war ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry-le-François. At least 1500 people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Overcome with guilt and humiliated by ecclesiastical reproach, Louis admitted defeat, removed his armies from Champagne and returned them to Theobald, he shunned Raoul and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he declared his intention of mounting a crusade on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges. Bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay on Easter 1146. In the meantime, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy in 1144. In exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the county of Vexin — a region vital to Norman security — to Louis. Considered a clever move by Louis at the time, it would prove yet another step towards Angevin rule.
In June 1147, in fulfillment of his vow to mount the Second Crusade, Louis VII and his queen set out from the Basilica of St Denis, first stopping in Metz on the overland route to Syria. Soon they arrived in the Kingdom of Hungary, where they were welcomed by the king Géza II of Hungary, waiting with King Conrad III of Germany. Due to his good relationships with Louis VII, Géza II asked the French king to be his son Stephen's baptism godfather. Relations between the kingdoms of France and Hungary continued to remain cordial long after this time: decades Louis's daughter Margaret was taken as wife by Géza's son Béla III of Hungary. After receiving provisions from Géza, the armies continued the march to the East. Just beyond Laodicea, the French army was ambushed by Turks; the French were bombarded by arrows and heavy stones, the Turks swarmed down from the mountains. A massacre began; the historian Odo of Deuil reported: During the fighting the King Louis lost his small and famous royal guard, but he remained in good heart and nimbly and courageously scaled the si
Nobility
Nobility is a social class ranked under royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy. Nobility possesses more acknowledged privileges and higher social status than most other classes in society; the privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be honorary, vary by country and era. As referred to in the Medieval chivalric motto "noblesse oblige", nobles can carry a lifelong duty to uphold various social responsibilities, such as honorable behavior, customary service, or leadership positions. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is hereditary. Membership in the nobility has been granted by a monarch or government, unlike other social classes where membership is determined by wealth, lifestyle, or affiliation. Nonetheless, acquisition of sufficient power, military prowess, or royal favour has enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. There are a variety of ranks within the noble class.
Legal recognition of nobility has been more common in monarchies, but nobility existed in such regimes as the Dutch Republic, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, the Old Swiss Confederacy, remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g. Channel Islands, San Marino, the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles and styles added to names, as well as honorifics distinguish nobles from non-nobles in conversation and written speech. In many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some hereditary titles do not indicate nobility; some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil or life peers in the United Kingdom. The term derives from the abstract noun of the adjective nobilis. In ancient Roman society, nobiles originated as an informal designation for the political governing class who had allied interests, including both patricians and plebeian families with an ancestor who had risen to the consulship through his own merit.
In modern usage, "nobility" is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies, excepting the ruling dynasty. In the feudal system, the nobility were those who held a fief land or office, under vassalage, i.e. in exchange for allegiance and various military, services to a suzerain, who might be a higher-ranking nobleman or a monarch. It came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. While noble status conferred significant privileges in most jurisdictions, by the 21st century it had become a honorary dignity in most societies, although a few, residual privileges may still be preserved and some Asian and African cultures continue to attach considerable significance to formal hereditary rank or titles. Nobility is a historical and legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income, possessions or lifestyle.
Being wealthy or influential cannot ipso facto make one noble, nor are all nobles wealthy or influential. Various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens; this is distinct from countries which have not abolished the right to inherit titles, but which do not grant legal recognition or protection to them, such as Germany and Italy, although Germany recognizes their use as part of the legal surname. Still other countries and authorities allow their use, but forbid attachment of any privilege thereto, e.g. Finland and the European Union, while French law protects lawful titles against usurpation. Although many societies have a privileged upper class with substantial wealth and power, the status is not hereditary and does not entail a distinct legal status, nor differentiated forms of address. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se. Privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate.
Most nobles' wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, orchards, hunting grounds, etc. It included infrastructure such as castle and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although at a price. Nobles were expected to live "nobly", that is, from the proceeds of these possessions. Work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. On the other hand, membership in the nobility was a prerequisite for holding offices of trust in the realm and for career promotion in the military, at court and the higher functions in the government and church. Prior to the French Revolution, European nobles commanded tribute in the form of entitlement to cash rents or usage taxes, labour or a portion of the annual crop yield from commoners or no
Matilda of Savoy, Queen of Portugal
Matilda of Savoy was Queen of Portugal. After her marriage to King Afonso Henriques, the first sovereign of Portugal, whom she married in 1146, she was the second or third daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and Maurienne, Mahaut of Albon. One of her aunts, Adelaide of Maurienne,was queen consort as the wife of King Louis VI of France, one of her great-granduncles was Pope Callixtus II whose papacy lasted from 1119 until 1124, the year of his death, her father had participated in the Second Crusade and this could have been one of the reasons why she was chosen as the consort of Portugal's first monarch. Such an alliance would contribute to expelling the Moors from Portuguese territory and would show the new King's independence by selecting a wife outside the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of León, it is possible that he was not able to select one of the infantas from the neighboring Iberian kingdoms due to reasons of consanguinity. The wedding could have been suggested by Guido de Vico, the papal representative in the Iberian Peninsula, one of the witnesses of the Treaty of Zamora in 1143.
Matilda first appears with her husband on 23 May 1146 confirming a donation, made by her mother-in-law, Teresa of León, to the Order of Cluny. She was devoted to the Cistercian Order and founded the Monasterio of Costa in Guimarães and a hospital/hostel for pilgrims, the poor and the sick in Canaveses, she stipulated in her will that this hospital was to be kept always clean, that it should be furnished with good and clean beds and that, if any of those lodged at the institution should die there, three masses were to be celebrated for the salvation of their souls. Walter Map, in his work, De nugis curialium, tells a story that "the King of Portugal now living" certainly Afonso, had been convinced by evil counselors to murder his pregnant wife out of misplaced jealousy. However, there is no other authority for this account, it is not accepted. Queen Mafalda died in Coimbra on 3 December 1157 or 1158 and was buried at the Monastery of Santa Cruz where her husband, who survived her by more than twenty-seven years, was interred.
She was survived by six of her seven children, only three of whom, infantes Sancho and Theresa, would reach adulthood. Although the Annales D. Alfonsi Portugallensium Regis, record that the wedding of Alfonso and Mafalda was celebrated in 1145, it was not until a year in May 1146, when they both appear in royal charters. Historian José Mattoso refers to another source, Noticia sobre a Conquista de Santarém, which states that the city was taken on 15 May 1147, less than a year after their marriage. Since at that time no wedding ceremony could be performed during Lent, Mattoso suggests that the marriage could have taken place in March or April of 1146 on Easter Sunday which fell on 31 March of that year; the groom was thirty-eight years old and the bride was about twenty-one years old. The children of this marriage were: Henry, named after his maternal grandfather, Alfonso VI of León, he died when he was only eight years old. Despite being just a child he represented his father at a council in Toledo at the age of three.
He died in 1155, shortly after the birth of his brother Sancho. Urraca, married King Ferdinand II of León and was the mother of King Alfonso IX; the marriage was subsequently annulled in 1171 or 1172 and she retired in Zamora, one of the villas that she had received as part of her arras, at the Monastery of Santa María in Wamba, Valladolid where she was buried.. In January 1160, her father and Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, negotiated the marriage of Mafalda to Alfonso, future King Alfonso II of Aragon who at that time was three or four years old. After the death of Ramón Berenguer IV in the summer of 1162, King Ferdinand II of León convinced his widow, Queen Petronilla, to cancel the infante's wedding plans with Mafalda and for Alfonso to marry instead Sancha, daughter Alfonso VII of León and his second wife Queen Richeza of Poland. Mafalda died in her childhood at an unrecorded date. Sancho, the future King Sancho I of Portugal, he was baptised with the name of Martin for having been born on the saint's feast day..
Carignano
Carignano is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 kilometres south of Turin. Carignano borders the following municipalities: Moncalieri, Vinovo, La Loggia, Piobesi Torinese, Castagnole Piemonte, Osasio and Carmagnola; the Sanctuary of Valinotto, a masterwork by the architect Bernardo Vittone, lies within the territory of the town. Carignane Media related to Carignano at Wikimedia Commons "Carignano". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5. 1911. Official website
Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum
The Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum is a Swiss monastery of canons regular in Saint-Maurice, Canton of Valais, which dates from the 6th century, it is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between the Simplon Pass. The abbey itself is a territorial abbacy and not part of any diocese, it is best known for its connection to the story of the martyrdom of the Theban Legion, its original practice of perpetual psalmody, a collection of art and antiquity. The abbey is now the center of the village, vacated in the mid 20th century and is wholly owned by the territorial diocese, it is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The abbey of St. Maurice is built on the ruins of a Roman shrine of the 1st century B. C. dedicated to the god Mercury in the Roman staging-post of Agaunum, first came to prominence as a result of a now disputed account by Eucherius, the Bishop of Lyon. He had experienced a revelation that convinced him of the martyrdom of a Roman legion—known as the Theban Legion—under the command of Saint Maurice, around 285 A.
D. in the area where the abbey is located. In 515, the Basilica of St. Maurice of Agaunum became the church of a monastery under the patronage of King Sigismund of Burgundy, the first ruler in his dynasty to convert from Arian Christianity to Trinitarian Christianity; the abbey became known for a form of perpetual psalmody known as laus perennis, practised there beginning in 522 or 523. The chants were sung night, by several choirs in rotation without ceasing; the practice continued there until the 9th century, when the monks were replaced by a community of canons. The abbey had some of the richest and best preserved treasures in Western Europe, such as the Ewer of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune. In the mid-9th century, brother-in-law of the Emperor Lothair II, seized the abbey. In 864 he was killed in a battle at the Orbe River and was replaced by the victor, Count Conrad of Auxerre, who became the commendatory abbot of the abbey. Boso King of Provence, received the abbey around 870 from his brother-in-law, Charles the Bald.
Conrad's son, Rudolph I of Burgundy, who had inherited the commendatory abbacy from him, succeeded Boson as king and was crowned in 888 in a ceremony at the abbey itself, which he made the royal residence. The offspring of Conrad of Auxerre became the Kings of Burgundy, in a line running from Rudolf I to Rudolf III, they directed the abbey until around the year 1000. The monastery remained the property of the Kingdom of Burgundy until 1033, through the defeat in battle of Eudes, a nephew of Rudolf III, it passed to the control of the House of Savoy. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy, became the commendatory abbot of the monastery in 1103 and worked to revive religious observance at the abbey by installing there, in 1128, the community of canons regular, who still live there under the Rule of St. Augustine, in place of the secular canons. Throughout the history of the abbey, its strategic mountain pass location and independent patronage has subjected it to the whims of war; the abbey was forced to pay ransom or house troops.
In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI conferred the title of the See of Bethlehem in perpetuity on the abbey. Today the abbey consists with 2 lay brothers; the Most Rev. Abbot Joseph Roduit, C. R. A., elected in 1999, resigned with the permission of Pope Francis on Wednesday, 18 March 2015, so the abbatial office is vacant. The canonical community serves both the spiritual needs of the territory of the abbey nullius as well as five parishes in the Diocese of Sion; the canons operate a ranked secondary school. The abbey has been rebuilt over a period of at least 15 centuries. Excavations on the site have revealed a baptistry dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, a series of four main Carolingian era churches built over one another dating from the 5th to the 11th century, crypts built between the 4th and 8th century; the current church was first built in the 17th century. Preceding Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral in 946, Chartres Cathedral ca. 1020 and Rouen Cathedral ca. 1030, the abbey was an early example of an ambulatory plan with radiating chapels.
The Romanesque tower was reconstructed in 1945 to repair damage caused by a massive falling rock. The newly installed carillon is the largest built to date in Switzerland. List of Carolingian monasteries Carolingian architecture Graines Castle Abbaye de Saint-Maurice
Denizli
Denizli is an industrial city in the southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about three hundred and fifty metres. Denizli is located in the country's Aegean Region; the city has a population of about 577,000. This is a jump from 389,000 in 2007, due to the merger of 13 municipalities and 10 villages when the area under Denizli Municipality jurisdiction increased fivefold and the population around 50 percent. Denizli is the capital city of Denizli Province. Denizli has seen economic development in the last few decades due to textile production and exports. Denizli attracts visitors to the nearby mineral-coated hillside hot spring of Pamukkale, with red color thermal water spa hotels Karahayıt, just 5 kilometres north of Pamukkale. Denizli became a major domestic tourism destination due to the various types of thermal waters in Sarayköy, Central/Denizli, Akköy, Çardak districts; the ancient ruined city of Hierapolis, as well as ruins of the city of Laodicea on the Lycus, the ancient metropolis of Phrygia.
In the depending of Honaz, about 10 mi west of Denizli is, what was, in the 1st century AD, the city of Colossae. The weather is hot in Denizli in summers, whereas in winters, it may be cold with snow on the mountains that surround the city; some years, snow can be observed in the urban areas. Springs and autumns are rainy, mild climate, warm. In antiquity, it was an important Greek town, called Attouda, that existed through the ancient Greek and Roman towns neaeras; the city was conquered by the Turks. The inhabitants of Laodicea were resettled here in the Seljuk period. Ibn Battuta visited the city, noting that "In it there are seven mosques for the observance of Friday prayers, it has splendid gardens, perennial streams, gushing springs. Most of the artisans there are Greek women, for in it are many Greeks who are subject to the Muslims and who pay dues to the sultan, including the jizyah, other taxes."In the 17th century, the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Denizli and recorded the town as follows: "The city is called by Turks as as there are several rivers and lakes around it.
In fact it is a four-day trip from the sea. Its fortress is of square shape built on flat ground, it has no ditches. Its periphery is 470 steps long, it has four gates. These are: painters gate in North, saddle-makers gate in the East, new Mosque gate in the South, vineyard gate in the West. There are some fifty armed watchmen in the fortress, they attend the shop; the main city is outside the fortress with 3600 houses. There are 57 small and large mosques and district masjids, 7 madrasahs, 7 children's schools, 6 baths and 17 dervish lodges; as everybody lives in vineyards the upper classes and ordinary people do not flee from each other."The city lived in peace for centuries without being involved in wars in a direct manner. Following World War I during the Independence War, the Greek forces managed to come as close as Sarayköy, a small town 20 km northwest of Denizli, but did not venture into Denizli; the most widespread symbols of Denizli province are of textile industry. List of districts and 2016 census.
Denizli is located in Aegean region of Turkey. The inland areas, like Çardak, Bozkurt, Çivril, Çal districts/counties of the province are cooler and have a higher elevation than the seaside, western part of the Province. Therefore, there are climatic differences within the province and in the Denizli urbanized area; the land is open to winds coming from the Aegean Sea because the mountains are perpendicular to the sea. Winters are rainy or sometimes snowy, but mild. Aside from its visitor's attractions, the city of Denizli is known for its textile industry, outlet shopping for clothing, for connected fields of activity such as the dye industry. During World War I, Denizli mined chromium; the textile industry in Denizli grew in the 1980s and 1990s, both as a domestic market and for exports. Towels and other home textiles are products associated with Denizli; the biggest firms in the city include Funika. Denizli is a town with tree-lined main avenues and views of the surrounding mountains from many locations.
As the city grew in the 1990s, new compounds of villas have sprung up on the city's outskirts in areas like Çamlık. In the city itself, air pollution from coal-fired central-heating become a problem in winter. However, with the expanding usage of natural gas, air pollution problem has declined in the elevated parts of the city. Pamukkale University opened in the 1990s, now has more than 28,000 students. Many young people still leave to go to university in Ankara, or Istanbul. There are large shops and cafes, live music, although this is a city that grew and is located deep in the countryside; the presence of Pamukkale University improves the cultural amenities of the city. The region's inhabitants have been influenced by the production of grapes and the wine throughout history; the new wealth in Denizli has been much more rapid than many other places in Turkey in investing in developing an urban culture. Many private clubs and associations are opening up including: The Society for the Protection of the Environment and History of Denizli.
Italy
Italy the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Austria and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 and has a temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe. Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has been home to a myriad of peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout modern-day Italy, the most famous of which being the Indo-European Italics who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era and Carthaginians founded colonies in insular Italy and Genoa, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively; the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People.
The Roman Republic conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the peninsula, in some cases through the establishment of federations, the Republic expanded and conquered parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became the leading cultural and religious centre of Western civilisation, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's technology, economy and literature flourished. Italy remained the metropole of the Roman Empire; the legacy of the Roman Empire endured its fall and can be observed in the global distribution of culture, governments and the Latin script. During the Early Middle Ages, Italy endured sociopolitical collapse and barbarian invasions, but by the 11th century, numerous rival city-states and maritime republics in the northern and central regions of Italy, rose to great prosperity through shipping and banking, laying the groundwork for modern capitalism.
These independent statelets served as Europe's main trading hubs with Asia and the Near East enjoying a greater degree of democracy than the larger feudal monarchies that were consolidating throughout Europe. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science and art. Italian culture flourished, producing famous scholars and polymaths such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Machiavelli. During the Middle Ages, Italian explorers such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, John Cabot and Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Italy's commercial and political power waned with the opening of trade routes that bypassed the Mediterranean. Centuries of infighting between the Italian city-states, such as the Italian Wars of the 15th and 16th centuries, left the region fragmented, it was subsequently conquered and further divided by European powers such as France and Austria.
By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism and calls for independence from foreign control led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of foreign domination and political division, Italy was entirely unified in 1871, establishing the Kingdom of Italy as a great power. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Italy industrialised, namely in the north, acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained impoverished and excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite being one of the main victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, leading to the rise of a fascist dictatorship in 1922. Participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in military defeat, economic destruction and the Italian Civil War. Following the liberation of Italy and the rise of the resistance, the country abolished the monarchy, reinstated democracy, enjoyed a prolonged economic boom and, despite periods of sociopolitical turmoil became a developed country.
Today, Italy is considered to be one of the world's most culturally and economically advanced countries, with the sixth-largest worldwide national wealth. Its advanced economy ranks eighth-largest in the world and third in the Eurozone by nominal GDP. Italy owns the third-largest central bank gold reserve, it has a high level of human development, it stands among the top countries for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and a member of numerous international institutions, including the UN, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the WTO, the G7, the G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe, Uniting for Consensus, the Schengen Area and many more; as a reflection
