1.
Gabion
–
A gabion is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. For erosion control, caged riprap is used, for dams or in foundation construction, cylindrical metal structures are used. In a military context, earth- or sand-filled gabions are used to protect sappers, infantry, leonardo da Vinci designed a type of gabion called a Corbeille Leonard for the foundations of the San Marco Castle in Milan. Other uses include retaining walls, noise barriers, temporary walls, silt filtration from runoff, for small or temporary/permanent dams, river training. They may be used to direct the force of a flow of water around a vulnerable structure. Gabions are also used as fish screens on small streams, a gabion wall is a retaining wall made of stacked stone-filled gabions tied together with wire. Gabion walls are usually battered, or stepped back with the slope, gabion baskets have some advantages over loose riprap because of their modularity and ability to be stacked in various shapes. Gabions have advantages over more rigid structures, because they can conform to subsidence, dissipate energy from flowing water and resist being washed away and their strength and effectiveness may increase with time in some cases, as silt and vegetation fill the interstitial voids and reinforce the structure. They are sometimes used to prevent falling stones from a cut or cliff endangering traffic on a thoroughfare, the life expectancy of gabions depends on the lifespan of the wire, not on the contents of the basket. The structure will fail when the wire fails, galvanized steel wire is most common, but PVC-coated and stainless steel wire are also used. PVC-coated galvanized gabions have been estimated to survive for 60 years, Some gabion manufacturers guarantee a structural consistency of 50 years. In the United States, gabion use within streams first began with projects completed from 1957 to 1965 on North River, Virginia and Zealand River, more than 150 grade-control structures, bank revetments and channel deflectors were constructed on the two U. S. Forest Service sites. Eventually, a portion of the in-stream structures failed due to undermining. In particular, corrosion and abrasion of wires by bedload movement compromised the structures, other gabions were toppled into channels as trees grew and enlarged on top of gabion revetments, leveraging them toward the river channels. Gabions have also used in building, as in the Dominus Winery in the Napa Valley, California by architects Herzog & de Meuron. There are various designs of gabions to meet particular functional requirements. For example, Bastion, a gabion lined internally with a membrane, typically of nonwoven geotextile to permit use of a granular soil fill, mattress, a form of gabion with relatively small height relative to the lateral dimensions, commonly very wide. For protecting surfaces from wave erosion and similar attack, rather than building or supporting high structures, trapion, a form of gabion with a trapezoidal cross section, designed for stacking to give a face that is sloping rather than stepped
Gabion
–
Gabions with
cannon, from a late 16th century illustration.
Gabion
–
Reinforced earth with gabions supporting a multilane roadway,
Sveti Rok,
Croatia.
Gabion
–
Up close view of a bank protection made with mattresses in Vrtižer, Slovakia.
Gabion
–
Bridge abutment with gabions.
2.
Curtain wall (fortification)
–
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers of a castle, fortress, or town. In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, the outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site. In earlier designs of castle and town, the walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult. Evidence for curtain walls or a series of walls surrounding a town or fortress can be found in the sources from Assyria. Some notable examples are ancient Lachish and Buhen, enceinte Curry, Anne, Hughes, Michael, eds. The Popular Encyclopedia, or, Conversations Lexicon, I, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, Blackie & Son, p.444
Curtain wall (fortification)
–
Beaumaris Castle with curtain walls between the lower outer towers and higher inner curtain walls between the higher inner towers.
Curtain wall (fortification)
–
Two sections of curtain wall around
Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Curtain wall (fortification)
–
Reconstruction of defensive walls around ancient
Lachish.
3.
Fortification
–
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
Fortification
–
Krak des Chevaliers is one of the best-preserved Crusader
castles.
Fortification
–
Bourtange star fort, restored to 1750 situation,
Groningen (province),
Netherlands.
Fortification
–
The well preserved
Bulgarian medieval fort
Baba Vida.
Fortification
–
Fortifications on the Iraq-Iran Border, viewed from the
ISS, 2014
4.
Hundred Years War
–
Each side drew many allies into the war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, the war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries. After the Norman Conquest, the kings of England were vassals of the kings of France for their possessions in France, the French kings had endeavored, over the centuries, to reduce these possessions, to the effect that only Gascony was left to the English. Through his mother, Isabella of France, Edward III of England was the grandson of Philip IV of France and nephew of Charles IV of France, in 1316, a principle was established denying women succession to the French throne. When Charles IV died in 1328, Isabella, unable to claim the French throne for herself, the French rejected the claim, maintaining that Isabella could not transmit a right that she did not possess. Several overwhelming English victories in the war—especially at Crecy, Poitiers, however, the greater resources of the French monarchy precluded a complete conquest. Historians commonly divide the war into three separated by truces, the Edwardian Era War, the Caroline War, and the Lancastrian War. Later historians adopted the term Hundred Years War as a historiography periodization to encompass all of these events, the war owes its historical significance to multiple factors. By its end, feudal armies had been replaced by professional troops. Although primarily a conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of French. The wider introduction of weapons and tactics supplanted the feudal armies where heavy cavalry had dominated, the war precipitated the creation of the first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire and thus helping to change their role in warfare. With respect to the belligerents, in France, civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines, English political forces over time came to oppose the costly venture. The dissatisfaction of English nobles, resulting from the loss of their continental landholdings, the root causes of the conflict can be found in the demographic, economic and political crises of 14th century Europe. The outbreak of war was motivated by a rise in tension between the Kings of France and England about Guyenne, Flanders and Scotland. The dynastic question, which due to an interruption of the direct male line of the Capetians, was the official pretext. The question of succession to the French throne was raised after the death of Louis X in 1316. Louis X left only a daughter, and his posthumous son John I lived only a few days, Philip, Count of Poitiers, brother of Louis X, asserted that women were ineligible to succeed to the French throne. Through his political sagacity he won over his adversaries and succeeded to the French throne as Philip V of France, by the same law that he procured, his daughters were denied the succession, which passed to his younger brother, Charles IV, in 1322
Hundred Years War
–
Clockwise, from top left:
John of Bohemia at the
Battle of Crécy, English and Franco-Castilian fleets at the
Battle of La Rochelle,
Henry V and the English army at the
Battle of Agincourt,
Joan of Arc rallies French forces at the
Siege of Orléans
Hundred Years War
–
Homage of
Edward I of England (kneeling) to
Philip IV of France (seated), 1286. As
Duke of Aquitaine, Edward was also a vassal to the French King.
Hundred Years War
–
Battle of Sluys from a
manuscript of
Froissart's Chronicles, Bruge, c.1470
Hundred Years War
–
Battle of Crécy, 1346
5.
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1422 to his death. In the midst of the Hundred Years War, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances, in addition, his father Charles VI had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown instead. At the same time, a war raged in France between the Armagnacs and the Burgundian party. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a leader in France. Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift the siege of Orléans, as well as other cities on the Loire river. With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates and this long-awaited event boosted French morale as hostilities with England resumed. Following the battle of Castillon in 1453, the French had expelled the English from all their continental possessions except for the Pale of Calais, the last years of Charles VII were marked by conflicts with his turbulent son, the future Louis XI of France. Born at the Hôtel Saint-Pol, the residence in Paris. He was the child and fifth son of Charles VI of France. His four elder brothers, Charles, Charles, Louis and John had each held the title of Dauphin of France in turn, all died childless, leaving Charles with a rich inheritance of titles. By 1419, Charles had established his own court in Bourges and they also decided that a further meeting should take place the following 10 September. On that date, they met on the bridge at Montereau, the Duke assumed that the meeting would be entirely peaceful and diplomatic, thus he brought only a small escort with him. The Dauphins men reacted to the Dukes arrival by attacking and killing him, Charles level of involvement has remained uncertain to this day. Although he claimed to have been unaware of his mens intentions, the assassination marked the end of any attempt of a reconciliation between the two factions Armagnacs and Burgundians, thus playing into the hands of Henry V of England. Charles was later required by a treaty with Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, to pay penance for the murder, at the death of his father, Charles VI, the succession was cast into doubt. For those who did not recognize the treaty and believed the Dauphin Charles to be of legitimate birth, for those who did not recognize his legitimacy, the rightful heir was recognized as Charles, Duke of Orléans, cousin of the Dauphin, who was in English captivity. Only the supporters of Henry VI and the Dauphin Charles were able to enlist sufficient military force to press effectively for their candidates, the English, already in control of northern France, were able to enforce the claim of their king in the regions of France that they occupied. Northern France, including Paris, was ruled by an English regent, Henry Vs brother, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
Charles VII of France
–
Portrait of Charles VII, by
Jean Fouquet,
tempera on wood,
Louvre Museum, Paris, c. 1445–1450
Charles VII of France
–
Dauphin Charles with
Yolande of Aragon, Duchess of Anjou
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII Royal d'or.
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII Ecu neuf, 1436.
6.
Fall of Constantinople
–
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453, the capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a blow to Christendom. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which also marks, for some historians, Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and they fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, thereafter there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople, the Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea. This optimism was reinforced by friendly assurances made by Mehmed to envoys sent to his new court, but Mehmeds actions spoke far louder than his mild words. Since the mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing authority over the eastern church, nominal union had been negotiated in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin church. Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV, finally, the attempted Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. Although some troops did arrive from the city states in the north of Italy. Some Western individuals, however, came to defend the city on their own account. One of these was a soldier from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
–
The last siege of Constantinople, contemporary 15th century French miniature
Fall of Constantinople
–
Restored Walls of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
–
Modern painting of
Mehmed II and the
Ottoman Army approaching
Constantinople with a giant bombard, by
Fausto Zonaro
Fall of Constantinople
–
A picture of the Fall of Constantinople by
Theophilos Hatzimihail.
7.
Trace italienne
–
A star fort, bastion fort or trace italienne, is a fortification in a style that evolved during the age of gunpowder when the cannon came to dominate the battlefield. It was first seen in the century in Italy. The design of the fort is normally a pentagon or hexagon with bastions at the corners of the walls and these outcroppings are present for the purpose of a total, panoramic view of the battlefield. Because of the bastions, archers and cannon operators can hit any target on the battlefield without having to lean over the wall, many bastion forts also feature cavaliers, which are raised secondary structures based entirely inside the primary structure. The predecessors of star fortifications were medieval fortresses, usually placed on high hills, from there, arrows were shot at the enemies, and the higher the fortress was, the further the arrows flew. The enemies hope was to ram the gate or climb over the wall with ladders. For the invading force, these fortifications proved quite difficult to overcome, passive ring-shaped fortifications of the Medieval era proved vulnerable to damage or destruction by cannon fire, when it could be directed from outside against a perpendicular masonry wall. In addition, a force that could get close to the wall was able to conduct undermining operations in relative safety. In contrast, the fortress was a very flat structure composed of many triangular bastions, specifically designed to cover each other. In order to counteract the cannonballs, defensive walls were lower and thicker. The outer side of the ditch was provided with a glacis to deflect cannonballs aimed at the lower part of the main wall. They were built of materials, usually earth and brick. Star fortifications were developed in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries primarily in response to the French invasion of the Italian peninsula. The French army was equipped with new cannon and bombards that were able to destroy traditional fortifications built in the Middle Ages. Star forts were employed by Michelangelo in the earthworks of Florence. The design spread out of Italy in the 1530s and 1540s and it was employed heavily throughout Europe for the following three centuries. Italian engineers were heavily in demand throughout Europe to help build the new fortifications, the late-seventeenth-century architects Menno van Coehoorn and especially Vauban, Louis XIVs military engineer, are considered to have taken the form to its logical extreme. In the 19th century, the development of the explosive shell changed the nature of defensive fortifications, elvas, in Portugal is considered by some to be the best surviving example of the Dutch school of fortifications
Trace italienne
–
17th century map of the city of
Palmanova,
Italy, an example of a
Venetian star fort
Trace italienne
–
Bourtange fortification, restored to its 1750 condition,
Groningen, the
Netherlands
Trace italienne
–
Plan of
Tvrđa from 1861, in
Osijek,
Croatia. When complete, it was the largest
Habsburg fortress on the border of the
Ottoman Empire.
Trace italienne
–
Naarden, the Netherlands
8.
Rhodes
–
Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
Rhodes
–
Palace of the Grand Master in the city of Rhodes
Rhodes
–
Akramitis mountain
Rhodes
–
Ixia beach
9.
Deal Castle
–
Deal Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII in Deal, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the Kings Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, comprising a keep with six inner and outer bastions, the moated stone castle covered 0.85 acres and had sixty-six firing positions for artillery. It cost the Crown a total of £27,092 to build the three castles of Deal, Sandown, and Walmer, which lay adjacent to one another along the coast and were connected by earthwork defences. In 1904, the War Office concluded that the no longer had any value either as a defensive site or as a barracks. The castle was not brought back into use as a residence and was restored by the government during the 1950s to form a tourist attraction, in the 21st century, Deal Castle is operated by English Heritage, receiving 25,256 visitors in 2008. Deal Castle was built as a consequence of international tensions between England, France and the Holy Roman Empire in the years of the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1533, Henry broke with Pope Paul III so as to annul the marriage to his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was the aunt of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and this resulted in France and the Empire declaring an alliance against Henry in 1538, and the Pope encouraging the two countries to attack England. An invasion of England appeared certain, in response, Henry issued an order, called a device, in 1539, giving instructions for the defence of the realm in time of invasion and the construction of forts along the English coastline. Collectively the castles became known as the castles of the Downs, work began at Deal in April and progressed at speed, with 1,400 men at work on the site by the following month. A strike for pay was broken up over the summer by Ryngeley and by December, when Anne of Cleves dined there. Deal and the fortifications along the Downs cost the Crown a total of £27,092 to build. Lead, timber and stone from local monasteries were also recycled for use in Deal Castle, wingfield became the first captain of the castle in 1540, supported by a lieutenant and overseeing a garrison of eight soldiers, sixteen gunners and two porters. He reported to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, the original invasion threat passed, but the castle was reinforced in 1558, due to fresh concerns of a French attack. Around 1570, the bastions were filled with earth, probably to allow heavier guns to be mounted on them. The defences along the coast were mobilised in 1588 in response to the threat posed by the Spanish armada, in the early 1600s, England was at peace with France and Spain, and coastal defences received little attention. Deal Castle was in a state of repair by 1615, the outer walls damaged by storms and coastal erosion. Most of the garrison were now living in the town of Deal, as the condition of the castle waned, fighting between Dutch, French and Spanish ships in the Downs became common
Deal Castle
–
Aerial depiction of the castle
Deal Castle
–
1539 draft plan for the castle
Deal Castle
–
One of the semi-circular bastions, showing the loopholes to protect the dry moat floor.
Deal Castle
–
The western bastion or gatehouse; a modern causeway replaces the original wooden drawbridge
10.
Device Fort
–
The Device Forts, also known as Henrician castles and blockhouses, were a series of artillery fortifications built to defend the coast of England and Wales by Henry VIII. Some forts operated independently, others were designed to be mutually reinforcing, the Device programme was hugely expensive, costing a total of £376,000, much of this was raised from the proceeds of the dissolution of the monasteries a few years before. These utilitarian fortifications were armed with artillery, intended to be used against enemy ships before they could land forces or attack ships lying in harbour. The first wave of work between 1539 and 1543 was characterised by the use of circular bastions and multi-tiered defences, combined with traditional medieval features. The castles were commanded by captains appointed by the Crown, overseeing small garrisons of professional gunners and soldiers, despite a French raid against the Isle of Wight in 1545, the Device Forts saw almost no action before peace was declared in 1546. Some of the defences were left to deteriorate and were decommissioned only a few years after their construction, after war broke out with Spain in 1569, Elizabeth I improved many of the remaining fortifications, including during the attack of the Spanish Armada of 1588. By the end of the century, the defences were badly out of date, again left to fall in ruin during the 18th century, many of the Device Forts were modernised and rearmed during the Napoleonic Wars, until peace was declared in 1815. This spurred fresh investment in those Device Forts still thought to be military valuable, by 1900, however, developments in guns and armour had made most of the Device Forts that remained in service simply too small to be practical in modern coastal defence. Despite being brought back into use during the First and Second World Wars, by the 1950s the fortifications were considered redundant. Coastal erosion over the centuries had taken its toll and some sites had been damaged or completely destroyed. Many were restored, however, and opened to the public as tourist attractions, the Device Forts emerged as a result of changes in English military architecture and foreign policy in the early 16th century. During the late period, the English use of castles as military fortifications had declined in importance. The introduction of gunpowder in warfare had initially favoured the defender, many older castles were simply abandoned or left to fall in disrepair. Henry rapidly consolidated his rule at home and had few reasons to fear an invasion from the continent. While France and the Empire were in conflict with one another, raids along the English coast might still be common, indeed, traditionally the Crown had left coastal defences to local lords and communities, only taking a modest role in building and maintaining fortifications. Initially, therefore, Henry took little interest in his coastal defences, in 1533 Henry broke with Pope Paul III in order to annul the long-standing marriage to his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and remarry. Catherine was the aunt of King Charles V of Spain, who took the annulment as a personal insult, as a consequence, France and the Empire declared an alliance against Henry in 1538, and the Pope encouraged the two countries to attack England. Henry VIII gave instructions through Parliament in 1539 that new defences were to be built along the coasts of England, the order was known as a device, which meant a documented plan, instruction or schema, leading to the fortifications later becoming known as the Device Forts
Device Fort
–
Deal Castle in Kent was built between 1539 and 1540.
Device Fort
–
Southsea Castle at Portsmouth with angled bastions instead of the earlier semi-circular designs
Device Fort
–
Pendennis Castle, Cornwall
11.
England
–
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
England
–
Stonehenge, a
Neolithic monument
England
–
Flag
England
–
Boudica led an uprising against the
Roman Empire
England
–
Replica of a 7th-century ceremonial
helmet from the
Kingdom of East Anglia, found at
Sutton Hoo
12.
Eighty Years War
–
The Eighty Years War or Dutch War of Independence was a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces against the political and religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands. After the initial stages, Philip II deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebelling provinces, under the leadership of the exiled William the Silent, the northern provinces continued their resistance. They eventually were able to oust the Habsburg armies, and in 1581 they established the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, after a 12-year truce, hostilities broke out again around 1619 which can be said to coincide with the Thirty Years War. An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster, in the decades preceding the war, the Dutch became increasingly discontented with Habsburg rule. A major cause of discontent was heavy taxation imposed on the population, while support. At that time, the Seventeen Provinces were known in the empire as De landen van herwaarts over, the presence of Spanish troops, under the command of the Duke of Alba, brought in to oversee order, further amplified this unrest. Spain also attempted a policy of religious uniformity for the Catholic Church within its domains. The Reformation meanwhile produced a number of Protestant denominations, which gained followers in the Seventeen Provinces and these included the Lutheran movement of Martin Luther, the Anabaptist movement of the Dutch reformer Menno Simons, and the Reformed teachings of John Calvin. This growth lead to the 1566 Beeldenstorm, the Iconoclastic Fury which saw many churches in northern Europe stripped of their Catholic statuary, in October 1555, Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire began the gradual abdication of his several crowns. The balance of power was heavily weighted toward the local and regional governments, Philip did not govern in person but appointed Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy as governor-general to lead the central government. When Philip left for Spain in 1559 political tension was increased by religious policies, not having the liberal-mindedness of his father Charles V, Philip was a fervent enemy of the Protestant movements of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the Anabaptists. Towards the end of Charles reign enforcement had become lax. Philip, however, insisted on rigorous enforcement, which caused widespread unrest, the new hierarchy was to be headed by Granvelle as archbishop of the new archdiocese of Mechelen. The reform was unpopular with the old church hierarchy, as the new dioceses were to be financed by the transfer of a number of rich abbeys. Granvelle became the focus of the opposition against the new governmental structures, after the recall of Granvelle, Orange persuaded Margaret and the Council to ask for a moderation of the placards against heresy. Philip delayed his response, and in this interval the opposition to his religious policies gained more widespread support, Philip finally rejected the request for moderation in his Letters from the Segovia Woods of October 1565. This Compromise of Nobles was supported by about 400 nobles, both Catholic and Protestant, and was presented to Margaret on 5 April 1566, impressed by the massive support for the compromise, she suspended the placards, awaiting Philips final ruling. The first half of the Eighty Years War between the Spanish Empire and the Dutch Republic was fought between 1566 and 1609, when the Twelve Years Truce was signed in 1609, ending this first phase of war, the northern Netherlands had achieved de facto independence
Eighty Years War
–
Relief of Leiden after the siege, 1574
Eighty Years War
–
Philip II of Spain berating William the Silent. Prince of Orange by
Cornelis Kruseman, painting from 19th century. This scene was purported to have happened on the dock in Flushing when Philip departed the Netherlands.
Eighty Years War
–
Disarming the waardgelders in Utrecht, 31 July 1618, by
Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot
Eighty Years War
–
Detail from a pamphlet about the Winter King
13.
Ravelin
–
A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress. Originally called a demi-lune, after the lunette, the ravelin is placed outside a castle, the outer edges of the ravelin are so configured that it divides an assault force, and guns in the ravelin can fire upon the attacking troops as they approach the curtain. It also impedes besiegers from using their artillery to batter a breach in the curtain wall. The side of the ravelin facing the fortifications has at best a low wall, if any. Frequently ravelins have a ramp or stairs on the side to facilitate the movement of troops. The first example of a ravelin appears in the fortifications of the Italian town of Sarzanello, the first ravelins were built of brick, but later, during the sixteenth century in the Netherlands, they were earthen, to better to absorb the impact of cannonballs. The Italian origins of the system of fortifications, of which ravelins were a part gave rise to the term trace Italienne, list of established military terms Raveleijn
Ravelin
–
The ravelin outside the Land Gate at
Tilbury Fort
Ravelin
–
The
Moers fortifications, designed by
Simon Stevin, where ravelins appear as triangular shapes surrounded by water, with wall (shown in dark green) facing outwards with no wall on the inner side.
Ravelin
–
In 16th century
Revelin Fortress became the strongest city fortress within
Walls of Dubrovnik in
Croatia.
14.
Neuf-Brisach
–
Neuf-Brisach is a fortified town and commune of the department of Haut-Rhin in the French region of Alsace. The fortified town was intended to guard the border between France and the Holy Roman Empire and, subsequently the German states. It was built after the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, the towns name means New Breisach. Today the town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, work began on the fortified town in 1698, to plans drawn by Vauban, a military engineer at the service of Louis XIV. Vauban died in 1707 and this, his last work, was completed by Louis de Cormontaigne, the citys layout was that of an ideal city, as was popular at the time, with a regular square grid street pattern inside an octagonal fortification. Generous space was given to a square across the four blocks at the middle. Individual blocks were offered for development, either as affluent houses in private gardens. Simpler housing was provided in long tenement blocks, built inside each curtain wall, access was provided by large gateways in the principal four curtain walls. The fortifications are Vaubans final work and the culmination of his Third System, there are two lines of defence, an inner enceinte de sûreté, the bastion wall around the city, and an outer enceinte de combat, a system of concentric star-shaped earthworks. The curtain wall was largely octagonal, with each flank separated roughly into three and the outer bastion projecting slightly, so as to flank the centre of the walls, each corner had a raised outwardly projecting pentagonal bastion tower, the highest points of the system. The outer earthworks were deep and occupied an area than the city itself. The inner walls were surrounded by tenailles before the centres of the curtain walls, in front of the centre of each curtain face was a large tetrahedral ravelin, those in front of the gateways also being topped by a reduit to the rear. Outside all of these earthworks was a covered way, the city suffered damage in World War II, but still represents a very clear example of the latest in fortification work at the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 2008, the ville neuve of Neuf-Brisach was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, trois siècles dhistoire de la fortification Neuf-Brisach, Pictures Webpage about the fortress of Neuf-Brisach A visit to Neuf-Brisach star fort
Neuf-Brisach
–
An aerial photograph showing the layout of the town and the way it was built as a fortification.
Neuf-Brisach
–
Plan of the city and fortifications
Neuf-Brisach
–
Plan-relief
Neuf-Brisach
–
The moats and fortifications conceived by
Vauban
15.
Napoleonic Wars
–
The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
Napoleonic Wars
–
Top:
Battle of Austerlitz Bottom:
Battle of Waterloo
Napoleonic Wars
–
"Maniac-raving's-or-Little Boney in a strong fit" by
James Gillray. His caricatures ridiculing Napoleon greatly annoyed the Frenchman, who wanted them suppressed by the British government.
Napoleonic Wars
–
The British
HMS Sandwich fires to the French
flagship Bucentaure (completely dismasted) in the battle of
Trafalgar. The Bucentaure also fights
HMS Victory (behind her) and
HMS Temeraire (left side of the picture). In fact, HMS Sandwich never fought at Trafalgar and her depiction is a mistake by
Auguste Mayer, the painter.
Napoleonic Wars
–
European strategic situation in 1805 before the War of the Third Coalition
16.
Bastion fort
–
A star fort, bastion fort or trace italienne, is a fortification in a style that evolved during the age of gunpowder when the cannon came to dominate the battlefield. It was first seen in the century in Italy. The design of the fort is normally a pentagon or hexagon with bastions at the corners of the walls and these outcroppings are present for the purpose of a total, panoramic view of the battlefield. Because of the bastions, archers and cannon operators can hit any target on the battlefield without having to lean over the wall, many bastion forts also feature cavaliers, which are raised secondary structures based entirely inside the primary structure. The predecessors of star fortifications were medieval fortresses, usually placed on high hills, from there, arrows were shot at the enemies, and the higher the fortress was, the further the arrows flew. The enemies hope was to ram the gate or climb over the wall with ladders. For the invading force, these fortifications proved quite difficult to overcome, passive ring-shaped fortifications of the Medieval era proved vulnerable to damage or destruction by cannon fire, when it could be directed from outside against a perpendicular masonry wall. In addition, a force that could get close to the wall was able to conduct undermining operations in relative safety. In contrast, the fortress was a very flat structure composed of many triangular bastions, specifically designed to cover each other. In order to counteract the cannonballs, defensive walls were lower and thicker. The outer side of the ditch was provided with a glacis to deflect cannonballs aimed at the lower part of the main wall. They were built of materials, usually earth and brick. Star fortifications were developed in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries primarily in response to the French invasion of the Italian peninsula. The French army was equipped with new cannon and bombards that were able to destroy traditional fortifications built in the Middle Ages. Star forts were employed by Michelangelo in the earthworks of Florence. The design spread out of Italy in the 1530s and 1540s and it was employed heavily throughout Europe for the following three centuries. Italian engineers were heavily in demand throughout Europe to help build the new fortifications, the late-seventeenth-century architects Menno van Coehoorn and especially Vauban, Louis XIVs military engineer, are considered to have taken the form to its logical extreme. In the 19th century, the development of the explosive shell changed the nature of defensive fortifications, elvas, in Portugal is considered by some to be the best surviving example of the Dutch school of fortifications
Bastion fort
–
17th century map of the city of
Palmanova,
Italy, an example of a
Venetian star fort
Bastion fort
–
Bourtange fortification, restored to its 1750 condition,
Groningen, the
Netherlands
Bastion fort
–
Plan of
Tvrđa from 1861, in
Osijek,
Croatia. When complete, it was the largest
Habsburg fortress on the border of the
Ottoman Empire.
Bastion fort
–
Naarden, the Netherlands
17.
Glacis
–
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a structure or of stone in more permanent structure. A glacis plate is the sloped front-most section of the hull of a tank or other armored fighting vehicle, more generally, the term glacis can denote any slope, natural or artificial, which fulfils the above requirements. The etymology of this French word suggests a slope made dangerous with ice, hence the relationship with glacier, a glacis could also appear in ancient fortresses, such as the one built at Semna, by the ancient Egyptians. Here it was used by them to prevent enemy siege engines from weakening defensive walls, ancient British hill forts started to incorporate glacis around 350 BC. Those at Maiden Castle in Dorset were 25 metres high, towards the end of the medieval period some castles were modified to make them defensible against cannons. Glacis consisting of earthen slopes faced with stones were placed in front of the curtain walls, towers were lowered to the same height as the curtain walls and converted into gun platforms. Early modern European fortresses were so constructed as to any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment. This gave defenders a direct line of sight into the assaulting force, additionally, but secondarily, the bank of earth would shield the walls from being hit directly by cannon fire. Though defenders on a high ground already have a line of sight. The term glacis plate describes the sloped front-most section of the hull of a tank or other armored fighting vehicle, in a head-on-head armored engagement, the glacis plate is the largest and most obvious target available to an enemy gunner. For example, an aimed at 4 of plate steel set on a 45-degree angle will have to pass through 5.67 of material to penetrate. Anti-tank mines which employ a tilt-rod fuze are also designed to detonate directly underneath the glacis plate, as a result, it is generally the thickest, most robust armored section of a tank, followed by the turret face and gun mantlet. Fortification Siege Sloped armour Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Fortification, caen Castle, A Ten Centuries Old Fortress. Greenwood guides to historic events of the medieval world
Glacis
–
The ramparts and ditches of
Maiden Castle.
Glacis
–
Diagram showing upward sloped glacis
Glacis
–
Crac des Chevaliers: the south face of the inner ward with its steep glacis.
Glacis
–
Glacis,
Mont-Louis Fortress,
Pyrénées-Orientales, France
18.
Defensive wall
–
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements, beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick, depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Walls may only be crossed by entering the city gate and are often supplemented with towers. Simpler defensive walls of earth or stone, thrown up around hillforts, ringworks, early castles, from very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. Uruk in ancient Sumer is one of the worlds oldest known walled cities, before that, the city of Jericho in what is now the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium BC. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples, some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 B. C. hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain, many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. Mundigak in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks, babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate. Exceptions were few — notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar. In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements which the Romans called oppida, the fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, in classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus. Large tempered earth walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty, although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States, mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty. The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example, likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls, the most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln, apart from these, the early Middle Ages also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe and these cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces
Defensive wall
–
Part of the
Great Wall of China, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Defensive wall
Defensive wall
Defensive wall
19.
Tenaille
–
Tenaille is an advanced defensive-work, in front of the main defences of a fortress which takes its name from resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lip of a pair of pincers. It is from French, literally, tongs, from Late Latin tenācula, tenaille were a development in fortification formalised by Vauban, among others. To allow the defenders to access the ditches that front a curtain wall a postern gate was placed low down in the close to its centre. To protect the postern, an outwork, originally vee-shaped, was placed in front of the gate, a simple tenaille is shown in the top image to the right, it is the chevron between the two corner bastions. The design also evolved a version in which the tenaille possess projections at each end, finally, the word was also used for some other vee-shaped parts of outworks, the bottom-most image, a priests cap, has two tenailles. Also shown is another approach to protect a gate, the roughly triangular outwork seen in the middle of the drawing is a ravelin
Tenaille
–
St. Andrew's Tenaille in
Valletta
20.
Hornwork
–
A hornwork is an element of the Italian Bastion system of fortification. Its face is flanked with a pair of demi-bastions, distinguish from a crownwork, which contains a full bastion at the center
Hornwork
–
Feature 'f' is a hornwork. From
Cyclopaedia.
21.
Crownwork
–
A crownwork is an element of the trace italienne system of fortification and is effectively an expanded Hornwork. It consists of a bastion with the walls on either side ending in half bastions from which longer flank walls run back towards the main fortress. The artillerists manual, and British soldiers compendium, a Popular View of Fortification and Gunnery, No. I. The United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine, london, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley
Crownwork
–
Feature 'l' is a Crownwork. From the
Cyclopaedia.
Crownwork
–
A crownwork outside a
bastion.
22.
Roundel (fortification)
–
The roundel is a strong artillery fortification with a rounded or circular plan of a similar height to the adjacent defensive walls. If the fortification is clearly higher than the walls it is called a battery tower, the design of a roundel, which was massive in comparison with a normal defensive tower, enabled the deployment of heavy cannon. Roundels were built of earth and brickwork, in the latter case, vaulted rooms were built on the inside. Roundels appeared in the 15th century when cannon gradually developed into a siege weapon. Roundels are the oldest permanent artillery fortifications and their heyday was in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Early examples of artillery roundels are in the fortifications of Tábor before 1433 and Sion Castle, that around 1426/27. Salzach, Heidelberg Palace, or the southwest roundel of Marburg Castle, like the horseshoe-shaped bastion, the roundel has a so-called blind spot which makes it vulnerable. In addition, the level of a roundel had little space for heavy cannon. Even the casemates of a roundel could only house a few cannon because they created a lot of gunsmoke which only dispersed slowly, the roundel was a stage in the development of late medieval fortifications and did not meet the demands of defensive works of the early modern period. Even the construction of large and thick-walled roundels like those at Munot in Schaffhausen built from 1563 to 1585, were an insufficient response to the technology of the time. As a result of its disadvantages the roundel was replaced in many places during the 16th century by the bastion with a pentangular ground plan based on Italian practice. In addition, expertise on bastion design only spread slowly across many parts of Europe. Many fortresses consist entirely of interlinked roundels, for example Deal Castle on the south coast of England, in the late 18th and 19th centuries, roundels came back into vogue due to changes in military technology. At the fortress of Plassenburg in Kulmbach there are two staggered roundels, one is a high, inner, roundel built within a much larger outer roundel. This construction is one of the largest surviving roundel works in Germany, the inner and outer roundels house two gun decks, which meant that a staggered roundel could generate a heavy weight of fire from four batteries. The fortress with its roundels was used by the army until the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, the two roundels in the west of the fortress were rebuilt after the place had been slighted in 1554 following the Second Margrave War, although by that time bastions had already superseded them. Subsequently, between 1557 and 1607, more bastions were added, olaf Wagener, Thomas Kühtreiber, Taktik und Raum. Vorwerke als Elemente des Burgenbaus im 15, jahrhundert, in, Die Burg zur Zeit der Renaissance
Roundel (fortification)
–
Roundel of Fortezza Firmafede in
Sarzana (north Italy), 15th century
Roundel (fortification)
–
Roundel in
Fort de Salses (southern France), 15th century, drawing by
Viollet-le-Duc
Roundel (fortification)
–
View of the outer west roundel of the
Plassenburg with gunports and the inner west roundel positioned within it.
23.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
24.
Hungary
–
Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
Hungary
–
Italian fresco depicting a Hungarian warrior shooting backwards
Hungary
–
Flag
Hungary
–
Hungarian raids in the 10th century
Hungary
–
King
Saint Stephen, the first
King of Hungary, converted the nation to Christianity
25.
Geneva
–
Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
Geneva
–
Top left:
Palace of Nations, Middle left:
ATLAS experiment at
CERN, Right:
Jet d'Eau, Bottom: View over Geneva and the
lake.
Geneva
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L'Escalade, the failed surprise-attack (12 December 1602) made by troops sent by
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, to take Geneva
Geneva
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Geneva seen from SPOT Satellite
Geneva
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The Geneva area seen from the Salève in France. The Jura mountains can be seen on the horizon.
26.
Osijek
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Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 108,048 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, Osijek is located on the right bank of the river Drava,25 kilometres upstream of its confluence with the Danube, at an elevation of 94 metres. The name was given to the city due to its position on elevated ground which prevented the city being flooded by the swamp waters. Its name Osijek comes from the Croatian word oseka which means ebb tide, the origins of human habitation of Osijek dates back to Neolithic times, with the first known inhabitants belonging to the Illyrians and later invading Celtic tribes. Roman emperor Hadrian raised the old settlement of Mursa to a colony with special privileges in 131 and these battles, especially the latter one, had long-term consequences for the colony and the region which was already under ever-increasing pressure from the invading Goths and other invading tribes. The earliest recorded mention of Osijek dates back to 1196, the town was a feudal property of Kórógyi family between 1353 and 1472. After the death of the last Kórógyi, King Mathias granted it to the Rozgonyi family, the city was almost completely destroyed by the Ottoman conquerors on 8 August 1526. The Turks rebuilt it in Ottoman oriental style and it was mentioned in the Turkish census of 1579, in 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent built a famous,8 kilometer-long wooden bridge of boats in Osijek, considered at that time to be one of the wonders of the world. In Ottoman Empire Osijek was part of the Budin Eyalet, following the Battle of Mohács in 1687, Osijek was liberated by the Habsburg Monarchy on 29 September 1687. Osijek was restored to rule on 29 September 1687 when the Turks were ousted. Between 1712 and 1715, the Austrian authorities built a new fortress, outer walls and all five planned bastions known as Tvrđa, in the heart of the town. Holy Trinity Square is surrounded on the north by the building of the Military Command, on the west by the Main Guard building, in the middle of the square there is a monument to the plague which was erected in 1729 by general Maximilian Petras widow. The Gornji Grad was founded in 1692 and Donji Grad followed on 1698 settled mostly by the inhabitants from swampy area of Baranja, Tvrđa, Gornji, and Donji grad continued as separate municipalities until 1786 when they were united into a single entity. In late 18th century it took over from Virovitica as the centre of the Verőce county, the Habsburg empire also facilitated the migration and settlement of German immigrants into the town and region during this period. In 1809, Osijek was granted the title of a Free Royal City, the city developed along the lines of other central European cities, with cultural, architectural and socio-economic influences filtering down from Vienna and Buda. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Osijek was the seat of the Virovitica County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, during the 19th century, cultural life mostly revolved around the theatre, museums, collections, and printing houses. City society, whose development was accompanied by an economy and developed trade relations, was related to religious festivals, public events, entertainment. The Novi Grad section of the city was built in the 19th century, the newest additions to the city include Sjenjak, Vijenac, Jug and Jug II, which were built in the twentieth century
Osijek
Osijek
Osijek
27.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
Croatia
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Branimir Inscription
Croatia
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Flag
Croatia
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Tanais Tablet B, name Khoroáthos highlighted
Croatia
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The
walls of Dubrovnik helped to defend the city since
Middle Ages until the
1991–1992 siege.
28.
Bekal Fort
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Bekal Fort, is the largest fort in Kerala, situated at Bekal village in Kasaragod district, Kerala and it is 65 km from Mangalore city spreading over 40 acres. An important feature of this fort is the water-tank with its flight of steps, the fort has a tunnel opening towards the south and a magazine for keeping ammunition with broad steps leading to the Observation Tower. From there one has a view of towns in the vicinity like Kanhangad, Pallikkara, Bekal, Kottikkulam. The nearest railway stations are Bekal Fort, Kotikulam, Kanhangad and this observation center had strategic significance in discovering even the smallest movements of the enemy and ensuring the safety of the Fort. The Fort appears to have built up from the sea since almost three fourths of its exterior is drenched and the waves continually stroke the citadel. The Mukhyaprana Temple of Hanuman and the ancient Muslim mosque nearby bear testimony to the religious harmony that prevailed in the area. The zigzag entrance and the trenches around the show the defense strategy inherent in the fort. Unlike most other Indian forts, Bekal Fort was not a center of administration, for no remains of any palace, arguably the fort was built especially for fulfilling defence requirements. The holes on the walls of the fort are specially designed to defend the fort effectively. This is remarkable evidence of technology in defense strategy, Shivappa Nayaka of Bednore constructed the Bekal Fort in 1650 AD. During the Perumal Age Bekal was a part of Mahodayapuram, the Kodavalam inscription of Bhasakara Ravi II illustrate the undisputed political sway of Mahodayapuram over this region. Following the political decline of Mahodayapuram Perumals by the 12th century AD, North Kerala including Bekal, the maritime importance of Bekal increased much under the Kolathiris and it became an important port town of Tulunadu and Malabar. It was usual in older days for every royal palace to be protected by a fort, the Bekal fort might have, therefore, existed even from early days of the Chirakkal Rajas. While writing a description of the Kolathiri Kingdom in his Kerala History, padmanabha Menon writes, The eldest of the male members reigned as sovereign Kolathiri. The next in succession, the apparent, was the Thekkelamkur. The residence assigned to him was the Vadakara fort, the third in succession was the Vadakkelamkur in charge of Vekkolath fort. This Vekkolath fort is identified by scholars as the present Bekal. Stuart, in his Handbook of South Canara, makes this observation, the two forts of Bekal and Chandragiri were originally under the Kolathiri or Chirakkal Rajas until the time of Shivappa Nayakas invasion
Bekal Fort
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Bekal Fort
Bekal Fort
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Bekal Fort Beach
Bekal Fort
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Arabian Sea visible from the fort
Bekal Fort
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Panoramic view from inside Bakel Fort.
29.
Kasaragod district
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Kasaragod District is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. Kasaragod became part of Kannur district following the reorganisation of states, Kasaragod was declared as a district on 24 May 1984. To its south lies Kannur District, to the South east is Kodagu district, all along its east it is walled by the Western Ghats while along the west the Laccadive Sea borders it. The district, covering an area of around 1992 km2, has a population of 1,307,375 and has four taluks, namely, Kasaragod and Hosdurg, Vellarikundu and Manjeshwaram Taluk. Major towns in Kasaragod district are Nileshwar, Kanhangad, Kasaragod, Uppala, Kumbla and it has three municipalities (Nileshwar Kasaragod, and Kanhangad and thirty-eight grama panchayats. Kasaragod was known to the Arabs by the name Harkwillia, many Arab travelers who visited Kerala between the 9th and the 14th centuries visited Kasaragod, which was an important trade centre then. Duarte Borbosa, the Portuguese traveler who visited Kumbla, near Kasaragod in 1514, Kasaragod was part of the kumbala Kingdom in which there were 64 Tulu and Malayalam villages. When the Vijayanagara empire attacked Kasaragod, it was still under the Kolathiri Raja who had Nileshwaram as one of his capitals, during the decline of the Vijayanagara empire, the administration of this area was vested with Ikkeri Nayakas. At the onset of collapse of the Vijayanagara empire, Venkappa Nayaka declared independence to Ikkery, Kumbla, Chandragiri and Bekal are considered to be the chain of forts constructed or renovated by Shivappa Nayaka. Francis Buccanan, the doctor of Arthur Wellesley, visited Kasargod in 1800. In his travelogue, he recorded information on places like Athiraparambu, Kavvai, Nileshwaram, Bekal, Chandragiri, in 1763, Hyder Ali conquered Bedanoor, the capital of the Ikkery Naiks. His son Tippu Sultan conquered much of Malabar, as per the Sreerangapattanam Treaty of 1792, Tippu surrendered Malabar, except Kanara to the British. The British got Kanara only after the death of Tippu Sultan and it is said that Kinavoor Molom is belonging to Karinthalam. Before the formation of Kerala, Kasaragod was a part of erstwhile South Canara district of Madras Presidency, Kasaragod became part of Kannur district following the reorganisation of states and formation of Kerala in November 1,1956. Kasaragod was declared as a district on 24 May 1984, the district is the northernmost district of the State of Kerala. Kasaragod is located at 12. 5°N75. 0°E /12.5,75.0 and it has an average elevation of 19 metres. According to the 2011 census Kasaragod district has a population of 1,307,375 and this gives it a ranking of 375th in India. The district has a density of 654 inhabitants per square kilometre
Kasaragod district
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Chandragiri bridge which connects Kasargod town to
Chemnad Panchayath.
Kasaragod district
–
Location in Kerala, India
Kasaragod district
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Ranipuram Hill Station
Kasaragod district
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Bekal Fort Beach
30.
Kerala State
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
Kerala State
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A houseboat near
Alappuzha, Kerala
Kerala State
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Parasurama, surrounded by settlers, commanding
Varuna (the
Hindu God of water) to part the seas and reveal Kerala.
Kerala State
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A
dolmen erected by Neolithic people in
Marayur
Kerala State
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Silk Road map. The spice trade was mainly along the water routes (blue).
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Bastion". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. 1 (first ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 90.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
