1.
Battle of Castiglione
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The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of Habsburg Austria led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated and driven back along a line of hills to the crossing at Borghetto. The town of Castiglione delle Stiviere is located 10 kilometres south of Lake Garda in northern Italy and this battle was one of four famous victories won by Bonaparte during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. The others were Bassano, Arcole, and Rivoli, Castiglione was the first attempt by the Austrian army to break the French Siege of Mantua, which was the primary Austrian fortress in northern Italy. To achieve this goal, Wurmser planned to lead four converging columns against the French and it succeeded insofar as Bonaparte lifted the siege in order to have the manpower sufficient to meet the threat. But his skill and the speed of his troops allowed the French army commander to keep the Austrian columns separated. Although the final attack was prematurely delivered, it nevertheless resulted in a victory. See Castiglione 1796 Campaign Order of Battle for French and Austrian units, Mantua was one of four famous fortresses known as the Quadrilateral. The French army occupied the three, Legnago, Verona and Peschiera. On 31 May, Bonaparte tried to rush Mantua, but the attempt failed, by 3 June, the French army invested the place, which was defended by Joseph Franz Canto dIrless Austrian garrison and 316 cannon. In June, Bonapartes army forced the Papal States, Tuscany, Parma and Modena to make peace, by taking artillery pieces from the subdued cities, the French general assembled a siege train of 179 cannon for his siege of Mantua. The formal siege began on 4 July, Bonaparte positioned his 46,000 soldiers to protect the siege of Mantua. Pierre François Sauret held Brescia and the side of Lake Garda. André Masséna guarded the approaches with the bulk of his force in the upper Adige River valley on the east side of Lake Garda. Pierre Augereau covered the lower Adige on either side of Legnago, jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier led the force besieging Mantua. Hyacinthe Despinoy had one demi-brigade at Peschiera, another with Masséna, Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaines cavalry reserve lay at Villafranca di Verona, southwest of Verona. Wurmser devised a plan of attack. He retained direct control over the two central columns, leading the Right-Center Column, Michael von Melas struck south with 14,000 soldiers down the west bank of the Adige
2.
War of the Spanish Succession
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The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European conflict of the early 18th century, triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg King of Spain, the infirm and childless Charles II. Charles II had ruled over a vast global empire, and the question of who would succeed him had long troubled the governments of Europe, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians formally declared war in May 1702. By 1708, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy, France faced invasion and ruin, but Allied unity broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated in Spain and with its casualties mounting and aims diverging, French and British ministers prepared the groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased combat operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought on to strengthen their own negotiating position, the Treaty of Utrecht and the Treaty of Rastatt partitioned the Spanish empire between the major and minor powers. The European balance of power was assured, in the late 1690s the declining health of King Charles II of Spain brought to a head the problem of his succession, a problem which had underlain much of European diplomacy for several decades. The empire was in decline, but remained the largest of the European overseas empires, unlike the French crown, the Spanish crowns could all be inherited by, or through, a female in default of a male line. The next in line after Charles II, therefore, were his two sisters, Maria Theresa, the elder, and Margaret Theresa, the younger, Maria Theresa had married Louis XIV in 1660 and by him she had a son, Louis, Dauphin of France. The testament of her father, Philip IV, reiterated this waiver and bequeathed the reversion of the whole of the Spanish dominions to his younger daughter, Margaret Theresa. However the French, using in part the excuse that the dowry promised Maria Theresa was never paid, nor was it clear whether a princess could waive the rights of her unborn children. Leopold I married Margaret Theresa in 1666, at her death in 1673 she left one living heir, Maria Antonia, who in 1685 married Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Shortly before her death in 1692, she gave birth to a son, if he chose, Louis XIV could attempt to assert his will on Spain by force of arms, but the Nine Years War had been an immense drain on Frances resources. To seek a solution and gain support, Louis XIV turned to his long-standing rival William of Orange. England and the Dutch Republic had their own commercial, strategic and political interests within the Spanish empire, however, the Maritime Powers were in a weakened state and both had reduced their forces at the conclusion of the Nine Years War. Louis XIV and William III, therefore, sought to solve the problem of the Spanish inheritance through negotiation, based on the principle of partition, to take effect after the death of Charles II. However, the bulk of the empire – most of peninsular Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, the Spanish Empire was now divided between the three surviving candidates. By this new treaty Archduke Charles would receive most of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, and the overseas empire. For Leopold I, however, control of Spain and its empire was less important than Italy
3.
Castiglione delle Stiviere
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Castiglione delle Stiviere is a town and comune in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy,30 kilometres northwest of Mantua by road. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the French under the duc de Vendôme occupied it, in 1706, in the first Battle of Castiglione a French army under Jacques Eléonor Rouxel de Grancey defeated here a Hessian army led by Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. It is the birthplace of St. Aloysius Gonzaga who was a Jesuit, Aloysius was buried in the Church of the Annunciation in Rome. His head was later translated to the basilica bearing his name in Castiglione delle Stiviere, Castiglione received the honorary title of city by presidential decree on 18 October 2001. It has an old castle, much altered and restored, especially by the Gonzaga family of Mantua in the 16th century, Castiglione is the birthplace of the International Red Cross, which was established by Henri Dunant during the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in 1859. There is a museum in the center of the dedicated to the IRC
4.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
5.
Hesse
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Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
6.
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
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His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the capital of Kassel. The other sons received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels, the line of Landgraves was founded by William IV, surnamed the Wise, the eldest son of Philip I. On his fathers death in 1567, he received one half of the Landgraviate of Hesse, with Kassel as his capital, and this formed the Landgraviate. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel expanded in 1604 when Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel inherited the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg from his childless uncle, Louis IV and his younger sons received apanages, which created several cadet lines of the house. The family line of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg survived till 1834, with the aid of the French and Swedes, she held it, together with part of Westphalia. During the Thirty Years War, the Calvinist Hesse-Kassel proved to be Swedens most loyal German ally and they maintained an army, garrisoning many strongholds, including Dorsten, the strongest fortress on the right bank of the Rhine which was subsequently lost as the Siege of Dorsten. Meanwhile, Hesse-Kassel was occupied by Imperial troops, at the Peace of Westphalia, accordingly, Hesse-Kassel was augmented by the larger part of the County of Schaumburg and by the Hersfeld Abbey, secularized as a principality of the Empire. The regent Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg introduced the rule of primogeniture, William VI, who came of age in 1650, was an enlightened patron of learning and the arts. He was succeeded by his son William VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, then an infant and he was succeeded by his brother Charles I. Frederick I of Sweden, the next landgrave, had become by marriage King of Sweden, on his death, he was succeeded in the landgraviate by his brother William VIII, who fought as an ally of Kingdom of Great Britain during the Seven Years War. This action, often criticized, has in later years found apologists. Historians now argue that the troops were Auxiliaries or mercenaries, Frederick II used the revenue thus derived to develop the economic and intellectual life of the country. Due to their involvement in the American War of Independence, Hessian has become an American slang term for all German soldiers deployed by the British against the American Revolution, one such regiment was the Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl. Since the early years of the Reformation, the House of Hesse was Protestant, Landgraves Philip I, William V, and Maurice married descendants of King George of Bohemia. From William VI onwards, mothers of the heads of Hesse-Kassel were always descended from William the Silent, William V was succeeded by Landgraves William VI and William VII. Under King Frederick I of Sweden, Hesse-Kassel was in union with Sweden from 1730–51. But the Kings younger brother, Prince William, ruled in Kassel as regent until he succeeded his brother, Hesse-Kassel maintained 7% of its entire population under arms throughout the eighteenth century. This force served as a source of mercenaries for other European states, the principality thus became known as Kurhessen, although still usually referred to as Hesse-Kassel
7.
Frederick I of Sweden
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Frederick I, Swedish, Fredrik I, was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He was the son of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, in 1692 the young prince made his Grand Tour to the Dutch Republic, in 1695 to the Italian Peninsula and later he studied in Geneva. After this he had a career, leading the Hessian troops as Lieutenant General in the War of Spanish Succession on the side of the Dutch. He was defeated in 1703 in the Battle of Speyerbach, in 1706 he was again defeated by the French in the Battle of Castiglione. Both in 1716 and 1718 he joined the campaign of Charles XII of Sweden against Norway and he married his second wife, Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, in 1715. Frederick then succeeded her on the throne, elected by the Swedish Estates and he was the only Swedish prince consort there had been to date. Frederick I had much influence during the reign of his spouse, but after the aristocracy had regained power during the wars with Russia, he became not so much powerless as uninterested in affairs of state. In 1723, he tried to strengthen royal authority, but after he failed and he did not even sign official documents, instead a stamp of his signature was used. He devoted most of his time to hunting and love affairs and his marriage to Queen Ulrika Eleonora was childless, but he had several children by his mistress, Hedvig Taube. Some historians have suggested that the bullet which killed his brother-in-law Charles XII of Sweden in 1718 was actually fired by Fredericks aide. Charles had been an authoritarian and demanding ruler, one reason the Swedish Estates elected Frederick was because he was taken to be fairly weak, the defeats suffered by Charles XII in the Great Northern War ended Swedens position as a first-rank European power. Under Frederick, this had to be accepted, Sweden also had to cede Estonia, Ingria and Livonia to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad, in 1721. In 1723 Frederick rewarded the military inventor Sven Åderman with the estate of Halltorps on the island of Öland, as a king, he was not very respected. When he was crowned, it was said, King Charles we recently buried and it is said about him, that although a lot of great achievements in the countrys development happened during his reign, he never had anything to do with them himself. When he died, Carl Gustaf Tessin said about him, Under the reign of King Frederick, the merchant business has flourished – he has never encouraged it with a single coin. The Stockholm Palace has been built – he has never been enough to look at it. Neither did he have anything to do with the founding of the first Swedish speaking theater at Bollhuset during his reign, one of his few important policies was the banning of duels. On 23 February 1748 Frederick I instituted the three Swedish royal orders of the Seraphim, of the Sword and of the North Star, Frederick became Landgrave of Hesse only in 1730, ten years after becoming King of Sweden
8.
Battle of Ekeren
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The Battle of Ekeren, June 30,1703 was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The French surrounded a Dutch force, which avoided destruction. This battle ended hope of an allied victory in the Spanish Netherlands in 1703. After taking Bonn on May 15, Marlborough now wanted to conquer Ostend, Antwerp and he ordered the Dutch general, Coehoorn, to march to Ostend and lay siege to it. Dutch general Van Sparre would march south west of Antwerp, Dutch general Obdam would march south from Bergen op Zoom, the United Provinces, however, were not keen to open the ports of Antwerp and Ostend to English commerce and thus to their competition with the Dutch. Therefore, Coehoorn did not besiege Ostend, but plundered the countryside between Ostend and Antwerp, Obdam marched on June 28 from Bergen op Zoom to Antwerp, arriving the next day at Ekeren, seven kilometres from Antwerp. Villeroi was not misled by Marlboroughs diversionary manoeuver, and sent all his troops from Diest to Antwerp to protect it, after hearing of this Marlborough tried to warn Obdam, ordering a withdrawal to Lillo, but he was too late. The Marquis of Bedmar and his Spanish troops were positioned near Wilmarsdonk and this ensured that the Dutch forces were surrounded on all sides by a superior force. Soon Dutch reconnaissance discovered the French dragoons and Obdam immediately sent his cavalry to Hoevenen, but it was too late, an attempt to conquer neighboring Muisbroek also failed. Then the French attacked, and Obdam tried to take Oorderen, the fighting went on for the entire day. By eight oclock there was no sign of Obdam, and Slangenburg decided to attempt an attack on Oorderen. Friesheim sent his men wading through the water, appearing where the French had not expected them to and this action enabled the remaining Dutch troops to break through and retreat in the darkness towards the Netherlands. The battle was a victory for the French, but Boufflers wasnt congratulated at all, Obdam survived and escaped south in the afternoon with thirty horsemen, disguising themselves as Frenchmen. His behaviour was not forgiven by the Dutch military, and his career was destroyed. Slangenburg, for his part, was acclaimed as a Dutch hero and he was also furious at Marlborough, who had been outmanoeuvered by the French and had not come to the aid of the Dutch. The Dutch lost 1,717 killed,1,003 wounded, the French and Spaniards lost 1,750 men. A large part of the battlefield, including the villages of Oorderen, Wilmarsdonk and Lillo, has disappeared under the Port of Antwerp expansion in the 1960s
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France
Hesse-Kassel
