1.
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
2.
Galerie des Batailles
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It is an epigone of the Grande galerie of the Louvre and was intended to glorify French military history from the Battle of Tolbiac to the Battle of Wagram. 13 bronze tablets on the wall are inscribed with the names of princes, admirals, constables, marshals, there are also busts placed on supports against the columns and between the paintings. While a number of them were of questionable quality, a few masterpieces, joseph-Antoine, prince Poniatowski, maréchal de lEmpire. Adolphe Édouard Casimir Joseph Mortier, duc de Trévise, maréchal de lEmpire, Jean-Baptiste Bessières, duc dIstries, maréchal de lEmpire. Henri LXI, prince de Reuss-Schleiz, général de brigade in French service, Battle of Tolbiac, won by Clovis I over the Alamanni in 496. 4. 15m by 4. 65m Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, Robert dArtois, son of Otto IV and Mahaut dArtois. Hugues Quieret, French admiral, died 1340, Nicolas Béhuchet, French admiral, died 1340. Commemorative tablet at the end of the galerie. Commemorative tablet at the end of the galerie. Alexandre-Antoine Hureau, comte de Sénarmont, général de division, artist, Antoine Laurent Dantan the Elder. César Charles Étienne, comte Gudin, général de division, walter VI of Brienne, Duke of Athens, constable of France in 1356. Battle of Friedland,14 June 1807,5. 43m by 4. 65m, showing Napoleon I and count Nicolas Charles Oudinot Antoine Louis Charles, comte Lasalle, Battle of Wagram,6 July 1809, by Horace Vernet. Dimensions,5. 3m by 4. 65m, showing Napoleon I, artist, François Masson. 58m by 5. 10m Nicolas-Bernard, général-baron Guiot de Lacour, général de division. Artist, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Debay, le Fils Battle of Hohenlinden,3 December 1800, showing Jean Victor Moreau, Michel Ney, Emmanuel de Grouchy, Jean de Habsburg, André Bruno de Frévol, comte de La Coste, général de brigade. Second Battle of Zürich,25 September 1799, oil on canvas, showing André Masséna, commissioned by Louis-Philippe in 1835,5.43 m by 4.65 m Claude-Louis-Constant Corbineau, général de brigade. Artist, Antoine Laurent Dantan, lAîné Joseph Sécret Pascal-Vallongue, général de Brigade, Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. Artist, Charles-François Lebœuf, Nanteuil, also known as Nanteuil-Lebœuf, prigent de Coëtivy, sire de Coëtivy, Admiral of France. Killed at the siege of Cherbourg,5. 43m by 4. 65m, showing Philip and Nicolas Zonnekin, dated and signed Scheffer Henry 1837
3.
Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north, south, and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. He also replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins. In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II
4.
Douai
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Douai is a commune in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department, located on the river Scarpe some 40 kilometres from Lille and 25 km from Arras, Douai is home to one of the regions most impressive belfries. The population of the area, including Lens, was 552,682 in 1999. The main industries in the town are in the chemical and metal engineering sectors, Renault has a large vehicle assembly plant near the town, which has produced many well known Renault vehicles, such as the R14, R11, R19, and the Megane and Scenic of today. The Gare de Douai railway station is served by trains towards Lille, Arras, Lens, Amiens, Saint-Quentin. It is also connected to the TGV network, with high speed trains to Paris, Lyon, Nantes and its site probably corresponds to that of a 4th-century Roman fortress known as Duacum. From 10th century the town was a fiefdom of the counts of Flanders. The town became a textile market centre during the Middle Ages. In 1384, the county of Flanders passed into the domains of the Dukes of Burgundy, in 1667, Douai was taken by the troops of Louis XIV of France, and by the 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the town was ceded to France. During successive sieges from 1710 to 1712, Douai was almost completely destroyed by the British Army, by 1713, the town was fully integrated into France. Douai became the seat of the Parliament of Flanders, the town is still a transportation and commercial center for the area, which was known up to the Sixties for its coalfield, the richest in northern France. Douais ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower, the 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying German forces and they were reinstalled after repairs in 1924, but 47 of them were replaced in 1954 to obtain a better sound. An additional larger bell in the summit, a La called Joyeuse, dates from 1471, the chimes are rung by a mechanism every quarter-hour, but are also played via a keyboard on Saturday mornings and at certain other times. The substantial Porte de Valenciennes town gate, a reminder of the towns past military importance, was built in 1453, one face is built in Gothic style, while the other is of Classical design. The University of Douai was founded under the patronage of Phillip II and it was prominent, from the 1560s until the French Revolution, as a centre for the education of English Catholics escaping the persecution in England. Connected with the University were not only the English College, Douai, founded by William Allen, but also the Irish and Scottish colleges and the Benedictine, Franciscan and Jesuit houses. However, the community was expelled at the time of the French Revolution in 1793 and, after years of wandering, finally settled at Downside Abbey, Somerset
5.
Le Quesnoy
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Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Le Quesnoys inhabitants are known as Quercitains, the town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold, the lack of wealth underground and of a major transportation route partly explains this. The authorities however took note of this weakness and proposed the Ecaillon canal from Sambre to Scheldt, there is a craft, however, firmly maintained until 1945 when a hundred shoemakers were still identifiable. Shoemakers worked at home for a company located in rue du Petit Valenciennes in a kind of cottage industry. A glassmaking factory installed near the track to the site of the former Intermarché collapsed after World War I. In the Bellevue district, the remains of a factory attest to the presence of a pottery factory. The post war boom or ‘trentes glorieuses’ saw develop an industrial outskirts of town, chemical company, today, economic activity is mainly based on tourism and local shops. The town with its ramparts, its ponds and its history are major attractions. The Quesnoy is home to small traders and a trading area of more than respectable size for a town of less than 5,000 people. The closure of industrial enterprises and services remains problematic even though there have some new sources of work such as with the Emig company. The town comes alive on Friday morning still for its weekly market, Le Quesnoy is first attested in forms accompanied by the Latinized name of its alleged founder, called Haymon or Aymond, Haymon Quercitum. Despite this assertion, the historian Valenciennes d’Oultreman said he could be a character named Aymon, in the 9th century, the region was occupied by the Vikings who settled there along rivers. Around the year 842 at the time of King Charles the Bald, they were blocked at Valenciennes, later, the land at Le Queroy became a freehold belonging to the Episcopal mass at Cambrai and by the name ofNoflus, latinized from Novem fluctibus. Finally,1148, the freehold was sold by the Bishop of Cambrai and this castle had a tower which together with the rest make up a fortress. Alice of Namur, wife of Baldwin IV endowed the castle with a dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The castle had a park called Bois du Gard in which encountered deer, fallow deer, the park extended to the southeast Margaret, in 1345, succeeded following the death in Friesland of her brother William II. In 1345, she granted to foreigners, of countries they might be
6.
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
7.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
8.
Habsburg Monarchy
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen
9.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
10.
Prisoner of war
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A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the prisoner of war dates to 1660. The first Roman gladiators were prisoners of war and were named according to their ethnic roots such as Samnite, Thracian, typically, little distinction was made between enemy combatants and enemy civilians, although women and children were more likely to be spared. Sometimes, the purpose of a battle, if not a war, was to capture women, a known as raptio. Typically women had no rights, and were legally as chattel. For this he was eventually canonized, during Childerics siege and blockade of Paris in 464, the nun Geneviève pleaded with the Frankish king for the welfare of prisoners of war and met with a favourable response. Later, Clovis I liberated captives after Genevieve urged him to do so, many French prisoners of war were killed during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the later Middle Ages, a number of religious wars aimed to not only defeat, in Christian Europe, the extermination of heretics was considered desirable. Examples include the 13th century Albigensian Crusade and the Northern Crusades, likewise, the inhabitants of conquered cities were frequently massacred during the Crusades against the Muslims in the 11th and 12th centuries. Noblemen could hope to be ransomed, their families would have to send to their captors large sums of wealth commensurate with the status of the captive. In feudal Japan there was no custom of ransoming prisoners of war, in Termez, on the Oxus, all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their usual custom, then they were all slain. The Aztecs were constantly at war with neighbouring tribes and groups, for the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, between 10,000 and 80,400 persons were sacrificed. During the early Muslim conquests, Muslims routinely captured large number of prisoners, aside from those who converted, most were ransomed or enslaved. Christians who were captured during the Crusades, were either killed or sold into slavery if they could not pay a ransom. The freeing of prisoners was highly recommended as a charitable act, there also evolved the right of parole, French for discourse, in which a captured officer surrendered his sword and gave his word as a gentleman in exchange for privileges. If he swore not to escape, he could gain better accommodations, if he swore to cease hostilities against the nation who held him captive, he could be repatriated or exchanged but could not serve against his former captors in a military capacity. Early historical narratives of captured colonial Europeans, including perspectives of literate women captured by the peoples of North America. The writings of Mary Rowlandson, captured in the fighting of King Philips War, are an example
11.
Battle of Ramillies
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The Battle of Ramillies /ˈræmɪliːz/, fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand Alliance – Austria, England, and the Dutch Republic – the battle had followed a campaign against the Bourbon armies of King Louis XIV of France in 1705. Although the Allies had captured Barcelona that year, they had forced to abandon their campaign on the Moselle, had stalled in the Spanish Netherlands. Yet despite his opponents setbacks Louis XIV was desirous of peace –, for this end and in order to maintain their momentum, the French and their allies took the offensive in 1706. Encouraged by these early gains Louis XIV urged Marshal Villeroi to go over to the offensive in the Spanish Netherlands and, with victory, gain a fair peace. Accordingly, the French Marshal set off from Leuven at the head of 60,000 men and marched towards Tienen, as if to threaten Zoutleeuw. Also determined to fight an engagement, the Duke of Marlborough, commander-in-chief of Anglo-Dutch forces, assembled his army – some 62,000 men – near Maastricht. With both sides seeking battle, they encountered each other on the dry ground between the Mehaigne and Petite Gheete rivers, close to the small village of Ramillies. In less than four hours Marlboroughs Dutch, English, and Danish forces overwhelmed Villerois, the Dukes subtle moves and changes in emphasis during the battle – something his opponents failed to realise until it was too late – caught the French in a tactical vice. With their foe broken and routed, the Allies were able to exploit their victory. Town after town fell, including Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, with Prince Eugenes subsequent success at the Battle of Turin in northern Italy, the Allies had imposed the greatest loss of territory and resources that Louis XIV would suffer during the war. Thus, the year 1706 proved, for the Allies, to be an annus mirabilis, after their disastrous defeat at Blenheim in 1704, the next year brought the French some respite. Marlborough had to cope with the death of Emperor Leopold I in May and the accession of Joseph I, the resilience of the French King and the efforts of his generals, also added to Marlborough’s problems. Marshal Villeroi, exerting pressure on the Dutch commander, Count Overkirk, along the Meuse. With Marshal Villars sitting strong on the Moselle, the Allied commander – whose supplies had by now very short – was forced to call off his campaign on 16 June. What a disgrace for Marlborough, exulted Villeroi, to have made false movements without any result, with Marlborough’s departure north, the French transferred troops from the Moselle valley to reinforce Villeroi in Flanders, while Villars marched off to the Rhine. On 11 January 1706, Marlborough finally reached London at the end of his diplomatic tour and it seems that the Duke’s favoured scheme was to return to the Moselle valley and once more attempt an advance into the heart of France. But these decisions soon became academic, shortly after Marlborough landed in the Dutch Republic on 14 April, news arrived of big Allied setbacks in the wider war
12.
Battle of Oudenarde
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It took place at Oudenaarde and was a great victory for the allies. The commander of the armies was John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, whose chief deputy was the commander of the Empires army Prince Eugène of Savoy. Meanwhile, the two French army commanders were very quarrelsome, Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme was a seasoned, experienced soldier. The Duke of Burgundy had considerably less experience and owed his position to the fact he was the grandson of the King, Marlboroughs army consisted of about 90,000 men just south of Brussels. Eugènes forces were assembled at Coblenz, in modern Germany and these two areas were somewhat far apart, while the French armys 100,000 soldiers were concentrated near Mons, in modern Belgium. At this time, the French commanders began quarrelling, Vendôme wanted to attack the city of Huy, which could draw Marlborough in pursuit. The eventual plan adopted, however, was to attack Flanders, the army moved eastward, until they reached the city of Braine-lAlleud, which was about 25 km south of Brussels, and also threatened the nearby city of Leuven. Marlborough placed his forces a few south of Leuven, in order to cover both threatened cities. The French army then remained inactive for more than a month and this apparently allowed the extremely behind schedule Eugène to bring his army from the Rhine River. On 5 July, however, the French unexpectedly moved west, taking the cities of Bruges and this extremely demoralized Marlborough and his army, and he did not recover until Eugène was at his side. The French army had the length of the Scheldt River from the French border to the newly taken city of Ghent. Only one British fortress remained, Oudenaarde, if they took that city, Marlboroughs army would be cut off from the coast, causing them to lose communications with England. Marlborough detected this objective, and also correctly guessed the method by which the French troops would attempt to take it and they would march down the east bank of the Scheldt, while leaving a large covering force between the two opposing armies. The French army marched on 8 July, toward the city of Lessines, however, Marlborough made one of the most inspired forced marches in history, taking the city on 10 July. This forced the French commanders to attempt simply to march across the Scheldt, again Marlborough ordered a forced march. This time, though, he ordered 11,000 troops to hold the crossing point across the Scheldt, under the command of his Quartermaster General. Cadogans force built 5 additional pontoon bridges to allow Marlborough to get his 100, 000-strong army across the river, Cadogan, a superb Irish cavalry commander, ordered some dragoons, under Danish General Jørgen Rantzau, to take prisoners from the French advance guard. Many of those troops escaped and alerted Lieutenant General Charles-Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron, when de Biron advanced, he was disagreeably surprised by the large number of Allied cavalry already across the river, along with the approaching Allied infantry
France
Holy Roman Empire
Dutch Republic