1.
Franco-Flemish War
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The Franco-Flemish War was a conflict between the Kingdom of France and the County of Flanders between 1297 and 1305. Philip IV of France became King in 1285, and was determined to strengthen the French monarchy at any cost. The County of Flanders had been part of the French Kingdom since the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Flanders had some of the richest cities of that time, like Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Lille and these cities tried to keep their independence from the Count of Flanders and from the rural aristocracy. But the cities were divided between the rich patricians and the urban tradesmen, united in guilds. In 1288, Philip IV of France used complaints over taxes to tighten his control over Flanders, tension built between Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders and the King. In 1294, Guy turned for help to King Edward I of England, however, Philip imprisoned Guy and two of his sons, forced him to call off the marriage, and imprisoned Philippa in Paris until her death in 1306. After these indignities, in 1297 Guy attempted to revenge himself on Philip by an alliance with Edward I of England, Philip responded by declaring Flanders annexed to the royal domain and sending a French army under Robert II of Artois to conquer Flanders. This meant that count Guy effectively faced the French alone, the count’s eldest son Robert of Bethune speadily occupied Mortagne, at the confluence of the Scheldt and the Scarpe, and the castle of Helkijn. In March 1297 King Phillip IV arrested all partisans of count Guy, Philip IV then occupied the castle of l’Ecluse near Douai. In June 1297 Philip IV gathered an army of about 3000 knights at Compiegne, the French army marched on Arras, Lens and reached the Franco-Flemish border near Douai on 14 June 1297. After this setback Orchies surrendered to France, Valois troops, raided and burned the countryside up to Lille, but then returned to the French main army. On 16 June 1297 the entire French army entered Flanders marching upon Lille and burning the towns of Seclin, on 17 June the city of Lille was invested and a formal siege, lasting ten weeks, began. During the siege, French raiding parties marched through the Flemish countryside, burning or conquering the towns of Komen, Waasten and Kortrijk, in August 1297 the French troops were reinforced when Robert of Artois returned from his successful campaign against Edward in Aquitaine. Artois troops marched upon Cassel, which, except for the Flemish occupied castle, was burned, and to Sint-Winoksbergen, by August 20, Artois troops had reached Veurne. The Flemish counterattack on Artois ended in a French victory at the Battle of Furnes, five days later Lille surrendered to King Philip and the Flemish army, led by Robert of Bethune and 3000 men strong, was allowed to march out to Roeselare. Although facing problems at home, at the end of August 1297 King Edward eventually moved an army of 895 knights and 7560 infantry, finding no support in Bruges, the King moved to Ghent and made that city his base of operations in Flanders. After the fall of Lille, the French main army marched upon Kortrijk, on 18 September 1297 Philip was met with a delegation from Bruges which surrendered the city to him
2.
Zierikzee
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Zierikzee is a small city, located on the former island of Schouwen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 26 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis, Zierikzee received city rights in 1248 and was an independent municipality until 1997. The city is connected to the Oosterschelde by a 2 km long canal, in 2001, the town of Zierikzee had 10,313 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 3.0 km², the statistical area Zierikzee, which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 10,730. In 1953, Zierikzee was damaged by the catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953, the English town of Hatfield sent help and a friendship has developed. The two towns have been twinned, there was a sea battle in 1304. In 2015, the last surviving example of the citys defensive cannons, the coastguard had recovered it from a commercial diver, during a criminal investigation. The diver had found it off the Kent coast
3.
County of Zeeland
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The County of Zeeland was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries. It covered an area in the Scheldt and Meuse delta roughly corresponding to the modern Dutch province of Zeeland, the area has always been the prey of its stronger neighbors, the County of Holland, the County of Hainaut and the County of Flanders. In 1167 a war broke out between the counties, after which Count Floris III of Holland had to acknowledge the overlordship of Count Philip of Flanders in Zeeland. Count Floris IV of Holland reconquered Zeeland, which from the accession of Count Floris V, by the 1323 Treaty of Paris between Flanders and Hainaut-Holland, the Count of Flanders reneged from claims on Zeeland and recognized the count of Holland as Count of Zeeland. Nevertheless, Zeeland remained an administrative unit, which in turn was under the administration of the counts of Holland. In 1432 it was annexed by the Burgundian duke Philip the Good, after the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, Zeeland according to the Treaty of Senlis was one of the Seventeen Provinces held by the House of Habsburg, which in 1512 joined the Burgundian Circle. After the Eighty Years War, Zeeland was one of the United Provinces of the Dutch Republic established in 1581, after establishment of the States-General of the Netherlands in 1583, Middelburg initially became the place of assembly. From 1585 on they were held in The Hague, as a independent state the county Zealand ceased to exist under the Batavian Republic in 1795, when it became a département. Together with Zeeuws-Vlaanderen it today forms the province of Zeeland
4.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
5.
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
6.
County of Holland
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The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of North and South Holland in the Netherlands. The oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county as Frisia, before 1101, sources talk about Frisian counts, but in this year Floris II, Count of Holland is mentioned as Florentius comes de Hollant. This title was used after Holland was united with Hainault, Bavaria-Straubing. The titles eventually lost their importance, and the last count, Philip II of Spain, around 800, under Charlemagne, the Frankish Empire covered a great deal of Europe. In much of this empire an important unit of administration, corresponding roughly to a shire or county in England, was the gau. A comes or Count ruled over one or more gaue, because of the low trade, the negative trade balance with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim states, and the disappearance of currency, the economy was more or less reduced to bartering. The kings vassals could only be rewarded by giving them land, from this the system of Feudalism developed. The vassals, who were appointed by the king, strove for a system of inheritance. This become more and more the rule, and in 877 it was legalised in the Capitulary of Quierzy, upon the death of a king, the Frankish kingdom was frequently divided among his heirs. This partible inheritance often caused internal struggle which made centralized government problematic, the Viking Raids further undermined centralized government. At the end of the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious, the power had weakened because of the flood of 838. Upon Lothairs death in 855, the part of Middle Francia was awarded to his second son Lothair II. The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 added the Kingdom of Lotharingia — of which the Low Countries were part — to East Francia, which attempted to integrate it. However, there were no connections there were between the four German Stem Duchies of east Francia, the Franconia, the Saxony, the Bavaria. Lotharingia took a position with a large amount of self-determination. This became clear when Louis the Child, the last Carolingian of East Francia, while the Stem Duchies flocked to Duke Conrad I of Franconia, Lotharingia chose for the Carolingian Charles the Simple, king of West Francia. In Frisia the situation was complex, the power was in the hands of Roriks successor Godfrid the Sea King, who became embroiled in the high politics of the Frankish empire. He was allied with the children of the former Carolingian Lotharingian king Lothair II, the main actor in this murder was Everard Saxo, the count of Hamaland
7.
Republic of Genoa
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It began when Genoa became a self-governing commune within the Regnum Italicum, and ended when it was conquered by the French First Republic under Napoleon and replaced with the Ligurian Republic. Corsica was ceded to France in the Treaty of Versailles of 1768, before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the Bishop of Genoa was president of the city, however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other merchant families all fought for power in this Republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria and Piedmont, Sardinia, Corsica, through Genoese participation on the Crusades, Genoese colonies were established in the Middle East, in the Aegean, in Sicily and Northern Africa. The collapse of the Crusader States was offset by Genoa’s alliance with the Byzantine Empire, as Venices relations with the Byzantine Empire were temporarily disrupted by the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath, Genoa was able to improve its position. Genoa took advantage of opportunity to expand into the Black Sea and Crimea. Internal feuds between the families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption. However, this prosperity did not last, the Black Death was imported into Europe in 1347 from the Genoese trading post at Caffa in Crimea, on the Black Sea. Following the economic and population collapse, Genoa adopted the Venetian model of government, the wars with Venice continued, and the War of Chioggia -- where Genoa almost managed to decisively subdue Venice—ended with Venices recovery of dominance in the Adriatic. In 1390 Genoa initiated a crusade against the Barbary pirates with help from the French, though it has not been well-studied, the fifteenth century seems to have been a tumultuous time for Genoa. After a period of French domination from 1394–1409, Genoa came under rule by the Visconti of Milan, Genoa lost Sardinia to Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt and its Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Asia Minor colonies to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Under the ensuing economic recovery, many aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, according to Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and others, the practices Genoa developed in the Mediterranean were crucial in the exploration and exploitation of the New World. At the time of Genoa’s peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck. The architect Galeazzo Alessi designed many of the city’s splendid palazzi, as did in the decades that followed by fifty years Bartolomeo Bianco, a number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent. At the time of its founding in the early 11th century the Republic of Genoa consisted of the city of Genoa, as the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. By 1015 all of Liguria fell under the Republic of Genoa, after the First Crusade in 1098 Genoa gained settlements in Syria. In 1261 the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor became Genoese territory, in 1255 Genoa established the colony of Caffa in Crimea
8.
County of Flanders
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The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards the Counts of Flanders were one of the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions in Europe, up to 1477, the area under French suzerainty was located west of the Scheldt River and was called Royal Flanders. Aside from this the Counts of Flanders from the 11th century on also held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, an area called Imperial Flanders. Part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1384, the county was removed from French to Imperial control after the Peace of Madrid in 1526. In 1795 the remaining territory within the Austrian Netherlands was incorporated by the French First Republic, the former County of Flanders, except for French Flanders, is the only part of the medieval French kingdom that is not part of modern-day France. Flanders and Flemish are likely derived from the Frisian *flāndra and *flāmisk, the Flemish people are first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius, the Vita sancti Eligii. This work was written before 684, but only known since 725 and this work mentions the Flanderenses, who lived in Flandris. The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with present-day region of Flanders in Belgium, though there it extends beyond West Flanders. Some of the county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191, as a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of the Flemish Community. It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the flag with him from the Holy Land, where in 1177 he supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, in reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg. It is curious that the lion as a symbol was mostly used in border territories. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, in Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables of Aesop. The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory, during the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, for Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates
9.
Rainier I of Monaco, Lord of Cagnes
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Rainier I of Monaco was the first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of the area now known as Monaco. He also held the title of Lord of Cagnes, Cagnes was the town where in 1309 he established a stronghold, today known as the Château Grimaldi. Rainier held the citadel of Monaco for four years before departing on April 10,1301, in 1304 he was appointed Admiral of France after winning the Battle of Zierikzee. He married twice, firstly, Salvatica del Carretto, daughter of Giacomo del Carretto and they had four children, Charles I, his successor. Luca, Lord of Villefranche, married firstly Tedise, daughter of Daniel Cybo, secondly, Rainier I married Andriola Grillo. Françoise de Bernardy, Princes of Monaco, the history of the Grimaldi family
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.
Matins of Bruges
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The Matins of Bruges was the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges on 18 May 1302 by the members of the local Flemish militia. It has been named Matins in analogy to the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, the revolt led to the Battle of the Golden Spurs, which saw the Flemish militia defeat French troops on 11 July 1302. Bruges had had the rights for the importation of sheeps wool from England. This trade was in the hands of the bourgeois but when Edward I began to deal directly with the customers, the traders and their political agents, the aldermen, called upon their liege, Philip the Fair, to maintain their dominant monopolistic position. To do so, he garrisoned French troops in the town, during the night of 18 May 1302, armed insurrectionists led by Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breydel entered the houses where the French were garrisoned. Another version suggests the alternative des gilden vriend, friend of the guilds, only the governor, Jacques de Châtillon, who absconded after he failed to rally the garrison, and a handful of the French managed to escape with their lives. Approximately 2,000 people are estimated to have died, after the Bruges Matins, Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck were celebrated as the leaders of the insurrection. Their statue, which was an initiative of Julius Sabbe, has decorated the market in Bruges since 1887, list of massacres in Belgium Omond, George William Thomson. Media related to Chest of Courtrai at Wikimedia Commons
12.
Battle of the Golden Spurs
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The Battle of the Golden Spurs, also known as the Battle of Courtrai, was a battle fought between the Kingdom of France and the County of Flanders at Kortrijk in modern-day Belgium on 11 July 1302. In 1302, after years of unrest, the people of Flanders revolted against French rule. King Philip IV of France immediately organized an expedition under Count Robert II of Artois to put down the rebellion, meanwhile, the civic militias of several Flemish cities were assembled to counter the expected French attack. When the two armies met outside the city of Kortrijk, the mounted French knights proved unable to defeat the well-trained Flemish foot militia on a battlefield particularly unsuited for cavalry. The result was a rout of the French nobles, who suffered losses at the hands of the Flemish. The battle was an early example of an all-infantry army overcoming an army that depended on the shock attacks of mounted knights. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Battle of the Golden Spurs became an important cultural point for the Flemish Movement. In 1973, the date of the battle was chosen to be the date of the holiday of the Flemish Community in Belgium. The origins of the Franco-Flemish War can be traced back to the accession of Philip IV the Fair to the French throne in 1285. Philip hoped to control over the County of Flanders, a semi-independent polity notionally part of the Kingdom of France. In the 1290s, Philip attempted to support from the Flemish aristocracy and succeeded in winning the allegiance of some local notables. He was opposed by a led by the Flemish knight Guy of Dampierre who attempted to form a marriage alliance with the English against Philip. In Flanders, however, many of the cities were split into factions known as the Lilies, who were pro-French, and the Claws, led by Pieter de Coninck in Bruges, in June 1297, the French invaded Flanders and gained some rapid successes. The English, under Edward I, withdrew to face a war with Scotland and the Flemish in 1297 signed a temporary armistice, in January 1300, when the truce expired, the French invaded Flanders again and by May were in total control of the county. Guy of Dampierre was imprisoned and Philip himself toured Flanders making administrative changes, after Philip left Flanders, unrest broke out again in the Flemish city of Bruges directed against the French governor of Flanders, Jacques de Châtillon. On 18 May 1302, rebellious citizens who had fled Bruges returned to the city and murdered every Frenchman they could find, with Guy of Dampierre still imprisoned, command of the rebellion was taken by John and Guy of Namur. Most of the towns of the County of Flanders agreed to join the Bruges rebellion except for the city of Ghent which refused to take part. Most of the Flemish nobility also took the French side, fearful of what had become an attempt to power by the lower classes
13.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
14.
Philip IV of France
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Philip IV, called the Fair or the Iron King, was King of France from 1285 until his death. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also Philip I, Philip relied on skillful civil servants, such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny, to govern the kingdom rather than on his barons. Philip and his advisors were instrumental in the transformation of France from a country to a centralized state. Philip, who sought an uncontested monarchy, compelled his vassals by wars and his ambitions made him highly influential in European affairs. His goal was to place his relatives on foreign thrones, princes from his house ruled in Naples and Hungary. He tried and failed to make relative the Holy Roman Emperor. He began the advance of France eastward by taking control of scattered fiefs. To further strengthen the monarchy, he tried to control the French clergy and this conflict led to the transfer of the papal court to the enclave of Avignon in 1309. In 1306, Philip the Fair expelled the Jews from France and, in 1307, Friday 13th, Philip was in debt to both groups and saw them as a state within the state. His final year saw a scandal amongst the family, known as the Tour de Nesle Affair. His three sons were kings of France, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV. A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born in the fortress of Fontainebleau to the future Philip III. He was the second of four born to the couple. His father was the heir apparent of France at that time, in August 1270, when Philip was two years old, his grandfather died while on Crusade, his father became king, and his elder brother Louis became heir apparent. Only five months later, in January 1271, Philips mother died after falling from a horse, a few months later, one of Philips younger brothers, Robert, also died. Philips father was crowned king at Rhiems on 15 August 1271. Six days later, he married again, Philips step-mother was Marie, in May 1276, Philips elder brother Louis died, and the eight year old Philip became crown prince. It was suspected that Louis had been poisoned, and that his stepmother, one reason for these rumours was the fact that the queen gave birth to her own eldest son in the same month as the death of the crown prince
15.
Count of Flanders
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The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. The title was held for a time by the Holy Roman Emperor, during the French Revolution in 1790, the county of Flanders was annexed to France and the peerage ceased to exist. In the 19th century, the title was appropriated by Belgium, the most recent holder died in 1983. Although the early rulers, starting with Arnulf I, were referred to as margraves or marquesses. Since then, the rulers of Flanders have only referred to as Counts. The Counts of Flanders enlarged their estate through a series of diplomatic marriages, the counties of Hainaut, Namur, Béthune, Nevers, Auxerre, Rethel, Burgundy, and Artois were all acquired in this manner. However, the County of Flanders suffered the fate in turn. As a result of the marriage of Countess Margaret III with Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, the county, the Counts of Flanders were also associated with the Duchy of Brittany prior to its union with France. In c 1323, Joan, the daughter of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, joanna of Flanders, the granddaughter of Count Robert III and daughter of his son, Count Louis I, married John Montfort. It was through this alliance that the Duchy of Brittany was eventually joined to the throne of France, baldwin I Iron Arm, married Judith and was granted lands and honours, which would evolve into the County of Flanders. In 1246, King Louis IX of France awarded Flanders to William, when the Habsburg empire was divided among the heirs of Charles V, the Low Countries, including Flanders, went to Philip II of Spain, of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg. The fief was claimed by the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon, in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht settled the succession and the County of Flanders went to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg. The Emperor Francis II relinquished his claim to the Low Countries in the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797, in modern times, from 1840 onward, the substantive title Count of Flanders has been granted to two younger sons of the Kings of the Belgians. The second of these died in 1983, and the title not be conferred again. It is a title which is only nominally and ceremonially used. Genealogy of the counts of Flanders
16.
Count of Holland
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The Counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf and he received land around Egmond from Charles the Fat at a place called Bladella in 922. This is seen as the beginning of the county of Holland, however, until about 1100, the usual names for the county were West-Friesland, Frisia or Kennemerland, in spite of this the counts from Dirk I onwards are named of Holland. Note that the chronology of the first few counts is uncertain and this third Count Dirk is placed between Dirk I and II and numbered as Dirk I bis to avoid confusion with the already established numbering referring to the other counts of Holland named Dirk. John of Avesnes was a son of Adelaide of Holland, sister of William II of Holland, during the rule of Margaret, her son William V had the real power in the county. He became ruler in his own right as a result of the Hook and he was also Duke of Bavaria-Straubing as William I. This war was won by Philip of Burgundy in 1432. Philip was a nephew of William VI, who had married a daughter of Philip the Bold of Burgundy, in 1432 he forced Jacqueline to abdicate from Hainaut and Holland on his behalf. In 1581, the Estates General of the United Provinces declared themselves independent from the Spanish rule of Philip II. Until the Treaty of Münster in 1648, the kings of Spain still used the title Count of Holland, but they had lost the actual power over the county to the States of Holland. Philip IV, King Philip III of Spain Philip V, King Philip IV of Spain The County remained in existence as a constituent member state of the Dutch Republic until 1795. There were no more Counts however since the Estates of Holland, the Stadtholders, who were servants of the Estates were the de facto Chief-Executives during this period. Counts of Holland family tree A book of 32 plates of the counts of Holland published in Amsterdam in 1663, engraved by Adriaen Matham B. K. S. Dijkstra, Een stamboom in been, Amsterdam 1991
17.
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Henry II, also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B. was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014 until his death in 1024 and the last member of the Ottonian dynasty of Emperors as he had no children. The son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and his wife Gisela of Burgundy, Emperor Henry II was a great-grandson of German King Henry I, since his father had rebelled against two previous emperors, the younger Henry was often in exile. This led him to turn to the Church at an age, first finding refuge with the Bishop of Freising. He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria in 995 as Henry IV, as Duke, he attempted to join his second-cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, in suppressing a revolt against imperial rule in Italy in 1002. Before Henry II could arrive, however, Otto III died of fever, after defeating several other claimants to the throne, Henry II was crowned as King of Germany on July 9,1002 and as King of Italy on 15 May 1004. Henry II in 1004 aided Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia against the Poles, unlike his predecessor, who had focused upon imperial attention in Italy, Henry spent most of his reign concerned with imperial territory north of the Alps. His main focus was on a series of wars against the Polish Duke Bolesław I, on 14 February 1014, Pope Benedict VIII crowned Henry as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. The rule of Henry II is seen as a period of centralized authority throughout the Empire and he consolidated his power by cultivating personal and political ties with the Catholic Church. He greatly expanded the Ottonian dynastys custom of employing clergy as counter-weights against secular nobles, through donations to the Church and the establishment of new dioceses, Henry strengthened imperial rule across the Empire and increased control over ecclesiastical affairs. He stressed service to the Church and promoted monastic reform, for his personal holiness and efforts to support the Church, Pope Bl. Eugene III canonized him in 1146, making Henry II the only German monarch to be a saint, Henry II married Cunigunde of Luxembourg, who later became his queen and empress. As the union produced no children, after Henrys death the German nobles elected Conrad II, Conrad was the first of the Salian dynasty of Emperors. Henry was born in May 973, the son of Duke Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, through his father, he was the grandson of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, and the great-grandson of King Henry I of Germany. By his mother, he was the grandson of King Conrad I of Burgundy, the elder Henry came into conflict with his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, in 974. After an initial failed revolt, Otto II imprisoned the elder Henry in Ingelheim, after escaping, Henry again revolted against Otto II. When this second failed, Otto II deposed Henry as Duke of Bavaria. As a consequence of his revolt, the Emperor stripped the Duchy of Bavaria of its southeastern territories bordering Italy, during his fathers exile, the younger Henry lived in Hildesheim. As a child he was educated in the Christian faith by Saint Wolfgang, bishop of Regensburg, the Emperor himself ensured the younger Henry received an ecclesiastical education in order that by becoming a religious official he would be prevented from participating in the Imperial government
18.
Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders
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Baldwin IV, called the Bearded, was Count of Flanders from 987. 980, was the son of Arnulf II, Count of Flanders and Rozala of Lombardy and he succeeded his father as Count of Flanders in 987, but with his mother Rozala as the regent until his majority. In contrast to his predecessors Baldwin turned his attention eastward, leaving the part of his territory in the hands of his vassals the counts of Guînes, Hesdin. In the French territories of the count of Flanders, the supremacy of the Baldwin remained unchallenged and they organized a great deal of colonization of marshland along the coastline of Flanders and enlarged the harbour and city of Brugge. Baldwin IV died on 30 May 1035, Baldwin first married Ogive of Luxembourg, daughter of Frederick of Luxembourg, by whom he had a son and heir, Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. Married Adèle of France, and had issue, Baldwin VI, Queen Matilda and he later married Eleanor of Normandy, daughter of Richard II of Normandy, by whom he had a daughter, Judith who married Tostig Godwinson and secondly Welf I, Duke of Bavaria
19.
John II, Count of Holland
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John II of Avesnes was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland. John II, born 1247, was the oldest son of John I of Avesnes and Adelaide of Holland, daughter of Floris IV and he was Count of Hainaut from 1280 to his death and Count of Holland from 1299 until his death. John continued the war between the House of Dampierre and the House of Avesnes against count Guy of Flanders for imperial Flanders. He became Count of Holland in 1299 with the death of John I, Count of Holland, through his mother Adelaide of Holland, heiress, the personal union he established between Hainaut and Holland–Zeeland lasted for another half-century. His cousin, Count Floris V, was fighting against Flanders for Zeeland and he sought help of France against Flanders. The French defeated the Flemish in 1300 and 1301, the rebels in Zeeland were defeated as well. Johns brother, Guy of Avesnes, became Bishop of Utrecht, so all his main enemies were gone. The tide changed dramatically after a Flemish uprising and the defeat of the French army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, Flemish patriots attacked Hainaut and Zeeland supported by the dissatisfied population there. Guy of Namur defeated Johns son, William, in a battle on the island of Duiveland, Bishop Guy of Utrecht was taken prisoner. Guy of Namur and Duke John II of Brabant conquered most of Utrecht, Holland, Guy of Namur was finally defeated in 1304 by the fleet of Holland and France at the naval Battle of Zierikzee. John II regained most of his authority when he died in the same year, in 1270, John married Philippa of Luxembourg, daughter of Count Henry V of Luxembourg and Margaret of Bar. Their children were, John, Lord of Beaumont, Count of Ostervant, William I, Count of Hainaut He succeeded his father in 1304. Married Joan of Valois, daughter of Charles, Count of Valois and he was married to Margaret, Countess de Soissons. Margaret, married Robert II of Artois, who was killed at the Battle of the Golden Spurs,11 July 1302, alice or Alix, who married 1290 Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, by whom she had no issue. Isabelle, married Raoul de Clermont Lord of Nesle, who was killed in battle at the Battle of the Golden Spurs,11 July 1302, mary of Avesnes, married Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. Willem de Cuser Aleid van Zandenburg, who was married firstly to Wolfert II of Borselen, lord of Veere, Counts of Hainaut family tree Counts of Holland family tree
20.
County of Hainaut
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The County of Hainaut, sometimes given the archaic spellings Hainault and Heynowes, was a historical lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire, with its capital at Mons. The name comes from the river Haine, besides Mons, it included the cities of Cambrai and Charleroi. It consisted of what is now the Belgian province of Hainaut, originally a gau of Lotharingia, Hainaut was briefly a part of West Francia before becoming definitively attached to Germany. The county was divided in 958 and only emerged in its more or less final form in 1071, during the High Middle Ages, Hainaut became culturally and linguistically French. In 1432, Hainaut was acquired by the House of Valois-Burgundy and in 1477 passed to the Habsburgs with the rest of the Burgundian Netherlands and it was ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1555 to 1714. In 1659 and 1678 southern Hainaut was acquired by France, and in 1797 the rest of the county was ceded to France by the Emperor Francis II, who was also count of Hainaut. In Roman imperial times, Hainaut was, at least for the most part, as the empire lost control, this entire region came under the lordship of the Salian Franks, within their Neustrian territory. By the time of Charlemagne, the Frankish empire had declared a new Holy Roman Empire. After the death of the last Carolingian king in East Francia, Louis the Child in 911, following Gilberts death in 939, his successors from the House of Reginar failed to retain the ducal title, but continued to rule over the Hainaut region. After Count Reginar III Longneck had unsuccessfully rebelled against Duke Bruno the Great, however, in 998 the Reginars regained control over the County of Mons. When the last Count, Herman, died without issue in 1051, his widow Richilde married Baldwin VI, on the death of his father in 1067, Baldwin VI became the ruler of both Hainaut and Mons. He was succeeded by his son Arnulf III, who was killed at the Battle of Cassel in 1071 in a dispute with his uncle. The victorious Robert acquired Flanders, but his sister-in-law Richilde retained the adjacent Lower Lorraine territories in the Holy Roman Empire as her dowry. Henry IV ordered the Prince-Bishop of Liège to purchase the fiefs and then return them as a county to the countess Richilde. The Counts of Hainaut had several connections with the counts of Flanders and Holland. Throughout its history, the county of Hainaut formed a union with other states. The last independent countess died early on 8 October 1436 in Teylingen Castle, near The Hague, when Charles the Bold of Burgundy was killed at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the male line of the Burgundian dukes became extinct. In the same year, Charles daughter Mary of Burgundy married Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg, King Louis XI of France hoped to take advantage of the death of his cousin, Charles, and sent an army to invade the Netherlands
21.
Lessines
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Lessines is a Picardy municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. As of the 2006 census, Lessines total population was 17,848, the total area is 72.29 km² which gives a population density of 247 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Lessines proper, Ghoy, Bois-de-Lessines, Oseke, Papignies, Deux-Acren, Wannebeek and it is primarily known as the birthplace of the Surrealist painter René Magritte. The LESSINES post-office opened before 1830 and it used a postal code 71 with bars, and 214 with points before 1874. It used a postal code 104 with points before 1874, the PAPIGNIES post-office opened on 18 February 1880, GHOY and OLLIGNIES on 25 May 1905, OGY on 5 November 1907
22.
Avesnes family
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The Avesnes family played an important role during the Middle Ages. The family has its roots in the small village Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the north of France, one branch produced a number of Counts of Holland during the 13th century. The family died out in the 16th century, Baldwin, the first emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was as Baldwin IX Count of Flanders and as Baldwin VI Count of Hainaut. Baldwin had only daughters and was in turn succeeded by his daughters Joan, in 1212 Margaret II married Bouchard dAvesnes, a prominent Hainaut nobleman. This was apparently a love match, though it was approved by Margarets sister Joan, the two sisters subsequently had a falling-out over Margarets share of their inheritance, which led Joan to attempt to get Margarets marriage dissolved. She alleged that the marriage was invalid, and without much inspection of the facts of the case Pope Innocent III condemned the marriage, though he did not formally annul it. Bourchard and Margaret continued as a couple, having 3 children, as their conflict with Joan grew violent. He was released in 1221 on the condition that the couple separate, while he was in Rome, Joan convinced Margaret to remarry, this time to William II of Dampierre, a nobleman from Champagne. From this marriage Margaret had two sons, William II, Count of Flanders and Guy of Dampierre and this situation caused something of a scandal, for the marriage was possibly bigamous, and violated the churchs strictures on consanguinity as well. In 1246 king Louis IX of France, acting as an arbitrator, gave the right to inherit Flanders to the Dampierre children, and this would seem to have settled the matter, but in 1253 problems arose again. William of Holland was theoretically, as king, overlord for these territories, Margaret did not rest in her defeat and did not recognise herself as overcome. She instead granted Hainault to Charles of Anjou, the brother of King Louis, Charles took up her cause and warred with John I of Avesnes, but failed to take Valenciennes and just missed being killed in a skirmish. When Louis returned in 1254, he reaffirmed his earlier arbitration, with this second arbitration of the holy king, the conflict closed and John I of Avesnes was secure in Hainault. The following decades saw further strife between the Dampierres and the Avesnes, who by the start of the 14th century had inherited the County of Holland and Zeeland. Ida de Mortagne Nicholas le Beau m, mathilde de La Roche James of Avesnes m. Ameline de Guise Walter II of Avesnes m, marguerite de Blois Bouchard IV of Avesnes m. Margaret of Flanders John I of Avesnes m. Adelaide of Holland John II of Avesnes count of Hainaut and Holland m, philippa of Luxembourg William III of Avesnes m. Joan of Valois William IV of Avesnes m. Joanna, Duchess of Brabant Margaret II of Hainaut m, the History Files, The Kings of Holland
23.
William I, Count of Hainaut
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William I, Count of Hainaut, was Count William III of Avesnes, Count William III of Holland and Count William II of Zeeland from 1304 to his death. 1286, was the son of John II, Count of Hainaut and he was the brother of John of Beaumont and Alice of Hainault. William was originally not expected to become count, after the deaths of his elder brothers, John and Henry, he became heir to his fathers counties. Prior to becoming count, he was defeated by Guy of Namur at the battle on the island of Duiveland in 1304. Guy and Duke John II of Brabant then conquered most of Zeeland and Holland, William continued the war with Flanders until the Peace of Paris in 1323, during which the Count of Flanders renounced all claims on Zeeland. William, in turn, gained all of Zeeland but agreed to all claims on Imperial Flanders. William had occupied most of the Bishopric of Utrecht and tried to conquer Friesland but was repelled by Hessel Martena, at the death of his uncle, Guy dAvesnes, Bishop of Utrecht, William took his fief of Amsterdam and annexed it to Holland. With these important alliances William gained considerable influence and respect which he used to advance the interests of his counties
24.
Cadzand
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Cadzand is a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, about 8 km northwest of Oostburg, better known to many visitors is the nearby beach at Cadzand-Bad. Until 1 April 1970, Cadzand was a separate municipality and it then was annexed by the municipality of Oostburg. It was in January 2003, with the merger of Sluis-Aardenburg and Oostburg, tourist information website J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Cadzand. Map of the municipality in 1868
25.
Guy, Count of Flanders
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Guy of Dampierre was the Count of Flanders and Marquis of Namur. He was a prisoner of the French when his Flemings defeated the latter at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, Guy was the second son of William II of Dampierre and Margaret II of Flanders. The death of his elder brother William in a tournament made him joint Count of Flanders with his mother. Guy and his mother struggled against the Avesnes in the War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault, but were defeated in 1253 at the Battle of Walcheren, by the mediation of Louis IX of France, he was ransomed in 1256. Some respite was obtained by the death of John of Hainaut in 1257, in 1270, Margaret confiscated the wares of English merchants in Flanders for non-payment of customs. This led to a trade war with England, which supplied most of the wool for the Flemish weavers. The dispute was ended by a treaty agreed at Montreuil-sur-Mer on 28 July 1274, even after her abdication in 1278, Guy often found himself in difficulties with the fractious commoners. In 1288, complaints over taxes led Philip IV of France to tighten his control over Flanders, tension built between Guy and the king, in 1294, Guy arranged a marriage between his daughter Philippa and Edward, Prince of Wales. However, Philip imprisoned Guy and two of his sons, forced him to call off the marriage, and imprisoned Philippa in Paris until her death in 1306. After these indignities, Guy attempted to revenge himself on Philip by an alliance with Edward I of England in 1297, the French under Robert II of Artois defeated the Flemings at the Battle of Furnes, and Edwards expedition into Flanders was abortive. He made peace with Philip in 1298 and left Guy to his fate, the French invaded again in 1299 and captured both Guy and his son Robert in January 1300. The Flemish burghers, however, found direct French rule to be more oppressive than that of the count, after smashing a French army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, Guy was briefly released by the French to try to negotiate terms. Guy was returned to prison, where he died, in June 1246 he married Matilda of Béthune, daughter of Robert VII, Lord of Bethune, and had the following children, Marie, married William of Jülich, son of William IV, Count of Jülich. Married in 1285 Simon II de Chateauvillain, Lord of Bremur, Robert III of Flanders, his successor. Guillaume, Lord of Dendermonde and Crèvecoeur, married in 1286 Alix of Beaumont, John of Flanders, Bishop of Metz and Bishop of Liège Baldwin. Isabelle, married 1307 Jean de Fiennes, Lord of Tingry and Chatelain of Bourbourg, mother of Robert de Fiennes, Constable of France. John I, Marquis of Namur, married Margaret of Clermont, daughter of Robert, Count of Clermont, Guy of Namur, Lord of Ronse, Count of Zeeland, married Margaret of Lorraine, daughter of Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine. Henry, Count of Lodi, married January 1309 Margaret of Cleves and had issue
26.
Sluis
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Sluis is the name of both a municipality and a town located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands. The current incarnation of the municipality exists since on 1 January 2003, the former municipalities of Oostburg and Sluis-Aardenburg merged on that date. The latter of two municipalities was formed from a merger between the previous municipality named Sluis and the former municipality of Aardenburg. The town received city rights in 1290, in 1340 the Battle of Sluys was fought nearby at sea. From 2006 until its closure in 2013, Oud Sluis was one of only two Michelin three-starred restaurants in the entire country, the population of the city is 2,040. A ferry connection across the Westerschelde exists between Breskens and Vlissingen, after the opening of the Westerschelde tunnel near Terneuzen in 2003, the ferry now carries only pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Seventeenth-century painter Jacob van Loo was from Sluis, johan Hendrik van Dale, the creator of the Dutch Van Dale dictionary, Ernst Oppler, German painter, lived some years in Sluis Zwin Media related to Sluis at Wikimedia Commons Official website
27.
Arnemuiden
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Arnemuiden is a small city of around 5000 people in the municipality of Middelburg in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. It is located on the island of Walcheren, about 3 km east of the city of Middelburg. On the 23 September 1338, at the start of the Hundred Years War between England and France, a battle was held near Arnemuiden. It was the first naval battle of the Hundred Years War and it received city rights in 1574. Until 1997, Arnemuiden was a separate municipality, Arnemuiden has a railway station - Arnemuiden railway station. A substantial part of the inhabitants of Arnemuiden have been a fisherman in some part of their life and this explains the immense popularity of tattoos and fishing ship earrings in the village. De klok van Arnemuiden is a Dutch song about the clock at the Arnemuiden central market. J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Arnemuiden, map of the former municipality in 1868
28.
Veere
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Veere is a municipality with a population of 22,000 and a city with a population of 1,500 in the southwestern Netherlands, on Walcheren island in the province of Zeeland. The name Veere means ferry, Wolfert Van Borsselen established a ferry there in 1281, Veere received city rights in 1355. The Admiraliteit van Veere was set up as a result of the Ordinance on the Admiralty of 8 January 1488 in an attempt to create a central administration in the Burgundian Netherlands. To this was subordinated the Vice-Admiralty of Flanders in Dunkirk, in 1560 under admiral Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, this admiralty relocated near Ghent and in 1561 the Habsburg naval forces were also moved to Veere. Veere functioned as the port for Scotland between 1541 and 1799. Flemish architects Antonis Keldermans and Evert Spoorwater designed the Grote Kerk, the fortifications, the Cisterne, during this period of prosperity, the cultural centre was located at Sandenburgh castle, the residence of the noble Van Borsele and Van Bourgondië families. Court painter Jan Gossaert van Mabuse worked here, the poet Adrianus Valerius lived and worked in the city from 1591. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Veere was a trading city, with about 750 houses inside the city walls then. At the start of the Second World War, there was a Royal Netherlands Navy seaplane base at Veere, on 12 May 1940 the base was bombed by He-111 bombers causing some casualties. On 14 May, the seaplanes were ordered to evacuate to France and then England, Veere was finally liberated on 7 November 1944 by Scottish troops of the British 52nd Infantry Division during Operation Infatuate, the Allied assault on Walcheren. As part of the preparations for the operation, the sea dykes were bombed resulting in the inundation of much of the area. Unlike many other towns on the island, Veere was virtually undamaged in the fighting, as a result of the damming of the Veerse Gat inlet in 1961, the fishing fleet of Veere moved to a new home port at Colijnsplaat on Noord-Beveland. As of 2013 the main business of the town is tourism, Veere municipality reached its current expanded shape in 1997, after the addition of several neighboring towns. During the course of two centuries seventeen historical municipalities have merged to become present-day Veere. Its original full name was Veere-de-Stad en Zanddijk-Binnen, the city of Veere stands on the Veerse Meer lagoon on the island of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. The area of the municipality of Veere is 13,496 hectares, with a coastline of 34 kilometres, the population centres in the municipality are, The area is visited by 4 million tourists annually. The main attractions are the beaches and marinas, the Storm Surge Barrier on the Oosterschelde is the most popular visitor attraction in Zeeland. Official website Veere in the picture, Beautiful photos of Veere, website about the historic city of Veere
29.
Middelburg
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Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. Situated on the peninsula of the Zeeland province, Midden-Zeeland. The city of Middelburg dates back possibly to the late 8th century or early 9th century, the first mention of Middelburg was as one of three fortified towns erected on Walcheren to guard against Viking raids. In 844 a monastery was built on the site, which remained an active Catholic foundation until the Reformation, foundations for Middelburgs stately and picturesque cathedral were first laid in the 10th century, additional construction continued through the Middle Ages. Middelburg was granted city rights in 1217, during the Middle Ages, it became an important trading centre in the commerce between England and the rising cities of Flanders. The town continued to gain in power and prestige during the 13th and 14th centuries, from 1559.05.12 to 1603, Middelburg was the episcopal see of a Catholic bishopric covering all Zeeland. In the Eighty Years War, Middelburg was captured from the Spanish forces during a long siege, the northern provinces of the original Low Countries won their independence from their former Spanish Habsburg rulers and formed The Netherlands, a Protestant state. Middelburg played an important role in the 17th century slave trade, samuel Ben Israel, son of Menasseh Ben Israel, is buried in Middelburg at the Sephardic burial site located at the Jodengang outside the citywall. Menasseh Ben Israel negotiated with Cromwell the opening of England, and their colonies, Middelburg also has an Ashkenazic burial site, which is located at the Walensingel inside the city wall. In 1994 the synagogue was restored, as it was destroyed during the Second World War. This synagogue was the one to be built in the Netherlands during the Golden Age. In the hall of the station there is a plaque of remembrance for the Jews of Zeeland who started their journey to the death camps from the Middelburg train station. About a third of the old city centre was devastated by bombs and fire in the phases of World War II, on May 17,1940. The town was captured and liberated by British troops during Operation Infatuate on 5 November 1944, after the War, as much of the destroyed part of the old town center was rebuilt and restored along pre-War lines as possible. The citys archives, however, had been incinerated during the German bombardment, modern Middelburg has preserved and regained much of its historic and picturesque character. There are lavish 17th and 18th century merchant houses and storehouses standing along canals, the old city moats are still there, as are two of the city gates, the Koepoort Gate and the varkenspoort Gate. Part of the 18th century moat and defence works, however, were demolished in the 19th century to make way for a canal that crosses Walcheren from Vlissingen to Veere. The medieval abbey is still in use today, as a museum, the painter Pieter Gaal, was born and, after traveling over Europe to paint, settled and died here
30.
Walcheren
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Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus, the two sides facing the North Sea consist of dunes, the rest of its coastline is made up of dykes. Middelburg lies at its centre, this city is the provincial capital, originally, Walcheren was an island, but polders and a dam across the Oosterschelde have connected it to the island of Zuid-Beveland, which in turn has been connected to the North Brabant mainland. The Romans called it Wallacra, a term most likely associated with Walha, Walcheren became the seat of the Danish Viking Harald, who conquered what would become the Netherlands together with his brother Rorik in the ninth century. One fringe theory has it that Ibn Rustah described Walcheren when reporting on the seat of the khagan of the Rus, another fringe theory mentions Walcheren as the seat of Hades, described by Homer. The expedition turned into a disaster – although Flushing surrendered the Austrians had already been defeated at the Battle of Wagram in early July and were suing for peace. The French suffered some 4000 dead, wounded and captured, with the strategic reasons for the campaign gone and the worsening conditions, the British force was withdrawn in December. On 3 October 1944 the RAF bombed the sea wall at Westkapelle causing flooding, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division cleared South Beveland to the east and approached the island on 31 October 1944. The plan was to cross the Sloe Channel, but leading troops of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade found that assault boats were useless in the mud of the channel. The only route open was the 40 metre wide Walcheren Causeway, the Canadian Black Watch sent a company across on the evening of 31 October, but were stopped. The Calgary Highlanders sent two companies over in succession, the second attack opening up a bridgehead on the island, the Highlanders were eventually thrown back, having lost 64 killed and wounded. Le Régiment de Maisonneuve relieved them on the causeway, followed by the 1st Battalion, meanwhile, on 1 November 1944, the British Commandos landed in the village of Westkapelle in order to silence the German coastal batteries looking out over the Scheldt. The amphibious assault proved a success and by 8 November, all German resistance on the island had ceased
31.
Cassel, Nord
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Cassel is a commune in the Nord départment in northern France. Built on a prominent hill overlooking French Flanders, the town has existed since Roman times and it was developed by the Romans into an important urban centre and was the focus of a network of roads, which are still in use today, that converge on the hill. It was the headquarters of Marshal Ferdinand Foch during part of the First World War, in 1940, during the German invasion of France, Cassel was the scene of a fierce three-day battle between British and German forces which resulted in much of the town being destroyed. Today the town, which was following the war, is a popular destination for visitors to French Flanders. It is renowned for its views from the summit of Mont Cassel and is the location of the Nord départments principal museum of local art, history. It is also the home of the legendary giants Reuze-Papa and Reuze-Maman, the town of Cassel is situated at the top of Mont Cassel, a prominent hill located in the local Houtland region about 30 kilometres from the sea. The hill rises to a height of 176 metres above sea level and its geological composition comprises limestone capped with a very hard ferruginous layer of rock. The hill of Mont Cassel was occupied during the late Iron Age by the Menapii, a Belgic tribe, the hilltop was probably used as an oppidum or hill fort. The Menapii fought against Julius Caesar but were forced to submit to Rome in 53 BC and they rebelled along with their neighbours, the Morini, in 30 or 29 BC. The Roman governor of Gaul, Carrinas, successfully quelled the rebellion, Cassel was redeveloped as Castellum Menapiorum, the urban centre or civitas of the Menapii, the modern town takes its name from the Roman settlement. From the 1st century AD onwards, Cassel developed into a key centre for the whole region with an extensive road network converging on the hill. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Flanders became part of the Merovingian realm of Neustria, in the 9th century it became part of West Francia, forming a pagus within the kingdom of Charles the Bald. In 864, Cassel passed into the hands of Baldwin Ironarm, at the time, the town was on the edge of a deep bay of the North Sea, making it vulnerable to raids by the Vikings, who attacked and destroyed it in the 9th century. It was rebuilt by Baldwins grandson, Arnulf I, in the 10th century. In 1071, the sixth Count of Flanders, Arnulf III, was killed in the first Battle of Cassel by the forces of Robert the Frisian in a dispute over the succession to the title of count. The town was re-fortified, possibly by Robert, with a castle, Cassel was the capital of a chatellany during the Middle Ages, serving as the administrative centre for an area comprising about fifty towns and villages. It was the site of a battle that took place on 23 August 1328 involving Philip VI of France. The rebels had driven the ruling Count Louis I out of Flanders and sought to press their advantage by occupying Cassel, although they achieved some initial successes, the rebels were decisively defeated when William I, Count of Hainaut lent his support to the French side
32.
Saint-Omer
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Saint-Omer is a commune in France. It is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department 68 km west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, the town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area. The canalised portion of the river Aa begins at Saint-Omer, reaching the North Sea at Gravelines in northern France, below its walls, the Aa connects with the Neufossé Canal, which ends at the River Leie. Saint-Omer first appeared in the writings during the 7th century under the name of Sithiu, Omer, bishop of Thérouanne, in the 7th century established the Abbey of Saint Bertin, from which that of Notre-Dame was an offshoot. In the 9th century, the village grew up round the monasteries took the name of St Omer. The Normans laid the place waste about 860 and 880, ten years later the town and monastery had built fortified walls and were safe from their attack. Situated on the borders of territories frequently disputed by French, Flemish, English and Spaniards, St Omer for most of its history continued to be subject to sieges and military invasions. In 932 Arnulf of Flanders conquered the County of Artois and Saint-Omer became part of the County of Flanders for the three centuries. Along with its industry, St-Omer flourished in the 12th and 13th century. In 1127 the town received a charter from the count, William Clito. Later on the city lost its position in the textile industry to Brugge. After the mysterious death of Count Baldwin I, the County of Flanders was weakened, in 1214 Philip II of France captured Baldwins daughter Joan and her husband Ferdinand, Count of Flanders and forced them to sign the Treaty of Pont-à-Vendin, in which Artois was yielded to France. Ferdinand did not take this lying down, and allied with Emperor Otto IV and John, King of England, he battled Philip II at Bouvines, despite the political separation for the next 170 years, the city remained part of the economic network of Flanders. In 1340 a large battle was fought in the suburbs between an Anglo-Flemish army and a French one under Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy, in which the Anglo-Flemish force was forced to withdraw. From 1384, St-Omer was part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 of the Habsburg Netherlands, the French made futile attempts against the town between 1551 and 1596. During the Thirty Years War, the French attacked in 1638, finally in 1677, after a seventeen day siege, Louis XIV forced the town to capitulate. The peace of Nijmegen signed in the fall of 1678 permanently confirmed the conquest, in 1711, St-Omer was besieged by the Duke of Marlborough. The College of Saint Omer was established in 1593 by Fr Robert Persons SJ, after the Protestant Reformation, England had established penal laws against Catholic education in the country
33.
Tournai
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Tournai, known in Dutch as Doornik, is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres west-southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut. Tournai is part of the Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, which had 2,155,161 residents in 2008, along with Tongeren, Tournai is the oldest city in Belgium and it has played an important role in the countrys cultural history. Tournai is located in the Wallonia region of Belgium, at the limit of the Flemish plain, in the basin of the River Scheldt. Administratively, the town is part of the Province of Hainaut and it is also a municipality that is part of the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Tournai has its own arrondissements, both administrative and judicial and its area of 213.75 square kilometres makes it the largest municipality in size in Belgium, it is also the largest in population in Western Hainaut. Rocks from the Tournai area date from the Carboniferous Period and have used to define the Tournaisian Age. Tournai stone is a limestone which takes a polish and was used particularly in the Romanesque period for sculpted items such as Tournai fonts. It is also enough to have been used locally for pavements. It is sometimes called Tournai marble, though this is geologically inaccurate, Tournai, known as Tornacum, was a place of minor importance in Roman times, a stopping place where the Roman road from Cologne on the Rhine to Boulogne on the coast crossed the river Scheldt. It was fortified under Maximian in the 3rd century AD, when the Roman limes was withdrawn to the string of outposts along the road and it came into the possession of the Salian Franks in 432. Under king Childeric I, whose tomb was discovered there in 1653, in 486, Clovis moved the center of power to Paris. In turn, a son of Tournai, Eleutherius, became bishop of the newly created bishopric of Tournai. In 862 Charles the Bald, first king of Western Francia and still to become Holy Roman Emperor, after the partition of the Frankish empire by the Treaties of Verdun and of Meerssen, Tournai remained in the western part of the empire, which in 987 became France. The city participated in 11th-century rise of towns in the Low Countries, with a cloth industry based on English wool. An ambitious rebuilding of the cathedral was initiated in 1030, the stone Pont des Trous over the Scheldt, with defensive towers at either end, was built in 1290, replacing an earlier wooden structure. During the 15th century, the textile trade boomed and it became an important supplier of tapestry. The art of painting flourished too, Jacques Daret, Robert Campin and it was captured in 1513 by Henry VIII of England, making it the only Belgian city ever to have been ruled by England. It was also represented in the 1515 Parliament of England, the city was handed back to French rule in 1519, following the Treaty of London
34.
Guy of Avesnes
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Guy van Avennes was Bishop of Utrecht from 1301 to 1317. He was descended from an important Hainaut family, the House of Avesnes and he was the brother of John II, Count of Hainaut and Count of Holland, and their parents were John I of Avesnes and Adelaide of Holland. It was John II who ensured Guys appointment as bishop of Utrecht in 1301, instead of Adolf II van Waldeck, and he was consecrated bishop by the archbishop of Cologne in 1302 and he brought about a reconciliation between the Lichtenbergers and the Fresingen. However, in 1304 he weakened his brother Johns position by leading an offensive of Flemish troops which then occupied Holland, Guy was then captured at the Battle of Duiveland on 20 March 1304. In Guys absence, the Fresingen seized power in Utrecht with the support of the guilds, on 14 September 1305, the guilds regime had to capitulate to bishop Guy, but from then on the city retained a high degree of autonomy. However, it took until 1309 before the king recognised the bishop as Utrechts secular lord. In 1311, Guy took his place at the first Council of Vienne and he knew well that a compromise had to be made between the various parties in the Sticht and in Utrecht itself, and so took up a middle-of-the-road position. He personally managed the possessions of the lordships of Aemstel and of Woerden, after his death these lordships definitively devolved to the count of Holland. He was buried in Utrecht Cathedral and his tomb, damaged during the iconoclasm in the 16th century, van Nieuwenhuizen, Gwijde van Avesnes, Bisschop van Utrecht 1301-1317, scriptie RUU G. van der Zee, Vaderlandsche Kerkgeschiedenis, Kampen
35.
Episcopal principality of Utrecht
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The Bishopric of Utrecht was a civil principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in present Netherlands, which was ruled by the bishops of Utrecht as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1024 until 1528, it was one of the Prince-Bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, constituting, in addition to its ecclesiastical aspect, in 1528, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, secularized its civil authority and territorial possessions. The Diocese of Utrecht was established in 695 when Saint Willibrord was consecrated bishop of the Frisians at Rome by Pope Sergius I, with the consent of the Frankish ruler, Pippin of Herstal, he settled in an old Roman fort in Utrecht. After Willibrords death the diocese suffered greatly from the incursions of the Frisians, whether Willibrord could be called the first bishop of Utrecht is doubtful, as James Palmer points out, there was no real concept of a well-defined bishopric until at least the days of Alberic. Better times appeared during the reign of the Saxon emperors, who summoned the Bishops of Utrecht to attend the imperial councils. In 1024 the bishops were made Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, the secular territory over which it ruled was known as Sticht Utrecht or Het Sticht. This territory was divided into the Nedersticht and Oversticht, in 1122, with the Concordat of Worms, the Emperors right of investiture was annulled, and the cathedral chapter received the right to elect the bishop. It was, however, soon obligated to share this right with the four other chapters in the city. The Counts of Holland and Guelders, between whose territories the lands of the Bishops of Utrecht lay, also sought to acquire influence over the filling of the episcopal see and this often led to disputes and consequently the Holy See frequently interfered in the election. After the middle of the 14th century the popes repeatedly appointed the bishop directly without regard to the five chapters. The chapters transferred their right of electing the bishop to Charles V and his government, the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht became the Lordship of Utrecht in 1528. Gosses, Izaak H. De Bisschop van Utrecht, het Domkapittel en de Groninger Prefect, bijdragen voor vaderlandsche geschiedenis en oudheidkunde. Apostolisch vicarissen van de Hollandse Zending Budde, Paul, archived from the original on 2014-01-18
36.
John II, Duke of Brabant
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John II van Brabant, also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. He was the son of John I of Brabant and Margaretha of Flanders, John II succeeded his father in 1294 During the reign of John II, Brabant continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland from the pro-French count John II of Holland, John, who suffered from kidney stones and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous Charter of Kortenberg. After his death in 1312 John II was buried in the St. Michael, on July 8,1290, John married Margaret Plantagenet in Westminster Abbey, London. She was a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first Queen consort Eleanor of Castile, only one child was born out of this marriage, John III, Duke of Brabant. John II had several children, Jan van Corsselaer, was later named Lord of Witthem, Wailwilre, Machelen, la Rochette. Jan Cordeken, Founder of the House of Glymes and he was legitimized by the emperor Louis IV by charter dated of 27 August 1344, lists John II as the father and Elisabeth Gortygin as his mother
37.
Duke of Brabant
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The Duke of Brabant was formally the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, the Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant. This was an Imperial fief which was assigned to Count Henry III of Leuven shortly after the death of the preceding Count of Brabant, Count Palatine Herman II of Lotharingia. Although the corresponding county was quite small its name was applied to the country under control of the Dukes from the 13th century on. In 1190, after the death of Godfrey III, Henry I also became Duke of Lotharingia, formerly Lower Lotharingia, this title was now practically without territorial authority, but was borne by the later Dukes of Brabant as an honorific title. In 1288, the Dukes of Brabant became also Duke of Limburg, the title fell to the Dukes of Burgundy in 1430. Counts of Leuven, Counts of Brussels and Landgraves of Brabant, Henry III, already Count of Leuven and Brussels from 1078. The oldest Son/daughter becomes automatically the duke/duchess of Brabant when his/her father becomes King of the Belgians, when the Duke of Brabant loses his father, or when he abdicates, his title goes to the next in line, and he becomes the new King of the Belgians. Unlike the office of King of the Belgians, you do not have to reach the age of 18 to become Duke of Brabant, however, if a Duke of Brabant does not reach the age of 18, he cannot ascent to the Throne of Belgium. When the prince becomes duke of Brabant, this takes precedence of the other titles. When the Duke of Brabant marries legally, after permission of the King, the last Duke of Brabant became King in 2013, and passed the title to his oldest child. The current Duchess, Crown Princess Elisabeth was in 2013 only 12 years old when she became duchess, Leopold II Leopold, son of Leopold II - the only prince who died a Duke of Brabant. Leopold III Baudouin Philippe Elisabeth Coat of arms of Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant Dukes of Brabant family tree Charters of the Duchy of Brabant Counts of Louvain, genealogical note
38.
Dordrecht
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Dordrecht, colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,782 in 2014. The municipality covers the entire Dordrecht Island, also often called Het Eiland van Dordt, bordered by the rivers Oude Maas, Beneden Merwede, Nieuwe Merwede, Hollands Diep, and Dordtsche Kil. Dordrecht is the largest and most important city in the Drechtsteden and is part of the Randstad. Dordrecht is the oldest city in the Holland area and has a rich history, the name Dordrecht comes from Thuredriht, Thuredrecht. The name seems to mean thoroughfare, a ship-canal or -river through which ships were pulled by rope from one river to another, as here from the Dubbel to the Merwede, or vice versa. Earlier etymologists had assumed that the drecht suffix came from Latin trajectum, a ford, the Drecht is now supposed to have been derived from draeg, which means to pull, tow or drag. Dordrecht is informally called Dordt by its inhabitants, in earlier centuries, Dordrecht was a major trade port, well known to British merchants, and was called Dort in English. The city was formed along the Thure river, in the midst of peat swamps and this river was a branch of the river Dubbel, which is part of the massive Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta complex, near the current Bagijnhof. Around 1120 reference to Dordrecht was made by a remark that count Dirk IV of Holland was murdered in 1049 near Thuredrech, Dordrecht was granted city rights by William I, Count of Holland, in 1220, making it the oldest city in the present province of South Holland. In fact, Geertruidenberg was the first city in the county of Holland to receive city rights. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Dordrecht developed into an important market city because of its strategic location and it traded primarily in wine, wood and cereals. Dordrecht was made more important when it was given staple right in 1299. In 1253 a Latin school was founded in Dordrecht and it still exists today as the Johan de Witt Gymnasium and is the oldest gymnasium in the Netherlands. From 1600 to 1615 Gerhard Johann Vossius was rector at this school, on 18–19 November 1421, the Saint Elisabeths flood flooded large parts of southern Holland, causing Dordrecht to become an island. It was commonly said that over 10,000 people died in the flood, the gathering is regarded as the first important step towards the free and independent Dutch Republic. Other important gatherings such as the Union of Brussels and the Union of Utrecht paved the way for independence of the Dutch Republic. The Union of Dordrecht was held in an Augustinian monastery, nowadays simply called het Hof
39.
Floris V, Count of Holland
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Floris V reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke and his dramatic murder, engineered by King Edward I of England and Guy, Count of Flanders, made him a hero in Holland. He was the son of Count William II, who was slain in 1256 by Frisians when Floris was just two old, and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg. First his uncle, then his aunt fought over custody of Holland, at the battle of Reimerswaal on 22 January 1263, Count Otto II, Count of Guelders defeated Aleidis and was chosen regent by the nobles who opposed Aleidis. Otto II served as Floris Vs guardian until he was years old. Floris’s mother continued to reside in Holland after her husband’s death in 1256 and she died on 27 May 1266 and is buried in Middelburg abbey church. She died in the year that Count Floris V was declared old enough to rule without guardianship. Floris was supported by the count of Hainaut of the house of Avesnes, Floris married Beatrix of Dampierre, the daughter of Guy of Dampierre, count of Flanders, in 1269. In 1272 he unsuccessfully attacked the Frisians in a first attempt to retrieve the body of his father, Gijsbrecht and Herman were supported by the craftsmen of Utrecht, the peasants of Kennemerland, Waterland and Amstelland and the West Frisians. He assisted the bishop, John I of Nassau, by making a treaty with the craftsmen. The bishop would become dependent on Hollands support, and eventually added the lands of the lords to Holland in 1279. He gave concessions to the peasants of Kennemerland, Kennemerland was a duneland, where the farmers had far fewer rights than the farmers in the polders. Floris got rid of the Avesnes influence and switched allegiance to the Dampierres, in 1282 he again attacked the troublesome Frisians in the north, defeating them at the battle of Vronen, and succeeded in retrieving the body of his father. After a campaign in 1287–1288 he finally defeated the Frisians, in the meantime he had received Zeeland-bewester-Schelde as a loan from the Holy Roman King Rudolf I of Germany in 1287, but the local nobility sided with the count of Flanders who invaded in 1290. Floris arranged a meeting with count Guy of Flanders, but he was taken prisoner in Biervliet and was forced to abandon his claims and then set free. After Edward I moved his trade in wool from Dordrecht in Holland to Mechelen in Brabant, to gain Flanderss support against France, Edward I now prohibited all English trade with Holland and conspired with Guy of Flanders to have Floris kidnapped and taken to France. The humiliated lords Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel and Herman of Woerden enter the scene again as part of the conspiracy, together with Gerard van Velsen they captured Floris during a hunting party and brought him to Muiderslot castle. The news of the spread quickly, afraid of the people
40.
Cog (ship)
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A cog is a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were generally built of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia and this vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigged single sail. These vessels were mostly associated with seagoing trade in medieval Europe, especially the Hanseatic League and they ranged from about 15 meters to 25 meters in length with a beam of 5 to 8 meters, and the largest cog ships could carry up to about 200 tons. Cogs were a type of ship, characterized by a flush-laid flat bottom at midships. They had full lapstrake planking covering the sides, generally starting from the bilge strakes, the keel, or keelplank, was only slightly thicker than the adjacent garboards and had no rabbet. Both stem and stern posts were straight and rather long, the lower plank hoods terminated in rabbets in the hooks and posts, but upper hoods were nailed to the exterior faces of the posts. Caulking was generally tarred moss that was inserted into curved grooves, covered with wooden laths, finally, the cog-built structure could not be completed without a stern-mounted hanging central rudder, which was a unique northern development. Cogs used to have open hulls and could be rowed short distances, in the 13th century they received decks. Cogs are first mentioned in 948 AD, in Muiden near Amsterdam, current archaeological evidence points to the Frisian coast or Western Jutland as the possible birthplace of this type of vessel. For centuries, Limfjord in northern Jutland offered fairly protected passage between the North Sea and the Baltic, due to unusual geographical conditions and strong currents, the passage was constantly filling with sand and was completely blocked by the 12th century. Bigger ships that could not be pulled across the bars had to sail around the Jutland peninsula. This resulted in modifications to old ship structures, which can be observed by analyzing evolution of the earliest cog finds of Kollerup, Skagen. The need for spacious and relatively inexpensive ships led to the development of the first workhorse of the Hanseatic League, the new and improved cog was no longer a simple Frisian coaster but a sturdy seagoing trader, which could cross even the most dangerous passages. Fore and stern castles would be added for defense against pirates, or to use of these vessels as warships. Eventually, around the 14th century, the cog reached its structural limits, the replacement, the hulk, already existed but awaited reconditioning. Although there is no evidence that hulks descended from the cogs, it is clear that a lot of ideas were adapted from one to the other. The transition from cogs to hulks was not linear, according to some interpretations, both vessels coexisted for many centuries but followed diverse lines of evolution. The most famous cog still in existence today is the Bremen cog and it dates from the 1380s, and was found in 1962, until then cogs had only been known from medieval documents and seals
41.
Schiedam
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Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area, the city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south it is connected with the village of Pernis by the Beneluxtunnel and this was the towns main industry during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century, a dark period to which it owed its former nickname Zwart Nazareth or Black Nazareth. Furthermore, the city is known for Saint Lidwina, one of the most famous Dutch saints, in 1247, Lady Adelaide of Holland married John I, Count of Hainaut. As dowry she received him the eastern part of the dam together with the adjacent polder. The dam attracted many trade activities because goods for and from the hinterland had to be transhipped, a small town developed swiftly around the dam and its activities. In the year 1275 Schiedam received city rights from Lady Adelaide, this in her capacity as sister of William II and she ordered the building of a castle near the Schie, which is known till today as the Castle Mathenesse. Remnants of a donjon, which were part of the castle, are still visible today in the centre of Schiedam. As a young settlement Schiedam soon got competition from surrounding towns and cities, in 1340, Rotterdam and Delft also were allowed to establish a connection between the Schie and the Meuse. From the 15th century on the city flourished as a place of pilgrimage on the devotion around Saint Lidwina, the city gained subsequently significance by fishing for herring. In 1428 a great city fire swept through Schiedam, thereby destroying large parts of the wooden city. The 18th century was Schiedams Golden Age, when the gin industry flourished, the standstill drink imports from France made the emergence of the Schiedamse distillery possible. From dozens of distilleries Schiedam jenever was exported throughout the world, the gin industry gave the city its nickname Black Nazareth. This industry is now largely gone, in one of the former factories at the Lange Haven the National Jenever Museum is established. On 10 August 1856 the first major accident in the Netherlands happened near the Schiedam railway station. On 4 May 1976 the Schiedam train disaster took place near the station which caused 24 deaths. At the end of the 19th and throughout the 20th century, in 1941, the ancient municipalities Kethel en Spaland were merged with Schiedam which made large expansions of the city possible with residential areas in the north. At the end of the 20th century the shipbuilding industry largely disappeared, the city of Schiedam is located in the Dutch province of South Holland
42.
Hanseatic League
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The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 1100s and it stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Middle Low German word for a convoy, the League was created to protect the guilds economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own system and furnished their own armies for mutual protection. The hegemony of Lübeck peaked during the 15th century, Lübeck became a base for merchants from Saxony and Westphalia trading eastward and northward. This area was a source of timber, wax, amber, resins, the towns raised their own armies, with each guild required to provide levies when needed. The Hanseatic cities came to the aid of one another, and commercial ships often had to be used to carry soldiers, Visby functioned as the leading centre in the Baltic before the Hansa. Sailing east, Visby merchants established a trading post at Novgorod called Gutagard in 1080, Merchants from northern Germany also stayed in the early period of the Gotlander settlement. Later they established their own trading station in Novgorod, known as Peterhof, in 1229, German merchants at Novgorod were granted certain privileges that made their position more secure. Hansa societies worked to remove restrictions to trade for their members, before the official foundation of the League in 1356, the word Hanse did not occur in the Baltic language. The earliest remaining documentary mention, although without a name, of a specific German commercial federation is from London 1157. That year, the merchants of the Hansa in Cologne convinced Henry II, King of England, to them from all tolls in London. The allied cities gained control over most of the trade, especially the Scania Market. In 1266, Henry III of England granted the Lübeck and Hamburg Hansa a charter for operations in England, much of the drive for this co-operation came from the fragmented nature of existing territorial government, which failed to provide security for trade. Over the next 50 years the Hansa itself emerged with formal agreements for confederation and co-operation covering the west and east trade routes. The principal city and linchpin remained Lübeck, with the first general Diet of the Hansa held there in 1356, other such alliances formed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Yet the League never became a closely managed formal organisation, over the period, a network of alliances grew to include a flexible roster of 70 to 170 cities. The league succeeded in establishing additional Kontors in Bruges, Bergen and these trading posts became significant enclaves
43.
Fire ship
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An explosion ship or hellburner was a variation on the fire ship, intended to cause damage by blowing up in proximity to enemy ships. Fireships were famously and cleverly used to great effect by the outgunned English fleet against the Spanish Armada during the Battle of Gravelines. Possibly the oldest account of the use of a fire ship is recorded by the Greek historian Thucydides on the occasion of the failed Athenian Sicilian Expedition. The Athenians, however, alarmed for their ships, contrived means for stopping it and putting it out, and checking the flames and the nearer approach of the merchantman, thus escaped the danger. A fire ship was used in the Battle of Red Cliffs on the Yangtze River when Huang Gai assaulted the enemy force with a fire ship filled with bundles of kindling, dry reeds. Fire ships were employed by the Vandals against the armada sent by the Eastern Roman Empire. The invention of Greek fire in 673 increased the use of ships, at first by the Greeks. In 951 and again in 953 Russian fleets narrowly escaped destruction by fire ships, while fire ships were used in the Medieval period, notably during the crusades, these were typically ships that were set up with combustibles on an adhoc basis. The first modern fireships were put to use in early 17th century Dutch and their use increased throughout that century, with purpose-built fireships a permanent part of many naval fleets, ready to be deployed whenever necessary. Fire ships continued to be used, sometimes to great effect such as by the U. S, warships of the age of sail were highly vulnerable to fire. Made of wood, with seams caulked with tar, ropes greased with fat, accidental fires destroyed many ships, so fire ships presented a terrifying threat. Fire ships were most devastating against fleets which were at anchor or otherwise restricted in movement, at sea, a well-handled ship could evade a fire ship and disable it with cannon fire. The role of incendiary vessels changed throughout the age of the fire ship. The systematic use of ships as part of naval actions peaked around the Third Anglo-Dutch War. By this time, however, admirals and captains had become experienced with the limitations of fire ship attacks and had learned how to avoid them during battle. Great numbers of ships were expended during the Third Dutch War without destroying enemy men-of-war. Though fire ships as a specified class sailed with the British Royal Navy for another century, they would never have a significant impact on a naval victory. The last modern fire ship in the British Royal Navy was Thais, in the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1832, the extensive use of fire ships by the Greeks allowed them to counterbalance the Turkish naval superiority in terms of ship size and artillery power
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