1.
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
2.
War of the League of Cambrai
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The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars. Although the League was initially successful, friction between Julius and Louis caused it to collapse by 1510, Julius then allied himself with Venice against France. In the aftermath of the First Italian War, Pope Alexander VI had, with French assistance, in 1507, Julius returned to the question of the cities in Venetian hands, once again rebuffed by the Senate, he encouraged Emperor Maximilian I to attack the Republic. Julius, humiliated by the failure of the Imperial invasion, turned to Louis XII of France with an offer of alliance. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, on 15 April 1509, Louis left Milan at the head of a French army and moved rapidly into Venetian territory. Consequently, when Louis crossed the Adda River in early May and Alviano advanced to him, Pitigliano, believing it best to avoid a pitched battle. Alviano, disregarding the new orders, continued the engagement, his army was surrounded and destroyed. DEste, having joined the League and been appointed Gonfalonier on 19 April, the newly arrived Imperial governors, however, quickly proved to be unpopular. In mid-July, the citizens of Padua, aided by detachments of Venetian cavalry under the command of the proveditor Andrea Gritti, the landsknechts garrisoning the city were too few in number to mount effective resistance, and Padua was restored to Venetian control on 17 July 1509. The success of the revolt finally pushed Maximilian into action, in early August, a massive Imperial army, accompanied by bodies of French and Spanish troops, set out from Trento into the Veneto. In mid-November, Pitigliano returned to the offensive, Venetian troops easily defeated the remaining Imperial forces, capturing Vicenza, Este, Feltre, although a subsequent attack on Verona failed, Pitigliano destroyed a Papal army under Francesco II of Gonzaga in the process. Francesco Guicciardini credited the victory to Alfonso himself. A new French advance soon forced Pitigliano to withdraw to Padua once again, faced with a shortage of both funds and men, the Senate decided to send an embassy to Julius in order to negotiate a settlement. The Senate argued over the terms for two months, but finally accepted them on February 24,1510 and this apparent reconciliation between Venice and the Pope did not stop the French from again invading the Veneto in March. Gritti garrisoned Padua for an attack by a combined Franco-Imperial army, but Louis, more concerned by the death of his advisor. His own forces being inadequate for the venture, the Pope hired an army of Swiss mercenaries, ordering them to attack the French in Milan, the Republic, facing a renewed French onslaught, readily accepted the offer. By July 1510, the new Veneto-Papal alliance was on the offensive, Julius now excommunicated Alfonso dEste, thus justifying an attack on the Duchy itself, in anticipation of his coming victory, the Pope traveled to Bologna, so as to be nearby when Ferrara was taken. The French army, however, had been left unopposed by the Swiss and was free to march south into the heart of Italy
3.
Georg Lemberger
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Georg Lemberger was a German painter and woodcut artist. He was probably related to the sculptor Hans Leinberger, who lived in Landshut. It appears certain that he took his first lessons from Leinberger, however, then was apprenticed to Hans Wertinger, after that, he travelled to Regensburg, where he studied with Albrecht Altdorfer and had a hand in creating the woodcuts for the Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian I. Around 1520, his style is noticeable in a painting, The Conversion of Saint Paul. In 1522, he appears in Leipzig, where he created the Epitaph for Valentin Schmidburg, a year later, he was made a citizen of Leipzig. The next record of him is in 1530, when he was served legal process on charges of abusing his wife, Two years later, he was banished by George, Duke of Saxony for being a Lutheran. He then went to Magdeburg, where he created 125 woodcuts for the Low German Bible of Johannes Bugenhagen, the last confirmed record of him comes from 1537, when he was a registered participant at the Easter Vigil in Leipzig. It is assumed that he died no later than 1545, in either Leipzig or Magdeburg. He also created woodcuts for the first part of the Luther Bible, the page and some illustrations for the so-called Emser Testament. His few surviving artworks include a depiction of the Turkish Siege of Vienna in Merseburg Cathedral and Fall and Redemption, a Crucifixion at the Church of Lössen in Schkopau was lost in 1975, during the Communist regime. Haessel,1933 Originally a doctoral dissertation,1923 Isabel Reindl, Georg Lemberger - Ein Künstler der Reformationszeit - Leben und Werk. -, Dissertation. Bamberg 2006/2010 Full text online Georg Lemberger @ Zeno Holy Jerusalem by Lemberger @ Flickr Two works by Lemberger @ Galerie Hochdruck St. Matthew by Lemberger @ the Art Institute of Chicago
4.
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
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.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
7.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
8.
Jacques de La Palice
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Jacques de La Palice was a French nobleman and military officer. His full name and titles were Jacques II de Chabannes, Lord of La Palice, of Pacy, of Chauverothe, of Bort-le-Comte, in 1511, he received the title of Grand Master of France. As a Marshal under Francis I, he fought against Italian armies and he was born at Lapalisse, Auvergne. At 15, La Palice entered the service of King Charles VIII of France and his first battle was that of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. Four years later he married Jeanne de Montbéron, daughter of chamberlain Eustache de Montbéron, after Charles death, La Palice accompanied the new King, Louis XII, in the campaign for Milan, which the French captured in 1499. He conquered several lands in the Abruzzi and in Apulia, being created viceroy of Abruzzo in 1502, however, he was defeated in the battle of Ruvo di Puglia and made prisoner by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba. He was freed in 1504, the year his wife died. In 1507 he commanded the French vanguard in the siege of Genoa, in 1509 the war of the League of Cambrai against the Republic of Venice broke out. In 1511, after Charles dAmboises death, La Palice became the French overall commander in Italy and was made Grand Master of France, after Gaston de Foixs arrival to Italy, La Palice was put under him, successfully relieving Bologna from the Spanishs siege. He took part in the battle of Ravenna, in which de Foix died, however his slow actions allowed the defeated enemies to recover and expel the French from Lombardy. Returning to France, he was sent to the Pyrenees to rescue John III of Navarre, on 6 August 1513, he was defeated and made prisoner at the battle of Guinegate. After John IIIs parallel defeat, this marked the end of Louis XIIs expansionism, La Palice was dismissed, and retired to his lands, where, in 1514, he married to Marie de Melun, who gave him four children. Louiss successor, Francis I, gave him back the title of Grand Master, after the signature of the Treaty of Noyon which ended the war, La Palice returned to France. La Palice was sent at Calais as negotiator of the peace with Charles V, La Palice was sent again to the Pyrenees, and then to the successful attempt to rescue Marseille from Duke of Bourbons siege. After the conquest of Avignon, he moved to Milan which had abandoned by the Spaniards. On 28 October 1524, at the side of his King, La Palice begun the siege of Pavia, when the Imperial-Spanish army arrived, the battle of Pavia began. La Palice was captured by German Landsknechte during the fighting, and was executed some time later, La Palice gave his name to the Lapalissade, a comical truism. The coinage originates from la Palices epitaph, which reads Ci-gît le Seigneur de La Palice, sil nétait pas mort and these words were misread as. il ſerait encore en vie, where the long s aids in the confusion
9.
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
10.
Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
11.
Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex
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Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex, 6th Baron Bourchier, 3rd Count of Eu and 2nd Viscount Bourchier KG KB PC was an English soldier, peer and courtier at the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. He married Mary Say, by whom he had one daughter, Anne, Bourchier was the son of William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier and Anne Woodville. Through his mother, he was the nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and he inherited the titles of 2nd Earl of Essex, 6th Baron Bourchier, 3rd Count of Eu and 2nd Viscount Bourchier from his grandfather Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex on his death in 1483. He married twice, about 1512 to Mary Say, then about 1536 to Mary Blount, Bourchier was a member of Henry VIIs privy council and was present at the siege of Boulogne in 1492. Five years later he led a detachment against the rebels at Blackheath, when Henry VIII became king, he was made captain of the new bodyguard. In 1513 he commanded the vanguard at the Battle of the Spurs. The following year he was appointed Chief Captain of the Kings forces, in March 1540, he broke his neck after falling from his horse and died from his injury. Without male issue, his earldom and his countship became extinct
12.
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Maximilian I was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was always too risky. He was the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and he ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his fathers reign, from c.1483 to 1493. Charles father Philip died in 1506, so Charles succeeded Maximilian as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Maximilian was born at Wiener Neustadt on 22 March 1459. His father, Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, named him for an obscure saint whom Frederick believed had once warned him of imminent peril in a dream, in his infancy, he and his parents were besieged in Vienna by Albert of Austria. One source relates that, during the sieges bleakest days, the prince would wander about the castle garrison, begging the servants. The young prince was an excellent hunter, his hobby was the hunting for birds as a horse archer. The reigning duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was the political opponent of Maximilians father Frederick III. After the Siege of Neuss, he was successful, the wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on the evening of 16 August 1477. Maximilians wife had inherited the large Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her fathers death in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Already before his coronation as the King of the Romans in 1486, Maximilian decided to secure this distant and extensive Burgundian inheritance to his family, the House of Habsburg, at all costs. Maximilian undertook the defence of his wifes dominions from an attack by Louis XI and defeated the French forces at Guinegate, the wedding contract between Maximilian and Mary stipulated that only the children of bride and groom had a right to inherit from each, not the surviving parent. Mary tried to bypass this rule with a promise to transfer territories as a gift in case of her death, but her plans were confounded. After Marys death in an accident on 27 March 1482 near the Wijnendale Castle, Maximilians aim was now to secure the inheritance to one of his and Marys children. Some of the Netherlander provinces were hostile to Maximilian, and they signed a treaty with Louis XI in 1482 that forced Maximilian to give up Franche-Comté and they openly rebelled twice in the period 1482–1492, attempting to regain the autonomy they had enjoined under Mary. Flemish rebels managed to capture Philip and even Maximilian himself, Maximilian continued to govern Marys remaining inheritance in the name of Philip the Handsome. After the regency ended, Maximilian and Charles VIII of France exchanged these two territories for Burgundy and Picardy in the Treaty of Senlis, thus a large part of the Netherlands stayed in the Habsburg patrimony. Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on 16 February 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his fathers initiative and he became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father in 1493. Much of Austria was under Hungarian rule when he took power, in 1490, Maximilian reconquered the territory and entered Vienna
13.
Battle of Agnadello
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The Battle of Agnadello, also known as Vailà, was one of the most significant battles of the War of the League of Cambrai and one of the major battles of the Italian Wars. On 15 April 1509, a French army under the command of Louis XII left Milan, to oppose its advance, Venice had massed a mercenary army near Bergamo, jointly commanded by the Orsini cousins, Bartolomeo dAlviano and Niccolò di Pitigliano. The Orsini had orders to avoid a confrontation with the advancing French. By 9 May, however, Louis had crossed the Adda River at Cassano dAdda, Alviano, who was at Pandino, hurried back to position his forces, numbering around eight thousand, on a ridge overlooking some vineyards. Pitigliano had been moving ahead of Alviano, and was several miles away when the French began their attack, in reply to Alvianos request for help, he sent a note suggesting that a pitched battle should be avoided, and continued his march south. Meanwhile, Louis, with the remainder of the French army, had reached Agnadello, the French now surrounded Alviano on three sides and proceeded to destroy his forces over the next three hours. The Venetian cavalry collapsed and fled, and Alviano himself was wounded and captured, of his command, more than four thousand were killed, including his commanders Spoleto and del Monte, and 30 pieces of artillery. Although Pitigliano had avoided engaging the French directly, news of the battle reached him by that evening, faced with the continued advance of the French army, he hurriedly retreated towards Treviso and Venice. Louis then proceeded to occupy the remainder of Lombardy, the battle is mentioned in Machiavellis The Prince, noting that in one day, the Venetians lost what it had taken them eight hundred years exertion to conquer
14.
Battle of Ravenna (1512)
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The Battle of Ravenna, fought on 11 April 1512, by forces of the Holy League and France, was a major battle of the War of the League of Cambrai in the Italian Wars. Although the French drove the Spanish-Papal army from the field, their failed to help them secure northern Italy. Nemours, short on supplies and increasingly anxious to give battle before he was forced to withdraw from Italy, the strengths, relative positions, and commanders of the component elements of both armies are unclear, and different arrangements are given by historians. The French army formed up in an arc to the east of Cardonas fortified camp, closest to the river were about 900 men-at-arms of the vaward, under Jacques de La Palice, next to this cavalry was the bulk of the infantry. Frederick Taylor groups the infantry into two units,9,500 landsknechts under Empser and 8,000 Gascon archers and Picard pikemen under the Seigneur de Molart. The men-at-arms of the main-battle, consisting of 780 men, was commanded by either Bohier alone, or by Bohier together with the Vicomte de Lautrec, Louis dArs, and the Chevalier de Bayard. It consisted of about 4,000 mostly Italian infantry under Frederigo de Bozzolo, flanked, on the extreme left, at the north end of the camp, near the river, was the cavalry of the vaward, consisting of about 670 Papal men-at-arms under Fabrizio Colonna. Farther along the river were two bodies of men-at-arms, the main-battle, consisting of 565 men under the Marquis of La Palude. In his section on war wagons Arnold avers that the Spanish had at least thirty carts mounting scythe blades, forward-projecting spears, the advancing French troops halted about two hundred paces from the enemy lines. De Foix placed the bulk of his artillery in front of the French right wing, directing its fire into the Holy Leagues camp, the Spanish artillery, meanwhile, ignored the French cavalry and concentrated its fire on the massed Gascons and landsknechts in the French center. Not content with bombarding the camp from one side, the French moved to enfilade it from the flanks, the fire of these two guns inflicted massive casualties on Colonnas closely packed cavalry. Pressed from both sides by the fire of the French and Ferrarese artillery, the Holy Leagues cavalry could not hold their positions indefinitely, Carvajal, Pescara, and Palude converged on the French cavalry, which split into two bodies and met both Spanish attacks head-on. The bodies of French and Spanish cavalry then engaged in a fight along the left of the French positions. As Colonna and La Palice fought along the French right, dAlègre, Colonnas formation, pressed from multiple directions, began to disintegrate, with some of his men-at-arms fleeing the field and others retreating south to where the other Spanish cavalry was engaged. DAlègre followed the retreating Spanish troops to the center, where the remnants of the Spanish cavalry were engaged in a melee against the French. A large part of the French cavalry pursued the retreating Spanish, as the Spanish cavalry was making its initial attack, Foix had sent orders for the French infantry to advance on the Holy Leagues camp. The main column of landsknechts had meanwhile made its way to the edge of the Spanish entrenchments, the landsknechts and the Gascons proceeded to attack once more, with even greater casualties. Two companies of Spanish infantry attacked the Gascons engaged on the riverbank, breaking their formation, killing Molart, the remaining infantry on both sides continued meanwhile to struggle across the entrenchments
15.
Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre
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Ferdinand the Catholic was in 1512 both king of Aragon and regent of Castile. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Ferdinand used this as an excuse to attack Navarre, conquering it while its potential protector France was beset by England, Venice, and Ferdinands Italian armies. All were defeated by the Spanish, and clashes came to halt to the north of the Pyrenees in 1528, the kingdom was absorbed into France in 1620. Navarre was mired in instability over the throne since the mid 15th century, when Catherine I of Navarre married John III of Albret, many in Navarre contested this arrangement. After the fall of Granada, pressure on Navarre intensified, Ferdinand also wanted to spite his son-in-law and successor Philip, new ephemeral king of Castile. After an year long stand-off, in 1508 the crown launched an offensive to quell the rebellion, Lerín was occupied. It was 1507 during the fight for Viana when the condottiero Cesare Borgia, the Navarrese authorities struggled to achieve a diplomatic balance in two fronts, but adverse new winds were blowing from France too. —but was met with their strong refusal. Louis XII coveted the Albrets territories and resorted to the Parliament of Toulouse, Ferdinand II waited and saw, took good note of those fears, and searched again allies for his own designs in the Navarrese Beaumont party. However, in summer 1510 the international scene took a turn in the Italian Wars. Pope Julius II was one of the most ambitious Popes of the era and he had declared a Holy League against Venice in 1508, and successfully defeated it. Navarre refused to join and kept neutral in a shaky balance, just a month later, Gaston of Foix died, so the full claim over the Pyrenean territories of the Albrets would fall in the hands of Ferdinands wife Germaine of Foix. King Louis then started to show a conciliatory tone with Queen Catherine and King John III, Catherine and John III kept negotiations with Ferdinand too, who intertwined proposals, pressure and menaces with actual movement of troops right on the outer borders of Navarre. For the purpose, Castilian diplomats negotiated with Rome for months, in June 1512, tension mounted when the Holy League made a formal petition to send English and Castilian troops through Navarre over to France. The next day Ferdinand sent his troops across the border from Álava into Navarre, commanded by his general Don Fadrique de Toledo, Duke of Alba, one that was involved in the conquest of Granada. However, by that time a Gipuzkoan militia had broken into Navarre from the border and captured Goizueta. The assault troops of the expedition numbered 6,000 veterans, the population of Pamplona did not exceed 10,000 inhabitants. Catherine and John III left for Tudela in quest for troops among loyal lords, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Spanish expedition, the loyalists veered east to Lumbier, and on to Lower Navarre. Catherine, John III and their troops retreated to Orthez, Béarn, pamplonas peripheral defense walls were flimsy, and a threat of looting pronounced by the Duke of Alba loomed over the town
16.
Battle of Saint-Mathieu
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It is possibly the first battle between ships using cannon through ports, although this played a minor role in the fighting. This was one of only two full-fledged naval battles fought by King Henry VIIIs Navy Royal, during the battle, each navys largest and most powerful ship—Regent and Marie-la-Cordelière —was destroyed by a large explosion aboard the latter. The latter was independent of France at the time, although the two were closely allied, when war with France broke out in April 1512, Englands Edward Howard was appointed Admiral of a fleet sent by King Henry VIII to control the sea between Brest and the Thames estuary. Howard seized vessels of various nationalities on the pretext that they were carrying French cargoes, at the beginning of June, he escorted to Brittany an army which Henry sent to France under the command of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset with the hope of recovering Guyenne. Howard then raided Le Conquet and Crozon on the Breton coast, during June and July, Howard effectively controlled the English Channel and is said to have captured more than 60 vessels. By August, a French-Breton fleet had assembled at Brest, Howard moved to attack them, well informed about the Franco-Breton manoeuvres, the English surprised them at anchor. Unprepared and confronted by a fleet, all the French and Breton ships cut their anchor cables. By accident, about 300 guests, including women, were visiting the Breton flagship Marie la Cordelière when it was attacked. In the hurry, Hervé de Portzmoguer, the captain of the ship, could not disembark them, the two main ships faced the enemy to cover the retreat of the rest of the fleet to the port of Brest. Under English fire, Marie la Cordelière— with 1,000 Tons one of the largest in her time—sailed towards the Regent, with 600 Tons the largest and most powerful ship in the English navy. The Sovereign and the Mary James rushed to rescue the Regent and surrounded the Cordelière, the Cordelière remained alone among the English fleet, with the exception of the small Nef-de-Dieppe which harassed the English ships. The Cordelières cannons dismasted both Sovereign and Mary James which became ungovernable and drifted in the Iroise Sea, Hervé de Portzmoguer, also known as Primauguet, the Breton captain of the Cordelière ordered the assault of the Regent. Grappling hooks were thrown and the two ships were tied together, the seamen of the Marie-la-Cordelière rushed on the Regents deck which was constantly being reinforced by English ships transferring their crews on the Regent. The little Nef-de-Dieppe manoeuvered skillfully to bombard these new assailants, the deck of the Regent was covered by blood when, suddenly, the Cordelière exploded. The flames spread to the Regent and both ships sank, the crews of both ships were almost entirely annihilated. Only 20 wounded Breton sailors out of 1,250 were saved from the Cordelière and 60 out of 460 English from the Regent. Over the next two days, with the French fleet in Brest, the English fleet captured or destroyed thirty-two French vessels, as a result of the engagement Sir Edward Howard was made Lord High Admiral by Henry VIII. Brittany and France were still technically separate realms at the time and it thus became symbolic within Brittany of the unity between Brittany and France
17.
Battle of Novara (1513)
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The Battle of Novara was a battle of the War of the League of Cambrai fought on June 6,1513, near Novara, in Northern Italy. The French had been victorious at Ravenna the previous year, nevertheless, the French under King Louis XII were driven out of the city of Milan the following month by the Holy League. In 1513, the French army of 10,000 under Louis de la Trémoille was besieging the city of Novara and it has been argued that the Swiss may have intended to annex part of Milan to the Swiss Confederation. Novara, c.40 kilometers west of Milan, was the second most important city of the Milanese duchy. However, the French were surprised at their camp there on June 6 by a Swiss relief army of some 13,000 troops, who came to relieve their forces in the town. The German Landsknecht mercenaries of the French, pike-armed like the Swiss, were able to form up into squares. Caught off guard, the French heavy cavalry, their decisive arm, was unable to properly deploy, and played little role in the fight. The battle was bloody, with 5,000 casualties on the French side. 700 men were killed in three minutes by heavy artillery fire, additionally, after the battle, the Swiss executed the hundreds of German mercenaries they had captured who had fought for the French. The Swiss captured 22 French guns with their carriages, a Dictionary of Battles, p.313 Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe, Volume One, From the Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon, new York, W. W. Norton & Company,1996. Complete list of captains present in the battle
18.
Battle of Flodden
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The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field, or occasionally Battle of Branxton, was part of a conflict between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was a decisive English victory, in terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle fought between the two Kingdoms. James IV was killed in the battle, becoming the last monarch from the island of Britain to suffer such a death, Henry VIII had also opened old wounds by claiming to be the overlord of Scotland, which angered the Scots and their King. At this time England was involved as a member of the Catholic League in the War of the League of Cambrai—defending Italy, James also summoned sailors and sent the Scottish navy, including the Great Michael, to join the ships of Louis XII of France. Henry was in France with the Emperor Maximilian at the siege of Thérouanne, the Scottish Lyon King of Arms brought James IVs letter of 26 July to him. James asked him to desist from attacking France in breach of their treaty, henrys exchange with Islay Herald or the Lyon King on 11 August at his tent at the siege was recorded. The Herald declared that Henry should abandon his efforts against the town, moreover, fellow, I care for nothing but for misentreating of my sister, that would God she were in England on a condition she cost the Schottes King not a penny. Henry also replied by letter on 12 August that James was mistaken, however, both sides had been making lengthy preparations for this conflict. Henry VIII had already organised an army and artillery in the north of England to counter the expected invasion, some of the guns had been returned to use against the Scots by Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy. A year earlier, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, had been appointed Lieutenant-General of the army of the north and was issued with banners of the Cross of St George, only a small number of the light horsemen of the Scottish border had been sent to France. A northern army was maintained with artillery and its expense account starts on 21 July 1513, the first captains were recruited in Lambeth. Many of these soldiers wore green and white Tudor colours, Surrey marched to Doncaster in July and then Pontefract. Where he assembled more troops from Northern England, on 18 August, five cannon brought down from Edinburgh Castle to the Netherbow Gate at St Marys Wynd for the invasion set off towards England dragged by borrowed oxen. On 19 August two gross culverins, four culverins pickmoyance and six culverins moyane followed with the gunner Robert Borthwick, the King himself set off that night with two hastily prepared standards of St Margaret and St Andrew. Catherine of Aragon was Regent in England and on 27 August she issued warrants for the property of all Scotsmen in England to be seized, on hearing of the invasion on 3 September she ordered Thomas Lovell to raise an army in the Midland counties. In keeping with his understanding of the code of chivalry, King James sent notice to the English, one month in advance. After a muster on the Burgh Muir of Edinburgh, the Scottish host moved to Ellemford, to the north of Duns, the Scottish army then crossed the River Tweed near Coldstream. On 24 August James IV held a council or parliament at Twiselhaugh, by 29 August Norham Castle was taken and partly demolished
19.
Battle of La Motta (1513)
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A Venetian army under Bartolomeo dAlviano was decisively defeated by the Spanish/Imperial army commanded by Ramón de Cardona and Fernando dAvalos. The Venetian commander, Bartolomeo dAlviano, unexpectedly left without French support, retreated into the region of Veneto, while the Spanish were unable to capture Padua, they penetrated deep into Venetian territory and in September were in sight of Venice itself. The Spanish Viceroy of Naples, Ramón de Cardona, attempted a bombardment of the city that proved ineffective, then, having no ships with which to cross the lagoon. The Venetian army commanded by Bartolomeo dAlviano, finally confronted Cardonas army outside Vicenza and this was a severe blow, forcing the Venetians to flee, and scattering DAlvianos entire army. The forces of the two continued to skirmish in the Italys most North-Eastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia for the rest of 1513. Although the Venetians were decisively defeated by the Spaniards, the Holy League failed to follow up on these victories, the death of the King of France, Louis XII, on 1 January 1515, brought Francis I to the throne. Having assumed the title of Duke of Milan at his coronation, a combined Swiss and Papal force moved north from Milan to block the Alpine passes against him, but Francis avoided the main passes and marched instead through the valley of the Stura. The French vanguard surprised the Milanese cavalry at Villafranca, capturing Prospero Colonna, meanwhile, Francis and the main body of the French confronted the Swiss at the Battle of Marignano on 13 September. War of the League of Cambrai Battle of Marignano Italian Wars List of battles of the Italian Wars
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Battle of Marignano
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The Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on September 13 and 14,1515, near the today called Melegnano,16 km southeast of Milan. It resulted in a victory for French forces, with Francis were German landsknechts, bitter rivals of the Swiss for fame and renown in war, and his late arriving Venetian allies. The campaign of Marignano followed years of Swiss successes, during which French fortunes in Northern Italy had suffered greatly, the prologue to the battle was a remarkable Alpine passage, in which Francis hauled pieces of artillery over new-made roads over the Col dArgentière, a previously unknown route. This was, at the time, considered one of the foremost military exploits of the age, at Villafranca the French, led by Jacques de la Palice, surprised and captured the Papal commander, Prospero Colonna, in a daring cavalry raid deep behind the allied lines. Colonna and his staff aside, the French seized a great deal of booty on the raid, the capture of Colonna, along with the startling appearance of the French army on the plains of Piedmont, stunned the allies. The Pope and the Swiss both sought terms with Francis, while the Spanish allies en route from Naples halted to await developments. The main Swiss army retreated to Milan, while a faction, tired of the war and eager to return home with the booty of years of successful campaigning. Schiner pointed out the profits of victory, appealed to national pride. The suddenly enthusiastic Swiss sprang to arms, issuing forth from Milan in disciplined but frenzied columns, the Swiss encountered Franciss forces at the little burnt-out village of Marignano on a featureless plain. A treaty signed, the French were not expecting battle, Francis was in his tent, trying on a new suit of armor, when scouts reported the coming of the Swiss. Each division was a combined force of infantry, cavalry and artillery. Massed in front of Francis’ center division was a battery of seventy-two field guns guarded by the infamous Black Legion. Also with the division was the Chevalier Bayard and his company. Close to sunset, the Swiss approached the French in three divisions of their own, each a mass of pikemen. They had no artillery or cavalry and had learned in past actions that an advance into the enemy would sweep all before them. At Marignano, the battle began with a “forlorn hope” detaching from the Swiss vanguard phalanx and their intent, justified by experience in other battles, was to quickly overrun the French cannon and then turn them upon their owners. At first the Swiss attack succeeded in driving back the defenders and capturing a few of the guns
21.
Italian Wars
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Ludovico Sforza of Milan, seeking an ally against the Republic of Venice, encouraged Charles VIII of France to invade Italy, using the Angevin claim to the throne of Naples as a pretext. For several months, French forces moved through Italy virtually unopposed, Charles VIII made triumphant entries into Pisa on November 8,1494, Florence on November 17,1494, and Rome on December 31,1494. Upon reaching the city of Monte San Giovanni in the Kingdom of Naples, Charles VIII sent envoys to the town, the garrison killed and mutilated the envoys and sent the bodies back to the French lines. This enraged the French army so that reduced the castle in the town with blistering artillery fire on February 9,1495 and stormed the fort. This was the sack of Naples. News of the French Armys sack of Naples provoked a reaction among the city-states of Northern Italy, the League was specifically formed to resist French aggression. The League was established on 31 March after negotiations by Venice, Milan, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Later on the League consisted of the Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy of Milan, Spain, the Papal States, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Mantua and this coalition, effectively, cut Charles army off from returning to France. After establishing a government in Naples, Charles started to march north on his return to France. However, in the town of Fornovo he met the League army. In contemporary tradition, though, the battle counted as a Holy League victory, because the French forces had to leave, to the Italian coalition, however, it was at best a pyrrhic victory, in that its strategic outcome and long-term consequences were unfavorable. Although the League managed to force Charles VIII off the battlefield, it suffered much higher casualties and could not prevent the opposing army crossing the Italian lands as it returned to France. As a result of Charles VIIIs expedition, the states of Italy were shown once. In fact, the individual Italian states could not field armies comparable to those of the feudal monarchies of Europe in numbers. Thus, Charles VIII lost all that he conquered in Italy, King Charles VIII died on April 7,1498 and was succeeded to the throne of France by his cousin, Louis II, Duke of Orléans, who became Louis XII of France. Ludovico Sforza retained his throne in Milan until 1499, when Charless successor, Louis XII of France, invaded Lombardy, Louis XII justified his claim to the Duchy of Milan by right of his paternal grandfather, Louis duc dOrléans having married Valentina Visconti in 1387. Valentina Visconti was the heir to the Duchy of Milan in the Visconti dynasty, the marriage contract between Valentina Visconti and Louis, duc dOrléans, guaranteed that in failure of male heirs, she would inherit the Visconti dominions. However, when the Visconti dynasty died out in 1447, the Milanese ignored the Orleans claim to the Duchy of Milan, however, bitter factionalism arose under the new republic which set the stage for Francisco Sforza to seize control of Milan in 1450
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Artois
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Artois is a region of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4,000 km² and its principal cities are Arras, Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune. Artois occupies the interior of the Pas-de-Calais département, the part of which constitutes the former Boulonnais. Artois roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Arras, Béthune, Saint Omer, and Lens, and it occupies the western end of the coalfield which stretches eastward through the neighbouring Nord département and across central Belgium. Originally a feudal county itself, Artois was annexed by the county of Flanders and it came to France in 1180 as a dowry of a Flemish princess, Isabelle of Hainaut, and was again made a separate county in 1237 for Robert, a grandson of Isabelle. Through inheritance, Artois came under the rule of the dukes of Burgundy in 1384, at the death of the fourth duke, Charles the Bold, Artois was inherited by the Habsburgs and passed to the dynastys Spanish line. After the religious revolts of 1566 in the Netherlands, Artois briefly entered the Dutch Revolt in 1576, after the Union of Atrecht, Artois and Hainaut reached a separate agreement with Philip II. Artois remained with the Spanish Netherlands until it was conquered by the French during the Thirty Years War, the annexation was acknowledged during the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, and it became a French province. Artois had already been largely French-speaking, but it was part of the Southern Netherlands until the French annexation, Artois experienced rapid industrial development during the second half of the 19th century, fueled by its rich coal resources. During World War I, the front line between the opposing Entente and Allied armies in France ran through the province, resulting in physical damage. Since the second half of the 20th century, Artois has suffered along with nearby areas because of the decline of the coal industry, pierre-Charles Le Sueur, born in Artois, noted explorer and trader
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Pas-de-Calais
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Pas-de-Calais is a department in northern France. Its name is used in French to refer to the Strait of Dover, which it borders. Inhabited since prehistoric times, the Pas-de-Calais region was populated in turn by the Celtic Belgae, the Romans, the Germanic Franks and this linguistic border is still evident today in the toponyms and patronyms of the region. Beginning in the century, the linguistic border began a steady move to north and the east. Pas-de-Calais is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 and it was created from parts of the former provinces of Calaisis, formerly English, Boulonnais, Ponthieu and Artois, this last formerly part of the Spanish Netherlands. Some of the costliest battles of World War I were fought in the region, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, eight kilometres from Arras, commemorates the Battle of Vimy Ridge and is Canadas most important memorial in Europe to its fallen soldiers. Pas-de-Calais is in the current region of Hauts-de-France and is surrounded by the departments of Nord and Somme, the English Channel, and it shares a nominal border with the English county of Kent halfway through the Channel Tunnel. Its principal towns are, on the coast, Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Étaples, and in Artois, Lens, Liévin, Arras, however, since World War II, the economy has become more diversified. The inhabitants of the department are called Pas-de-Calaisiens, Pas-de-Calais is one of the most densely populated departments of France, and yet it has no large cities. Calais has only about 80,000 inhabitants, followed closely by Arras, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Lens, the center and south of the department are more rural, but still quite heavily populated, with many villages and small towns. Although the department saw some of the heaviest fighting of World War I, however, many of the mining towns have seen dramatic decreases in population, some up to half of their population. There are currently two universities in the department
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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
25.
Papal States
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The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Romagna and these holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy. By 1861, much of the Papal States territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy, only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Popes temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Vatican by signing the Lateran Treaty, granting the Vatican City State sovereignty. The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the territories were also referred to variously as the State of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States. For its first 300 years the Catholic Church was persecuted and unrecognized and this system began to change during the reign of the emperor Constantine I, who made Christianity legal within the Roman Empire, and restoring to it any properties that had been confiscated. The Lateran Palace was the first significant new donation to the Church, other donations followed, primarily in mainland Italy but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire. But the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, the seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the 6th century. Beginning In 535, the Byzantine Empire, under emperor Justinian I, launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated Italys political, just as these wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. While the popes remained Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, nevertheless, the pope and the exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the took a ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards. In practice, the papal efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the exarch, a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprands Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II. When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. In 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III, zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, later granted Pepin the title Patrician of the Romans. Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756, Pepin defeated the Lombards – taking control of northern Italy – and made a gift of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the precise nature of the relationship between the popes and emperors – and between the Papal States and the Empire – is disputed. Events in the 9th century postponed the conflict, the Holy Roman Empire in its Frankish form collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagnes grandchildren
26.
Guyenne
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Guyenne or Guienne was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Aquitania Secunda of the Romans and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name Guyenne comes from Aguyenne, a deformation of Aquitania. In the 12th century, it formed with the Gascony the duchy of Aquitaine which passed under the dominion of the kings of England by the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II. In the 13th century, through the conquests of Philip II, Louis VIII and Louis IX and it is at this point that Guyenne became distinct from Aquitaine. It then comprised the Bordelais, the Bazadais, part of Périgord, Limousin, Quercy and Rouergue, still united with Gascony, it formed a duchy extending from the Charentes to the Pyrenees. At the treaty of Brétigny, King Edward III of England acquired the sovereignty of the duchy of Guyenne, together with Aunis, Saintonge, Angoumois. The victories of Bertrand du Guesclin and Gaston III, Count of Foix, in 1451, it was conquered and finally united to the French crown by Charles VII. In 1469, Louis XI gave it in exchange for Champagne and Brie to his brother Charles, Duke of Berry, after death in 1472. Guyenne then formed a government which from the 17th century onwards was united with Gascony, the government of Guyenne and Gascony, with its capital at Bordeaux, lasted till the end of the Ancien Régime. Under the French Revolution, the formed from Guyenne proper were those of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot, Aveyron
27.
Hondarribia
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Hondarribia is a town situated on the west shore of Bidasoa rivers mouth, in Gipuzkoa, in Basque Country, Spain. The border town is sited on a little promontory facing Hendaye over the Txingudi bay, a service boat makes the trip between the two cities. The town holds an ancient old quarter with walls and a castle, in addition, Hondarribia features a beach across the Bidasoa from the touristy housing estate Sokoburu in Hendaye, alongside a mountain called Jaizkibel providing a hilly backdrop to the town. A road leads north-east from the area to the Cape Higuer. The town harbours the San Sebastian Airport, which serves domestic flights, the population as of 2005 is 15,700 inhabitants. The battles fought for possession of this fortified stronghold are generally known by the Spanish name for the place, the city was finally reoccupied by Charles Vs forces in 1524. Siege of Fuenterrabía was the outcome of a siege by the forces of Louis XIII. 27,000 French soldiers besieged the city for two months, firing 16,000 shells into the city, leaving only 300 survivors. The city was destroyed, but nevertheless did not surrender. The Spanish soldiers were successful, and the raising of the siege is celebrated annually on 8 September in a parade, battle of Fuenterrabía, during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Battle of Fuenterrabía, in which the French Revolutionary Army took the city by breaching the walls, after they took over the city, they blew up with the help of German engineers the section of wall facing France. The signing of the Peace of Basel took place all the wall was destroyed. The womens basketball team Hondarribia-Irun and the rowing club Hondarribia Arraun Elkartea are the two most prestigious clubs in the town. In the last decade, the judo club Ama Guadalupekoa has had a lot of medals in this discipline. The Hondarribia-Irun plays in the Spanish womens basketball league since 2003, Hondarribia has a rowing team called Hondarribia Arraun Elkartea, and its boat is characterized by its green color and its name, “Ama Guadalupekoa”. In 2005 it won “La Bandera de la Concha”, one of the most prestigious competitions for Basque rowers, furthermore, the Vilariño family, which is fully linked to the world of the engine, continues to achieve success at national and European levels. The construction of a jetty and other works by the engineer Iribarren. In the late twentieth century the beach was partially modified, building on its surroundings a recreational port, throughout the year, but especially in the summer months, Arma Plaza Fundazioa organizes guided visits to the old town, the port-quarter of the Marina and the Fort of Guadalupe
28.
Basque Country (greater region)
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The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that straddles the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast. Euskal Herria is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating to the 16th century and it comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France. The region is home to the Basque people, their language, culture, the name in Basque is Euskal Herria. The name is difficult to translate into other languages due to the wide range of meanings of the Basque word herri. It can be translated as nation, country, land, people, population and town, village, the first part, Euskal, is the adjectival form of Euskara the Basque language. Thus a more literal translation would be country/nation/people/settlement of the Basque language, some Basques refer to the seven traditional districts collectively as Zazpiak Bat, meaning The Seven One, a motto coined in the late 19th century. In most contemporary sources it covers the arrondissement of Bayonne and the cantons of Mauléon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus, within these conventions, the area of Northern Basque Country is 2,995 square kilometres. As emphasized by Jean Goyhenetche, it would be accurate to depict it as the reunion of five entities, Labourd, Lower Navarre, Soule but also Bayonne. The Southern Basque Country, known in Basque as Hegoalde is the part of the Basque region that lies completely within Spain and it is the largest and most populated part of the Basque Country. It includes two main regions, the Basque Autonomous Community and the Chartered Community of Navarre and its name refers to the charters, the Fueros of Navarre. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states that Navarre may become a part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country if it is so decided by its people, to date, there has been no implementation of this law. The latter has repeatedly asked for an amendment to the Constitution to remove this clause, the Basque Country region is dominated by a warm, humid and wet oceanic climate and the coastal area is part of Green Spain and by extension it affects Bayonne and Biarritz as well. Inland areas in Navarre and the regions of the autonomous community are transitional with continental mediterranean climate with somewhat larger temperature swings between seasons. The list only sources locations in Spain, but Bayonne/Biarritz have a similar climate as nearby Hondarribia on the Spanish side of the border. According to some theories, Basques may be the least assimilated remnant of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Western Europe to the Indo-European migrations, Basque tribes were mentioned by Greek writer Strabo and Roman writer Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani, and others. Geographically, the Basque Country was inhabited in Roman times by several tribes, the Vascones, the Varduli, the Caristi, the Autrigones, the Berones, the Tarbelli, and the Sibulates. Many believe that except for the Berones and Autrigones they were non-Indo-European peoples, some ancient place-names, such as Deba, Butrón, Nervión, Zegama, suggest the presence of non-Basque peoples at some point in protohistory. The Vascones around Pamplona, after fighting against Franks and Visigoths, founded the Kingdom of Pamplona
29.
Edward Howard (admiral)
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Sir Edward Howard, KG was an English naval officer. He was the first of the Howards to win fame as an admiral and he was in command during the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, which may have been the first sea battle fought by ships with cannons deployed through ports. He was killed afterwards, leading an assault on galleys in the French fleet near Brest. He began his career in August 1492 at the age of fifteen under Sir Edward Poynings at the siege of Sluys. In 1497 his father, then Earl of Surrey, was given a command in Scotland and took his sons Thomas, Surrey knighted both Thomas and Edward on 30 September 1497 at Ayton Castle after the signing of a treaty concluding an invasion by James IV of Scotland. In 1503 Howard was among those who escorted Margaret Tudor to Scotland for her marriage to King James IV, King Henry VII died on 21 April 1509. Howard played a prominent role in the tournament held to celebrate the coronation of the new King, Henry VIII, and was appointed the Kings standard-bearer on 20 May 1509. Barton was sailing in his warship Lion and the small Jennet of Purwyn, with a royal Letter of Marque, both ships were captured and taken to Blackwall. Andrew Barton was killed during their capture, when war with France broke out in April 1512, Howard was appointed Admiral of a fleet of 18 ships sent by the King to keep the seas between Brest and the Thames estuary. Howard seized vessels of various nationalities on the pretext that they were carrying French cargoes, at the beginning of June, he escorted to Brittany the army which Henry was sending to France under the Marquess of Dorset with the hope of recovering Guyenne. Howard then raided Le Conquet and Crozon on the Breton coast, during June and July 1512 Howard effectively controlled the Channel and is said to have captured more than 60 vessels. By August, a French fleet had assembled at Brest, Howard attacked, and in the ensuing Battle of Saint-Mathieu the two largest ships on either side, the Regent and the Marie de la Cordelière, were destroyed when the latters magazine exploded. On 10 October the King showed his appreciation by awarding Howard an annuity of 100 marks, the French King had Prégent de Bidoux bring 6 galleys from the Mediterranean in the late autumn of 1512, and by the end of March 1513 a sizeable French fleet had been mobilized. On 10 March 1513 the Earl of Oxford died, and Howard became Lord Admiral, on 19 March he sailed from the Thames, reaching Plymouth on 5 April. Without waiting for his ships, he set out from Plymouth and found the French fleet. Howard lost one ship on a rock, and on 22 April was attacked by Bidouxs galleys. On 25 April Howard decided to attack the galleys with his smaller boats known as row-barges, Howard led the attack on Bidouxs flagship in person. During the fighting he was forced over the side of the galley, demoralised by Howards death and short of supplies, the English fleet retreated to Plymouth, where Howards brother Thomas took command
30.
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset
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Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset KG KB PC was an English peer, courtier, soldier and landowner. His mother was suo jure 7th Baroness Harington of Aldingham and 2nd Baroness Bonville, the first marquess was the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, so a stepson of King Edward IV and a half-brother of Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward V. According to some reports, the young Grey attended Magdalen College School, Oxford, greys father was opposed to King Richard III, and after the older Thomas joined Buckinghams failed rebellion of 1483, father and son fled to Brittany, joining Henry Tudor. In 1492, Dorset was required to give guarantees of loyalty to the crown, amongst the Queen of Englands closest relations, Grey and his younger brothers Leonard and Edward were welcome at court and became courtiers and later soldiers. In 1494, Grey was made a knight of the Bath, also in 1501, his father died and the younger Thomas inherited his titles and some of his estates. However, much of the first marquesss land went to his widow and not to his son, who did not come into his full inheritance until the death of his mother in 1529, shortly before his own death. Later in 1501, he was chief answerer at the marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon and was presented with a diamond and ruby Tudor rose at a court tournament. But in 1508 he was sent to the Tower of London, although he was saved from execution in 1509 by the accession of King Henry VIII, Grey was attainted and lost his titles. However, later in 1509 he was pardoned and returned to court, in 1511, he was summoned as Marquess of Dorset. From 1509, Dorset was again an active courtier and took part with distinction in many court tournaments. In 1511, Dorset sold land near Althorp, Northamptonshire, to John Spencer, the sale included the villages of Little Brington and Great Brington, as well their parish church of St Mary the Virgin. In 1514, with Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, Dorset owned land in sixteen English counties and was a justice of the peace for several of them. He was bound over for good behaviour, as part of this rivalry, he greatly enlarged his ancestral home at Bradgate, Leicestershire. In 1520, at the Field of Cloth of Gold, Dorset carried the sword of state, in 1521, he met the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at Gravelines on the coast of France and escorted him on a visit to England. He helped with the entertainment of the court by maintaining a company of actors, in 1521, Dorset sat in judgment on the Duke of Buckingham, despite being related to him by marriage. After his fathers death, Dorsets mother had married a brother of the Duke, Henry VIII rewarded Dorset with three of Buckinghams manors. From 17 June 1523 until his death in 1530, Dorset was Justice in Eyre south of Trent, as such, he presided at the triennial Court of justice-seat, which dealt with matters of forest law. In 1524, Dorsets Leicestershire feud with Lord Hastings turned into a fight between hundreds of men, and Cardinal Wolsey took action
31.
Bayonne
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Bayonne is a city and commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Archaeological studies have confirmed the presence of a Roman castrum, a stronghold in Novempopulania at the end of the 4th century before the city was populated by the Vascones. In 1023 Bayonne was the capital of Labourd and, in the 12th century, extended to, at that time the first bridge was built over the Adour. The city came under the domination of the English in 1152 through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, it became militarily and, above all and it was separated from the Viscount of Labourd in 1177 by Richard the Lion Heart. In 1451 the city was taken by the Crown of France after the Hundred Years War, the loss of trade with the English and the silting up of the river as well as the movement of the city towards the north weakened it. The district of Saint-Esprit developed anyway thanks to the arrival of a Jewish population fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, from this community Bayonne gained its reputation for chocolate. The course of the Adour was changed in 1578 under the direction of Louis de Foix, in the 17th century the city was fortified by Vauban. In 1951 the Lacq gas field was discovered whose extracted sulphur, Bayonne was, in 2014, a commune with over 45,000 inhabitants, the heart of the urban area of Bayonne and of the Agglomeration Côte Basque-Adour which includes Anglet and Biarritz. It is an important part of the Basque Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity, modern industry—metallurgy and chemicals—are established to take advantage of procurement opportunities and sea shipments through the harbour. It is now mostly business services which today represent the largest source of employment, Bayonne is also a cultural capital, a city with strong Basque and Gascon influences and a rich historical past. Its heritage lies in its architecture, the diversity of collections in museums, its gastronomic specialties, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Bayonnais or Bayonnaises. Bayonne is located in the south-west of France on the border between Basque Country and Gascony. It developed at the confluence of the Adour and its tributary on the left bank, the commune was part of the Basque province of Labourd. Bayonne occupies a territory characterized by a relief to the west and to the north towards the Landes forest, tending to slightly raise towards the south. The city has developed at the confluence of the Adour and Nive 6 kilometres from the ocean, the meeting point of the two rivers coincides with a narrowing of the Adour valley. Downstream from this point the river has shaped a large bed in the dunes creating a significant bottleneck at the confluence. The occupation of the hill that dominates this narrowing of the valley developed through a gradual spread across the lowlands by building embankments, the drainage network of the western Pre-Pyrenees evolved mostly from the Quaternary from south-east to northwest oriented east-west. The Adour was then captured by the gaves and this system, together with the Nive, led to the emergence of a new alignment of the lower Adour and this capture has been dated to the early Quaternary
32.
Ferdinand II of Aragon
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Ferdinand II, called the Catholic, was King of Sicily from 1468 and King of Aragon from 1479 until his death. As a consequence of his marriage to Isabella I, he was King of Castile as Ferdinand V from 1474 until her death in 1504 and he was recognised as regent of Castile for his daughter and heir, Joanna, from 1508 until his own death. In 1504, after a war with France, he became King of Naples as Ferdinand III, reuniting Naples with Sicily permanently, in 1512, he became King of Navarre by conquest. Ferdinand is today best known for his role in inaugurating the discovery of the New World, since he and that year he also fought the final war with Granada which expunged the last Islamic state on Iberian soil, thus bringing to a close the centuries-long Reconquista. At his death he was succeeded by Joanna, who co-ruled with her son, Charles V, Ferdinand was born in Sada Palace, Sos del Rey Católico, Kingdom of Aragon, as the son of John II of Aragon by his second wife, Juana Enríquez. He married Infanta Isabella, the half-sister and heiress of Henry IV of Castile, on 19 October 1469 in Valladolid, Kingdom of Castile, Isabella also belonged to the royal House of Trastámara, and the two were cousins by descent from John I of Castile. They were married with a prenuptial agreement on sharing power. He became jure uxoris King of Castile when Isabella succeeded her brother in 1474 to be crowned as Queen Isabella I of Castile. The two young monarchs were initially obliged to fight a war against Joan of Castile, the purported daughter of Henry IV. When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the Crown of Castile, for the first time since the 8th century, this union created a single political unit referred to as España, the root of which is the ancient name Hispania. The various states were not formally administered as a single unit, the completion of the Reconquista was not the only significant act performed by Ferdinand and Isabella in that year. That document was signed with the defeated Moorish Emir of Granada Muhammad XII and it allowed Mudéjar Moors and converso Marrano Jews to stay, while expelling all unconverted Jews from Castile and Aragon. 1492 was also the year in which the monarchs commissioned Christopher Columbus to find a maritime route for access to Asia. In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world beyond Europe between Portugal and Castile for conquest and dominion purposes – by a north–south line drawn down the Atlantic Ocean. Ferdinand violated the 1492 Alhambra Decree peace treaty in 1502 by dismissing the clearly guaranteed religious freedom for Mudéjar Muslims, Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert, converso Moriscos, to Catholicism, or else be expelled. Some of the Muslims who remained were mudéjar artisans, who could design and this was also practised by the Spanish inquisitors on the converso Marrano Jewish population of Spain. The main architect behind the Spanish Inquisition was King Ferdinand II, Ferdinand destroyed over ten thousand Arabic manuscripts in Granada alone, burning them. The latter part of Ferdinands life was taken up with disputes with successive Kings of France over control of Italy
33.
Kingdom of Navarre
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The medieval Kingdom of Pamplona was formed when the native chieftain Íñigo Arista was elected or declared King in Pamplona, and led a revolt against the regional Frankish authority. The southern part of the kingdom was conquered by the Crown of Castile in 1512, the monarchs of this unified state took the title King of France and Navarre until its fall in 1792, and again during the Bourbon Restoration from 1814 until 1830. There are similar earlier toponyms but the first documentation of Latin navarros appears in Eginhards chronicle of the feats of Charles the Great, other Royal Frankish Annals give nabarros. Basque naba/Castilian nava + Basque herri, the linguist Joan Coromines consider naba as not clearly Basque in origin but as part of a wider pre-Roman substrate. The area was conquered by the Romans by 74 BC. It was first part of the Roman province of Citerior, then of the Tarraconensis province, after that it was part of the conventus Caesaraugustanus. The Roman empire influenced the area in urbanization, language, infrastructure, commerce, after the decline of the Western Roman Empire, neither the Visigoths nor the Arabs succeeded in permanently occupying the western Pyrenees. The western Pyrenees passages were the only ones allowing good transit through the mountains and that made the region strategically important from early in its history. The Franks under Charlemagne extended their influence and control towards the south, occupying several regions of the north and it is not clear how solid the Frankish control over Pamplona was. In response, the Cordoban Emirate launched a campaign to place the region under their firm control and it placed a muwallad governor, Mutarrif ibn Musa, in Pamplona. The same year the Basque leader, Jimeno the Strong, submitted to the Emir, in 799, Mutarrif ibn Musa was killed by a pro-Frankish faction whose leader Velasco gained control of the region. In 806 and 812 Pamplona fell into the Franks hands, due to difficulties at home, the Frankish rulers could not give full attention to the outlying borderlands, and the country gradually withdrew entirely from their allegiance. In 816, Louis the Pious removed Seguin as Duke of Vasconia, the rebel Garcia Jiménez arose in his place, and was killed in turn in 818. Louis son Pepin, then King of Aquitaine, stamped out the Vasconic revolt in Gascony and he next hunted the chieftains who had taken refuge in southern Vasconia, i. e. Pamplona and Navarre, no longer controlled by the Franks. He sent an army led by the counts Aeblus and Aznar-Sanchez, on the way back, however, they were ambushed and defeated in Roncesvaux by a probable joint Vasconic-Banu Qasi force. Out of this pattern of resistance against both Frankish and Cordoban interests, the Basque chieftain Íñigo Arista took power, tradition tells he was elected as king of Pamplona in 824, giving rise to a dynasty of kings in Pamplona that would last for eighty years. Pamplona and Navarre are cited as separate entities in a Frankish Carolingian chronicle, Pamplona is cited in 778 by another Frankish account as a Navarrese stronghold, while this may be put down to their vague knowledge of the Basque territory. They distinguished Navarre and its main town in 806 though, while the Chronicle of Fontenelle quotes Induonis et Mitionis, however, Arab chroniclers make no such distinctions, and just talk of the Baskunisi, a transliteration of Vascones, since a big majority of the population was Basque
34.
Louis XII of France
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Louis XII was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his cousin Charles VIII, who died without a closer heir in 1498. Before his accession to the throne of France, he was known as Louis of Orléans and was compelled to be married to his disabled and supposedly sterile cousin Joan by his second cousin, king Louis XI. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis of Orléans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the Mad War. At the royal victory in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, Louis was captured and he subsequently took part in the Italian War of 1494–1498 as one of the French commanders. When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany and this marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France. Louis persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples, Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed Father of the People in 1506 by the Estates-General of Tours for his reduction of the tax known as taille, legal reforms, Louis XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin Francis from the Angoulême cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis was born on 27 June 1462 in the Château de Blois, Touraine. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, however, Louis XI may have been more influenced in this opinion by his opposition to the entire Orleanist faction of the royal family than by the actual facts of this paternity case. Despite any alleged doubts that King Louis XI may have had, King Louis XI died on 30 August 1483. He was succeeded to the throne of France by his thirteen year-old son, nobody knew the direction which the new king would take in leading the kingdom. Accordingly, on 24 October 1483, a call went out for a convocation of the Estates General of the French kingdom, in January 1484, deputies of the Estates General began to arrive in Tours, France. The deputies represented three different estates in society, the First Estate was the Church, in France this meant the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Estate was composed of the nobility and the royalty of France, the Third Estate was generally composed of commoners and the class of traders and merchants in France. Louis, the current Duke of Orleans and future Louis XII, each estate brought their chief complaints to the Estates General in hopes to have some impact on the policies that the new King would pursue. The First Estate wanted a return to the Pragmatic Sanction, the Pragmatic Sanction had been first instituted by King Charles VII, the current King Charles VIIIs grandfather
35.
Calais
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Calais is a town and major ferry port in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The population of the area at the 2010 census was 126,395. Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km wide here, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day from Calais. Calais is a port for ferries between France and England, and since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has linked nearby Coquelles to Folkestone by rail. Due to its position, Calais since the Middle Ages has been a major port and it was annexed by Edward III of England in 1347 and grew into a thriving centre for wool production. The town came to be called the brightest jewel in the English crown owing to its importance as the gateway for the tin, lead, lace. Calais was a possession of England until its capture by France in 1558. In 1805 it was an area for Napoleons troops for several months during his planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The town was razed to the ground during World War II. During World War II, the Germans built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on England, the old part of the town, Calais proper, is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south, south east of the Place is the church of Notre-Dame, built during the English occupancy of Calais. It is arguably the only built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church former French President Charles de Gaulle married his wife Yvonne Vendroux, south of the Place and opposite the Parc St Pierre is the Hôtel-de-ville, and the belfry from the 16th and early 17th centuries. Today, Calais is visited by more than 10 million annually, although the early history of habitation in the area is limited, the Romans called the settlement Caletum. Julius Caesar mustered 800 to 1,000 sailing boats, five legions, as the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward from Calais, the haven behind it developed into fen, as the estuary progressively filled with silt and peat. Calais was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224, in 1189, Richard the Lionheart is documented to have landed at Calais on his journey to the Third Crusade. Angered, the English king demanded reprisals against the citizens for holding out for so long
36.
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury
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George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, 4th Earl of Waterford, KG, KB, PC was the son of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lady Catherine Stafford, daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham. The Earl was born at Shifnal, Shropshire, in 1468 and he succeeded to his fathers peerage in 1473, when aged five years, and was knighted in the Order of the Bath in 1475. Under King Henry VII, the Earl was a distinguished and honoured warrior, the Earl fought with distinction against Lambert Simnel at the Battle of Stoke. The Earl was created a Knight of the Garter after the battle, in 1489 he joined the English expedition to Flanders to aid the Emperor against the French. The same year, upon the birth of Henrys second child, on the accession of King Henry VIII, the Earl continued to serve the King as he did his father and again distinguished himself amongst his peers as a great warrior. He was Lieutenant-General of the English army sent to invade France in 1512, where he was present at the Battle of the Spurs and captured Thérouanne in August 1513. He was later present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, was placed in command of the army sent to control the border of Scotland and he also signed the articles against Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1529. On 4 Nov 1530, Wolsey was arrested for treason and brought south from York for his trial and he was treated kindly by the Earl and his family, who tried to make his stay as comfortable as possible. However, Wolsey became very ill before leaving Sheffield while under guard, when the rebellion in the north broke out in October 1536, Shrewsbury promptly raised forces on his own authority, and his courage and fidelity on this occasion perhaps saved Henrys crown. An armistice was agreed upon, and the insurgents laid their demands before the King. Having a large family and being a wealthy man, he found the castle accommodation extremely cramped. He broke with the tradition of his family and decided to make Sheffield his home and this castle is best known for later holding Mary, Queen of Scots, prisoner and indeed it was the 6th Earl, the Earls grandson, who confined her. In 1516, he decided to build himself a mansion on a hill about two miles away. In 1520, he had a chapel added to the church at Sheffield to serve as a family chapel with a burial vault below. This is now known as the Shrewsbury Chapel and now forms a part of Sheffield Cathedral. In 1538, the Earl died, aged 70, while at Wingfield Manor and he was laid to rest in the Shrewsbury Chapel along with his first wife, Lady Anne. The monument to Talbot and his two wives can still be seen in the church and he married before 27 June 1481 at age 13, his second cousin, Lady Anne Hastings, daughter of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, and Katherine Neville. Lady Anne was at court as one of Katherine of Aragon’s ladies-in-waiting at the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign, Lady Anne was a maternal half-sister of Cecily Bonville, Marchioness of Dorset
37.
Lord Steward
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The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an important official of the Royal Household. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government, until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance and carried Cabinet rank. The Lord Steward receives his appointment from the Sovereign in person and bears a white staff as the emblem and he is the first dignitary of the court. In an Act of passed in 1539 for placing of the lords and he presided at the Board of Green Cloth, until the Board of Green Cloth disappeared in the reform of local government licensing in 2004, brought about by the Licensing Act 2003. In his department are the Treasurer of the Household and Comptroller of the Household and these officials were usually peers or the sons of peers and Privy Councillors. They also sat at the Board of Green Cloth, carry white staves, the offices are now held by Government whips in the House of Commons. However, by the Coroners Act 1988, the Lord Steward still appoints the Coroner of the Queens Household. He is not named in the Black Book of Edward IV or in the Statutes of Henry VIII and is entered as master of the household and clerk of the green cloth in the Household Book of Queen Elizabeth. But he has superseded the lord steward of the household, as the steward of the household at one time superseded the Lord High Steward of England. In the Lord Stewards department were the officials of the Board of Green Cloth, the Coroner, and Paymaster of the Household, and the officers of the Royal Almonry. The Lord Steward had formerly three courts besides the Board of Green Cloth under him—the Lord Stewards Court, superseded in 1541 by the Marshalsea Court, the Lord Steward or his deputies formerly administered the oaths to the members of the House of Commons. In certain cases the lords with white staves are the persons to bear communications between the Sovereign and the Houses of Parliament.1485 The Lord FitzWalter 1485–aft. 1486 The Lord Willoughby de Broke 1488–1502 The Earl of Shrewsbury 1502–1538 The Earl of Sussex 1538–1540
38.
Cinque Ports
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The Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial and it lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest. The name is Norman French, meaning five ports and they were, Hastings New Romney Hythe Dover Sandwich However, Rye, originally a subsidiary of New Romney, changed to become one of the Cinque Ports once New Romney was damaged by storms and silted up. Other towns also contribute to the confederation, including two Antient Towns, and seven Limbs, the five ports are supported by the two so-called Antient Towns of Rye and Winchelsea, whose councils traditionally maintained defence contingents for the realm of England. Apart from the five ports and the two Antient Towns, there are eight members of the Confederation, which are considered to be Limbs of the other towns. The coastal confederation during its mediaeval period consisted of a confederation of 42 towns and villages in all. Johns, St. Peters, Ringwould, Woodchurch and Kingsdown Limbs of Hythe – West Hythe Walmer, Ramsgate A Royal Charter of 1155 established the ports to maintain ships ready for the Crown in case of need. The chief obligation laid upon the ports, as a duty, was to provide 57 ships for 15 days service to the king annually. The leeway given to the Cinque Ports, and the turning of an eye to misbehaviour, led to smuggling. A significant factor in the need to maintain the authority of the Cinque Ports by the King was the development of the Royal Navy, the associated ports, known as limbs, were given the same privileges. The five head ports and two antient towns were entitled to send two Members to Parliament, the town of Hastings was the head port of the Cinque Ports in mediaeval times. The towns also had their own system of courts, all Freemen of the ports, termed portsmen, were deemed in the age of Feudalism to be barons, and thus members of the baronage entitled to attend the kings parliament. Termed Barons of the Cinque Ports, they reflected an early concept that military service at sea constituted land tenure per baroniam making them quasi feudal barons, writs of summons to parliament were sent to the warden following which representative barons of the Cinque Ports were selected to attend parliament. Thus the wardens duty in this respect was similar to that of the sheriff who received the writs for distribution to the barons in the shires and this no doubt related to their privileges as monopolies. The warden and barons often experienced clashes of jurisdiction, as time went by and some ports declined or silted up, others were added. Rye and Winchelsea were attached to Hastings as Antient Towns in the 12th century, the following corporate limbs were added in the 15th century, Lydd, Faversham, Folkestone, Deal, Tenterden, Margate and Ramsgate. At one time there were 23 limbs, although by the 14th century the confederation faced wider challenges from a greater consolidation of national identity in the monarchy and Parliament, the legacy of the Saxon authority remained. Even after the 15th century, the antient towns continued to serve with the supply of transport ships and it was here that from 1433 the White and Black Books of the Cinque Port Courts were kept
39.
Edward Poynings
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Sir Edward Poynings KG was an English soldier, administrator and diplomat, and Lord Deputy of Ireland under King Henry VII of England. Edward Poynings was the son of Sir Robert Poynings and Elizabeth Paston. He was likely born at his fathers house in Southwark, afterwards the Crosskeys tavern and his father had been carver and sword-bearer to Jack Cade, and was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461. His mother, who married Robert Poynings in December 1459, inherited her husbands property in Kent in spite of opposition from her brother-in-law, Edward Poynings, master of Arundel College. Before 1472 she married a husband, Sir George Browne of Betchworth Castle, Surrey, by whom she had a son, Matthew. She died in 1487, appointing Edward as her executor, some of her correspondence is included in the Paston Letters. Poynings was brought up by his mother, in October 1483 he was a leader of the rising in Kent planned to second Buckinghams insurrection against Richard III. He was named in the proclamation, but escaped abroad to follow Henry. He was in Brittany in October 1484, and in August 1485 landed with Richmond at Milford Haven and he was at once made a knight banneret, and in the same year was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1488 he was on a commission to inspect the ordnance at Calais, in the following year he was placed in command of fifteen hundred men sent to aid the Emperor Maximilian against his rebellious subjects in the Netherlands. The rebels, under the leadership of Ravenstein, held Bruges, Damme, and Sluys, Poynings first cleared the sea of the privateers, and then laid siege to Sluys in August, while the Duke of Saxony blockaded it on land. After some hard fighting the two castles defending the town were taken, and the rebels entered into negotiations with Poynings to return to their allegiance. Poynings then joined Henry VII before Boulogne, but the French war was closed almost without bloodshed by the treaty of Etaples on 3 November, in 1493 Poynings was acting as deputy or governor of Calais. In July he was sent with Warham on a mission to Archduke Philip to gain Perkin Warbecks expulsion from Burgundy, where he had been welcomed by the dowager duchess Margaret. The envoys obtained from Philip a promise that he would abstain from aiding Warbeck, but the duke asserted that he could not control the actions of the duchess, Henry appointed Prince Henry as viceroy, and made Poynings the princes deputy. Poyningss first measure was an expedition into Ulster, in conjunction with Kildare, to punish ODonnell, OHanlon, Magennis, Poynings abandoned the Ulster invasion, turned south, and with some difficulty reduced Carlow, he then proceeded to Drogheda and summoned a parliament. It opened on 1 December 1494, and, after attainting Kildare, proceeded to pass for Poynings numerous acts tending to make Irish administration directly dependent on the Crown, another act declared all recent laws in England to be of force in Ireland. These two measures, subsequently known as Poyningss Law, or The Statutes of Drogheda, rendered the Irish parliament completely subordinate to that of England
40.
Dover Castle
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Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent. It was founded in the 11th century and has described as the Key to England due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England, the site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD43. This is suggested on the basis of the pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of the castle, there have also been excavations on the mound which the church and Roman Pharos are situated on, which has been discovered to be a Bronze Age mound. On the site is a classic montrol where the Normans landed after their victorious conquest, after the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William the Conqueror and his forces marched to Westminster Abbey for his coronation. They took a route via Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey. From the Cinque Ports foundation in 1050, Dover has always been a chief member—it may also have been this that first attracted Williams attention, in the words of William of Poitiers, Then he marched to Dover, which had been reported impregnable and held by a large force. The English, stricken with fear at his approach had confidence neither in their ramparts nor in the numbers of their troops. While the inhabitants were preparing to surrender unconditionally, greedy for money, set the castle on fire, having taken possession of the castle, the Duke spent eight days adding new fortifications to it. The Castle was first built, entirely out of clay and it collapsed to the ground and the clay was then used as the flooring for many of the ground-floor rooms. It was during the reign of Henry II that the castle began to take recognisable shape, the inner and outer baileys and the great keep belong to this time. Maurice the Engineer was responsible for building the keep, one of the last rectangular keeps ever built, in 1216, a group of rebel barons invited the future Louis VIII of France to come and take the English crown. He had some success breaching the walls, but was ultimately to take the castle. During the siege, the English defenders tunnelled outwards and attacked the French and this can still be seen in the medieval works. During the time of Stephen de Pencester, a windmill was erected on Tower 22, by the Tudor age, the defences themselves had been superseded by gunpowder. They were improved by Henry VIII, who made a personal visit, during the English Civil War it was held for the king but then taken by a Parliamentarian trick without a shot being fired in 1642. This work was overseen by General William Roy, the other English viewpoint used to make measurements across to Cap Blanc Nez in France was at Fairlight, East Sussex
41.
Catherine of Aragon
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The daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne. They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later on 2 April 1502, in 1507, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese Crown in England, the first female ambassador in European history. Catherine subsequently married Arthurs younger brother, the recently ascended Henry VIII, for six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English won the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with a speech about English courage. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events led to Englands schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters, in 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England and considered herself the Kings rightful wife and queen, despite this, she was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning. The controversial book The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, such was Catherines impression on people that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her, If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History. She successfully appealed for the lives of the involved in the Evil May Day. Catherine also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor and she was a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More. Catherine was born at the Archbishops Palace in Alcalá de Henares near Madrid and she was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Catherine was quite short in stature with red hair, wide blue eyes, a round face. Consequently, she was cousin of her father-in-law, Henry VII of England. Catherine was educated by a tutor, Alessandro Geraldini, who was a clerk in Holy Orders and she studied arithmetic, canon and civil law, classical literature, genealogy and heraldry, history, philosophy, religion, and theology. She had a religious upbringing and developed her Roman Catholic faith that would play a major role in later life. She learned to speak, read and write in Spanish and Latin and she was also taught domestic skills, such as cooking, dancing, drawing, embroidery, good manners, lace-making, music, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving. The great scholar Erasmus later said that Catherine loved good literature which she had studied with success since childhood
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