1.
Richard Paton
–
Richard Paton was a British marine painter. Paton spent his career in London, where he is said to have been born. He is said to have grown up in poverty, and he is described as self-taught, some critics have discerned an influence of Samuel Scotts works, and also of Charles Brooking. Any such influence is hardly evident and he was assistant to the ship’s painter on Knowles ship, gaining knowledge in both painting and seamanship. In 1742, he started working at the Excise Office and his first exhibition was in 1758 on the premises of the London-based Society of Artists, where he continued to exhibit up to 1770. The Royal Academy hosted his works between 1762 and 1780, Patons specialities were marine and naval paintings. The paintings include many dramatic effects such as battles at night, the shooting of cannons, there are, however, also less militant themes such as ships becalmed. His sublime depiction of the sky was considered especially noteworthy, prints of his works, made among others by Pierre-Charles Canot, made them widely known. His work was judged uneven in quality, possibly reflecting his lack of proper training, like that song, Patons marine paintings both reflected the growth of British sea power throughout the 18th century and helped gain public support and backing for that process. The painting is at present in the museum of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
Richard Paton
–
Paton's depiction of the
Battle of Cape Passaro (11 August 1718) (oil on canvas, painted 1767 - half a century after the event)
Richard Paton
–
Engraving based on Paton's painting Action Between the Serapis and Bonhomme Richard, published 1780.
2.
New Style
–
Closely related is the custom of dual dating, where writers gave two consecutive years because of differences in the starting date of the year, or included both the Julian and Gregorian dates. Beginning in 1582, the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian in Roman Catholic countries and this change was implemented subsequently in Protestant and Orthodox countries, usually at much later dates. In England and Wales, Ireland, and the British colonies, the change of the start of the year, in Scotland, the legal start of the year had already been moved to 1 January, but Scotland otherwise continued to use the Julian calendar until 1752. When recording British history it is usual to use the dates recorded at the time of the event, but the start of the Julian year was not always 1 January, and was altered at different times in different countries. From 1155 to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March so for example the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 1648. In modern English language texts this date is shown as 30 January 1649. The corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar is 9 February 1649, designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the historical year and the official start date, where different. This was 25 March in England, Wales and the Colonies until 1752, during the years between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar in continental Europe and its introduction in Britain, contemporary usage in England started to change. In Britain 1 January was celebrated as the New Year festival, some more modern sources, often more academic ones, also use the 1661/62 style for the period between 1 January and 25 March for years before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in England. Through enactment of the Calendar Act 1750, Britain and the British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, wednesday,2 September 1752, was followed by Thursday,14 September 1752. Claims that rioters demanded Give us our eleven days out of a misinterpretation of a painting by William Hogarth. The British tax year began on Lady Day on the Julian calendar and thus became 5 April. A 12th skipped Julian leap day in 1800 changed its start to 6 April and it was not changed when a 13th Julian leap day was skipped in 1900, so the tax year in the United Kingdom still begins on 6 April. The European colonies of the Americas adopted the change when their mother countries did, in Alaska, the change took place after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Friday,6 October 1867 was followed by Friday,18 October, usually, the mapping of new dates onto old dates with a start of year adjustment works well with little confusion for events which happened before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Agincourt is universally known to have fought on 25 October 1415. Events in continental western Europe are usually reported in English language histories as happening under the Gregorian calendar, for example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704. However confusion occurs when an event involves both, for example, William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November, after setting sail from the Netherlands on 11 November, in 1688
New Style
–
On this marriage certificate, made out in 1907 in Warsaw (then part of the
Russian Empire), the month is given as "November/December", and the day as "23/6". The Julian date 23 November corresponded to the Gregorian 6 December.
New Style
–
Issue 9198 of the
London Gazette, covering Great Britain's switch from O.S. to N.S.
New Style
–
Thomas Jefferson 's tombstone. Written below the
epitaph is "BORN APRIL 2 1743 O.S. DIED JULY 4 1826"
3.
Old Style
–
Closely related is the custom of dual dating, where writers gave two consecutive years because of differences in the starting date of the year, or included both the Julian and Gregorian dates. Beginning in 1582, the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian in Roman Catholic countries and this change was implemented subsequently in Protestant and Orthodox countries, usually at much later dates. In England and Wales, Ireland, and the British colonies, the change of the start of the year, in Scotland, the legal start of the year had already been moved to 1 January, but Scotland otherwise continued to use the Julian calendar until 1752. When recording British history it is usual to use the dates recorded at the time of the event, but the start of the Julian year was not always 1 January, and was altered at different times in different countries. From 1155 to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March so for example the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 1648. In modern English language texts this date is shown as 30 January 1649. The corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar is 9 February 1649, designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the historical year and the official start date, where different. This was 25 March in England, Wales and the Colonies until 1752, during the years between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar in continental Europe and its introduction in Britain, contemporary usage in England started to change. In Britain 1 January was celebrated as the New Year festival, some more modern sources, often more academic ones, also use the 1661/62 style for the period between 1 January and 25 March for years before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in England. Through enactment of the Calendar Act 1750, Britain and the British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, wednesday,2 September 1752, was followed by Thursday,14 September 1752. Claims that rioters demanded Give us our eleven days out of a misinterpretation of a painting by William Hogarth. The British tax year began on Lady Day on the Julian calendar and thus became 5 April. A 12th skipped Julian leap day in 1800 changed its start to 6 April and it was not changed when a 13th Julian leap day was skipped in 1900, so the tax year in the United Kingdom still begins on 6 April. The European colonies of the Americas adopted the change when their mother countries did, in Alaska, the change took place after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Friday,6 October 1867 was followed by Friday,18 October, usually, the mapping of new dates onto old dates with a start of year adjustment works well with little confusion for events which happened before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Agincourt is universally known to have fought on 25 October 1415. Events in continental western Europe are usually reported in English language histories as happening under the Gregorian calendar, for example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704. However confusion occurs when an event involves both, for example, William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November, after setting sail from the Netherlands on 11 November, in 1688
Old Style
–
On this marriage certificate, made out in 1907 in Warsaw (then part of the
Russian Empire), the month is given as "November/December", and the day as "23/6". The Julian date 23 November corresponded to the Gregorian 6 December.
Old Style
–
Issue 9198 of the
London Gazette, covering Great Britain's switch from O.S. to N.S.
Old Style
–
Thomas Jefferson 's tombstone. Written below the
epitaph is "BORN APRIL 2 1743 O.S. DIED JULY 4 1826"
4.
Cherbourg
–
Cherbourg-Octeville is a city and former commune situated at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It is a subprefecture of its department, and was formed when the commune of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the city is a Maritime prefecture and sub-prefecture of la Manche. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is protected by Cherbourg Harbour, between La Hague and Val de Saire, and the city has been a position over the centuries. A stopping point for prestigious transatlantic liners in the first half of the 20th century, limited by its geographical isolation from being a great commercial port, it is nonetheless an important shipbuilding centre, and a working-class city with a rural hinterland. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is located at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula, in the department of Manche. At the time of the 1999 census the city of Cherbourg had an area of 6.91 square kilometres, the largest city in the Department of Manche, it is the result of the merger of the communes of Cherbourg and Octeville. The amalgamated city today has an area of 14.26 km2. Cherbourg is situated at the mouth of the Divette and at the south of the bay between Cap Lévi to the east and Cap de La Hague to the west, Cherbourg-Octeville is 120 km from the English coast. Cherbourg and Octeville-sur-Cherbourg once belonged to the deanery of La Hague, in 1786, a part of Equeurdreville joined Cherbourg, during the construction of the port, and then in 1802, a portion of Octeville. Thus, Cherbourg-Octeville lies both in La Hague and in the Val de Saire, like all Chantereyne and the area of the Mielles, the Cherbourg territory was reclaimed from the sea. Built at the level of the sea, the town developed at the foot of the Roule mountain and these folds result in layers of sandstone tilted 45° towards the north-east on la Fauconniere and the Montagne du Roule. These two cliffs are due to sea erosion in the Quaternary, the retreat of the sea then gave way to sand dunes and tidal marshes, destroyed by the urbanisation of the 17th and 19th centuries, identical to those of Collignon in Tourlaville. The greenschist, whose colour comes from chlorite and sericite, are used mainly for roofing in Nord-Cotentin, the Armorican sandstone of the Montagne du Roule is used for rubble and rockfill. Most of the quarries, which opened in the metropolitan area for building the harbour wall, are now closed. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is bordered by the sea, the construction of the port of trade, from 1769, accompanied by the diversion of the Divette and the Trottebec gathered in the canal de retenue, along the Avenue de Paris and Rue du Val-de-Saire. The streams of the Bucaille and the Fay, which watered the Croûte du Homet, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has a temperate oceanic climate. Its maritime character causes high humidity and a strong sea wind, commonly stormy but also low seasonal variations of temperature and few days of frost
Cherbourg
–
An aerial view of the Cherbourg agglomeration in May 2006
Cherbourg
–
A map of the Cotentin peninsula, with Cherbourg to the north
Cherbourg
–
The Montagne du Roule seen from the commercial harbour.
Cherbourg
–
The
Normandie Express catamaran ferry at Cherbourg
5.
Kingdom of France
–
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
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France in 1789.
Ancien Régime provinces in
1789.
Kingdom of France
–
Royal Standarda
Kingdom of France
–
Henry IV, by
Frans Pourbus the younger, 1610.
Kingdom of France
–
Louis XIII, by
Philippe de Champaigne, 1647.
6.
Kingdom of England
–
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
Kingdom of England
–
The dominions of
Cnut the Great (1014–1035)
Kingdom of England
–
Flag
Kingdom of England
–
King John signs
Magna Carta at
Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.
Kingdom of England
–
Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the English victory over France at the
Battle of Agincourt.
7.
Dutch Republic
–
It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
Dutch Republic
–
Dutch East-India trading ship 1600
Dutch Republic
–
Flag
Dutch Republic
–
Onrust Island near
Batavia, 1699
Dutch Republic
–
Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, 1653
8.
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
–
Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville was a French naval commander who served under King Louis XIV. He was made Marshal of France in 1693, at age 17, as a Knight of Malta, he fought his first naval battle on a frigate of the Order of Malta. He served under Abraham Duquesne during the campaigns of 1676, and he put his flag on the Soleil-Royal, where it would stay until the battle of La Hougue in 1692. At the Battle of Beachy Head,1690, he defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet, sinking or capturing 15 enemy ships. On 29 May 1692, at the battle of the Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue, with only 45 ships, he inflicted heavy damage on an English and Dutch fleet 97 ships strong. He himself suffered heavy losses after the battle when fire ships attacked the French ships of the line immobilised for repairs in port at Cherbourg. On 27 June 1693, he defeated a convoy of 59 English ships commanded by George Rooke at Cape St. Vincent near Lagos Bay in Portugal, Tourville retired after the 1697 Peace of Ryswick and died in Paris on 23 May 1701, regarded as a national hero. A number of French naval vessels from the 18th through 20th centuries were named in Tourvilles honour, attribution Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Tourville, Anne-Hilarion de Cotentin, Comte de. Encyclopedia. com information about Anne Hilarion de Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
–
Amiral Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville,
Musée de la Marine.
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
–
Wooden statue of Tourville, on display at Toulon naval museum
9.
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
–
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC was a Royal Navy officer. After serving as an officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the Invitation to William, based in the Netherlands, he served as Prince William’s secretary during the planning of William’s invasion of England and subsequent Glorious Revolution. Russell went on to be First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of William III and he was also MP for Launceston, for Portsmouth and then for Cambridgeshire. Born the son of the Hon. Edward Russell, a son of the 4th Earl of Bedford and Penelope Russell, Russell briefly attended St Johns College, Cambridge. He then move to the third-rate HMS Swiftsure in March 1678, in 1683 he ceased to be employed, as all of the members of the Russell family had fallen into disfavour with the King, after the discovery of Lord Russells connection with the Rye House Plot. Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the Invitation to William, based in the Netherlands, he served as Prince William’s secretary during the planning of William’s invasion of England and subsequent Glorious Revolution in November 1688. Russell was elected Whig Member of Parliament for Launceston and appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1689, promoted directly to full admiral in May 1689, Russell took command in the Channel, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Duke, in 1689 and enforced a blockade of France. Russell lived at Chippenham Park in Cambridgeshire from 1689 until his death and he re-modelled the manor house and greatly extended Chippenham Park, which still dominates the parish to the south of the village. Russell was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth in the election in March 1690. He conveyed Maria Anna of Neuburg, Charles II of Spains future consort and he became a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty on the Admiralty board led by the Earl of Pembroke in June 1690. He was fully engaged in providing support for the Williamite War in Ireland until the war ended in October 1691. In Autumn 1690, Russell blamed the Dutch for the failure of the allies to enforce the blockade of France and was forced to stand down as a Lord Commissioner in January 1691. Flying his flag in the first-rate HMS Britannia, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at Battle of Barfleur in May 1692, Russell then destroyed much of the French fleet, in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue in June 1692. Following a disagreement with the Earl of Nottingham, Russell resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1692, admirals Henry Killigrew, Ralph Delaval and Cloudesley Shovell were put in joint command of the fleet in January 1693. He was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire in 1695 and was created Baron Shingay, Viscount Barfleur and he faced allegations of having misappropriated funds from the maintenance of the fleet, to spend on his private estates in 1698. The accusations went no further and he left office as First Lord and as Treasurer of the Navy and he commissioned the building of Orford House at Ugley in Essex in 1700. Russell returned to office as First Lord in the coalition Godolphin-Marlborough Ministry in November 1709 and he died at Covent Garden in London on 26 November 1727 and was buried in the Russell vault at St Michael’s Church in Chenies
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
–
Admiral Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford by
Thomas Gibson, painted c. 1715
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
–
The
Battle of Solebay, where Russell saw action as a junior officer
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
–
The
Battle of Barfleur at which commanded the English fleet
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
–
Chippenham Park, Russell's home in Cambridgeshire
10.
Philips van Almonde
–
Philips van Almonde was a Dutch Lieutenant Admiral, who served in his nation’s maritime conflicts of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Philips was born in Den Briel, the son of Pieter Jansz van Almonde, Van Almonde learned the maritime profession under his uncle, the frigate commander Jacob Cleidijck, becoming a cadet on his ship the Wapen van Dordrecht in 1661. He was appointed lieutenant in 1664 by the Admiralty of the Maze, during the Battle of Lowestoft in the Second Anglo-Dutch War he in 1665 took over command from his incapacitated uncle and was on return confirmed in his command on 14 August. He distinguished himself in the Four Days Battle of 11–14 June 1666, in 1667 he was made a full captain. In 1671 he was captain of the Harderwijk, in 1674 Van Almonde on the Ridderschap van Holland carried out actions against the French west coast. The following year, he accompanied Tromps squadron in the Mediterranean, in late May and early June 1676 he commanded a squadron during the battles of Bornholm and Öland in the Baltic Sea as part of a Danish-Dutch fleet under Niels Juel and Cornelis Tromp. In the second battle the numerically superior Swedish navy was soundly defeated, in 1676, following De Ruyters death, Van Almonde led the mediterranean fleet back to Holland. On 5 April 1684 he was appointed Vice-Admiral by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, during the Glorious Revolution he commanded the rear of stadtholder William III of Oranges invasion fleet. He achieved his greatest fame, however, during the War of the Grand Alliance, in which the Netherlands, on 28 March 1692 he was made Lieutenant-Admiral. Van Almonde on De Prins commanded a squadron in the battle at La Hougue on 29 May 1692. There he actually decided Admiral Edward Russell’s victory over the French, who were under the command of Tourville, by launching his long boats against the trapped French, a favourite Dutch tactic. In 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Van Almonde was behind a plan to seize richly-laden Spanish treasure galleons arriving from the West Indies. On 23 October, he convinced British Admiral Sir George Rooke to attack the treasure ships despite the lateness of the year, the Dutch and English forces in the Battle of Vigo destroyed the enemy fleet in the harbor of Vigo. The English seized four ships-of-the-line and six galleons, while the Dutch took six warships, in 1706 he put down command of the Dutch fleet headed for Portugal on hearing that he would be subordinated to a British Vice-Admiral. Van Almonde later moved back to his Haaswyk estate at Oegstgeest, near Leyden and his memorial stands in the Katherine Church at Briel, where he was buried on 30 December 1712. Philips van Almonde, admiraal in de gecombineerde vloot, 1644-1711
Philips van Almonde
–
Contemporary engraving of Philips van Almonde
Philips van Almonde
–
Memorial for Philips van Almonde in the Saint Catherine's Church in
Brielle
11.
Battle of Walcourt
–
The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging. The battle was a success for the Grand Alliance – the only significant engagement in the theatre during the campaign of 1689, the Allied army was commanded by the Prince of Waldeck, the French army by the duc de Humières. The battle incurred some 2,000 French casualties against the Allied losses of less than 300, in September 1688, King Louis XIV’s forces invaded the Rhineland and besieged the German town of Philippsburg. What was supposed to be a campaign lasting months, evolved into the Nine Years War. By moving into the Rhineland, Louis dispelled fears in the Dutch Republic of an attack upon them. The Spanish Netherlands would later become the theatre of the war. William entrusted overall command of his 35,000 troops in the theatre to the 69-year-old Prince of Waldeck, administrative problems and the late arrival of contingents delayed the opening of the Allied offensive in the region until late June. Waldeck moved from near Tienen and headed towards Fleurus, the two spent the next two months marching and counter-marching in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage. By 24 August Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and had camped near the ancient town of Walcourt where he was satisfied to live upon enemy territory. On 25 August, Allied foragers, escorted by 600 English troops of Colonel Hodges’ Regiment were sent out to the surrounding countryside, Humières, in an effort to expel the intruders, fell upon the foraging parties and allied outposts about 2 miles south of Walcourt. The foragers were recalled and the Allied camp made readiness for action, for nearly two hours Hodges’ regiment was able to prevent the development of the French vanguard, and covered the retreat of the surprised foragers before retiring his troops to a nearby mill. By 11,00, Marlborough had arrived within sight of the engagement. Waldeck later commented to William – and the English, who are with him, have accomplished miracles, despite his troop’s failure to overcome Hodges’ small force, Humières decided to attack Walcourt itself, which had since been occupied by 600 men. The ground was not favourable to the French – although the defences of the town were antiquated, nevertheless, several attacks were pressed home, but the French suffered heavy casualties from the Allied enfilading guns. Despite the losses Humières persisted, and sent a party of Gardes Françaises to try to set alight Walcourt’s gates. The attempt failed, and the safety of the garrison was assured after Brigadier-General Thomas Tollemache brought the Coldstream Guards, Humières saw himself forced to widen the battle and now flung his men in an improvised attack against the right wing of the main Allied line beyond the town. Humières had been humiliated, but due to problems, Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success
Battle of Walcourt
–
The Spanish Netherlands. Walcourt lies south of Charleroi near the river Sambre.
12.
Siege of Bonn (1689)
–
The Siege of Bonn took place in 1689 during the Nine Years War when the forces of the Dutch Republic and the Elector of Brandenburg besieged and captured Bonn. It was part of the Rhineland campaign which Brandenburg was fighting as part of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV of France, following Louis incursions into the Rhineland the previous year, a coalition of nations had formed to resist French hegemony. In Germany this involved an advance into the territory of Frances ally the Electorate of Cologne, while to the west the large armies of Waldeck. In June 1689 Brandenburg took Kaiserswerth, leaving Bonn as the major settlement in Cologne not in Allied hands. Bonn was already under threat and a blockade had been imposed on it, on 11 July the Allied commanders Hans Adam von Schöning and Adriaan van Flodroff captured a key fort close to Bonn, and eleven days later the main Allied field army arrived outside Bonn. Batteries opened fire, but a formal siege did not begin until the 16 September when Frederick of Brandenburg took over command, on 10 October the defenders surrendered after a very heavy bombardment that left much of Bonn in ruins. In 1703 Bonn again came under siege during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Nine Years War and the British Army, 1688-97. The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714
Siege of Bonn (1689)
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A plan of Bonn in 1689.
13.
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
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The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years War. Waldecks suffered heavy losses in prisoners and equipment, and Luxembourg moved ahead to control Flanders, the Allies, meanwhile, withdrew to Brussels to recover and rebuild their army. In 1690 the main theatre of the Nine Years War moved to the Spanish Netherlands, command of French forces now passed to the talented Marshal Luxembourg, superseding Marshal Humières who had suffered defeat at the Battle of Walcourt the previous year. Luxembourgs army consisted of 34 battalions and 94 squadrons, if necessary he could call upon support from Marshal Boufflers’ forces on the Moselle, once again King William entrusted Allied forces in the region to Prince Waldeck. In other theatres Marshal de Lorge commanded French forces in the Rhineland, de Lorge was opposed by the Elector of Bavaria, who had succeeded command of Allied forces in the region after the death of Charles of Lorraine. Meanwhile, Marshal Catinat led the French forces in Dauphiné against the Duke of Savoy, Waldeck, meanwhile, left his assembly point at Tienen and advanced to Wavre. After dispersing his troops to live off forage, the Allied army reassembled and advanced to Genappe on 8 June, in mid-June Luxembourg split his forces. Humières was relegated to supervise the garrison of the Lines of the Lys, meanwhile, detachments from Boufflers force under Rubantel had augmented Luxembourg’s army, which continued its march, camping at Boussu on 27 June. As Luxembourg manoeuvred south of Mons and Charleroi, Waldeck moved his camp between Nivelles and Pieton on 28 June and that same evening, Luxembourg personally led a detachment from Gerpinnes, to establish a crossing of the Sambre at Ham. With the bridgehead secure, the rest of the French army crossed the Sambre on 30 June, Waldeck decamped and moved towards the French bridgehead. On the morning of 1 July, Luxembourg marched his forces towards Fleurus, Luxembourg divided his forces to attack both flanks of the Allied army – an audacious plan that in order for it to succeed would require secrecy and deception. The columns of the first French line split to take position between Heppignies and Fleurus, with troops moving up towards St Amant. The two columns of Luxembourg’s right veered off to the north across the Orme, their passage covered by the hedges and wheat fields, forty cannon were positioned near the chateau of St Amant, and another 30 guns positioned between the chateau and Fleurus. Unnoticed by Waldeck, Luxembourg had enveloped his flanks, had the Allied commander realised that Luxembourg had split his army in two, he might have overwhelmed the isolated French left before the right came into position, but he did not. After the French right wing was in position, their artillery opened fire at about 10,00, a cavalry charge on the right wing however, met with more success, driving the enemy cavalry back. On the heels of this attack, the French infantry now advanced against both flanks of Waldeck’s line which, finding itself enveloped by the enemy, finally broke, some of the Allied troops managed to regroup on high ground near Fleurus, but were eventually overwhelmed. Despite being pressed by French cavalry, Waldeck was able to create a new line with his forces further back. However, this line also collapsed, broken by French infantry flushed with confidence from their initial success, the remainder of Waldeck’s troops streamed towards Nivelles in the best order they could
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
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Battle of Fleurus by
Pierre-Denis Martin
14.
Siege of Mons (1691)
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The Siege of Mons,15 March–10 April 1691, was a major operation fought during the Nine Years War, and was the main French objective for the 1691 campaign in the Spanish Netherlands. The city was besieged and captured before the commencement of the campaigning season with minimal losses. Strategically, however, little had changed in the war, French forces had secured considerable success in 1690. In August Catinat had triumphed at the Battle of Staffarda in northern Italy, the only bright spot for the Grand Alliance in 1690 was King William’s victory over James II in Ireland at the Battle of the Boyne. Yet despite the successes, French forces in 1690 had failed to break the coalition ranged against the ambitions of King Louis. In 1691 the French had planned for a strike, Nice in northern Italy. William entered The Hague on 5 February to organise his army for the coming campaign, after securing forces totalling 220,000 men, the Stadtholder-King retired to his country home. In mid-March, surrounded by representatives of the Grand Alliance, he received news that Mons was under siege. Louis, accompanied by members of his court, joined his army in the Spanish Netherlands to take control of the armies in theatre, the King’s besieging army of 46,000 surrounded the town and its garrison of some 4,800 men. The Allies had formed an army of 38,000 under William to relieve the city, marshal Boufflers began the investment on 15 March, the trenches were opened ten days later. Inevitably, at 17,00 on 8 April, the besieged inhabitants beat the chamade, conditions were settled, the siege had begun and ended before the normal commencement of campaigning. Louis returned to Versailles on 12 April, whilst William, after distributing his troops to various garrisons, returned to The Hague. The French now prepared for the rest of the 1691 campaign season with the creation of five large armies bound for five major fronts, Flanders, the Moselle, the Rhine, Piedmont, and Roussillon. Luxembourg devastated Halle at the end of May, whilst Boufflers bombarded neutral Liege in early June, louvois, however, suggested a bombardment of Brussels would force the issue, but was opposed by Luxembourg and Vauban. William, meanwhile, arrived at Anderlecht on 2 June to take command of the Allied army of 63 battalions and 180 squadrons, Luxembourg successfully manoeuvred to prevent William besieging Dinant, but subsequent manoeuvres produced little action. After William left his troops in the command of the Prince of Waldeck, Luxembourg’s cavalry routed part of the Allied army at Leuze on 18 September, the Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, the Emergence of the Great Powers, 1685–1715. ISBN 0-06-139750-4 Wolf, John B. Louis XIV
Siege of Mons (1691)
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King Louis XIV at the Siege of Mons (1691) Engraving: "soldier killed by a cannon shot behind the king."
Siege of Mons (1691)
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Contemporary plan showing the bombardment and investment of Mons in 1691.
15.
Battle of Leuze
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The Battle of Leuze was a minor Cavalry engagement of the Nine Years War that took place on 18 September 1691 between a detachment of French and a slightly superior Allied force. Marshal Luxembourg had been informed that William III of Orange had left for England and he was also informed that Marshal Waldeck, who was left in charge, was preparing to retire into winter quarters. Luxembourg was near Tournai and sent out a reconnaissance under Marsilly and he send a detachment to follow the movements of the main body, and with the squadrons of Villars and Marsilly he attacked the smaller party without warning. The French cavalry charged, only using their swords, the Allied cavalry was superior in numbers, but could not deploy efficiently because of the limited space they were manoeuvred in. The Allied infantry, including Mackays Regiment also took part in the battle, the battle lasted for only two hours, and the French had the advantage. The surviving Allied cavalry was brought off by troops that Waldeck sent back, Luxembourg had been in the thick of the action and been forced to beat off an attack, directed at his person
Battle of Leuze
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Combat de Leuze by
Joseph Parrocel
16.
Siege of Namur (1692)
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Namur, sitting on the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers, was a considerable fortress, and was a significant political and military asset. As in 1691, five large armies were created for the five major fronts of the war, Flanders, the Moselle, the Rhine, Piedmont, and Roussillon. To these was added a further force in Flanders to attack what was to be France’s major goal for 1692, to deter William from marching to the town’s relief, Louis arranged for a simultaneous landing in England to assist King James II in his attempt to regain his throne. This force consisted of 12,000 Catholic Irish troops, released after the conclusion of the Irish war under the terms of the Treaty of Limerick, however, an essential preliminary to the invasion was the acquisition of naval supremacy in the English Channel. Louis, accompanied by individuals of the court, left Versailles for Flanders on 10 May, French cavalry invested the town on the night of 25–26 May, the main army arrived the following day. Namur’s garrison, under the command of Octavius Ignatius, Prince of Arenberg and Barbançon, the Siege of Namur in 1692 was a particularly notable operation of King Louis’ reign. First, the action involved the two great military engineers of the day, Vauban, who oversaw the siege, and the Dutch engineer, Menno van Coehoorn, second, the location and topography of the position made the siege particularly challenging. The actual town of Namur sat on low, flat land on the bank of the Sambre. But by reason of the position of its citadel, it was one of the strongest frontiers in Flanders, Vauban had secretly reconnoitred Namur the year before and managed to draw up plans of the town’s defences. Guided by these drawings, the French constructed lines of circumvallation, William, meanwhile, moved his forces southwest closer to Namur, whilst Luxembourg moved his army of observation east from Gembloux to Longchamps, north of the town. William hoped to bring Luxembourg to battle on the Mehaigne, most of the garrison of Namur were Spanish troops, weak and in poor condition. The garrison managed a sortie to reinforce a battery covering the main town. Offering little resistance the town capitulated on 5 June, at time it was agreed there would be a truce until the morning of 7 June. During this respite the garrison crossed over to the complex. It was also agreed that during the rest of the siege the Allies would not fire down on the town from the heights, and, for their part, the section of the citadel overlooking the Meuse is on a rocky height and is inaccessible and impossible to attack. The key to the citadel, therefore, was Fort William and it was in this direction that the French were obliged to attack. The first task for the attackers was to take the redoubt of La Cachotte. The trench was opened on 8 June, a major assault – consisting of seven battalions, La Cachotte fell, and Vauban turned to seizing Fort William, which was personally defended by Coehoorn
Siege of Namur (1692)
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Siege of Namur, June 1692 by Martin Jean-Baptiste le vieux
17.
Battle of Steenkerque
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The Battle of Steenkerque was fought on 3 August 1692, as a part of the Nine Years War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, the battle took place near the village of Steenkerque in the Southern Netherlands,50 kilometres south-west of Brussels. Steenkerque is now part of the Belgian municipality of Braine-le-Comte, the French had achieved their immediate object by capturing of Namur. The French, not wishing to fight, took up a defensive position in accordance with the strategical methods of the time. The French army lay facing north-west with its right on the Zenne at Steenkerque and their supposition was that the enemy would not dare to attack it. William III had replaced Waldeck as supreme allied commander, the allied army was encamped about Halle. Of the 20 British regiments in the Allied army,8 were Scottish, including the famed Mackay Regiment, who had landed with William at Torbay in 1688. The Allies, who would probably have done as the French marshal desired, were by the fortune of war afforded the opportunity of surprising a part of the enemys forces. Accordingly, William set his army in motion before dawn on 3 August and he completely misled the enemy by forcing a detected spy to give Luxemburg false news. The Allied advanced guard of infantry and pioneers, under the Duke of Wurttemberg, the main body of the French army was farther back and forming up after the passage of some woods. Belatedly, Luxembourg became aware of the impending blow, when the fight opened, Luxembourg was completely surprised and he could do no more than hurry the nearest foot and dragoons into action as each regiment came on the scene. The march of the Allies main body was mismanaged, Wurttemberg started methodically cannonading the enemy while waiting for support and for the order to advance. The French worked with feverish energy to form a strong and well-covered line of battle at the threatened point. The allied main body had marched in the order with one wing of cavalry leading, the infantry following. On arrival at the field they were sorted out into infantry and cavalry. Only a few Allied battalions had come up to support the guard when the real attack opened at 12,30. Although the advanced guard had already been under arms for nine hours, the British and Danes stubbornly advanced and the second and third lines of the French infantry gave ground before them. However, Luxembourg was rapidly massing his whole force to crush them, during this time the confusion in the allied main body had reached its height
Battle of Steenkerque
–
Duke of Württemberg
Battle of Steenkerque
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Louis Francois de Boufflers
18.
Battle of Landen
–
The French assaulted the Allied position three times before the French cavalry finally penetrated the allied defences and drove Williams army from the field in a rout. The battle was, however, quite costly for both sides, the French losing 9,000 men to the Allies 19,000, the French failed to follow up on their victory, allowing William to escape. William had no mind to retire over the Gete River and entrenched a line from Laar through Neerwinden to Neerlanden. On the right of line, the ground was broken. In the centre the open ground between Neerwinden and Neerlanden was solidly entrenched, in front of it Rumsdorp was held as an advance post, the left at Neerlanden rested upon the Landen brook and was difficult to access. Williams right was his dangerous flank, and Marshal Luxembourg was aware that the Allies front was somewhat long for the numbers defending it, the intervention of troops drawn from one wing to reinforce the other would almost certainly be too late. Elsewhere, delivering holding attacks or demonstrations, as might be necessary, would prevent the Allied centre. Marshal Luxembourg had about 80,000 men to Williams 50,000, opposite the entrenchments of the centre he drew up nearly the whole of his cavalry in six lines, with two lines of infantry intercalated. A corps of infantry and dragoons was held off for the attack on Neerlanden, the troops destined for the main attack,28,000 of all arms, formed up in heavy masses opposite Neerwinden. This proportion of about one-third of the force to be employed in the decisive attack in the event proved insufficient. The troops opposite the Allied centre and left had to act with the greatest energy to fulfill their containinment mission, at Laar-Neerwinden the eventual success of the attack was bought only at the price of the utter exhaustion of the troops. After a long cannonade the French columns moved to the attack, converging on Neerwinden, the edge of the villages was carried, but in the interior a murderous struggle began, every foot of ground being contested. After a time William himself, leading a counterattack, expelled the assailants from both villages. A second attack, pushed with the energy, was met with the same determination. Meanwhile, the French in other parts of the field had pressed their attacks home, the six lines of cavalry in the centre, after enduring the fire of the Allies for many hours, trotted over the open ground and up to the entrenchments to meet with certain defeat. At Neerlanden and Rumsdorp there was severe hand-to-hand fighting and they fell back slowly and steadily, defying pursuit—the English Coldstream Guards even captured a colour. However, at this crisis the initiative of a subordinate general, William had begun to move troops from his centre and left to the right in order to meet the great assault on Neerwinden. Feuquières, observing this, led the cavalry of the French centre once again straight at the entrenchments
Battle of Landen
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Map of the battle. The Allied armies are in red
19.
Siege of Namur (1695)
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The Siege of Namur,2 July –1 September 1695, was the second siege of the city of Namur in the Nine Years War. The Allied forces of the Grand Alliance retook the city from the French, the recapture of Namur has been called the most important event in the Nine Years War. The French captured the city of Namur in the first siege in 1692, under the command of the Duc de Luxembourg, namurs defensive works had been designed by Menno van Coehoorn, who oversaw the citadels defence during the first siege. His French counterpart, Vauban improved the defensive works significantly after the city was taken, given its strategic position at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers, the Citadel of Namur became the most strategically important fortress in the Spanish Netherlands. By 3 July, they had invested the city, Menno van Coehoorn, in a reversal of roles, directed the siege works against the city. By 18 July, Allied forces had overcome the fortifications that Vauban had built. Five battalions of English and Dutch troops launched an assault on the Brussels Gate of Namur, the general assault began on 3 August, and the Duc de Boufflers, the French commander, offered the surrender of the city. The offer was accepted, and the day as part of the terms of surrender a six-day truce was granted to attend to the wounded. The truce was guaranteed by an exchange of high-ranking officers as hostages, after the six days had expired, the returned to their camps. The Duke of Villeroi made an attempt to draw the attackers away from Namur by bombing the militarily unimportant target of Brussels, the bombardment lasted from 13 –15 August, and did not divert any Allied troops from the siege of Namur. Villerois army later attempted to lift the Allied siege of Namur, after a further month of resistance, Boufflers surrendered the citadel to the besieging army on 1 September, having lost 8000 of his 13,000 men. William had Boufflers detained, as Boufflers had violated the terms of surrender and treated Allied prisoners of war poorly after battles at Deinze, other regiments taking part included the Bedfordshire Regiment In Laurence Sternes novel Tristram Shandy, Tristrams uncle Toby injured his groin at the Siege of Namur. A major subplot of the novel involves his obsession with the siege and reenacting battles from the war with his trusty sidekick, the siege and Tobys reconstruction of it are featured in the film version of the novel, A Cock and Bull Story. Asbl Les Amis de la Citadelle de Namur, Vauban et Coehoorn saffrontent à Namur, Namurcitadelle. be, archived from the original on 21 October 2013 Brewer, Shandy, Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
Siege of Namur (1695)
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Siege of Namur (1695) by
Jan van Huchtenburg. In the foreground King William III, dressed in grey, confers with the Elector of Bavaria.
20.
Bombardment of Brussels
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The bombardment of Brussels by French troops of Louis XIV on August 13,14, and 15,1695, and the resulting fire were together the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels. The Grand Place was destroyed, along with a third of the buildings in the city, the reconstruction of the city centre, effected during subsequent years, profoundly changed the appearance of the city and left numerous traces still visible today. The bombardment was part of the Nine Years War, the French forces hoped that by bombarding, or threatening to bombard Brussels, they would be able to divert Allied troops from the Siege of Namur. The strategy was unsuccessful, and no military gain came of the bombardment, the 17th century, called the Great Century by the French, was anything but great for the inhabitants of the Southern Netherlands. During this period, this went through a succession of wars and destruction. In 1695, nearly forty years after the Battle of the Dunes of 1658 and this expansion resulted in the gradual annexation of Spanish possessions to Frances north. Wars were fought and alliances made and broken, and fortresses continuously changed hands, the Nine Years War had been raging since 1688. Opposing France was a large European coalition, the Grand Alliance, with its head as William III of Orange, leader of the Netherlands, and soon to be king of England. Alongside William stood Spain, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire as well several electors, among them Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. In July 1695, the city of Namur, occupied for three years by the French, was besieged by William III of England, at the head of an allied army. After the death of the Duke of Luxembourg, the French army was led by the Duke of Villeroi, the king, irritated at the recent turn of events, urged Villeroi to destroy Bruges or Ghent in a surprise attack. Villeroi, eager to please the king, instead suggested that bombarding Brussels would have more of an effect in drawing the enemy to a place in which the French could attack them strategically. At the end of July, Villeroi sent the king a request for supplies, compiled by his master of artillery. He evaluated that 12 cannons,25 mortars,4000 cannonballs,5000 explosive shells, an amount of gunpowder, lead shot, grenades and fuses. In addition, there would need to be a train capable of supplying arms. The supplies and troops were taken out of French garrisons and strongholds in the region. These maneuvers did not pass unnoticed, as Villeroi let his intentions be known with the goal of worrying the allied armies besieging Namur, on August 3, a truce was declared in the siege in order to treat the wounded and restock the citadel. After six days, the siege resumed, with both William III and Maximilian II Emanuel standing their ground, only the small army of the Prince of Vaudemont, near the city of Ghent, was able to achieve anything, by controlling roads leading to Brussels
Bombardment of Brussels
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A contemporary map and illustration of the 1695 bombardment of Brussels and the subsequent fire
Bombardment of Brussels
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Maximilian II Emanuel,
Elector of Bavaria and governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
Bombardment of Brussels
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François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi
Bombardment of Brussels
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French map of the town from Louis XIV maps collection
21.
Battle of Staffarda
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The Battle of Staffarda,18 August 1690, was fought during Nine Years War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The engagement was the first major encounter in the Italian theatre since Victor Amadeus, the battle was a clear victory for the French commander, Nicolas Catinat, who proceeded to take other Piedmontese strongholds. The French also overran most of the Duchy of Savoy, but due to sickness, lack of infantry, by 1690, the Nine Years War was in its third year. The greater part of the involved on both sides was engaged in the Spanish Netherlands where the Dutch, with considerable English and a little Spanish help. Along the Rhine – where ultimately the war would no more decisive than the Netherlands campaign – the German Princes provided the bulk of the troops to face France. The one area where the Allies had great hopes of forcing – … a door … into France, big enough … for us to get in at, was Italy. The territories of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, split into distinct areas, the County of Nice, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Aosta. At the beginning of 1690 Amadeus had yet to declare himself against Louis XIV, although his small army aroused only French contempt, Louis XIV understood that he had to retain Savoy in the French orbit. If he did not do so he would, in Louvois words, French demands from the Duke were nothing less than an attack on Savoyard independence, and the intimidation ultimately proved counter-productive. In the early summer of 1690 Amadeus realised he had to stand up to France, Amadeuss hectic preparations for war and his negotiations for financial assistance from England and Spain, were followed by a declaration of war against France on 4 June. In July Catinat took command of French forces in Piedmont, totalling some 12,000 men. Amadeus, meanwhile, received 10,000 Spanish reinforcements from the Spanish possession of Milan, little quarter was asked or given when fighting the French. However, the Marquis de Feuquieres, sent by Catinat with 1,200 troops to Luserna, although Savoy was far less important than Piedmont, its loss was a major setback for the Grand Alliance, making an invasion of France now much less likely. In a desperate attempt to halt the destruction and intimidation Amadeus – against the advice of Eugene – insisted on engaging the French with his own and Spanish troops. Believing that Feuquieres was lost, and anxious to catch the French whilst they were weak, Amadeus left his camp at Villafranca with the intention of attacking and surrounding Catinat. Catinat left his camp at Cavour and marched south with the intention of taking Saluzzo, when Amadeus moved to stop him, marshes and hedges impeded movement on the battlefield and sheltered the Savoyard line, but French troops eventually broke Amadeuss army. Only Eugenes command of the Savoyard cavalry and his conduct in retreat saved the Allied army from disaster, Amadeus suffered 2,800 casualties and 1,200 prisoners, he also lost 11 of his 12 cannon. Catinats casualties amount to some 2,000 troops, Catinat subsequently took Saluzzo, Savigliano, and Fossano
Battle of Staffarda
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Victory of Staffarda by Jean Baptiste Morret
22.
Siege of Cuneo (1691)
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The Siege of Cuneo was fought on 28 June 1691 during Nine Years War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The siege was part of King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, the siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinats army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders – and an arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat’s small, utilising France’s main base at Pinerolo Catinat subsequently captured several other towns in the region. However, due to problems and poor logistics, the French were obliged to withdraw from the Piedmont plain at the end of 1690. The French began the 1691 campaign early, in March Catinat crossed the border into the County of Nice to attack the southern coastal towns of Nice and Villefranche. Villefranche immediately capitulated to Catinat on 20 March, the town of Nice also quickly surrendered, Nice was captured for the loss of just 100 men, and the whole county was now almost entirely under the control of Louis XIV. Of all the Savoyard towns west of the Alps only Montmélian, in the Duchy of Savoy, in Piedmont the Marquis de Feuquières marched south-west out of Pinerolo on 18 April to attack the Vaudois and refugee French Huguenots in Luserna. Encountering little resistance Feuquières, who had suffered defeat at Luserna the previous year, sacked the town, Catinat, meanwhile, ravaged the Turin–Susa route. Cuneo’s capture would enable the French to spend the 1691–92 winter east of the Alps, on hearing the approach of a relief force of Imperial cavalry under Prince Eugene of Savoy and Spanish troops led by the Marquis of Leganés, Bulonde lost his nerve and raised the siege. Cuneo’s garrison had held out, and was still intact when Eugene arrived, having reinforced the town Eugene returned to Turin. In July Feuquières managed to get reinforcements and cash to the main French stronghold of Casale, nevertheless, French forces in the Italian theatre continued to be handicapped by supply and manning shortages. On 26 September the Allies crossed the river Po to retake the lost town, due to the lack of available French troops, Carmagnola capitulated to the Allies on 8 October. Meanwhile, the Marquis de La Hoguette, commanding French forces in the Duchy of Savoy, the valley was one of the two main routes into Savoy through which Amadeus could send assistance from Piedmont. Hoguette reached as far south as Bard before returning to Savoy, destroying behind him all the bridges, due to a lack of siege guns Montmélian could not be properly invested until November. However, when it became apparent that no relief was coming from Piedmont, although the French had achieved little in Piedmont Catinat now controlled almost all of the County of Nice and the Duchy of Savoy. By now, however, Amadeus was not prepared to negotiate seriously, especially as he anticipated military superiority for the following campaign, the peace terms were rejected and hostilities resumed the following year. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, Prince Eugene, Twin Marshal with Marlborough
Siege of Cuneo (1691)
–
At the beginning of the
Nine Years War, the territories of
Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, primarily split into several distinct regions, notably: County of Nice, the Duchy of Savoy and the Principality of Piedmont, which contained the capital city of
Turin.
23.
Battle of Marsaglia
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Here, on 4 October, the duke of Savoy attacked him with his whole army, front to front. But the greatly superior regimental efficiency of the French, and Catinats minute attention to details in arraying them, the Piedmontese and their allies lost c.10,000 killed, wounded and prisoners, as against Catinats 1,800. Marsaglia is, if not the first, at any rate, one of the first, hussars figured here for the first time in western Europe. A regiment of them had been raised in 1692 from deserters from the Austrian service, ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds. The Vinkhuijzen collection of uniforms, France, 1750-1757. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013
Battle of Marsaglia
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Catinat at Marsaglia, 4 octobre 1693
Battle of Marsaglia
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Map of Marsaglia
24.
Battle of Torroella
–
In the year 1694 the French king decided to make an effort in Catalonia, and put Catinats army in Piedmont on the defensive, reserving more troops to the Spanish front. The two armies were approximately of the same force, the French regiments were composed mostly of veteran troops, while the Spanish forces had a very large number of recruits and newly constituted units never tested on the field. Furthermore, the French army was superior in the number of pieces and firepower, served by good trained officers. The Spanish army was divided into three corps for guarding the fords at Verges, Ullà and Torroella, according to the Spanish viceroy all our army was constituted by 11, 900-foot and 4,000 horse which all included make the number of 16,300. The previous days the enemies attempted with no success to force the fording at Verges, the French made a general advance against the Spaniards, with little opposition, killing many soldiers and capturing baggage and artillery pieces, beside a large number of standards. According to the version the Spaniards lost 2, 931-foot and 324 horse, among dead, wounded. According to French sources Spanish losses exceeded 9,000 men including 2,000 prisoners, while their own losses amounted to about 500. In this situation the viceroy had no choice than sending some troops to Girona and marched with the largest part of his army towards Barcelona. In the meanwhile the French sacked over 10 villages in the surroundings of the river Ter. On 30 May, three days after the Spanish defeat at the river Ter, Noailles started the blocquade by land and sea of the fortress of Palamos, the city of Girona was taken on 29 June. Barcelona was saved by the French minister of war who reduced the money to the Marshal of Noailles, another factor was the approach of an English fleet under Edward Russell which made the supporting French fleet under Tourville retreat to Toulon. Ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds, the Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms, France, 1750-1757. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013
Battle of Torroella
–
Battle of Torroella
25.
Siege of Barcelona (1697)
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The Siege of Barcelona of 1697 was successfully conducted during the Nine Years War by France. Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, commanding some 32,000 troops, forced the garrison, under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Nine Years War and the British Army. El frente catalán en la Guerra de los Nueve Años, 1689-1697, departament dHistòria Moderna i Contemporània,1994. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714
Siege of Barcelona (1697)
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Map of the siege of unknown author printed at
Paris.
26.
Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
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The Battle of Beachy Head was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English, the Dutch lost six ships of the line in total, as well as three fireships, and their English allies also lost one ship of the line, whereas the French did not lose a single vessel. Although control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands, Admiral Tourville failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient ardour, Tourville was heavily criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command. Although he was acquitted, King William dismissed him from the service, King James II was campaigning in Ireland as a first step in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne following his deposition after the Glorious Revolution. As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland, with substantial reinforcements, in order to salvage the situation. Sir Cloudesley Shovell remained in the Irish Sea, but his squadron was too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so. However, the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign and this French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired. On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester on board 280 transports, after evading Killigrew off Cadiz, Château-Renaults Toulon squadron joined Tourvilles fleet on 21 June. Tourville, now commanding the combined Brest and Mediterranean fleets totalling 75 ships of the line and 23 fireships, sailed on 23 June into the Channel, by 30 June, the French were off the Lizard. Torringtons fleet reached the Isle of Wight and was joined by a Dutch squadron under the command of Cornelis Evertsen, on 5 July, Torrington sighted the French fleet, calculating their strength at almost 80 ships of the line. In Williams absence, Queen Mary and her advisors – the Council of Nine – hastened to take measures for the defence of the country, as the two fleets moved slowly up the channel, Russell drafted the order to fight. Countersigned by Nottingham, the reached the admiral on 9 July whilst he was off Beachy Head. Torrington realised that not to battle was to be guilty of direct disobedience, to give battle was, in his judgment. Torrington called a council of war with his flag-officers, who concluded that they had no option, the following day,10 July, off Beachy Head near Eastbourne, Torrington advanced towards the French in line of battle. He placed the Dutch white squadron with 21 ships – commanded by Cornelis Evertsen – in the van, Torrington himself was in the centre red squadron, the rear blue squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Ralph Delaval, comprised both English and Dutch ships. The French admiral divided his force into the three squadrons, with white and blue, white, and blue pennants respectively. Tourville, aboard the Soleil Royal, commanded the centre, white squadron, the blue squadron in the French van was commanded by Château-Renault, Victor-Marie dEstrées commanded the rear white and blue squadron. In each fleet the squadron commanders were in the centre of their squadrons
Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
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Battle of Beachy Head Steel engraving by
Jean Antoine Théodore de Gudin.
27.
Battle of Lagos (1693)
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The Battle of Lagos was a sea battle during the Nine Years War on 27 June 1693, when a French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke. Rookes squadron was protecting the Smyrna convoy, and it is by name that the action is sometimes known. This squadron was bound for the Mediterranean, to take up station there, the convoy was to be covered by the combined allied fleet for its passage across the Channel, until it was past the port of Brest, to guard against attack by the French stationed there. The fleet, which was charged with protecting England from the threat of invasion. To this end, Louis XIV had dispatched the French fleet under Tourville, his most able commander, by 7 June the convoy was about 150 miles southwest of Ushant, and the main allied fleet had turned back, leaving Rooke and the convoy to proceed south. The allies had made no move to check where the French fleet was, by this time Rooke and the convoy were in action off Lagos, having been sighted by the French on the morning of 17 June. Rooke could not avoid battle, but held the advantage of being to windward, ordering the merchant ships to disperse, his squadron took up battle positions. The battle started around 8 pm. when the rear of his squadron was overtaken by the French van, two Dutch ships, Zeeland and Wapen van Medemblik, engaged the French, thus sacrificing themselves. They fought valiantly, giving the rest of the ships time enough to escape. When the two Dutch ships finally surrendered, Tourville was very impressed and congratulated the two captains, asking if they were men or devils. Rooke declared it one of the best judged things I ever saw in action, the next day Rooke, with 54 merchant ships in company, was standing west. In pursuit were just four French warships, as they closed, Rookes flagship, the Royal Oak guns, turned to face them. After a short exchange they abandoned the chase and drew off, Rooke and his group were able to reach Madeira without further incident, where he found Monk with one of the Dutch warships, and 40 or 50 merchant ships in company. With this party and stragglers collected en route, Rooke was able to reach Ireland on 30 July, over half of the convoy was saved. Some 90 ships were lost, the majority were Dutch and 40 were captured by the French, the two main goals of the convoy, first, to deliver the traders to their destinations in the Mediterranean and second, to establish a naval presence there, were defeated. For the French there was a gain, with prizes valued at 30 million livres. The City of London judged it the worst financial disaster since the Great Fire,27 years previously, for Tourville it was worthy revenge for his defeat in the Battle of La Hogue one year earlier. Ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds, the Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms, France, 1750-1757
Battle of Lagos (1693)
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Battle of Lagos by Théodore Gudin
28.
Battle of Camaret
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It was successfully opposed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. At the start of 1694, Louis XIV decided to take the fight to the Mediterranean, after Tourvilles victory at Lagos in 1693, William III of England had sent an expedition to take reprisals against Saint-Malo and planned to mount other similar operations against other French ports. Having got wind of the plan against Brest via spies, Louis XIV made Vauban military commander of Brest, Vauban started immediately to organize the defence of the city and the rocky coast around it. The bad weather kept the English fleet in its harbour for a month, in fact, in 1685, well before the start of the Nine Years War, Louis XIV had charged Vauban with inspecting the coast from Dunkirk to Bayonne. Vaubans first designs foresaw the building of a tower. While work on the tour de Camaret began in 1689, and forewarned by their spies and realising the importance of the works, when in 1691 sixteen Anglo-Dutch vessels were sighted in Camaret Bay, five French frigates happened to be present and routed the enemy fleet. At the start of 1694, having got wind of Tourville leaving Brest with 53 ships of the line, William III believed Brest would be easily taken and decided to launch his attack on it. In the face of more and more precise English threats, Louis XIV made Vauban supreme commander of all French land, Vauban had already been lieutenant-général des Armées since 1688 and accepted the new post on one condition, that he would not be honorary lieutenant-general of the Navy. The statement on the fortifications by the engineers Traverse and Mollart, dating to 23 April 1694, showed only 265 cannon and 17 in place. When Vauban received the royal directives at the start of May, Brest was defended by around 1,300 men and 6 battalions, one cavalry regiment, arriving in Brest on 23 May 1694, Vauban knew that the balance of power was in his favour. He expanded the extensions being made on strong points along the coast, in mid-June he inspected the defences under his command and noted that the baie de Douarnenez and above all Camaret would allow landings by large numbers of troops. Aiming to prevent any landings, and with no warships at his disposal, he equipped scores of chaloupes to defend the goulet and armed militias with weapons requisitioned by the navy. The cavalry regiments and dragoons were positioned at Landerneau and Quimper and, to enable the fast transmission of information, Vauban organised a communications code in the form of signals. In a letter to Louis XIV on 17 June 1694, he reported, The Anglo-Dutch fleet under Berkeley finally set out and it anchored halfway between Bertheaume and le Toulinguet near Camaret Bay, close to the mouth of Brest harbour. Rear admiral the Marquess of Carmarthen approached the coasts to check on the French positions and this aided the French for a cavalry corps commanded by Monsieur de Cervon and part of the militia only arrived at Châteaulin at 9 oclock. The Tour de Camaret, supported by the batteries at Le Gouin and Tremet, despite this surprise, the English retaliated, with several shots reaching the tower. In this encounter a cannonball shot off the top of the spire of the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, meanwhile, Tollemache landed on the beach at Trez-Rouz at the head of 1,300 men, including French Huguenots, and was met with heavy fire. Wavering for a moment, they were charged by 100 men of independent companies and 1,200 coastguard militiamen
Battle of Camaret
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English plan of the battle of Camaret
Battle of Camaret
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Vauban, commander of Brest
Battle of Camaret
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Fort de Bertheaume with the
Roscanvel peninsula in the background
Battle of Camaret
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General
Talsmash, commander of the landing forces
29.
Battle of Texel (1694)
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De Vries was captured by the French, but shortly after died of wounds. In 1692 and 1693 there were massive harvest failures in France, leading to acute famine, from 1693 to 1694 over 2 million people died. Therefore, France needed to import large quantities of grain from neutral countries like Poland, Sweden, on May 29,1694, Jean Bart was instructed to sail to Norway, to escort a huge fleet of 120 ships full of grain to France. The convoy didnt wait for the arrival of Barts squadron and left under the protection of 3 neutral warships, the convoy was immediately captured by the Dutch without a shot being fired. Jean Bart searched for the convoy and found it on June 29 at 3,00 a. m. before the Dutch island of Texel, despite having fewer guns than the Dutch, at 5,00 a. m. Jean Bart attacked the Dutch flagship of Hidde de Vries, after a fierce battle which lasted only half an hour, the Prins Friso was captured, with Hidde Sjoerds de Vries severely wounded and taken prisoner. Two other Dutch ships were taken, with the remaining five fleeing to their harbor. The Dutch losses amounted to 100 killed,129 wounded and 455 prisoners, Jean Bart repaired the damage to his ships and took the convoy to Dunkirk, where it arrived on July 3, received by an enormous crowd celebrating their hero. On July 5, Jean Bart, his son François Cornil and his brother-in-law were invited to Versailles, Jean Bart was raised into the nobility on August 4,1694. Hidde Sjoerds de Vries died of his wounds on July 1,1694,40120 or more merchant ships - captured that day or soon after Haws, Duncan, Hurst, Alexander Anthony. The Maritime History of the World, A Chronological Survey of Maritime Events from 5,000 B. C, until the Present Day, Supplemented by Commentaries. An account of the battle by Jean Bart La Bataille du Texel
Battle of Texel (1694)
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Painting of the battle by
Eugène Isabey, 19th century,
Musée de la Marine.
30.
Julian calendar
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The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
Julian calendar
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Russian icon of the
Theophany (the baptism of
Jesus by
John the Baptist) (6 January), the highest-ranked feast which occurs on the fixed cycle of the
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Julian calendar
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This is a visual example of the official date change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian
Julian calendar
–
Key concepts
31.
Barfleur
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Barfleur is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France. It is twinned with Lyme Regis in the United Kingdom, in the Middle Ages Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England. 1066 - A large medallion fixed to a rock in the marks the Norman departure from Barfleur before the Battle of Hastings. 1194 - Richard I of England departed from Barfleur on return to England following his captivity by Henry VI,1692 - Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue About 2 miles to the north is Cape Barfleur, with a lighthouse 233 ft high. A Brittany Ferries vessel is named after the village and operates from nearby Cherbourg-Octeville to Poole in the United Kingdom, communes of the Manche department INSEE statistics Barfleur official website Postcard from Barfleur
Barfleur
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Barfleur
32.
Cherbourg-Octeville
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Cherbourg-Octeville is a city and former commune situated at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It is a subprefecture of its department, and was formed when the commune of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the city is a Maritime prefecture and sub-prefecture of la Manche. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is protected by Cherbourg Harbour, between La Hague and Val de Saire, and the city has been a position over the centuries. A stopping point for prestigious transatlantic liners in the first half of the 20th century, limited by its geographical isolation from being a great commercial port, it is nonetheless an important shipbuilding centre, and a working-class city with a rural hinterland. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is located at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula, in the department of Manche. At the time of the 1999 census the city of Cherbourg had an area of 6.91 square kilometres, the largest city in the Department of Manche, it is the result of the merger of the communes of Cherbourg and Octeville. The amalgamated city today has an area of 14.26 km2. Cherbourg is situated at the mouth of the Divette and at the south of the bay between Cap Lévi to the east and Cap de La Hague to the west, Cherbourg-Octeville is 120 km from the English coast. Cherbourg and Octeville-sur-Cherbourg once belonged to the deanery of La Hague, in 1786, a part of Equeurdreville joined Cherbourg, during the construction of the port, and then in 1802, a portion of Octeville. Thus, Cherbourg-Octeville lies both in La Hague and in the Val de Saire, like all Chantereyne and the area of the Mielles, the Cherbourg territory was reclaimed from the sea. Built at the level of the sea, the town developed at the foot of the Roule mountain and these folds result in layers of sandstone tilted 45° towards the north-east on la Fauconniere and the Montagne du Roule. These two cliffs are due to sea erosion in the Quaternary, the retreat of the sea then gave way to sand dunes and tidal marshes, destroyed by the urbanisation of the 17th and 19th centuries, identical to those of Collignon in Tourlaville. The greenschist, whose colour comes from chlorite and sericite, are used mainly for roofing in Nord-Cotentin, the Armorican sandstone of the Montagne du Roule is used for rubble and rockfill. Most of the quarries, which opened in the metropolitan area for building the harbour wall, are now closed. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is bordered by the sea, the construction of the port of trade, from 1769, accompanied by the diversion of the Divette and the Trottebec gathered in the canal de retenue, along the Avenue de Paris and Rue du Val-de-Saire. The streams of the Bucaille and the Fay, which watered the Croûte du Homet, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has a temperate oceanic climate. Its maritime character causes high humidity and a strong sea wind, commonly stormy but also low seasonal variations of temperature and few days of frost
Cherbourg-Octeville
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An aerial view of the Cherbourg agglomeration in May 2006
Cherbourg-Octeville
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A map of the Cotentin peninsula, with Cherbourg to the north
Cherbourg-Octeville
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The Montagne du Roule seen from the commercial harbour.
Cherbourg-Octeville
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The
Normandie Express catamaran ferry at Cherbourg
33.
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
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Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. Saint-Vaast is the Norman name of Saint Vedast and Hougue is a Jèrriais/Norman language word meaning a mound or loaf, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is situated in the Manche département, in the Basse-Normandie région. It is in the Quettehou canton, of the Cherbourg arrondissement, the town had a population of 2,097 in 1999. The island of Tatihou forms part of the Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue commune, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is located in Normandy and was a part of the Duchy of Normandy. The raid failed thanks to the effort of Neel who exterminated the invaders at the Battle of Val-de-Saire. When Edward III landed 12,000 men in France on 12 July 1346 and proceeded toward what would become the battle of Crecy, the naval Battle of La Hougue took place off the town in 1692. On 3 June 1692 during a battle with the Anglo-Dutch fleet, twelve French ships were sunk in the vicinity of the Island of Tatihou. It was the naval battle of the Nine Years War. Following the French defeat, two fortified towers were built from 1694 onwards on the mound at La Hougue and Tatihou Island by a student of Vauban, Benjamin de Combes, the harbor was developed during the course of the 19th century. The jetty was built between 1828 and 1845, followed by the quayside from 1846 to 1852, later on, breakwaters were added around the harbor. In 1982, the port was closed off with two large gates which keep the water level constant at low tide. This allowed the construction of a marina which can accommodate 704 yachts. Nowadays, the post is shared by fishing boats and yachts, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was the first harbor to be freed by Allied Forces during World War II, in 1944. Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was an active whaling center, as there was a dense population of the then common Gray Whale. The now rare right whale was also taken. The first of what may prove to be more gray whales found its way through the now ice-free Northwest passage in 2010 so perhaps they will eventually breed off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue once more. Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue organize a regular Book Festival, Ancres & Encres, jean Raspail and Jean-Pierre Thiollet may be mentioned among the authors invited in the last ten years. Bridport in the United Kingdom Communes of the Manche department Office de Tourisme de Saint-Vaast la Hougue / Réville The Shipwreck of The Battle Of La Hougue The Vikings in Normandy
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
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Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
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Fort de La Hougue
34.
Cotentin
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The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain, to its west lie the Channel Islands and to the southwest lies the Brittany Peninsula. The peninsula lies wholly within the department of Manche, in the region of Normandy, the Cotentin peninsula is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the Vire river and Mont Saint-Michel Bay. It is divided into three areas, the headland of Cap de la Hague, the Cotentin Pass, and the valley of the Saire River and it forms the bulk of the department of Manche. Its southern part, known as le Marais, crosses from east to west from just north west of Saint Lo and east of Lessay, the largest town in the peninsula is Cherbourg on the north coast, a major cross-channel port. The western coast of the peninsula, known as the Côte des Îles faces the Channel Islands, ferry links serve Carteret and the islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney from Dielette. Off the east coast of the lies the island of Tatihou. The oldest stone in France is found in outcroppings on the coast of Cap de la Hague, Cotentin was almost an island at one time. Only a small strip of land in the heath of Lessay connected the peninsula with the mainland. Thanks to the so-called portes à flot, which close at flood and open at ebb and which were built in the west coast and in the Baie des Veys, on the east coast, the Côte des Havres lies between the Cape of Carteret and the Cape of Granville. To the northwest, there are two sand dune systems, one stretching between Siouville-Hague and Vauville, the other one stretching between Cap of Carteret and Baubigny, the peninsula formed part of the Roman geographical area of Armorica. The town known today as Coutances, capital of the Unelli, the base of the peninsula, called in Latin the pagus Constantinus, joined together with the pagus Coriovallensis centred upon Cherbourg to the north, subsequently became known as the Cotentin. Under the Carolingians it was administered by viscounts drawn successively from members of the Saint-Sauveur family, King Alan the Great of Brittany waged war successfully on the Norsemen. As the result of his conquests, the Cotentin Peninsula was included theoretically in the territory of the Duchy of Brittany, the Dukes of Brittany suffered continuing Norse invasions and Norman raids. Eventually the Cotentin Peninsula was lost to Brittany after only 70 years of political domination, meanwhile, Vikings settled on the Cotentin in the ninth and tenth centuries. There are indications of an industry there dating to the ninth century. They were followed by Anglo-Norse and Anglo-Danish people, who established as farmers and it became part of Normandy in the early tenth century. Many placenames there are derived from the Norse language, examples include La Hague from hagi meadow or enclosure and La Hougue from haugr meaning a hill or mound
Cotentin
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Cotentin Peninsula (also known as
Cherbourg Peninsula) in
Normandy
Cotentin
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D-Day assault map of
Normandy and northwest coastal France
35.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
Normandy
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Roman theatre in
Lillebonne
Normandy
Normandy
–
Allied invasion of Normandy,
D-Day, 1944
Normandy
–
A typical northeastern Norman village
36.
War of the English Succession
–
It was fought on the European continent and the surrounding seas, Ireland, and in North America. Louis XIV of France had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe, Louis XIVs decision to cross the Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims. The main fighting took place around Frances borders, in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, Duchy of Savoy, the fighting generally favoured Louis XIVs armies, but by 1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers were also exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace, Louis XIV also accepted William III as the rightful King of England, while the Dutch acquired their Barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. In the years following the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV of France – now at the height of his powers – sought to impose religious unity in France, and to solidify and expand his frontiers. Louis XIV, along with his chief advisor Louvois, his foreign minister Colbert de Croissy, Vauban had advocated a system of impregnable fortresses along the frontier that would keep Frances enemies out. To construct a system, however, the King needed to acquire more land from his neighbours to form a solid forward line. The King grabbed the necessary territory through what is known as the Réunions, a strategy that combined legalism, arrogance, the Treaty of Nijmegen and the earlier Treaty of Westphalia provided Louis XIV with the justification for the Reunions. These treaties had awarded France territorial gains, but because of the vagaries of the language they were notoriously imprecise and self-contradictory, unsurprisingly, these courts usually found in Louis XIVs favour. By 1680 the disputed County of Montbéliard had been separated from the Duchy of Württemberg, the Chamber of Reunion of Metz soon laid claims to land around the Three Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and most of the Spanish Duchy of Luxembourg. The fortress of Luxembourg itself was blockaded with the intention of it becoming part of Louis XIVs defensible frontier. By forcibly taking the Imperial city the French now controlled two of the three bridgeheads over the Rhine, on the same day that Strasbourg fell French forces marched into Casale in northern Italy. Thus, the Reunions were carving territory from the frontiers of Germany, since Leopold Is intervention in the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV had considered the Emperor his most dangerous enemy, yet the French king had little reason to fear him. Leopold I was weak in Germany, and was in danger along his Hungarian borders where the Ottoman Turks were threatening to overrun all central Europe from the south. Louis had encouraged and assisted the Ottoman drive against Leopold Is Habsburg lands, when the Turks besieged Vienna in the spring of 1683 Louis did nothing to help the defenders. Taking advantage of the Ottoman threat in the east Louis XIV invaded the Spanish Netherlands on 1 September 1683 and renewed the siege of Luxembourg, spains military options were highly limited, yet the Ottoman defeat before Vienna on 12 September had emboldened them. In the hope that Leopold I would now make peace in the east and come to their assistance, however, the Emperor had decided to continue the Turkish war in the Balkans and, for the time being, compromise in the west
War of the English Succession
–
Siege of Namur, June 1692 by
Jean-Baptiste Martin
War of the English Succession
–
Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV (1638–1715) by
René-Antoine Houasse. The 'Sun King' was the most powerful monarch in Europe.
War of the English Succession
–
William of Orange (1650–1702), portrayed here as King William III of England by Sir
Godfrey Kneller.
War of the English Succession
–
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–88). He was succeeded by his son,
Frederick, who proved to be one of William of Orange's most loyal allies.
37.
Ship of the line
–
However, the introduction of the ironclad frigate in about 1859 led swiftly to the decline of the steam-assisted ships of the line. The term ship of the line has fallen into disuse except in historical contexts, after warships, the heavily armed carrack, first developed in Portugal for either trade or war in the Atlantic Ocean, was the precursor of the ship of the line. Other maritime European states quickly adopted it in the late 15th and these vessels were developed by fusing aspects of the cog of the North Sea and galley of the Mediterranean Sea. Over time these castles became higher and larger, and eventually were built into the structure of the ship and this aspect of the cog remained in the newer-style carrack designs and proved its worth in battles like that at Diu in 1509. The Mary Rose was an early 16th century English carrack or great ship and she was heavily armed with 78 guns and 91 after an upgrade in the 1530s. Built in Portsmouth in 1510–1512, she was one of the earliest purpose-built men-of-war in the English navy and she was over 500 tons burthen, had a keel of over 32 m and a crew of 200 sailors,185 soldiers and 30 gunners. Although the pride of the English fleet, she sank during the battle of the Solent,19 July 1545. Henri Grâce à Dieu, nicknamed Great Harry, was another early English carrack, contemporary with Mary Rose, Henri Grâce à Dieu was 165 feet long, weighing 1, 000–1,500 tons and having a complement of 700–1,000. It is said that she was ordered by Henry VIII in response to the Scottish ship Michael, launched in 1511. She was originally built at Woolwich Dockyard from 1512 to 1514 and was one of the first vessels to feature gunports and had twenty of the new heavy bronze cannon, in all she mounted 43 heavy guns and 141 light guns. She was the first English two-decker, and when launched she was the largest and most powerful warship in Europe, but she saw little action. She was present at the Battle of the Solent against Francis I of France in 1545 but appears to have more of a diplomatic vessel. Indeed, the ships were almost as well known for their ornamental design as they were for the power they possessed. Carracks fitted for war carried large-calibre guns aboard, because of their higher freeboard and greater load-bearing ability, this type of vessel was better suited than the galley to gunpowder weapons. Because of their development for conditions in the Atlantic, these ships were more weatherly than galleys, the lack of oars meant that large crews were unnecessary, making long journeys more feasible. Their disadvantage was that they were reliant on the wind for mobility. Galleys could still overwhelm great ships, especially when there was wind and they had a numerical advantage. Another detriment was the forecastle, which interfered with the sailing qualities of the ship
Ship of the line
–
HMS Hercule as depicted in her fight against the frigate
Poursuivante
Ship of the line
–
HMS Victory at drydock in Portsmouth Harbour, 2007
Ship of the line
–
The carrack
Henri Grace à Dieu, from the
Anthony Roll
Ship of the line
–
Sovereign of the Seas, a contemporaneous engraving by J. Payne
38.
Admiral
–
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually abbreviated to Adm or ADM, in the Commonwealth and the U. S. a full admiral is equivalent to a full general in the army, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet. In NATO, admirals have a code of OF-9 as a four-star rank. The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, commander, from Medieval Latin admiralis and these themselves come from Arabic amīr, or amīr al-, commander of, as in amīr al-baḥr, commander of the sea. The term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman Sicily, the Norman Roger II of Sicily, employed a Greek Christian known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs, i. e. Commander of Commanders, the Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Aragon opponents. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante, the word admiral has today come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the worlds navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this wasnt always the case, for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II, admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral. The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, the Royal Navy used colours to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864, for example, Horatio Nelsons highest rank was vice admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer, some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian general at sea. Admiral is a German Navy OF-9 four-star flag officer rank, equivalent to the German Army, see also Post-WWII rank is Bakurocho or Chief of Staff, Joint Staff 幕僚長 with limited function as an advisory staff to Minister of Defense, compared to Gensui during 1872–1873 and 1898–1945. Admiral of Castile was a post with a long and important history in Spain
Admiral
–
Admiral Royal Australian Navy
Admiral
–
Almirante
Argentine Navy
Admiral
–
Admiral Royal Canadian Navy
Admiral
–
Almirante
Chilean Navy
39.
Count
–
Count or countess is a title in European countries for a noble of varying status, but historically deemed to convey an approximate rank intermediate between the highest and lowest titles of nobility. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning “companion”, the adjective form of the word is comital. The British and Irish equivalent is an earl, alternative names for the count rank in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as Graf in Germany and Hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era. In the Western Roman Empire, Count came to indicate generically a military commander, in the Eastern Roman Empire, from about the seventh century, count was a specific rank indicating the commander of two centuries. Military counts in the Late Empire and the Germanic successor kingdoms were often appointed by a dux, the position of comes was originally not hereditary. By virtue of their estates, many counts could pass the title to their heirs—but not always. For instance, in Piast Poland, the position of komes was not hereditary, the title had disappeared by the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the office had been replaced by others. Only after the Partitions of Poland did the title of count resurface in the title hrabia, in the United Kingdom, the equivalent Earl can also be used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of a duke or marquess. In Italy, by contrast, all the sons of certain counts were counts, in Sweden there is a distinction between counts created before and after 1809. All children in comital families elevated before 1809 are called count/countess, the following lists are originally based on a Glossary on Heraldica. org by Alexander Krischnig. The male form is followed by the female, and when available, apart from all these, a few unusual titles have been of comital rank, not necessarily to remain there. Dauphin was a comital title in southern France, used by the Dauphins of Vienne and Auvergne. The Dauphin was the lord of the province known as the région Dauphiné. Conde-Barão Count-Baron is a title used in Portugal, notably by D. Luís Lobo da Silveira, 7th Baron of Alvito. His palace in Lisbon still exists, located in a named after him. The German Graf and Dutch graaf stems from the Byzantine-Greek grapheus meaning he who calls a meeting together), the Ottoman military title of Serdar was used in Montenegro and Serbia as a lesser noble title with the equivalent rank of a Count. Since Louis VII, the highest precedence amongst the vassals of the French crown was enjoyed by those whose benefice or temporal fief was a pairie, i. e. In the eleventh century, conti like the Count of Savoy or the Norman Count of Apulia, were virtually sovereign lords of broad territories
Count
–
Countly ephemera: a Count's coronet and crest on a
doily.
Count
–
Coronet of a count (Spanish heraldry)
40.
James II of England
–
James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland, the second surviving son of Charles I, he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, Charles II. Members of Britains Protestant political elite increasingly suspected him of being pro-French and pro-Catholic and he was replaced by his eldest, Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. James made one attempt to recover his crowns from William. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamites at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and he lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV. James, the surviving son of King Charles I and his wife. Later that same year, he was baptised by William Laud and he was educated by private tutors, along with his brother, the future King Charles II, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham, George and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral, the position was honorary, but would become a substantive office after the Restoration. He was designated Duke of York at birth, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1642, as the Kings disputes with the English Parliament grew into the English Civil War, James stayed in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold. When the city surrendered after the siege of Oxford in 1646, in 1648, he escaped from the Palace, aided by Joseph Bampfield, and from there he went to The Hague in disguise. When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed Jamess older brother as Charles II of England, Charles II was recognised as king by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Ireland, and was crowned King of Scotland at Scone in 1651. Although he was proclaimed King in Jersey, Charles was unable to secure the crown of England and consequently fled to France, like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne against the Fronde, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he ventures himself, in the meantime, Charles was attempting to reclaim his throne, but France, although hosting the exiles, had allied itself with Oliver Cromwell. In 1656, Charles turned instead to Spain – an enemy of France – for support, in consequence, James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turennes army. James quarrelled with his brother over the choice of Spain over France. In 1659, the French and Spanish made peace, James, doubtful of his brothers chances of regaining the throne, considered taking a Spanish offer to be an admiral in their navy. Ultimately, he declined the position, by the year the situation in England had changed. After Richard Cromwells resignation as Lord Protector in 1659 and the subsequent collapse of the Commonwealth in 1660, although James was the heir presumptive, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit the Crown, as Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children
James II of England
–
Portrait by
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1684
James II of England
–
Turenne, James's commander in France
James II of England
–
James and Anne Hyde in the 1660s, by Sir
Peter Lely
James II of England
–
Mary of Modena, James's second wife
41.
Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds
–
Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds was a French general and marshal of France. He was a member of the noble Gigault de Bellefonds family and he was the cousin of academic Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre and of general Claude Louis Hector de Villars. In 1643, at the death of his father, he became governor of Valognes, in 1651 he defended Cognac, in 1653 he fought in Catalonia and in 1654 he took part in the expedition to Castellammare del Golfo. The following year he became lieutenant general, in 1659 he scored a victory at Tournai in the Flanders, and later served in Italy under the Duke of Parma. In 1666 he was in the United Provinces, after the declaration of war against Spain in 1667, he commanded several detachments and was later governor of the area between Sambre and Meuse. On 8 July 1688 he was created marshal of France, two years later he was ambassador to England and subsequently fought in Holland. Here he scored a victory in 1672, but complaints from his commander, François de Créquy, whose prudential orders he had disobeyed, led him to a self exile in his Normandy lands. In November 1673 he was appointed as commander of the French army in Holland, but again fell in disgrace and returned to a command in 1684 in Catalonia, in June 1692 he led the expeditionary corps which supported king James II of England in the Battle of La Hogue. Bellefonds died on 4 December 1694 at the Château de Vincennes Tréhet, La carrière militaire du marquis de Bellefonds, maréchal de France. La Revue du département de la Manche
Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds
–
Portrait of Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds by
Joseph Albrier.
42.
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis-Dieudonné,
Dauphin of France, in 1643 by
Claude Deruet
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV as a child, unknown painter
Louis XIV of France
–
1655 portrait of Louis, the Victor of the Fronde, portrayed as the god
Jupiter
43.
Le Havre
–
Le Havre is an urban French commune and city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northwestern France. It is situated on the bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux. Modern Le Havre remains deeply influenced by its employment and maritime traditions and its port is the second largest in France, after that of Marseille, for total traffic, and the largest French container port. The name Le Havre means the harbour or the port and its inhabitants are known as Havrais or Havraises. Administratively the commune is located in the Normandy region and, with Dieppe, is one of the two sub-prefectures of the Seine-Maritime department, Le Havre is the capital of the canton and since 1974 has been the see of the diocese of Le Havre. Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France, the city and port were founded by the King Francis I of France in 1517. Economic development in the Early modern period was hampered by wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre started growing, after the 1944 bombings the firm of Auguste Perret began to rebuild the city in concrete. Changes in years 1990–2000 were numerous, the right won the municipal elections and committed the city to the path of reconversion, seeking to develop the service sector and new industries. The Port 2000 project increased the capacity to compete with ports of northern Europe, transformed the southern districts of the city. In 2005 UNESCO inscribed the city of Le Havre as a World Heritage Site. The André Malraux Modern Art Museum is the second of France for the number of impressionist paintings, the city has been awarded two flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Le Havre is a major French city located some 50 kilometres west of Rouen on the shore of the English Channel, numerous roads link to Le Havre with the main access roads being the A29 autoroute from Amiens and the A13 autoroute from Paris linking to the A131 autoroute. Administratively, Le Havre is a commune in the Haute-Normandie region in the west of the department of Seine-Maritime, the urban area of Le Havre corresponds roughly to the territory of the Agglomeration community of Le Havre which includes 17 communes and 250,000 people. It occupies the tip of the natural region of Pays de Caux where it is the largest city. Le Havre is sandwiched between the coast of the Channel from south-west to north-west and the estuary of the Seine to the south, Le Havre belongs to the MLG community Paris Basin which was formed in the Mesozoic period. The Paris Basin consists of sedimentary rocks, the commune of Le Havre consists of two areas separated by a natural cliff edge, one part in the lower part of the town to the south including the harbour, the city centre and the suburbs
Le Havre
–
Le Havre
Le Havre
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Le Havre
–
Map of Le Havre: to the south the Seine estuary; to the west the
English Channel.
Le Havre
–
Le Havre under snow
44.
Brest, France
–
Brest is a city in the Finistère département in Brittany in northwestern France. The city is located on the edge of continental Europe. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture of the department is the much smaller Quimper, during the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour, Brest grew around its arsenal, until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies bombing raids during World War II, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students, Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer centre, le Cedre and the French Polar Institute. Brest’s history has always been linked to the sea, the Académie de Marine was founded in 1752 in this city, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was built there. Every four years, Brest hosts the festival of the sea, boats and sailors. Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, in 1342, John IV, Duke of Brittany, surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397. The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to rise to the saying. With the marriage of Francis I of France to Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany, the advantages of Brests situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbor with wooden wharves. This soon became a base for the French Navy, jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister under Louis XIV, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications by Vauban followed in 1680–1688 and these fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century. In 1694, an English squadron under Lord Berkeley, was defeated in its attack on Brest. In 1917, during the First World War, Brest was used as the port for many of the troops coming from the United States. Thousands of such men came through the port on their way to the front lines, the United States Navy established a naval air station on 13 February 1918 to operate seaplanes. The base closed shortly after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, in the Second World War, the Germans maintained a large U-boat submarine base at Brest. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing
Brest, France
–
Brest in 1779
Brest, France
–
The Maison de la Fontaine in
Recouvrance, one of the oldest houses of Brest (end of the 17th century, beginning of the 18th century).
Brest, France
–
Rue de Siam (Siam Street) in 2006.
45.
Toulon
–
Toulon is a city in southern France and a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-dAzur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department, the Commune of Toulon has a population of 165,514 people, making it the fifteenth-largest city in France. It is the centre of an area with 559,421 inhabitants. Toulon is the fourth-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille, Nice, Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment. The military port of Toulon is the naval centre on Frances Mediterranean coast, home of the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle. The French Mediterranean Fleet is based in Toulon, archaeological excavations, such as those at the Cosquer Cave near Marseilles, show that the coast of Provence was inhabited since at least the Paleolithic era. The Ligurians settled in the beginning in the 4th century BC. In the 2nd century BC, the residents of Massalia called upon the Romans to help pacify the region. The Romans defeated the Ligurians and began to start their own colonies along the coast, Toulon harbour became a shelter for trading ships, and the name of the town gradually changed from Telo to Tholon, Tolon, and Toulon. Toulon was Christianized in the 5th century, and the first cathedral built, honoratus and Gratianus of Toulon, according to the Gallia Christiana, were the first bishops of Toulon, but Louis Duchesne gives Augustalis as the first historical bishop. He assisted at councils in 441 and 442 and signed in 449 and 450 the letters addressed to Pope Leo I from the province of Arles, a Saint Cyprian, disciple and biographer of St. Cæsarius of Arles, is also mentioned as a Bishop of Toulon. His episcopate, begun in 524, had not come to an end in 541, in 1095, a new cathedral was built in the city by Count Gilbert of Provence. As barbarians invaded the region and Roman power crumbled, the town was attacked by pirates. In 1486 Provence became part of France and his Italian campaign failed, and 1497, the rulers of Genoa, who controlled commerce on that part of the Mediterranean, blockaded the new port. However, a few months later the commander of the new fort sold it to the commander of an Army of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1543, Francis I found a surprising new ally in his battle against the Holy Roman Empire. He invited the fleet of Ottoman Admiral Barbarossa to Toulon as part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance, the residents were forced to leave, and the Ottoman sailors occupied the town for the winter. This fleet carried aboard an army of 8,000 infantry and 800 cavalry and its baggage under Thomas of Savoy, king Louis XIV was determined to make France a major sea power. In 1660, his Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert ordered Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban to build a new arsenal and to fortify the town
Toulon
–
Top left:Toulon Opera House, Top right:Mayol Stadium (Le Stade du Mayol), 2nd:Panoramic view of downtown Toulon and its port, 3rd left: Place de la Liberté, 3rd right: The beaches of Mourillon, Bottom left:The cable car to Mount Faron, Bottom right:Fort Saint-Louis
Toulon
–
Toulon Cathedral (11th to 18th centuries)
Toulon
–
The Tour Royale (16th century)
Toulon
–
Barbarossa 's
Ottoman fleet, of the
Regency of Algiers, wintering in the harbour of Toulon in 1543, with the
Tour Royale (bottom right).
46.
Strait of Gibraltar
–
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta in Africa. The name comes from the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq named after Tariq ibn Ziyad. It is also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, the Gut of Gibraltar, the STROG in naval use, and Bab Al Maghrib, Gate of the West. In the Middle Ages, Muslims called it Al-Zuqaq, The Passage, the Romans called it Fretum Gatitanum, Europe and Africa are separated by 7.7 nautical miles of ocean at the straits narrowest point. Ferries cross between the two every day in as little as 35 minutes. The Spanish side of the Strait is protected under El Estrecho Natural Park, on the northern side of the Strait are Spain and Gibraltar, while on the southern side are Morocco and Ceuta. Its boundaries were known in antiquity as the Pillars of Hercules, there are several islets, such as the disputed Isla Perejil, that are claimed by both Morocco and Spain. Due to its location, the Strait is commonly used for illegal immigration from Africa to Europe, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Strait of Gibraltar as follows, On the West. A line joining Cape Trafalgar to Cape Spartel, a line joining Europa Point to P. Almina. The seabed of the Strait is composed of synorogenic Betic-Rif clayey flysch covered by Pliocene and/or Quaternary calcareous sediments, exposed bedrock surfaces, coarse sediments and local sand dunes attest to the strong bottom current conditions at the present time. The resultant accumulation of huge salt and mineral deposits about the Mediterranean basin are directly linked to this era. It is believed that this took a short time, by geological standards. The erosion produced by the incoming waters seems to be the cause for the present depth of the strait. The strait is expected to close again as the African Plate moves northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, for full articles on the history of the north Gibraltar shore, see History of Gibraltar or History of Spain. For the full article on the history of the south Gibraltar shore, evidence of the first human habitation of the area by Neanderthals dates back to 125,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence of Homo sapiens habitation of the dates back c.40,000 years. In that year, the last Muslim government north of the straits was overthrown by a Spanish force, the small British enclave of the city of Gibraltar presents a third cultural group found in the straits. This enclave was first established in 1704 and has since used by Britain to act as a surety for control of the sea lanes into
Strait of Gibraltar
–
The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space. (North is to the left: The Iberian Peninsula is on the left and North Africa on the right).
Strait of Gibraltar
–
Africa (right, on horizon) and Europe (left) from Gibraltar.
Strait of Gibraltar
–
A view across the Strait of Gibraltar taken from the hills above Tarifa, Spain.
Strait of Gibraltar
–
Historic map of the Strait of Gibraltar by
Piri Reis.
47.
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
–
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, in December 1665, Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of refuge, defense and supply for the French Navy. The Arsenal de Rochefort served as a base and dockyard until it closed in 1926. In September 1757, Rochefort was the target of an ambitious British raid during the Seven Years War, another infrastructure of early Rochefort from 1766 was its bagne, a high-security penal colony involving hard labor. Bagnes were then common fixtures in military harbors and naval bases, such as Toulon or Brest, Rochefort is a notable example of 17th-century ville nouvelle or new town, which means its design and building resulted from a political decree. The reason for building Rochefort was to an extent that royal power could hardly depend on rebellious Protestant La Rochelle. Well into the 20th century, Rochefort remained primarily a garrison town, the tourist industry, which had long existed due to the towns spa, gained emphasis in the 1990s. Charles Rigault de Genouilly, French admiral, conqueror of Vietnam and his house has been turned into a museum Jean-Joseph Sanfourche was a French artist and sculptor. Amédée William Merlaud-Ponty, Governor General of French West Africa, pauline Réage, pseudonym of Anne Desclos, author Maurice Merleau-Ponty, philosopher Pierre Salviac, is a French journalist, former commentator of rugby-match and since then polemicist. Loïc Le Marrec French volleyball coach He has a total of 140 teams in France
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
–
Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
–
Rochefort (centre-right) seen from Spot Satellite
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
–
Rochefort arsenal, in 1690
48.
English Channel
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The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the Channel is of geologically recent origins, having been dry land for most of the Pleistocene period. The first flood would have lasted for months, releasing as much as one million cubic metres of water per second. The flood started with large but localized waterfalls over the ridge, the flow eroded the retaining ridge, causing the rock dam to fail and releasing lake water into the English Channel. The erosion of the Lobourg Channel was probably the final opening of the Strait, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance. It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, strangely, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English
English Channel
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English Channel
English Channel
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Three French river mouths. Top to bottom: the
Somme, the
Authie and the
Canche
English Channel
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The Hermitage of
St Helier lies in the bay off
Saint Helier and is accessible on foot at low tide.
English Channel
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British radar facilities during the
Battle of Britain 1940
49.
Fire ship
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An explosion ship or hellburner was a variation on the fire ship, intended to cause damage by blowing up in proximity to enemy ships. Fireships were famously and cleverly used to great effect by the outgunned English fleet against the Spanish Armada during the Battle of Gravelines. Possibly the oldest account of the use of a fire ship is recorded by the Greek historian Thucydides on the occasion of the failed Athenian Sicilian Expedition. The Athenians, however, alarmed for their ships, contrived means for stopping it and putting it out, and checking the flames and the nearer approach of the merchantman, thus escaped the danger. A fire ship was used in the Battle of Red Cliffs on the Yangtze River when Huang Gai assaulted the enemy force with a fire ship filled with bundles of kindling, dry reeds. Fire ships were employed by the Vandals against the armada sent by the Eastern Roman Empire. The invention of Greek fire in 673 increased the use of ships, at first by the Greeks. In 951 and again in 953 Russian fleets narrowly escaped destruction by fire ships, while fire ships were used in the Medieval period, notably during the crusades, these were typically ships that were set up with combustibles on an adhoc basis. The first modern fireships were put to use in early 17th century Dutch and their use increased throughout that century, with purpose-built fireships a permanent part of many naval fleets, ready to be deployed whenever necessary. Fire ships continued to be used, sometimes to great effect such as by the U. S, warships of the age of sail were highly vulnerable to fire. Made of wood, with seams caulked with tar, ropes greased with fat, accidental fires destroyed many ships, so fire ships presented a terrifying threat. Fire ships were most devastating against fleets which were at anchor or otherwise restricted in movement, at sea, a well-handled ship could evade a fire ship and disable it with cannon fire. The role of incendiary vessels changed throughout the age of the fire ship. The systematic use of ships as part of naval actions peaked around the Third Anglo-Dutch War. By this time, however, admirals and captains had become experienced with the limitations of fire ship attacks and had learned how to avoid them during battle. Great numbers of ships were expended during the Third Dutch War without destroying enemy men-of-war. Though fire ships as a specified class sailed with the British Royal Navy for another century, they would never have a significant impact on a naval victory. The last modern fire ship in the British Royal Navy was Thais, in the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1832, the extensive use of fire ships by the Greeks allowed them to counterbalance the Turkish naval superiority in terms of ship size and artillery power
Fire ship
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Dutch fire ship attack on the English flagship
Royal James at the
Battle of Solebay (1672). Painting by
Willem van de Velde the Younger
Fire ship
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Chinese fire ships of the
Song dynasty (960-1279)
Fire ship
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French fireship at anchorage. The full-resolution image shows details specific to fireships, notably the exit door between the two aftmost gunports; the chain securing an escape boat; an aperture below exit door to light a fuse; and grappling hooks on the yardarms.
Fire ship
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The attack on the Turkish frigate in the Gulf of Eressos at the Greek island of Lesvos by a fire ship commanded by
Dimitrios Papanikolis during the
Greek War of Independence - Painting by
Konstantinos Volanakis
50.
St Helens, Isle of Wight
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St Helens is a village and civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight. The village developed around village greens and this is claimed to be the largest in England but some say it is the second largest. The greens are used for cricket matches during the summer and football in the winter. The local pub is the Vine, the village also has two restaurants, Ganders on the upper side of the green and Dans Kitchen on the south. The village is a distance from the coast, about a ten-minute walk to St Helens Duver. The Duver was once the location of the islands first golf course and it is now a popular beach for tourists during the summer season and is protected by the National Trust. It is linked to parts of the island by Southern Vectis bus route 8 serving Ryde, Bembridge, Sandown. The origin of St Helens seems to revolve around the Cluniac Priory, in 1340 a French raid landed at St Helens but was repulsed by Sir Theobald Russell. In 1346 Edward III set sail from St Helens to invade Normandy, after Henry V suppressed the alien priories in 1414 the old church became the parish church. The original church became unsafe and a new one was built further inland. In 1720 a great wave destroyed the old church, though the tower still stands to this day. In the early 18th Century, the entrance to the harbour was near to the church, attempts at reclamation of the harbour, which were unsuccessful due to locals removing building materials, resulted in the harbour being moved. The church was undermined by the quarrying of stone from the beach, a small gun battery, which has been lost to the sea, once defended the entrance. The closest Royal Commission sea fort to the island is St Helens Fort, St Helens is still host to a number of families who have been residents for over 300 years. Common St Helens names include Attrill, Bennett, Burden, Dyer, Henley, Jacobs, Phillips, Toogood, St Helens is located to the east of the Isle of Wight on high ground to the north of Bembridge giving it views over the busy harbour. The nearest town is Ryde, about 3 miles away, the village is located on the coast, with St Helens Duver nearby at the mouth of the harbour. The area features a complex where the first golf course on the island was located. The Duver is no longer a course and is maintained by the National Trust
St Helens, Isle of Wight
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St Helens Old Church
St Helens, Isle of Wight
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Sign one sees on entering the village from the south
St Helens, Isle of Wight
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Part of St Helens village green.
St Helens, Isle of Wight
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Another view of the village from the green.
France[1]
England
Dutch Republic
Media related to Battle of Barfleur at Wikimedia Commons
