Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, FRS was a prominent Dutch mathematician and scientist. He is known particularly as an astronomer, physicist and horologist, Huygens was a leading scientist of his time. His work included early telescopic studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan and he published major studies of mechanics and optics, and pioneered work on games of chance. Christiaan Huygens was born on 14 April 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family, Christiaan was named after his paternal grandfather. His mother was Suzanna van Baerle and she died in 1637, shortly after the birth of Huygens sister. The couple had five children, Christiaan, Philips, Constantijn Huygens was a diplomat and advisor to the House of Orange, and a poet and musician. His friends included Galileo Galilei, Marin Mersenne and René Descartes, Huygens was educated at home until turning sixteen years old. He liked to play with miniatures of mills and other machines and his father gave him a liberal education, he studied languages and music and geography, mathematics and rhetoric, but dancing and horse riding.
In 1644 Huygens had as his mathematical tutor Jan Jansz de Jonge Stampioen, Descartes was impressed by his skills in geometry. His father sent Huygens to study law and mathematics at the University of Leiden, Frans van Schooten was an academic at Leiden from 1646, and a private tutor to Huygens and his elder brother, replacing Stampioen on the advice of Descartes. Van Schooten brought his mathematical education up to date, in introducing him to the work of Fermat on differential geometry. Constantijn Huygens was closely involved in the new College, which lasted only to 1669, Christiaan Huygens lived at the home of the jurist Johann Henryk Dauber, and had mathematics classes with the English lecturer John Pell. He completed his studies in August 1649 and he had a stint as a diplomat on a mission with Henry, Duke of Nassau. It took him to Bentheim, Flensburg and he took off for Denmark, visited Copenhagen and Helsingør, and hoped to cross the Øresund to visit Descartes in Stockholm. While his father Constantijn had wished his son Christiaan to be a diplomat, in political terms, the First Stadtholderless Period that began in 1650 meant that the House of Orange was not in power, removing Constantijns influence.
Further, he realised that his son had no interest in such a career, Huygens generally wrote in French or Latin. While still a student at Leiden he began a correspondence with the intelligencer Mersenne. Mersenne wrote to Constantijn on his sons talent for mathematics, the letters show the early interests of Huygens in mathematics
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls and they are mostly grouped according to their district and to the weapon that they used, crossbow or gun. Together, its members are called a Schuttersgilde, which could be translated as a shooters guild. It is now a title applied to ceremonial shooting clubs and to the countrys Olympic rifle team, the schutterij, civic guard, or town watch, was a defensive military support system for the local civic authority. Its officers were wealthy citizens of the town, appointed by the city magistrates and its captain was usually a wealthy inhabitant of the district, and the groups ensign was a wealthy young bachelor. Joining as an officer for a couple of years was often a stepping-stone to other important posts within the city council, the members were expected to buy their own equipment, this entailed the purchase of a weapon and uniform.
Each night two men guarded their district in two shifts, from 10,00 p. m. until 2,00 a. m. at a set time each month, the schutters would parade under the command of an officer. The ideal was that, for every hundred inhabitants, three would belong to the schutterij, the Dutch Mennonites were excluded from a position in the schutterij in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and paid a double tax in lieu of service. Roman Catholics were permitted in the lower regions, persons in the service of the city, and the citys Jews, did not need to serve. The beer and peat bearers had to serve as the towns firefighters instead, the schutters or cloveniers met at target practice grounds called Doelen. These fields were generally adjoining a building where they met indoors for gymnastic exercises. It was in great halls where the large group portraits hung for centuries. These locations were not the place the schutters met each other. These guilds kept altars in churches, where they met for religious reasons. Most schutterij guilds had as patron saints Saint Sebastian, Saint Anthony, Saint George and these religious duties were a significant part of the guild membership since that is where they paid their dues.
After the Protestant Reformation, all the altars were disbanded in the Dutch Reformed churches in the Northern Netherlands, and membership dues were no longer paid in church, but at the city hall. After 1581, the schutterij were officially prohibited from influencing city politics, but since the ruling regenten were all members of these guilds, once a year they held a banquet, with beer and a roasted ox. Whenever a changeover of the leading officers occurred, a painter was invited to paint the members
Netherlands
The Netherlands, informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country.
Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life.
The Netherlands ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, changed over time tremendously
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the Stuttgart Cauldron an hour from the Swabian Jura. Stuttgarts urban area has a population of 623,738, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area. Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive Castrum near Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgarts roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia as a stud farm for his warhorses. Overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320, the fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their County and Kingdom from the 15th Century to 1918.
Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the forms of the Thirty Years War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city, however, by 1952, the city had bounced back and became the major economic, industrial and publishing center it is today. Stuttgart is an important transport junction, and possesses the sixth largest airport in Germany. Such companies as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills and parks and this is often a source of surprise to visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the Cradle of the Automobile. The citys tourism slogan is Stuttgart offers more, under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure, the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as Das neue Herz Europas. For business, it describes itself as Where business meets the future, in July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area.
Stuttgart is a city of mostly immigrants, according to Dorling Kindersley Publishings Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner. 40% of Stuttgarts residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five are of immigrant background, the reason for this being that the city was founded in 950 AD by Duke Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses. Originally, the most important location in the Neckar river valley as the rim of the Stuttgart basin at what is today Bad Cannstatt. As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby, when they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local brickworks that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the Rhine and Danube rivers in the 3rd Century by the Alamanni, in 700, Duke Gotfrid mentions a Chan Stada in a document regarding property
Confrerie Pictura
The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague, by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. The guild of St. Lukes altar, after the Protestant Reformation, this all changed, and the churches were no longer a part of guild life. With the altarpieces gone that had traditionally been the public signboard for the artists, in addition, with the influx of talented painters from the Southern Netherlands cities such as Antwerp, the guild fathers felt that more protective measures were necessary. When securing a new charter for the St. Lukes guild failed to have the desired effect. They were led by the first deacon and popular Hague portrait painter Adriaen Hanneman, the goal of the Confrerie Pictura was to protect the Hague painters and to reinforce ties between its members. Everyone working as a painter in The Hague was obliged to be a member of the Confrerie, guilds installed strict rules to restrict what was seen as unfair trading, but obliged its members to attend the funerals of its members for instance.
The Confrerie had a set of 28 rules, one important rule was that its members were obliged to exhibit their works permanently at their meeting room. As soon as a work had sold it had to be replaced by a new one. The Confrerie started meeting upstairs at the Boterwaag building, where butter was traded at the Prinsegracht and they paid rent by donating a painting to the city council. The Confrerie was governed by a deacon, three governors and a secretary, who were every two years by the Magistrate of The Hague. Later, in the 1680s the Confrerie received a better place at the Koorenhuis. The founding five members of group were Doudijns, Terwesten, Duval. Paying dues to a second Confrerie in addition to the guild of St, the original building is undergoing a restoration and expansion, but still exists on the Prinsessegracht 4 in the Hague. Many original works of the founders and early members can be seen in the buildings decorations
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, in 2005 the municipality of Bathmen was merged with Deventer as part of a national effort to reduce bureaucracy in the country. Deventer was probably founded around 768 by the English missionary Lebuinus and it was immediately rebuilt and fortified with an earthen wall. Deventer received city rights in 956, after which fortifications were built or replaced by stone walls around the city for defense. Between 1000 and 1500, Deventer grew to be a trade city because of its harbour on the river IJssel. The city eventually joined the Hanseatic League, Deventer is the birthplace of Geert Groote and home to his Brethren of the Common Life, a school of religious thought that influenced Thomas a Kempis and Erasmus in times. Together with Haarlem it was among the first cities to have printing presses, from around 1300, it housed a Latin School, which became internationally renowned, and remained in service in changing forms until 1971.
Its most famous pupil was the scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who was born in 1466, between 1500 and 1800, the mass of water flowing through the IJssel decreased, decreasing the importance of Deventers harbour. The competition with trade centres in Holland, as well as the war between 1568 and 1648, brought a decline in the citys economy. In the 18th century, the industry came to Deventer. East of the town, so-called oer, riversand containing iron, was found as early as 900, from this material, ore was produced and brought to town. The main road of the villages Okkenbroek and Schalkhaar is still named Oerdijk, in the 19th century, Deventer became an industrial town. Bicycles, carpets and cans for food and drinks, cigars and heavy machinery, some of these industries are still thriving today, such as beds and accessories and publishing The citys trade and industry is still of some importance. The city is host to a factory producing central heating systems, as well as Wolters Kluwer, the Deventer honey cake, produced in Deventer for over 500 years, is still manufactured locally and sold all over the Netherlands and beyond.
Deventer has seen few military engagements throughout its history, although it was a garrison city of the Dutch cavalry. The industrial area and harbour were bombed heavily during World War II, the city centre has been largely spared, thus offering a view that has remained largely unchanged for the past few centuries. The female Jewish poet and writer Etty Hillesum lived in Deventer during the war before being deported to Auschwitz, in Schalkhaar, a village only 2 km northeast of the city centre, barracks were used by the German occupying forces to train Nazi policemen. The compound is now a centre for asylum seekers, Deventer has been somewhat popular with the film industry
Genre art
Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. Such representations may be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist, some variations of the term genre art specify the medium or type of visual work, as in genre painting, genre prints, genre photographs, and so on. Rather confusingly, the meaning of genre, covering any particular combination of an artistic medium. Painting was divided into a hierarchy of genres, with painting at the top, as the most difficult and therefore prestigious. But history paintings are a genre in painting, not genre works, the following concentrates on painting, but genre motifs were extremely popular in many forms of the decorative arts, especially from the Rococo of the early 18th century onwards. Single figures or small groups decorated a huge variety of such as porcelain, wallpaper. Genre painting, called genre scene or petit genre, depicts aspects of life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. A work would often be considered as a genre work even if it could be shown that the artist had used a known member of his family.
In this case it would depend on whether the work was likely to have intended by the artist to be perceived as a portrait—sometimes a subjective question. The depictions can be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist, because of their familiar and frequently sentimental subject matter, genre paintings have often proven popular with the bourgeoisie, or middle class. Genre themes appear in all art traditions. These were part of a pattern of Mannerist inversion in Antwerp painting, giving low elements previously in the background of images prominent emphasis. The generally small scale of these paintings was appropriate for their display in the homes of middle class purchasers. Often the subject of a painting was based on a popular emblem from an Emblem book. The merry company showed a group of figures at a party, other common types of scenes showed markets or fairs, village festivities, or soldiers in camp. In Italy, a school of painting was stimulated by the arrival in Rome of the Dutch painter Pieter van Laer in 1625.
He acquired the nickname Il Bamboccio and his followers were called the Bamboccianti, whose works would inspire Giacomo Ceruti, Antonio Cifrondi, jean-Baptiste Greuze and others painted detailed and rather sentimental groups or individual portraits of peasants that were to be influential on 19th-century painting. Spain had a tradition predating The Book of Good Love of social observation and commentary based on the Old Roman Latin tradition, practiced by many of its painters and illuminators
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 243,626, together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 749,595 inhabitants and 1,178,335 in the area, it is the fifth largest in France, after Paris, Lyon and Lille. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department and its inhabitants are called Bordelais or Bordelaises. The term Bordelais may refer to the city and its surrounding region, Bordeaux is the worlds major wine industry capital. It is home to the main wine fair, Vinexpo. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century, the historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the 18th century. After Paris, Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved buildings of any city in France. In historical times, around 300 BC it was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, the name Bourde is still the name of a river south of the city.
In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, the Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in the action. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC, its importance lying in the commerce of tin, it became capital of Roman Aquitaine, flourishing especially during the Severan dynasty. In 276 it was sacked by the Vandals, further ravage was brought by the same Vandals in 409, the Visigoths in 414 and the Franks in 498, beginning a period of obscurity for the city. In the late 6th century, the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, the city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585, a certain Gallactorius is cited as count of Bordeaux, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman in 732 after storming the fortified city and overwhelming the Aquitanian garrison.
After Duke Eudess defeat, the Aquitanian duke could still save part of its troops, the following year, the Frankish commander descended again over Aquitaine, but clashed in battle with the Aquitanians and left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745, Aquitaine faced yet another expedition by Charles sons Pepin and Carloman against Hunald, Hunald was defeated, and his son Waifer replaced him, who in turn confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city. During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine, it was one of Waifers last important strongholds to fall to King Pepin the Shorts troops. Next to Bordeaux, Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac on a hill across the border with the Basques, in 778, Seguin was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass that very year
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity, Silk is produced by several insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, Silk production occurs in Hymenoptera, mayflies, leafhoppers, lacewings, fleas and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders, the word silk comes from Old English sioloc, from Greek σηρικός serikos, ultimately from an Asian source. Several kinds of silk, which are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and used in China, South Asia.
However, the scale of production was far smaller than for cultivated silks. Thus, the way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious. Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread. Wild silks tend to be difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm. Genetic modification of domesticated silkworms is used to facilitate the production of more types of silk. Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, the earliest example of silk fabric is from 3630 BC, and it was used as wrapping for the body of a child from a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun at Xingyang, Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants.
Silk was in demand, and became a staple of pre-industrial international trade. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, Silk is described in a chapter on mulberry planting by Si Shengzhi of the Western Han
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint monarch of England and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William of Orange, from 1689 until her death. William became sole ruler upon her death in 1694, popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary. Mary wielded less power than William when he was in England, ceding most of her authority to him and she did, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful and effective ruler. Mary, born at St Jamess Palace in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife, Anne Hyde. She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess and her godparents included her fathers cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father. The Duke of York converted to Roman Catholicism in 1668 or 1669, Marys education, from private tutors, was largely restricted to music, drawing and religious instruction.
Her mother died in 1671, and her father remarried in 1673, taking as his second wife Mary of Modena, from about the age of nine until her marriage, Mary wrote passionate letters to an older girl, Frances Apsley, the daughter of courtier Sir Allen Apsley. In time, Frances became uncomfortable with the correspondence, and replied more formally, at the age of fifteen, Mary became betrothed to her cousin, the Protestant Stadtholder of Holland, William of Orange. William was the son of the Kings late sister, Princess Royal, and thus fourth in the line of succession after James and Anne. The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister Lord Danby and the King, when James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, she wept all that afternoon and all the following day. William and a tearful Mary were married in St Jamess Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on 4 November 1677, Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather.
On 14 December, they made an entry to The Hague in a grand procession. Marys animated and personable nature made her popular with the Dutch people and she was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Marys family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679 and her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life. From May 1684, the Kings illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, lived in the Netherlands, Monmouth was viewed as a rival to the Duke of York, and as a potential Protestant heir who could supplant James in the line of succession. William, did not consider him a viable alternative, upon the death of Charles II without legitimate issue in February 1685, the Duke of York became king as James II in England and Ireland and James VII in Scotland. Mary was playing cards when her husband informed her of her fathers accession, to Williams relief, Monmouth was defeated and executed, but both he and Mary were dismayed by Jamess subsequent actions
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 421.
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