1.
Flag and coat of arms of Corsica
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The Flag of Corsica was adopted by General of the Nation Pasquale di Paoli in 1755 and was based on a traditional flag used previously. It portrays a Moors Head in black wearing a white bandana above his eyes on a white background, previously, the bandana covered his eyes, Paoli wanted the bandana moved to above the eyes to symbolise the liberation of the Corsican people. It was used by the ill-fated Corsican Republic and was banned after 1769. This was to pay the costs of the French expeditionary corps which should have helped Genoa to secure its control on Corsica, during this period under French rule, 1769–1789, Corsican patriots again used the version of the flag with blindfolded eyes, as a mark of protest. The unblindfolded version, quartered with the British coat of arms, was used as the flag during the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom of 1794-1796. It then fell into disuse until 1980, when it was re-adopted as a regional flag. The Moors Head is also used on the Coat of Arms of Corsica, the Flag of Sardinia, and on the crest of Clan Borthwick. In a coat of arms book of the late 14th century compiled in the Germanic area, the Armorial book of Gelre, the unblindfolded Moors Head is reported for Corsica in the states of the Crown of Aragon
2.
Corte, Haute-Corse
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Corte is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is the fourth-largest commune in Corsica, corte is a subprefecture of the Haute-Corse department. Corte was the capital of the Corsican independent state during the period of Pasquale Paoli, during World War I, German prisoners of war were kept in the Citadel. Sites of interest include the Fortress, the Museum of Corsica, national roads lead to Ajaccio and Bastia. Corte is also linked to Ajaccio, Bastia and Calvi by the Chemin de fer de la Corse, corte has a mediterranean climate, sometimes alpine during the winter, with 52 summer days and 56 frost days. Corte has become a university town in Corsica since the Pasquale Paoli University opened up again in 1980s. Corte was the birthplace of Joseph Bonaparte, the eldest brother of the French Emperor Napoleon I, communes of the Haute-Corse department INSEE Official website Tourist office website University of Corsica
3.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
4.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
5.
Corsica
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Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 13 regions of France. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, southeast of the French mainland, a single chain of mountains make up two-thirds of the island. While being part of France, Corsica is also designated as a territorial collectivity by law, as a territorial collectivity, Corsica enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than other French regions, for example, the Corsican Assembly is able to exercise limited executive powers. The island formed a single department until it was split in 1975 into two departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, with its capital in Ajaccio, the prefecture city of Corse-du-Sud. Bastia, the city of Haute-Corse, is the second-largest settlement in Corsica. After being ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284, Corsica was briefly an independent Corsican Republic from 1755 until it was conquered by France in 1769. Due to Corsicas historical ties with the Italian peninsula, the island retains to this day many elements of the culture of Italy, the native Corsican language, whose northern variant is closely related to the Italian language, is recognised as a regional language by the French government. This Mediterranean island was ruled by various nations over the course of history but had several periods of independence. Napoleon was born in 1769 in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio and his ancestral home, Maison Bonaparte, is today used as a museum. The origin of the name Corsica is subject to much debate, to the Ancient Greeks it was known as Kalliste, Corsis, Cyrnos, Cernealis, or Cirné. Of these Cyrnos, Cernealis, or Cirné derive from a corruption of the most ancient Greek name of the island, Σειρηνούσσαι, the claim that latter Greek names are based on the Phoenician word for peninsula are highly unlikely. Corsica has been occupied continuously since the Mesolithic era and it acquired an indigenous population that was influential in the Mediterranean during its long prehistory. The Romans, who built a colony in Aléria, considered Corsica as one of the most backward regions of the Roman world, the island produced sheep, honey, resin and wax, and exported many slaves, not well considered because of their fierce and rebellious character. Moreover, it was known for its wines, exported to Rome. Administratively, the island was divided in pagi, which in the Middle Ages became the pievi, Corsica was integrated by Emperor Diocletian in Roman Italy. In the 5th century, the half of the Roman Empire collapsed, and the island was invaded by the Vandals. Briefly recovered by the Byzantines, it became part of the Kingdom of the Lombards—this made it a dependency of the March of Tuscany. Pepin the Short, king of the Franks and Charlemagnes father, expelled the Lombards, in the first quarter of the 11th century, Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion
6.
Corsican language
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Corsican is a Romance language within the Italo-Dalmatian subfamily. It is closely related to the Italian language and especially to its Tuscan branch and it is spoken and written on the islands of Corsica and northern Sardinia. Over the next two centuries, the use of French grew to the extent that, by the Liberation in 1945, the 20th century saw a wholesale language shift, with islanders changing their language practices to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican speakers left by the 1960s. By 1995, an estimated 65 percent of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican, one of the main sources of confusion in popular classifications is the difference between a dialect and a language. Typically it is not possible to ascertain what an author means by these terms, one of the characteristics of Italian is the retention of the -re infinitive ending as in Latin mittere, send. Such infinitival ending is lost in Corsican as well as in Tuscan, the term gallicised Corsican refers to Corsican up to about the year 1950. The term distanciated Corsican refers to an idealized Corsican from which various agents have removed French or other elements, in 40 AD, the natives of Corsica did not speak Latin. The Roman exile, Seneca the Younger, reports that both coast and interior were occupied by natives whose language he did not understand, whatever language was spoken is still visible in the toponymy or in some words, for instance in the Gallurese dialect spoken in Sardinia zerru pig. A similar situation is valid for Sardinian and Sicilian, the occupation of the island by the Vandals around the year 469 marked the end of authoritative influence by Latin speakers. If the natives of that time spoke Latin, they must have acquired it during the late empire. The two most widely spoken forms of the Corsican language are Supranacciu or Cismonticu, spoken in the Bastia and Corte area, the dialect of Ajaccio has been described as in transition. The dialects spoken at Calvi and Bonifacio are closer to the Genoese dialect, whether the two should be included either in Corsican or in Sardinian as dialects or considered independent languages is still subject of debate. On Maddalena archipelago the local dialect was brought by fishermen and shepherds from Bonifacio during immigration in the 17th and 18th centuries, though influenced by Gallurese, it has maintained the original characteristics of Corsican. There are also words of Genoese and Ponzese origin. They are thus defined as different languages from Sardinian by the Sardinian government. Only a fraction of the population at either time spoke Corsican with any fluency, the use of Corsican language over French language has been declining. In 1980 about 70 percent of the population of the island had some command of the Corsican language, in 1990 out of a total population of about 254,000 the percentage had declined to 50 percent, with only 10 percent using it as a first language. The language appeared to be in decline when the French government reversed its unsupportive stand
7.
Republic
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It is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology, composition, in the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as humanism, is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect, Republics became more common in the Western world starting in the late 18th century, eventually displacing absolute monarchy as the most common form of government in Europe. In modern republics, the executive is legitimized both by a constitution and by popular suffrage, for instance, Article IV of the United States Constitution guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. The term originates as the Latin translation of Greek word politeia, cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic. The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime, and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. And also amongst classical Latin, the term republic can be used in a way to refer to any regime. In medieval Northern Italy, a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments, in the late Middle Ages, writers, such as Giovanni Villani, began writing about the nature of these states and the differences from other types of regime. They used terms such as libertas populi, a free people, the terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states writers, most importantly Leonardo Bruni, adopted the Latin phrase res publica. While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term can quite literally be translated as public matter. It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, in subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica, and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica. Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, likewise, in Polish, the term was translated as rzeczpospolita, although the translation is now only used with respect to Poland. Presently, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the rather than from another basis. After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many cities developed again. The modern type of itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the era that are today still called republics
8.
Pasquale Paoli
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Filippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica. Paoli designed and wrote the Constitution of the state, the Corsican Republic was a representative democracy asserting that the elected Diet of Corsican representatives had no master. Paoli held his office by election and not by appointment and it made him commander-in-chief of the armed forces as well as chief magistrate. Paolis government claimed the same jurisdiction as the Republic of Genoa, following the French conquest of Corsica in 1768, Paoli oversaw the Corsican resistance. Following the defeat of Corsican forces at the Battle of Ponte Novu he was forced into exile in Britain where he was a celebrated figure and he returned after the French Revolution which he was initially supportive of. He later broke with the revolutionaries and helped to create the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom which lasted between 1794 and 1796, after the island was re-occupied by France he again went into exile in Britain where he died in 1807. Paoli was born in the hamlet of Stretta, Morosaglia commune, part of the ancient parish of Rostino, Haute-Corse, prior to that century Corsicans more or less accepted Genoan rule. By 1729, the year of first rebellion, the Genovese were regarded as failing in their task of government, the major problems were the high murder rate because of the custom of vendetta, the raiding of coastal villages by the Barbary pirates, oppressive taxes and economic depression. In the rebellion of 1729 over a new tax, the Genovese withdrew into their citadels and sent for foreign interventions, first from Austria, defeated by professional troops the Corsicans ceded violence but kept their organization. After surrendering to the French in 1739 Giacinto Paoli went into exile in Naples with his then 14-year-old son, an older brother, Clemente, remained at home as a liaison to the revolutionary diet, or assembly of the people. Corsica was subsequently distracted by the War of the Austrian Succession during which troops of a number of countries occupied the cities of Corsica. In Naples Giacinto perceiving that he had a talented son spared no effort or expense in his education, the enlightenment of which Pasquale was to become a part was neo-classical in its art, architecture and sentiments. Paoli is said once to have heard an old man on the road reciting Vergil, walked up behind him, clapped him on the back, in 1741 Pasquale joined the Corsican regiment of the royal Neapolitan army and served in Calabria under his father. Corsican exiles in Italy were seeking assistance for the revolution, including a skilled general. In 1736 the exiles of Genoa had discovered Theodor von Neuhoff, a soldier of fortune whom they were willing to make king, but he was unsuccessful and in 1754 languished in debtors prison in London. The young Pasquale became of interest when in opposition to a plan to ask the Knights of Malta to assume command he devised a plan for a native Corsican government. In that year Giacinto decided that Pasquale was ready to supplant Theodore, the subsequent popular election called by Vincente at Caccia made Pasquale General-in-Chief of Corsica, commander of all resistance. Corsica at that time was still under the influence of feuding clans, the lowlanders now held an election of their own and elected Mario Matra as commander, who promptly attacked the supporters of Paoli
9.
Age of Enlightenment
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The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private
10.
Battle of Ponte Novu
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It was the battle that effectively ended the fourteen-year-old Corsican Republic and opened the way to annexation by France the following year. The Corsican commander-in-chief, Pasquale Paoli, was trying to raise troops in the vicinity but was not present in person and he trusted the defence to his second-in-command, Salicetti. His forces included a company of Corsican women under a captain named Serpentini. Ponte Novu is a Genovese bridge over the Golo River in north central Corsica in Castello-di-Rostino commune, the battle opened the route through the rugged mountains to the Corsican capital of Corte. The battle is important as it marked the end of the Corsican War, voltaire, in his Précis du Siècle de Louis XV, admiringly wrote about the battle, The principal weapon of the Corsicans was their courage. Bravery is found everywhere, but such actions arent seen except among free people, the Corsican strategy The Corsican strategy was to block the passage at Ponte Novu, a choke point where the road had to cross the river on the bridge. To do this Paoli stationed substantial forces on either side of the bridge, Gaffori was posted to the north above the road at Lento and Grimaldi at Canavaggia. These forces were intended to prevent a build-up before the bridge, to that end the militia was placed on the road before the bridge as well. Paoli had his headquarters at Rostino above the bridge, tactically the battle was something less than a model. Different historians give rather different pictures of the battle, but there are elements in common. The bridge was actually being held by a unit of Prussian mercenaries which formerly had worked for the Genoese, though working for Paoli, this unit opened fire on Corsican troops trying to retreat over the bridge under pressure from the French. A slaughter resulted from the crossfire, the river ran red, the circumstances under which the Corsicans were trying to cross the bridge and the reasons why the Prussians opened fire and continued with a sustained fire are not clear. The accounts vary on this point but the courage and loyalty of the Corsican troops and their officers are clearly in question, politically Corsica was not of one mind. Paoli found it necessary to enforce unity by burning the farms and executing the relatives of dissidents to Corsican rule, and everywhere the French were rewarding the cooperation of the Corsicans. In the most flattering account, the Corsicans began the attack, discovering the foolishness of their choice, they attempted to retreat across the river but for an unknown reason were met by the volley fire of the Prussians. Apparently, the shooters believed they were stopping an unauthorized retreat, fortifying themselves as best they could, the majority of the 2000 died in the crossfire. Seeing their defeat, the troops on the other side retreated in disorder. A less flattering version accuses Grimaldi of treachery and Gaffori of cowardice, Grimaldi, it asserts, was paid by the French to take no action and Gaffori feared to do so alone
11.
Soldo
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Soldo was the name an Italian medieval silver coin, issued for the first time in the late 12th century at Milan by Emperor Henry VI. The name derives from the late Roman coin solidus and it quickly became widespread in Italy where it was coined in Genoa, Bologna, and numerous other cities. In Venice, the soldo was minted from the reign of Francesco Dandolo onward, remaining in use also after the dissolution in 1797 and during the Austrian occupation. In the 14th century Florence, a soldo equaled 1⁄20 of a lira and 12 denari, as time passed, the soldo started to be coined in billon and, from the 18th century, in copper. During the reign of Leopoldo II of Tuscany, it was worth 3 quattrini, the Napoleonic reformation of Italian coinage made it worth 5 cents, while 20 soldi were needed to form a lira. The term, used in times to designate the pay of soldiers
12.
Republic of Genoa
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It began when Genoa became a self-governing commune within the Regnum Italicum, and ended when it was conquered by the French First Republic under Napoleon and replaced with the Ligurian Republic. Corsica was ceded to France in the Treaty of Versailles of 1768, before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the Bishop of Genoa was president of the city, however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other merchant families all fought for power in this Republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria and Piedmont, Sardinia, Corsica, through Genoese participation on the Crusades, Genoese colonies were established in the Middle East, in the Aegean, in Sicily and Northern Africa. The collapse of the Crusader States was offset by Genoa’s alliance with the Byzantine Empire, as Venices relations with the Byzantine Empire were temporarily disrupted by the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath, Genoa was able to improve its position. Genoa took advantage of opportunity to expand into the Black Sea and Crimea. Internal feuds between the families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption. However, this prosperity did not last, the Black Death was imported into Europe in 1347 from the Genoese trading post at Caffa in Crimea, on the Black Sea. Following the economic and population collapse, Genoa adopted the Venetian model of government, the wars with Venice continued, and the War of Chioggia -- where Genoa almost managed to decisively subdue Venice—ended with Venices recovery of dominance in the Adriatic. In 1390 Genoa initiated a crusade against the Barbary pirates with help from the French, though it has not been well-studied, the fifteenth century seems to have been a tumultuous time for Genoa. After a period of French domination from 1394–1409, Genoa came under rule by the Visconti of Milan, Genoa lost Sardinia to Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt and its Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Asia Minor colonies to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Under the ensuing economic recovery, many aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, according to Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and others, the practices Genoa developed in the Mediterranean were crucial in the exploration and exploitation of the New World. At the time of Genoa’s peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck. The architect Galeazzo Alessi designed many of the city’s splendid palazzi, as did in the decades that followed by fifty years Bartolomeo Bianco, a number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent. At the time of its founding in the early 11th century the Republic of Genoa consisted of the city of Genoa, as the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. By 1015 all of Liguria fell under the Republic of Genoa, after the First Crusade in 1098 Genoa gained settlements in Syria. In 1261 the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor became Genoese territory, in 1255 Genoa established the colony of Caffa in Crimea
13.
Early modern France
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The Kingdom of France in the early modern period, from the Renaissance to the Revolution, was a monarchy ruled by the House of Bourbon. This corresponds to the so-called Ancien Régime, the territory of France during this period increased until it included essentially the extent of the modern country, and it also included the territories of the first French colonial empire overseas. In the mid 15th century, France was significantly smaller than it is today, in addition, certain provinces within France were ostensibly personal fiefdoms of noble families. The late 15th, 16th and 17th centuries would see France undergo a massive territorial expansion, France also embarked on exploration, colonisation, and mercantile exchanges with the Americas, India, the Indian Ocean, the Far East, and a few African trading posts. The administrative and legal system in France in this period is called the Ancien Régime. The Black Death had killed an estimated one-third of the population of France from its appearance in 1348, the concurrent Hundred Years War slowed recovery. It would be the early 16th century before the population recovered to mid-14th century levels and these demographic changes also led to a massive increase in urban populations, although on the whole France remained a profoundly rural country. Paris was one of the most populated cities in Europe, other major French cities include Lyon, Rouen, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Marseille. These centuries saw several periods of epidemics and crop failures due to wars, between 1693 and 1694, France lost 6% of its population. In the extremely harsh winter of 1709, France lost 3. 5% of its population, in the past 300 years, no period has been so proportionally deadly for the French, both World Wars included. Linguistically, the differences in France were extreme, before the Renaissance, the language spoken in the north of France was a collection of different dialects called Oïl languages whereas the written and administrative language remained Latin. Nevertheless, in 1790, only half of the spoke or understood standard French. The southern half of the continued to speak Occitan languages, and other inhabitants spoke Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch. In the north of France, regional dialects of the various langues doïl continued to be spoken in rural communities, during the French revolution, the teaching of French was promoted in all the schools. The French used would be that of the system, which differed from the French spoken in the courts of France before the revolution. Like the orators during the French revolution, the pronunciation of every syllable would become the new language, France would not become a linguistically unified country until the end of the 19th century. The Peace of Etaples marks, for some, the beginning of the modern period in France. The invasion of Italy by Charles VIII in 1494 began 62 years of war with the Habsburgs, in 1445, the first steps were made towards fashioning a regular army out of the poorly disciplined mercenary bands that French kings traditionally relied on
14.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
15.
Sovereignty
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Sovereignty is understood in jurisprudence as the full right and power of a governing body to govern itself without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In political theory, sovereignty is a term designating supreme authority over some polity. It is a basic principle underlying the dominant Westphalian model of state foundation, derived from Latin through French souveraineté, its attainment and retention, in both Chinese and Western culture, has traditionally been associated with certain moral imperatives upon any claimant. The concept of sovereignty has been discussed throughout history, and is still actively debated and it has changed in its definition, concept, and application throughout, especially during the Age of Enlightenment. The current notion of state sovereignty contains four aspects consisting of territory, population, authority, Sovereignty is a hypothetical trade, in which two potentially conflicting sides, respecting de facto realities of power, exchange such recognitions as their least costly strategy. The Roman jurist Ulpian observed that, The imperium of the people is transferred to the Emperor, the Emperor is not bound by the law. Emperor is the law making and abiding force, Ulpian was expressing the idea that the Emperor exercised a rather absolute form of sovereignty, although he did not use the term expressly. Classical Ulpians statements were known in medieval Europe, but sovereignty was an important concept in medieval times, Medieval monarchs were not sovereign, at least not strongly so, because they were constrained by, and shared power with, their feudal aristocracy. Furthermore, both were strongly constrained by custom, Sovereignty existed during the Medieval Period as the de jure rights of nobility and royalty, and in the de facto capability of individuals to make their own choices in life. 1380–1400, the issue of sovereignty was addressed in Geoffrey Chaucers Middle English collection of Canterbury Tales. The story revolves around the knight Sir Gawain granting to Dame Ragnell, his new bride, what is purported to be wanted most by women and we desire most from men, From men both lund and poor, To have sovereignty without lies. For where we have sovereignty, all is ours, Though a knight be ever so fierce and it is our desire to have master Over such a sir. Jean Bodin, partly in reaction to the chaos of the French wars of religion, in his 1576 treatise Les Six Livres de la République Bodin argued that it is inherent in the nature of the state that the sovereign must have both great and perpetual authority. Bodin rejected the notion of transference of sovereignty from people to the ruler, however, although he is often connected with absolutism, Bodin held some moderate opinions on how government should in practice be carried out. Thus, Bodin’s sovereign was restricted by the law of the state. Bodin believed that “the most divine, most excellent, and the form most proper to royalty is governed partly aristocratically and partly democratically”. With his doctrine that sovereignty is conferred by law, Bodin predefined the scope of the divine right of kings. During the Age of Enlightenment, the idea of sovereignty gained both legal and moral force as the main Western description of the meaning and power of a State
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Constitution
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A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i. e. constitute, some constitutions are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from states to companies. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a states rulers cannot cross, the term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments. Later, the term was used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of those officials. Ultra vires gives a justification for the forced cessation of such action. A violation of rights by an official would be ultra vires because a right is a restriction on the powers of government, and therefore that official would be exercising powers they do not have. It was never law, even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, in such a case, only the application may be ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedy for such violations have been petitions for common law writs, excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered, for example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. After that, many governments ruled by codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur, some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law. In 621 BC a scribe named Draco codified the cruel oral laws of the city-state of Athens, in 594 BC Solon, the ruler of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the workers, and determined that membership of the class was to be based on wealth. Cleisthenes again reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a footing in 508 BC. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in general terms was the arrangement of the offices in a state
17.
Women's suffrage
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Womens suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Limited voting rights were gained by women in Finland, Iceland, Sweden and some Australian colonies, National and international organizations formed to coordinate efforts to gain voting rights, especially the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, and also worked for equal civil rights for women. In 1881, the Isle of Man gave women who owned property the right to vote, in 1893, the British colony of New Zealand, granted women the right to vote. The colony of South Australia, did the same in 1894 and women were able to vote in the next election, South Australia also permitted women to stand for election alongside men. In 1899 Western Australia enacted full womens suffrage, enabling women to vote in the referendum of 31 July 1900. In 1902 women in the four colonies also acquired the right to vote. Discriminatory restrictions against Aboriginal people, including women, voting in elections, were not completely removed until 1962. Norway followed, granting full womens suffrage in 1913, most independent countries enacted womens suffrage in the interwar era, including Canada in 1917, Britain in 1918 and the United States in 1920. If women could work in factories, it seemed both ungrateful and illogical to deny them a place in the polling booth. But the vote was more than simply a reward for war work. Late adopters in Europe included Spain in 1931, France in 1944, Italy in 1946, Greece in 1952, Switzerland in 1971, the United States gave women equal voting rights in all states with the Nineteenth Amendment ratified in 1920. Canada and a few Latin American nations passed womens suffrage before World War II while the vast majority of Latin American nations established womens suffrage in the 1940s, the last Latin American country to give women the right to vote was Paraguay in 1961. In December 2015, women were first allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia, extended political campaigns by women and their supporters have generally been necessary to gain legislation or constitutional amendments for womens suffrage. In many countries, limited suffrage for women was granted before universal suffrage for men, for instance, in ancient Athens, often cited as the birthplace of democracy, only adult, male citizens who owned land were permitted to vote. Through subsequent centuries, Europe was generally ruled by monarchs, though forms of parliament arose at different times. Their Protestant successors enjoyed the same privilege almost into modern times and they make decisions there like the men, and it is they who even delegated the first ambassadors to discuss peace. The Iroquois, like many First Nations peoples in North America, had a kinship system. Property and descent were passed through the female line, Women elders voted on hereditary male chiefs and could depose them
18.
Justice system
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The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of four basic systems, civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the system of each country is shaped by its unique history. Common law and equity are systems of law whose sources are the decisions in cases by judges, alongside, every system will have a legislature that passes new laws and statutes. The relationships between statutes and judicial decisions can be complex, in some jurisdictions, such statutes may overrule judicial decisions or codify the topic covered by several contradictory or ambiguous decisions. Statutes were allowed to be made by the government, common law was later inherited by the Commonwealth of Nations, and almost every former colony of the British Empire has adopted it. The doctrine of stare decisis, also known as law or precedent by courts, is the major difference to codified civil law systems. In addition to countries, several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system. For example, Nigeria operates largely on a common law system, in the European Union, the Court of Justice takes an approach mixing civil law with an attachment to the importance of case law. One of the most fundamental documents to shape common law is the English Magna Carta and it served as a kind of medieval bill of rights for the aristocracy and the judiciary who developed the law. The central source of law that is recognized as authoritative is codifications in a constitution or statute passed by legislature and this was an extensive reform of the law in the Byzantine Empire, bringing it together into codified documents. Civil law was partly influenced by religious laws such as Canon law. Civil law today, in theory, is interpreted rather than developed or made by judges, only legislative enactments are considered legally binding. As historically integrated in the Scandinavian cultural sphere, Finland and Iceland also inherited the system, chinese law, a mixture of civil law and socialist law in use in the Peoples Republic of China. The Italian approach has been imitated by other countries including the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, most of them have innovations introduced by the Italian legislation, including the unification of the civil and commercial codes. Germanistic to Napoleonic influence The Swiss civil code is considered mainly influenced by the German civil code, the main kinds of religious law are Sharia in Islam, Halakha in Judaism, and canon law in some Christian groups. In some cases these are intended purely as individual moral guidance, whereas in other cases they are intended, the latter was particularly common during the Middle Ages. The Halakha is followed by orthodox and conservative Jews in both ecclesiastical and civil relations. No country is governed by Halakha, but two Jewish people may decide, because of personal belief, to have a dispute heard by a Jewish court
19.
University
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A university is an institution of higher education and research which grants academic degrees in various academic disciplines. Universities typically provide undergraduate education and postgraduate education, the word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means community of teachers and scholars. Universities were created in Italy and evolved from Cathedral schools for the clergy during the High Middle Ages, the original Latin word universitas refers in general to a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc. Like other guilds, they were self-regulating and determined the qualifications of their members, an important idea in the definition of a university is the notion of academic freedom. The first documentary evidence of this comes from early in the life of the first university, the University of Bologna adopted an academic charter, the Constitutio Habita, in 1158 or 1155, which guaranteed the right of a traveling scholar to unhindered passage in the interests of education. Today this is claimed as the origin of academic freedom and this is now widely recognised internationally - on 18 September 1988,430 university rectors signed the Magna Charta Universitatum, marking the 900th anniversary of Bolognas foundation. The number of universities signing the Magna Charta Universitatum continues to grow, the university is generally regarded as a formal institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church by papal bull as studia generalia and it is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception. Later they were founded by Kings or municipal administrations. In the early period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries, the first universities in Europe with a form of corporate/guild structure were the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, and the University of Oxford. The students had all the power … and dominated the masters, princes and leaders of city governments perceived the potential benefits of having a scholarly expertise develop with the ability to address difficult problems and achieve desired ends. The emergence of humanism was essential to understanding of the possible utility of universities as well as the revival of interest in knowledge gained from ancient Greek texts. The rediscovery of Aristotles works–more than 3000 pages of it would eventually be translated–fuelled a spirit of inquiry into natural processes that had begun to emerge in the 12th century. Some scholars believe that these represented one of the most important document discoveries in Western intellectual history. Richard Dales, for instance, calls the discovery of Aristotles works a turning point in the history of Western thought and this became the primary mission of lecturers, and the expectation of students. The university culture developed differently in northern Europe than it did in the south, Latin was the language of the university, used for all texts, lectures, disputations and examinations. Professors lectured on the books of Aristotle for logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, while Hippocrates, Galen, outside of these commonalities, great differences separated north and south, primarily in subject matter
20.
Devota
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Saint Devota is the patron saint of Corsica and Monaco. She was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian and she is sometimes identified with another Corsican saint named Julia, who was described in Latin as Deo devota. The description was misinterpreted as a proper name, the legend connected with her is similar to those told of other saints of the region, such as Saint Reparata and Saint Torpes. Tradition holds that she was a Corsican woman born around 283 AD at Mariana, a young virgin, she had decided to devote herself fully to the service of God. Devota was part the household of senator Eutychius, Eutychius refused, and not wishing to confront him directly, Barbarus arranged to have him poisoned. Devota was imprisoned and tortured for her faith and her mouth was crushed, and her body was dragged through rocks and brambles. She was martyred at Mariana by being racked or stoned to death, after her death, the governor of the province ordered for her body to be burnt to prevent its veneration. However, it was saved from the flames by Christians and her body was placed on a boat bound for Africa. Gratianus, the pilot, Benedict, a priest, and Apollinaris, his deacon. However, a storm overtook the boat, a dove appeared and guided the boat to present-day Les Gaumates, today part of the Principality of Monaco, where a chapel dedicated to Saint George stood. In her honor a chapel was built, which stands in Monaco still, traditionally, flowers are said to bloom before their season on January 27, the saints feast day. The Sainte-Dévote Chapel is first mentioned about 1070, belonging to the abbey of Saint Pons, the chapel was rebuilt and expanded several times. It became a priory in the 13th century and in 1536 was acquired by Honoré I, the chapel became the parish church in 1887. This legend, passed on through a document, holds a special place in the heart of Monacos people. Reports of miracles soon sprung in connection with the tomb, during incursions by Moors, Devotas relics were translated to safety at the monastery of Cimiez. They were returned to Monaco, to a church restored much later by Antonio I, in 1070, Antinope, the captain of a Florentine ship, attempted to steal the reliquary containing Devotas relics. The legend states that a violent wind impeded him from escaping with the relics, arrested, Ugo Grimaldi ordered his ears and nose to be cut off. Antinopes boat was burnt on the beach of Monaco
21.
Maure
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A Maure, since the 11th century, is the symbol of a Moors head. The term has Phoenician and Greek origins, see Moors and this symbol is used for political purposes. The Maure is the African Unification Fronts flag and emblem, the main charge in the coat of arms in Corsica is U Moru, Corsican for The Moor, originally a female Moor blindfolded and wearing a necklace made of beads. An early version is attested in the 14th-century Gelre Armorial, where an unblindfolded Moors head represents Corsica as a state of the Crown of Aragon, in 1736, it was used by both sides during the struggle for independence. In 1760, General Pasquale Paoli ordered the necklace to be removed from the head and his reason, reported by his biographers, was Les Corses veulent y voir clair. La liberté doit marcher au flambeau de la philosophie, ne dirait-on pas que nous craignons la lumière. Later the blindfold was changed to a headband, the current flag of Corsica is the Bandera testa Mora, is male rather than female, and has a regular knot at the back of the head. The flag of Sardinia is informally known as the Four Moors, the origin of these figures on the flag is disputed. Some sources state that the flag is of Spanish origin and represents four Moorish invaders blindfolded for execution and it was not until the 18th century that the arrangement of the heads was fixed, with the Moors facing left and banded on their forehead. There are dozens of examples from Germany, viewable at the German Wikipedia article de, Mohr Linkebeek, sa Bandela de Sos Bator Moros, Sardinian Autonomous Region, retrieved April 22,2005 which in turn cites B. Lo stemma dei quattro mori, breve storia dellemblema dei Sardi
22.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Francophone Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution, Rousseaus novel Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction and his Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club and he was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794,16 years after his death. Rousseau was born in Geneva, which was at the time a city-state, since 1536, Geneva had been a Huguenot republic and the seat of Calvinism. Rousseau was proud that his family, of the order, had voting rights in the city. Throughout his life, he signed his books Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Geneva, in theory, was governed democratically by its male voting citizens, the citizens were a minority of the population when compared to the immigrants, referred to as inhabitants, whose descendants were called natives and continued to lack suffrage. There was much debate within Geneva, extending down to the tradespeople. Much discussion was over the idea of the sovereignty of the people, in 1707, a democratic reformer named Pierre Fatio protested this situation, saying a sovereign that never performs an act of sovereignty is an imaginary being. He was shot by order of the Little Council, Jean-Jacques Rousseaus father, Isaac, was not in the city at this time, but Jean-Jacquess grandfather supported Fatio and was penalized for it. The trade of watchmaking had become a tradition by the time of Rousseaus father. Isaac followed his grandfather, father and brothers into the business, Isaac, notwithstanding his artisan status, was well educated and a lover of music. A Genevan watchmaker, Rousseau wrote, is a man who can be introduced anywhere, in 1699, Isaac ran into political difficulty by entering a quarrel with visiting English officers, who in response drew their swords and threatened him. After local officials stepped in, it was Isaac who was punished, Rousseaus mother, Suzanne Bernard Rousseau, was from an upper-class family. She was raised by her uncle Samuel Bernard, a Calvinist preacher and he cared for Suzanne after her father Jacques died in his early thirties. In 1695, Suzanne had to answer charges that she had attended a street theater disguised as a peasant woman so she could gaze upon M. Vincent Sarrasin, after a hearing, she was ordered by the Genevan Consistory to never interact with him again. She married Rousseaus father at the age of 31, isaacs sister had married Suzannes brother eight years earlier, after she had become pregnant and they had been chastised by the Consistory
23.
Voltaire
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Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 21,000 letters and over two books and pamphlets. He was an advocate of civil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma. Some speculation surrounds Voltaires date of birth, because he claimed he was born on 20 February 1694 as the son of a nobleman. Two of his older brothers—Armand-François and Robert—died in infancy and his brother, Armand. Nicknamed Zozo by his family, Voltaire was baptized on 22 November 1694, with François de Castagnère, abbé de Châteauneuf, and Marie Daumard, the wife of his mothers cousin, standing as godparents. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where he was taught Latin, theology, and rhetoric, later in life he became fluent in Italian, Spanish, and English. By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer, against the wishes of his father, Voltaire, pretending to work in Paris as an assistant to a notary, spent much of his time writing poetry. When his father out, he sent Voltaire to study law. Nevertheless, he continued to write, producing essays and historical studies, Voltaires wit made him popular among some of the aristocratic families with whom he mixed. In 1713, his father obtained a job for him as a secretary to the new French ambassador in the Netherlands, the marquis de Châteauneuf, at The Hague, Voltaire fell in love with a French Protestant refugee named Catherine Olympe Dunoyer. Their scandalous affair was discovered by de Châteauneuf and Voltaire was forced to return to France by the end of the year, Most of Voltaires early life revolved around Paris. From early on, Voltaire had trouble with the authorities for critiques of the government and these activities were to result in two imprisonments and a temporary exile to England. One satirical verse, in which Voltaire accused the Régent of incest with his own daughter, the Comédie-Française had agreed in January 1717 to stage his debut play, Œdipe, and it opened in mid-November 1718, seven months after his release. Its immediate critical and financial success established his reputation, both the Régent and King George I of Great Britain presented Voltaire with medals as a mark of their appreciation. He mainly argued for tolerance and freedom of thought. He campaigned to eradicate priestly and aristo-monarchical authority, and supported a constitutional monarchy that protects peoples rights, the author adopted the name Voltaire in 1718, following his incarceration at the Bastille
24.
Gabriel Bonnot de Mably
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Gabriel Bonnot de Mably, sometimes known as Abbé de Mably, was a French philosopher, historian, and writer, who for a short time served in the diplomatic corps. He was a popular 18th century writer, Mably was born to a noble legal family bearing the surname Bonnot. He had an older brother Jean and, with him, preferred to be called after the property at Mably, Loire. His younger brother Étienne preferred to be called after another family property, at Condillac, Condillac also became a noted writer and philosopher. As was typical of men of their class, Mablys education included a Jesuit college, early on, he pursued an ecclesiastical career, enrolling in a seminary at Saint-Sulpice. He abandoned that path to enter the diplomatic corps in 1742 and his diplomatic career was a short one, ending in 1746. Afterwards, he focused on scholarly pursuits, for which he became the most known, Mably and his family had a great influence on Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau at the age of thirty-seven, thanks to the connections of his patron Mme de Warrens, both Gabriel Bonnot de Mably and his brother Condillac visited their brother and got to know Rousseau. Rousseau would remain friends with Mably and his family. Both Mably and his brother Condillac visited Rousseau when he moved to Montmorency, Rousseau later reflected upon his experience tutoring Mablys nephews in writing the book Emile, or On Education. Mablys most well-known work is Entretiens de Phocion, a dialogue first published in 1763, authorities tried unsuccessfully to suppress it by confiscating many copies. Secondly, Des droits et des devoirs du citoyen, written in 1758, was published after his death. He warned against events that developed during the French Revolution. These two works were seen to contribute to the concepts of both communism and republicanism. He advocated the abolition of property, which he saw as incompatible with sympathy and altruism. Mablys writings contain a paradox, he praises elitist Plato, Mably went further than the traditional Stoic argument that all men possessed a divine spark. He also went beyond the concept of equality before the law. He argued that virtue was more valued than the acquisition or possession of material wealth and he found an audience among those who were critical of the inherited wealth and privilege of the nobility, who did no work
25.
An Account of Corsica
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An Account of Corsica is the earliest piece of writing related to the Grand Tour literature that was written by the Scottish author James Boswell. Its first and second editions were published in 1768, with a third edition within twelve months, the full title given to the journal is An account of Corsica, the journal of a tour to that island and memoirs of Pascal Paoli. The British involvement in the issues of Corsica included the Corsican Crisis, in 1765, after spending some time travelling throughout Europe on his Grand Tour, Boswell decided to go to Corsica. He had been in Italy for nine months but wanted to visit somewhere different from the destinations usually included by those undertaking a tour of Europe. Corsica appealed to him as a Scot, as he thought he would gain new experiences and he had been encouraged to visit by Rousseau. While in Corsica, Boswell stayed overnight in convents and was hospitably treated, the locals were naturally courteous but some mistook Boswell for an English envoy. The highlight of his visit was being introduced to Pasquale Paoli and it was a dangerous time as occupational forces from France and Genoa sought to quell the rebellious Corsican independence movement which brought about the short lived Corsican Republic. Before Boswell returned to London, he began to campaign on behalf of Corsica, several letters were sent to the London Chronicle, some of which were only loosely based on the truth. These continued to be distributed on his return to London, he approached the Prime Minister William Pitt about it to highlight the plight of his Corsican friends. While this stimulated support, it garnered interest in his book. General Paoli exiled himself in London and was to remain a friend of Boswells. The title page includes the Latin Non enim propter gloriam, divitias aut honores pugnamus, sed propter libertatem solummodo, quam nemo bonus nisi simul cum vita amittit, with the source given as Lit. The foreword includes a letter from George Lord Lyttelton that thanks Boswell for the book, the first section, The Account, comprises three chapters. Thereafter appears an Appendix, containing Corsican State Papers, completing the book is the section which most enthralled readers, The Journal of a Tour to Corsica and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli. Boswells experiences while travelling in Corsica are covered in the pages in these chapters given in a conversational style, first printed in February 1768, An Account of Corsica was Boswells first published book. The printers were Edward and Charles Dilly of London who purchased the copyright to the book for one hundred guineas in August 1767, three thousand five hundred copies were initially printed but were all sold within six weeks of publication. Two further editions were quickly reproduced, each print run again of three thousand five hundred copies and it was also being sold in German, Dutch, French and Italian translations within twelve months. Copies of the first edition were sold for six Shillings each, the book was well received and is credited with catapulting Boswell to fame 23 years before his best known work, The Life of Samuel Johnson, was produced
26.
James Boswell
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James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer and diarist, born in Edinburgh. Boswells surname has passed into the English language as a term for a constant companion and observer, Boswell was born in Blairs Land on the east side of Parliament Close behind St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, as the eldest son, he was heir to his familys estate of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswells mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him, as a child, he was delicate and suffered from some type of nervous ailment which appeared to be inherent and would afflict him sporadically all through his life. At the age of five, he was sent to James Mundells academy, an institution by the standards of the time. Boswell was unhappy there, and his sickliness began to manifest itself in the physical incidents associated with nightmares, in view of this, the now-eight-year-old was removed from the academy and educated by a string of private tutors who included John Dunn and a Mr. Fergusson. The former had more success than his successor, he versed his charge in the joys of literature. Dunn was also present during, if not directly involved in, Boswells serious affliction of 1752 and this afforded him his first experience of genuine society, and his recovery was rapid and complete. It may, however, have inculcated the notion that travel, at thirteen, Boswell was enrolled into the arts course at the University of Edinburgh, studying there from 1753 to 1758. Midway through his studies, he suffered a depression and nervous illness, but. Boswell had swarthy skin, black hair and dark eyes, he was of average height and his appearance was alert and masculine, and he had an ingratiating sense of good humour. Upon turning nineteen, he was sent to continue his studies at the University of Glasgow, while at Glasgow, Boswell decided to convert to Catholicism and become a monk. Upon learning of this, his father ordered him home, instead of obeying, though, Boswell ran away to London, where he spent three months, living the life of a libertine, before he was taken back to Scotland by his father. Upon returning, he was re-enrolled at Edinburgh University and forced by his father to sign away most of his inheritance in return for an allowance of £100 a year, on 30 July 1762, Boswell took his oral law exam, which he passed with some skill. Upon this success, Lord Auchinleck decided to raise his sons allowance to £200 a year and it was during his second spell there that Boswell wrote his London Journal and, on 16 May 1763, met Johnson for the first time. The pair became friends almost immediately, the first conversation between Johnson and Boswell is quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson as follows, Mr. Johnson, I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it. That, Sir, I find, is what a great many of your countrymen cannot help. It was around three months after this first encounter with Johnson that Boswell departed for Europe with the goal of continuing his law studies at Utrecht University
27.
Capraia
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The island has a population of about 400. Capraia is 62 kilometres from the city of Livorno by sea, the island is accessible by ferries that depart from the port of Livorno. Capraia is of volcanic origin, has an area of 19 square kilometres and it is about 8 kilometres long and about 4 kilometres wide. It has a coastline that is about 30 kilometres in circumference, the island is part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park and marine sanctuary. The islands small harbour, Porto di Capraia, is connected to the village by the one, the village, dominated by the Fortress of St George, preserves its original characteristics unaltered. Sites of tourist interest include the Church of the Assunta, the Church of St Nicola and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church and Convent of St Antonio, the Fortress is not open to visitors. The island produces wine, and is a centre of the anchovy fishery, about 40 kilometres to the north is the island of Gorgona, which is also famous for its anchovies. In the summer the island is also a stopping point for yachts sailing between Livorno, Elba, and Corsica. The Greeks called the island Aegyllon or Aegyllion and its current name may have originated in the Etruscan carpa - stone - a word that comes from the archaic Greek Kalpe - sepulchral stone. The Romans called the island Capraria, its name possibly then morphing to reflect the presence of wild goats, in the 4th century AD it housed a cenobium, where the church of St. Stephen now stands. The early 5th century poet Rutilius recorded that the island was a mess, in 1055 it was raided by Saracen pirates, and later the Republic of Pisa owned it. It became part of the Republic of Genoa after the Battle of Meloria, in 1540 the Genoese built the Fortress of St. George on a pre-existing fortification that the African corsair Turgut Reis had demolished. The Genoese also built three coastal watch towers to protect against pirates and it is the only tower with a square shape, which makes it somewhat similar to the De Redin towers on Malta. Torre delle Barbici is in a dilapidated state. Since 2009 a path connects it to the port, in 1767 troops under Pasquale Paoli of the new independent Corsican Republic occupied Capraia. In 1796 the British, under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, occupied the island for a short time, after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 annexed the Republic of Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia, Capraia became part of the province of Genoa. Then in 1925, it was assigned to Livorno, between 1873 and 1986 a penal colony occupied almost two-thirds of Capraia. In 1986 the government closed the penal colony and opened the island to visitors and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Capraia
28.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
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Provinces of France
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The Kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4,1790, when the establishment of the department system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the counties of England. In some cases, several regions or departments share names with the historic provinces. The list below shows the provinces of France at the time of their dissolution during the French Revolution. Capital cities are shown in parentheses, bold indicates a city that was also the seat of a judicial and quasi-legislative body called either a parlement or a conseil souverain. In some cases, this body met in a different city than the capital, comtat Venaissin, a Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37, montbéliard, a fief of Württemberg Partial display of historical provincial arms, Ancien Régime in France Gallery of French coats of arms Coat of arms Heraldry
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Grafton ministry
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The Grafton ministry was the British government headed by Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton which served between 14 October 1768 –28 January 1770. In order to maintain a parliamentary majority, Grafton had drawn the Bedford Whigs into the ministry at the end of 1767. The government was criticised for its handling of foreign affairs, particularly for allowing the Republic of Corsica. It was subject to a series of attacks in what known as the Junius Letters. Lord North, The Prime Minister who lost America
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American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
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Great Siege of Gibraltar
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The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, at three years and seven months, it is the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces. In 1738 a dispute between Spain and Great Britain arose over commerce between Europe and the Americas, a short time later, the War of Jenkins Ear began, and both countries declared war on 23 October 1739, each side drawing up plans to establish trenches near Gibraltar. Seeing these first movements, Britain ordered Admiral Vernon to sail from Portobello, the passage of years failed to break the hostilities in the region. Then on 9 July 1746, King Philip V of Spain died in Madrid and his successor, Ferdinand VI, soon began negotiations with Britain on trade. The British Parliament was amenable to such negotiations, and even looked favourably upon lifting the British embargo on Spain, the neutrality adopted by Ferdinand VI quickly ended with his death in 1759. The new king, Charles III, was willing to negotiate with Great Britain. Instead, he signed a Family Compact with Louis XV of France on 15 August 1761, at that time France was at war with Britain, so Britain responded by declaring war on Spain and capturing the Spanish colonial capitals of Manila and Havana. Two years later, after cessation of hostilities, Spain recovered Manila, in the years of peace that followed both France and Spain hoped for an opportunity to launch a war against Britain on more favourable terms and recover their lost colonial possessions. Following the outbreak of the American War of Independence, both states supplied funding and arms to the American rebels, and drew up a strategy to intervene on the American side and defeat Britain. On 12 April 1779, France and Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez wherein they agreed to aid one another in recovering lost territory from Britain, then, in June 1779, Spain declared war on Great Britain, France having done so the year before. The Spanish blockade was directed by Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor, Spanish ground forces were composed of two battalions of Royal Guards, another two of Walloon Guards, with artillery and cavalry, about 13,000 in all. The artillery was commanded by Rudesindo Tilly, while the cavalry, antonio Barceló commanded the maritime forces responsible for blockading the bay, and established his base in Algeciras, commanding a fleet of several xebecs and gunboats. A fleet of 11 ships and two frigates were placed in the Gulf of Cadiz under the command of Luis de Córdova y Córdova to block the passage of British reinforcements. All the defences were strengthened, and many of the infantry, including picked men, the garrison included contingents of Hanoverian and Corsican troops. The British had anticipated an attack for some time, and a number of ships had sailed to reinforce and supply Gibraltar. The combined Spanish and French fleets blockaded Gibraltar from the sea, while on the side a enormous army constructed forts, redoubts, entrenchments. General Eliott formed a corps of sharpshooters, as the winter of 1779 came down the garrison began to suffer from want of fresh provisions, which became very scarce and dear
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Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. He took the lead in the funding of the debts by the Federal government, as well as the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs. His vision included a central government led by a vigorous executive branch. This was challenged by Virginia agrarians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who formed a rival party and they favored strong states based in rural America and protected by state militias as opposed to a strong national army and navy. They denounced Hamilton as too friendly toward Britain and toward monarchy in general, Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, to a married mother of British and French Huguenot ancestry and a Scottish father. His father, James A. Hamilton, was the son of laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange. Orphaned as a child by his mothers death and his fathers abandonment, Hamilton was taken in by an older cousin and he was recognized for his intelligence and talent, and sponsored by a group of wealthy local men to travel to New York City to pursue his education. Hamilton attended Kings College, choosing to stay in the Thirteen Colonies to seek his fortune, discontinuing his studies before graduating when the college closed its doors during British occupation of the city, Hamilton played a major role in the American Revolutionary War. At the start of the war in 1775, he joined a militia company, in early 1776, he raised a provincial artillery company, to which he was appointed captain. He soon became the aide to General Washington, the American forces commander-in-chief. Hamilton was dispatched by Washington on numerous missions to convey plans to his generals, after the war, Hamilton was elected as a representative to the Congress of the Confederation from New York. He resigned to practice law, and founded the Bank of New York, Hamilton was among those dissatisfied with the weak national government. He led the Annapolis Convention, which successfully influenced Congress to issue a call for the Philadelphia Convention in order to create a new constitution, Hamilton became the leading cabinet member in the new government under President Washington. These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, to overcome localism, Hamilton mobilized a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, which became the Federalist Party. A major issue in the emergence of the American two-party system was the Jay Treaty and it established friendly trade relations with Britain, to the chagrin of France and the supporters of the French Revolution. Hamilton played a role in the Federalist party, which dominated national. In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York and he tried to control the policies of President Adams
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Anglo-Corsican Kingdom
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The Anglo-Corsican Kingdom was a client state of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed on the island of Corsica between 1794 and 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the time of the French Revolution, Corsica had been a part of France for just two decades and he was afterwards sent back to Corsica with the rank of lieutenant-general. However, Paoli eventually split from the movement over the issue of the execution of King Louis XVI. Accused of treason by the French National Convention, he summoned a consulta at Corte in 1793, with himself as president, at which Corsicas formal secession from France was declared. He requested the protection of the British government, then at war with revolutionary France, for Britain it was an opportunity to secure a Mediterranean base. In 1794, Britain sent a fleet to Corsica under Admiral Samuel Hood and it was during the fighting to capture Calvi that then-Captain Horatio Nelson lost the sight in his right eye. For a short time, Corsica was added to the dominions of King George III, chiefly by the exertions of Hoods fleet, and Paolis cooperation. With Spain coming in on the side of the French, the British realised their position in the Mediterranean was precarious, and withdrew their forces from the island by October. The Crown invited Paoli to resign and return to exile in Britain with a pension, on October 19,1796, the French reconquered Bastia and Corsica became a French département. Pasquale Paoli Corsican Republic Kingdom of Corsica Second Corsican constitution
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