1.
Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia
–
Demetrius Zvonimir was King of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1075 until his death in 1089. He was crowned as king in Solin on 8 October 1076, Zvonimir also ruled as Ban of Slavonia, and was named Duke of Croatia in around 1075. His native name was Zvonimir, he adopted the forename Demetrius at his coronation and he began as Ban of Slavonia in the service of King Peter Krešimir IV. Afterwards, he was appointed as Duke of Croatia by Peter Krešimir IV, in 1075, Demetrius Zvonimir succeeded to the Croatian throne through papal diplomacy. His reign is characterized as relatively peaceful, with no extensive war campaigns, he focused instead on Croatias economic and he was the last native king who exerted any real power over the entire Croatian state, which he inherited at its height and ruled from the city of Knin. Medieval legends allege his assassination, his death and succession are subjects of controversy in Croatian historiography and his reign was followed by a period of anarchy. Most sources describe him as Croatias last native king and his exact origin and background are uncertain. Most sources confirm his descent from Svetoslav Suronja and he was the younger cousin of Peter Krešimir IV, who designated him as heir, he was also elected as heir by an assembly of nobles. During the reign of Peter Krešimir IV, Zvonimir ruled in Slavonia, the term Slavonia at the time referred to both modern day Slavonia and North-West Croatia. The neighboring Holy Roman Empire under Henry IV invaded Hungary in 1063 to restore Solomon to the throne, Hungary was then ruled by Béla I, whose third daughter Helen was married to Zvonimir. Croatia was also attacked around 1067 by the Carantanian army of Ulric I, who occupied a part of Kvarner and eastern coast of Istria, the March of Dalmatia. Since the Croatian king was preoccupied with rebellion in Dalmatia, due to the prohibition of Slavic liturgy, Zvonimir was compelled to seek protection from Solomon, géza I and Solomon helped Zvonimir in restoring his rule in the March of Dalmatia. After they jointly repelled the Carantanians from Croatia, Ban Zvonimir sent gifts to Solomon as a sign of gratitude, shortly afterwards in 1070 Zvonimir is first mentioned as a Ban of Croatia in charters from Zadar. Croatian charters at the time were issued in the names of both King Peter Krešimir and Ban Zvonimir. At the beginning of 1075, Zvonimir held title as Duke of Croatia, this gave him the rule of northern Dalmatia, about the middle of 1075, Zvonimir regained the allegiance of the coastal cities of Dalmatia which had been lost to the Normans. This opened Zvonimirs path to the throne, with support from Pope Gregory VII, Zvonimir was crowned on 8 October 1076 at Solin in the Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses by a representative of Pope Gregory VII. Zvonimir took an oath of fealty to the Pope, promising to support the implementation of the Church reforms in Croatia. After his coronation, Zvonimir in 1076 gave the Benedictine monastery of Saint Gregory in Vrana to the Pope and he took the Christian name of Demetrius at the coronation, most likely after the saint Pope Demetrius I of Alexandria
2.
Hungary
–
Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
3.
Ottoman dynasty
–
The Ottoman dynasty was made up of the members of the imperial House of Osman. According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, the Ottoman dynasty, named after Osman I, ruled the Ottoman Empire from c.1299 to 1922. During much of the Empires history, the sultan was the regent, head of state. The imperial family was deposed from power and the sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 after the Turkish War of Independence, the Republic of Turkey was declared the following year. The living members of the dynasty were sent into exile as persona non gratae, though some have been allowed to return. In its current form, the family is known as the Osmanoğlu family, before Orhans proclamation of the dynasty, the tribe was known as the Bilecik Söğüt Beylik or Beys but was renamed Osmanlı in honor of Osman. The Ottoman dynasty is known in modern Turkish as Osmanlı Hanedanı, meaning House of Osman, in Ottoman Turkish it was known as Hanedan-ı Âl-i Osman, thus they still formally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Seljuk Empire and its successor, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The first Ottoman ruler to claim the title of Sultan was Murad I. The holder of the title Sultan was in Arabic-Islamic dynasties originally the power behind the throne of the Caliph in Bagdad, the Ottoman sultans also claimed the title of Caliph starting with Murad I, who transformed the Ottoman state into a transcontinental empire. With the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II Fatih claimed the title Kaysar-i-Rûm Emperor of Rome and he appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose status he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As Emperor of Rome he laid claim to all Roman territories, Sultan Mehmed II also took the title of Padishah, a Persian title meaning Master of Kings and ranking as Emperor, claiming superiority among the other kings. He was the first Ottoman ruler to adopt the title of Padishah. The Ottoman claim to caliphate was strengthened when they defeated the Mamluks in 1517, as the empire grew, sultans adopted secondary titles expressing the empires claim to be the legitimate successor of the absorbed states. Furthermore, they tended to enumerate even regular provinces, not unlike the long lists of -mainly inherited- feudal titles in the style of many Christian European monarchs. Some early Ottoman Sultans even had to accept the status in the eyes of a foreign overlord. However, the Ottoman Caliphate too was abolished soon afterwards, and Abdulmecid II was utterly deposed and expelled from Turkey with the rest of the Ottoman dynasty on 3 March 1924
4.
Looting
–
The term is also used in a broader sense to describe egregious instances of theft and embezzlement, such as the plundering of private or public assets by governments. The proceeds of all these activities can be described as booty, loot, plunder, spoils, looting by a victorious army during war has been common practice throughout recorded history. For foot soldiers, it was viewed as a way to supplement their meagre income and was part of the celebration of victory. To rob them of their wealth, in other pre-modern societies, objects made of precious metals were the preferred target of war looting, largely because of their easy portability. In many cases looting was an opportunity to obtain treasures that otherwise would not have been obtainable, since the 18th century, works of art have increasingly become a popular target. In the 1930s and even more so during World War II, Nazi Germany engaged in large scale and organized looting of art, looting, combined with poor military discipline, has occasionally been an armys downfall. In other cases, for example the Wahhabi sack of Karbala, not all looters in wartime are conquerors, the looting of Vistula Land by its retreating defenders in 1915 was among the factors sapping the loyalty of Poland in World War I. Local civilians can also take advantage of a breakdown of order to loot public and private property, the novel War and Peace describes widespread looting by Moscows citizens before Napoleons troops enter the town, and looting by French troops elsewhere. Looting can also refer to antiquities formerly removed from countries by outsiders, other examples include the obelisks of Pharaoh Amenhotep II, in the, Pharaoh Ptolemy IX. In the aftermath of the Second World War Soviet forces systematically plundered the Soviet occupation zone of Germany and they sent valuable industrial equipment, infrastructure and whole factories to the Soviet Union. Especially during natural disasters, some find themselves forced to take what is not theirs in order to survive. How to respond to this, and where the line between unnecessary looting and necessary scavenging lies, is often a dilemma for governments, in other cases, looting may be tolerated or even encouraged by governments for political or other reasons. The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 explicitly prohibits the looting of property during wartime. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 obliges military forces not only to avoid destruction of enemy property, theoretically, to prevent such looting, unclaimed property is moved to the custody of the Custodian of Enemy Property, to be handled until the return to its owner. Around the same time of the Hyksos invasion and occupation of Egypt, in Genesis 15,14, the despoliation is an act of justifiable vengeance upon the oppressors of Israel. Yet in Exodus, God uses the plagues as an act of mercy to bring a knowledge of himself to Israel, Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and to the ends of the earth. See Hyksos Iconoclasm and Genesis 13,2 and Genesis 15,14 and Exodus 12,36 Following the death of Valentinian III in 455, in 870 AD, the Byzantine city of Melite was captured by the Aghlabids under Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad. The city was destroyed, its churches looted and its population massacred, marble from the citys churches was used to build the castle of Sousse
5.
Knin
–
Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as the capital of both the medieval Kingdom of Croatia and, briefly, of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina at the end of the 20th century. The name is derived from the Illyrian Ninia. According to an explanation, offered by Franc Miklošič and Petar Skok. The medieval names of Knin include Hungarian, Tinin, Italian, Tenin, Latin, the Latin name is still used as a titular episcopal see, the Diocese of Tinum. The area consisting of todays Knin, or more specifically, the Spas hill, was inhabited since the stone age, in the vicinity of todays Knin was once a town called Burnum, which served as a Roman military camp in the 1st century BC. A stone inscription from the 9th century found next to Knin castle attests the presence of Croatian duke Trpimir I, Knin is first mentioned in the 10th-century work De Administrando Imperio as the centre of a županija, and as one of the populated towns in Croatia. Around 1040, at the behest of the Croatian kings, it became the seat of the royal bishop, the first bishop of Knin is named Marko Giudice, and he and his successors were attached to the royal court as preachers and kings special bishops until 1102. Knin was first recorded as a permanent royal residence of king Demetrius Zvonimir around 1080. Because of this, it has led to Knin being known as the City of Croatian Kings or Zvonimirs City in recent times. In 1178, it is for the first time mentioned as civitates in a local source. The city was visited by Queen Maria Laskarina, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor and wife of king Bela IV, together with her retinue of nobles and a great number of soldiers in 1261. She convened an assembly in Knin to introduce her son to the Croatian nobility, in 1264, the first case of judicial function in the city was mentioned involving the Croatian ban and the nobility of the kingdom in a dispute between a citizen of Zadar and another individual. During this time, Knin was the seat of both the Croatian ban, and the duke, whose chancellor had been the bishop of Knin, between 1270 and 1272, the new cathedral was consecrated on the orders of the Knin bishop Nicholas. According to historian Stjepan Gunjača, new cathedral was situated not far away from the old cathedral of Saint Mary, which no longer accommodated the needs of the Knin Kaptol. The exact location of building has not been established, although it is assumed to have been on the lower slopes of the Spas mountain, below the Knin fortress. The cathedral is described as being magnificent and solemn by subsequent documents, at this point, a new town had already developed outside the castle complex. A market square was for the first time mentioned in the half of 13th century. The transition from 13th to 14th century was marked in the rise of the noble family
6.
Split, Croatia
–
Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands, Split is one of the oldest cities in the area. Split became a Byzantine city, to gradually drift into the sphere of the Byzantine vassal, the Republic of Venice. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Eventually, its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, during World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia, the city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Federal Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991 Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence, the city draws its name from the spiny broom, a common shrub in the area, after which the Greek colony of Aspálathos or Spálathos was named. The Serbo-Croatian term became Split or Spljet, while the Italian-language version, Spalato, in the late 19th century, the Croatian name increasingly came to prominence, and officially replaced Spalato in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. For a significant period, the origin of the name was thought to be related to the Latin word for palace. Various theories were developed, such as the notion that the name derives from S. Palatium, the erroneous palace etymologies were notably due to Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and were later mentioned by Thomas the Archdeacon. The city, however, is several centuries older than the palace and it was a colony of the polis of Issa, the modern-day town of Vis on the island of the same name. Issa, itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse, had acquired sovereignty and started founding its own colonies in 367 BCE, the exact year the city was founded is not known, but its estimated to have been in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, in time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, conquering the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219 BCE. Upon establishing permanent rule, the Romans founded the Province of Dalmatia, the city of Salona, only a short distance from Spálathos, became the capital of the province and evolved into a significant city in the Roman state. The history of Spálathos becomes obscure for a while at this point, being overshadowed by that of nearby Salona, the Roman Emperor Diocletian reformed the government in the late Roman Empire and established the Tetrarchy
7.
Globus cruciger
–
The cross represents Christs dominion over the orb of the world, literally held in the hand of an earthly ruler. In the iconography of Western art, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is called Salvator Mundi, holding the world in ones hand, or more ominously, under ones foot, has been used as a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of the Roman Empire, the round globe held by Jupiter represented the world, or the universe. The orbis terrarum was central to the iconography of the Tetrarchy, constantine I claimed to have had a vision of a cross above the sun, with the words In this sign, you shall conquer, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. His soldiers painted crosses upon their shields, and then defeated their foe, with the growth of Christianity in the 5th century, the orb was topped with a cross, symbolising the Christian Gods dominion over the world. The emperor held the world in his hand, to show that he ruled it on Gods behalf, to non-Christians already familiar with the pagan globe, the surmounting of a cross sent a message about the triumph of Christianity. Although the globe symbolized the entire Earth, its use spread among many Christian rulers who reigned over parts of the earth. The globus cruciger was associated with rulers and celestial beings alike. It first appeared on coins in the early 5th century and remained throughout the Middle Ages in coins, iconography. It may still be seen in the arms of the surviving European monarchies. Even in the era in England, the Sovereigns Orb symbolises both the state and Church of England under the protection and domain of the royal crown. The Ball and the Cross Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Monde Earth symbol Leslie Brubaker, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol 5,564, ISBN 0-684-18161-4 Picture of the 10th century Orb, Scepter and Crown insignia of the Holy Roman Empire
8.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians, during his long reign, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 in favour of his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year. He was called by the Italians Il Re soldato for having led his country during both the wars, and, after Italys victory in the First World War Il Re vittorioso. He was also nicknamed Sciaboletta due to his height of 1.53 m, Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the child of Umberto I, King of Italy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa, from birth until his accession, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of the Prince of Naples. On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro, on 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel acceded to the throne upon his fathers assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was Remember, to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms. Though parliamentary rule had been established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, when World War I began, Italy at first remained neutral, despite being part of the Triple Alliance. However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing her to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente, most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. At this juncture, Victor Emmanuel declined Salandras resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war and he was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathering on 16 May 1915 and it was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed the genuine affection of the majority of his people. Still, during the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of social background. The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among Italys sorely tried working classes and this caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable
9.
Imperial Crown of Austria
–
The Imperial Crown of Austria was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also known as the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II. The crown was used as a crown of the Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Hungary. In 1804 it became the crown of the newly constituted Austrian Empire. After 1867 it remained the crown of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. The Imperial Crown consists of three principal elements possessing great symbolic significance, the circlet, the arch, and the mitre. The circlet is dominated by eight large squares of diamonds, forming a crown in itself, between the stones are two large pearls arranged vertically and set within white enamel rosettes surrounded by scrollwork. From the circlet emerge eight lilies, which were inspired by the Bohemian Crown of St. Wenceslas. The lilies are also associated with the fleurs-de-lis of the House of Valois, the use of eight elements was also taken from the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which includes a circlet made out of eight plates. In the circlet are precious stones such as spinels, zircons, the zircons are cut in such a way that they are flat at the front. Preparing precious stones for mounting in this way was a new technique at the time the crown was made. The mitre symbolises the right to rule, and the spiritual position of the emperor. The mitre fills the left and right sides of the crown, the mitre is made of gold, with a band of enamel work depicting birds and plants. The mitre is divided into four sections representing the high honours of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, the first section shows him kneeling, receiving the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire in Regensburg as Holy Roman Emperor. The second section shows him riding onto the hill in Pressburg during his coronation as King of Hungary. The third section shows his coronation procession through Prague as King of Bohemia, the fourth section depicts an allegory of his victory over the invading Turks. The Latin inscription inside the arch reads, RVDOLPHVS II ROM IMP AVGVSTUS HVNG ET BOH REX CONSTRVXIT MDCII, the high arch was inspired by the arch of the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. It rises from the front and back of the circlet and is studded with eight diamonds, the emperor was regarded as governor on earth in the name of Christ. At the top of the arch is an emerald, which symbolises heaven
.svg)