Marie Leszczyńska
Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska known as Marie Leczinska, was a Polish noblewoman and French Queen consort. The daughter of King Stanisław Leszczyński—Stanislaw I of Poland –and Catherine Opalińska, she married King Louis XV of France and became queen consort of France, she served in that role for 42 years from 1725 until her death in 1768, the longest service of any queen of France, was popular due to her generosity and piety. She was the grandmother of Louis XVIII and Charles X of France. Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska was the second daughter of Stanisław I Leszczyński and his wife, Catherine Opalińska, she had an elder sister, Anna Leszczyńska, who died of pneumonia in 1717. Maria's early life was troubled by her father's political misfortune. King Stanisław's hopeless political career was the reason why his daughter Maria was chosen as the bride of King Louis XV of France. Devoid of political connections, his daughter was viewed by the French as being free from the burden of international alliances.
She was born in Trzebnica in Lower Silesia, the year before her father was made king of Poland by Charles XII of Sweden, who had invaded the country in 1704. In 1709, her father was deposed when the Swedish army lost the military upper hand in Poland, the family was granted refuge by Charles XII in the Swedish city of Kristianstad in Scania. During the escape, Marie was separated from the rest of her family. In Sweden, the family was welcomed by the queen dowager Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp and became popular members of society life on the estates of the nobility around Kristianstad. In 1712, they made an official visit to the spa of the Queen Dowager. During this period in her life, Marie began speaking the Swedish language; as Queen of France, she was known to welcome Swedish ambassadors to France with the phrase "Welcome, Dearest Heart!" in Swedish. In 1714, Charles XII gave them permission to live in his fiefdom of Zweibrücken in the Holy Roman Empire, where they were supported by the income of Zweibrücken: they lived there until the death of Charles XII in 1718.
Zweibrücken passed to a cousin of his. These lands were parallel to the confiscated Polish properties of Stanisław. Stanisław appealed to the Regent of France, the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Lorraine for help, with the Queen of Sweden acting as his mediator. In 1718, with the support of the Duke of Lorraine, the family was allowed to settle in Wissembourg in the French province of Alsace, a place suggested by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, a nephew of Louis XIV and Regent of the Kingdom of France during Louis XV's minority; the family lived a modest life in a large town house at the expense of the French Regent. Their lifestyle in Wissembourg was regarded as below standard for a royal at that time. While her mother and grandmother Anna Leszczyńska suffered from a certain degree of bitterness over their exile and loss of position which worsened their relationship with Stanislaw, whom they blamed for their exile, Marie, on contrast, was close to her father and spent a lot of time conversing with him, though she was evidently of a more rational nature: evidently, Marie "possessed the gift of suffering in silence and of never wearying others with her troubles", was said to have developed "a profound and intense piety" which gave "to her youthful mind the maturity of a woman who no longer demands happiness".
Marie was not described as a beauty. In 1720, she was suggested as a bride to Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, but her intended mother-in-law refused to give her consent; the cavalry regiment provided by the Regent for the protection of the family included the officer Marquis de Courtanvaux, who fell in love with Marie and asked the Regent to be created a Duke in order to ask for her hand. Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden as well as the third Prince of Baden were suggested, but these negotiations fell through because of her insufficient dowry. Stanisław unsuccessfully tried to arrange a marriage for her with the Count of Charolais, brother of the Duke of Bourbon. In 1724, she was suggested by Count d'Argensson as a bride for the new Duke of Orléans, but her intended mother-in-law wished for a dynastic match with political advantage. In 1723, the Duke of Bourbon had become the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV; the Regent was dominated by his lover, Madame de Prie. There were long-ongoing negotiations of a marriage between Marie and the now widowed Duke of Bourbon: Madame de Prie favored the match, as she did not perceive the reputedly unattractive Marie as a threat to her.
The marriage negotiations, were soon overshadowed when a marriage for King Louis XV was given priority. That same year, the young king fell ill and, fearing the consequences of the unmarried king dying without an heir, the Duc suggested getting the young King married as soon as possible. Louis XV was engage
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style that flourished in Europe during the High and Late Middle Ages. It was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France, it was used for cathedrals and churches, until the 16th century, its most prominent features included the use of the rib vault and the flying buttress, which allowed the weight of the roof to be counterbalanced by buttresses outside the building, giving greater height and more space for windows. Another important feature was the extensive use of stained glass, the rose window, to bring light and color to the interior. Another feature was the use of realistic statuary on the exterior over the portals, to illustrate biblical stories for the illiterate parishioners; these technologies had all existed in Romanesque architecture, but they were used in more innovative ways and more extensively in Gothic architecture to make buildings taller and stronger. The first notable example is considered to be the Abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris, whose choir and facade were reconstructed with Gothic features.
The choir was completed in 1144. The style appeared in some civic architecture in northern Europe, notably in town halls and university buildings. A Gothic revival began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th century Europe and continued for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th century. Gothic architecture was known during the period as opus francigenum, The term "Gothic architecture" originated in the 16th century, was very negative, suggesting barbaric. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, in the introduction to the Lives he attributed various architectural features to "the Goths" whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, erecting new ones in this style; the Gothic style originated in the Ile-de-France region of northern France in the first half of the 12th century. A new dynasty of French Kings, the Capetians, had subdued the feudal lords, had become the most powerful rulers in France, with their capital in Paris.
They allied themselves with the bishops of the major cities of northern France, reduced the power of the feudal abbots and monasteries. Their rise coincided with an enormous growth of the population and prosperity of the cities of northern France; the Capetian Kings and their bishops wished to build new cathedrals as monuments of their power and religious faith. The church which served as the primary model for the style was the Abbey of St-Denis, which underwent reconstruction by the Abbot Suger, first in the choir and the facade, Suger was a close ally and biographer of the French King, Louis VII, a fervent Catholic and builder, the founder of the University of Paris. Suger remodeled the ambulatory of the Abbey, removed the enclosures that separated the chapels, replaced the existing structure with imposing pillars and rib vaults; this created higher and wider bays, into which he installed larger windows, which filled the end of the church with light. Soon afterwards he rebuilt the facade, adding three deep portals, each with a tympanum, an arch filled with sculpture illustrating biblical stories.
The new facade was flanked by two towers. He installed a small circular rose window over the central portal; this design became the prototype for a series of new French cathedrals. Sens Cathedral was the first Cathedral to be built in the new style. Other versions of the new style soon appeared in Noyon Cathedral; the Gothic style was adapted by some French monastic orders, notably the Cistercian order under Saint Bernard of Clairvaux It was used in an austere form without ornament at the new Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay and the church of Clairvaux Abbey, whose site is now occupied by a French prison. The new style was copied outside the Kingdom of France in the Duchy of Normandy. Early examples of Norman Gothic included Coutances Cathedral. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the new style was introduced to England and spread from there to Low Countries, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily; the Gothic style did not replace the Romanesque everywhere in Europe. The Late Romanesque continued to flourish in the Holy Roman Empire under the Hohenstaufens and Rhineland.
From the end of the 12th century until the middle of the 13th century, the gothic style spread from the Île-de-France to appear in other cities of northern France. New structures in the style included Chartres Cathedral; the early type of rib vault used of Saint Denis and Notre Dame, with six parts, was modified to four parts, making it simpler and stronger. Amiens and Chartres were among the first to use the flying buttress. At Reims, the buttresses were given greater weight and strength by the addition of heavy stone pinnacles on top; these were decorated with statues of ange
Szczecin
Szczecin is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport and Poland's seventh-largest city; as of June 2018, the population was 403,274. Szczecin is located on the Bay of Pomerania; the city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. Szczecin is adjacent to the town of Police and is the urban centre of the Szczecin agglomeration, an extended metropolitan area that includes communities in the German states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; the city's recorded history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, built at the site of the Ducal castle. In the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomerania's main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, the Duchy of Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the House of Griffins established themselves as local rulers and the population was Christianized.
After the Treaty of Stettin in 1630, the town came under the control of the Swedish Empire and became in 1648 the Capital of Swedish Pomerania until 1720, when it was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire. Following World War II Stettin became part of Poland in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, resulting in expulsion of the pre-war German population. Szczecin is the administrative and industrial centre of West Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the site of the University of Szczecin, Pomeranian Medical University, Maritime University, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin Art Academy, the see of the Szczecin-Kamień Catholic Archdiocese. From 1999 onwards, Szczecin has served as the site of the headquarters of NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast. Szczecin was a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2016; the names "Szczecin" and "Stettin" are of Slavic origin, though the exact etymology is the subject of ongoing research. In Etymological dictionary of geographical names of Poland, Maria Malec lists eleven theories regarding the origin of the name, including derivations from either: a Slavic word for hill peak, or the plant fuller's teasel, or the personal name Szczota.
Other medieval names for the town are Burstenburgh. These names, which mean "brush burgh", are derived from the translation of the city's Slavic name; the recorded history of Szczecin began in the eighth century, as Vikings and West Slavs settled Pomerania. The Slavs erected a new stronghold on the site of the modern castle. Since the 9th century, the stronghold was expanded toward the Oder bank. Mieszko I of Poland took control of Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages and the region became part of Poland in the 10th century. Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire, the Liutician federation all aimed to control the territory. After the decline of the neighbouring regional centre Wolin in the 12th century, the city became one of the more important and powerful seaports of the Baltic Sea. In a campaign in the winter of 1121–1122, Bolesław III Wrymouth, the Duke of Poland, gained control of the region, including the city of Szczecin and its stronghold; the inhabitants were Christianized by two missions of Bishop Otto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128.
At this time, the first Christian church of Saints Peter and Paul was erected. Polish minted coins were used in trade in this period; the population of the city at that time is estimated to be at around 5,000–9,000 people. Polish rule ended with Boleslaw's death in 1138. During the Wendish Crusade in 1147, a contingent led by the German margrave Albert the Bear, an enemy of Slavic presence in the region, papal legate, bishop Anselm of Havelberg and Konrad of Meissen besieged the town. There, a Polish contingent supplied by Mieszko III the Old joined the crusaders. However, the citizens had placed crosses around the fortifications, indicating they had been Christianised. Duke Ratibor I of Pomerania, negotiated the disbanding of the crusading forces. After the Battle of Verchen in 1164, Szczecin duke Bogusław I, Duke of Pomerania became a vassal of the Duchy of Saxony's Henry the Lion. In 1173 Szczecin castellan Wartislaw II, could not resist a Danish attack and became vassal of Denmark. In 1181, Bogusław became a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1185 Bogusław again became a Danish vassal. Following a conflict between his heirs and Canute VI of Denmark, the settlement was destroyed in 1189, but the fortress was reconstructed and manned with a Danish force in 1190. While the empire restored its superiority over the Duchy of Pomerania in the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227, Szczecin was one of two bridgeheads remaining under Danish control. In the second half of the 12th century, a group of German tradesmen settled in the city around St. Jacob's Church, donated in 1180 by Beringer, a trader from Bamberg, consecrated in 1187. Hohenkrug was the first village in the Duchy of Pomerania, recorded as German in 1173. Ostsiedlung accelerated in Pomerania during the 13th century. Duke Barnim I of Pomerania granted Szczecin a local government charter in 1237, separating the German settlement from the Slavic community settled around the St. Nicholas Church in the neighbourhood of Kessin. In the charte
Anna Leszczyńska (1699–1717)
Marianna "Anna" Leszczyńska, was a Polish noblewoman from the Leszczyński family. Anna was the eldest daughter of Stanisław I Leszczyński and his wife, born Countess Catherine Opalińska, she was named after her paternal grandmother, born Princess Anna Jabłonowska. Her only sister, Maria Leszczyńska, was born in 1703 and became Queen of France as the wife of Louis XV. Between his two daughters, Anna seems the favorite of King Stanisław, she received a careful education. Anna died of pneumonia aged eighteen in Gräfinthal cloister, in the district of Mandelbachtal in Saarpfalz-Kreis. Many doctors called to her bedside by her father have accelerated her death, multiplying the purges and bleeding, her death devastated the Leszczyński family her father. King Stanisław asked his second daughter Maria never pronounce the name of Anna again before him and she observed this instructions so even in front of her husband King Louis XV, that years he was surprised to learn that she had a sister
Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst was a German prince of the House of Ascania. He was a ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Dornburg from 1742, a ruler of the entire Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, he was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall, but is best known for being the father of Catherine the Great of Russia. Christian August was the third son of John Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg and Christine Eleonore of Zeutsch. After the death of his father in 1704, Christian August inherited Anhalt-Dornburg jointly with his brothers John Louis II, John Augustus, Christian Louis and John Frederick. After six months as a captain in the regiment guard in 1708, on 11 February 1709 he joined the Regiment on foot in Anhalt-Zerbst which changed its name to the Grenadier's Regiment King Frederick William IV of Prussia, it was stationed in Stettin. In 1711, Christian August was awarded the Order De la Générosité renamed in Pour le Mérite, on 1 March 1713 was elevated to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
After he took part in several military campaigns during the Spanish War of Succession and in the Netherlands, in 1714 Christian August was appointed Chief of the Regiment. On 22 January 1729 he became commander of Stettin, after having been chosen there on 24 May 1725 as a knight of Order of the Black Eagle. Christian August was designated on 28 May 1732 lieutenant-general and on 8 April 1741 infantry general. On 5 June of that year he was designated Governor of Stettin. On 16 May 1742 King Frederick II of Prussia awarded him the highest military dignity, the rank of Generalfeldmarschall. Six months the death of his cousin John Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, without any issue made him and his older and only surviving brother, John Louis II, the heirs of Anhalt-Zerbst as co-rulers. Christian August remained in Stettin and his brother took full charge of the government, but he died only four years unmarried and childless. For this reason, Christian August had to leave Stettin and return to Zerbst, but he only reigned four months until his own death.
On 8 November 1727 in Vechelde, Christian August married Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, daughter of Prince Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin and sister of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. They had five children: Sophie Auguste Fredericka, who became Catherine II the Great, Empress of Russia. William Christian Frederick. Frederick Augustus. Auguste Christine Charlotte. Elisabeth Ulrike. Ferdinand Siebigk: Christian August. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 157–159
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the Jagiellonian dynasty was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the most active Polish rulers, under whom Poland, by defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War recovered Pomerania, the Jagiellonian dynasty became one of the leading royal houses in Europe, he was a strong opponent of aristocracy, helped to strengthen the importance of Parliament and the Senate. The great triumph of his reign was bringing Prussia under Polish rule; the long and brilliant rule of Casimir corresponded to the age of “new monarchies” in western Europe. By the 15th century Poland had narrowed the distance separating it from western Europe and become a significant factor in international relations; the demand for raw materials and semi-finished goods stimulated trade, producing a positive balance, contributed to the growth of crafts and mining in the entire country. He was a recipient of the English Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry and the most prestigious honour in England.
Casimir Jagiellon was the third and youngest son of King Władysław II Jagiełło and his fourth wife, Sophia of Halshany. His father was 65 at the time of Casimir’s birth, his brother Władysław III, three years his senior, was expected to become king before his majority. Strangely, little was done for his education, he relied on his instinct and feelings and had little political knowledge, but shared a great interest in the diplomacy and economic affairs of the country. Throughout Casimir's youth, Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki was his mentor and tutor, the cleric felt a strong reluctance towards him, believing that he would be an unsuccessful monarch following Władysław's death; the sudden death of Sigismund Kęstutaitis left. The Voivode of Trakai, Jonas Goštautas, other magnates of Lithuania, supported Casimir as a candidate to the throne; however many Polish noblemen hoped that the thirteen-year-old boy would become a Vice-regent for the Polish King in Lithuania. Casimir was invited by the Lithuanian magnates to Lithuania, when he arrived in Vilnius in 1440, he was proclaimed as the Grand Duke of Lithuania on 29 June 1440 by the Council of Lords, contrary to the wishes of the Polish noble lords—an act supported and coordinated by Jonas Goštautas.
When the news arrived in the Kingdom of Poland concerning the proclamation of Casimir as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, it was met with hostility to the point of military threats against Lithuania. Since the young Grand Duke was underage, the supreme control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Council of Lords, presided by Jonas Goštautas. Casimir had been taught Lithuanian language and the customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials. During Casimir's rule the rights of the Lithuanian nobility—dukes and boyars, irrespective of their religion and ethnicity—were put on an equal footing to those of the Polish szlachta. Additionally, Casimir promised to protect the Grand Duchy's borders and not to appoint persons from the Polish Kingdom to the offices of the Grand Duchy, he accepted that decisions on matters concerning the Grand Duchy would not be made without the Council of Lords' consent. He granted the subject region of Samogitia the right to elect its own elder. Casimir was the first ruler of Lithuania baptised at birth, becoming the first native Roman Catholic Grand Duke.
Casimir succeeded his brother Władysław III as King of Poland after a three-year interregnum on 25 June 1447. In 1454, he married Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of the late King of the Romans Albert II of Habsburg by his late wife Elisabeth of Bohemia, a female-line descendant of Casimir III of Poland, her distant relative Frederick of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Frederick III until after Casimir's own death. The marriage strengthened the ties between the house of Jagiellon and the sovereigns of Hungary-Bohemia and put Casimir at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor through internal Habsburg rivalry; that same year, Casimir was approached by the Prussian Confederation for aid against the Teutonic Order, which he promised, by making the separatist Prussian regions a protectorate of the Polish Kingdom. However, when the insurgent cities rebelled against the Order, it resisted and the Thirteen Years' War ensued. Casimir and the Prussian Confederation defeated the Teutonic Order, entering its abandoned capital at Marienburg.
In the Second Peace of Thorn, the Order recognized Polish sovereignty over the seceded western Prussian regions, Royal Prussia, the Polish crown's overlordship over the remaining Teutonic Monastic State, transformed in 1525 into a duchy, Ducal Prussia. Elisabeth's only brother Ladislaus, king of Bohemia and Hungary, died in 1457, after that Casimir and Elisabeth's dynastic interests were directed towards her brother's former kingdoms. King Casimir IV died on 7 June 1492 in the Old Grodno Castle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in a personal union with Poland; the intervention of the Roman curia, which hitherto had been hostile to Casimir because of his steady and patriotic resistance to papal aggression, was due to the permutations of European politics. The pope was anxious to get rid of the Hussite King of Bohemia, George Podebrad, as the first step towards the formation of a league against the Turk. Casimir was to be a leading factor in t
Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw X of Pomerania, the Great, was Duke of Pomerania from 1474 until his death in 1523. Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde, his parents were Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast, Sophia of Pomerania, both members of the House of Pomerania. Bogislaw was first married to Margaret of Brandenburg and to Anna, daughter of the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon. With his second wife he had eight children, including Sophia, he inherited all of the partitioned Duchy of Pomerania and became its sole ruler in 1478. He was succeeded by his sons George I and Barnim XI. Before Bogislaw's reign, the Duchy of Pomerania had for a long time been divided into several splinter duchies, ruled by relatives of the Griffin house. In 1464, Pomerania-Stettin's duke Otto III died without an heir, Bogislaw's father Eric II and his uncle, Wartislaw X, both ruling different portions of Pomerania-Wolgast, managed to succeed in a conflict about Pomerania-Stettin inheritance with the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1474, with his father's death, Bogislaw inherited his splinter duchy.
In 1478 with his uncle's death, he inherited his splinter duchy, becoming the first sole ruler in the Duchy of Pomerania since about 200 years. His father, Eric II, had left Pomerania in tense conflicts with Mecklenburg. Bogislaw managed to resolve these conflicts by both military means, he married his sister, Sophia, to Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg, his other sister, was married to Magnus's brother Balthasar. Bogislaw himself married Margarete, daughter of Brandenburg's Prince-elector Frederick II. In 1478, Bogislaw regained areas lost to Brandenburg by his father, most notably the town of Gartz and other small towns and castles north of the Brandenburgian Uckermark, he confirmed the 1472 Peace of Prenzlau in 1479, leaving Strasburg with Brandenburg and Bogislaw had to take his possessions as a fief from Brandenburg. In the same year, his wife died; when Bogislaw married Anna of Poland in 1491, all of Pomerania's neighbors were tied to the House of Pomerania by marriage. Bogislaw made use of these favourable conditions in 1493, strengthened Pomerania's position towards Brandenburg in the Treaty of Pyritz, which declared Pomerania not a fief of Brandenburg, but a fief of the Holy Roman Emperor.
In 1496–98, Bogislaw travelled to Jerusalem as a pilgrim. He died in Stettin. By Anna Jagiellon: Kasimir VIII Sophie of Pomerania, Queen of Denmark, married Frederick I of Denmark in 1525 George I, Duke of Pomerania Anna of Pomerania, Duchess of Lubin, married George I of Brieg in 1521 Barnim IX, Duke of Pomerania Elisabeth, abbess of Krummin Nunnery Barnim Otto illegitimate: Christoph, archdeacon of Usedom as of 1508 Gottfried von Bülow, "Bogislaw X.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 3, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 48–55
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