1.
Sankt Blasien
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St. Blasien is a small town located in the Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Southern Black Forest,17 km northeast of Waldshut-Tiengen, St. Blaises Abbey in the Black Forest is located in St. Blasien. The town is twinned with Saint-Blaise in Switzerland and it is home to the Jesuit college-preparatory school, Kolleg St. Blasien. List of cities and towns in Germany St. Blasien, pictures
2.
Black Forest
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The Black Forest is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany. It is bounded by the Rhine valley to the west and south and its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres. The region is roughly oblong in shape with a length of 160 km, the Black Forest stretches from the High Rhine in the south to the Kraichgau in the north. In the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain, in the east it transitions to the Gäu, Baar, the Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands and much of it is densely wooded. From north to south the Black Forest extends for over 150 kilometres, attaining a width of up to 50 kilometres in the south, and up to 30 kilometres in the north. Tectonically the range forms a lifted fault block, which rises prominently in the west from the Upper Rhine Plain and it is here, in the west, where the highest mountains and the greatest local differences in height are found. The valleys are narrow and ravine-like, but rarely basin-shaped. The summits are rounded and there are also the remnants of plateaux, geologically the clearest division is also between east and west. Large areas of the eastern Black Forest, the lowest layer of the South German Scarplands composed of Bunter Sandstone, are covered by seemingly endless coniferous forest with their island clearings. The most common way of dividing the regions of the Black Forest is, however, until the 1930s, the Black Forest was divided into the Northern and Southern Black Forest, the boundary being the line of the Kinzig valley. The term High Black Forest referred to the highest areas of the South, the boundaries drawn were, however, quite varied. In 1931, Robert Gradmann called the Middle Black Forest the catchment area of the Kinzig and in the west the section up to the lower Elz, a pragmatic division, which is oriented not just on natural and cultural regions, uses the most important transverse valleys. In 1959, Rudolf Metz combined the earlier divisions and proposed a tripartite division himself. It is divided into six so-called major units and this division was refined and modified in several, successor publications up to 1967, each covering individual sections of the map. The mountain range was divided into three regions. The northern boundary of the Middle Black Forest in this classification runs south of the Rench Valley and its southern boundary varied with each edition. In 1998 the Baden-Württemberg State Department for Environmental Protection published a reworked Natural Region Division of Baden-Württemberg, to the southwest it is adjoined by the Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills, along the upper reaches of the Enz and Murg, forming the heart of the Northern Black Forest. Their exit valleys from the range are all oriented towards the northwest
3.
Electorate of Baden
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The Electorate of Baden was a State of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803 to 1806. In 1803, Napoleon bestowed the office of Prince-elector to Charles Frederick and this only lasted until 1806, when Francis II dissolved the Empire. When the Holy Roman Empire dissolved, Baden achieved sovereignty, the French Revolution began in 1789, and at its onset the Margraviate of Baden was united under Charles Frederick, but it did not form a compact territory. Its total area was only about 1,350 square miles, Charles Frederick endeavored to acquire the intervening stretches of land, so as to give territorial unity to his country. His opportunity to do so came during the French Revolutionary Wars, when war broke out between the French First Republic and the Habsburg Monarchy in 1792, the Margraviate of Baden fought for the House of Habsburg. However, their country was devastated as a result, and in 1796 the Margrave was compelled to pay an indemnity, fortune, however, soon turned his way. In 1805 he changed sides and fought for Napoleon, as a result, later in 1805, when the Peace of Pressburg occurred, he obtained Breisgau and other territories at the expense of the Austrian Empire. In 1806, the Electorate of Baden signed the Rheinbundakte, joining the Confederation of the Rhine, upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles Frederick declared sovereignty and thus created the Grand Duchy of Baden, receiving other territorial additions as well. In 1806, Charles Frederick joined the Confederation of the Rhine, declared himself a prince, became a grand duke. The Baden contingent continued to assist France, and by the Peace of Vienna in 1809 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
4.
Frankfurt
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The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
5.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
6.
Lithography
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Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone or a plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefelder as a method of publishing theatrical works. Lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material, Lithography originally used an image drawn with oil, fat, or wax onto the surface of a smooth, level lithographic limestone plate. The stone was treated with a mixture of acid and gum arabic, when the stone was subsequently moistened, these etched areas retained water, an oil-based ink could then be applied and would be repelled by the water, sticking only to the original drawing. The ink would finally be transferred to a paper sheet. This traditional technique is used in some fine art printmaking applications. In modern lithography, the image is made of a coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate. The image can be printed directly from the plate, or it can be offset, by transferring the image onto a sheet for printing. In fact, photolithography is used synonymously with offset printing, the technique as well as the term were introduced in Europe in the 1850s. Beginning in the 1960s, photolithography has played an important role in the fabrication, Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the part of an image is a water-repelling substance. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a printing ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image. This allows a flat print plate to be used, enabling much longer, Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1796. In the early days of lithography, a piece of limestone was used. After the oil-based image was put on the surface, a solution of gum arabic in water was applied, during printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and was repelled by the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite. Lithography works because of the repulsion of oil and water. The image is drawn on the surface of the print plate with a fat or oil-based medium such as a wax crayon, which may be pigmented to make the drawing visible
7.
Portrait painting
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See Portrait for more about the general topic of portraits. Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict a human subject, the term portrait painting can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and private persons, portraits are often important state and family records, as well as remembrances. Historically, portrait paintings have primarily memorialized the rich and powerful, over time, however, it became more common for middle-class patrons to commission portraits of their families and colleagues. Today, portrait paintings are commissioned by governments, corporations, groups, clubs. In addition to painting, portraits can also be made in other such as etching, lithography, photography, video. A well-executed portrait is expected to show the essence of the subject or a flattering representation. As Aristotle stated, The aim of Art is to present not the appearance of things. In most cases, this results in a serious, closed lip stare, or as Charles Dickens put it, there are only two styles of portrait painting, the serious and the smirk. Even given these limitations, a range of subtle emotions is possible from quiet menace to gentle contentment. However, with the mouth relatively neutral, much of the facial expression needs to be created through the eyes, as author and artist Gordon C. Aymar states, the eyes are the place one looks for the most complete, reliable, and the eyebrows can register, almost single-handedly, wonder, pity, fright, pain, cynicism, concentration, wistfulness, displeasure, and expectation, in infinite variations and combinations. Portrait painting can depict the full length, half length, head and shoulders, or ‘head’, as well as in profile, three-quarter view, or full face, with varying directions of light. Occasionally, artists have created portraits with multiple views, as with Anthony van Dycks Triple Portrait of Charles I, there are even a few portraits where the front of the subject is not visible at all. Another example of the view in portraiture, in this case photography, can be found here. Among the other variables, the subject can be clothed or nude, indoors or out, standing, seated, reclining. Portrait paintings can be of individuals, couples, parents and children, families and they can be created in various media including oils, watercolor, pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, pastel, and mixed media. Artists may employ a wide-ranging palette of colors, as with Pierre-Auguste Renoirs Mme, charpentier and her children,1878 or restrict themselves to mostly white or black, as with Gilbert Stuarts Portrait of George Washington
8.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
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Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria was the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and thus Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and many others. Born into the royal Bavarian house of Wittelsbach, Elisabeth enjoyed an informal upbringing before marrying Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of sixteen, the marriage thrust her into the much more formal Habsburg court life, for which she was ill-prepared and which she found uncongenial. Early in the marriage she was at odds with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, the birth of a male heir, Rudolf, improved her standing at court considerably, but her health suffered under the strain, and she would often visit Hungary for its more relaxed environment. She came to develop a deep kinship with Hungary, and helped to bring about the monarchy of Austria–Hungary in 1867. The death of her only son Rudolf, and his mistress Mary Vetsera and she withdrew from court duties and travelled widely, unaccompanied by her family. She was obsessively concerned with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty, while travelling in Geneva in 1898, she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Elisabeth was the longest serving Empress of Austria, at 44 years, maximilian was considered to be rather peculiar, he had a childish love of circuses and traveled the Bavarian countryside to escape his duties. The family home was at Possenhofen Castle, far from the protocols of court, Sisi and her siblings grew up in a very unrestrained and unstructured environment, she often skipped her lessons to go riding about the countryside. Although the couple had never met, Franz Josephs obedience was taken for granted by the archduchess, the Duchess and Helene were invited to journey to the resort of Bad Ischl, Upper Austria to receive his formal proposal of marriage. Fifteen-year-old Sisi accompanied her mother and sister and they traveled from Munich in several coaches and they arrived late as the Duchess, prone to migraine, had to interrupt the journey, the coach with their gala dresses never did arrive. The family was still in mourning over the death of an aunt so they were dressed in black, while black did not suit eighteen-year-old Helenes dark coloring, it made her younger sisters blonder looks more striking by contrast. Helene was a pious, quiet woman, and she and Franz Joseph felt ill at ease in each others company. He did not propose to Helene, but defied his mother and informed her that if he could not have Elisabeth, five days later their betrothal was officially announced. The couple were married eight months later in Vienna at the Augustinerkirche on 24 April 1854, the marriage was finally consummated three days later, and Elisabeth received a dower equal to todays 240,000 USD. Within a few weeks, Elisabeth started to display health problems, she had fits of coughing and became anxious and she was surprised to find she was pregnant and gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Archduchess Sophie of Austria, just ten months after her wedding. When a second daughter, Archduchess Gisela of Austria, was born a year later, the fact that she had not produced a male heir made Elisabeth increasingly unwanted in the palace. One day she found a pamphlet on her desk with the following words underlined. The natural destiny of a Queen is to give an heir to the throne. If the Queen bears no sons, she is merely a foreigner in the State, and her mother-in-law is generally considered to be the source of the malicious pamphlet
9.
Hermann Winterhalter
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Hermann Fidel Winterhalter was a German painter, younger brother of the portrait painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Hermann Fidel Winterhalter was born in the village of Menzenschwand in the Black Forest. His father, Fidel Winterhalter, made him follow a career as a painter in the footsteps of his older brother, Hermann Winterhalter was first trained as a lithographer and later went to study painting in Munich and Rome. He settled in Paris where he assisted his brother and exhibited at the Salon 1838-41,1847 and 1869, so close was Hermann Winterhalter to his brother that not only his work but also his personality is hard to disassociate from his most famous sibling. There was no professional rivalry or personal friction in the years they worked together. Hermann was a support to Franz Xavers successful international career. He lived independently and had his own personality and points of view, in the 1850s Hermann was more independent and developed a small portrait practice of his own. Among his works are Young Girl from Ariccia and the portrait of his Parisian patron Nicolas-Louis Planat de la Faye that is in the Louvre, after the fall of the Second Empire, both brothers decided to retire in Baden. Franz Xaver died in 1873, Hermann survived his brother for almost twenty years, Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe, 1830-70
10.
Order of Saint Benedict
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Each community within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIIIs Brief Summum semper, individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials OSB after their names. The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino, there is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. It was from the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome that Augustine, the prior, at various stopping places during the journey, the monks left behind them traditions concerning their rule and form of life, and probably also some copies of the Rule. Lérins Abbey, for instance, founded by Honoratus in 375, probably received its first knowledge of the Benedictine Rule from the visit of St. Augustine, in Gaul and Switzerland, it supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually displaced the earlier codes. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire, Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium, as a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. In the Middle Ages monasteries were founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910, the abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, one of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations, Augustine of Canterbury and his monks established the first English Benedictine monastery at Canterbury soon after their arrival in 597. Many of the sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak, the monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. Germany was evangelized by English Benedictines, willibrord and Boniface preached there in the seventh and eighth centuries and founded several abbeys. In the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. St. Mildreds Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent, currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns
11.
Freiburg im Breisgau
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Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany with a population of about 220,000. In the south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain. The city is known for its medieval minster and Renaissance university, as well as for its standard of living. The city is situated in the heart of the major Baden wine-growing region, according to meteorological statistics, the city is the sunniest and warmest in Germany and held the all-time German temperature record of 40.2 °C from 2003 to 2015. Freiburg was founded by Konrad and Duke Berthold III of Zähringen in 1120 as a market town, hence its name. Frei means free, and Burg, like the modern English word borough, was used in those days for a city or town. The German word Burg also means a town, as in Hamburg. Thus, it is likely that the name of place means a fortified town of free citizens. This town was located at a junction of trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea regions, and the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 1200, Freiburgs population numbered approximately 6,000 people, at about that time, under the rule of Bertold V, the last duke of Zähringen, the city began construction of its Freiburg Münster cathedral on the site of an older parish church. Begun in the Romanesque style, it was continued and completed 1513 for the most part as a Gothic edifice, in 1218, when Bertold V died, then Egino V von Urach, the count of Urach assumed the title of Freiburgs count as Egino I von Freiburg. The city council did not trust the new nobles and wrote down its established rights in a document, at the end of the thirteenth century there was a feud between the citizens of Freiburg and their lord, Count Egino II of Freiburg. Egino II raised taxes and sought to limit the freedom, after which the Freiburgers used catapults to destroy the counts castle atop the Schloßberg. The furious count called on his brother-in-law the Bishop of Strasbourg, Konradius von Lichtenberg, the bishop responded by marching with his army to Freiburg. According to an old Freiburg legend, a butcher named Hauri stabbed the Bishop of Strasbourg to death on 29 July 1299. It was a Pyrrhic victory, since henceforth the citizens of Freiburg had to pay an annual expiation of 300 marks in silver to the count of Freiburg until 1368, in 1366 the counts of Freiburg made another failed attempt to occupy the city during a night raid. Eventually the citizens were fed up with their lords, and in 1368 Freiburg purchased its independence from them, the city turned itself over to the protection of the Habsburgs, who allowed the city to retain a large measure of freedom. Most of the nobles of the city died in the battle of Sempach, the patrician family Schnewlin took control of the city until the guildsmen revolted
12.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
13.
Peter von Cornelius
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Peter von Cornelius was a German painter. From the age of twelve he attended drawing classes at the Düsseldorf Academy and his father, who was superintendent of the Düsseldorf gallery and professor at the academy, died in 1799, after which Cornelius supported his family by his work as a portraitist and illustrator. In a letter to the Count Raczynski he wrote, It fell to the lot of an elder brother and his earliest major work was the decoration of the choir of the church of St Quirinus at Neuss, commissioned by Canon Wallraff of Cologne in 1803. In 1809 he began a series of drawings illustrating Goethes Faust, for these Cornelius employed a linear style much influenced by a facsimile edition of Dürers prayer book for Maximilian I. Six of the images were shown to the poet, who approved of them, Cornelius continued the series following his move to Rome, and it was published in twelve engravings between 1816 and 1826, under the title Bilder zu Goethes Faust. He moved to Frankfurt in 1809, and worked there until going to Rome two years later, in 1821 he took on, in addition to his work for Ludwig, the directorship of the Düsseldorf Academy. At the death of Director Langer, 1824–5, he director of the Munich Academy. The fresco decorations of the Ludwigskirche in Munich, which were for the most part designed and executed by Cornelius, were perhaps the most important mural works of their time. The large fresco of the Last Judgment, over the altar in that church. The frescoes of the Creator, the Nativity, and the Crucifixion in the building are also upon a large scale. The king abandoned his plans following the revolution of 1848, and he maintained close contact with the art world in Rome, and returned to live there between 1853 and 1869. Cornelius, as an oil painter, possessed little technical skill, even as a fresco painter his manipulative power was not great. And in critically examining the execution in colour of some of his magnificent designs, one cannot help feeling that he was, in this respect, Cornelius and his associates endeavoured to follow in their works the spirit of the Italian painters. But the Italian strain is to a considerable extent modified by the Dürer heritage and these peculiarities are even noticeable in Corneliuss principal work of the Last Judgment, in the Ludwigskirche in Munich. But despite these peculiarities there is always in his works a grandeur, although not dexterous in the handling of the brush, he could conceive and design a subject with masterly purpose. His pupils included Karl Hermann, Wilhelm von Kaulbach and Adam Eberle, Cornelius often relied on pupils and assistants for the execution, and sometimes even the design of the projects of which he was in charge. In 1855 Théophile Gautier wrote that Cornelius enjoyed a celebrity such as few artists enjoy in their lifetime, Germany was in painting and sculpture behind all the rest of Europe. Yet in less than half a century Cornelius founded a school, revived mural painting
14.
Joseph Karl Stieler
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Joseph Karl Stieler was a German painter. From 1820 until 1855 he worked as court painter of the Bavarian kings. He is known for his Neoclassical portraits, especially for the Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, born in the city of Mainz to a long-established family of engravers, punchcutters and die makers, Stieler received some artistic training from his father, August Friedrich Stieler. Here he met with the later Archbishop Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, from 1802 to 1805 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in the master class of Heinrich Füger. Stielers portrait style was most especially shaped during his work in the Parisian atelier of François Gérard, in 1808, he established himself as an independent portraitist in the city of Frankfurt and in 1810 travelled through Italy. From 1812 he worked at the court of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, in 1816, he again travelled to Vienna to paint the portrait of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Between February and April 1820, he worked on his portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, in 1847 he also painted the portrait of Lola Montez, whose affair with King Ludwig I of Bavaria led to the monarchs abdication the next year. Stieler retired in 1855 to live at his home in Tegernsee. He died in Munich three years later and his son Karl Stieler became a well-known writer. Stieler worked mainly in the service of the Bavarian court and his painted likenesses in Schloss Nymphenburg, the Schönheitengalerie, the so-called Gallery of Beauties, were commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Stieler painted the portraits of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Amalia of Greece, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, Johann Ludwig Tieck, and Alexander von Humboldt, the most distinguishing feature of Stielers portraits is his utter focus on the sitter. Decorative additions are left out, and there is nothing that distracts the viewers scrutiny, Stieler accomplished this concentration through deliberate light–dark contrast, which above all highlights the accurately characterized facial features
15.
Princess Sophie of Sweden
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Princess Sophie of Sweden was, by marriage, Grand Duchess of Baden. Sophie was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 May 1801 and she was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and his wife, Frederica of Baden. After her birth, she was placed under the supervision of Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie, Sophie was eight years old when her father was deposed by the Coup of 1809 and she left Sweden with her family. Between the time of the coup which deposed her father, and leaving Sweden, she, an anecdote describes the contrast between the siblings. When Fredrika and her children were given permission to join the deposed king, when he was about to leave, Sophies older brother ran to the door to open it for Fersen. The former queen Fredrika is quoted as saying, Sophie would never in the world have done that, in 1815, she was engaged, and on 25 July 1819 in Karlsruhe, Sophie married her half-grand-uncle Prince Leopold of Baden, the son of a morganatic marriage. During the reign of Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden, they lived a modest life away from court, in 1830, her husband ascended to the grand ducal throne as Leopold I, and Sophie became Grand Duchess of Baden. Sophie is described as wise and dutiful but strict and she kept late hours and arose late in the mornings, after which she spent hours writing letters to various relatives around Europe in her négligée. She was interested in science, art and politics, and kept well informed on all political events of the day through her correspondence. Her ties to the Viennese court were particularly tight, and it was to Vienna her sons were sent to complete their education. Sophie retained a certain bitterness over the deposition of her father, during the tumult caused by the appearance of Kaspar Hauser, Sophie was rumoured to have ordered Hausers assassination in 1833. This damaged her relationship to her husband, and Sophie was said to have had an affair, during the revolution of 1848, she was forced to flee from Karlsruhe with her family to Strasbourg. They returned in 1849, after the revolt had been subdued by Prussian military and she became a widow in 1852. Sophie convinced her son Frederick to enter an arranged dynastic marriage rather than a marriage to his love, Baroness Stephanie von Gensau. In 1852, the Swedish royal house wished to make peace with the deposed Swedish royal house, and Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg tried to arrange a meeting, but without success. In 1863, however, Sophie met the Swedish Crown Prince Oscar II of Sweden, beautiful trees, well tendered lawns and alleys surrounded the building. No grandeur in regard of staff or other things was visible anywhere, in the room, in which I first entered, there were an abundance of flowers and paintings. Everything there seemed to represent the home of a living in the solitude of her memories
16.
Karlsruhe
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Karlsruhe is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near the French-German border. It has a population of 307,755, the city is the seat of the two highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Court of Justice. Its most remarkable building is Karlsruhe Palace, which was built in 1715, the city lies at an altitude between 100 m and 322 m. Its geographical coordinates are 49°00′N 8°24′E, the 49th parallel runs through the city centre and its course is marked by a stone and painted line in the Stadtgarten. Almost all of these survived until today. The city centre is the oldest part of town and lies south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the radial streets, the central part of the palace runs east-west, with two wings, each at a 45° angle, directed southeast and southwest. The market square lies on the street running south from the palace to Ettlingen, the area north of the palace is a park and forest. The area west of the palace is now mostly residential, Karlsruhe experiences an oceanic climate and its winter climate is milder, compared to most other German cities. Summers are also hotter than elsewhere in the country and it is one of the sunniest cities in Germany, precipitation is almost evenly spread throughout the year. In 2008, the station in Karlsruhe, which had been operating since 1876, was closed, it was replaced by a weather station in Rheinstetten. A variation of this claims that he built the new palace in order to find peace from his wife. Charles William founded the city on June 17,1715, after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, the founding of the city is closely linked to the construction of the palace. Karlsruhe became the capital of Baden-Durlach and in 1771 of the united Baden until 1945, built in 1822, the Ständehaus was the first parliament building in a German State. In the aftermath of the revolution of 1848, a republican government was elected here. Karlsruhe was visited by Thomas Jefferson during his time as the American envoy to France, Jefferson passed to him maps of 12 European towns to consult, one of which was a sketch he had made of Karlsruhe during his visit. In 1860, the international professional convention of chemists, the Karlsruhe Congress, was held in the city. Much of the area, including the palace, was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing during World War II but was rebuilt after the war. Located in the American zone of the post-war Allied occupation, Karlsruhe was home to an American military base, in 1995, the bases closed, and their facilities were turned over to the city of Karlsruhe
17.
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
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Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden succeeded in 1830 as the Grand Duke of Baden. Although a younger child, Leopold was the first son of Margrave Karl Friederich of Baden by his second, Luise Karoline and her children were given the titles of baron and baroness, in 1796 count or countess von Hochberg. Baden gained territory during the Napoleonic Wars, as a result, Margrave Karl Friederich was elevated to the title of Prince-Elector within the Holy Roman Empire. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, he took the title Grand Duke of Baden, count Leopold von Hochberg was born in Karlsruhe, and with no prospects of advancement in Baden, followed a career as an officer in the French army. One by one, the males of the House of Baden expired without leaving male descendants, by 1817, there were only two males left, the reigning Grand Duke Charles I, a grandson of Charles Fredericks, and his childless uncle Prince Louis. Both of Charless sons died in infancy, Badens dynasty seemed to face extinction, casting the countrys future in doubt. The Margrave further declared that his marriage to their mother must in no way be seen as morganatic, but rather as a true equal marriage. On 10 September 1806, after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire and this act was, yet again, signed by his three eldest sons, but was not promulgated. But this proclamation of Badens succession evoked international challenges, moreover, the Wittelsbach king of Bavaria, Maximilian I Joseph, was married to Grand Duke Charless eldest sister, Caroline of Baden. The female most closely related to the last male of a German dynasty often inherited in such circumstances, in accordance with Semi-Salic succession law. As a result, Maximilian had a claim to Baden under the customary rules of inheritance. Another dispute was resolved by Badens agreement to cede a portion of the county of Wertheim, already enclaved within Bavaria, since Sophie was a granddaughter of Leopolds oldest half-brother, Charles Louis, this marriage united the descendants of his fathers two wives. Sophies undoubted royal blood would help to offset the stigma of Leopolds morganatic birth, when Louis I died on 30 March 1830, he was the last male of the House of Baden not descended from the morganatic marriage of Charles Frederick and Luise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Leopold von Hochberg now succeeded as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden, in August, he was reinstated by the troops of Prussia and the German Confederation. He acted with the greatest forbearance after regaining his power, during the last years of his reign, he admitted his son Frederick, who later succeeded him, to a share in the government. On 25 July 1819, Leopold married in Karlsruhe his half-grand-niece Sophie of Sweden, Prince Louis of Baden, later succeeded as Louis II, Grand Duke of Baden from 1852–58, deemed mentally unfit to rule. Prince Frederick of Baden, later succeeded as Frederick I of Baden from 1858–1907, Prince Wilhelm of Baden, Prussian general, ancestor of the younger line of princes of Baden and father of Prince Max of Baden, German Chancellor, and later the heir to the Grand Duchy. Prince Charles of Baden, married Rosalie von Beust, princess Marie of Baden, married Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen
18.
Horace Vernet
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Émile Jean-Horace Vernet was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist Arab subjects. Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another painter, who was himself a son of Claude Joseph Vernet. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French Revolution, Vernet quickly developed a disdain for the high-minded seriousness of academic French art influenced by Classicism, and decided to paint subjects taken mostly from contemporary culture. Therefore, he began depicting the French soldier in a familiar, vernacular manner rather than in an idealized. Some of his paintings that represent French soldiers in a direct, less idealizing style, include Dog of the Regiment, Trumpeters Horse. He gained recognition during the Bourbon Restoration for a series of paintings commissioned by the duc dOrleans. Critics marvelled at the speed with which he painted. Many of his paintings made during early phase of his career were noted for their historical accuracy as well as their charged landscapes. Examples of paintings in style include his Four Battles series, The Battle of Jemappes, The Battle of Montmirail, The Battle of Hanau. Over the course of his career, Horace Vernet was honoured with dozens of important commissions. King Louis-Philippe was one of his most prolific patrons and his depictions of Algerian battles, such as the Capture of the Smahla and the Capture of Constantine, were well-received, as they were vivid depictions of the French army in the heat of battle. After the fall of the July Monarchy during the Revolution of 1848 and he continued to paint representations of the heroic French army during the Second Empire and maintained his commitment to representing war in an accessible and realistic way. He accompanied the French Army during the Crimean War, producing paintings, including one of the Battle of the Alma. Vernet died in his hometown of Paris in 1863, in Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter Holmes claims to be related to Vernet, stating, My ancestors were country squires. Was the sister of Vernet, the French artist, without further clarifying whether this is Claude Joseph Vernet, Carle Vernet, or Horace Vernet. Harkett, Daniel and Katie Hornstein, eds, Horace Vernet and the Thresholds of Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture. Dartmouth College Press/University Press of New England Ruutz-Rees, Janet E. Horace Vernet, works by Horace Vernet at Open Library
19.
Raphael
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Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
20.
Leopold II of Belgium
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Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians, known for the founding and exploitation of the Congo Free State as a private venture. Born in Brussels as the son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865. His was the longest reign of any Belgian monarch and he died without surviving male issue, the current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State and he used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions and he ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal enrichment. He used great sums of the money from this exploitation for public and he donated the private buildings to the state before his death, to preserve them for Belgium. Under his regime millions of the Congolese people died, modern estimates range from 1 to 15 million, human rights abuses under his regime contributed significantly to these deaths. Leopold was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835 and he was the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch, Leopold I, and his second wife, Louise, the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France. The French Revolution of 1848, which spared Belgium, had forced Louis Philippe to flee to the United Kingdom, the royal families of Belgium and the United Kingdom were linked by numerous marriages, and were additionally both descended from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Louis Philippe died two years later, in 1850, Leopolds fragile mother was deeply affected by the death of her father, and her health deteriorated. She died that year, when Leopold was 15 years old. Three years later, in 1853 at the age of 18, Marie Henriette was a cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor through her father, Austrian archduke Joseph. Marie Henriette was lively and energetic, and endeared herself to the people by her character and benevolence and she was also an accomplished artist and musician. She was passionate about horseback riding to the point that she would care for her horses personally, some joked about this marriage of a stableman and a nun, the shy and withdrawn Leopold referred to as the nun. Four children were born of marriage, three daughters and one son, also named Leopold. The younger Leopold died in 1869 at the age of nine from pneumonia after falling into a pond and his death was a source of great sorrow for King Leopold, who lost his only heir. The marriage had become unhappy, and the couple separated completely after a last attempt to have another son, in 1895 Marie Henriette retreated to Spa
21.
Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily
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Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily was a French queen and the wife of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. Maria Amalia was born on 26 April 1782 at the Caserta Palace just outside Naples and she was the seventh of nine children of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Carolina of Austria. As a young Italian princess, she was educated in the Catholic tradition, Maria Carolina, like her mother, Maria Theresa, made an effort to be a part of her daughters life, though she was cared for daily by her governess, Vicenza Rizzi. As a child, Maria Amalias mother and her aunt, Marie Antoinette, arranged for her engagement to Marie Antoinettes son, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France and her young fiance died in 1789. Maria Amelia faced chaos and upheaval from a young age, the death of her aunt Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution and her mothers subsequent dramatic actions emblazoned the event in her memory. During the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Neapolitan court was not hostile to the movement, when the French monarchy was abolished and her aunt Marie Antoinette and uncle Louis XVI were executed, Maria Amelias parents joined the First Coalition against France in 1793. Maria Amelia spent the years 1800 to 1802 with her mother in Austria, in 1802, she finally returned to Naples with her mother. After the invasion of Naples by Napoleon in 1806, the family was once more forced to flee to Sicily. Louis-Philippes father, the previous Duke of Orléans, had been guillotined during the French Revolution, the two were married in 1809, three years after they met in Italy, whereupon Marie-Amelie became Duchess of Orléans. The ceremony was celebrated in Palermo 25 November 1809, the marriage was considered controversial, because she was the niece of Marie Antoinette, while he was the son of a man who was considered to have played a part in the execution of her aunt. During the first years of her marriage, Marie-Amelie and Louis Philippe lived under British protection in Palermo, in a given to them by her father. Marie-Amelie went to France with her new husband in 1814, where she attempted to make a home with her growing family, the family was given permission to return to France again in 1817. During the Orléans’ time in France prior to Louis-Philippes coronation, the family lived in the Palais-Royal, despite the monetary worries of the family, the house was returned to its original splendor at a cost to the couple of eleven million francs. However, it was rather her sister-in-law Madame Adelaide who was regarded the hostess at Palais-Royal, while Marie-Amelie was described as dignified but silent and withdrawn. In 1830, following what is known as the July Revolution, Louis-Philippe became king of France, Maria Amalia did not approve of Louis-Philippes acceptance of the crown and reportedly described it as a catastrophe. When tumult followed the publication of the Ordinances in 1830 and erupted in the July revolution in Paris, in this, she defeated the view of her Maria Amalia, who was loyal to the reigning older branch. When rumors arrived that the royalists were going to arrest Louis-Philippe, he evacuated to Raincy and the children were sent to Villers-Cotterêts, Adélaïde, however, accepted it with the argument that her brother would do anything to prevent the country he loved from anarchy. Thiers accepted the answer of Adélaïde rather than the one from Maria Amalia with the words, Madame, soon after, the Chamber of Deputies called Louis-Philippe to Paris to formally present him their offer
22.
Leonilla Bariatinskaya
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Leonilla Ivanovna Bariatinskaia, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn was a Russian aristocrat who married Ludwig, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. She was the subject of a number of portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Princess Leonilla Ivanovna Bariatinskaya was born on 9 May 1816 in Moscow. She was a daughter of Prince Ivan Ivanovich Bariatinsky, a member of one of the most influential families of the Russian nobility and she married one of the Tsar’s aides de camp, Ludwig, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg on 23 October 1834 at Castle Marino, Kursk Oblast. He was a Russian aristocrat of German descent, who was known in Russia as Lev Petrovich Wittgenstein and he was a son of Ludwig, first Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein and Caecilia Snarska. Princess Leonilla and her husband had four children and her beauty created an impression at the Russian court, but her husband fell from favor perhaps because his liberal treatment of his serfs. The Prince received, as a present from King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, the family seat Sayn Castle. With the purchase of a former manor in Sayn he gained the title of Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. They had extensive landholdings in Russia, among their properties were Pavlino, Kamenka, south of Kiev, and Werki, in what is now Lithuania. Princess Leonilla, who converted to Catholicism, preferred Rome and Paris, the princely family moved from country to country with the seasons taking with them their children, pets, servants and tutors. Ludwig and Leonilla had the former Baroque manor of the Counts of Boos-Waldeck below Sayn Castle reconstructed into a residence in Gothic Revival style. Their youngest son Alexander married Yvonne, the daughter of the French Duke of Blacas and inherited Sayn after the morganatic marriages of his older brothers Peter, Friedrich and Ludwig. After his wifes death he remarried and spent his life as Count of Hachenburg in the former family residences in Hachenburg. Princess Leonilla held a monarchist and Catholic salon and died in 1918 at the age of 101 at her villa of Mon Abri on Lake Geneva, known for her great beauty and intellect, Princess Leonilla was the subject of a number of portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The most famous of these is the one currently at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and it is signed and dated in 1843 in the pillar on the right. Winterhalter opted for a portrait, unusual in his oeuvre. Her pose is reminiscent of scenes and odalisque. It was probably inspired by Jacques-Louis Davids portrait of Madame Récamier, the Princess is wearing a luxurious gown of ivory silk moiré with a pink sash around her waist. A deep purple mantle wraps around her back and falls across her arms and she gazes languidly at the viewer while she toys with the large pearls around her neck in an indolent gesture, reinforcing the sensuality of the model
23.
J. Paul Getty Museum
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The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in California housed on two campuses, the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and is the location of the museum. The collection features Western art from the Middle Ages to the present and its estimated 1.3 million visitors annually make it one of the most visited museums in the United States. The museums second location, the Getty Villa, is in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and displays art from ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. In 1974, J. Paul Getty opened a museum in a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum on his property in Pacific Palisades, in 1982, the museum became the richest in the world when it inherited US$1.2 billion. In 1997, the moved to its current location in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Detailed information about the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collections is provided on GettyGuide, at the GettyGuide stations in the Museum, visitors can get information about exhibitions, interact with a timeline, watch videos on art-making techniques, and more. Also available at the Museum, the GettyGuide multimedia player features commentary from curators and conservators on many works of art, with GettyGuide on the Web, one may browse the Museum’s collection and bookmark works of art to create a customized tour and printable map. In 1984, Frel was demoted, and in 1986, he resigned, the Getty is involved in a controversy regarding proper title to some of the artwork in its collection. The museums previous curator of antiquities, Marion True, was indicted in Italy in 2005 on criminal charges relating to trafficking in stolen antiquities, similar charges have been addressed by the Greek authorities. The primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005 True was forced to tender her resignation by the Board of Trustees, which announced her early retirement. Italy allowed the statute of limitations of the charges filed against her to expire in October 2010, True is currently under investigation by Greek authorities over the acquisition of a 2, 500-year-old funerary wreath. The wreath, along with a 6th-century BC statue of a woman, have returned to Greece and are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. The Getty Museum resisted the requests of the Italian government for two decades, only to admit later that there might be problems attached to the acquisition. In 2006, Italian senior cultural official Giuseppe Proietti said, The negotiations havent made a step forward. Only after he suggested the Italian government to take cultural sanctions against the Getty, suspending all cultural cooperation, in another unrelated case in 1999, the Getty Museum had to hand over three antiquities to Italy after determining they were stolen. A Summary Catalogue of European Decorative Arts in the J. Paul Getty Museum was published in 2001, indeed, some discrete works are provided with annotations, e. g. In 2016, the head of the Greek god Hades was returned to Sicily
24.
Court painter
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A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were given the office of valet de chambre. Usually they were given a salary and formal title, and often a pension for life, in England the role of Serjeant Painter was set up for this, leaving the Kings painter free to paint mostly portraits. See category of Italian art collectors for lists that included non-aristocratic patrons, some artists, like Jan van Eyck or Diego Velázquez, were used in other capacities at court, as diplomats, functionaries, or administrators. In Islamic cultures, especially between the 14th and 17th centuries, similar arrangements operated for miniaturists and artists in other media. In the Persian miniature, the shah and other rulers typically maintained a workshop or atelier, of calligraphers, miniaturists, binders and other crafts. The name by which Riza Abbasi is usually includes the honorific title Abbasi. Abd as-Samad, a Persian painter who moved to the Mughal Empire, was given a number of significant administrative jobs, the court remained the focus of patronage of painting in the sub-Mughal princely courts of India, whether Muslim or Hindu. At many periods rulers owned or controlled royal workshops or factories making high-quality tapestries, porcelain or pottery, silks and this was especially the case in China and in the Byzantine Empire. Le Brun dominated, and largely created, the style found throughout Louis XIVs palaces, by the 20th century court painters was an obsolete position. Commonly more artists were granted permission by royalty who would sit for official portraits whether for private of patron purposes, Artists of the Tudor Court 21st Century Court Artists Michael Levey, Painting at Court, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London,1971
25.
Louis Philippe I
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Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 as the leader of the Orléanist party. He spent 21 years in exile after he left France in 1793 and he was proclaimed king in 1830 after his cousin Charles X was forced to abdicate in the wake of the events of the July Revolution of that year. His government, known as the July Monarchy, was dominated by members of a wealthy French elite and he followed conservative policies, especially under the influence of the French statesman François Guizot during the period 1840–48. He also promoted friendship with Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, notably the conquest of Algeria and his popularity faded as economic conditions in France deteriorated in 1847, and he was forced to abdicate after the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848. He lived out his life in exile in Great Britain, Louis Philippe was born in the Palais Royal, the residence of the Orléans family in Paris, to Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood and his mother was an extremely wealthy heiress who was descended from Louis XIV of France through a legitimized line. Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution to the Bourbon Restoration. Louis Philippes father was exiled from the court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature. Louis Philippe was tutored by the Countess of Genlis, beginning in 1782 and she instilled in him a fondness for liberal thought, it is probably during this period that Louis Philippe picked up his slightly Voltairean brand of Catholicism. When Louis Philippes grandfather died in 1785, his father succeeded him as Duke of Orléans, from October 1788 to October 1789, the Palais Royal was a meeting-place for the revolutionaries. Louis Philippe grew up in a period that changed Europe as a whole and, following his fathers support for the Revolution. In his diary, he reports that he took the initiative to join the Jacobin Club. In June 1791, Louis Philippe got his first opportunity to become involved in the affairs of France, in 1785, he had been given the hereditary appointment of Colonel of the 14th Regiment of Dragoons. With war on the horizon in 1791, all proprietary colonels were ordered to join their regiments, Louis Philippe showed himself to be a model officer, and he demonstrated his personal bravery in two famous instances. The young colonel broke through the crowd and extricated the two priests, who then fled, at a river crossing on the same day, another crowd threatened to harm the priests. Louis Philippe put himself between a peasant armed with a carbine and the priests, saving their lives, the next day, Louis Philippe dove into a river to save a drowning local engineer. For this action, he received a crown from the local municipality. His regiment was moved north to Flanders at the end of 1791 after the Declaration of Pillnitz, Louis Philippe served under his fathers crony, the Duke of Biron, along with several officers who later gained distinction in Napoleons empire and afterwards
26.
History painting
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History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than artistic style. History paintings usually depict a moment in a story, rather than a specific and static subject. The term is derived from the senses of the word historia in Latin and Italian, meaning story or narrative. Most history paintings are not of scenes from history, especially paintings from before about 1850, History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some type of action that is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ, as well as scenes from mythology. These groups were for long the most frequently painted, works such as Michelangelos Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting, and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made historical painting is the painting of scenes from secular history, in the 19th century historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as historical painting materials, historical means in use before about 1900 and he placed emphasis on the ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art, which continued to adhere to it. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance, and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism. In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from history, rather than those from religious narratives. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular, artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, na pas encore cette haute perfection de lArt, & ne peut prétendre à lhonneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, a painter who only does portraits still does not have the highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. By the late 18th century, with religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often the best-received, the unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress and he ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. M. W, conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts
27.
National Museum, Warsaw
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The National Museum in Warsaw, popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. The museum is home to numismatic collections, a gallery of applied arts. The National Museum in Warsaw was established on 20 May 1862, as the Museum of Fine Arts, Warsaw, the collection, on Jerusalem Avenue, is housed in a building designed by Tadeusz Tolwiński, developed between 1927 and 1938. In 1932 an exhibition of decorative art opened in the two earlier erected wings of the building, the new building was inaugurated on 18 June 1938. The purpose-built modernistic edifice, was situated on the edge of Na Książęcem Park established between 1776–79 for Prince Kazimierz Poniatowski, from 1935 the museum director was Stanisław Lorentz, who directed an effort to save the most valuable works of art during World War II. The Gestapo headquarters presented Rembrandts portrait of Maerten Soolmans as a gift to Hans Frank in occupied Kraków, after the war the Polish Government, under the supervision of Professor Lorentz, retrieved many of the works seized by the Germans. More than 5,000 artifacts are still missing, in 2008 the Polish Archaeological Mission Tyritake of National Museum in Warsaw commenced works at Tyritake, Crimea. It is headed by Alfred Twardecki curator of the Ancient Art Gallery, in 2010 the National Museum, as one of the first state institutions in the world, held an exhibition entirely consecrated to homoerotic art - Ars Homo Erotica. Since the 2011–12 renovation, the museum is considered as one of the most modern in Europe with a computer-led LED lighting allowing to enhance unique qualities of every painting. In 2012 the permanent galleries underwent revolutionary changes, the curators of the museum re-arranged it and supplemented it with new works from the museums warehouses. Paintings were not hung chronologically, but thematically, genre painting, still lifes, landscapes, cityscapes, biblical, mythological, works by Italian, Flemish, Dutch, German and Polish artists were hung together, making it easy to observe and compare similarities and differences. The Gallery of Medieval Art mainly presents objects from the late Middle Ages, originating from different regions of todays Poland and these works were originally designed almost exclusively for churches. The exhibition was designed to allow the audience to understand the role of art in the life of the Middle Ages. The new techniques implemented in the gallery allow the presentation of large polyptychs, such as the famous Grudziądz Polyptych. The new arrangement of the exhibition was designed by WWAA, the Gallery of Old Masters on the second floor was conceived from the former Gallery of Decorative Art, Gallery of Old European Painting and the Gallery of Old Polish and European Portrait in 2016. It combines species of pictorial art - painting, sculpture, drawings and these social spaces have provided the key to the division of the gallery,1. Church, chapel and domestic altar,3, in the redesigned gallery, the works are presented not according to national schools, but as a confrontation of artistic circles of the South and North. The new system reflects the hierarchy of the created by Renaissance art theory
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Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
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Holy Land
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The Holy Land is an area roughly located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that also includes the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River. Traditionally, it is synonymous with both the biblical Land of Israel and historical Palestine, the term usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel, the Palestinian territories, western Jordan, and parts of southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria. It is considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, many sites in the Holy Land have long been pilgrimage destinations for adherents of the Abrahamic religions, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Baháís. Pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith, confirm their beliefs in the context with collective excitation. Jews do not commonly refer to the Land of Israel as Holy Land, the Tanakh explicitly refers to it as holy land in only one passage, in Zechariah 2,16. The holiness of the Land of Israel is generally implied in the Tanakh by the Land being given to the Israelites by God, that is, it is the promised land, an integral part of Gods covenant. In the Torah many mitzvot commanded to the Israelites can only be performed in the Land of Israel, for example, in the Land of Israel, no land shall be sold permanently. Shmita is only observed with respect to the land of Israel, according to Eliezer Schweid, The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is. geo-theological and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world, Jerusalem, as the site of the Temple, is considered especially significant. Sacred burials are still undertaken for diaspora Jews who wish to lie buried in the soil of Israel. According to Jewish tradition, Jerusalem is Mount Moriah, the location of the binding of Isaac, the Hebrew Bible mentions the name Jerusalem 669 times, often because many mitzvot can only be performed within its environs. The name Zion, which refers to Jerusalem, but sometimes the Land of Israel. The Talmud mentions the religious duty of colonising Israel, so significant in Judaism is the act of purchasing land in Israel, the Talmud allows for the lifting of certain religious restrictions of Sabbath observance to further its acquisition and settlement. Rabbi Johanan said that one who walks a distance of 4 cubits in Israel may be confident of a share in the future world, a story says that when R. Eleazar b. Due to the Jewish population being concentrated in Israel, emigration was generally prevented, many Jews wanted Israel to be the place where they died. R. Anan said, To be buried in Israel is like being buried under the altar, the saying His land will absolve His people implies that burial in Israel will cause one to be absolved of all ones sins. Christian books, including editions of the Bible, often had maps of the Holy Land, for instance, the Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae of Heinrich Bünting, a German Protestant pastor, featured such a map. As a geographic term, the description Holy Land loosely encompasses modern-day Israel, in the Quran, the term الأرض المقدسة is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel, O my people
30.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
31.
Albert, Prince Consort
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the husband of Queen Victoria. He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europes ruling monarchs, at the age of 20, he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, they had nine children. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Queen came to depend more and more on his support and guidance. Albert died at the young age of 42, plunging the Queen into deep mourning for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victorias death in 1901, their eldest son succeeded as Edward VII, Albert was born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Alberts future wife, Victoria, was earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same midwife. Albert was baptised into the Lutheran Evangelical Church on 19 September 1819 in the Marble Hall at Schloss Rosenau with water taken from the local river, in 1825, Alberts great-uncle, Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died. His death led to a realignment of Saxon duchies the following year and Alberts father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg, Albert and his elder brother, Ernest, spent their youth in a close companionship marred by their parents turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Polzig and she presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The brothers were educated privately at home by Christoph Florschütz and later studied in Brussels, like many other German princes, Albert attended the University of Bonn, where he studied law, political economics, philosophy and the history of art. He played music and excelled at sport, especially fencing and riding and his tutors at Bonn included the philosopher Fichte and the poet Schlegel. By 1836, the idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, had arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle Leopold, at this time, Victoria was the heiress presumptive to the British throne. Her father, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the son of King George III, had died when she was a baby. Her mother the Duchess of Kent, was the sister of both Alberts father—the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and King Leopold. Leopold arranged for his sister, Victorias mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander, second son of the Prince of Orange. Victoria was well aware of the matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. Alexander, on the hand, she described as very plain. Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold to thank him for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me and he possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy
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Royal Collection
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The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family and the largest private art collection in the world. The Queen owns some objects in the collection in right of the Crown, the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London was built specially to exhibit pieces from the collection on a rotating basis. There is an art gallery next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The Crown Jewels are on display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. About 3,000 objects are on loan to museums throughout the world, few items from before King Henry VIII survive. The most important additions to the collection were made by Charles I, a collector of Italian paintings. Many works have been given from the collection to museums, especially by George III and Victoria, in particular, most of the then royal library was given by George III to the British Museum, now the British Library, where many books are still catalogued as Royal. The core of this collection was the purchase by James I of the collections of Humphrey Llwyd, Lord Lumley. Throughout the reign of Elizabeth II, there have been significant additions to the collection through purchases, bequests and through gifts from nation states. Numbering over 7,000 works, spread across the Royal Residences, numbering over 300 items, the Royal Collection holds one of the greatest and most important collections of French furniture ever assembled. The collection is noted for its range as well as counting the greatest cabinet-makers of the Ancien Régime. The Royal Collection is privately owned, although some of the works are displayed in areas of palaces, some of the collection is owned by the monarch personally, and everything else is described as being held in trust by the monarch in right of the Crown. All works of art acquired by monarchs up to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 are heirlooms which fall into the latter category. Items the British royal family acquired later, including official gifts, ambiguity surrounds the status of objects that have come into Queen Elizabeth IIs possession during her reign. The Royal Collection Trust has confirmed that all pieces left to the Queen by the Queen Mother belong to her personally, non-personal items are said to be inalienable as they can only be willed to the monarchs successor. The legal accuracy of this claim has never been substantiated in court, in a 2000 television interview, the Duke of Edinburgh said that the Queen was technically, perfectly at liberty to sell them. In 1995, Iain Sproat, then Secretary of State for National Heritage, a registered charity, the Royal Collection Trust was set up in 1993 after the Windsor Castle fire with a mandate to conserve the works and enhance the publics appreciation and understanding of art. It employs around 500 staff and is one of the five departments of the Royal Household, buildings do not come under its remit
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Buckingham Palace
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Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and it has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a residence for Queen Charlotte. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II, the original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which survive, include widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle Époque cream, many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London, the state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring. In the Middle Ages, the site of the palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury. The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which flows below the courtyard. Where the river was fordable, the village of Eye Cross grew, ownership of the site changed hands many times, owners included Edward the Confessor and his queen consort Edith of Wessex in late Saxon times, and, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror. William gave the site to Geoffrey de Mandeville, who bequeathed it to the monks of Westminster Abbey, in 1531, King Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James from Eton College, and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier, various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long fallen into decay. Needing money, James I sold off part of the Crown freehold, clement Walker in Anarchia Anglicana refers to new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. Jamess, this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies, possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir William Blake, around 1624. The next owner was Lord Goring, who from 1633 extended Blakes house and he did not, however, obtain the freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640 the document failed to pass the Great Seal before King Charles I fled London and it was this critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the freehold under King George III. The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington obtained the mansion and was occupying it, now known as Goring House, Arlington House rose on the site—the location of the southern wing of todays palace—the next year
34.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
35.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially the Met, is located in New York City and is the largest art museum in the United States, and is among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the edge of Central Park along Manhattans Museum Mile, is by area one of the worlds largest art galleries. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains a collection of art, architecture. On March 18,2016, the museum opened the Met Breuer museum at Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side, it extends the museums modern, the Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, Indian, and Islamic art. The museum is home to collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, as well as antique weapons. Several notable interiors, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day and it opened on February 20,1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, the museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Mets galleries. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Met organizes and hosts traveling shows throughout the year. The director of the museum is Thomas P. Campbell, a long-time curator and it was announced on February 28th,2017 that Campbell will be stepping down as the Mets director and CEO, effective June. On March 1st,2017 the BBC reported that Daniel Weiss shall be the acting CEO until a replacement is found, Beginning in the late 19th century, the Met started to acquire ancient art and artifacts from the Near East. From a few tablets and seals, the Mets collection of Near Eastern art has grown to more than 7,000 pieces. The highlights of the include a set of monumental stone lamassu, or guardian figures. The Mets Department of Arms and Armor is one of the museums most popular collections. Among the collections 14,000 objects are many pieces made for and used by kings and princes, including armor belonging to Henry VIII of England, Henry II of France, Rockefeller donated his more than 3, 000-piece collection to the museum. The Mets Asian department holds a collection of Asian art, of more than 35,000 pieces, the collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum, many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections
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Napoleon III
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Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the only President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and he was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. He remains the longest-serving French head of state since the French Revolution, during the first years of the Empire, Napoleons government imposed censorship and harsh repressive measures against his opponents. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until 1859, thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. From 1862 onwards, he relaxed government censorship, and his came to be known as the Liberal Empire. Many of his opponents returned to France and became members of the National Assembly, Napoleon III is best known today for his grand reconstruction of Paris, carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. He launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon, Napoleon III modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system, and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, Napoleon III negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier free trade agreement with Britain and similar agreements with Frances other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize, womens education greatly expanded, as did the list of required subjects in public schools. In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and he was a supporter of popular sovereignty and of nationalism. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War and his regime assisted Italian unification and, in doing so, annexed Savoy and the County of Nice to France, at the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. Napoleon doubled the area of the French overseas empire in Asia, the Pacific, on the other hand, his armys intervention in Mexico which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection ended in failure. Beginning in 1866, Napoleon had to face the power of Prussia. In July 1870, Napoleon entered the Franco-Prussian War without allies, the French army was rapidly defeated and Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan. The French Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris, and Napoleon went into exile in England, charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Louis Napoleon and then Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of 20–21 April 1808. His presumed father was Louis Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleons wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, as empress, Joséphine proposed the marriage as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Joséphine was by then infertile. Louis married Hortense when he was twenty-four and she was nineteen and they had a difficult relationship, and only lived together for brief periods
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Second French Empire
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The Second French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France. The structure of the French government during the Second Empire was little changed from the First, but Emperor Napoleon III stressed his own imperial role as the foundation of the government. He had so often, while in prison or in exile and his answer was to organize a system of government based on the principles of the Napoleonic Idea. This meant that the emperor, the elect of the people as the representative of the democracy, ruled supreme. He himself drew power and legitimacy from his role as representative of the great Napoleon I of France, the anti-parliamentary French Constitution of 1852 instituted by Napoleon III on 14 January 1852, was largely a repetition of that of 1848. All executive power was entrusted to the emperor, who, as head of state, was responsible to the people. The people of the Empire, lacking democratic rights, were to rely on the benevolence of the rather than on the benevolence of politicians. He was to nominate the members of the council of state, whose duty it was to prepare the laws, and of the senate, a body permanently established as a constituent part of the empire. One innovation was made, namely, that the Legislative Body was elected by universal suffrage and this new political change was rapidly followed by the same consequence as had attended that of Brumaire. The press was subjected to a system of cautionnements and avertissements, in order to counteract the opposition of individuals, a surveillance of suspects was instituted. In the same way public instruction was strictly supervised, the teaching of philosophy was suppressed in the lycées, for seven years France had no democratic life. The Empire governed by a series of plebiscites, up to 1857 the Opposition did not exist, from then till 1860 it was reduced to five members, Darimon, Émile Ollivier, Hénon, Jules Favre and Ernest Picard. On 2 December 1851 Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who had been elected President of the Republic and he thus became sole ruler of France, and re-established universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly. His decisions and the extension of his mandate for 10 years were popularly endorsed by a referendum later that month that attracted an implausible 92 percent support. A new constitution was enacted in January 1852 which made Louis-Napoléon president for 10 years, however, he was not content with merely being an authoritarian president. Almost as soon as he signed the new document into law, in response to officially-inspired requests for the return of the empire, the Senate scheduled a second referendum in November, which passed with 97 percent support. As with the December 1851 referendum, most of the yes votes were manufactured out of thin air, the empire was formally re-established on 2 December 1852, and the Prince-President became Napoléon III, Emperor of the French. The constitution concentrated so much power in his hands that the only changes were to replace the word president with the word emperor
38.
Pastoral
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A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, a pastoral is a work of this genre, also known as bucolic, from the Greek βουκολικόν, from βουκόλος, meaning a cowherd. Pastoral is a mode of literature in which the author employs various techniques to place the life into a simple one. Thus, pastoral as a mode occurs in many types of literature as well as genres, terry Gifford, a prominent literary theorist, defines pastoral in three ways in his critical book Pastoral. The first way emphasizes the historical perspective of the pastoral in which authors recognize and discuss life in the country. This is summed up by Leo Marx with the phrase No shepherd, the second type of the pastoral is literature that describes the country with an implicit or explicit contrast to the urban. The third type of pastoral depicts the life with derogative classifications. Hesiods Works and Days presents a golden age when people lived together in harmony with nature and this Golden Age shows that even before Alexandria, ancient Greeks had sentiments of an ideal pastoral life that they had already lost. This is the first example of literature that has pastoral sentiments, ovids Metamorphoses is much like the Works and Days with the description of ages but with more ages to discuss and less emphasis on the gods and their punishments. In this artificially constructed world, nature acts as the main punisher, another example of this perfect relationship between man and nature is evident in the encounter of a shepherd and a goatherd who meet in the pastures in Theocritus poem Idylls 1. Traditionally, pastoral refers to the lives of herdsmen in a romanticized, exaggerated, the pastoral life is usually characterized as being closer to the Golden age than the rest of human life. The setting is a Locus Amoenus, or a place in nature. An example of the use of the genre is the poem by the 15th-century Scottish makar Robert Henryson Robene and Makyne which also contains the conflicted emotions often present in the genre. There will we sit upon the rocks And see the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, the Passionate Shepherd to His Love exhibits the concept of Giffords second definition of pastoral. The speaker of the poem, who is the titled shepherd and this can be seen in the listed items, lined slippers, purest gold, silver dishes, and ivory table. The speaker takes on a point of view with his love. Pastoral shepherds and maidens usually have Greek names like Corydon or Philomela and this makes them available for embodying perpetual erotic fantasies. The shepherds spend their time chasing pretty girls — or, at least in the Greek and Roman versions, Pastoral literature continued after Hesiod with the poetry of the Hellenistic Greek Theocritus, several of whose Idylls are set in the countryside and involve dialogues between herdsmen
39.
Isabella II of Spain
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Isabella II was Queen of Spain from 1833 until 1868. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, after a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1868, and formally abdicated in 1870. Her son Alfonso XII became king in 1874, Isabella was born in Madrid in 1830, the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and of his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Queen Maria Christina became regent on 29 September 1833, when her three-year-old daughter Isabella was proclaimed sovereign on the death of the king, the first pretender, Ferdinands brother Carlos, fought seven years during the minority of Isabella to dispute her title. Carlos and his descendants supporters were known as Carlists, and the fight over the succession was the subject of a number of Carlist Wars in the 19th century, Isabellas reign was maintained only through the support of the army. After the Carlist war, the regent, Maria Christina, resigned to make way for Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, Espartero, a Progressive, remained regent for only two years. Baldomero Espartero was turned out in 1843 by a military and political pronunciamiento led by Generals Leopoldo ODonnell and they formed a cabinet, presided over by Joaquín María López y López. This government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at 13, the marriages suited France and Louis Philippe, King of the French, who as a result nearly quarrelled with Britain. However, the marriages were not happy, persistent rumour had it that few if any of Isabellas children were fathered by her king-consort, rumoured to be a homosexual. The Carlist party asserted that the heir-apparent to the throne, who later became Alfonso XII, had fathered by a captain of the guard. Isabella had nine children, but only five reached adulthood, Ferdinand Maria Isabel, Princess of Asturias, Maria Cristina Alfonso XII Maria de la Concepcion Maria del Pilar María de la Paz, who married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. Francisco de Asis Eulalia de Asis de la Piedad, who married her cousin Infante Antonio, the couple was rather caustically described by an English contemporary thus, … The Queen is large in stature, but rather what might be called bulky than stately. There is no dignity either in her face or figure, the countenance is cold and expressionless, with traces of an unchastened, unrefined, and impulsive character, and the indifference it betrays is not redeemed by any regularity or beauty of feature. Moderados and Unión Liberals quickly succeeded each other and kept out the Progressives, Queen Isabella II often interfered in politics. She showed favour to her reactionary generals and statesmen and to the Church, by virtue of a royal decree, she opened Iloilo to world trade on September 29,1855 exporting mainly sugar and also other products to America, Australia and Europe. At the end of September 1868, Isabella went into exile, after her Moderado generals had made a show of resistance that was crushed at the Battle of Alcolea by Generals Serrano. This revolt, which deposed Isabella, is known as the Glorious Revolution, the new government replaced Isabella with Amadeo I, second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, after much deliberation. The First Spanish Republic collapsed in December 1874, Isabella had been induced to abdicate in Paris on 25 June 1870, in favour of her son, Alfonso XII, furthering the cause of the Restoration
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Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
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Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
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Tsarina
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Tsaritsa, tsarina or czarina (Russian, царица, is the title of a female autocratic ruler of Bulgaria, Serbia or Russia, or the title of a tsars wife. The English spelling is derived from the German czarin or zarin, in the way as the French tsarine/czarine. Since 1721, the titles of the Russian male and female monarchs were Emperor and Empress, respectively. Officially the last Russian tsarina was Eudoxia Lopukhina, Peter the Greats first wife, alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas II of Russia, was the last Russian Empress. Eudoxia Lopukhina was sent to monastery in 1698, and died in 1731, in 1712 Peter married in church Catherine I of Russia. The Russian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1721, and Catherine become Empress by marriage, after Peters death she became ruling Empress by her own right. In following centuries the title tsarina was in informal use – a kind of pet name for Empresses – ruling queens. For a list of Russian empresses in the 18th and 19th centuries see Empress of Russia, de jure tsaritsas in Russia existed from 1547 until 1721. Among the most famous tsaritsas of this period were six or seven wives of Ivan the Terrible, however, only the first four of them were crowned tsaritsas, as the later marriages were not blessed with the Orthodox Church and considered as cohabitation. Polish noblewoman Marina Mnishek also became tsaritsa of Russia by her marriage to an impostor False Dmitry I, many wives were chosen by Bride-show, when hundreds of poor but handsome noblewomen gathered in Moscow from all the regions of Russia, and the tsar chose the most beautiful. This deprived Russia of the benefits of royal intermarriage with European monarchs, but protected from inbreeding and degeneration, the only foreign wife of a Russian tsar was Maria Temryukovna, a Circassian princess, who converted in Orthodoxy. Ivan Zabelins book The Domestic Life of Russian Tsaritsas in detail describes the subject, the last Bulgarian tsarina was Giovanna of Italy, the wife of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria. The first Serbian tsarina was Helena of Bulgaria, sister of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander and she was the empress consort of Serbia from 1346 until Dušans sudden death in 1355. The second, and the last, Serbian tsarina was Ana Basarab and she married Dušans son, Tsar Stephen Uroš V of Serbia somewhere between 1356 and 1360, and ruled until the Serbian empires demise in 1371. Tsarevna List of Russian consorts List of Serbian consorts List of Bulgarian consorts
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