1.
Battle of the Boyne
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The battle took place across the River Boyne near the town of Drogheda in the east of Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William. This turned the tide in Jamess failed attempt to regain the British crown, the battle took place on 1 July 1690O. S. Williams forces defeated Jamess army, which consisted mostly of raw recruits, although the Williamite War in Ireland continued until October 1691, James fled to France after the Boyne, never to return. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the battles in the history of the British Isles. Its commemoration today is principally by the Protestant Orange Institution, which records the first commemorative parades as having held in 1791. It is regarded as a moment in the struggle between Irish Protestant and Catholic interests. The previous year William had sent the Duke of Schomberg to take charge of the Irish campaign and he was a 75-year-old professional soldier who had accompanied William during the Glorious Revolution. Under his command, affairs had remained static and very little had been accomplished, William, dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Ireland, decided to take charge in person. In an Irish context, the war was a sectarian and ethnic conflict, for the Jacobites, the war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. The Catholic upper classes had lost almost all their lands after Cromwells conquest, as well as the right to public office, practice their religion. They saw the Catholic King James as a means of redressing these grievances, to these ends, under Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, they had raised an army to restore James after the Glorious Revolution. By 1690, they controlled all of Ireland except for the province of Ulster, most of James IIs troops at the Boyne were Irish Catholics, however, there were also Scots-Irish Presbyterians fighting for James II. Conversely, for the Williamites, the war was about maintaining Protestant, in particular, they dreaded a repeat of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which had been marked by widespread killing. For these reasons, Protestants fought en masse for William of Orange, Jamess supporters controlled much of Ireland and the Irish Parliament. James also enjoyed the support of his cousin, Louis XIV, Louis sent 6,000 French troops to Ireland to support the Irish Jacobites. William was already Stadtholder of the Netherlands and was able to call on Dutch, James was a seasoned officer who had proven his bravery when fighting for his brother – King Charles II – in Europe, notably at the Battle of the Dunes. William, although a seasoned commander, was one of historys great generals and had yet to win a major battle. Many of his battles ended in stalemates, prompting at least one historian to argue that William lacked an ability to manage armies in the thick of conflict
2.
Dutch Golden Age
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The Dutch Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterized by the Eighty Years War which ended in 1648, the Golden Age continued in peacetime during the Dutch Republic until the end of the century. The Netherlandss transition from a possession of the Holy Roman Empire in the 1590s to the foremost maritime, in 1568, the Seven Provinces that later signed the Union of Utrecht started a rebellion against Philip II of Spain that led to the Eighty Years War. Antwerp fell on August 17,1585 after a siege, the United Provinces fought on until the Twelve Years Truce, which did not end the hostilities. Under the terms of the surrender of Antwerp in 1585, the Protestant population were given four years to settle their affairs before leaving the city, similar arrangements were made in other places. Protestants were especially well-represented among the craftsmen and rich merchants of the port cities of Bruges, Ghent. More moved to the north between 1585 and 1630 than Catholics moved in the direction, although there were also many of these. Many of those moving north settled in Amsterdam, transforming what was a port into one of the most important ports. The Pilgrim Fathers also spent time there before their voyage to the New World, Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O’Rourke contribute part of the Dutch ascendancy to its Calvinistic ethic, which promoted thrift and education. This contributed to the lowest interest rates and the highest literacy rates in Europe, several other factors also contributed to the flowering of trade, industry, the arts and the sciences in the Netherlands during this time. A necessary condition was a supply of energy from windmills and from peat. The invention of the sawmill enabled the construction of a massive fleet of ships for worldwide trading. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was founded and it was the first-ever multinational corporation, financed by shares that established the first modern stock exchange. This company received a Dutch monopoly on Asian trade and would keep this for two centuries and it became the worlds largest commercial enterprise of the 17th century. Spices were imported in bulk and brought huge profits, due to the efforts and risks involved and this is remembered to this day in the Dutch word peperduur, meaning something is very expensive, reflecting the prices of spices at the time. To finance the trade within the region, the Bank of Amsterdam was established in 1609. According to Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O’Rourke, geography favored the Dutch Republic and they write, The foundations were laid by taking advantage of location, midway between the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic. The Dutch share of European shipping tonnage was enormous, well over half during most of the period of their ascendancy, from here the Dutch traded between China and Japan and paid tribute to the Shogun
3.
Haarlem
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Haarlem is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland and is situated at the edge of the Randstad. Haarlem had a population of 155,758 in 2014 and it is a 15-minute train ride from Amsterdam, and many residents commute to the countrys capital for work. Haarlem was granted city status or stadsrechten in 1245, although the first city walls were not built until 1270, the modern city encompasses the former municipality of Schoten as well as parts that previously belonged to Bloemendaal and Heemstede. Apart from the city, the municipality of Haarlem also includes the part of the village of Spaarndam. Newer sections of Spaarndam lie within the municipality of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude. The city is located on the river Spaarne, about 20 km west of Amsterdam and it has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears the nickname Bloemenstad, for this reason. Haarlem has a history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal. The people on this strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, and the waters of the IJ. Haarlem became wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships, however, as shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age. The town of Halfweg became a suburb, and Haarlem became a bedroom community. Nowadays many of them are on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments, the list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighbourhood, with the majority in the old city centre. The oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century, the name probably comes from Haarlo-heim. This name is composed of three elements, haar, lo and heim, there is not much dispute about the meaning of lo and heim, in Old Dutch toponyms lo always refers to forest and heim to home or house. Haar, however, has several meanings, one of them corresponding with the location of Haarlem on a sand dune, the name Haarlem or Haarloheim would therefore mean home on a forested dune. There was a stream called De Beek, dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal, over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it was filled in, the location of the village was a good one, by the river Spaarne, and by a major road going south to north. By the 12th century it was a town, and Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland
4.
Arnold Houbraken
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Arnold Houbraken was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. Houbraken was sent first to learn threadtwisting from Johannes de Haan, after two years he then studied art with Willem van Drielenburch, who he was with during the rampjaar, the year 1672. He then studied 9 months with Jacobus Leveck and finally, four years with Samuel van Hoogstraten, in 1685 he married Sara Sasbout, and around 1709 he moved from Dordrecht to Amsterdam. Arnold Houbraken painted mythological and religious paintings, portraits and landscapes and his first attempt at an instructive manual for artists was his Emblem book, Inhoud van t Sieraad der Afbeelding, which was meant as a guide of possible painting themes. His registered pupils were Matthijs Balen, Johan Graham, and his son Jacob and his son Jacobus Houbraken was an engraver of portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father. His daughter Antonina Houbraken also became an engraver for an Amsterdam publisher and his daughter Christina Houbraken was also an artist. Arnold Houbrakens books sold well during the entire 18th century. Jacob Campo Weyerman published his version in serial form that was published as a complete set in 1769. Houbrakens engravings of the artists are in cases the only surviving portraits of these people. The first to make a sequel to Houbrakens work was Johan van Gool in 1750-51. Houbraken was very careful to check and double check his sources, excepting those cases where the artist died quite young, or whose oeuvre was lost during various wars, very few artists were included in the Schouburg who do not hang in international museums today. The first modern art historian to publish an update of his work was Adriaan van der Willigen, since then he has remained a valuable resource for art historians. The Schouburgh is part of the Basic Library of the dbnl which contains the 1000 most important works in Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to today
5.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
6.
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem
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He was a member of the second generation of Dutch Italianate landscape painters. These were artists who travelled to Italy, or aspired to, in order to soak up the romanticism of the country, bringing home sketchbooks full of drawings of classical ruins and pastoral imagery. His paintings, of which he produced a number, were in great demand. His landscapes, painted in the Italian style of idealized rural scenes, with hills, mountains, cliffs and trees in a golden dawn are sought after. Berchem also painted inspired and attractive human and animal figures in works of artists, like Allaert van Everdingen, Jan Hackaert, Gerrit Dou, Meindert Hobbema. Born in Haarlem, he received instruction from his father Pieter Claesz, according to Houbraken, Carel de Moor told him that Berchem got his name from two words Berg hem for Save him. An expression used by his fellows in Van Goyens workshop whenever his father chased him there with the intent to beat him, today his name is assumed to come from his fathers hometown of Berchem, Antwerp. According to the RKD he traveled to Italy with Jan Baptist Weenix, works by him are signed both as CBerghem and Berchem. In 1645 he became a member of the Dutch reformed church, around 1650 he travelled to Westphalia with Jacob van Ruisdael, where a dated piece showing Burg Bentheim is recorded. Maybe Berchem went to Italy after this trip and before he moved to Amsterdam - he is not clearly documented in the Netherlands between 1650 and 1656, around 1660 he worked for the engraver Jan de Visscher designing an atlas. In 1661-1670 he is registered in Amsterdam and in 1670 he moved back to Haarlem, but was living back in Amsterdam by 1677 and he was the uncle of Govert van der Leeuw and his brother Pieter
7.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
8.
Brukenthal National Museum
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The collections were officially opened to the public in 1817, making it the oldest institution of its kind in Romania. It is a complex of six museums, which, without being separate entities, are situated in different locations around the city and have their own distinct cultural programmes. The Galleries also include collections of engravings, books, numismatics, the Brukenthal Library is also located inside the Brukenthal Palace. It comprises approximately 300,000 library units, the Museum of History is part of a building which is considered to be the most important ensemble of non-religious Gothic architecture in Transylvania. The museum initially focused its activities on representing the historic characteristics of Sibiu and its surroundings, the Museum of Pharmacology is located in an historical building dated 1569, where one of the oldest pharmacies in present-day Romania was located. It is the basement of this house where Samuel Hahnemann invented homeopathy, some of his phials and plans are on display. The furniture is in Viennese style, the exhibition is organized on the structure of a classical pharmacy that includes two laboratories, a homeopathic sector and a documentation sector. It contains over 6,000 ancient medical instruments and dispensing tools from the time when Sibiu was home to more chemists than anywhere else in Transylvania. At the front, a shop is decked out with wooden counters. A valuable collection of wooden pharmaceutical jars, marked with paint, is also featured, the collections of the museum comprise over 1 million exhibits. The Museum of Arms and Hunting Trophies reflects the evolution in time of weapons, important is as well the collection of trophies belonging to the collections Witting and A. Spiess, the last one comprising 1,058 items acquired in 1963. Opened for the public in 1966 in Spiess House, the exhibition contains now over 1,500 units, some traditional hunting procedures are also exhibited, including contemporary engravings. Aspects of the life and suitable times for hunting them are also presented here. Official website Dutch Art in Brukenthal Museum Muzeul National Brukenthal at Google Cultural Institute
9.
Sibiu
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Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 147,245. Located some 215 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, now the capital of Sibiu County, between 1692 and 1791 and 1849–65 Sibiu was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania, until 1920 it belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Sibiu is one of the most important cultural centres of Romania and was designated the European Capital of Culture for the year 2007, formerly the centre of the Transylvanian Saxons, the old city of Sibiu was ranked as Europes 8th-most idyllic place to live by Forbes in 2008. The city administers the Păltiniș ski resort, in the 14th century, it was already an important trade centre. In 1376, the craftsmen were divided in 19 guilds, Sibiu became the most important ethnic German city among the seven cities that gave Transylvania its German name Siebenbürgen. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became the second-, the first Romanian-owned bank had its headquarters here, as did the ASTRA. Starting from the 1950s and until after 1990, most of the citys ethnic Germans emigrated to Germany, among the roughly 2,000 who have remained is Klaus Johannis, the current President of Romania. Sibiu is situated near the center of Romania at 45. 792784°N24. 152069°E /45.792784,24.152069. The northern and eastern limits of Sibiu are formed by the Târnavelor Plateau, the Cibin river as well as some smaller streams runs through Sibiu. The geographical position of Sibiu makes it one of the most important transportation hubs in Romania with important roads, the following districts are part of Sibiu. Some were villages annexed by the city but most were built as the city developed and increased its surface, the Southern part, including the ASTRA National Museum Complex and the Zoo, also falls within the city limits. Sibius climate is continental with average temperatures of 8 to 9 °C. The average rainfall is 627 l/m2, and there are about 120 days of hard frost annually, as of 2011 census data, Sibiu has a population of 147,245, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census, making it the 14th-largest city in Romania. The ethnic breakdown was as follows, Romanians 95. 9% Hungarians 1. 6% Germans 1. 1% Roma 0. 4% Today, protestants and Roman Catholics represent about 5% of the population. When he was elected mayor in 2000, he was the first German mayor of a city in Romania since World War II, Johannis was overwhelmingly reelected in 2004 and 2008 and his party gained an absolute majority in the city council in that year. The German Forum also won the elections for mayor in the second- and third-most important towns in Sibiu county, Mediaș and Cisnădie, Sibiu is an important economic hub for Romania, with a high rate of foreign investments. It is also an important hub for the manufacturing of components and houses factories belonging to ThyssenKrupp Bilstein-Compa, Takata, Continental. Other local industries are machine components, textiles, agro-industry, the city also contains Romanias second-largest stock exchange, the Sibiu Stock Exchange
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Huchtenburg". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
