William II, Count of Flanders
William III was the lord of Dampierre from 1231 and count of Flanders from 1247 until his death. He was the son of Margaret II of Flanders. Margaret inherited Flanders and Hainault in 1244 and the War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault began between William and his brothers, the Dampierre claimants, the children of Margaret's first marriage to Bouchard of Avesnes. Margaret declared him her heir. In 1246, Louis IX of France intervened to arbitrate the conflict and declared Flanders to William and Hainault to John I of Avesnes. Margaret invested William as count in 1247. In November of that year, William married Beatrice of Brabant, daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen, they had no children. Meanwhile, the fight continued over Namur between the Dampierres and the Avesnes. On 19 May 1250, peace was signed. On 6 June the next year, William died at a tournament in Trazegnies; the war began anew with William's younger brother, taking up Flanders and the Dampierre claim.
Arblaster, Paul. A History of the Low Countries. Palgrave Macmillan. Crouch, David. Tournament. Vol. 4. Hambledon and Continuum. Evergates, Theodore; the Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press. Dunbabin, Jean; the French in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1266–1305. Cambridge University Press. Jordan, William Chester. Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership. Princeton University Press. Lester, Anne E.. Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth Century Champagne. Cornell University Press. Vann, Theresa M.. Queens and Potentates. Academia Press
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, Christmas Eve is observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. Christmas celebrations in the denominations of Western Christianity have long begun on the night of the 24th, due in part to the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset, a practice inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: "And there was evening, there was morning – the first day." Many churches still ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night, Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, in commemoration of his birth; the idea of Jesus being born at night is reflected in the fact that Christmas Eve is referred to as Heilige Nacht in German, Nochebuena in Spanish and in other expressions of Christmas spirituality, such as the song "Silent Night, Holy Night".
Many other varying cultural traditions and experiences are associated with Christmas Eve around the world, including the gathering of family and friends, the singing of Christmas carols, the illumination and enjoyment of Christmas lights and other decorations, the wrapping and opening of gifts, general preparation for Christmas Day. Legendary Christmas gift-bearing figures including Santa Claus, Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas are often said to depart for their annual journey to deliver presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve, although until the Protestant introduction of Christkind in 16th-century Europe, such figures were said to instead deliver presents on the eve of Saint Nicholas' feast day. Roman Catholics and high church Anglicans traditionally celebrate Midnight Mass, which begins either at or sometime before midnight on Christmas Eve; this ceremony, held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Christ, believed to have occurred at night. Midnight Mass is popular in Poland.
In recent years some churches have scheduled their "Midnight" Mass as early as 7 pm. In Spanish-speaking areas, the Midnight Mass is sometimes referred to as Misa de Gallo, or Missa do Galo in Portuguese. In the Philippines, the custom has expanded into the nine-day Simbang Gabi, when Filipinos attend dawn Masses from 16 December, continuing daily until Christmas Eve. In 2009 Vatican officials scheduled the Midnight Mass to start at 10 pm so that the 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI would not have too late a night. Whilst it does not include any kind of Mass, the Church of Scotland has a service beginning just before midnight, in which carols are sung; the Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Year's Eve, however. The Christmas Eve Services are still popular. On Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services. In candlelight services, while singing Silent Night, each member of the congregation receives a candle and passes along their flame, first received from the Christ Candle.
Lutherans traditionally practice Christmas Eve Eucharistic traditions typical of Germany and Scandinavia. "Krippenspiele", special festive music for organ and brass choirs and candlelight services make Christmas Eve one of the highlights in the Lutheran Church calendar. A nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors, is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger and Joseph. Other figures in the scene may include angels and various animals; the figures may be made of any material, arranged in a stable or grotto. The Magi may appear, are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. While most home nativity scenes are packed away at Christmas or shortly thereafter, nativity scenes in churches remain on display until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, midnight services are widespread in regions which are predominantly Lutheran; the old Lutheran tradition of a Christmas Vigil in the early morning hours of Christmas Day can still be found in some regions.
In eastern and middle Germany, congregations still continue the tradition of "Quempas singing": separate groups dispersed in various parts of the church sing verses of the song "He whom shepherds once came Praising" responsively. Methodists celebrate the evening in different ways. Some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families; the mood is solemn, the only visible light is the Advent Wreath, the candles upon the Lord's Table. Others celebrate the evening with services of light, which include singing the song Silent Night as a variety of candles are lit. Other churches have late evening services at 11 pm, so that the church can celebrate Christmas Day together with the ringing of bells at midnight. Others offer Christmas Day services as well; the annual "Nine Lessons and Carols", broadcast from King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, has established itself a Christmas custom in the United Kingdom. It is broadcast outside the UK via the BBC World Service, is bought by broadcasters around the world.
In the Byzantine Rite, Christmas Eve is referred to a
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region experienced a steady population decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded; the 1999 census recorded that the population of the commune of Valenciennes was 41,278, that of the metropolitan area was 399,677. Valenciennes is first mentioned in 693 in a legal document written by Clovis II. In the 843 Treaty of Verdun, it was made a neutral city between the Austrasia. In the 9th century the region was overrun by the Normans, in 881 the town passed to them. In 923 it passed to the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia dependent on the Holy Roman Empire. Once the Empire of the Franks was established, the city began to develop, though the archaeological record has still not revealed all it has to reveal about this period. Under the Ottonian emperors, Valenciennes became the centre of marches on the border of the Empire. In 1008, a terrible famine brought the Plague. According to the local tradition, the Virgin Mary held a cordon around the city which, has since protected its people from the disease.
Since every year at that time, the Valenciennois used to walk around the 14 kilometres road round the town, in what is called the tour of the Holy Cordon. Many Counts succeeded, from 1070 as counts of Hainaut. In 1259 Valenciennes was the site of a General Chapter of the Dominican Order at which Thomas Aquinas together with masters Bonushomo Britto, Florentius and Peter took part in establishing a ratio studiorum or program of studies for the Dominican Order that featured the study of philosophy as an innovation for those not sufficiently trained to study theology; this innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's studium provinciale at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, out of which would develop the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum. In 1285, the currency of Hainaut was replaced by the currency of France: the French écu. Valenciennes was full of activity, with numerous corporations, outside its walls a large number of convents developed, like that of the Dominicans.
In the 14th century, the Tower of Dodenne was built by Albert of Bavaria, where today, the bell is rung in honour of Our Lady of the Holy Cordon. In the 15th century, the County of Hainault, of which Valenciennes is part, was re-attached to Burgundy, losing its autonomy. Valenciennes in this period, had several famous sons – the chronicler Georges Chastellain, the poet Jean Molinet, the miniaturist Simon Marmion, the sculptor Pierre du Préau and the goldsmith Jérôme de Moyenneville). In 1524, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, arrived at Valenciennes, – when Henry II of France allied with him against the Protestants in 1552 – Valenciennes became an early center of Calvinism and in 1562 was location of the first act of resistance against persecution of Protestants in the Spanish Netherlands. On the "Journée des Mals Brûlés" in 1562, a mob freed some Protestants condemned to die at the stake. In the wave of iconoclastic attacks called the Beeldenstorm that swept the Habsburg Netherlands in the summer of 1566, the city was the furthest south to see such an attack on 24 August 1566.
It was one of the first to feel the hand of repression after the siege and fall of the city on 23 March 1567. One of the victims of that repression was the author of the Belgic Confession. Following the "révolte des gueux's victory at Brielle, the army of Louis of Nassau, one of the major commanders of the Dutch rebel forces and supported by the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, invaded the Spanish Netherlands with an army composed of German, English and French soldiers, took Valenciennes on 21 May 1572. However, Louis went on to Mons, the Protestant garrison left behind offered only a feeble defence to the Duke of Alba, at the head of the bulk of the Spanish army, who recaptured Valenciennes in early June 1572, depriving Louis' French allies, of one of their main bases. In 1576, when for a time the Southern Netherlands joined the revolt, the Spanish forces massed at the porte d'Anzin were besieged by Valenciennes. However, in 1580, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma took Valenciennes and Protestantism was eradicated there.
Hereafter, Valenciennes remained under Spanish protection, no longer directly involved in fighting of the Eighty Years' War. With its manufacturers of wool and fine linens, the city was able to become economically independent. In 1591, the Jesuits built a school and the foundations of a church of Sainte-Croix. In 1611, the façade of the town hall was rebuilt in magnificent Renaissance style. In the seventeenth century the Scheldt was channelled between Cambrai and Valenciennes, benefitting Valenciennes' wool and fine arts. To use up flax yarn, women began to make the famous Valenciennes lace; the French army laid siege to the city in 1656. Defending the city, Albert de Merode, marquis de Trélon was injured during a sortie on horseback, died as a result of his injuries and was buried in the Church of St. Paul; the Spanish victory in the Battle of Valenciennes lifted the French siege. In 1677, the armies of Louis XIV of France captured the city and in 1678 the Treaty of Nijmegen gave th
Virtual International Authority File
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. Discussion about having a common international authority started in the late 1990s. After a series of failed attempts to come up with a unique common authority file, the new idea was to link existing national authorities; this would present all the benefits of a common file without requiring a large investment of time and expense in the process. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library and the OCLC on August 6, 2003; the Bibliothèque nationale de France joined the project on October 5, 2007. The project transitioned to being a service of the OCLC on April 4, 2012; the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together. A VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary "see" and "see also" records from the original records, refers to the original authority records.
The data are available for research and data exchange and sharing. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol; the file numbers are being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAF's clustering algorithm is run every month; as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records. Authority control Faceted Application of Subject Terminology Integrated Authority File International Standard Authority Data Number International Standard Name Identifier Wikipedia's authority control template for articles Official website VIAF at OCLC
Adelaide of Holland
Adelaide of Holland, Countess of Hainaut was a Dutch regent. She was Count of Holland and Matilda of Brabant, she was a sister of William II, Count of Holland and King of Germany. She acted as regent for her nephew Count Floris V during his minority. On 9 October 1246, Adelaide married John I of Count of Hainaut. Like her mother, she was a patron of religious houses, her religious interest is reflected in that three of her sons became bishops, her one daughter became an abbess. She insisted on a bilingual education for them. Between 1258 and 1263, Adelaide was regent of Holland in the name of her nephew Floris V, she called herself Guardian of Zeeland. After he came of age, she continued to advise him, she died in 1284 at Valenciennes, but in 1299, with the death of Floris' son John I, it was her own son John II who inherited Holland through her. She gave Town privileges to Schiedam. In it she founded Huis te Riviere, the second largest castle in Holland. Jacob van Maerlant dedicated Geesten, to Adelaide.
With John I, she had the following issue: John II, Count of Hainaut and Holland Baldwin Joanna, abbess of Flines Bouchard, Bishop of Metz Guy, Bishop of Utrecht William, Bishop of Cambrai Floris, stadholder of Zeeland and Prince of Achaea Counts of Hainaut family tree Counts of Holland family tree Pollock, M. A.. Scotland and France after the loss of Normandy, 1204-1296; the Boydell Press. Aleid van Holland at the Institute of Netherlands History Adelaide/Aleid of Holland collected and translated by Professor Joan Ferrante of Columbia University Women's Biography: Adelaide/Aleid of Holland, contains several letters to and from Adelaide
Guy of Avesnes
Guy van Avennes was Bishop of Utrecht from 1301 to 1317. He was descended from the House of Avesnes, he was the brother of John II, Count of Hainaut and Count of Holland, their parents were John I of Avesnes and Adelaide of Holland. It was John II who ensured Guy's appointment as bishop of Utrecht in 1301, instead of Adolf II van Waldeck, he was consecrated bishop by the archbishop of Cologne in 1302, the following year, he brought about a reconciliation between the Fresingen. However, in 1304 he weakened his brother John's position by leading an offensive of Flemish troops which occupied Holland and the Sticht. Guy was captured at the Battle of Duiveland on 20 March 1304. In Guy's absence, the Fresingen seized power in Utrecht with the support of the guilds, whose privileges they fixed in the "Gildenbrief" of 9 May 1304. On 14 September 1305, the guilds' regime had to capitulate to bishop Guy, but from on the city retained a high degree of autonomy. However, it took until 1309 before the king recognised the bishop as Utrecht's secular lord.
In 1311, Guy took his place at the first Council of Vienne, from that date on he was abroad. He knew well that a compromise had to be made between the various parties in the Sticht and in Utrecht itself, so took up a middle-of-the-road position, he managed the possessions of the lordships of Aemstel and of Woerden, as such granted town privileges to Amsterdam in 1306. After his death these lordships definitively devolved to the count of Holland, he was buried in Utrecht Cathedral and his tomb, damaged during the iconoclasm in the 16th century, still survives. He had two daughters: Aleid of Avesnes, married Otto van Asperen van Heuckelom Elburg van Asperen married Dirk van Polanen Otto van Polanen married Johanna van Voorst Maria of Avesnes, married Arnold, Lord of IJsselstein Guyotte van Amstel, heiress of IJsselstein, married John I, Lord of Egmond Baerte van Egmond married first Walraven van Brederode, secondly, Gerrit I van Culemborg Arnold married Jolanda countess von Leiningen Albert, a canon in Utrecht Beatrix, married Ghisbert of Vianen Maria, married Philip van Wassenaer Catherine, married Bartholomeus of Raephorst Antonia, abbess in's-Hertogenbosch Gerrit van Egmond married Wilhelmina van Wateringen Griete married Jan van Almelo G.
C. van Nieuwenhuizen: Gwijde van Avesnes, Bisschop van Utrecht 1301-1317.
