1.
Titian
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Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian /ˈtɪʃən/, was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, during his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, during the course of his long life, Titians artistic manner changed drastically, but he retained a lifelong interest in color. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his pieces, their loose brushwork. The exact date of Titians birth is uncertain, when he was an old man he claimed in a letter to Philip II, King of Spain, to have been born in 1474, but this seems most unlikely. Other writers contemporary to his old age give figures that would equate to birthdates between 1473 and after 1482 and he was the son of Gregorio Vecelli and his wife Lucia. His father was superintendent of the castle of Pieve di Cadore, Gregorio was also a distinguished councilor and soldier. Many relatives, including Titians grandfather, were notaries, and the family of four were well-established in the area, at the age of about ten to twelve he and his brother Francesco were sent to an uncle in Venice to find an apprenticeship with a painter. At that time the Bellinis, especially Giovanni, were the artists in the city. There Titian found a group of men about his own age, among them Giovanni Palma da Serinalta, Lorenzo Lotto, Sebastiano Luciani. Francesco Vecellio, his brother, later became a painter of some note in Venice. A fresco of Hercules on the Morosini Palace is said to have one of Titians earliest works. Others were the Bellini-esque so-called Gypsy Madonna in Vienna, and the Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, now in the Accademia, a Man with a Quilted Sleeve is an early portrait, painted around 1509 and described by Giorgio Vasari in 1568. Scholars long believed it depicted Ludovico Ariosto, but now think it is of Gerolamo Barbarigo, Rembrandt borrowed the composition for his self-portraits. Titian joined Giorgione as an assistant, but many contemporary critics found his work more impressive—for example in exterior frescoes that they did for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Their relationship evidently contained a significant element of rivalry, distinguishing between their work at this period remains a subject of scholarly controversy. A substantial number of attributions have moved from Giorgione to Titian in the 20th century, one of the earliest known Titian works, Christ Carrying the Cross in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, depicting the Ecce Homo scene, was long regarded as by Giorgione. In 1507–1508 Giorgione was commissioned by the state to create frescoes on the re-erected Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Titian and Morto da Feltre worked along with him, and some fragments of paintings remain, probably by Giorgione
2.
King of Hungary
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The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918. Before 1000 AD, Hungary was not recognized as a kingdom, the first King of Hungary, Stephen I. was crowned on 25 December 1000 with the crown Pope Sylvester II had sent him and with the consent of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor. Following King Stephen Is coronation, all the monarchs of Hungary used the title King, from the 13th century a certain process was established to confirm the legitimacy of the King. This meant a level of protection to the integrity of the Kingdom such as that for example stealing the Holy Crown of Hungary was no longer enough to become legitimate King. The King Charles I of Hungary was crowned in May 1301 with a crown in Esztergom by the Archbishop of this city. In this time the Holy Crown wasnt used and he was crowned in Buda by the archbishop of Esztergom, however his third coronation was finally in 1310, in the city of Székesfehérvár, with the Holy Crown and effectuated by the archbishop of Esztergom. Then the Kings coronation was considered absolutely legitimate, a similar situation occurred with the Matthias Corvinus, when he negotiated to get back the Holy Crown which was in the possession of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Then after obtaining it he was legitimately crowned, as in all the traditional monarchies, the heir descended through the male line from a previous King of Hungary. In accordance with Hungarian tradition, this right passed to younger brothers, before passing to the son of the previous King. The founder of the first Hungarian royal house was Árpád, who led his people into the Carpathian Basin in 895 and his descendants, who ruled for more than 400 years, included Saint Stephen I, Saint Ladislaus I, Andrew II, and Béla IV. The same happened later with John Zápolya, who was elected in 1526 after the death of Louis II in the battle of Mohács. After this, the House of Habsburg inherited the throne, over the centuries, the Kings of Hungary acquired or claimed the crowns of several neighboring countries, and they began to use the royal titles connected to those countries. The title Apostolic King was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758, the title of King of Slavonia referred to the territories between the Drava and the Sava Rivers. That title was first used by Ladislaus I and it was also Ladislaus I who adopted the title King of Croatia in 1091. Coloman added the phrase King of Dalmatia to the style in 1105. The title King of Rama, referring to the claim to Bosnia, was first used by Béla II in 1136 and it was Emeric who adopted the title King of Serbia. The phrase King of Galicia was used to indicate the supremacy over Halych, while the title King of Lodomeria referred to Volhynia, in 1233, Béla IV began to use the title King of Cumania which expressed the rule over the territories settled by the Cumans at that time. The phrase King of Bulgaria was added to the style by Stephen V
3.
King of Croatia
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The details of the arrival of the Croats are scarcely documented, c.626, Croats migrate from White Croatia at the invitation of Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius. Between c.641 and c.689 Radoslav converts Croatia to Christianity, in his letter from 925, Pope John X refers to Tomislav as Rex Chroatorum - King of the Croatians. All Croatian rulers after Tomislav held the title of king, from 1102, the reigning King of Hungary is ruler of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia in agreement with the Croatian nobles. Croatia is governed on his behalf by a Ban and a Sabor, after the World War I and the breakup off of Austria-Hungary, Croatia joined a newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Following a brief period of self-rule, that became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats. The name of the kingdom was changed in 1929 amid unitarianist reforms to King of Yugoslavia, during this period, in 1941 Croatia was occupied by the Axis powers along with the rest of Yugoslavia. During the German occupation of Yugoslavia, a puppet-state under Italian protection called the Independent State of Croatia was created with its leader Ante Pavelić. Soon after the creation of the state its government passed three laws on the creation of the crown of Zvonimir, which made the country a kingdom, three days later the Rome treaties were signed. Italian prince Aimone, Duke of Spoleto was designated King of Croatia
4.
Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary
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Vladislaus II, also known as Vladislav II, Władysław II or Wladislas II, was King of Bohemia from 1471 to 1516, and King of Hungary and Croatia from 1490 to 1516. As the eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was expected to inherit Poland, George of Poděbrady, the Hussite ruler of Bohemia, offered to make Vladislaus his heir in 1468. Poděbrady needed Casimir IVs support against the rebellious Catholic noblemen and their ally, Matthias Corvinus, the Diet of Bohemia elected Vladislaus king after Poděbradys death, but he could only rule Bohemia proper, because Matthias occupied Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. Vladislaus tried to reconquer the three provinces with his fathers assistance, but Matthias repelled them, Vladislaus and Matthias divided the Lands of the Bohemian Crown in the Peace of Olomouc in 1479. The Estates of the realm had strengthened their position during the war between the two kings, Vladislauss attempts to promote the Catholics caused a rebellion in Prague and other towns in 1483, forcing him to acknowledge the dominance of the Hussites in the municipal assemblies. The Diet confirmed the right of the Bohemian noblemen and commoners to freely adhere either to Hussitism or Catholicism in 1485, after Matthias Corvinus seized Silesian duchies to grant them to his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, Vladislaus made new alliances against him in the late 1480s. Vladislaus laid claim to Hungary after Matthiass death, the Diet of Hungary elected him king after his supporters defeated John Corvinus. The other two claimants, Maximilian of Habsburg and Vladislauss brother, John Albert, invaded Hungary, but they could not assert their claim and he settled in Buda, enabling the Estates of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to take full charge of state administration. In Hungary, Vladislaus always approved the decisions of the Royal Council and they even annexed territories in Croatia after annihilating the united army of the Croatian barons in the Battle of Krbava Field in 1493. Vladislaus was the eldest son of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and she was the daughter of Albert, King of the Romans, Hungary and Bohemia. Vladislaus was born in Kraków on 1 March 1456 and his mother and father laid claim to Hungary and Bohemia after her childless brother, Ladislaus the Posthumous, died on 23 November 1457. However, their claims were ignored in both Hungary and Bohemia, the Diet of Hungary elected Matthias Corvinus king on 24 January 1458. The Bohemian Estates of the realm proclaimed the Hussite George of Poděbrady king on 2 March, Vladislaus was his fathers heir in Poland and Lithuania. Casimir IV wanted to prepare all his sons for ruling a realm, the historian Jan Długosz was Vladislauss tutor. Pope Paul II excommunicated George of Poděbrady in late 1466 and proclaimed a crusade against him, the Czech Catholic noblemen rose up against the heretic Poděbrady and sought assistance from Matthias Corvinus. Matthias declared war in March 1468 and invaded Moravia, on 16 May 1468, Poděbrady offered Casimir IV to make Vladislaus his heir if Casimir mediated a peace treaty between Bohemia and Hungary. Matthias refused Casimirs offer, but Poděbrady forced him to sign a truce in early 1469, fearing of losing Matthiass support, the Catholic nobles proclaimed him king of Bohemia in Olomouc on 3 May. After Poděbrady repeated his offer of bequeathing Bohemia to Vladislaus, Casimir IV entered into negotiations with the Holy Roman Emperor, Poděbrady died on 22 March 1471
5.
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, and king of Croatia from 1527 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his brother, Charles V. Also, he served as Charles representative in Germany and developed useful relationships with German princes. Ferdinand was able to defend his realm and make it more cohesive. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother, Ferdinands motto was Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus, Let justice be done, though the world perish. Ferdinand shared his customs, culture, and even his birthday with his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon and he was born, raised, and educated in Spain, and did not learn German when he was young. In the summer of 1518 Ferdinand was sent to Flanders following his brother Charless arrival in Spain as newly appointed King Charles I the previous autumn. He returned in command of his brothers fleet but en route was blown off-course and he was Archduke of Austria from 1521 to 1564. Though he supported his brother, Ferdinand also managed to strengthen his own realm, by adopting the German language and culture late in his life, he also grew close to the German territorial princes. After the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, Ferdinand ruled as King of Bohemia and Hungary. Ferdinand also served as his brothers deputy in the Holy Roman Empire during his brothers many absences, according to the terms set at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515, Ferdinand married Anne Jagiellonica, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary on 22 July 1515. Therefore, after the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, at the battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, the success was only partial, as the Diet refused to recognise Ferdinand as hereditary lord of the Kingdom. The Croatian nobles unanimously elected Ferdinand I as their king in the 1527 election in Cetin, in Hungary, Nicolaus Olahus, secretary of Louis, attached himself to the party of Ferdinand but retained his position with his sister, Queen Dowager Mary. Ferdinand was elected King of Hungary by a rump Diet in Pozsony in December 1526, the throne of Hungary became the subject of a dynastic dispute between Ferdinand and John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania. They were supported by different factions of the nobility in the Hungarian kingdom, Ferdinand also had the support of his brother, the Emperor Charles V. Ferdinand defeated Zápolya at the Battle of Tarcal in September 1527 and again in the Battle of Szina in March 1528. Zápolya fled the country and applied to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent for support, a further Ottoman invasion was repelled in 1533. In 1538, in the Treaty of Nagyvárad, Ferdinand induced the childless Zápolya to name him as his successor, but in 1540, just before his death, Zápolya had a son, John II Sigismund, who was promptly elected King by the Diet. Ferdinand invaded Hungary, but the regent, Frater George Martinuzzi, Bishop of Várad, Suleiman marched into Hungary and not only drove Ferdinand out of central Hungary, he forced Ferdinand to agree to pay tribute for his lands in western Hungary
6.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
7.
Buda
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Buda is the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 the western part of the current Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. Buda comprises about one-third of Budapests complete territory and is mostly wooded, notable landmarks include the Buda Castle and the Citadella. The Hungarian presidents residence, Sándor Palace, is also in Buda, Buda became part of Ottoman-ruled central Hungary from 1541 to 1686. It was the capital of the province of Budin during the Ottoman era, by the middle of the seventeenth century Buda had become majority Muslim, largely resulting from an influx of Balkan Muslims. In 1686, two years after the siege of Buda, a renewed European campaign was started to enter Buda. After the reconquest of Buda, bourgeoisie from different parts of southern Germany moved into the almost deserted city, germans — also clinging to their language — partly crowded out, partly assimilated the Hungarians and Serbians they had found here. As the rural population moved into Buda, in the 19th century slowly Hungarians became the majority there. Edmund Hauler, classicist and philologist Andrew III of Hungary, buried in the Greyfriars Church in Buda Jadwiga of Poland, born here, first, capestrano, Italy Pest Óbuda Buda Castle Richard Brookes, Buda, The General Gazetteer, London, J. F. C. John Thomson, Buda, New Universal Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary, London, H. G. Bohn Charles Knight, drawings of Castle Buda over the centuries
8.
Budapest
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Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary, one of the largest cities in the European Union and sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. It has an area of 525 square kilometres and a population of about 1.8 million within the limits in 2016. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the Danube river with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, the history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century and their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–1242. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century, following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity, and Budapest became a global city after its unification in 1873. It also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a power that dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils in 1919, the Battle of Budapest in 1945. Budapest is an Alpha- global city, with strengths in arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts the Budapest Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks and it is the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100 index. Budapest attracts 4.4 million international tourists per year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, further famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. It has around 80 geothermal springs, the worlds largest thermal water system, second largest synagogue. Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College, over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including the Eötvös Loránd University, Central European University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Budapest is the combination of the city names Buda and Pest, One of the first documented occurrences of the combined name Buda-Pest was in 1831 in the book Világ, written by Count István Széchenyi. The origins of the names Buda and Pest are obscure, according to chronicles from the Middle Ages, the name Buda comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory that Buda was named after a person is also supported by modern scholars, an alternative explanation suggests that Buda derives from the Slavic word вода, voda, a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, which was the main Roman settlement in the region. There are also theories about the origin of the name Pest. One of the states that the word Pest comes from the Roman times. According to another theory, Pest originates from the Slavic word for cave, or oven, the first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD
9.
Kingdom of Hungary
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The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom in about the year 1000, by the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world. The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács until 1918, from 1867 territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, the kingdom was nominally restored during the Regency of 1920–46, ending with the Soviet occupation in 1946. From 1102 it also included Croatia, being in union with it. Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I is a holiday in Hungary. The Latin forms Regnum Hungariae or Ungarie, Regnum Marianum, or simply Hungaria, were the used in official documents in Latin from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s. The German name Königreich Ungarn was used officially from 1784 to 1790, the Hungarian name was used in the 1840s, and then again from the 1860s to 1946. The non-official Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország, which is still the colloquial, in Austria-Hungary, the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Officially, the term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians led by Árpád settled the Carpathian Basin in 895, established Principality of Hungary. The Hungarians led several successful incursions to Western Europe, until they were stopped by Otto I, the principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000. The first kings of the kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty and he fought against Koppány and in 998, with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém. The Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians, Stephen I of Hungary was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1083 and an Orthodox saint in 2000. After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles, in 1051 armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes Mountain. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to suffer defeats, before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire, was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary. This period of revolts ended during the reign of Béla I, Hungarian chroniclers praised Béla I for introducing new currency, such as the silver denarius, and for his benevolence to the former followers of his nephew, Solomon. The second greatest Hungarian king, also from the dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary. He was also canonized as a saint, however, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor Coloman
10.
Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)
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Mary of Austria, also known as Mary of Hungary, was queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia as the wife of King Louis II, and was later Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The daughter of Queen Joanna and King Philip I of Castile, Mary married King Louis II of Hungary and their marriage was happy but short and childless. Upon her husbands death following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Queen Mary governed Hungary as regent in the name of the new king, her brother, as governor of the Netherlands, Mary faced riots and a difficult relationship with the Emperor. Throughout her tenure she continuously attempted to ensure peace between the Emperor and the King of France, after her final resignation, the frail Queen moved to Castile, where she died. Having inherited the Habsburg lip and not very feminine looks, Mary was not considered physically attractive and her portraits, letters, and comments by her contemporaries do not assign her the easy Burgundian charm possessed by her grandmother, Duchess Mary of Burgundy, and her aunt Margaret. Nevertheless, she proved to be a determined and skillful politician, as well as a patron of literature, music. Born in Brussels on 15 September 1505, between ten and eleven in the morning, Archduchess Mary of Austria was the child of King Philip I. Her birth was difficult, the Queens life was in danger. On 20 September, she was baptized by Nicolas Le Ruistre, Bishop of Arras, and named after her grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. Her godfather was her grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. On 17 March 1506, Emperor Maximilian promised to marry her to the first son born to King Vladislaus II of Hungary, at the same time, the two monarchs decided that a brother of Mary would marry Vladislaus daughter Anne. Three months later, Vladislaus wife, Anne of Foix-Candale, gave birth to a son, Queen Anne died in childbirth and the royal physicians made great efforts to keep the sickly Louis alive. After the death of Marys father in September 1506, her mothers health began to deteriorate. Mary, Isabella, and Eleanor were educated together at their aunts court in Mechelen and their music teacher was Henry Bredemers. Mary was summoned to the court of her grandfather Maximilian in 1514, on 22 July 1515, Mary and Louis were married in St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna. At the same time, Louis sister Anne was betrothed to an as yet unspecified brother of Mary, due to their age, it was decided that the newly married couple would not live together for a few more years. Anne eventually married Marys brother Ferdinand and came to Vienna, where the double sisters-in-law were educated together until 1516 and that year, Marys father-in-law died, making Louis and Mary king and queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Mary moved to Innsbruck, where she was educated until 1521, Maximilian encouraged her interest in hunting, while childhood lessons prompted an interest in music
11.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
12.
Jagiellon dynasty
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The dynasty reigned in several Central European countries between the 14th and 16th centuries. Members of the dynasty were Kings of Poland, Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Kings of Hungary, one Jagiellonian briefly ruled both Poland and Hungary, and two others ruled both Bohemia and Hungary and then continued in the distaff line as a branch of the House of Habsburg. The cultural flowering had its base in the prosperity of the elites. The name comes from Jogaila, the first Grand Duke of Lithuania to become King of Poland, the rule of Piasts, the earlier Polish ruling house had ended with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Gediminids, the predecessors of the first Jagiellonian, were rulers of medieval Lithuania with the title of Grand Duke. Their realm, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was inhabited by Lithuanians and Ruthenians. Jogaila, the eponymous first ruler of the Jagiellonin dynasty, started as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, as a result of the Union of Krewo he then converted to Christianity and married the 11-year-old Hedwig of Poland. Thereby he became King of Poland and founded the dynasty, angevin rulers were the second and Jagiellonian third dynasty of Polish Kings. In 1385 the Union of Krewo was signed between Queen Jadwiga of Poland and Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, the last pagan state in Europe, the act arranged for Jogailas baptism and for the couples marriage and constituted the beginning of the Polish–Lithuanian union. The Union strengthened both nations in their opposition to the Teutonic Knights and the growing threat of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Uniquely in Europe, the union connected two states located on the opposite sides of the great civilizational divide between the Western or Latin, and the Eastern or Byzantine worlds. The intention of the Union was to create a state under Władysław II Jagiełło. Geographic consequences of the union and the preferences of the Jagiellonian kings accelerated the process of reorientation of Polish territorial priorities to the east. The political influence of the Jagiellonian kings was diminishing during this period, the royal dynasty, however, had a stabilizing effect on Polands politics. The Jagiellonian Era is often regarded as a period of political power, great prosperity, and in its later stage. The offensive that followed lost its impact with the siege of Malbork. The failure to take the fortress and eliminate the Teutonic state had for Poland dire historic consequences in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the Peace of Thorn had given Poland and Lithuania rather modest territorial adjustments, including Samogitia. Afterwards there were negotiations and peace deals that didnt hold, more military campaigns and arbitrations, one attempted, unresolved arbitration took place at the Council of Constance
13.
Anne of Foix-Candale
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Anna of Foix-Candale was Queen of Hungary and Bohemia as the third wife of King Vladislaus II. Anne was the daughter of Gaston of Foix, Count of Candale and her mother was the youngest daughter of Queen Eleanor of Navarre, and Gaston IV, Count of Foix. Anne grew up at the French royal court in Blois and she was educated in Latin and the Classics. The nephew of the French monarch, the Duke of Longueville, is reported to have been in love with her and wished to marry her, but he was prevented because a political marriage was planned for Anne. The elderly, twice-divorced and childless king Vladislaus II of Hungary of the Jagiellon dynasty had been searching a wife capable of giving him a son and his sights were set on a powerful alliance, and Anne, closely related to French royalty, was a good choice. So Anne got engaged in 1500, the marriage contract confirmed in 1501, on her way to Hungary, she was much celebrated in Italy and in Venice, causing a conflict between France and Hungary over who should pay the expenses. On 29 September 1502, Anne wed Vladislaus in Székesfehérvár and she was crowned Queen of Hungary there that same day, Anne brought a French court and French advisors with her to Hungary. The relationship was happy at least from the view, and he is reported to have regarded her as a friend, assistant. She incurred debts in Venice and was said to favour this city all her life, in 1506, her signature was placed on a document alongside the kings regarding an alliance with the Habsburgs. On July 23,1503 Anne gave birth to a daughter, known as Anna Jagellonica, and on July 1,1506 to the male heir. She enjoyed great popularity, but her pregnancies ruined her health and she died in Buda on July 26,1506, a little more than three weeks after the birth of her son due to complications from delivery. Married Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and they inherited Bohemia, Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, born on July 1,1506, killed at the Battle of Mohács on August 29,1526. Married Mary of Habsburg, their marriage was childless, although he fathered illegitimate issue,1895 Anthony, Raoul, Identification et Etude des Ossements des Rois de Navarre inhumés dans la Cathédrale de Lescar. 1931 Birkás, Géza, Francia utazók Magyarországon, acta Universitatis Szegediensis, Sectio philologica, Tomus 16. 228 pp.1948 Byrne, Francis John, Irish Kings and High-Kings,1973 ISBN 0-7134-5882-8 Dobosy, Tibor, Pierre Choque, Anna magyar királyné francia kísérője. 166 pp.1913 Kšír, Josef, K původu české královny Anny,2001 Macek, Josef, Tři ženy krále Vladislava. 1991 Marczali, Henrik, Candalei Anna II, ulászló neje, magyarországi útjának és a menyegzői ünnepélyek leírása. 1877 Solymosi, László, Magyarország történeti kronológiája I, ulászló magyar és cseh királynak házas élete
14.
Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
15.
Croatian language
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It is the official and literary standard of Croatia and one of the official languages of the European Union. Croatian is also one of the languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a recognized minority language in Serbia. Croatian is written in Gajs Latin alphabet, besides the Shtokavian dialect, on which Standard Croatian is based, there are two other main dialects, Chakavian and Kajkavian. It is still used now in parts of Istria, which became a crossroads of various mixtures of Chakavian with Ekavian/Ijekavian/Ikavian dialects, the cultural apex of this 17th century idiom is represented by the editions of Adrianskoga mora sirena by Petar Zrinski and Putni tovaruš by Katarina Zrinska. However, this first linguistic renaissance in Croatia was halted by the execution of Petar Zrinski. Subsequently the Croatian elite in the 18th century gradually abandoned this combined Croatian standard, specifically, three major groups of dialects were spoken on Croatian territory, and there had been several literary languages over four centuries. The leader of the Illyrian movement Ljudevit Gaj standardized the Latin alphabet in 1830–1850, the uniform Neo-Shtokavian then became common in the Croatian elite. In the 1860s, the Zagreb Philological School dominated the Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic, while it was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological Schools, its influence waned with the rise of the Croatian Vukovians. Croatian is commonly characterized by the Ijekavian pronunciation, the use of the Latin alphabet. Some differences are absolute, while some appear mainly in the frequency of use, Croatian, although technically a form of Serbo-Croatian, is sometimes considered a distinct language by itself. Differences between various forms of Serbo-Croatian are often exaggerated for political reasons. Most Croatian linguists regard Croatian as a language that is considered key to national identity. The issue is sensitive in Croatia as the notion of a language being the most important characteristic of a nation is widely accepted. The terms Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat are still used as a term for all these forms by foreign scholars. Within ex-Yugoslavia, the term has largely replaced by the ethnic terms Serbian, Croatian. In 2013, the EU started publishing a Croatian language version of its official gazette, Standard Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia and, along with Standard Bosnian and Standard Serbian, one of three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also official in the regions of Burgenland, Molise, additionally, it has co-official status alongside Romanian in the communes of Carașova and Lupac, Romania. Croatian is officially used and taught at all the universities in Croatia, there is no regulatory body that determines the proper usage of Croatian
16.
Hungarian language
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Hungarian is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary it is spoken by communities of Hungarian people in neighbouring countries. Like Finnish and Estonian, it belongs to the Uralic language family, its closest relatives being Mansi and it is one of several European languages not part of the Indo-European languages, and the most widely-spoken European language that does not belong to the Indo-European family. The Hungarian name for the language is magyar or magyar nyelv, the word Magyar is used as an English and Hungarian word to refer to Hungarian people as an ethnic group. Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family, the name of Hungary could be a result of regular sound changes of Ungrian/Ugrian, and the fact that the Eastern Slavs referred to Hungarians as Ǫgry/Ǫgrove seemed to confirm that. Current literature favors the hypothesis that it comes from the name of the Turkic tribe Onogur, there are numerous regular sound correspondences between Hungarian and the other Ugric languages. For example, Hungarian /aː/ corresponds to Khanty /o/ in certain positions, for example, Hungarian ház house vs. Khanty xot house, and Hungarian száz hundred vs. Khanty sot hundred. The distance between the Ugric and Finnic languages is greater, but the correspondences are also regular, during the later half of the 19th century, a competing hypothesis proposed a Turkic affinity of Hungarian. Following an academic debate known as Az ugor-török háború, the Finno-Ugric hypothesis was concluded the sounder of the two, foremost based on work by the German linguist Josef Budenz. The traditional view argues that the Hungarian language separated from its Ugric relatives in the first half of the 1st millennium b. c. e. in western Siberia, east of the southern Urals. The Hungarians gradually changed their lifestyle from settled hunters to nomadic pastoralists, in Hungarian, Iranian loans date back to the time immediately following the breakup of Ugric and probably span well over a millennium. Among these include tehén ‘cow’, tíz ‘ten’, tej ‘milk’, increasing archaeological evidence from present-day southern Bashkortostan found in the previous decades confirms the existence of Hungarian settlements between the Volga River and Ural Mountains. The Onogurs later had a influence on the language, especially between the 5th-9th centuries. This layer of Turkic loans is large and varied, and includes words borrowed from Oghur Turkic, e. g. borjú ‘calf’, dél ‘noon, many words related to agriculture, to state administration or even to family relations have such backgrounds. Hungarian syntax and grammar were not influenced in a dramatic way during these 300 years. After the arrival of the Hungarians into the Carpathian Basin the language came into contact with different speech communities, Turkic loans from this period come mainly from the Pechenegs and Cumanians who settled in Hungary during the 12th-13th centuries, e. g. koboz ‘cobza’, komondor ‘mop dog’. Hungarian borrowed many words from especially the neighbouring Slavic languages, in exchange, these languages also borrowed words from Hungarian, e. g. Serbo-Croatian ašov from Hung ásó ‘spade’. Approximately 1. 6% of the Romanian lexicon is of Hungarian origin, on the basis of the growing genetic evidence, the accepted origin theory is contested by geneticists too
17.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
18.
Ottoman Hungary
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Ottoman Hungary was the territory of Medieval Hungary which was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1699. Ottoman rule covered mostly the central and southern territories of the former medieval Kingdom of Hungary as almost the entire region of the Great Hungarian Plain, under the reign of Louis II Jagiellon, internal dissentions divided the nobility. Provoked into war by diplomatic insult, Suleyman the Magnificent attacked the Kingdom of Hungary and he did not hesitate to launch an attack against the weakened kingdom, whose smaller, badly led army was defeated on 29 August 1526 at the Battle of Mohács. Thus he became influential in the Kingdom of Hungary, while his semi-vassal, named John I Zápolya, Suleyman went further and tried to crush Austrian forces, but his siege of Vienna in 1529 failed after the onset of winter forced his retreat. The title of king of Hungary was disputed between Zápolya and Ferdinand until 1540, whereas a great many of the 17,000 and 19,000 Ottoman soldiers in service in the Ottoman fortresses in the territory of present-day Hungary were Orthodox and Muslim Balkan Slavs. Southern Slavs were also acting as akıncıs and other light troops intended for pillaging in the territory of present-day Hungary, in these times, territory of present-day Hungary began to undergo changes due to the Ottoman occupation. Vast lands remained unpopulated and covered with woods, the life of the inhabitants on the Ottoman side was unsafe. Peasants fled to the woods and marshes, forming guerrilla bands, eventually, the territory of present-day Hungary became a drain on the Ottoman Empire, swallowing much of its revenue into the maintenance of a long chain of border forts. However, some parts of the economy flourished, in the huge unpopulated areas, townships bred cattle that were herded to south Germany and northern Italy - in some years they exported 500,000 head of cattle. Wine was traded to the Czech lands, Austria and Poland, following this treaty, the members of the Habsburg dynasty administered much enlarged Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. In the 1540s the total of the four fortresses of Buda, Pest, Székesfehérvár. The number of Ottoman garrison troops stationed in Ottoman Hungary vary, in 1640 when the front remained relatively quiet,8,000 Janissary supported by an undocumented number of local recruits was sufficient to garrison the whole of the Eyalet of Budin. The territory was divided into Eyalets, which were divided into Sanjaks. At first, Ottoman-controlled territories in present-day Hungary were part of the Budin Eyalet, later, new eyalets were formed, Temeşvar Eyalet, Zigetvar Eyalet, Kanije Eyalet, Egir Eyalet, and Varat Eyalet. Likewise, Budin, Zigetvar, Kanije and Egir eyalets also included parts of present-day Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, pashas and Sanjak-Beys were responsible for administration, jurisdiction and defense. The Ottomans only interest was to secure their hold on the territory, the Sublime Porte became the sole landowner and managed about 20 percent of the land for its own benefit, apportioning the rest among soldiers and civil servants. The Ottoman landlords were interested mainly in squeezing as much wealth from the land as quickly as possible, of major importance to the Sublime Porte was the collection of taxes. Taxation left little for the landlords to collect, Most of the nobility
19.
St. Vitus Cathedral
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The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus and this cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the largest and most important church in the country. Cathedral dimensions are 124 by 60 metres, the tower is 96.5 metres high, front towers 82 metres. The current cathedral is the third of a series of buildings at the site. The first church was an early Romanesque rotunda founded by Wenceslaus I and this patron saint was chosen because Wenceslaus had acquired a holy relic – the arm of St. Vitus – from Emperor Henry I. It is also possible that Wenceslaus, wanting to convert his subjects to Christianity more easily, two religious populations, the increasing Christian and decreasing pagan community, lived simultaneously in Prague castle at least until the 11th century. A much larger and more representative romanesque basilica was built in its spot, though still not completely reconstructed, most experts agree it was a triple-aisled basilica with two choirs and a pair of towers connected to the western transept. The design of the nods to Romanesque architecture of the Holy Roman Empire, most notably to the abbey church in Hildesheim. The southern apse of the rotunda was incorporated into the transept of the new church because it housed the tomb of St. Wenceslaus. A bishops mansion was built south of the new church. Construction of the present-day Gothic Cathedral began on 21 November 1344, king John of Bohemia laid the foundation stone for the new building. The first master builder was a Frenchman Matthias of Arras, summoned from the Papal Palace in Avignon, however, he lived to build only the easternmost parts of the choir, the arcades and the ambulatory. The slender verticality of Late French Gothic and clear, almost rigid respect of proportions distinguish his work today, after Matthias death in 1352, 23-year-old Peter Parler assumed control of the cathedral workshop as master builder. He was son of the architect of the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster in Schwäbisch Gmünd, initially, Parler only worked on plans left by his predecessor, building the sacristy on the north side of the choir and the chapel on the south. Once he finished all that Matthias left unfinished, he continued according to his own ideas, Parlers bold and innovative design brought in a unique new synthesis of Gothic elements in architecture. This is best exemplified in the vaults he designed for the choir, the so-called Parlers vaults or net-vaults have double diagonal ribs that span the width of the choir-bay. The crossing pairs of ribs create a construction, which considerably strengthens the vault. They also give a lively ornamentation to the ceiling, as the interlocking vaulted bays create a zigzag pattern the length of the cathedral
20.
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Maximilian I was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was always too risky. He was the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and he ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his fathers reign, from c.1483 to 1493. Charles father Philip died in 1506, so Charles succeeded Maximilian as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Maximilian was born at Wiener Neustadt on 22 March 1459. His father, Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, named him for an obscure saint whom Frederick believed had once warned him of imminent peril in a dream, in his infancy, he and his parents were besieged in Vienna by Albert of Austria. One source relates that, during the sieges bleakest days, the prince would wander about the castle garrison, begging the servants. The young prince was an excellent hunter, his hobby was the hunting for birds as a horse archer. The reigning duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was the political opponent of Maximilians father Frederick III. After the Siege of Neuss, he was successful, the wedding between Maximilian and Mary took place on the evening of 16 August 1477. Maximilians wife had inherited the large Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her fathers death in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Already before his coronation as the King of the Romans in 1486, Maximilian decided to secure this distant and extensive Burgundian inheritance to his family, the House of Habsburg, at all costs. Maximilian undertook the defence of his wifes dominions from an attack by Louis XI and defeated the French forces at Guinegate, the wedding contract between Maximilian and Mary stipulated that only the children of bride and groom had a right to inherit from each, not the surviving parent. Mary tried to bypass this rule with a promise to transfer territories as a gift in case of her death, but her plans were confounded. After Marys death in an accident on 27 March 1482 near the Wijnendale Castle, Maximilians aim was now to secure the inheritance to one of his and Marys children. Some of the Netherlander provinces were hostile to Maximilian, and they signed a treaty with Louis XI in 1482 that forced Maximilian to give up Franche-Comté and they openly rebelled twice in the period 1482–1492, attempting to regain the autonomy they had enjoined under Mary. Flemish rebels managed to capture Philip and even Maximilian himself, Maximilian continued to govern Marys remaining inheritance in the name of Philip the Handsome. After the regency ended, Maximilian and Charles VIII of France exchanged these two territories for Burgundy and Picardy in the Treaty of Senlis, thus a large part of the Netherlands stayed in the Habsburg patrimony. Maximilian was elected King of the Romans on 16 February 1486 in Frankfurt-am-Main at his fathers initiative and he became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father in 1493. Much of Austria was under Hungarian rule when he took power, in 1490, Maximilian reconquered the territory and entered Vienna
21.
First Congress of Vienna
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Previously, Vladislaus and Maximilian had agreed on a Habsburg-Jagiellon mutual-succession treaty in 1506. It became a point in the history of central Europe. The Jagiellonians had been facing threats on all fronts, from the Emperor, the Russians, the Teutonic Order under Albert of Prussia. The city of Smolensk fell to the Russians in 1514, however, Lithuanian and Polish forces decisively defeated the Russian army at the Battle of Orsha on 8 September 1514, changing the balance of power. The Emperor promised to cease his support of Moscow against Lithuania and Poland, maximilan and Vladislaus decided in the congress, their mutual succession treaty was further confirmed by a double wedding. Accordingly, Vladislauss only son, Louis, married the Emperors granddaughter Mary, the Habsburg claims to the succession in Hungary and Bohemia were advanced substantially by the marriages. A woodcut by Albrecht Dürer commemorates the wedding on 22 July 1515. Borderlands of Western Civilization, A History of East Central Europe, Oskar Halecki,1952
22.
Anne of Bohemia and Hungary
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Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, sometimes known as Anna Jagellonica, Queen of the Romans, Bohemia and Hungary as the wife of King Ferdinand I, later Holy Roman Emperor. She was the child and only daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary. She was a sister of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. Her maternal grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale and Catherine de Foix, the death of Vladislaus II on 13 March 1516 left both siblings in the care of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. It was arranged that Anna marry his grandson, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, second son of Queen regnant Joanna of Castile and her husband and co-ruler. Anna married Ferdinand on 26 May 1521 in Linz, Austria, at the time Ferdinand was governing the Habsburg hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. It was stipulated that Ferdinand should succeed Annes brother in case he died without male heirs and her brother Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács against Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire on 29 August 1526. This left the thrones of both Bohemia and Hungary vacant, Ferdinand claimed both kingdoms and was elected King of Bohemia on 24 October of the same year, making Anna Queen of Bohemia. Hungary was a difficult case. Suleiman had annexed much of its lands, the resulting conflict between the two rivals and their successors lasted until 1571. In 1531, Ferdinands older brother Charles V recognised Ferdinand as his successor as Holy Roman Emperor, Anna and Ferdinand had fifteen children, all of whom were born in Bohemia or Hungary. Both of these kingdoms had suffered for centuries from premature deaths among heirs, meanwhile, Anna served as queen consort of Bohemia and as one of three living queens of Hungary until her death. She died in Prague, days after giving birth to her last daughter Joanna, in 1556, Charles V abdicated and Ferdinand succeeded as emperor, nine years after Annas death. Media related to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
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Charles V was ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506. He voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556, through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four square kilometers and were the first to be described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Charles was the heir of three of Europes leading dynasties, the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and Trastámara and he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and he was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, the personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish Empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charless reign, enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios. The struggle with the Ottoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the Mediterranean, after seizing most of eastern and central Hungary in 1526, the Ottomans’ advance was halted at their failed Siege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother Ferdinand, in the Mediterranean, although there were some successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans’ increasing naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary Corsairs. Charles opposed the Reformation and in Germany he was in conflict with the Protestant Princes of the Schmalkaldic League who were motivated by religious and political opposition to him. Once the rebellions were quelled the essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal to Charles throughout his rule, Charles’s Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec, Castillian control was extended across much of South and Central America. The resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain. Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 34 years of rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’s son Philip II. The two empires would remain allies until the 18th century, Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the Habsburg Netherlands. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life and he was tutored by William de Croÿ, and also by Adrian of Utrecht. He also gained a decent command of German, though he never spoke it as well as French, a witticism sometimes attributed to Charles is, I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse
24.
Thaler
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The thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in the many currencies called dollar and, until recently and this original Bohemian thaler carried a lion, from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia, on its reverse side. Etymologically, Thal is German for valley - a thaler is a person or a thing from the valley, the Czech spelling was tolar, many varieties of the term are used in different languages. In the 1902 spelling reform, the German spelling was changed from Thal and Thaler to Tal and Taler, the roots and development of the thaler-sized silver coin date back to the mid-15th century. In 1474 a 9-gram lira was issued but it was in 1484 that Archduke Sigismund of Tirol issued the first truly revolutionary silver coin and this was a very rare coin, almost a trial piece, but it did circulate so successfully that demand could not be met. Finally, with the silver deposits—being mined at Schwaz—to work with and his mint at Hall, Sigismund issued, in 1486, large numbers of the first true thaler-sized coin, the Guldengroschen, nicknamed the guldiner, was an instant and unqualified success. Soon it was being copied widely by many states who had the necessary silver, by 1518, guldiners were popping up everywhere in central Europe. Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, was portrayed on the coin along with the Bohemian lion, similar coins began to be minted in neighbouring valleys rich in silver deposits, each named after the particular thal or valley from which the silver was extracted. There were soon so many of them that these coins began to be known more widely as thaler in German. From these earliest thaler developed the new thaler – the coin that the Holy Roman Empire had been looking to create as a standard for trade between the regions of Europe, the original Joachimsthaler Guldengroschen was one ounce in weight. The Empires Reichstaler was defined as containing 400.99 grains of silver, in the 17th century, some Joachimsthalers were in circulation in the Tsardom of Russia, where they were called yefimok - a distortion of the first half of the name. The zenith of thaler minting occurred in the late 16th and 17th centuries with the so-called multiple thalers, the first were minted in Brunswick, and indeed the majority were struck there. Some of these coins reached colossal size, as much as sixteen normal thalers, the original reason for minting these colossal coins, some of which exceeded a full pound of silver and being over 12 cm in diameter, is uncertain. The name löser most likely was derived from a gold coin minted in Hamburg called the Portugalöser. Some of the silver löser reached this value, but not all, eventually the term was applied to numerous similar coins worth more than a single thaler. These coins are rare, the larger ones often costing tens of thousands of dollars. Few circulated in any real sense so they remain in well-preserved condition. In the Holy Roman Empire, the thaler was used as the standard against which the various states currencies could be valued, one standard also adopted by Prussia was the Reichsthaler, which contained 1⁄14 of a Cologne mark of silver
25.
Bohemia
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Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. Bohemia was a duchy of Great Moravia, later an independent principality, a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, after World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions with sizeable German-speaking minorities of all three Czech lands were joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland, in 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which become a separate state in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was a unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its lands. Bohemia was bordered in the south by Upper and Lower Austria, in the west by Bavaria and in the north by Saxony and Lusatia, in the northeast by Silesia, and in the east by Moravia. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, the Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia and the Battle of Mutina. After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps, much later Roman authors refer to the area they had once occupied as Boiohaemum. The earliest mention was by Tacitus Germania 28, and later mentions of the name are in Strabo. The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *haimaz home and this Boiohaemum was apparently isolated to the area where King Marobods kingdom was centred, within the Hercynian forest. The Czech name Čechy is derived from the name of the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, Bohemia, like neighbouring Bavaria, is named after the Boii, who were a large Celtic nation known to the Romans for their migrations and settlement in northern Italy and other places. Another part of the nation moved west with the Helvetii into southern France, to the south, over the Danube, the Romans extended their empire, and to the southeast in Hungaria, were Sarmatian peoples. In the area of modern Bohemia the Marcomanni and other Suebic groups were led by their king Marobodus and he took advantage of the natural defenses provided by its mountains and forests. In late classical times and the early Middle Ages, two new Suebic groupings appeared to the west of Bohemia in southern Germany, the Alemanni, many Suebic tribes from the Bohemian region took part in such movements westwards, even settling as far away as Spain and Portugal. With them were also tribes who had pushed from the east, such as the Vandals, other groups pushed southwards towards Pannonia. These are precursors of todays Czechs, though the amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves, the first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia. Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samos tribal confederation and his death marked the end of the old Slavonic confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia. Other sources divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare, Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century
26.
Dollar
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Dollar is the name of more than twenty currencies, including those of the United States, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Liberia, Jamaica and Namibia. Generally, one dollar is divided into one hundred cents, on 15 January 1520, the Czech Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins from silver mined locally in Joachimsthal and marked on reverse with the Czech lion. The coins were called joachimsthaler, which became shortened in common usage to thaler or taler, the German name Joachimsthal literally means Joachims valley or Joachims dale. A later Dutch coin also depicting a lion was called the leeuwendaler or leeuwendaalder, the Dutch Republic produced these coins to accommodate its booming international trade. The leeuwendaler circulated throughout the Middle East and was imitated in several German and Italian cities and this coin was also popular in the Dutch East Indies and in the Dutch New Netherland Colony. It was in throughout the Thirteen Colonies during the 17th. The currencies of Romania and Bulgaria are, to this day, the modern American-English pronunciation of dollar is still remarkably close to the 17th century Dutch pronunciation of daler. Some well-worn examples circulating in the Colonies were known as dog dollars, Spanish pesos – having the same weight and shape – came to be known as Spanish dollars. By the time of the American Revolution, Spanish dollars gained significance because they backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies, common in the Thirteen Colonies, Spanish dollars were even legal tender in one colony, Virginia. On April 2,1792, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton reported to Congress the precise amount of found in Spanish dollar coins in common use in the states. As a result, the United States dollar was defined as a unit of silver weighing 371 4/16th grains. It was specified that the money of account of the United States should be expressed in those same dollars or parts thereof, in an act passed in January 1837, the dollars alloy was set at 15%. Subsequent coins would contain the amount of pure silver as previously. On February 21,1853, the quantity of silver in the coins was reduced. However, the dollars constitutional meaning has remained unchanged through the years, silver was mostly removed from U. S. coinage by 1965 and the dollar became a free-floating fiat currency without a commodity backing defined in terms of real gold or silver. The US Mint continues to make silver $1-denomination coins, but these are not intended for general circulation, there are many quotes in the plays of William Shakespeare referring to dollars as money. This might be supported by a reference to the sum of ten dollars in Macbeth. In 1804, a British five-shilling piece, or crown, was sometimes called dollar and it was an overstruck Spanish eight real coin, the original of which was known as a Spanish dollar
27.
Holy Roman Emperor
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The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors, until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany, in theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares among the other Catholic monarchs, in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, effectively became hereditary holders of the title, after the Reformation many of the subject states and most of those in Germany were Protestant while the Emperor continued to be Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by the last Emperor as a result of the collapse of the polity during the Napoleonic wars, from the time of Constantine I the Roman emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. In the west, the title of Emperor was revived in 800, as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was known as the Investiture Controversy. After Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, no pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles Vs coronation, all succeeding emperors were called elected Emperor due to the lack of papal coronation, the term sacrum in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, the final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empires final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was August Emperor of the Romans, the word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, the English term Holy Roman Emperor is a modern shorthand for emperor of the Holy Roman Empire not corresponding to the historical style or title. Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors, elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The Electoral council was set at seven princes by the Golden Bull of 1356, another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the exception of Charles VII. Maximilian I and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope, Maximilian therefore named himself Elected Roman Emperor in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors, of his successors only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation
28.
George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
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George of Brandenburg-Ansbach, known as George the Pious, was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern. He was born in Ansbach, the third of eight sons of Margrave Frederick the Elder and his wife Sophia of Poland, daughter of Casimir IV of Poland, through his mother, he was related to the royal court in Buda. He entered the service of his uncle, King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, by the further appropriation of the Duchy of Jägerndorf, George came into possession of all Upper Silesia. As the owner and mortgagee of these territories he prepared the way for the introduction of the Protestant Reformation, the first reformatory writings began the work of winning him over to the evangelical cause. The study of Luthers translation of the New Testament, which appeared in 1522, after the accession of King Louis II, George was aided in his reforming efforts by Queen Maria, a sister of Charles V and Ferdinand I, who was favorably inclined toward the new doctrine. As the adviser of the king, George firmly advocated the cause of the new gospel against the influences and intrigues of his clerical opponents. But it was his own influence, energy, and practical spirit that introduced the new doctrine and founded a new evangelical. Owing to his marriage with a Bavarian princess and to his command in the imperial service, his brother was allied more closely with the old church. George protested against such half-measures and showed his dissatisfaction with the resolutions of the state assembly of October 1526. After its introduction in Nuremberg and his territories in Franconia, it was introduced in his dominions in Upper Silesia. Georges influence manifested itself also in the development of the German Reformation as a whole, but neither at the Convention of Schwabach nor at that of Schmalkalden did George approve armed resistance against the emperor and his party, even in self-defense. He opposed the emperor energetically at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, King Ferdinand made George the most alluring offers of Silesian possessions if he would support the emperor, but he strongly rejected them. Next to the elector of Saxony, he stands foremost among the princes who defended the reformed faith. After the death of his cousin, Joachim I, who was a strict Romanist, the Diet of Regensburg was the last religious meeting which he attended. He is one of the figures on the Prussian Homage painting by Jan Matejko, George went on to marry three times, First to Beatrice de Frangepan, the marriage produced no children. Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach married John George, Elector of Brandenburg, barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach Dorothy Catherine of Brandenburg-Ansbach married in 1556 Henry V of Plauen, Burgrave of Meissen. George Frederick, who became Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Regent of the Duchy of Prussia and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. article name needed. New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, london and New York, Funk and Wagnalls
29.
Suleiman the Magnificent
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Suleiman I, commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Kanuni in his realm, was the tenth and longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to his death in 1566. Under his administration, the Ottoman state ruled over 15 to 25 million people, Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empires economic, military and political power. Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies in conquering the Christian strongholds of Belgrade and he annexed much of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids and large areas of North Africa as far west as Algeria. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, at the helm of an expanding empire, Suleiman personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law. His reforms, carried out in conjunction with the chief judicial official Ebussuud Efendi. He was a poet and goldsmith, he also became a great patron of culture, overseeing the Golden age of the Ottoman Empire in its artistic, literary. Breaking with Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married Hürrem Sultan, a woman from his harem, a Christian of Rusyn origin who converted to Islam, and their son Selim II succeeded Suleiman following his death in 1566 after 46 years of rule. Suleimans other potential heirs Mehmed and Mustafa had died, the former from smallpox and his other son Bayezid was executed in 1561 on Suleimans orders, along with his four sons, after a rebellion. Although scholars no longer believe that the empire declined after his death, in the decades after Suleiman, the empire began to experience significant political, institutional, and economic changes, a phenomenon often referred to as the Transformation of the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent, as he was known in the West, was also called Suleiman the First and it is unclear when exactly the term Kanunî first came to be used as an epithet for Suleiman. It is entirely absent from sixteenth and seventeenth-century Ottoman sources, Suleiman was born in Trabzon along the east coast of the Black Sea to Şehzade Selim, probably on 6 November 1494, although this date is not known with absolute certainty. His mother was Hafsa Sultan, a convert to Islam of unknown origins, at the age of seven, Suleiman was sent to study science, history, literature, theology and military tactics in the schools of the imperial Topkapı Palace in Constantinople. As a young man, he befriended Pargalı Ibrahim, a slave who became one of his most trusted advisers. From the age of seventeen, he was appointed as the governor of first Kaffa, then Manisa, upon the death of his father, Selim I, Suleiman entered Constantinople and ascended to the throne as the tenth Ottoman Sultan. Facial hair is evident but only barely, the sultan appears friendly and in good humor. Rumor has it that Suleiman is aptly named, enjoys reading, is knowledgeable, some historians claim that in his youth Suleiman had an admiration for Alexander the Great. Upon succeeding his father, Suleiman began a series of military conquests, Suleiman encircled Belgrade and began a series of heavy bombardments from an island in the Danube. Belgrade, with a garrison of only 700 men, and receiving no aid from Hungary, the fall of Christendoms major strongholds spread fear across Europe
30.
Papal States
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The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Romagna and these holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy. By 1861, much of the Papal States territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy, only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Popes temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Vatican by signing the Lateran Treaty, granting the Vatican City State sovereignty. The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the territories were also referred to variously as the State of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States. For its first 300 years the Catholic Church was persecuted and unrecognized and this system began to change during the reign of the emperor Constantine I, who made Christianity legal within the Roman Empire, and restoring to it any properties that had been confiscated. The Lateran Palace was the first significant new donation to the Church, other donations followed, primarily in mainland Italy but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire. But the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, the seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the 6th century. Beginning In 535, the Byzantine Empire, under emperor Justinian I, launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated Italys political, just as these wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. While the popes remained Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, nevertheless, the pope and the exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the took a ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards. In practice, the papal efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the exarch, a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprands Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II. When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. In 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III, zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, later granted Pepin the title Patrician of the Romans. Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756, Pepin defeated the Lombards – taking control of northern Italy – and made a gift of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the precise nature of the relationship between the popes and emperors – and between the Papal States and the Empire – is disputed. Events in the 9th century postponed the conflict, the Holy Roman Empire in its Frankish form collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagnes grandchildren
31.
Rhodes
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Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
32.
Belgrade
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Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and its name translates to White city. The urban area of the City of Belgrade has a population of 1.34 million, one of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city and it was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid-2nd century. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo and it frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841, northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars, Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006. Belgrade has an administrative status within Serbia and it is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council, City of Belgrade covers 3. 6% of Serbias territory, and 22. 5% of the countrys population lives within its administrative limits. It is classified as a Beta- global city, chipped stone tools found at Zemun show that the area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these belong to the Mousterian industry, which are associated with Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also discovered there, indicating occupation between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with the Neolithic Starčevo culture, there are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo. The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture, a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements which is named for a site in the Belgrade region. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrades geographical location comes from ancient myths, the rock overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers has been identified as one of the place in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians ruled this area prior to the Roman conquest, Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi, after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it Singidūn. In 34–33 BC the Roman army led by Silanus reached Belgrade, jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
33.
Pincer movement
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The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks of an enemy formation. The name comes from visualizing the action as the attacking forces pinching the enemy. The pincer movement typically occurs when opposing forces advance towards the center of an army that responds by moving its forces to the enemys flanks to surround it. At the same time, a layer of pincers may attack on the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units. A full pincer movement leads to the attacking army facing the enemy in front, if attacking pincers link up in the enemys rear, the enemy is encircled. Such battles often end in surrender or destruction of the enemy force and they can attack the encirclement from the inside to escape, or a friendly external force can attack from the outside to open an escape route. Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, speculated on the maneuver, the maneuver may have first been used at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The historian Herodotus describes how the Athenian general Miltiades deployed 10,000 Athenian and 900 Plataean hoplite forces in a U-formation, with the wings manned much more deeply than the centre. His enemy outnumbered him heavily, and Miltiades chose to match the breadth of the Persian battle line by thinning out the centre of his forces while reinforcing the wings, the tactic was used by Alexander the Great at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. Launching his attack at the Indian left flank, the Indian king Porus reacted by sending the cavalry on the right of his formation around in support. Alexander had positioned two cavalry units on the left of his formation, hidden from view, under the command of Coenus and Demitrius, the units were then able to follow Poruss cavalry around, trapping them in a classic pincer movement. That tactically-astute move from Alexander was key in ensuring what many regard as his last great victory, the most famous example of its use was at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, when Hannibal executed the maneuver against the Romans. Daniel Morgan used it effectively at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781 in South Carolina, many consider Morgans cunning plan at Cowpens the tactical masterpiece of the American War of Independence. Zulu impis used a version of the manoeuvre that they called the buffalo horn formation, genghis Khan used a rudimentary form known colloquially as the horns tactic. Two enveloping flanks of horsemen surrounded the enemy, but they usually remained unjoined, leaving the enemy an escape route to the rear and it was key to many of Genghiss early victories over other Mongolian tribes. Even in the era, the manoeuvre was used across many military cultures. In another battle at Kars in 1745, Nader routed the Ottoman army, the Ottoman army soon after collapsed under the pressure of the encirclement. The manoeuvre was used in the blitzkrieg of the forces of Nazi Germany during World War II
34.
Kingdom of Bohemia
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The Kingdom of Bohemia, sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czech Republic. It was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia ruled also the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia and parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria. Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the seat in the late 14th century. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire. The Czech language was the language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627. German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech national revival in the 19th century. German was also used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler, following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. In 1204 Ottokars royal status was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III and it was officially recognized in 1212 by the Golden Bull of Sicily issued by Emperor Frederick II, elevating the Duchy of Bohemia to Kingdom status. Under these terms, the Czech king was to be exempt from all obligations to the Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. The imperial prerogative to ratify each Bohemian ruler and to appoint the bishop of Prague was revoked, the kings successor was his son Wenceslaus I, from his second marriage. Corresponding with the Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, four other military orders were present in Bohemia, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160, the Order of Saint Lazarus from the late 12th century, 1200–1421, and the Knights Templar from 1232–1312. The 13th century was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia, at the same time, the Mongol invasions absorbed the attention of Bohemias eastern neighbors, Hungary and Poland. Přemysl Ottokar II married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg and he thereby acquired Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and part of Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, and he was called the king of iron and gold. He campaigned as far as Prussia, where he defeated the natives and in 1256, founded a city he named Královec in Czech
35.
Lady-in-waiting
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A lady-in-waiting or Court Lady is a female personal assistant at a court, royal or feudal, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family in good society, although she may or may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a companion to her mistress than a servant. In courts where polygamy was practiced, a lady was formally available to the monarch for sexual services. Lady-in-waiting or court lady is often a term for women whose relative rank, title. The development of the office of lady-in-waiting in Europe is connected to that of the development of a royal court, in the late 12th-century, the queens of France are confirmed to have had their own household, and noblewomen are mentioned as ladies-in-waiting. A number of tribes and cultural areas in the African continent, within certain traditional states of the Bini and Yoruba peoples in Nigeria, the queen mothers and high priestesses were considered ritually male due to their social eminence. Due to this fact, they were often attended on by women who belonged to their harems in much the way as their actually male counterparts were served by women who belonged to theirs. This resulted in a mix of Burgundian and Spanish customs when the Austrian court model was created, the first rank of the female courtiers was the Obersthofmeisterin, who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers. Second rank belonged to the ayas, essentially governesses of the imperial children, the rest of the female noble courtiers consisted of the Hoffräulein, unmarried females from the nobility who normally served temporarily until marriage. The Hoffräulein could sometimes be promoted to Kammerfräulein, the Austrian court model was the role model for the princely courts in Germany. The German court model in turn became the model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark. The Kingdom of Belgium was founded in 1830, after which a court was founded. The ladies-in waiting have historically been chosen by the Queen herself from among the Catholic noble houses of Belgium, the chief functions at court were undertaken by members of the higher nobility, involving much contact with the royal ladies. Belgian princesses were assigned a lady upon their 18th birthday, princess Clementine was given a Dame by her father, a symbolic act of adulthood. When the Queen entertains, the ladies welcome guests and assist the hostess in sustaining conversation and this system has formally remained roughly the same. However, in practice, many offices have since then left vacant. For example, in recent times, Maids of Honour have only appointed for coronations. The duties of ladies-in-waiting at the Tudor court were to act as royal companions, Tudor queens often had wide personal latitude in selection of their ladies-in-waiting
36.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
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Bard
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For example, William Shakespeare, and Rabindranth Tagore, are known as the Bard of Avon and the Bard of Bengal respectively. The word is a Celtic loan word from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, in 16th-century Scotland, it was a derogatory term for an itinerant musician, but it was later romanticised by Sir Walter Scott. The equivalent Cornish bardh was retained in English in the form of the drollteller, in medieval Gaelic and Welsh society, a bard or bardd was a professional poet, employed to compose eulogies for his lord. If the employer failed to pay the amount, the bard would then compose a satire. In other Indo-European societies, the function was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels and scops. A hereditary caste of professional poets in Proto-Indo-European society has been reconstructed by comparison of the position of poets in medieval Ireland and in ancient India in particular. Bards were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies, the pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories, however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorisation of such materials by the use of metre, rhyme, in medieval Ireland, bards were one of two distinct groups of poets, the other being the fili. According to the Early Irish law text on status, Uraicecht Becc, bards were a class of poets. However, it has also argued that the distinction between filid and bards was a creation of Christian Ireland, and that the filid were more associated with the church. By the Early Modern Period, these came to be used interchangeably. Irish bards formed a professional caste of highly trained, learned poets. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles and they were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, glam dicenn, the bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century in Ireland and the early 18th century in Scotland. In Ireland, their fortunes had always linked to the Gaelic aristocracy. The early history of the bards can be known indirectly through mythological stories. The first mention of the profession in Ireland is found in the The Book of Invasions, in a story about the Irish colony of Tuatha De Danann. They became the aos sí, comparable to Norse alfr and British fairy, during the tenth year of the reign of the last Belgic monarch, the people of the colony of Tuatha De Danann, as the Irish called it, invaded and settled in Ireland
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Royal Treasury
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A treasury is either A government department related to finance and taxation. A place or Schatzkammer where currency or precious items like gold, the head of a treasury is typically known as a treasurer. This position may not necessarily have the control over the actions of the treasury. The adjective for a treasury is normally treasurial, the adjective tresorial can also be used, but this normally means pertaining to a treasurer. As of the definition of a treasury from thêsaurus and in the context of the treasure obtained from war efforts the first recorded booty in history is a stele taken during 1160 BC. The sovereigns treasury within the palace in ancient Jerusalem, is considered to be similar in nature to the temple treasury, the temple treasury of the settlement had appointed officials and functioned akin to a bank. In fact, practically in every city there are banking places for the holy money, in excavations of Persopolis a text containing information pertaining to the activities of a temple treasury were discovered dated to the fifth century BC. In the United Kingdom, Her Majestys Treasury is overseen by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the traditional honorary title of First Lord of the Treasury is held by the Prime Minister. Her Majestys Revenue and Customs administers the taxation system, in the United States, the Treasurer reports to an executive-appointed Secretary of the Treasury. The IRS is the agency of the US Department of the Treasury. In many other countries, the treasury is called the ministry of finance, examples include Bangladesh, Belgium, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Ghana, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and Pakistan, Zimbabwe. In some other countries, a Treasury will exist alongside a separate Ministry of Finance, the government of Poland includes the Ministry of Finance as well as the Ministry of State Treasury, as does the government of Ukraine. It was the same in Italy before the creation of the united Ministry of Economy, in the Australian federal government a treasurer and a finance minister co-exist. The Department of the Treasury is responsible for drafting the government budget, economic policy, some market regulation, the Finance Minister, who manages the Department of Finance and Deregulation, is responsible for budget management, government expenditure and market deregulation. In a text known as the bible, dated somewhat uncertainly to centuries about the 4th BC
39.
Algirdas
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Algirdas was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377, with the help of his brother Kęstutis he created an empire stretching from the present Baltic states to the Black Sea and to within fifty miles of Moscow. Algirdas was one of the seven sons of Grand Prince Gediminas, before his death in 1341, Gediminas divided his domain, leaving his youngest son Jaunutis in possession of the capital, Vilnius. With the aid of his brother, Kęstutis, Algirdas drove out the incompetent Jaunutis and he devoted the next thirty-two years to the development and expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Two factors are thought to have contributed to this result, the political sagacity of Algirdas, the division of their dominions is illustrated by the fact that Algirdas appears almost exclusively in East Slavic sources, while Western chronicles primarily describe Kęstutis. The Teutonic Order in the northwest and the Golden Horde in the southwest sought Lithuanian territory, while Poland to the west and Muscovy to the east were generally hostile competitors. Algirdas held his own, also acquiring influence and territory at the expense of Muscovy and his principal efforts were directed toward securing the Slavic lands which were part of the former Kievan Rus. Algirdas occupied the important principalities of Smolensk and Bryansk in western Russia, although his relationship with the grand dukes of Muscovy was generally friendly, he besieged Moscow in 1368 and 1370 during the Lithuanian–Muscovite War. According to modern historians, For Gediminas and Algirdas, retention of paganism provided a diplomatic tool. That allowed them to use promises of conversion as a means of preserving their power, hermann von Wartberge and Jan Długosz described Algirdas as a pagan until his death in 1377. His pagan beliefs were mentioned in 14th-century Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras accounts. His alleged burial site has undergone archaeological research since 2009, Algirdas descendants include the Trubetzkoy, Czartoryski and Sanguszko families. Several Orthodox churches were built in Vilnius during his reign, despite contemporary accounts and modern studies, however, some Russian historians claim that Algirdas was an Orthodox ruler. The Kiev Monastery of the Caves commemorative book, underwritten by Algirdas descendants and his son Jogaila ascended the Polish throne, converted to Roman Catholicism and founded the dynasty which ruled Lithuania and Poland for nearly 200 years. Algirdas was Duke of Vitsebsk for over 20 years before becoming Grand Duke of Lithuania, gediminids House of Algirdas – Algirdas family tree
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Jogaila
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Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and then the King of Poland, first alongside his wife Jadwiga until 1399, and then sole King of Poland. He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, born a pagan, in 1386 he converted to Catholicism and was baptized as Władysław in Kraków, married the young Queen Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło. In 1387 he converted Lithuania to Christianity and his own reign in Poland started in 1399, upon the death of Queen Jadwiga, and lasted a further thirty-five years and laid the foundation for the centuries-long Polish–Lithuanian union. He was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland that bears his name and was also known as the Gediminid dynasty in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The dynasty ruled both states until 1572, and became one of the most influential dynasties in medieval and early modern Central. During his reign, the Polish-Lithuanian state was the largest state in the Christian world, Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval Lithuania. After he became King of Poland, as a result of the Union of Krewo, the reign of Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Polands Golden Age. Little is known of Jogailas early life, and even his year of birth is uncertain, previously historians assumed he was born in 1352, but some recent research suggests a later date—about 1362. He was a descendant of the Gediminid dynasty and was born in Vilnius. His parents were Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his wife, Uliana, daughter of Alexander I. At first, Jogaila—like his father—based his rule in the southern and eastern territories of Lithuania, while his uncle, Kęstutis, Jogailas succession, however, soon placed this system of dual rule under strain. At the start of his reign, Jogaila was preoccupied with unrest in the Lithuanian Rus lands, in 1377–78, Andrei of Polotsk, the eldest son of Algirdas, challenged Jogailas authority and sought to become Grand Duke. In 1380, Andrei and another brother, Dmitry, sided with Prince Dmitri of Moscow against Jogailas alliance with emir Mamai, de facto khan of the Golden Horde. Jogaila failed to support Mamai, lingering in the vicinity of the battlefield, however, in 1380 Muscovy was greatly weakened by tremendous losses suffered during the battle and thus, in the same year, Jogaila was free to begin a struggle for supremacy with Kęstutis. In the north-west, Lithuania faced constant armed incursions from the Teutonic Knights—founded after 1226 to fight, in 1380, Jogaila secretly concluded the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės, directed against Kęstutis. When Kęstutis discovered the plan, the Lithuanian Civil War began and he seized Vilnius, overthrew Jogaila, and pronounced himself grand duke in his place. In 1382, Jogaila raised an army from his fathers vassals, Kęstutis and his son Vytautas entered Jogailas encampment for negotiations but were tricked and imprisoned in the Kreva Castle, where Kęstutis was found dead, probably murdered, a week later. Vytautas escaped to the Teutonic fortress of Marienburg and was baptised there under the name Wigand, however, when Jogaila failed to ratify the treaty, the Knights invaded Lithuania in the summer of 1383
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Casimir IV Jagiellon
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Casimir IV KG of the Jagiellonian dynasty was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was an opponent of aristocracy, and helped to strengthen the importance of Parliament. The great triumph of his reign was bringing Prussia under Polish rule, the long and brilliant rule of Casimir corresponded to the age of “new monarchies” in western Europe. By the 15th century Poland had narrowed the distance separating it from western Europe, the demand for raw materials and semi-finished goods stimulated trade, producing a positive balance, and contributed to the growth of crafts and mining in the entire country. Casimir Jagiellon was the third and youngest son of King Władysław II Jagiełło and his fourth wife and his father was already 65 at the time of Casimir’s birth, and his brother Władysław III, three years his senior, was expected to become king before his majority. Strangely, little was done for his education, he was never taught Latin, nor was he trained for the responsibilities of office, despite the fact he was the only brother of the rightful sovereign. He often relied on his instinct and feelings and had little political knowledge, the sudden death of Sigismund Kęstutaitis left the office of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania empty. The Voivode of Trakai, Jonas Goštautas, and other magnates of Lithuania, however many Polish noblemen hoped that the thirteen-year-old boy would become a Vice-regent for the Polish King in Lithuania. Since the young Grand Duke was underage, the control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Council of Lords. Casimir had been taught Lithuanian language and the customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials, during Casimirs rule the rights of the Lithuanian nobility—dukes, magnates and boyars, irrespective of their religion and ethnicity—were put on an equal footing to those of the Polish szlachta. Additionally, Casimir promised to protect the Grand Duchys borders and not to appoint persons from the Polish Kingdom to the offices of the Grand Duchy and he accepted that decisions on matters concerning the Grand Duchy would not be made without the Council of Lords consent. He also granted the region of Samogitia the right to elect its own elder. Casimir was the first ruler of Lithuania baptised at birth, becoming the first native Roman Catholic Grand Duke, Casimir succeeded his brother Władysław III as King of Poland after a three-year interregnum on 25 June 1447. In 1454, he married Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of the late King of the Romans Albert II of Habsburg by his late wife Elisabeth of Bohemia and her distant relative Frederick of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Frederick III until after Casimirs own death. The marriage strengthened the ties between the house of Jagiellon and the sovereigns of Hungary-Bohemia and put Casimir at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor through internal Habsburg rivalry, however, when the insurgent cities rebelled against the Order, it resisted and the Thirteen Years War ensued. Casimir and the Prussian Confederation defeated the Teutonic Order, entering its abandoned capital at Marienburg, Elisabeths only brother Ladislaus, king of Bohemia and Hungary, died in 1457, and after that Casimir and Elisabeths dynastic interests were directed also towards her brothers former kingdoms. King Casimir IV died on 7 June 1492 in the Old Grodno Castle in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was in a personal union with Poland. The intervention of the Curia, which hitherto had been hostile to Casimir because of his steady, the pope was anxious to get rid of the Hussite King of Bohemia, George Podebrad, as the first step towards the formation of a league against the Turk
42.
Sophia of Halshany
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Sophia of Halshany or Sonka Olshanskaya was a Grand Duchy of Lithuania princess of Halshany. As the fourth and last wife of Jogaila, King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania, she was Queen consort of Poland. As the mother of Władysław III, King of Poland and Hungary, Sophia was a middle daughter of Andrew Olshansky, son of Vytautas right-hand man Ivan Olshansky, and Alexandra Drucka, daughter of Dmitry of Druck. Historians disagree on the identity of Dmitry, Polish historiography usually provides Jogailas half-brother Dmitry I Starshiy while Russian historians provide Dimitri Semenovich of Rurikid origin and her father died when she was young and the family moved to Druck to live with Alexandras brother Siemion Drucki. Sophia grew up in a Ruthenian environment and was an Eastern Orthodox Christian and it is believed that she was illiterate and largely uneducated. It is unknown when Sophia met Jogaila for the first time and it is known that they met in the winter of 1420–1421 when Jogaila visited Druck. At the time Sophia was still a teenager, while Jogaila was around 60 or 70 and he had only one surviving daughter, Hedwig Jagiellon, and no male heir. According to a custom, it would be a disgrace if a younger sister would marry before the elder sister, therefore, Sophias older sister Vasilisa was married off to Ivan Bielski, son of Jogailas half-brother Vladimir Olgerdovich, in 1421. In February 1422, Sophia was baptized in the Roman Catholic rite, the wedding ceremony, carried out by Matthias of Trakai, Bishop of Samogitia, took place in Navahrudak on February 7 or 24. However, her coronation as Queen of Poland took place two years later, on March 5,1424 and this delay is explained by resistance from the Polish nobility and rather distant relationship between Sophia and Jogaila. In March 1422, Sophia moved to the Wawel Castle in Kraków, there she was met with hostility by supporters of Emperor Sigismund and Princess Hedwig, particularly Zbigniew Oleśnicki, the Tęczyński and Tarnowski families. Alone in a foreign and hostile court, Sophia wrote letters to Jogaila expressing her unhappiness, only in April 1423, Jogaila took Sophia to a trip to Russia. It is likely that the relationship grew closer during that journey as Jogaila took active steps to have Sophia crowned as the queen by Archbishop of Gniezno Wojciech Jastrzębiec, coronation festivities in March 1424 lasted five days. Sophia received the villages of Stara Zagość and Bogucice Pierwsze as well as 20,000 grzywnas of Prague groschen, on the night of October 30–31,1424, she gave birth to Władysław III of Poland, the first male heir born in Poland in 114 years. The son substantially raised Sophias prestige and political influence in Poland, the parents soon became engulfed in a political power struggle to ensure Władysławs succession. Polish nobility claimed that Jogailas claim to the throne was not hereditary, congresses in Brest and Łęczyca, the nobles declared that Władysław would inherit only if he confirmed certain noble freedoms and refused proposal for Sophias regency. Jogaila disagreed with such a decision and continued to campaign, on May 16,1426, in Kraków Sophia gave birth to Casimir, second son of Jogaila. However, the boy died on March 2,1427 and these dates, provided in historical sources, contradict a 1950 study of Casimirs skeleton which found that the bones are of an approximately 18-month-old boy
43.
Vladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary
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Vladislaus II, also known as Vladislav II, Władysław II or Wladislas II, was King of Bohemia from 1471 to 1516, and King of Hungary and Croatia from 1490 to 1516. As the eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was expected to inherit Poland, George of Poděbrady, the Hussite ruler of Bohemia, offered to make Vladislaus his heir in 1468. Poděbrady needed Casimir IVs support against the rebellious Catholic noblemen and their ally, Matthias Corvinus, the Diet of Bohemia elected Vladislaus king after Poděbradys death, but he could only rule Bohemia proper, because Matthias occupied Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. Vladislaus tried to reconquer the three provinces with his fathers assistance, but Matthias repelled them, Vladislaus and Matthias divided the Lands of the Bohemian Crown in the Peace of Olomouc in 1479. The Estates of the realm had strengthened their position during the war between the two kings, Vladislauss attempts to promote the Catholics caused a rebellion in Prague and other towns in 1483, forcing him to acknowledge the dominance of the Hussites in the municipal assemblies. The Diet confirmed the right of the Bohemian noblemen and commoners to freely adhere either to Hussitism or Catholicism in 1485, after Matthias Corvinus seized Silesian duchies to grant them to his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, Vladislaus made new alliances against him in the late 1480s. Vladislaus laid claim to Hungary after Matthiass death, the Diet of Hungary elected him king after his supporters defeated John Corvinus. The other two claimants, Maximilian of Habsburg and Vladislauss brother, John Albert, invaded Hungary, but they could not assert their claim and he settled in Buda, enabling the Estates of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to take full charge of state administration. In Hungary, Vladislaus always approved the decisions of the Royal Council and they even annexed territories in Croatia after annihilating the united army of the Croatian barons in the Battle of Krbava Field in 1493. Vladislaus was the eldest son of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and she was the daughter of Albert, King of the Romans, Hungary and Bohemia. Vladislaus was born in Kraków on 1 March 1456 and his mother and father laid claim to Hungary and Bohemia after her childless brother, Ladislaus the Posthumous, died on 23 November 1457. However, their claims were ignored in both Hungary and Bohemia, the Diet of Hungary elected Matthias Corvinus king on 24 January 1458. The Bohemian Estates of the realm proclaimed the Hussite George of Poděbrady king on 2 March, Vladislaus was his fathers heir in Poland and Lithuania. Casimir IV wanted to prepare all his sons for ruling a realm, the historian Jan Długosz was Vladislauss tutor. Pope Paul II excommunicated George of Poděbrady in late 1466 and proclaimed a crusade against him, the Czech Catholic noblemen rose up against the heretic Poděbrady and sought assistance from Matthias Corvinus. Matthias declared war in March 1468 and invaded Moravia, on 16 May 1468, Poděbrady offered Casimir IV to make Vladislaus his heir if Casimir mediated a peace treaty between Bohemia and Hungary. Matthias refused Casimirs offer, but Poděbrady forced him to sign a truce in early 1469, fearing of losing Matthiass support, the Catholic nobles proclaimed him king of Bohemia in Olomouc on 3 May. After Poděbrady repeated his offer of bequeathing Bohemia to Vladislaus, Casimir IV entered into negotiations with the Holy Roman Emperor, Poděbrady died on 22 March 1471
44.
Albert IV, Duke of Austria
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Albert IV of Austria was a Duke of Austria. He was born in Vienna, the son of Albert III of Austria, alberts rule was characterized by quarrels with that part of his family and with members of the Luxemburg dynasty, Wenceslaus and Sigismund. Albert died at Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, in 1404 and he is buried in the Ducal Crypt in the Stephansdom in Vienna. He was succeeded by his son Albert, through his maternal grandmother, Elisabeth of Meissen, Albert IV descended from Babenberg dukes of Austria. He was married in Vienna 24 April 1390 to Johanna Sophia of Bavaria, daughter of Albrecht I, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing and their children were, Margarete, married in Landshut 25 November 1412 to Duke Henry XVI of Bavaria
45.
Albert II of Germany
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Albert the Magnanimous KG was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1437 until his death. He was also King of Bohemia, elected King of Germany as Albert II, Duke of Luxembourg and, as Albert V, Albert was born in Vienna as the son of Albert IV, Duke of Austria, and Joanna Sophia of Bavaria. He succeeded to the Duchy of Austria at the age of seven on his fathers death in 1404. His uncle Duke William of Inner Austria, then head of the rivaling Leopoldinian line, served as regent for his nephew, followed by his brothers Leopold IV, the quarrels between the brothers and their continued attempts to gain control over the Albertinian territories led to civil war-like conditions. In 1422 Albert married Elisabeth of Luxemburg, the daughter and heiress of the King Sigismund of Hungary, and his second wife, besides Hungary, Alberts marriage brought him claims to several Slavic kingdoms and principalities as well. Albert assisted his father-in-law Sigismund in his campaigns against the Hussites, in return Sigismund designated him as his successor and granted him the title of a Margrave of Moravia in 1423. The Austrian lands were devastated several times and Albert also participated in the 1431 Battle of Domažlice where the Imperial troops suffered an embarrassing defeat, although crowned king of Bohemia six months after ascending to the Hungarian throne, he was unable to obtain possession of the country. He was engaged in warfare with the Bohemians and their Polish allies, when on 18 March 1438, he was chosen King of the Romans at Frankfurt and he was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. Afterwards engaged in defending Hungary against the attacks of the Turks, Albert was an energetic and warlike prince, whose short reign as a triple king gave great promise of usefulness for the Holy Roman Empire. Until its final dissolution in 1806 the House of Habsburg remained the ruling dynasty, though the Jews in the Austrian duchy had been subject to local persecutions during the 13th and 14th century, their position remained relatively safe. Jewish communities prospered in several towns like Krems or the area around the Judenplatz at Vienna. During the confusion after the death of Duke Albert IV in 1404 their situation worsened sharply, culminating in the blaze of the Vienna synagogue on 5 November 1406, followed by riots and lootings. When Albert V came of age in 1411 and interfered in the Hussite Wars, on the other hand, after the Hussites had devastated the duchy, the Austrian Jews were accused of collaboration and arms trade in favour of the enemies. The accusations of a host desecration at Krems in 1420 gave Albert pretext for the destruction of the Jewish community. According to the 1463 Chronica Austriae by chronicler Thomas Ebendorfer the duke on 23 May 1420, at the behest of the Church, ordered the imprisonment and forcible conversion of the Jews. Those that had not converted or escaped were sent off in boats down the Danube, while wealthy Jews remained under arrest, the forced baptism of Jewish children was stopped on intervention by Pope Martin V. On 12 March 1421 Albert sentenced the remaining Jews to death,92 men and 120 women were burned at the stake south of the Vienna city walls on 12 March 1421. The Jews were placed under a ban and their synagogue was demolished
46.
Johanna Sophia of Bavaria
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Joanna Sophia of Bavaria was the youngest daughter of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria and his first wife Margaret of Brieg. She was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, on 13 June 1395, Joanna Sophia married Albert IV, Duke of Austria in Vienna. The marriage between the two ended a feud between Joanna Sophias father and Alberts father, Albert III of Austria, Joanna Sophias father agreed to the payment of 10,000 Pfennige and he gave Albert III the fortress of Natternberg and the town of Deggendorf. The marriage produced two children, both of whom survived to adulthood and they were, Albert V. Margaret, married in Landshut 25 November 1412 to Duke Henry XVI of Bavaria. Albert would often quarrel with members of Joanna Sophias family, such as their brother-in-law Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and his half-brother Sigismund and this ended only when Albert died in 1404. Joanna Sophia arranged marriages for her children and she made negotiations with Frederick, Duke of Bavaria, to marry her daughter, Margaret to his son, Henry XVI, Duke of Bavaria. Henry and Margaret married two years after Joanna Sophias death and her son Albert married Elizabeth of Luxembourg, the only child of Emperor Sigismund. Joanna Sophia died aged thirty-six or thirty-seven in Vienna
47.
Elisabeth of Austria (1436-1505)
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Elizabeth of Austria was the wife of King Casimir IV of Poland and thus Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. Orphaned at an age, she spent her childhood in the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. As one of the three surviving grandchildren of Emperor Sigismund, she had a claim to the kingdoms of Hungary. That made her a bride for a Polish prince. The Polish nobility, seeking to increase Polish influence in Hungary and Bohemia, pursued marriage with Elizabeth since she was born and her marriage to Casimir was one of the most exemplary royal marriages in Poland. She gave birth to thirteen children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood, four of her sons were crowned as kings. Elisabeth was the daughter of Albert II of Germany, Archduke of Austria, the exact date of her birth is unknown and has been variously provided between 1436 and early 1439. Her elder brother was born in February 1435, while the negotiations ended without a decisive agreement, they allowed historians to conclude that Elisabeth was born in the first half of 1436. Elisabeths early life was marked by political turmoil, after the death of Emperor Sigismund in December 1437, Elisabeths father was crowned as King of Hungary and Bohemia. His Bohemian title was challenged by the Hussites who promoted Polish prince Casimir IV Jagiellon as their king, Polish diplomats continued to pursue the plan for a marriage between Casimir and Elisabeth, who would bring Bohemia as a dowry. King Albert received the diplomats coolly as he had no intentions of surrendering his claims to Bohemia. In March 1439, Elisabeths sister Anne was betrothed to William III, Landgrave of Thuringia, son of Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, King Albert died in October 1439 after a brief campaign against the Ottoman Empire. Princess Elisabeths nanny Helene Kottannerin stole the Holy Crown of Hungary, three-month-old Ladislaus was crowned on 15 May 1440, but that did not stop the civil war. For their safety and protection, the two children of Albert and Elisabeth were placed in care of Frederick III, elected but not crowned Holy Roman Emperor. As part of the agreement Elisabeth was betrothed to Frederick, nephew of Frederick III and son of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, the Elisabeth and Ladislaus were initially cared by Anna von Pottendorf at the Forchtenstein Castle. When Queen Elisabeth died in December 1442, Emperor Frederick III continued to care for the orphans who spent most of their time in Graz, the opposition accused the Emperor of neglecting the children, but that could be just political propaganda. Emperor Frederick III was known to be distant and frugal. Enea Silvio Piccolomini, the secretary and future Pope Pius II
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Louis II. of Hungary". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 49–50.
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