1.
Alte Pinakothek
–
The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings, the name Alte Pinakothek refers to the time period covered by the collection—from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. The Neue Pinakothek covers nineteenth-century art, and the recently opened Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art, all three galleries are part of the Bavarian State Picture Collection, an organization of the Free state of Bavaria. King Ludwig I of Bavaria ordered Leo von Klenze to erect a new building for the gallery for the Wittelsbach collection in 1826, even the neo-renaissance exterior of the Pinakothek clearly stands out from the castle-like museum type usual in the early 19th Century. It is closely associated with the function and structure of the building as a museum, the museum galleries were designed to display Rubenss Last Judgment, one of the largest canvasses ever painted. The museum building was damaged by bombing in World War II but was reconstructed and reopened to the public in the late 1950s. The ornate, pre-war interior including the large loggia facing the south façade in the floor were not restored. A new wall covering was created in 2008 for the rooms on the floor of the Alte Pinakothek with a woven. The new color scheme of green and red draws on the design of the rooms, Elector Maximilian I commissioned in 1616 four hunt paintings from Peter Paul Rubens and acquired many other paintings, especially the work of Albrecht Dürer. He even obtained The Four Apostles in the year 1627 due to pressure on the Nuremberg city fathers, a few years later however 21 paintings were confiscated and moved to Sweden during the occupation of Munich in the Thirty Years war. Maximilians grandson Maximilian II Emanuel purchased a number of Dutch. Under Max Emanuels successors, the purchases were discontinued due to the tight budget. Also Max Emanuels cousin Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine collected Netherlandish paintings and he ordered from Peter Paul Rubens the The Big Last Judgment and received Raphaels Canigiani Holy Family as a dowry of his wife. Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria had a preference for Netherlandish paintings as well. By the late 18th century a number of the paintings were already displayed in Schleissheim Palace. Even though 72 paintings including The Battle of Alexander at Issus were taken to Paris in 1800 by the armies of Napoleon I. The Louvre held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France, when the Prussians captured the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleons bathroom. Most of the paintings have not been returned, with the secularisation many paintings from churches and former monasteries entered into state hands
Alte Pinakothek
–
Alte Pinakothek, eastern façade
Alte Pinakothek
–
Alte Pinakothek façade
Alte Pinakothek
–
Alte Pinakothek, hand-painted photograph, c. 1890
Alte Pinakothek
–
Room IX
2.
Munich
–
Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
Munich
–
From left to right: The
Munich Frauenkirche, the
Nymphenburg Palace, the
BMW Headquarters, the
New Town Hall, the
Munich Hofgarten and the
Allianz Arena.
Munich
–
Munich city
coat of arms
Munich
–
Banners with the colours of Munich (left) and Bavaria (right) with the
Frauenkirche in the background
Munich
–
Bombing damage to the Altstadt. Note the roofless and pockmarked Altes Rathaus looking up the Tal. The roofless Heilig-Geist-Kirche is on the right of the photo. Its spire, without the copper top, is behind the church. The Talbruck gate tower is missing completely.
3.
Coat of arms
–
A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
Coat of arms
–
The German
Hyghalmen Roll, ca. late 15th century, illustrates the German practice of thematic repetition from the arms in the crest
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
–
The
Zechariah Seal coat of arms.
4.
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France in 1789.
Ancien Régime provinces in
1789.
Kingdom of France
–
Royal Standarda
Kingdom of France
–
Henry IV, by
Frans Pourbus the younger, 1610.
Kingdom of France
–
Louis XIII, by
Philippe de Champaigne, 1647.
5.
Louis XV of France
–
Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years
Louis XV of France
–
Louis XV by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1730)
Louis XV of France
–
Signature
Louis XV of France
–
The duke of Brittany with his father Louis, Duke of Burgundy, his grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his great-grandfather King Louis XIV in 1709. The future Louis XV, not yet born, is not on the painting.
Louis XV of France
–
Two
Louis d'or, 1717, depicting a very young Louis XV
6.
Court (royal)
–
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure. It can also refer to the residence of the monarch where the court resides or a series of complexes. In the largest courts, the households, many thousands of individuals comprised the court. Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile may also seek refuge at a court and this is shown above Near Eastern and Eastern courts often included the harem and concubines as well as eunuchs who fulfilled a variety of functions. At times the harem was walled off and separate from the rest of the residence of the monarch, in Asia concubines were often a more visible part of the court. Lower ranking servants and bodyguards were not properly called courtiers though may be included as part of the court or royal household in the broadest definition, entertainers and others may have been counted as part of the court. A royal household is the highest ranking example of this, a group of individuals dependent on the patronage of a great man, classically in ancient Rome, forms part of the system of clientage that is discussed under vassal. Individual rulers differed greatly in tastes and interests, as well as in political skills, accordingly, some founded elaborate courts based on new palaces, only to have their successors retreat to remote castles or to practical administrative centers. Personal retreats might arise far away from official court centres, etiquette and hierarchy flourish in highly structured court settings, and may leave conservative traces over generations. Most courts featured a strict order of precedence often involving royal and noble ranks, orders of chivalry, some courts even featured court uniforms. One of the markers of a court is ceremony. Most monarchal courts included ceremonies concerning the investiture or coronation of the monarch, some courts had ceremonies around the waking and the sleeping of the monarch called a levée. Orders of chivalry as honorific orders became an important part of court culture starting in the 15th century and they were the right of the monarch to create and grant as the fount of honour. Two of the earliest titles referring to the concept of a courtier were likely the ša rēsi, the imperial court of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople would eventually contain at least a thousand courtiers. The courts systems became prevalent in other such as those in the Balkan states, the Ottoman Empire. Byzantinism is a term that was coined for this spread of the Byzantine system in the 19th century, however, by the Sui Dynasty the functions of the royal household and the imperial government were clearly divided. During the Heian period, Japanese Emperors and their families developed an exquisitely refined court that played an important role in their culture. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, a court culture can be recognized in the entourage of the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great
Court (royal)
–
Ambassador
Kosa Pan and
Siamese envoys pay their respect to
Louis XIV at his court in
Versailles.
Court (royal)
–
The 'Court of Lahore'.
Court (royal)
–
The
Macartney Embassy. Lord Macartney salutes the
Qianlong Emperor, but refused to
kowtow.
Court (royal)
–
The Dutch court is known for old traditions
7.
Age of Enlightenment
–
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private
Age of Enlightenment
–
German philosopher
Immanuel Kant
Age of Enlightenment
–
History of
Western philosophy
Age of Enlightenment
–
Cesare Beccaria, father of classical criminal theory (1738–1794)
Age of Enlightenment
–
Like other Enlightenment philosophers,
Rousseau was critical of the
Atlantic slave trade.
8.
Voltaire
–
Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 21,000 letters and over two books and pamphlets. He was an advocate of civil liberties, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma. Some speculation surrounds Voltaires date of birth, because he claimed he was born on 20 February 1694 as the son of a nobleman. Two of his older brothers—Armand-François and Robert—died in infancy and his brother, Armand. Nicknamed Zozo by his family, Voltaire was baptized on 22 November 1694, with François de Castagnère, abbé de Châteauneuf, and Marie Daumard, the wife of his mothers cousin, standing as godparents. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where he was taught Latin, theology, and rhetoric, later in life he became fluent in Italian, Spanish, and English. By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer, against the wishes of his father, Voltaire, pretending to work in Paris as an assistant to a notary, spent much of his time writing poetry. When his father out, he sent Voltaire to study law. Nevertheless, he continued to write, producing essays and historical studies, Voltaires wit made him popular among some of the aristocratic families with whom he mixed. In 1713, his father obtained a job for him as a secretary to the new French ambassador in the Netherlands, the marquis de Châteauneuf, at The Hague, Voltaire fell in love with a French Protestant refugee named Catherine Olympe Dunoyer. Their scandalous affair was discovered by de Châteauneuf and Voltaire was forced to return to France by the end of the year, Most of Voltaires early life revolved around Paris. From early on, Voltaire had trouble with the authorities for critiques of the government and these activities were to result in two imprisonments and a temporary exile to England. One satirical verse, in which Voltaire accused the Régent of incest with his own daughter, the Comédie-Française had agreed in January 1717 to stage his debut play, Œdipe, and it opened in mid-November 1718, seven months after his release. Its immediate critical and financial success established his reputation, both the Régent and King George I of Great Britain presented Voltaire with medals as a mark of their appreciation. He mainly argued for tolerance and freedom of thought. He campaigned to eradicate priestly and aristo-monarchical authority, and supported a constitutional monarchy that protects peoples rights, the author adopted the name Voltaire in 1718, following his incarceration at the Bastille
Voltaire
–
Portrait by
Nicolas de Largillière
Voltaire
–
In the frontispiece to Voltaire's book on Newton's philosophy,
Émilie du Châtelet appears as Voltaire's muse, reflecting Newton's heavenly insights down to Voltaire.
Voltaire
–
Voltaire's
château at
Ferney, France
Voltaire
–
Voltaire's tomb in Paris's
Panthéon
9.
Charles Pinot Duclos
–
Charles Pinot Duclos was a French author and contributor to the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Duclos was born at Dinan in Brittany and studied at Paris and his romance Acajou et Zirphile was the result of a wager among the clubs members, Duclos composed it for a series of engraved plates intended for another work. He wrote two other romances which were received, The Baroness de Luz and Confessions of Count de ***. Duclos became a member of the Academy of Inscriptions in 1739 and of the Académie française in 1747, in 1747, both academies were indebted to him not only for many valuable contributions, but also for several useful regulations and improvements. On several occasions he distinguished himself by vindicating the honour and prerogatives of the societies to which he belonged, and he used to say of himself, I shall leave behind me a name dear to literary men. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1764, upon the requisition of this body the king granted him letters of nobility. Accordingly he set out first for England, then for Italy, as a character, Duclos was considered a mixture of impulsiveness and prudence. Jean-Jacques Rousseau described him laconically as a man droit et adroit, in his manners he displayed a bluntness that frequently rendered him disagreeable, and his caustic wit made him enemies. To those who knew him, however, he was a pleasant companion, a considerable number of his bons mots have been preserved by his biographers. His first serious publication was the History of Louis XI, which is dry and epigrammatical in style but displays considerable powers of research and it was translated into English and German. In consequence of his History of Louis XI, he was appointed historiographer of France and his Secret Memoirs of the Reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, were not published until after the French Revolution. A complete edition of the works of Duclos, including an autobiography, was published by Auger. See also Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi, t. ix, rené Kerviler, La Bretagne et lAcadémie française du XVIIIe siècle, L. Mandon, De la valeur historique des mémoires secrets de Duclos. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Charles Pinot Duclos
–
Charles Pinot Duclos
10.
Montesquieu
–
He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon. Montesquieu was born at the Château de la Brède in southwest France,25 kilometres south of Bordeaux and his father, Jacques de Secondat, was a soldier with a long noble ancestry. His mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel, who died when Charles was seven, was an heiress who brought the title of Barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. After the death of his mother he was sent to the Catholic College of Juilly, a prominent school for the children of French nobility and his father died in 1713 and he became a ward of his uncle, the Baron de Montesquieu. He became a counselor of the Bordeaux Parliament in 1714, in 1715 he married Jeanne de Lartigue, a Protestant, who eventually bore him three children. The Baron died in 1716, leaving him his fortune as well as his title, Montesquieus early life occurred at a time of significant governmental change. England had declared itself a constitutional monarchy in the wake of its Glorious Revolution, in France the long-reigning Louis XIV died in 1715 and was succeeded by the five-year-old Louis XV. These national transformations had a impact on Montesquieu, he would refer to them repeatedly in his work. Montesquieu withdrew from the practice of law to himself to study. De lEsprit des Lois was originally published anonymously in 1748, the book quickly rose to influence political thought profoundly in Europe and America. In France, the met with an unfriendly reception from both supporters and opponents of the regime. The Catholic Church banned lEsprit – along with many of Montesquieus other works – in 1751 and it received the highest praise from the rest of Europe, especially Britain. Montesquieu was also regarded in the British colonies in North America as a champion of liberty. Following the American revolution, Montesquieus work remained an influence on many of the American founders, most notably James Madison of Virginia. He was buried in the Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris, Montesquieus philosophy of history minimized the role of individual persons and events. Ask the Romans, who had a sequence of successes when they were guided by a certain plan. There are general causes, moral and physical, which act in every monarchy, elevating it, maintaining it, all accidents are controlled by these causes
Montesquieu
–
Château de la Brède
Montesquieu
–
A painting of Montesquieu
Montesquieu
–
The title page of the first volume of Montesquieu's
De l'Esprit des loix (1st ed., 1748)
11.
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
–
Fontenelle was born in Rouen, France and died in Paris just one month before his 100th birthday. His mother was the sister of great French dramatists Pierre and Thomas Corneille and his father, François le Bovier de Fontenelle, was a lawyer who worked in the provincial court of Rouen and came from a family of lawyers from Alençon. He trained in the law but gave up after one case, devoting his life to writing about philosophers and scientists, especially defending the Cartesian tradition. In spite of the merit and value of his writings. He was a commentator and explicator and occasionally a passionate, though generally good-humoured and he was educated at the college of the Jesuits, the Lycée Pierre Corneille. At the Lycée he showed a preference for literature and distinguished himself and he began as a poet, writing a poem in Latin at the age of 13 and more than once competed for prizes of the Académie française, but he never won anything. He visited Paris from time to time and became friendly with the abbé de Saint-Pierre, the abbé Vertot and he witnessed, in 1680, the total failure of his tragedy Aspar. Fontenelle afterwards acknowledged the public verdict by burning his unfortunate drama and his opera of Thétis et Pélée,1689, was not much better, and it may be significant that none of his dramatic works are still performed. His Poésies pastorales are also mediocre and his Lettres galantes du chevalier dHer. Published anonymously in 1685, was a collection of letters portraying worldly society of the time. In 1686 his famous allegory of Rome and Geneva, slightly disguised as the rival princesses Mreo and Eenegu, in the Relation de lîle de Bornéo and he wrote extensively on the nature of the universe, Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it. I no longer know where I am, I am just nothing at all. Our world is terrifying in its insignificance and it consisted of two essays, the first of which was designed to prove that oracles were not given by the supernatural agency of demons, and the second that they did not cease with the birth of Jesus. A noted gourmand, he attributed his longevity to eating strawberries, at ninety-two one woman wrote that he was as lively as a man of twenty-two. When, in his nineties he met the beautiful Madame Helvétius, he reportedly told her, Ah Madame. Perhaps the best known of his éloges, of which there are sixty-nine in all, is that of his uncle Pierre Corneille. This was first printed in the Nouvelles de la republique des lettres and, the other important works of Fontenelle are his Éléments de la géometrie de linfini and his Théorie des tourbillons. In the latter he supported the views of René Descartes concerning gravitation and he is noted for the accessibility of his work – particularly its novelistic style
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
–
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
12.
Cardinal de Bernis
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François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis was a French cardinal and statesman. He was the sixth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744, born at Saint-Marcel dArdèche, Bernis was of a noble, but impoverished family, and, being a younger son, was intended for the church. His father, Joachim de Pierre, seigneur de Bernis, was a captain of cavalry and in 1697 was married to Marie Elisabeth, the cardinals elder brother was Philippe Charles François, baron de Pierrebourg, marquis de Pierre de Bernis, seigneur de Saint-Marcel. He was educated at the Louis-le-Grand college and the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, voltaire admired his verses, calling him Babet la bouquetière. In 1751, Bernis was appointed to the French embassy at Venice, during his stay in Venice he received subdeacons orders, and on his return to France in 1755 was made a papal councillor of state. Bernis took an important part in the negotiations between France and Austria which preceded the Seven Years War. He regarded the alliance purely as an expedient, and did not propose to employ the whole forces of France in a general war. But he was overruled by his colleagues, in the previous November he had been created cardinal by Pope Clement XIII. On the death of the mistress in 1764, Bernis was recalled and once more offered the seals of office, but declined them. His occupancy of the see was not of long duration and he was partly instrumental in bringing about the suppression of the Jesuits, and acted with greater moderation than is generally allowed. During the French Revolution, he celebrated, in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, a solemn funeral for Louis XVI of France. He resigned the administration of his rather than take the constitutional oath. Bernis died at Rome on 3 November 1794, and was buried in the church of S. Luigi de Francesi, in 1803 his remains were transferred to the cathedral at Nîmes. His poems, the longest of which is La Religion vengée, were collected and published after his death, after his death Pope Pius VI bestowed on him the epithet Protector of the Church of France. Frédéric Masson, prefaces to the Mémoires et lettres, and Le Cardinal de Bernis depuis son ministère Edmond et Jules de Goncourt, Mme de Pompadour Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi, marcus Cheke, The Cardinal de Bernis. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
Cardinal de Bernis
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Francois-Joachim de Pierre, Cardinal de Bernis Comte de Lyon
13.
Phaeton (carriage)
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A Phaeton was a form of sporty open carriage popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Drawn by one or two horses, a phaeton typically featured a very lightly sprung body atop four extravagantly large wheels. With the advent of the automobile, the term was adapted to open touring cars, the most impressive phaeton was the English four-wheeled high flyer. The mail and spider phaetons were more conservatively constructed, the mail phaeton was used chiefly to carry passengers with luggage and was named for its construction, using mail springs originally designed for use on mail coaches. The spider phaeton, of American origin and made for drivers, was a high and lightly constructed carriage with a covered seat in front. A variation of type of a carriage is called a Victoria. There is a print of the monarch enjoying her morning excursions on page 490 of the Illustrated London News of April 10,1897, in addition, there is a photograph in the Royal Collection, dated 1898. There are also photographs, using a black donkey, taken at Windsor Castle. Bolshevik revolutionaries used a phaeton to escape after carrying out the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery, valerie, Lady Meux would startle London Society by driving herself in a high phaeton drawn by zebras. In the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility, the character Mr. Willoughby drives a yellow phaeton, while the phaeton seems to exhibit his reckless and dashing character, in the novel on which the film is based, the original character drives a curricle. In the 2012 Bengali film Bhooter Bhabishyat, Raibahadur Darpo Narayan Chowdhury often refers to phaetons in reference to Sir Donald Ramsay, in Turn, Washingtons Spies, season 3 episode 1 Benedict Arnold is riding in a phaeton spider. He states to Peggy Shippen Do you like it, then goes on to say I had it fit with a Collinge axle for a smoother ride. In Frances Burneys novel, Evelina, young gentlemen race their phaetons on the highways of Clifton, near Bristol. In Anne Brontës The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Mr. Huntingdon drives a light phaeton that comes bowling merrily up the lawn, the sporty character of the carriage reflects Huntingdons devil-may-care attitude. She also references a phaeton in Agnes Grey, the useful pony phaeton was sold. In the 1928 American childrens book Freddy Goes to Florida by Walter R. Brooks, Hank the farm horse draws an old phaeton that carries the animals and their treasure back from Florida to the Bean farm. In Absalom, Absalom. by William Faulkner, Sutpens wife Ellen had a phaeton that caused her daughter to become distressed when it arrived in place of their normal carriage. The character Mr. Spenlow from the novel David Copperfield dies suddenly of an attack while driving his phaeton home
Phaeton (carriage)
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The sporty
Lord Lonsdale 's yellow phaeton with a
calash top, ca 1900 (
Mossman Collection)
Phaeton (carriage)
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Hooper 's - royal coachbuilders - stylish design for a phaeton
Phaeton (carriage)
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Hooper high flyer phaeton 1816 with a pair of outsized, swan-neck leaf springs at the rear and the body mounted daringly high
Phaeton (carriage)
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Hooper Spider Phaeton (1860)
14.
Masquerade ball
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A masquerade ball is an event in which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. The Bal des Ardents was held by Charles VI of France, and intended as a Bal des sauvages and it took place in celebration of the marriage of a lady-in-waiting of Charles VI of Frances queen in Paris on January 28,1393. The King and five courtiers dressed as wildmen of the woods, with costumes of flax, when they came too close to a torch, the dancers caught fire. Such costumed dances were a luxury of the ducal court of Burgundy. Masquerade balls were extended into costumed public festivities in Italy during the 16th century Renaissance and they were generally elaborate dances held for members of the upper classes, and were particularly popular in Venice. They have been associated with the tradition of the Venetian Carnival, with the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th century, the use and tradition of masks gradually began to decline, until they disappeared altogether. They became popular throughout mainland Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, sometimes with fatal results, gustav III of Sweden was assassinated at a masquerade ball by disgruntled nobleman Jacob Johan Anckarström, an event which Eugène Scribe and Daniel Auber turned into the opera Gustave III. The same event was the basis of Giuseppe Verdis opera A Masked Ball, most masks came from countries like Switzerland and Italy. Londons public gardens, like Vauxhall Gardens, refurbished in 1732, and Ranelagh Gardens, provided optimal outdoor settings, throughout the century, masquerade dances became popular in Colonial America. Its prominence did not go unchallenged, a significant anti-masquerade movement grew alongside the balls themselves, the anti-masquerade writers held that the events encouraged immorality and foreign influence. In the 1770s, fashionable Londoners went to the organized by Teresa Cornelys at Carlisle House in Soho Square. Masquerade balls were set as a game among the guests. The masked guests were dressed so as to be unidentifiable. This would create a type of game to see if a guest could determine each others identities and this added a humorous effect to many masquerades and enabled a more enjoyable version of typical balls. One of the most noted masquerade balls of the 20th century was held at Palazzo Labia in Venice on 3 September 1951. It was dubbed the party of the century, a new resurgence of masquerade balls began in the late 1990s in North America. More recently, the party atmosphere is emphasized and the formal dancing usually less prominent, less formal costume parties may be a descendant of this tradition. The picturesque quality of the ball has made it a favorite topic or setting in literature
Masquerade ball
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Masquerade ball at the
Carnival of Venice
Masquerade ball
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A Venziana mask from
Verona,
Italy.
Masquerade ball
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Masquerade ball at
Château de Hattonchâtel,
France.
15.
Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north, south, and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. He also replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins. In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II
Palace of Versailles
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Aerial view of the Palace from above the
Gardens of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
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Bust of Louis XIV by
Bernini in the
Diana Salon of the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
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View of the Palace from the garden
Palace of Versailles
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Marble Court
16.
Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
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Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain was an Infanta of Spain by birth and was later the wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV of France. She died aged 20, three days after giving birth to a daughter who died in 1748, born at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in Spain, she was the second daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. Baptised María Teresa Antonia Rafaela she was an Infanta of Spain by birth and was granted the style of address of Royal Highness and she was known as María Teresa Rafaela though sometimes just Maria Teresa. Louis XV had instead married Marie Leszczyńska and by her fathered the Dauphin, under the influence of her mother Elisabeth Farnese, María Teresa Rafaela was not to go to France until she reached a more mature age. The Infanta was married to the dauphin by proxy in Madrid on 18 December 1744 and she arrived at Versailles on 21 February 1745. The official marriage took place at the Palace of Versailles on 23 February 1745 and was performed by the Cardinal de Rohan, in France she was known as Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle dEspagne or de Bourbon. The betrothal had been broken off and relations between the two countries had been cold and this latest union was meant to improve links between them both. Addressed as Madame la Dauphine at Versailles, Maria Teresa Rafaela was the highest ranking female in the kingdom after Queen Marie and she was the first Dauphine since the 1712 death of Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. On 24 February the Ball of the Clipped Yew was held in honor of the newlyweds, the event also marked the arrival of Madame de Pompadour at Versailles. The marriage did not get off on a start as it was not consummated on the first night. This was an embarrassment to the young dauphine and as a result her position at court was undermined. Despite this, she had a relationship with the king and queen. Although the dauphine was described as beautiful, dignified, pious and her shy nature further isolated her from the court and she was openly hostile to the king for his affair with Madame de Pompadour. The Dauphin and Dauphine disliked the royal mistress for the way she drew away from Queen Marie Leszczyńska. Finally, the marriage was consummated in September 1745, ending court gossip, the couple became very close and devoted to each other spending most of their time together. On 19 July 1746 at Versailles, Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle gave birth to a daughter and her death on 22 July caused an intense sorrow to the Dauphin, which persisted into his second marriage. Louis XV had to drag his son away from the death bed of his wife. To make matters worse the Dauphine´s Father King Philip V of Spain died just 13 days before her on July 9, the child was baptised Marie Thérèse and was styled as Madame Royale but died at Versailles in 1748
Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
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The future
Dauphine by
Louis Michel van Loo
Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
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Portrait of Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle in circa 1745 by Daniel Klein the younger
17.
Marquess
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A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in imperial China. In Great Britain and Ireland, the spelling of the aristocratic title of this rank is marquess. In Scotland the French spelling is sometimes used. In Great Britain and Ireland, the ranks below a duke. A woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is called a marchioness /ˌmɑːrʃəˈnɛs/ in Great Britain, the dignity, rank or position of the title is referred to as a marquisate or marquessate. The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the Middle Ages, faded into obscurity. In times past, the distinction between a count and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a march, was on the border of the country, while a land, called a county. As a result of this, a marquess was trusted to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbours and was more important. The title is ranked below that of a duke, which was restricted to the royal family. In the German lands, a Margrave was a ruler of an immediate Imperial territory, German rulers did not confer the title of marquis, holders of marquisates in Central Europe were largely associated with the Italian and Spanish crowns. The word entered the English language from the Old French marchis in the late 13th or early 14th century, the French word was derived from marche, itself descended from the Middle Latin marca, from which the modern English words march and mark also descend. In Great Britain and Ireland, the spelling for an English aristocrat of this rank is marquess. The word marquess is unusual in English, ending in -ess but referring to a male, a woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is called a marchioness in Great Britain and Ireland, or a marquise /mɑːrˈkiːz/ elsewhere in Europe. The dignity, rank or position of the title is referred to as a marquisate or marquessate, the honorific prefix The Most Honourable is a form of address that precedes the name of a marquess or marchioness in the United Kingdom. The rank of marquess was a late introduction to the British peerage, no marcher lords had the rank of marquess. The following list may still be incomplete, feminine forms follow after a slash, many languages have two words, one for the modern marquess and one for the original margrave. Even where neither title was used domestically, such duplication to describe foreign titles can exist
Marquess
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A 17th-century engraving of a marquis in the robe worn during his creation ceremony.
Marquess
–
Royal, noble and
chivalric ranks
18.
Arnac-Pompadour
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Arnac-Pompadour is a French commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. The name of Pompadour became world famous due to the favourite of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour to whom the King gave the chateau of Pompadour and the associated title of Marquise. The town is famous for its chateau and its stud farm, Arnac-Pompadour is located some 25 km south-east of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche and 35 km west by north-west of Brive-la-Gaillarde. Access to the commune is by the D901 road from Lubersac in the north-east passing through the part of the commune. The D7 road also comes from Troche in the south-east passing through the town, the D126 goes north from the town through the length of the commune to join the D149 north of the commune. A railway passes through the commune with a station at the town. The commune is mixed forest and farmland, apart from the town there are also the following hamlets in the commune, The Auvézère river passes through the north of the commune flowing from east to west. Several tributaries flow north to join it in the commune, Arnac was inhabited in Gallo-Roman times by a landowner named Artonacus or Artonos. Pompadour belonged to one of the oldest lordships in Limousin, the Lastours, the first castle was built in 1026 by Guy de Lastours to defend his possessions, coveted by the Vicomte de Ségur. He also rebuilt Arnac church and established a monastery there, given to Saint Martials Abbey in Limoges, as centuries went by, the suzerainty of the Pompadours spread to all the adjoining parishes. Geoffroi Hélie de Pompadour rebuilt extended the castle in the 15th century having in 1513 inherited the illustrious Viscounty of Comborn, the House of Pompadour had reached the religious, military and political heights. Elevated to a marquisate, it died out at the dawn of the 18th century, after that family died out the inheritance was disputed in a long trial between the Prince of Conti and the Marquis de La Vallière and it was finally transferred to the Crown. In 1745, Louis XV gave it to his favourite, Mme dÉtiolles, in 1760, a few years before her death, she left the castle and it returned to the Crown. In the following year Louis XV established a Royal Stud at the Castle and it was closed at the fall of the Ancien Régime then re-established by the French Directory in 1795 and became the National Stud in 1872. It is currently a famous National Stud specialising particularly in developing the Anglo-Arab breed, during the French Revolution the commune took the name Arnac-la-Prairie. List of Successive Mayors In 2009 the commune had 1,226 inhabitants, the evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years. Population Change Sources, Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 The Château de Pompadour is registered as a historical monument, of the castrum of Guy de Lastours, built around 1000, nothing remains
Arnac-Pompadour
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Chateau of Arnac-Pompadour
Arnac-Pompadour
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Joseph Brunet
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