1.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
2.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
3.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
4.
Veracruz (city)
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Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located along the coast in the part of the state,90 km southeast of the state capital Xalapa along Federal Highway 140. It is the states most populous city, with a population that is greater than the municipalitys population, at the 2010 census, the city had 554,830 inhabitants,428,323 in Veracruz Municipality and 126,507 in Boca del Río Municipality. Developed during Spanish colonization, Veracruz has been Mexico’s oldest, largest and it was the second Spanish settlement on the mainland of the Americas but the first to receive a coat-of-arms. During the colonial period, this city had the largest mercantile class and was at times wealthier than the capital of Mexico City and its wealth attracted the raids of 17th-century pirates, against which fortifications such as Fort San Juan de Ulúa were built. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Veracruz was invaded on different occasions by France and it has become the principal port for most of Mexico’s imports and exports, especially for the automotive industry. Veracruz has a blend of cultures, mostly indigenous, ethnic Spanish, the influence of these three is best seen in the food and music of the area, which has strong Spanish, Caribbean and African influences. The name Veracruz, derives from the Latin Vera Crux, having established the settlement of Villa Rica on Good Friday 1519, Cortés dedicated the place to the True Cross as an offering. The Spanish captain Juan de Grijalva, along with Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the Spanish gave it that name because they landed on the Christian feast of John the Baptist, and in honor of the captain. De Ulúa is derived from the name for the Aztecs. According to tradition, when the Spanish arrived, they found two men who had been sacrificed. When they asked the locals what had happened, they said the Aztecs had ordered the sacrifice, the word for Aztec evolved into Ulúa. Because the first expedition detected the presence of gold in the region, Cortés and his men landed at the shore opposite the island where Grijalva had moored, which has the pre-Hispanic name of Chalchihuecan. Cortés, Francisco de Montejo and Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero founded the settlement, the name Villa Rica referred to the gold that was found here and Vera cruz was added because the Cortés expedition landed on Good Friday, a Christian holy day. When Cortés and his soldiers elected a Justicia Mayor and a Capitán General, the city was the first on mainland America to receive a European coat of arms, which was authorized by Carlos V in Valladolid, Spain on 4 July 1523. The original settlement was moved to what is now known as Antigua and this separated the city from the port, as ships could not enter the shallow river. Ships continued to dock at San Juan de Ulúa, with boats being used to ferry goods on. When large-scale smuggling of goods took place to avoid customs officials, docks and an observation tower were constructed on the island to ensure that goods went through customs officials
5.
Monterrey
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Monterrey, is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, in Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation, Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the base of many significant international corporations. It is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico with a GDP PPP of 130.7 billion dollars in 2012, Monterreys GDP PPP per capita is of approximately 32,000 dollars. It is considered a Beta World City, cosmopolitan and competitive, rich in history and culture, Monterrey is considered one of the most developed cities in the entire country and often regarded as the most americanized in Mexico. A. Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery and Heineken, which features Norteño capital and Grupo ALFA, Monterrey is located in northeast Mexico, at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The uninterrupted settlement of Monterrey starts in 1596, with its founding by Diego de Montemayor, in the years after the Mexican War of Independence, Monterrey became an important business center. With the establishment of Fundidora Monterrey, the city experienced a great industrial growth, prior to the European foundation of the city, there was no established nation state, and the population instead consisted of some indigenous semi-nomad groups. Carved stone and cave painting in surrounding mountains and caves have allowed historians to identify four major groups in present-day Monterrey, Azalapas, Huachichiles, Coahuiltecos and Borrados. In the 16th century, the valley in which Monterrey is located was known as the Extremadura Valley, in 1580 he arrived in the newly granted lands but it was not until 1582 that he established a settlement called San Luis Rey de Francia within present-day Monterrey. The New Kingdom of León extended westwards from the port of Tampico to the limits of Nueva Vizcaya, Monterrey was also the point of emigration from Europe, people from Portugal, Spain, France, Russia went to Monterrey seeing it as a good place to live in. Most of the Monterrey people descent from a creole Spanish heritage, during the years of Spanish rule, Monterrey remained a small city, and its population varied from a few hundred to only dozens. The city was a place that facilitated trade between San Antonio, Tampico and from Saltillo to the center of the country, tampicos port brought many products from Europe, while Saltillo concentrated the Northern Territories trade with the capital, Mexico City. San Antonio was the key trade point with the foreign colonies. In 1824, the New Kingdom of León became the State of Nuevo León, in 1846, the earliest large-scale engagement of the Mexican-American War took place in the city, known as the Battle of Monterrey. Mexican forces were forced to surrender but only after successfully repelling U. S. forces during the first few advances on the city, the battle inflicted high casualties on both sides, much of them resulting from hand-to-hand combat within the walls of the city center. Many of the generals in the Mexican War against France were natives of the city, including Mariano Escobedo, Juan Zuazua, during the last decade of the 19th century, the city of Monterrey was linked by railroad, which benefitted industry. In 1986, several games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup were hosted. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert caused great damage to the city, the conference resulted in the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus, which has become one relevant reference point for international development and cooperation
6.
Cuernavaca
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Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established by the Olmec, the culture of Mesoamerica. The city is located south of Mexico City, from which it may be reached after a drive of approximately 1½ hours using the D-95 Freeway, the city was nicknamed the City of Eternal Spring by Alexander von Humboldt in the nineteenth century. It has long been an escape for Mexico City and foreign visitors because of this warm, stable climate. Aztec emperors had summer residences there, and today many people as well as Mexico City residents maintain homes there. Cuernavaca is also host to a foreign resident population, including large numbers of students who come to study the Spanish language. The name Cuernavaca is derived from the Nahuatl phrase Cuauhnāhuac and means surrounded by or close to trees, the name eventually was Hispanicized to Cuernavaca. The coat-of-arms of the municipality is based on the pre-Columbian pictograph emblem of the city depicts a tree trunk with three branches, with foliage, and four roots colored red. There is a cut in the trunk in the form of a mouth, from which emerges a speech scroll, probably representing the language Nahuatl and by extension the locative suffix -nāhuac, Cuernavaca was nicknamed city of eternal spring by Alexander von Humboldt in the nineteenth century. The city is located in a region, but its temperature is kept fairly constant in the 70s. It is located on the slope of the Sierra de Chichinautzin mountains. In the morning, warm air flows up the mountains from the valley below and in the late afternoon, a ubiquitous flowering plant in the city is the bougainvillea. This pleasant climate has attracted royalty and nobles since Aztec times, most of the Aztec emperors called Cuernavaca their summer residence. Foreign princes, archdukes, and other nobles have been attracted to this place because of its flowers, sun, fruits, fresh-water springs, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico set up a country residence in the city. Philanthropist Barbara Hutton, who held several royal titles through marriage, had a home in the city, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, lived in exile in the city following the Iranian Revolution. Although a native of the U. S. Cuernavaca always has been a place for people from Mexico City to escape the city. In the twentieth century, the climate and flora began to attract foreigners as well. Population increase in urban area began in 1940, but the metro area was not created, nor recognized
7.
Chihuahua (state)
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Chihuahua, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Its capital city is Chihuahua City and it is located in Northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the southwest, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east. To the north and northeast, it has a border with the U. S. adjacent to the U. S. states of New Mexico. Chihuahua is the largest state in Mexico by area, with an area of 247,455 square kilometres, the state is consequently known under the nickname El Estado Grande. Although Chihuahua is primarily identified with the Chihuahuan Desert for namesake, it has more forests than any state in Mexico. Due to its variant climate, the state has a variety of fauna. The state is characterized by rugged mountainous terrain and wide river valleys. On the slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, there are vast prairies of short yellow grass, most of the inhabitants live along the Rio Grande Valley and the Conchos River Valley. The etymology of the name Chihuahua has long disputed by historians. The most accepted theory explains that the name was derived from the Nahuatl language meaning The place where the water of the rivers meet, Chihuahua has a diversified state economy. The three most important economic centers in the state are, Ciudad Juárez, a manufacturing center, Chihuahua, the state capital, and Delicias. Today Chihuahua serves as an important commercial route prospering from billions of dollars from international trade as a result of NAFTA, on the other hand the state suffers the fallout of illicit trade and activities especially at the border. The earliest evidence of inhabitants of modern day Chihuahua was discovered in the area of Samalayuca. Clovis points have been found in northeastern Chihuahua that have dated from 12,000 BC to 7000 BC. It is thought that these inhabitants were hunter gatherers, inhabitants of the state later developed farming with the domestication of corn. An archeological site in northern Chihuahua known as Cerro Juanaqueña revealed squash cultivation, irrigation techniques, between AD300 and 1300 in the northern part of the state along the wide, fertile valley on the San Miguel River the Casas Grandes culture developed into an advanced civilization. The Casas Grandes civilization is part of a prehistoric archaeological culture known as Mogollon which is related to the Ancestral Pueblo culture. Paquime was the center of the Casas Grandes civilization, extensive archaeological evidence shows commerce, agriculture, and hunting at Paquime and Cuarenta Casas
8.
Matthew Fontaine Maury
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Matthew Fontaine Maury, United States Navy, was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator, LL. D. Maury made many important new contributions to charting winds and ocean currents, in 1825 at age 19, Maury obtained, through the then-US Congressman Sam Houston, a midshipmans warrant in the United States Navy. As a midshipman on board the frigate USS Brandywine, almost immediately he began to study the seas and record methods of navigation. When a leg injury left him unfit for sea duty, Maury devoted his time to the study of navigation, meteorology, winds and he became Superintendent of the U. S. Naval Observatory and head of the Depot of Charts and Instruments. Here, Maury studied thousands of logs and charts. He published the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, Maurys uniform system of recording oceanographic data was adopted by navies and merchant marines around the world and was used to develop charts for all the major trade routes. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Maury, a Virginian, resigned his commission as a US Navy commander and he spent the war in the South, as well as abroad in Great Britain, Ireland, and France. He helped acquire a ship, CSS Georgia, for the Confederacy while also advocating stopping the war in America among several European Nations, following the war, Maury accepted a teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. He died at his V. M. I. home in Lexington in 1873 after completing an exhausting lecture tour on national and international weather forecasting on land. He had also completed his book on his Geological Survey of Virginia, Maury was a descendant of a prominent Virginia family of Huguenot ancestry whose ancestry can be traced back to 15th century France. Matthew Fontaine Maurys grandfather was a teacher to a future U. S. president. Maury also had Dutch-American ancestry from the Minor family of early Virginia, M. F. Maury was born in 1806 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia near the City of Fredericksburg, his parents were Richard Maury and Diane Minor Maury. The family moved to Franklin, Tennessee, when he was age five and he wanted to emulate the naval career of his older brother, Flag Lieutenant John Minor Maury, who however caught yellow fever after fighting pirates as an officer in the United States Navy. As a result of Johns painful death, Matthew Maurys father, Richard, Maury joined the Navy as a midshipman on board the frigate Brandywine which was carrying the Marquis de La Fayette home to France following the Marquis famous visit to the United States. Almost immediately, Maury began to study the seas and record methods of navigation, one of the experiences that piqued this interest was a circumnavigation of the globe on the USS Vincennes, his assigned ship and the first US warship to travel around the world. Matthew Maurys seagoing days came to an end at the age of 33 after a stagecoach accident broke his right leg. Maury had known of the Psalms of David since childhood, John Minor, Mary, Walker, Matilda, Betsy, Richard Launcelot, Matthew Fontaine, Catherine, and Charles. His Bible is depicted on his monument beside his left leg, the product of his work was international recognition and the publication in 1847 of Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic
9.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
10.
Maximilian I of Mexico
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Maximilian was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. He was a brother of the Austrian emperor Francis Joseph I. After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he accepted an offer by Napoleon III of France to rule Mexico, France had invaded Mexico in the winter of 1861, as part of the War of the French Intervention. Seeking to legitimize French rule in the Americas, Napoleon III invited Maximilian to establish a new Mexican monarchy for him. With the support of the French army, and a group of conservative Mexican monarchists hostile to the administration of new Mexican President Benito Juárez. Once there, he declared himself Emperor of Mexico on 10 April 1864, the Empire managed to gain recognition by major European powers including Britain, Austria, and Prussia. The United States however, continued to recognize Juarez as the president of Mexico. Maximilian never completely defeated the Mexican Republic, Republican forces led by President Benito Juárez continued to be active during Maximilians rule, with the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the United States began more explicit aid of President Juárezs forces. Matters worsened for Maximilian after the French armies withdrew from Mexico in 1866 and his self-declared empire collapsed, and he was captured and executed by the Mexican government in 1867. His wife, Charlotte of Belgium, had left for Europe earlier to try to support for her husbands regime, after his execution, however. Maximilian was born on 6 July 1832 in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna and he was baptized the following day as Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph. The first name honored his godfather and paternal uncle, The King of Hungary and his father was Archduke Franz Karl, the second surviving son of The Emperor of Austria, during whose reign he was born. Maximilian was thus a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg. His mother was Princess Sophie of Bavaria, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, despite their different personalities, the marriage was fruitful, and after four miscarriages, four sons—including Maximilian—would reach adulthood. The existence of an affair between Sophie and the Duke, and any possibility that Maximilian was conceived from such a union, are widely dismissed by historians. Adhering to traditions inherited from the Spanish court during Habsburg rule, afterwards, his education was entrusted to a tutor. Most of Maximilians day was spent in study, the thirty-two hours per week of classes at age 7 steadily grew until it reached fifty-five hours per week by the time he was 17. The disciplines were diverse, ranging from history, geography, law and technology, to languages, military studies, fencing, in addition to his native German, he eventually learned to speak Hungarian, Slovak, English, French, Italian and Spanish
Matthew Fontaine Maury, Chapter 15. Wikisource.
