Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess, the younger surviving daughter of King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Isabella of Austria. She became the duchess-consort of Milan duchess-consort of Lorraine, she served as the regent of Lorraine from 1545 to 1552 during the minority of her son. She was a claimant to the thrones of Denmark and Sweden in 1561-1590, she was sovereign Lady of Tortona in 1578-1584. Christina was born in Nyborg in central Denmark in 1521. In January 1523, nobles rebelled against her father and offered the throne to his uncle, Duke Frederick of Holstein. Christina and her sister and brother followed their parents into exile in April of the same year, to Veere in Zeeland, the Netherlands, were raised by the Dutch regents, their grandaunt and aunt, Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary, her mother died on 19 January 1526. In 1532, her father Christian II of Denmark was imprisoned in Denmark after an attempt to retake his throne; the same year, her brother died, she became second in line to her father's claim to the Danish throne after her elder sister Dorothea.
Christina was given a good education by her aunt, the regent of the Netherlands, under supervision of her governess, Madame de Fiennes. She was described as a great beauty and lively, enjoyed hunting and riding; as a ward of her uncle the Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the Imperial house, she was a valuable pawn on the political marriage market. In 1527, Thomas Wolsey, Primate of England, suggested that the illegitimate son of Henry VIII be married to Christina or Dorothea, but the Habsburgs did not wish for them to marry someone born out of wedlock. In 1531, Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan proposed to marry either of the sisters, as he wished to make an alliance to the Imperial house. Charles V agreed to a marriage with Christina. On 23 September 1533 in Brussels, Christina was married by proxy to Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, through his representative Count Massimiliano Stampa. On 3 May 1534, Christina made her official entry in Milan among great festivities, on 4 May, the second wedding ceremony was celebrated in the hall of the Rocchetta.
Christina's relationship with Francesco was good, she was popular in Milan, where she was regarded as a symbol of peace and hope for the future after decades of war, her beauty was much admired. She enjoyed hunting parties, the palace was redecorated and beautified for her; when she was given her own court, her chief lady in waiting was Francesca Paleologa of Montferrat, spouse of Constantine Comnenus, titular Prince of Macedonia, to become one of her most intimate lifelong friends. Francesco II Sforza was at that time weak, as his health had never recovered after he survived a poison attempt years before, there was concern that he would never be able to have children, die without heirs. According to the marriage settlement, the Duchy of Milan was to become a part of the Empire if it did not result in issue, she and Francesco had no children. Francesco II Sforza died in October 1535, her rights as a widow to the town of Tortona for life was secured, while the Duchy was incorporated with the Empire.
However, Massimiliano Stampa remained in charge as castellan of Milan, Christina remained in the ducal residence. Charles V supported her wish to stay in Milan, as she was popular there and her presence was regarded as a protection to Milanese independence and calm; as a way to save Milanese independence, Stampa suggested that she marry the heir to the throne of Savoy, prince Louis of Piedmonte, but the plan failed because of his death shortly thereafter. Pope Paul III suggested that she marry the son of his niece Cecilia Farnese, though a few years older than her, was raised as her foster son in the court of Milan after the death of his mother; when the French king repeated his claims to the throne of Milan on behalf of his son, the duke of Orléans, a marriage was suggested to the youngest son of the French monarch, the duke of Angoulême, but Charles V refused the match unless Angoulême, instead of Orléans, was granted the Duchy of Milan, should he recognize the French claims on the Duchy.
Christina welcomed duchess Beatrice of Savoy when Savoy was occupied by the French, was present on the meeting between Beatrice and the Emperor in Pavia in May 1536. In December of that year, Milan was given over to the command of an Imperial official, Christina was escorted to Pavia. Before she left, she took the title Lady of Tortona, had a governor named to manage her dower city for her. On October 1537, Christina went to live at the court of her aunt, the Governor of the Low Countries, Dowager Queen Mary of Hungary, by way of Innsbruck, visiting her sister at the palatinate before arriving in Brussels in December. Christina was a favorite of Mary. After Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, died in 1537, Christina was considered as a possible bride for the English king; the German painter Hans Holbein was commissioned to paint portraits of noblewomen eligible to become the English queen. On 10 March 1538, Holbein arrived in Brussels with the diplomat Philip Hoby to meet Christina. Hoby arranged for a sitting the next day.
Christina sat for the portrait for three hours wearing mourning dress. Her rooms in Brussels were hung with black damask and a black cloth-of-estate. Christina only sixteen years old, made no secret of her opposition to marrying the English king, who by this time had a reputation around Europe for his mistreatment of wives: Henry had divorced his first wife Catherin
Karl Johann von Königsmarck
Carl Johann von Königsmarck was a Swedish count of Brandenburgian extraction and a soldier. Königsmarck was born in Nyborg was born at Stade, as the second son of Count Conrad Christoph von Königsmarck and his wife Countess Maria Christina von Wrangel, he was the grandson of two Field Marshalls. His sister Maria Aurora von Königsmarck was mistress to Augustus II the Strong of Poland, with whom she had the son Maurice de Saxe, the brilliant French military commander, his other sister Amalia Wilhelmina was a noted dilettante artist. His brother Philip Christoph von Königsmarck died under mysterious circumstances after starting an affair with Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the daughter of George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Karl Johann von Königsmarck is alleged to have hired three assassins to kill Thomas Thynne – husband of heiress Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, whom Königsmarck had been wooing – on 12 February 1681; the assassins were hanged on 10 March 1682 though their alleged hirer was banished.
After leaving England he joined the army of his uncle Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck in Greece. He died of wounds contracted during the Morean War in Nauplion
Frederik Jensen
Frederik Jensen was a Danish stage and film actor. He was involved in stage throughout much of his career. En lille bitte mand København ved Nat Under kjærlighedens aak Her Secret David Copperfield Lille Dorrit Hesten Hesten Skal vi vædde en million? Tretten år Fem raske piger Nyhavn 17 Den ny husassistent Frederik Jensen on IMDb
Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the major islands of Zealand and Funen in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98; the Great Belt is the largest and most important of the three Danish Straits that connect the Baltic Sea to the Kattegat strait and Atlantic Ocean. The others are the Little Belt straits; the Great Belt is 60 km long and 16–32 km wide. It flows around two major islands: Samsø in Langeland to the south. At Sprogø the Great Belt divides into the West Channel. Both are traversed by the Great Belt Bridge, but a tunnel runs under the East Channel. In pre-glacial times a river, which the Baltic Sea basin contained and which geologists call the Eridanos, must have passed near the region as the rise of South Swedish Dome in Neogene times diverted it south from its previous path across central Sweden; the Great Belt originated as Dana River, eroded into existence 9000–8900 years B.
P. when post-glacial rebound made the Ancylus Lake that occupied the Baltic depression lose its outlets around Gothenburg tipping over in the south. The forming of Dana River is thought to have caused a dramatic erosion of sediments and forests along its way; this led to a rapid fall in the lake level over hundreds of years to continue falling at a lower pace. Rising sea levels allowed the sea to break through the Dana River forming the Great Belt as a proper seaway. In the processes the Ancylus Lake became the Littorina Sea as salt water entered the Baltic depression; the Great Belt is home to some popular fish: flatfish, sea trout, Atlantic cod, Atlantic mackerel and garfish, which are fished avidly for sport and for sale. A large and rising population of harbour porpoises lives in the Belts; the Great Belt was navigable to ocean-going vessels. It still is used, despite near collisions with the Great Belt Bridge; the Danish navy monitors maritime traffic in the waters around the Great Belt. In the reign of king Eric of Pomerania the Danish government began to receive a large part of its income from the so-called Sound Dues toll on international merchant ships passing through the Øresund.
Non-Danish vessels were restricted to the Øresund channel. Merchants paid the tax under threat of having their vessels confiscated. During the middle of the 19th century, this practice became a diplomatic liability and the Danish government agreed to terminate it, achieving an international financial compensation in return. Danish waterways were opened to foreign shipping; the eastern half of the Great Belt is an international waterway based on the 1857 Copenhagen Convention. The western half of the Great Belt and all other parts of the Danish straits are Danish territorial waters and subject to Danish jurisdiction. Great Belt Fixed Link — bridge and tunnel. Great Belt Power Link — electrical power cable. Danish Straits — includes Great Belt. Little Belt — strait between Jutland and Funen. Øresund — strait between Zealand and Sweden. March across the Belts
Haarby
Haarby or Hårby is a town in central Denmark with a population of 2,460. The town is located in Syddanmark Region on the island of Funen; until 1 January 2007 it was the site of the municipality council of the former Haarby municipality. Assens municipality Images of Haarby
Kołobrzeg
Kołobrzeg is a city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants. Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea, it has been the capital of Kołobrzeg County in West Pomeranian Voivodship since 1999, was in Koszalin Voivodship from 1950 to 1998. During the Early Middle Ages, Slavic Pomeranians founded a settlement at the site of modern Budzistowo. Thietmar of Merseburg first mentioned the site as Salsa Cholbergiensis. Around the year 1000, when the city was part of Poland, it became seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg. During the High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with an additional settlement a few kilometers north of the stronghold and chartered with Lübeck law; the city joined the Hanseatic League. Within the Duchy of Pomerania, the town was the urban center of the secular reign of the prince-bishops of Cammin and their residence throughout the High and Late Middle Ages; when it was part of Brandenburgian Pomerania during the Early Modern Age, it withstood Polish and Napoleon's troops in the Siege of Kolberg.
From 1815, it was part of the Prussian province of Pomerania. After the Nazis took power in Germany, the local Jewish population was discriminated against, deemed to be subhuman and subjected to genocide. In 1945 Polish and Soviet troops seized the town, while the remaining German population which had not fled the advancing Red Army was expelled. Kołobrzeg, now part of post-war Poland and devastated in the preceding Battle of Kolberg, was rebuilt but lost its status as the regional center to the nearby city of Koszalin. "Kołobrzeg" means "by the shore" in Polish. Kashubian: Kòłobrzeg has a similar etymology; the original name of Cholberg was taken by Polish and Kashubian linguists in the 19th and 20th centuries to reconstruct the name. After German settlement, the original name of Cholberg evolved into German: Kolberg. According to Piskorski and Kempke, Slavic immigration reached Farther Pomerania in the 7th century. First Slavic settlements in the vicinity of Kołobrzeg were centered around nearby deposits of salt and date to 6th and 7th century.
In the late 9th century, a Slavic Pomeranian fortified settlement was built at the site of modern part of Kołobrzeg county called Budzistowo near modern Kołobrzeg, replacing nearby Bardy-Świelubie, a multi-ethnic emporium, as the center of the region. The Parseta valley, where both the emporium and the stronghold were located, was one of the Slavic Pomeranians' core settlement areas; the stronghold consisted of a fortified burgh with a suburbium. The Pomeranians mined salt in salt pans located in two downstream hills, they engaged in fishing, used the salt to conserve foodstuffs herring, for trade. Other important occupations were metallurgy and smithery, based on local iron ore reserves, other crafts like the production of combs from horn, in the surrounding areas, agriculture. Important sites in the settlement were a place for periodical markets and a tavern, mentioned as forum et taberna in 1140. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Budzistowo stronghold was the largest of several smaller ones in the Persante area, as such is thought to have functioned as the center of the local Slavic Pomeranian subtribe.
By the turn from the 10th to the 11th century, the smaller burghs in the Parseta area were given up. With the area coming under control of the Polish Duke Mieszko I, only two strongholds remained and underwent an enlargement, the one at Budzistowo and a predecessor of Białogard; these developments were most associated with the establishment of Polish power over this part of the Baltic coast. In the 10th century the trade of salt and fish led to the development of the settlement into a town. During Polish rule of the area in the late 10th century, the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg mentions salsa Cholbergiensis as the see of the Bishopric of Kołobrzeg, set up during the Congress of Gniezno in 1000 and placed under the Archdiocese of Gniezno; the congress was organized by Polish duke Bolesław Chrobry and Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, led to the establishment of bishoprics in Kraków and Wrocław, connecting the territories of the Polish state. The city mentions this as an important event not only in religious, but political dimension as it unified Polish territories.
The missionary efforts of bishop Reinbern were not successful, the Pomeranians revolted in 1005 and regained political and spiritual independence. In 1013 Bolesław Chrobry removed his troops from Pomerania in face of war with Holy Roman Emperor Henry III; the Polish - German war ended with Polish victory, confirmed by the 1018 Peace of Bautzen. During his campaigns in the early 12th century, Bolesław III Wrymouth reacquired Pomerania for Poland, made the local "Griffin" dynasty his vassals; the stronghold was captured by the Polish army in the winter of 1107/08, when the inhabitants including a duke surrendered without resistance. A previous Polish siege of the burgh had been unsuccessful; the army had however looted and burned the suburbium, not or only fortified. The descriptions given by the contemporary chroniclers make it possible that a second, purely militarily used castle existed near the settlement, yet neither is this certain nor have archaeological efforts been able to locate traces thereof.
During the subsequent Christianization of the area by Otto of Bamberg at the behest of Boleslaw, a St
