Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France, northern France. As of 2012 its population was of 25,317, the holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In the time of Julius Caesar there was a Gallic village named Bibrax where the Remis had to meet the onset of the confederated Belgae. Whatever may have been the locality of that battlefield, Laon was fortified by the Romans. At that time it was known as Alaudanum or Lugdunum Clavatum, archbishop Remigius of Reims, who baptised Clovis, was born in the Laonnais, and it was he who, at the end of the fifth century, instituted the bishopric of Laon. Thenceforward Laon was one of the towns of the kingdom of the Franks. Charles the Bald had enriched its church with the gift of very numerous domains, in about 847 the Irish philosopher John Scotus Eriugena appeared at the court of Charles the Bald, and was appointed head of the palace school. Eriugena spent the rest of his days in France, probably at Paris, early in the twelfth century the communes of France set about emancipating themselves, and the history of the commune of Laon is one of the richest and most varied.
Anselm of Laons school for theology and exegesis rapidly became the most famous in Europe, the consequence was a revolt, in which the episcopal palace was burnt and the bishop and several of his partisans were put to death on 25 April 1112. The fire spread to the cathedral, and reduced it to ashes, uneasy at the result of their victory, the rioters went into hiding outside the town, which was anew pillaged by the people of the neighbourhood, eager to avenge the death of their bishop. The king alternately intervened in favour of the bishop and of the inhabitants till 1239, after that date the liberties of Laon were no more contested till 1331, when the commune was abolished. During the Hundred Years War it was attacked and taken by the Burgundians, under the League, Laon took the part of the Leaguers, and was taken by Henry IV. At the Revolution Laon permanently lost its rank as a bishopric, during the campaign of 1814, Napoleon tried in vain to dislodge Blücher and Bülow from it in the Battle of Laon.
In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, an engineer blew up the magazine of the citadel at the moment when the German troops were entering the town. Many lives were lost, and the cathedral and the old palace were damaged. It surrendered to a German force on 9 September 1870, in the fall of 1914, during World War I, German forces captured the town and held it until the Allied offensive in the summer of 1918. It is 55 km from Reims,131 km from Amiens, the city contains numerous medieval buildings, including the cathedral Notre-Dame of Laon, dating mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. The chapter-house and the cloister contain specimens of early 13th century architecture, the old episcopal palace, contiguous to the cathedral, is now used as a court-house
Louis the Blind
Louis the Blind was the king of Provence from 11 January 887, King of Italy from 12 October 900, and briefly Holy Roman Emperor, as Louis III, between 901 and 905. He was the son of Boso, the king of Provence, and Ermengard. Through his father, he was a Bosonid, but through his mother and he was blinded after a failed invasion of Italy in 905. As a boy of seven, Louis succeeded to the throne of his father Boso, the kingdom Louis inherited was much smaller than his father’s, as it did not include Upper Burgundy, nor any of French Burgundy, absorbed by Richard the Justiciar, Duke of Burgundy. This meant that the kingdom of Provence was restricted to the environs of Vienne, the Provençal barons elected Ermengard to act as his regent, with the support of Louiss uncle, Richard the Justiciar. In May, Ermengard traveled with Louis to the court of her relative, the emperor Charles the Fat, Charles adopted Louis as his son and put both mother and son under his protection. In May 889, she traveled to the court of Charles successor, Arnulf, to make a new submission, the short work, Visio Karoli Grossi, may have been written shortly after Charles death to support Louiss claim.
If so, Louis must have had the support of Fulk the Venerable, on the other hand, the Visio may have been written later, circa 901, to celebrate Louiss imperial coronation. In 894, Louis himself did homage to Arnulf, in 896, Louis waged war on the Saracens. Throughout his reign he fought with these Saracen pirates, who had established a base at Fraxinet in 889 and he travelled onwards to Rome, where, in 901, he was crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict IV. The next year, Berengar defeated Louiss armies and forced him to flee to Provence and promise never to return. In 905, after listening to the Italian nobles who were tired of Berengar’s rule. Once again throwing Berengar out of Pavia, he marched and succeeded in taking Verona with only a small following, after receiving the promise of support from the bishop, Adalard. Partisans of Berengar in the town soon got word to Berengar of Louis’s exposed position at Verona, Berengar returned, accompanied by Bavarian troops, and entered Verona in the dead of night.
Louis sought sanctuary at the church of St Peter, but he was captured, Louis returned to Vienne, his capital, and by 911, he had put most of the royal powers in the hands of Hugh. Hugh was made Margrave of Provence and Marquis of Vienne and moved the capital to Arles, as regent, Hugh married Louiss sister Willa. Louis lived out his days until his death in obscurity, and to his dying day and he was succeeded by his brother-in-law in 928. In 899, Louis III was betrothed to Anna, the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and his second wife, Zoe Zaoutzaina
Melun
Melun is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a suburb of Paris 41.4 km from the centre of Paris. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne, and the seat of an arrondissement. Meledunum began as a Gaulish town, Caesar noted Melun as a town of the Senones, situated on an island in the Seine, at the island there was a wooden bridge, which his men repaired. Roman Meledunum was a mutatio where fresh horses were available for official couriers on the Roman road south-southeast of Paris. The Normans sacked it in 845, the castle of Melun became a royal residence of the Capetian kings. Hugh Capet gave Melun to Bouchard, his favorite, in the reign of Hughs son, Robert II of France, the count of Champagne, bought the city, but the king took it back for Bouchard in 999. The chatelain Gautier and his wife, who had sold the city, were hanged, Robert died there in July 1031. Donatus Bouchard I, Count of Vendôme and Count of Paris The early viscounts of Melun were listed by 17th and 18th century genealogists, such viscounts include Honoré Armand de Villars and Claude Louis Hector de Villars.
Melun is served by the Gare de Melun, which is a station on Paris RER line D, on the Transilien R suburban rail line. The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, Melun was the home of the Melun Diptych. The nearby château of Vaux-le-Vicomte is considered a predecessor of Palace of Versailles. The officers school of the French Gendarmerie is located in Melun, the Viscounts and Counts of Melun are listed in Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Neue Folge, Volume VII, Tafels 55 &56
Charles the Simple
Charles III, called the Simple or the Straightforward, was the King of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–23. He was a member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the third and posthumous son of king Louis the Stammerer by his second wife Adelaide of Paris. As a child, Charles was prevented from succeeding to the throne at the time of the death in 884 of his half-brother, Frankish nobles of the realm asked his cousin, Emperor Charles the Fat to assume the crown. The nobility elected Odo, the hero of the Siege of Paris as the new king, in 893 Charles was crowned by a faction opposed to the rule of Odo at the Reims Cathedral, becoming monarch of West Francia only after the death of Odo in 898. In 911 a group of Vikings led by Rollo besieged Paris, after a victory near Chartres on 26 August, Charles decided to negotiate with Rollo, resulting in the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte which created the Duchy of Normandy. Rollo agreed to be baptised and to marry Charles daughter Gisela, Charles had tried to win Lotharingian support for years, for instance, by marrying in April 907 a Lotharingian woman named Frederuna, and in 909 his niece Cunigunda married Wigeric of Lotharingia.
Charles defended Lotharingia against two attacks by Conrad I, in 925 Lotharingia was once again seized by East Francia. Queen Frederuna died on 10 February 917 leaving six daughters and no sons, on 7 October 919 Charles married Eadgifu, the daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England, who bore him a son, the future King Louis IV of France. By this time Charles excessive favouritism towards a certain Hagano had turned the aristocracy against him and he endowed Hagano with monasteries that were already the benefices of other barons, alienating them. In Lotharingia he earned the enmity of the new duke Gilbert, opposition to Charles in Lotharingia was not universal, however, he retained support of Wigeric. The nobles, completely exasperated with Charles policies and especially his favoritism of count Hagano, after negotiations by Archbishop Herveus of Reims the king was released. In 922 the Frankish nobles revolted again led by Robert of Neustria, who was Odos brother, was elected king by the rebels and crowned, while Charles had to flee to Lotharingia.
On 2 July 922, Charles lost his most faithful supporter, Herveus of Reims, Charles returned with a Norman army in 923 but was defeated on 15 June near Soissons by Robert, who died in the battle. Charles was captured and imprisoned in a castle at Péronne under the guard of Herbert II of Vermandois, Roberts son-in-law Rudolph of Burgundy was elected to succeed him as king. Charles died in prison on 7 October 929 and was buried at the abbey of Saint-Fursy. His son by Eadgifu would eventually be crowned in 936 as Louis IV of France, in the initial aftermath of Charless defeat, Queen Eadgifu and children had fled to England. On 6 December 884 King Carloman II of West Francia died without a heir and his half-brother. Because of this, their cousin Charles the Fat, already Holy Roman Emperor, since the beginning, the new monarch was forced to deal with constant Viking raids, with little success
Normans
The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report.
They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty.
Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance.
It is extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights.
In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
Vikings
The term is commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century, current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. One etymology derives víking from the feminine vík, meaning creek, various theories have been offered that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Viken, meaning a person from Viken. According to this theory, the word simply described persons from this area, there are a few major problems with this theory. People from the Viken area were not called Viking in Old Norse manuscripts, in addition, that explanation could only explain the masculine and ignore the feminine, which is a serious problem because the masculine is easily derived from the feminine but hardly vice versa.
The form occurs as a name on some Swedish rune stones. There is little indication of any negative connotation in the term before the end of the Viking Age and this is found in the Proto-Nordic verb *wikan, ‘to turn’, similar to Old Icelandic víkja ‘to move, to turn’, with well-attested nautical usages. In that case, the idea behind it seems to be that the rower moves aside for the rested rower on the thwart when he relieves him. A víkingr would originally have been a participant on a sea journey characterized by the shifting of rowers, in that case, the word Viking was not originally connected to Scandinavian seafarers but assumed this meaning when the Scandinavians begun to dominate the seas. In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, in Old English, and in the history of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen written by Adam of Bremen in about 1070, the term generally referred to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. As in the Old Norse usages, the term is not employed as a name for any people or culture in general, the word does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts.
The Vikings were known as Ascomanni ashmen by the Germans for the ash wood of their boats, Lochlannach by the Gaels, the modern day name for Sweden in several neighbouring countries is possibly derived from rōþs-, Ruotsi in Finnish and Rootsi in Estonian. The Slavs and the Byzantines called them Varangians, Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard. The Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were known as Danes or heathen. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon, similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history, Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century, in that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe
Auxerre
Auxerre is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerres population today is about 39,000, the area comprises roughly 92,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois, Auxerre is a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production and batteries. It is noted for its production of Burgundy wine, including world-famous Chablis, in 1995 Auxerre was named Town of Art and History. Auxerre was a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre, called Autissiodorum, through which passed one of the roads of the area. In the third century it became the seat of a bishop, in the 5th century it received a Cathedral. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the counts of Auxerre. Bourgeois activities accompanied the land and wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century. The Burgundian city, which part of France under King Louis XI, suffered during the Hundred Years War.
In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged, the medieval ramparts were demolished in the 18th century. In the 19th century numerous heavy infrastructures were built, including a station, a psychiatric hospital and the courts. Up until recently, Auxerre was one of the most prosperous cities in the country, in Gothic style, it is renowned for its three doorways with remarkable bas-reliefs. The stained glass windows in the choir and the chapel are among the finest in France. The 11th century crypt houses the remains of the former Romanesque cathedral, abbey of Saint-Germain, existing from the ninth century. The crypt has some of the most ancient mural paintings in France, interesting are the chapter room, the cellar and the cloister. The Clock tower, located in the Old Town The church of St. Pierre en Vallée, in the style of late Gothic architecture, it has a tower similar to that of the cathedral. Portions of the decorations and inner chapels were financed by local winegrowers, church of St.
Eusèbe, founded in the 7th century. The nave was rebuilt in the 13th century, while the tower is in Romanesque style, Saint Helladius, bishop of Auxerre Saint Patrick, Apostle to the Irish, visited Bishop Germanus of Auxerre here
Pope John X
It can refer to John X of Antioch. Pope John X can refer to Pope John X of Alexandria, Pope John X was Pope from March 914 to his death in 928. A candidate of the Counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli and he eventually fell out with Marozia, who had him deposed and finally murdered. John’s pontificate occurred during the known as the Saeculum obscurum. John X, whose name was John, was born at Tossignano. He was made a deacon by Peter IV, the Bishop of Bologna, where he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome. It was alleged by Liutprand of Cremona that John became her lover during a visit to Rome, regardless, it was through Theodora’s influence that John was on the verge of succeeding Peter as bishop of Bologna, when the post of Archbishop of Ravenna became available. He was consecrated as Archbishop in 905 by Pope Sergius III, during his eight years as archbishop, John worked hard with Pope Sergius in an unsuccessful attempt to have Berengar of Friuli crowned Holy Roman Emperor and to depose Louis the Blind.
After the death of Pope Lando in 914, a faction of the Roman nobility, headed by Theophylact of Tusculum, whilst Theophylact was alive, John adhered to his patron’s cause. The first task that confronted John X was the existence of a Saracen outpost on the Garigliano River, which was used as a base to pillage the Italian countryside. John consulted Landulf I of Benevento, who advised him to help from the Byzantine Empire, and from Alberic, marquis of Camerino. John took his advice and sent Papal legates to King Berengar of Italy, various Italian princes, as well as to Constantinople, the result was a Christian alliance, a precursor to the Crusades of the following century. Meanwhile, Berengar brought with him troops from the parts of Italy, and the campaign was coordinated by John X. After some preliminary engagements at Campo Baccano and at Trevi, the Saracens were driven to their stronghold on the Garigliano. There, at the Battle of Garigliano, the allies proceeded to lay siege to them for three months, at the end of which the Saracens burnt their houses and attempted to burst out of the encirclement.
With John leading the way, all were caught and killed, achieving a great victory. John confirmed the granting of Traetto to the Duke of Gaeta, since King Berengar had defeated and driven the Roman Emperor Louis the Blind out of Italy in 905, he had eagerly pressed for the imperial crown. John X used this as a lever to push Berengar into supporting and providing troops to John’s great Saracen campaign, having completed his end of the bargain, Berengar now insisted that John do likewise
French denier
The denier or penny was a medieval coin which takes its name from the Frankish coin first issued in the late seventh century, in English it is sometimes referred to as a silver penny. Its appearance represents the end of coinage, which, at the start of Frankish rule, had either been Byzantine or pseudo-imperial. Silver would be the basis for Frankish coinage from on, around AD755, amid the Carolingian Reforms, Pepin the Short introduced a new currency system which was eventually adjusted so that 12 pence equaled one shilling and 20 shillings equaled one pound. Later, three deniers equaled one liard, only the denier was an actual coin, the rest were money of account. This system and the denier itself served as the model for many of Europes currencies, including the British pound, Italian lira, Spanish dinero, in Ancien Régime France, the denier was used as a notional measure of interest rates on loans. Thus, a rate of 4% would be expressed as denier 25, a rate of 5% as denier 20, and so forth
