1.
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
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Sophia Charlotte of Hanover was the first Queen consort in Prussia as wife of King Frederick I. She was the daughter of Elector Ernest Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg. During her childhood, Sophia Charlotte visited the Kingdom of France with her mother in hopes of marrying the Grand Dauphin Louis, heir to the French throne. He later married Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria instead, but Sophia Charlotte was also proposed as a bride for Louiss father, King Louis XIV. Nothing came of this plan either, a marriage to Frederick of Hohenzollern, son of the Great Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg and heir of both Electoral Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, was therefore arranged. By marrying Frederick on 8 October 1684, she became Electress of Brandenburg in 1688 and her only child to reach maturity became King Frederick William I of Prussia. Initially, Sophia Charlotte interfered in political affairs, pushing the downfall of the Prussian prime minister Eberhard von Danckelman in 1697, in 1695, she had received the estates of Lietzow manor west of Berlin from the hands of her husband in exchange of further away Caputh. Here she had a Baroque summer residence erected by the architects Johann Arnold Nering and Martin Grünberg, Frederick was only allowed there by invitation, such as on 11 July 1699, when she hosted a birthday party for him. From 1700, she lived there in the summer months. Then called Lietzenburg, it was renamed Charlottenburg Palace after her death, Sophia Charlotte is mainly remembered for her friendship and correspondence with her mothers good friend and tutor Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, whose avowed disciple she became. In addition to German, she spoke French, Italian and English fluently and she was interested in music, sang and played the cembalo, had an Italian opera theater constructed, and employed the musicians Attilio Ariosti and Giovanni Bononcini. The composer Arcangelo Corelli did her the honor of dedicating to her his Op.5 sonatas for solo violin, the latter was one of the most significant and influential publications of compositions for violin in the history of Western music. Nonetheless, the nature of her relationship with Corelli remains obscure, both women put him at ease, and he reciprocated with his natural humour and trunks full of brocade and furs. While on a visit to her mother in Hanover, Sophia Charlotte died of pneumonia on 21 January 1705, Charlottenburg, today a district of Berlin, the Charlottensee lake in Bad Iburg, as well as the Sophie-Charlotte-Oberschule in Berlin are all named after her. Frederick August of Brandenburg died in infancy, Frederick William I of Prussia married Sophia Dorothea of Hanover and had issue. ”In Leibniz in Berlin, ed. H. Poser and A. Heinekamp, Stuttgart, Franz Steiner,1990, 61-69. MacDonald Ross, George,1999, Leibniz und Sophie-Charlotte in Herz, S. Vogtherr, kunst und Politik am Hof der ersten Königin in Preußen. Renate Feyl, Aussicht auf bleibende Helle, band 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, S. 676–684
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
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Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
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Princess Sophia Charlotte
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
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Charlottenburg Palace, the royal residence of the Hohenzollern family in Berlin (finished 1713)
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
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Wax portrait of Sophie Charlotte, c. 1700
2.
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover was a Queen consort in Prussia as wife of Frederick William I. She was the sister of George II of Great Britain and the mother of Frederick II of Prussia, Sophia Dorothea was born on 16 March 1687, in Hanover. She was the daughter of George Louis of Hanover, later King George I of Great Britain. She was detested by her brother, King George II of Great Britain. Sophia Dorothea married her cousin, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, heir apparent to the Prussian throne and they had met as children under the care of their grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, and had disliked each other ever since. Sophia Dorothea differed from her husband in every aspect and the marriage suffered as a result, one of the most important differences between them was that Sophia Dorothea, unlike her husband, loved entertainment. Frederick William contemplated to divorce her the year they married. Her husband ascended the throne in 1713 and Sophia Dorothea became queen and she was nicknamed Olympia for her regal bearing. Her children were terrorized and frequently beaten by Frederick William, who may have suffered from porphyria, Sophia Dorothea was interested in art, science, literature and fashion. She was not described as a beauty, and she was scarred from smallpox and it was the opinion of her daughter Wilhelmine that her father treated her mother unjustly. His manner toward her was described as rough, and he is noted to have used uncivil language toward her and his usual bad manners toward her were so noted that the opposite was seen as a surprise. In 1726 Sophia Dorothea inherited a sum of three million from her mother, and Frederick William was noted to suddenly treat her very well and this was regarded to be very unusual, and the Imperial ambassador reported that his changed behavior was merely because he wanted her money. When she never received it, because her brother refused to release the sum, Frederick William disliked Sophia Dorotheas early ambition to have Frederick marry Princess Amelia of Great Britain and Wilhelmine marry Frederick, Prince of Wales. He also accused her of having damaged his relationship to their children and she had a good relationship with her son, Frederick, later known as Frederick the Great, who was very attached to her and deeply mourned her death. She spent many days talking to him in the library and was informed of his plans to escape from his fathers custody in 1728, after he withdrew from the Prussian court, she corresponded with him from the fortress of Küstrin. In 1740, her spouse died, and was succeeded by their son, when she died eighteen years after her sons accession, her death was described as a great blow to Frederick. Thea Leitner, Skandal bei Hof, Ueberreuter,1993, ISBN 3-8000-3492-1 Media related to Sophia Dorothea of Hanover at Wikimedia Commons
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Portrait by
Antoine Pesne, 1726
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover in center during the visit of the king of Poland to Berlin.
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Frederick Louis Prince of Prussia
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Friedrike Wilhelmine Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
3.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
The Hague
The Hague
The Hague
The Hague
4.
Dutch Republic
–
It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
Dutch Republic
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Dutch East-India trading ship 1600
Dutch Republic
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Flag
Dutch Republic
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Onrust Island near
Batavia, 1699
Dutch Republic
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Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, 1653
5.
Herrenhausen
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Herrenhausen is an area of the German city Hanover which is most notable for the baroque Herrenhausen Gardens. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg died in Herrenhausen Palace, during the Second World War the palace was completely destroyed in a British bombing on October 18,1943. The decision to rebuild the palace was not made until 2007, and reconstruction was completed in 2013
Herrenhausen
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Herrenhausen Castle, Hanover, c. 1895
Herrenhausen
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The reconstructed castle in 2013
Herrenhausen
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Herrenhausen Gardens
Herrenhausen
6.
Electorate of Hanover
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The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially Electorate of Hanover, was established in 1692 as the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire and formally approved in 1708. After 1705, only two of these territories existed, one was the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which remained independent as the Duchy of Brunswick until 1918. The other, the new Electorate, was based on the line of the Principality of Calenberg. With the ascension of its prince-elector as King of Great Britain in 1714, as a consequence, a reluctant Great Britain was forced time and again to become involved with the fate of the German possessions of its King. However, internally, it remained a separately ruled territory with its own government, merged into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, it was re-established as the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, with the personal union with the British crown lasting until 1837. In 1692, Emperor Leopold I elevated Duke Ernest Augustus of the Brunswick-Lüneburg line of Calenberg, there were protests against the addition of a new elector, and the elevation did not become official until the approval of the Imperial Diet in 1708. Calenbergs capital Hanover became colloquially eponymous for the electorate, however, the electorate comprised large parts of the modern German state of Lower Saxony in Northern Germany. Beside the Principality of Calenberg it also included the princely lands of Göttingen and Grubenhagen as well as the territory of the former County of Hoya. In 1705 Elector George I Louis inherited the Principality of Lüneburg with the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg upon the death of his uncle Duke George William of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1715 he purchased the Duchies of Bremen-Verden from King Frederick IV of Denmark, so Sunday 18 February Old Style was followed by Monday 1 March New Style. In 1714, George Louis became king of Great Britain, so that the electorate, the possessions of the electors in Germany also grew, as they de facto purchased the formerly Swedish-held duchies of Bremen and Verden in 1719. George Louis died in 1727, and was succeeded by his son George II Augustus, in 1731 Hanover also gained Hadeln, a former exclave of Saxe-Lauenburg, conveying it to Bremen-Verden. It took George II Augustus until 1733 to persuade Charles VI to enfeoff him also with the Duchy of Bremen and the Principality of Verden, colloquially called Duchies of Bremen-Verden. In Hanover, the capital of the Electorate, the Privy Council of Hanover installed a new ministry in charge of the Imperial Estates ruled by the Electors in personal union and it was called the Department of Bremen-Verden, Hadeln, Lauenburg and Bentheim. However the Electors spent most of their time in England, direct contact with the Electorate was maintained through the office of the German Chancery, situated in St Jamess Palace in London. During the Anglo-French and Indian War in the North American colonies, George II formed an alliance with his Brandenburg-Prussian cousin Frederick II, the Great combining the North American conflict with the Brandenburg-Prusso–Austrian Third Silesian or Seven Years War. But George II did not recognise the convention, in the following year the British army, supported by troops from Brandenburg-Prussia, Hesse-Kassel and the ducal Principality of Brunswick and Lunenburg again expelled the occupants. Hanover remained unaffected for the rest of the war, after the war ended, peace prevailed until the French Revolutionary Wars started
Electorate of Hanover
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George I Louis
Electorate of Hanover
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Flag
Electorate of Hanover
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George II Augustus
Electorate of Hanover
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George III William Frederick
7.
Leineschloss
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The Leineschloss, situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian kings and the current seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony. The first building on the site was a Franciscan friary, constructed in about 1300, in 1636, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, began construction of the palace on the site as his residence. In 1742 the north-west wing was renewed, between 1816 and 1844, the architect Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves fully re-built the palace. The column portico with six Corinthian columns was built during this period, during World War II, the Leineschloss burnt out entirely after British aerial bombings. King George I of Great Britain was originally buried in the Chapel of the Leineschloss, architect Dieter Oesterlen re-built the palace between 1957 and 1962
Leineschloss
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Main Entrance
Leineschloss
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Leine river frontage
8.
George I of Great Britain
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George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698. George was born in Hanover and inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father, a succession of European wars expanded his German domains during his lifetime, and in 1708 he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover. At the age of 54, after the death of his second cousin Queen Anne of Great Britain, in reaction, Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him with Annes Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts failed. During Georges reign, the powers of the monarchy diminished and Britain began a transition to the system of cabinet government led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole. George died of a stroke on a trip to his native Hanover, George was born on 28 May 1660 in Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Sophia was the granddaughter of King James I of England through her mother, Elizabeth of Bohemia. For the first year of his life, George was the heir to the German territories of his father. In 1661 Georges brother, Frederick Augustus, was born and the two boys were brought up together, after Sophias tour she bore Ernest Augustus another four sons and a daughter. In her letters, Sophia describes George as a responsible, conscientious child who set an example to his brothers and sisters. In 1679 another uncle died unexpectedly without sons and Ernest Augustus became reigning Duke of Calenberg-Göttingen, Georges surviving uncle, George William of Celle, had married his mistress in order to legitimise his only daughter, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, but looked unlikely to have any further children. Under Salic law, where inheritance of territory was restricted to the male line, in 1682, the family agreed to adopt the principle of primogeniture, meaning George would inherit all the territory and not have to share it with his brothers. The same year, George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the marriage of state was arranged primarily as it ensured a healthy annual income and assisted the eventual unification of Hanover and Celle. His mother was at first against the marriage because she looked down on Sophia Dorotheas mother and she was eventually won over by the advantages inherent in the marriage. In 1683, George and his brother, Frederick Augustus, served in the Great Turkish War at the Battle of Vienna, and Sophia Dorothea bore George a son, George Augustus. The following year, Frederick Augustus was informed of the adoption of primogeniture and it led to a breach between father and son, and between the brothers, that lasted until Frederick Augustuss death in battle in 1690. With the imminent formation of a single Hanoverian state, and the Hanoverians continuing contributions to the Empires wars, Georges prospects were now better than ever as the sole heir to his fathers electorate and his uncles duchy. Sophia Dorothea had a child, a daughter named after her, in 1687
George I of Great Britain
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George I, c. 1714. Studio of Sir
Godfrey Kneller.
George I of Great Britain
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George in 1680, when he was Prince of Hanover. After a painting by
Sir Godfrey Kneller.
George I of Great Britain
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George in 1706, when he was
Elector of Hanover. After Johann Leonhard Hirschmann.
George I of Great Britain
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George c.1714, the year of his succession, as painted by
Sir Godfrey Kneller.
9.
Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany
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Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany was the younger brother of George I of Great Britain. Ernest Augustus was a soldier and served with distinction under Emperor Leopold I during the Nine Years War. In 1715, he became Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, Ernest Augustus was born on 17 September 1674. He was the son and seventh child of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Sophia of the Palatinate. His education followed the customs of the time, by which German princes were expected to travel to foreign courts to make contacts, in the summer of his 20th year, he visited the French court at Versailles via Amsterdam. While there, he turned 20 and the two brothers were popular with the French royal family, after his visit to France, he trod the well-worn path for young German princes of those times and served as a soldier. His family interests were aligned with those of Emperor Leopold I and he continued his military career during the War of Spanish Succession and was actively engaged in the Siege of Lille. After his fathers death, George inherited all his lands and titles and his father, as part of the conditions he had to fulfil to acquire an electorship, had adopted primogeniture, thus disinheriting younger sons. Unlike his four brothers, Ernest Augustus did not oppose this change. He was a prominent member of his brothers court at Herrenhausen, in Hanover, receiving diplomatic visitors and his influence may have helped secure the position of Kapellmeister for Handel at the court. With his accession to the British throne, George moved to London, in this capacity, he became regent in all but name, and took on the duty of care for Georges seven-year-old grandson, Frederick Lewis, the future Prince of Wales and father-to-be of George III. Frederick was left in Germany as a move, to reassure the populace. Upon the death of Charles Joseph, Elector of Trier, in 1715, under the terms of the treaty of Westphalia, the position was not just an honorific and so Ernest Augustus had to divide his time between Schloss Osnabrück and the court at Herrenhausen. In 1716, Ernst visited England where, on 29 June 1716, he was created Duke of York, Albany, on 30 April 1718, he was created a Knight of the Garter together with his great-nephew Frederick, later Prince of Wales. He died at Osnabrück on 14 August 1728 and was buried there, believed to be homosexual, Ernest Augustus never married. Upon his death, his British and Irish peerages became extinct, queenship in Europe 1660-1815, The Role of the Consort. Ernest Augustus, Prince, duke of York and Albany, London, Smith, Elder & Co. p.393
Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany
–
Ernest
10.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
Dynasty
–
Charles I of England and his son, the future
James II
11.
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
–
Frederick V was, as the son and heir of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, the Elector of the Rhine Palatinate in the Holy Roman Empire upon his fathers death in 1610. This defeat was followed by an Imperial invasion of Fredericks Palatinate lands and he was forced to flee to Holland in 1622 and he lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family at the Hague. Frederick was born at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate and he was the son of Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of William the Silent and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610 and he was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg. In 1618 the largely Protestant estates of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic King Ferdinand, Frederick was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia. He accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, however, James opposed the takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Fredericks allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm. His brief reign as King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation. After this battle, the Imperial forces invaded Fredericks Palatine lands and he had to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, an Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at The Hague and his eldest surviving son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine returned to power in 1648 with the end of the war. His daughter Princess Sophia was eventually named heiress presumptive to the British throne, Frederick was born on 26 August 1596 at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate. His father, Frederick IV was the ruler of Electoral Palatinate, his mother was Louise Juliana of Nassau, Frederick was related to almost all of the ruling families of the Holy Roman Empire and a number of diplomats and dignitaries attended his baptism at Amberg on 6 October 1596. In 1604, at his mothers urging, he was sent to Sedan to live in the court of his uncle Henri de La Tour dAuvergne, during his time at Sedan, Frederick was a frequent visitor to the court of Henry IV of France. His tutor was Calvinist theologian Daniel Tilenus, a professor of theology at the Academy of Sedan and these views are likely to have shaped Fredericks future policies. On 19 September 1610, Fredericks father, Frederick IV, died from extravagant living, under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, Fredericks closest male relative would serve as his guardian and as regent of the Palatinate until Frederick reached the age of majority. Frederick V welcomed John to Heidelberg, whereas Wolfgang William was denied entry and this led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1613, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, the dispute ended in 1614, when Frederick attained his eighteenth birthday. However, much bad blood among the houses was caused by this dispute, Frederick IVs marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinates position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Frederick IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, in keeping with his fathers policy, Frederick V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
–
Frederick wearing the
Crown of Saint Wenceslas, other Bohemian regalia and the collar of the
Order of the Garter and holding an
orb. On the table is the Cap representing his separate office as
Elector Palatine. Painted by
Gerrit von Honthorst in 1634.
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
–
Portrait of Frederick by
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1613.
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
–
Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), 1613.
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
–
Heidelberg Castle and the
Hortus Palatinus commissioned by Frederick, and designed by English architect
Inigo Jones (1573–1652) and French engineer
Salomon de Caus (1576–1626).
12.
Elizabeth of Bohemia
–
Elizabeth Stuart was, as the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Electress Palatine, and briefly, Queen of Bohemia. Due to her husband’s reign in Bohemia lasting for just one winter and she was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scots, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark. She was also the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots and she was four years older than her brother Charles, who became Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. With the demise of the Stuart dynasty in 1714, her grandson succeeded to the British throne as George I of Great Britain, the reigning British monarch, Elizabeth II, is Elizabeth Stuarts direct descendant of the 10th and 11th generation through different paths. Elizabeth was born at Falkland Palace, Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 oclock in the morning, at the time of her birth, her father was King of Scots only. Named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse, a couple of years later the kings second daughter, Margaret, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth did not pay attention to this younger sister, as even at this young age her affections were with her brother. When Elizabeth I, the Queen of England, died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuarts father, James, along with her elder brother, Henry, Elizabeth made the journey south toward England with her mother in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment. Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but there is no evidence that she was present at her parents coronation on 25 July 1603 and it seems likely that by this time the royal children already had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. On 19 October 1603 an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife. Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, the conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father, Charles was seen as too feeble and Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the hand, had already attended formal functions. The conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and she would then be brought up as a Catholic and later married to a Catholic bridegroom. The plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed and Guy Fawkes was caught by the Kings soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder, Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time. This education included instruction in history, geography, theology, languages, writing, history, music. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that Latin had the effect of making women more cunning. By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in languages, including French
Elizabeth of Bohemia
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Elizabeth, while Electress consort Palatine
Elizabeth of Bohemia
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Princess Elizabeth at age 7 by
Robert Peake the Elder
Elizabeth of Bohemia
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Coombe Abbey painted in 1797 by Maria Johnson
Elizabeth of Bohemia
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Portrait of Frederick believed to have been painted in 1613 the year of his marriage to Elizabeth by
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt
13.
James VI and I
–
James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
James VI and I
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Portrait by
Daniel Mytens, 1621
James VI and I
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Portrait of James as a boy, after
Arnold Bronckorst, 1574
James VI and I
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James (right) depicted beside his mother
Mary (left). In reality, they were separated when he was still a baby.
James VI and I
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James in 1586, age 20
14.
Kingdom of England
–
In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
Kingdom of England
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The dominions of
Cnut the Great (1014–1035)
Kingdom of England
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Flag
Kingdom of England
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King John signs
Magna Carta at
Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.
Kingdom of England
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Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the English victory over France at the
Battle of Agincourt.
15.
Kingdom of Ireland
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The Kingdom of Ireland was a client state of the Kingdom of England that existed on Ireland from 1542 until 1800. It came into being when the Parliament of Ireland passed the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, the territory of the Kingdom had previously had the status of a lordship of the Crown. The Parliament of Ireland passed the Acts of Union 1800 by which it abolished itself, the act was also passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The act also had the effect of establishing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on the first day of 1801 by uniting the Crowns of Ireland, in its early years, the Kingdom of Ireland had limited recognition. While some Protestant powers in Europe recognised Henry and his heir Edward as monarch of Ireland, Henrys daughter, Queen Mary I of England, was recognised as Queen of Ireland by Pope Paul IV in 1555. The papal bull Laudabiliter of Pope Adrian IV was issued in 1155 and it granted the Angevin King Henry II of England the title Dominus Hibernae. Laudabiliter authorised the king to invade Ireland, to bring the country into the European sphere, in return, Henry was required to remit a penny per hearth of the tax roll to the Pope. This was reconfirmed by Adrians successor Pope Alexander III in 1172, when Pope Clement VII excommunicated the king of England, Henry VIII, in 1533, the constitutional position of the lordship in Ireland became uncertain. Henry had broken away from the Holy See and declared himself the head of the Church in England and he had petitioned Rome to procure an annulment of his marriage to Queen Catherine. The Treason Act 1537 was passed to counteract this, following the failed revolt of Silken Thomas in 1534–35, Grey, the lord deputy, had some military successes against several clans in the late 1530s, and took their submissions. By 1540 most of Ireland seemed at peace and under the control of the kings Dublin administration, Henry was proclaimed King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, an Act of the Irish Parliament. The new kingdom was not recognised by the Catholic monarchies in Europe, after the death of King Edward VI, Henrys son, the papal bull of 1555 recognised the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I as Queen of Ireland. The link of personal union of the Crown of Ireland to the Crown of England became enshrined in Catholic canon law, in this fashion, the Kingdom of Ireland was ruled by the reigning King of England. This placed the new Kingdom of Ireland in personal union with the Kingdom of England, in line with its expanded role and self-image, the administration established the Kings Inns for barristers in 1541, and the Ulster King of Arms to regulate heraldry in 1552. Proposals to establish a university in Dublin were delayed until 1592, in 1603 James VI King of Scots became James I of England, uniting the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union. The political order of the kingdom was interrupted by the Wars of the Three Kingdoms starting in 1639, during the subsequent interregnum period, England, Scotland and Ireland were ruled as a republic until 1660. This period saw the rise of the loyalist Irish Catholic Confederation within the kingdom and, from 1653, the kingdoms order was restored 1660 with the restoration of Charles II. Without any public dissent, Charless reign was backdated to his fathers execution in 1649, Poynings Law was repealed in 1782 in what came to be known as the Constitution of 1782, granting Ireland legislative independence
Kingdom of Ireland
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Location of the Kingdom of Ireland in 1789.
16.
Act of Settlement 1701
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Her mother, Princess Elizabeth Stuart, had been born in Scotland but became famous in history as Elizabeth of Bohemia. The line of Sophia of Hanover was the most junior among the Stuarts, Sophia died on 8 June 1714, before the death of Queen Anne on 1 August 1714, at which time Sophias son duly became King George I and started the Hanoverian dynasty. The act played a key role in the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain, England and Scotland had shared a monarch since 1603, but had remained separately governed countries. The Scottish parliament was more reluctant than the English to abandon the House of Stuart, English pressure on Scotland to accept the Act of Settlement was one factor leading to the parliamentary union of the two countries in 1707. Under the Act of Settlement anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, the act also placed limits on both the role of foreigners in the British government and the power of the monarch with respect to the Parliament of England. Some of those provisions have been altered by subsequent legislation, the original documents are deposited in the Lower Saxon State Archives in Hanover, Germany. During the debate, the House of Lords had attempted to append Sophia and her descendants to the line of succession, mary II died childless in 1694, after which William III did not remarry. In 1700, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, who was the child of Princess Anne to survive infancy. Thus, Anne was left as the last remaining heir to the throne. The Bill of Rights excluded Catholics from the throne, which ruled out James II, however, it also provided for no further succession after Anne. Parliament thus saw the need to settle the succession on Sophia and her descendants, is are or shall be reconciled to or shall hold Communion with the See or Church of Rome or shall profess the Popish Religion or shall marry a Papist. Thus, those who were Roman Catholics, and those who married Roman Catholics, were barred from ascending the throne. Eight additional provisions of the act would only come into effect upon the death of both William and Anne, The monarch shall join in communion with the Church of England and this was intended to ensure the exclusion of a Roman Catholic monarch. If a person not native to England comes to the throne, England will not wage war for any dominions or territories which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the consent of Parliament. This provision has been dormant since Queen Victoria ascended the throne, no monarch may leave the dominions of England, Scotland, or Ireland, without the consent of Parliament. All government matters within the jurisdiction of the Privy Council were to be transacted there and this was because Parliament wanted to know who was deciding policies, as sometimes councillors signatures normally attached to resolutions were absent. This provision was repealed early in Queen Annes reign, as many councillors ceased to offer advice, subsequent nationality laws made naturalised citizens the equal of those native born, and this provision no longer applies. No person who has an office under the monarch, or receives a pension from the Crown, was to be a Member of Parliament and this provision was inserted to avoid unwelcome royal influence over the House of Commons
Act of Settlement 1701
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Facsimile of the Act of Settlement sent to Electress Sophia of Hanover
Act of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701
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Sophia, Electress of Hanover
17.
Acts of Union 1707
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The Acts of Union were two Acts of Parliament, the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had agreed on 22 July 1706. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in two separate Crowns resting on the same head. The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707, on this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the home of the English Parliament. Hence, the Acts are referred to as the Union of the Parliaments, on the Union, the historian Simon Schama said What began as a hostile merger, would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world. It was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history, the first attempts at Union surrounded the foreseen unification of the Royal lines of Scotland and England. In pursuing the English throne in the 1560s, Mary, Queen of Scots pledged herself to a union between the two kingdoms. England and Scotland were ruled by the king for the first time in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became the king of England. However they remained two separate states until 1 May 1707, the first attempt to unite the parliaments of England and Scotland was by Marys son, King James VI and I. On his accession to the English throne in 1603 King James announced his intention to unite his two realms so that he would not be guilty of bigamy. James used his prerogative powers to take the style of King of Great Britain and to give an explicitly British character to his court. In the meantime, James declared that Great Britain be viewed as presently united, and as one realm and kingdom, the Scottish and English parliaments established a commission to negotiate a union, formulating an instrument of union between the two countries. However, the idea of union was unpopular, and when James dropped his policy of a speedy union. When the House of Commons attempted to revive the proposal in 1610, the ordinance was ratified by the Second Protectorate Parliament, as an Act of Union, on 26 June 1657. One united Parliament sat in Westminster, with 30 representatives from Scotland and 30 from Ireland joining the members from England. Whilst free trade was brought about amongst the new Commonwealth, the benefits were generally not felt as a result of heavy taxation used to fund Cromwells New Model Army. This republican union was dissolved automatically with the restoration of King Charles II to the thrones of England and Scotland, Scottish members expelled from the Commonwealth Parliament petitioned unsuccessfully for a continuance of the union. An abortive scheme for union occurred in Scotland in 1670, following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the records of the Parliament of Scotland show much discussion of possible union
Acts of Union 1707
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"Articles of Union with Scotland", 1707
Acts of Union 1707
Acts of Union 1707
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Portrait of Queen Anne in 1702, the year she became queen, from the school of
John Closterman
Acts of Union 1707
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18thC French illustration of an opening of the Scottish Parliament
18.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
Kingdom of Great Britain
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Lord Clive meeting
Mir Jafar after the
Battle of Plassey, by
Francis Hayman (c. 1762)
Kingdom of Great Britain
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Flag
Kingdom of Great Britain
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Pitt addressing the
Commons in 1793
19.
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Frederick V was, as the son and heir of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, the Elector of the Rhine Palatinate in the Holy Roman Empire upon his fathers death in 1610. This defeat was followed by an Imperial invasion of Fredericks Palatinate lands and he was forced to flee to Holland in 1622 and he lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family at the Hague. Frederick was born at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate and he was the son of Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of William the Silent and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610 and he was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg. In 1618 the largely Protestant estates of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic King Ferdinand, Frederick was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia. He accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, however, James opposed the takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Fredericks allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm. His brief reign as King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation. After this battle, the Imperial forces invaded Fredericks Palatine lands and he had to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, an Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at The Hague and his eldest surviving son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine returned to power in 1648 with the end of the war. His daughter Princess Sophia was eventually named heiress presumptive to the British throne, Frederick was born on 26 August 1596 at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate. His father, Frederick IV was the ruler of Electoral Palatinate, his mother was Louise Juliana of Nassau, Frederick was related to almost all of the ruling families of the Holy Roman Empire and a number of diplomats and dignitaries attended his baptism at Amberg on 6 October 1596. In 1604, at his mothers urging, he was sent to Sedan to live in the court of his uncle Henri de La Tour dAuvergne, during his time at Sedan, Frederick was a frequent visitor to the court of Henry IV of France. His tutor was Calvinist theologian Daniel Tilenus, a professor of theology at the Academy of Sedan and these views are likely to have shaped Fredericks future policies. On 19 September 1610, Fredericks father, Frederick IV, died from extravagant living, under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, Fredericks closest male relative would serve as his guardian and as regent of the Palatinate until Frederick reached the age of majority. Frederick V welcomed John to Heidelberg, whereas Wolfgang William was denied entry and this led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1613, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, the dispute ended in 1614, when Frederick attained his eighteenth birthday. However, much bad blood among the houses was caused by this dispute, Frederick IVs marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinates position within the Reformed camp in Europe. Frederick IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, in keeping with his fathers policy, Frederick V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Frederick wearing the
Crown of Saint Wenceslas, other Bohemian regalia and the collar of the
Order of the Garter and holding an
orb. On the table is the Cap representing his separate office as
Elector Palatine. Painted by
Gerrit von Honthorst in 1634.
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Portrait of Frederick by
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1613.
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), 1613.
Frederick V of the Palatinate
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Heidelberg Castle and the
Hortus Palatinus commissioned by Frederick, and designed by English architect
Inigo Jones (1573–1652) and French engineer
Salomon de Caus (1576–1626).
20.
Electoral Palatinate
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Its rulers served as prince-electors from time immemorial, were noted as such in a papal letter of 1261, and were confirmed as electors by the Golden Bull of 1356. The Counts Palatine of the Rhine held the office of Imperial vicars in the territories under Frankish law and their climax and decline is marked by the rule of Elector Palatine Frederick V, whose coronation as King of Bohemia in 1619 sparked the Thirty Years War. After the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the lands were further afflicted by the Reunion campaigns launched by King Louis XIV of France. Ruled in personal union with the Electorate of Bavaria from 1777, the office of a Count palatine at the Frankish court of King Childebert I was already mentioned about 535. Up to the 10th century, the rule of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties was centered at the palace in Aachen. In 985, Herman I, a scion of the Ezzonids, is mentioned as count palatine of Lotharingia and his territories were centered in the Rhineland proper around Cologne and Bonn, but extended south to the Moselle and Nahe Rivers in Lorraine. The southernmost point was near Alzey, from about 1085/86, after the death of the last Ezzonian count palatine Herman II, the Palatinate lost its military importance in Lotharingia. The territorial authority of his successor Henry of Laach was reduced to the counties along the Upper Rhine, various noble dynasties competed to be enfeoffed with the Palatinate by the Holy Roman Emperor, among them the House of Ascania, the House of Salm and the House of Babenberg. The first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine was Conrad, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen, the territories attached to this hereditary office in 1156 started from those held by the Hohenstaufens in the Donnersberg, Nahegau, Haardt, Bergstraße and Kraichgau regions. Much of this was from their ancestors, the Salian emperors, and apart from Conrads maternal ancestry. These backgrounds explain the composition of Upper and Rhenish Palatinate in the inheritance centuries onwards, about 1182, Conrad moved his residence from Stahleck Castle near Bacharach up the Rhine River to Heidelberg. Upon Conrads death in 1195, the Palatinate passed to the House of Welf through the—secret—marriage of his daughter Agnes with Henry of Brunswick, when Henrys son Henry the Younger died without heirs in 1214, the Hohenstaufen king Frederick II enfeoffed the Wittelsbach duke Louis I of Bavaria. The Bavarian House of Wittelsbach eventually held the Palatinate territories until 1918, as this region was politically connected to the Rhenish Palatinate, the name Upper Palatinate became common from the early 16th century in contrast to the Lower Palatinate along the Rhine. With the Treaty of Pavia in 1329, the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV, from that time forth, the Count Palatine of the Rhine was usually known as the Elector Palatine. The Elector Palatine, now based in Heidelberg, adopted Lutheranism in the 1530s, in 1619, Frederick V accepted the throne of Bohemia from the Bohemian estates. He was soon defeated by the forces of Emperor Ferdinand II at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, called the Winter King because his reign in Bohemia only lasted one winter, Frederick was put under the ban of the Empire in 1623. Frederick Vs territories and his position as Elector were transferred to the Catholic Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian I, although technically Elector Palatine, he was known as the Elector of Bavaria. From 1648 he ruled in Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate alone, but retained all his Electoral dignities, after Frederick Vs death, his wife Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, worked tirelessly to have the Palatinate restored to her family and to the Protestant cause
Electoral Palatinate
–
Heidelberg Castle 1670
Electoral Palatinate
–
Flag
Electoral Palatinate
–
Mannheim Palace
Electoral Palatinate
–
Schwetzingen Castle
21.
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
–
Charles Louis, Elector Palatine KG was the second son of German elector Frederick V of the Palatinate, the Winter King of Bohemia, and his wife, Elizabeth of England. After the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, in 1629. Along with his younger brother Rupert, he spent much of the 1630s at the court of his uncle, Charles I of England. The young Elector Palatine was largely unsuccessful in this, and became estranged from the King. The Prince Palatine supported the execution of Strafford, although Charles Louis was involved in the early stages of the Civil War with his uncle, he was mistrusted for his parliamentary sympathies, and soon returned to his mother in The Hague. There he distanced himself from the royalist cause in the Civil War, in 1644, Charles Louis returned to England at the invitation of Parliament. He took up residence in the Palace of Whitehall and took the Solemn League and Covenant, even though his brothers, Rupert and Maurice, were Royalist generals. Contemporaries and some in subsequent generations believed that Charles Louis motive in visiting Roundhead London was that he hoped that Parliament would enthrone him in place of his uncle, Charles Louis was still in England in October 1648 when the Peace of Westphalia restored the Lower Palatinate to him. He remained in England long enough to see the execution of his uncle in January 1649, the two had not reconciled prior to the Kings death - Charles refused to see his nephew before his execution. After this unhappy dénouement to Charles Louiss participation in English politics, over the more than thirty years of his reign there, he strove with some success to rebuild his shattered territory. In foreign affairs, he pursued a course, marrying his daughter Elizabeth Charlotte to Philip I, Duke of Orléans, Louis XIVs brother. The most notable facet of his reign was probably his unilateral divorce of his wife, Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel and this second wife was given the unique title of Raugravine, and their children were known as the Raugraves
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
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Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
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The young Prince Charles Louis with his old teacher Volrad von Plesse, painting by
Jan Lievens, 1631.
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
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Engraving of Charles I Louis
22.
Peace of Westphalia
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The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster, effectively ending the European wars of religion. The Treaty of Osnabrück, involving the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, the treaties did not restore peace throughout Europe, but they did create a basis for national self-determination. Inter-state aggression was to be held in check by a balance of power, a norm was established against interference in another states domestic affairs. As European influence spread across the globe, these Westphalian principles, especially the concept of states, became central to international law. Peace negotiations between France and the Habsburgs, provided by the Holy Roman Emperor and the Spanish King, were started in Cologne in 1641 and these negotiations were initially blocked by France. Cardinal Richelieu of France desired the inclusion of all its allies, in Hamburg and Lübeck, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire negotiated the Treaty of Hamburg. This was done with the intervention of Richelieu, the Holy Roman Empire and Sweden declared the preparations of Cologne and the Treaty of Hamburg to be preliminaries of an overall peace agreement. This larger agreement was negotiated in Westphalia, in the cities of Münster. Both cities were maintained as neutral and demilitarized zones for the negotiations, Münster was, since its re-Catholization in 1535, a strictly mono-denominational community. It housed the Chapter of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, only Roman Catholic worship was permitted. No places of worship were provided for Calvinists and Lutherans, in the years of 1628–1633 Osnabrück had been subjugated by troops of the Catholic League. The Catholic Prince-Bishop Franz Wilhelm, Count of Wartenberg then imposed the Counter-Reformation onto the city with many Lutheran burgher families being exiled, while under Swedish occupation Osnabrückss Catholics were not expelled, but the city severely suffered from Swedish war contributions. Therefore, Osnabrück hoped for a great relief becoming neutralised and demilitarised, since Lutheran Sweden preferred Osnabrück as a conference venue, its peace negotiations with the Empire, including the allies of both sides, took place in Osnabrück. The Empire and its opponent France, including the allies of each, as well as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, between January 1646 and July 1647 probably the largest number of diplomats were present. The French delegation was headed by Henri II dOrléans, duc de Longueville and further comprised the diplomats Claude dAvaux, the Swedish delegation was headed by Count Johan Oxenstierna and was assisted by Baron Johan Adler Salvius. Philip IV of Spain was represented by a double delegation, the Spanish delegation was headed by Gaspar de Bracamonte y Guzmán, and notably included the diplomats and writers Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, and Bernardino de Rebolledo. The Burgundian lawyer Antoine Brun represented Philip as hereditary ruler of the Franche Comté, the papal nuncio in Cologne, Fabio Chigi, and the Venetian envoy Alvise Contarini acted as mediators. Various Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire also sent delegations, Brandenburg sent several representatives, including Vollmar
Peace of Westphalia
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The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 (1648) by
Gerard ter Borch
Peace of Westphalia
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Historical map
23.
House of Hanover
–
Upon Victorias death, the British throne passed to her eldest son Edward VII, a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through his father. The House of Hanover was formally named the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hanover line, the senior branch became extinct in 1884, and the House of Hanover is now the only surviving branch of the House of Welf, which is the senior branch of the House of Este. The current head of the House of Hanover is Ernst August, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, is considered the first member of the House of Hanover. When the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was divided in 1635, George inherited the Principality of Calenberg and his son, Christian Louis inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from Georges brother. Calenberg and Lüneburg were then shared between Georges sons until united in 1705 under his grandson, also called George, who subsequently became George I of Great Britain, all held the title Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. George died in 1641 and was succeeded by, Christian Louis, 1st son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg and he relinquished Calenburg when he became Prince of Lüneburg. George William, 2nd son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg and he relinquished Calenburg when he became Prince of Lüneburg on the death of his brother, Christian Louis. John Frederick, 3rd son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg, Ernest Augustus, 4th son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg. He became Prince of Calenberg on the death of his brother John Frederick and he was elevated to prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. Ernest Augustuss wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, was declared heiress of the throne of England by the Act of Settlement of 1701, Sophia was at that time the senior eligible Protestant descendant of James I of England. George Louis, son of Duke Ernest Augustus and Sophia, became Elector and Prince of Calenberg in 1698 and he inherited his mothers claim to the throne of Great Britain when she died in 1714. George Louis became the first British monarch of the House of Hanover as George I in 1714, George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally, Electors of Hanover. From 1814, when Hanover became a kingdom, the British monarch was also King of Hanover, in 1837, however, the personal union of the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended. After the death of William IV in 1837, the kings of Hanover continued the dynasty. The 1866 rift between the House of Hanover and the House of Hohenzollern was settled only by the 1913 marriage of Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick. At the end of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia awarded the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück alternately to a Catholic bishop, since the treaty gave cadets priority over heirs and reigning princes, Osnabrück became a form of appanage of the House of Hanover. In 1884, the branch of the House of Welf became extinct. By a law of 1879, the Duchy of Brunswick established a council of regency to take over at the Dukes death
House of Hanover
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George I (1714–1727)
House of Hanover
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House of Hanover
House of Hanover
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George III (1760–1820)
House of Hanover
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George IV (1820–1830)
24.
Herrenhausen Gardens
–
The Herrenhausen Gardens, located in Herrenhausen, an urban district of Lower Saxonys capital of Hanover are made up of the Great Garden, the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and the Welfengarten. The gardens are a heritage of the Kings of Hanover, both the Georgengarten and the Welfengarten have been made in the style of English gardens, and both are considered popular recreation areas for the residents of Hanover. The history of the gardens spans several centuries, and they remain an attraction to this day. The Great Garden owes much of its aesthetics to Sophia of Hanover, as its name implies, it is indeed a large garden, comprising 50 hectares of lawns, hedges, walkways, and statues arranged in strict geometrical patterns. The centerpiece of the garden was once the Herrenhausen Castle, which suffered damage during World War II. In 2009, it was decided to rebuild the castle, Herrenhausen Palace was reopened on 17 January 2013. Every summer, the Great Garden plays host a variety of festivals. Lastly, the garden is the site of a fireworks competition which evolved from a local attraction. The State Stage of Hanover uses the Garden Theatre of the Great Garden during the summer for musicals and other theatrical performances. Similarly, the building houses the gardens orangery is utilized for both art exhibits and performances of classical music, matinee performances are presented in the foyer. The focal point of the garden is the Great Fountain which can, with weather conditions. The original fountain was based on ideas of Gottfried Leibniz and was inaugurated in 1719 during the visit of George I, in 1721, it reached a height of some 35 m which made it the highest fountain in European courts. The fountain and its works were renewed in 1860. The Great Garden is also the site of one of the last works of the artist Niki de Saint Phalle, between 2001 and 2003, when the exhibit opened, de Saint Phalle and her coworkers covered the walls and interior with mosaics of molded glass and mirrors. Two rooms branch off from the central room, and on the front wall of each of them is a statue set within a small recession in the wall. De Saint Phalles intention for this exhibit was that the visitors could use the grotto as a retreat on hot summer days while at the same time being enchanted by the decorations. The Berggarten was created in 1666 as a garden for the Great Garden on a hill north of the Herrenhäuser Castle. Sophia of Hanover later transformed the Berggarten into a garden for exotic plants, the garden once served more than an aesthetic purpose - it was used to experiment with the breeding of plants normally native to southern lands in the northern climate of Lower Saxony
Herrenhausen Gardens
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Herrenhausen Gardens
Herrenhausen Gardens
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The reconstructed
schloss in 2013
Herrenhausen Gardens
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Aerial view of the Northern half of the Great Garden
Herrenhausen Gardens
–
The Great Garden ca 1708
25.
Gottfried Leibniz
–
Leibnizs notation has been widely used ever since it was published. It was only in the 20th century that his Law of Continuity and he became one of the most prolific inventors in the field of mechanical calculators. He also refined the number system, which is the foundation of virtually all digital computers. Leibniz, along with René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, was one of the three great 17th-century advocates of rationalism and he wrote works on philosophy, politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology. Leibnizs contributions to this vast array of subjects were scattered in various learned journals, in tens of thousands of letters and he wrote in several languages, but primarily in Latin, French, and German. There is no complete gathering of the writings of Leibniz in English, Gottfried Leibniz was born on July 1,1646, toward the end of the Thirty Years War, in Leipzig, Saxony, to Friedrich Leibniz and Catharina Schmuck. Friedrich noted in his journal,21. Juny am Sontag 1646 Ist mein Sohn Gottfried Wilhelm, post sextam vespertinam 1/4 uff 7 uhr abents zur welt gebohren, in English, On Sunday 21 June 1646, my son Gottfried Wilhelm is born into the world a quarter after six in the evening, in Aquarius. Leibniz was baptized on July 3 of that year at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig and his father died when he was six and a half years old, and from that point on he was raised by his mother. Her teachings influenced Leibnizs philosophical thoughts in his later life, Leibnizs father had been a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Leipzig, and the boy later inherited his fathers personal library. He was given access to it from the age of seven. Access to his fathers library, largely written in Latin, also led to his proficiency in the Latin language and he also composed 300 hexameters of Latin verse, in a single morning, for a special event at school at the age of 13. In April 1661 he enrolled in his fathers former university at age 15 and he defended his Disputatio Metaphysica de Principio Individui, which addressed the principle of individuation, on June 9,1663. Leibniz earned his masters degree in Philosophy on February 7,1664, after one year of legal studies, he was awarded his bachelors degree in Law on September 28,1665. His dissertation was titled De conditionibus, in early 1666, at age 19, Leibniz wrote his first book, De Arte Combinatoria, the first part of which was also his habilitation thesis in Philosophy, which he defended in March 1666. His next goal was to earn his license and Doctorate in Law, in 1666, the University of Leipzig turned down Leibnizs doctoral application and refused to grant him a Doctorate in Law, most likely due to his relative youth. Leibniz then enrolled in the University of Altdorf and quickly submitted a thesis, the title of his thesis was Disputatio Inauguralis de Casibus Perplexis in Jure. Leibniz earned his license to practice law and his Doctorate in Law in November 1666 and he next declined the offer of an academic appointment at Altdorf, saying that my thoughts were turned in an entirely different direction
Gottfried Leibniz
–
Portrait by
Christoph Bernhard Francke
Gottfried Leibniz
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Engraving of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
–
Stepped Reckoner
Gottfried Leibniz
–
Leibniz's correspondence, papers and notes from 1669-1704,
National Library of Poland.
26.
John Toland
–
Born in Ireland, he was educated at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leiden and Oxford and was influenced by the philosophy of John Locke. Very little is known of Tolands early life and he was born in Ardagh on the Inishowen Peninsula, a predominantly Catholic and Irish-speaking region in northwestern Ireland. He would later write that he had been baptised Janus Junius, according to his biographer Pierre des Maizeaux, he adopted the name John as a schoolboy with the encouragement of his school teacher. Having formally converted from Catholicism to Protestantism at the age of 16, in 1690, at age 19, the University of Edinburgh conferred a masters degree on him. He then got a scholarship to two years studying at University of Leiden in Holland, and subsequently nearly two years at Oxford in England. The Leiden scholarship had been provided by wealthy English Dissenters, who hoped Toland would go on to become a minister for Dissenters, for this argument he was prosecuted by a grand jury in London. Toland bitterly compared the Protestant legislators to Popish Inquisitors who performed that Execution on the Book, when they could not seize the Author and he lived on the Continent from 1707 to 1710. Toland died in Putney on 10 March 1722, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica says of him that at his death in London at age 51 he died. As he had lived, in poverty, in the midst of his books. Just before he died, he composed his own epitaph, He was an assertor of liberty, but no man’s follower or dependent. Nor could frowns or fortune bend him to decline from the ways he had chosen, very shortly after his death a lengthy biography of Toland was written by Pierre des Maizeaux. John Toland was the first person called a freethinker and went on to write over a hundred books in various domains, a great deal of his intellectual activity was dedicated to writing political tracts in support of the Whig cause. Many scholars know him for his role as either the biographer or editor of notable republicans from the century such as James Harrington, Algernon Sidney. His works Anglia Libera and State Anatomy are prosaic expressions of an English republicanism which reconciles itself with constitutional monarchy, after Christianity Not Mysterious, Tolands views became gradually more radical. In his 1704 Letters to Serena – in which he used the expression pantheism – he carefully analyses the manner by which truth is arrived at, in politics his most radical proposition was that liberty was a defining characteristic of what it means to be human. Political institutions should be designed to guarantee freedom, not simply to establish order, for Toland, reason and tolerance were the twin pillars of the good society. This was Whiggism at its most intellectually refined, the antithesis of the Tory belief in sacred authority in both church and state. Tolands belief in the need for equality among free-born citizens was extended to the Jewish community, tolerated
John Toland
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The only known image of Toland
27.
Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate
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Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate was a painter and abbess. She was a daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, louise Hollandine was a talented portrait painter and graphic artist, a talent that she shared with her brother, Prince Rupert. She was student of Gerard van Honthorst and painted so ably in his style that some of her works were attributed to him, for unknown reasons and to the dismay of her Protestant family, in December 1657 she fled to France and converted to the Roman Catholic faith. On 25 March 1659 she became a novice and on 19 September 1660 a nun in the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey, with the support of King Louis XIV, she became Abbess of Maubuisson in August 1664. As a painter, the princess is considered an amateur, the portraits she painted are often in the Baroque style of Honthorst, but there are exceptions, which were likely not commissioned. Her works were kept within her family, and some can now be found in German museums
Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate
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Princess Louise Hollandine
Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate
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In 1644, Louise painted this portrait of her sister,
Sophia of Hanover.
28.
Battle of White Mountain
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The Battle of White Mountain was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years War. It was fought on 8 November 1620, the site is now part of the city of Prague. The battle marked the end of the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath drastically changed the religious landscape of the Czech lands after two centuries of Protestant dominance. Roman Catholicism retained majority in the Czech lands until the late 20th century, Ferdinand saw Protestantism as inimical to the Empire, and wanted to impose absolutist rule on Bohemia while forcefully encouraging conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Particularly galling to Protestants were perceived violations of Emperor Rudolf IIs 1609 Letter of Majesty and this incident, known as the Second Defenestration of Prague, triggered the Bohemian Revolt. In November 1619, Elector Palatine Frederick V, who many of the rebels was a Calvinist, was chosen as King of Bohemia by the Bohemian Electorate. In 1620, now established as Emperor, Ferdinand II set out to conquer Bohemia. Tillys army enjoyed the advantage of including two of the most successful leaders in European history - Tilly himself and the future General Wallenstein. Tillys force was made up of two groups, Imperial troops commanded by Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy. All of the armies of the day employed numerous mercenaries, including, by some definitions, serving with the Catholic League as an official observer was the future father of modern philosophy, René Descartes. After conquering most of western Bohemia, the Imperial army made for Prague, the Bohemians attempted to block them by setting up defensive positions, which the Imperial army simply bypassed. Force-marching his men, Christian of Anhalt managed to get ahead of the Imperial army just before Prague and he thus gained an advantageous position on the White Mountain, actually a low plateau, but had little time to set up defensive works. Enthusiasm for joining battle was low on both sides, on November 8 a small Imperial force was sent to probe the Protestant flank. To their surprise, the Bohemians retreated at their advance, Tilly quickly sent in reinforcements, and the Bohemian flank began to crumble. Anhalt tried to retrieve the situation by sending infantry and cavalry led by his son Christian II. The cavalry charged into the Imperial infantry, causing significant casualties, the Bohemian infantry, who were only now approaching the Imperial army, saw the cavalry retreating, at which they fired one volley at extreme range before retreating themselves. A small group of Imperial cavalry began circling the Protestant forces, with the Bohemian army already demoralized, company after company began retreating, most without having actually entered the battle. The Battle of White Mountain was more a skirmish than a full-fledged battle, the Bohemian army was no match for the Emperor Ferdinands troops
Battle of White Mountain
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The Battle of White Mountain (1620), where Spanish-Imperial forces under
Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly won a decisive victory.
Battle of White Mountain
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Plan of the battle from
Theatrum Europaeum: Bohemians above, Imperial and Bavarian forces below
Battle of White Mountain
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The 27 tributary crosses.
Battle of White Mountain
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Picture celebrating the Catholic victory. In the upper part there is
Our Lady of Victory surrounded by saints, in the lower left-hand corner there is the victorious Emperor
Ferdinand II with his son
Ferdinand III and the
Bohemian lion.
29.
Thalers
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The thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in the many currencies called dollar and, until recently and this original Bohemian thaler carried a lion, from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia, on its reverse side. Etymologically, Thal is German for valley - a thaler is a person or a thing from the valley, the Czech spelling was tolar, many varieties of the term are used in different languages. In the 1902 spelling reform, the German spelling was changed from Thal and Thaler to Tal and Taler, the roots and development of the thaler-sized silver coin date back to the mid-15th century. In 1474 a 9-gram lira was issued but it was in 1484 that Archduke Sigismund of Tirol issued the first truly revolutionary silver coin and this was a very rare coin, almost a trial piece, but it did circulate so successfully that demand could not be met. Finally, with the silver deposits—being mined at Schwaz—to work with and his mint at Hall, Sigismund issued, in 1486, large numbers of the first true thaler-sized coin, the Guldengroschen, nicknamed the guldiner, was an instant and unqualified success. Soon it was being copied widely by many states who had the necessary silver, by 1518, guldiners were popping up everywhere in central Europe. Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, was portrayed on the coin along with the Bohemian lion, similar coins began to be minted in neighbouring valleys rich in silver deposits, each named after the particular thal or valley from which the silver was extracted. There were soon so many of them that these coins began to be known more widely as thaler in German. From these earliest thaler developed the new thaler – the coin that the Holy Roman Empire had been looking to create as a standard for trade between the regions of Europe, the original Joachimsthaler Guldengroschen was one ounce in weight. The Empires Reichstaler was defined as containing 400.99 grains of silver, in the 17th century, some Joachimsthalers were in circulation in the Tsardom of Russia, where they were called yefimok - a distortion of the first half of the name. The zenith of thaler minting occurred in the late 16th and 17th centuries with the so-called multiple thalers, the first were minted in Brunswick, and indeed the majority were struck there. Some of these coins reached colossal size, as much as sixteen normal thalers, the original reason for minting these colossal coins, some of which exceeded a full pound of silver and being over 12 cm in diameter, is uncertain. The name löser most likely was derived from a gold coin minted in Hamburg called the Portugalöser. Some of the silver löser reached this value, but not all, eventually the term was applied to numerous similar coins worth more than a single thaler. These coins are rare, the larger ones often costing tens of thousands of dollars. Few circulated in any real sense so they remain in well-preserved condition. In the Holy Roman Empire, the thaler was used as the standard against which the various states currencies could be valued, one standard also adopted by Prussia was the Reichsthaler, which contained 1⁄14 of a Cologne mark of silver
Thalers
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Examples of German and Austrian Thalers compared to a U.S. quarter (bottom center)
Thalers
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Bohemia, Joachimsthaler 1525. Obverse, picturing St Joachim.
Thalers
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Bohemia, Joachimsthaler 1525. Reverse, with the Bohemian Lion.
Thalers
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17th-century Thaler coin from
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel with the traditional
woodwose design on coins from the mints in the
Harz Mountains
30.
Friesland
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Friesland or Frisia is a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, in 2010, the province had a population of 646,000 and a total area of 5,749 km2. The capital and seat of the government is the city of Leeuwarden. Since 2017, Arno Brok is the Kings Commissioner in the province, a coalition of the Labour Party, the Christian Democratic Appeal, and the Frisian National Party forms the executive branch. The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the area of the province was once part of the ancient, larger region of Frisia. The official languages of Friesland are West Lauwers Frisian and Dutch, a proto-Frisian culture slowly began to emerge around 400–200 BC known for its artificial dwelling hills as a defence against the sea. The Roman claim on Frisia began in 12 BC with the campaign of Nero Claudius Drusus in Germania, after a series of costly battles against the Frisians, the Romans were suddenly sworn fealty. The de facto independence they later enjoyed as a Roman vassal shows that this might have been a mostly diplomatic decision based on the temporary favourable bargaining position. Together with other Germanic tribes such as the Salians and the Batavii they managed to keep the north of the Lower Rhine mostly free from Roman influence. The early eighth-century AD is known for the Frisian Kingdom, king Redbad, after incorporation into the Frankish empire, Friesland was divided into three parts. The westernmost part developed at the start of the second millennium into the County of Holland, while the remainder of Frisia had no feudal overlord and that ended when Charles V added Frisia to the Habsburg Netherlands as Lordship of Frisia. Under Napoleon, the department was named Frise, after Napoleon was defeated in 1813, the department became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as the province of Friesland. Friesland is the largest province of the Netherlands if one includes areas of water, in terms of land area only, the provinces highest point is at 45 metres above sea level, on the island of Vlieland. There are four parks, Schiermonnikoog, De Alde Feanen, Lauwersmeer. The ten urban areas in Friesland with the largest population are, The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the province of Friesland has an oceanic climate. In 2010, Friesland had a population of 646,305, the years 1880–1900 show slower population growth due to a farm crisis in which 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States of America. Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland has been renowned for the height of its inhabitants. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province, the black and white Frisian cattle, black and white Stabyhoun and the black Frisian horse originated here
Friesland
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Satellite image of Friesland
Friesland
Friesland
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Map of Friesland (2012)
Friesland
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View of the
Wadden Sea to the north of Friesland
31.
Charles II of England
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Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
Charles II of England
–
Charles II in the robes of the
Order of the Garter, by
John Michael Wright or studio, c. 1660–1665
Charles II of England
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Charles II as an infant in 1630, painting attributed to
Justus van Egmont
Charles II of England
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Portrait by
William Dobson, c. 1642 or 1643
Charles II of England
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"The Scots Holding Their Young King's Nose To the Grindstone", from a satirical English pamphlet
32.
Rhine
–
The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana
Rhine
–
Lorelei rock in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhine
–
Map of the Rhine basin
Rhine
–
The Rein da Tuma is captured in the center of the picture and led into the
Curnera Reservoir
Rhine
–
The outflow from
Lake Toma is traditionally seen as the source of the Rhine
33.
Prince-elector
–
The prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the Prince-Electors had the privilege of electing the King of the Romans, Charles V was the last to be a crowned Emperor, his successors were elected Emperors directly by the electoral college, each being titled Elected Emperor of the Romans. In practice, all but one Emperor from 1440 onwards came from the Austrian House of Habsburg, the dignity of Elector carried great prestige and was considered to be second only to that of King or Emperor. The Electors had exclusive privileges that were not shared with the princes of the Empire. The heir apparent to a secular prince-elector was known as an electoral prince, the German practice of electing monarchs began when ancient Germanic tribes formed ad hoc coalitions and elected the leaders thereof. Elections were irregularly held by the Franks, whose successor states include France, the French monarchy eventually became hereditary, but the Holy Roman Emperors remained elective, at least in theory, although the Habsburgs provided most of the later monarchs. While all free men originally exercised the right to vote in such elections, in the election of Lothar II in 1125, a small number of eminent nobles chose the monarch and then submitted him to the remaining magnates for their approbation. Soon, the right to choose the monarch was settled on a group of princes. The college of electors was mentioned in 1152 and again in 1198, a letter of Pope Urban IV suggests that by immemorial custom, seven princes had the right to elect the King and future Emperor. The seven have been mentioned as the vote-casters in the election of 1257 that resulted in two kings becoming elected, the Count Palatine of the Rhine held most of the former Duchy of Franconia after the last Duke died in 1039. The Margrave of Brandenburg became an Elector when the Duchy of Swabia was dissolved after the last Duke of Swabia was beheaded in 1268, Saxony, even with diminished territory, retained its eminent position. The Palatinate and Bavaria were originally held by the same individual, meanwhile, the King of Bohemia, who held the ancient imperial office of Arch-Cupbearer, asserted his right to participate in elections. Sometimes he was challenged on the grounds that his kingdom was not German, though usually he was recognized, instead of Bavaria which after all was just a younger line of Wittelsbachs. The Declaration of Rhense issued in 1338 had the effect that election by the majority of the electors automatically conferred the title and rule over the empire. The Golden Bull of 1356 finally resolved the disputes among the electors, in 1621, the Elector Palatine, Frederick V, came under the imperial ban after participating in the Bohemian Revolt. The Elector Palatines seat was conferred on the Duke of Bavaria, originally, the Duke held the electorate personally, but it was later made hereditary along with the duchy. When the Thirty Years War concluded with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, since the Elector of Bavaria retained his seat, the number of electors increased to eight, the two Wittelsbach lines now sufficiently estranged so as not to pose a combined potential threat. In 1685, the composition of the College of Electors was disrupted when a Catholic branch of the Wittelsbach family inherited the Palatinate
Prince-elector
–
Illustration of electors in deliberation (left to right: Archbishop of Cologne, Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg and King of Bohemia).
Prince-elector
–
Coat-of-arms representing the seven original electors with the figure of
Germania
Prince-elector
–
The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster by Gerard Terborch, 1648.
34.
Calvinism
–
Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
Calvinism
–
Reformation Wall in
Geneva; from left to right:
William Farel,
John Calvin,
Theodore Beza, and
John Knox
Calvinism
–
Calvin preached at
St. Pierre Cathedral, the main church in Geneva
Calvinism
–
Calvin's
magnum opus:
Institutio Christianae religionis
Calvinism
–
Calvinism has been known at times for its simple, unadorned churches and lifestyles, as depicted in this painting by
Emanuel de Witte c.1661
35.
House of Wittelsbach
–
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. The family also provided two Holy Roman Emperors, one King of the Romans, two Anti-Kings of Bohemia, one King of Hungary, one King of Denmark and Norway, the familys head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Berthold, Margrave in Bavaria, was the ancestor of Otto I, Count of Scheyern, whose third son Otto II, the Counts of Scheyern left Scheyern Castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. Duke Ottos son Louis I, Duke of Bavaria acquired also the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1214. On Duke Otto IIs death in 1253, his sons divided the Wittelsbach possessions between them, Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis II Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. When Henrys branch died out in 1340 the Emperor Louis IV, the Bavarian branch kept the duchy of Bavaria until its extinction in 1777. His six sons succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland, the Wittelsbachs lost the Tyrol with the death of duke Meinhard and the following Peace of Schärding - the Tyrol was finally renounced to the Habsburgs in 1369. In 1373 Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, released the country to the House of Luxembourg, on Duke Alberts death in 1404, he was succeeded in the Netherlands by his eldest son, William. A younger son, John III, became Bishop of Liège, however, on Williams death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between John and Williams daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This last episode of the Hook and Cod wars finally left the counties in Burgundian hands in 1432, with the Landshut War of Succession Bavaria was reunited in 1505 against the claim of the Palatinate branch under the Bavarian branch Bavaria-Munich. From 1549 to 1567 the Wittelsbach owned the County of Kladsko in Bohemia, strictly Catholic by upbringing, the Bavarian dukes became leaders of the German Counter-Reformation. From 1583 to 1761, the Bavarian branch of the dynasty provided the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne and many other Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, namely Liège. Wittelsbach princes served for example as Bishops of Regensburg, Freising, Liège, Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn and Osnabrück, in 1623 under Maximilian I the Bavarian dukes were invested with the electoral dignity and the duchy became the Electorate of Bavaria. His grandson Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria served also as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and his son Emperor Charles VII was also king of Bohemia. With the death of Charles son Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria the Bavarian branch died out in 1777, the Palatinate branch kept the Palatinate until 1918 and succeeded also in Bavaria in 1777. With the Golden Bull of 1356 the Counts Palatine were invested with the electoral dignity, princes of the Palatinate branch served as Bishops of the Empire and also as Elector-Archbishops of Mainz and Elector-Archbishops of Trier. Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Wolfgang William of Neuburg, in 1619, the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine became King of Bohemia but was defeated by the Catholic Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, a member of the Bavarian branch. As a result, the Upper Palatinate had to be ceded to the Bavarian branch in 1623, when the Thirty Years War concluded with the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new additional electorate was created for the Count Palatine of the Rhine
House of Wittelsbach
–
The Wittelsbach dominions within the Holy Roman Empire (Bavaria, The Netherlands and Palatinate) AD 1373 are shown as Wittelsbach, among the houses of
Luxembourg which acquired Brandenburg that year and
Habsburg which had acquired Tyrol in 1369
House of Wittelsbach
–
House of Wittelsbach
House of Wittelsbach
–
Heidelberg Castle of the Electors of Palatinate
House of Wittelsbach
–
Greece in 1843 after independence.
"Sophia". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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