Spanish History – Page 11 – General History

Henry IV (of England) & Henry IV (of Navarre)

There are two hundred years between these two notable monarchs, and we will look at the English one first. Both are important in history, over-balanced by ambition, bothered by religion, and chased by bad luck.

Henry (Bolingbroke) IV of England / en.wikipedia.org

Henry of Bolingbroke, I Duke of Hereford, II Duke of Lancaster was born the only legitimate son of John of Gaunt (q.v.) in 1366. Gaunt, I Duke of Lancaster, was the second son of Edward III. His elder brother was known as the Black Prince, who died before he could become king.

Bolingbroke was roughly thirty years old when King Richard II (grandson of Edward III) banished him from the realm for reasons best known to this slightly deranged young man. If Bolingbroke had not been banished, he would have inherited the really vast estates left by his father at his death in 1399. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-04-11T07:29:30+00:00 April 11th, 2012|English History, French History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

The Carolingian empire: what was it & the Caroline Islands: where are they?

University students and high school seniors always come across these two words ‘Carolingian’ and ‘Caroline’ – the latter in reference to some remote islands – not to Queen Caroline of Somewhere. Let us delve a bit and find out more about both.

The Carolingian Empire refers to a mass of territories in Western Europe, ruled by the family of Charlemagne (q.v.) who lived from 768 – 814. Believe it or not the word ‘Carolingian’ derives from Charlemagne, and the complete phrase refers to a dynasty.

Ancestors of Charlemagne, Frankish aristocrats all, fought their way to supreme power under the Merovingian Kings – and from this we discover the origin of the term ‘Carolingian’. It was Charlemagne’s father Pepin III (son of Charles Martel q.v. and also known as ‘The Short’ who deposed the last of the Merovingians, Childeric III. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-04-09T10:56:48+00:00 April 9th, 2012|Asian History, Spanish History, Today, US History|0 Comments

Incas

Inca Atahualpa captured / theinfounderground.com

The Incas were pre-Columbian (which means before the arrival of Christopher Columbus on American shores) native people of western South America. This is what the text books say, but it would be more accurate to describe Incas as the leaders of these pre-Columbian peoples. Before these modern days of all people being equal, the Incas did not feel at all equal to the illiterate peasants they ruled, though they were not over-educated themselves, speaking a language called Quechua, a series of clicks made with the lips, roof of the mouth and teeth. It was not written, and is still spoken and used for communication purposes across the Andes. In the 1960s a communist military President of Perú tried to re-introduce quechua as the official language; he failed. He had a wooden leg, and this was used in a cruel joke by the Peruvians, who nicknamed him Inca Sinchupata (‘Inca Withoutaleg’ – his real name was Velasco Alvarado). (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-29T10:56:25+00:00 March 29th, 2012|South American History, Spanish History|0 Comments

What happened to Napoleon’s Marshals?

Murat shot after Waterloo / executedtoday.com

Murat shot (by the French) after Waterloo / executedtoday.com

To reach the rank of Marshal in the French army before the Revolution (q.v.) was the highest achievement for a soldier. After the Revolution however, the rank was dismissed as ‘elitist’, only to be re-installed again in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is said Bonaparte did this in an attempt to re-construct a system of honours (which was elitist) in France. The Emperor appointed 26 Marshals between 1804 and 1815. Where two of them are especially of interest to General – History, I have formed brief biographies. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-19T11:36:28+00:00 March 19th, 2012|French History, Italian History, Russian history, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Two sad, unlucky men: Alfonso XIII & the Duc d’Enghien

The execution of the Duke / albert-fagioli.blogg.org

Alfonso was born in 1896 and was King of Spain from that day, until 1933. His father, XII of that name, had died before the son was born. His mother, a melancholy lady called Maria Cristina was made Regent until the boy’s 16^th birthday.

Throughout Alfonso XIII’s reign there was trouble; the anarchists had found a wonderful country in which to molest the normal life. Spain was mostly desert lonely but beautiful beaches, mountains and valleys, with underpopulated villages and hamlets (where bandits hid), negligently policed cities and of course the permanent dissaffection shown by the Basque Country, Galicia and (worst of all) Cataluña towards the capital, Madrid. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-13T17:31:07+00:00 March 13th, 2012|French History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Two (du Plessis) Richelieus

Armand.Emmanuel du Plessis / retratosdelahistoria.blogspot.com

Cardinal Richelieu has not been treated kindly by journalists, novelists or movie-makers. I suppose it is an honour to have been played on the screen by, in alphabetical order, Mr Tim Curry, Mr Charlton Heston and Mr Vincent Price among others. In Man in the iron mask (Curry), the Cardenal schemes against the future Louis XIV, tries to seduce of the wife of Louis XIII, imprisons a mysterious twin brother, masking his face with a cruel contraption, and forces war against England. In two of the dozens of Three Musketeers Hollywood films, the Cardenal (Heston in one and Price in another) conspires with Milady de Winter to murder both Buckingham and the girl D’Artagnan has fallen for, persuades the King to disband the loyal (and fashionably dressed) Musketeers, sends his lackeys off to murder and rob. Fiction regards Cardinal Richelieu as a baddie. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-09T09:44:26+00:00 March 9th, 2012|French History, Russian history, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

Andorra & Luxembourg

The first is a co-Principality, and the second a Grand Duchy. Both are tiny, but significant in questions of tourism and politics. Andorra lies between France and Spain, a beautiful landscape of hills and valleys at around 900 metres, sometimes rising to peaks at 2900 metres (9,600 feet). The country is bisected by the River Valira, which provides for three distinct natural regions – valleys of the North and East Valira, and the Grand Valira. The peaks are snow-covered during several months of the year. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-08T11:17:03+00:00 March 8th, 2012|Dutch History, EU History, Spanish History, Today, World History|0 Comments

War Crimes

This subject arouses all kinds of passions in men’s hearts. Historians are right when they say that subjecting leaders defeated in a war or wars to a tribunal accusing them of war crimes is likely to occur only to the winner. The vanquished are an easy target; in custody, defenceless, probably guilty – but no more so than the winners. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2024-01-15T13:14:33+00:00 March 5th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Russian history, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Communist Parties

The word itself – ‘Communist’ – was certainly first heard as long ago as the 1840s. Both Karl Marx (q.v.) and his promoter Engels used the word, but it was not until after the Russian Revolution (q.v.) of 1917 that fervid Marxists detached themselves from the more moderate Social Democrat Parties, to form groups (and committees) called Communist Parties. In Russia, Bolsheviks did not officially adopt the term until 1918. When the news of the shooting of the royal family spread, it was considered wise to tone down the ‘Ekaterinburg/Bolshevik’ connection, replacing ‘bolshevik’ by a little-known word. There had been ‘Communes’ in Europe, especially in France, but ‘Communists’ was something new. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-27T12:05:00+00:00 February 27th, 2012|Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Italian History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

James I and VI, a survivor 1567 – 1625 (updated)

This King of England was also King of Scotland. He had a French wife, seven children, a mother who was beheaded, a father murdered, a son executed and several favourites, all male and famous for one reason or other.

James’s mother was Mary, Queen of Scots, who came from France to Scotland, then famously escaped from Scotland to England seeking protection and friendship with Queen Elizabeth I. Sadly, she was a natural plotter, and much used by other plotters of lesser rank. One of the things no Tudor could allow was plotting. James was young when they cut off his mother’s head. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-13T09:12:13+00:00 February 13th, 2012|English History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments