At this very moment the cardinals gathered in the Vatican are arguing about who shall be the next Pope, following Benedict XVI’s resignation on grounds of health. While the octogenarian Ratzinger rests ( and he certainly deserves to) in Castelgandolfo, dozens of seniors of the Catholic Church will shortly approach the moment when they must vote for the new Pontiff, and we will see white (or possibly) black smoke puffing from the famous chimney, installed again only two days ago. But many Catholic co-religionists do not even know that at the time of the Great Schism in the fourteenth century, there were at one time three popes! (more…)
To avoid confusion, one remembers that there were two Frederick IIs, Frederick ‘The Great’, an eighteenth century monarch, and our subject in this article, Frederick ‘Stupor Mundi’ a title given him by his courtiers, meaning ‘wonder of the world’.
He was born in 1194, son of Henry VI King of ‘Germany’ (Germany was divided into kingdoms, principalities, dukedoms, archdukedoms and palatinates) and a mother whose background was Sicilian. His grandfather was Frederick I, known as ‘Barbarossa’. (more…)
Edward III / fanpop.cpm
The EEC as we know it today bears no resemblance to this first attempt, but at least enough initiative was shown by its inventors to make it last for a few years, changing the name occasionally. The basic idea is sound, but the firm proposition thought up by the German and the French is now out of control, divided into Commissions, Committees, Parliament, Court of Justice etc. which lead of course to chaos and desperate over-spending.
In 1337 Edward III of England sent a special group to what was then called the Low Countries. The group’s aim was to make friends with the Counts of Flanders and Hainault, along with many other European princes of the blood, in order to be prepared for yet another impending war with France, but Edward’s diplomatic strategy (he preferred battles) was only faintly discernible. In fact the embassy was a disaster, humiliating Edward before his own courtiers as well as his enemies, and leaving him with a near-bankrupt England. The King was semi-reluctantly drawn into his favourite strategy – war. He was very good at that. A lot of wars then took place, which rescued him from his worst mistake in a long reign. (more…)
The Sforzas were an Italian family prominent in the 15th and 16th centuries. They stem from one Muzio Attendolo (1369 – 1424), a forceful condottiere of the period, indeed, he adopted the name from the Italian word for ‘force’.
An illegitimate son of his called Francesco (born 1401) was an equally successful condottiere (meaning landowner, soldier, leader, head of the local ‘mafia’ etc.) whose private armies got involved in a three-way war with the republics of Milan and Venice. Having won, he entered Milan in triumph, shortly becoming Duke of Milan (in 1450) and ruling ably from that moment.
Ludovico was born in Pavia in July, 1452, second son of Francesco. From childhood he had the nickname El Moro due to black hair and dark complexion. Francesco his father died in 1466, and the young Ludovico stayed in the service of the new ruler of Milan, Galeazzo Maria, who was murdered ten years later, leaving the dukedom to his 7-year-old son Gian Galeazzo II. Due to his young age, there had to be a regent – his mother Bona of Savoy.
Ludovico thought he might take the dukedom away and plotted against Bona, but failed and was exiled for his pains. Time passed, Ludovico grew older and wiser, and brought about a reconciliation with Bona, at the same time arranging for the arrest, trial and subsequent execution of her chief adviser and minister Simonetta, in 1480. Ludovico had started his dubious career as a ‘diplomat’.
Bona of Savoy was ‘persuaded’ to leave Milan for the sake of her health, and Ludovico kindly assumed the regency for her, becoming more or less Head of State. He then instituted a species of government he called ‘Equilibrium Politics’, by which a delicate balance was maintained between the principal Italian states – Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. He took advantage of his position and made Milan supreme. He distrusted Venice, describing her as a ‘floating whore’, but stayed on good terms with the ruler of Florence under Lorenzo di Medici (q.v.). He made alliances with Ferdinand I, King of Naples, and married Gian Galeazzo to Ferdinand’s granddaughter (1489). He also stayed at talking distance with Pope Alexander VI (a Borgia) through the influence of his brother Ascanio, who happened to be a Cardinal.
In 1491 Ludovico married Beatrice d’Este, a daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, a union which proved to be surprisingly loving despite Ludovico’s multitude of mistresses. They had two sons, Massimiliano and Francesco.
Culturally speaking, Ludovico made the Court of Milan the most splendid and talked-about in Europe. He was patron of Leonardo da Vinci among others—painters, musicians, composers and poets all. He built canals and fortifications, and became hugely popular with the common people, who were delighted by his shows and celebrations, fairs and fiestas. The people of Milan were prosperous and happy, but the shadow of the cost was spreading over them. Taxation was high, and Gian Galeazzo was resentful of the ever-growing magnificence of the Sforza. He and his wife Isabella left Milan to take up residence in Pavia. It was Isabella who was made even more furious by Ludovico’s open usurpation of the dukedom than Gian Galeazzo, who always said he had no more than a passing interest in politics. Isabella appealed to her grandfather Ferdinand I, who responded in 1492, by ordering Ludovico to surrender control of the duchy to Isabella and her husband. Naturally, Ludovico was having nothing of it.
Instead, he formed an alliance with two foreign kings, the Emperor Maximilian I, and King Charles VIII of France. Vast sums passed hands, and Maximilian declared Ludovico the rightful Duke of Milan in 1494, which legitimized his usurpation. Maximilian also married Bianca Maria, Gian’s sister! Meanwhile, Charles VIII had an eye on the kingdom of Naples, and asked Ludovico if he could help – and received promises in return.
Charles’s campaign to conquer Naples horrified Italy and disturbed Ludovico himself. He changed colours, joined with Venice, and got Charles VIII expelled from Italy by force majeure. Both Gian Galeazzo and Ferdinand died in 1494, and Charles VIII became reconciled with Ludovico, whose pride and magnificence knew no bounds. He used to say that the Pope was his chaplain, the emperor Maximilian his general, the Governors of Venice his chamberlains, and Charles VIII his messenger. He was to be severely disillusioned.
Charles VIII died and was succeeded by Louis XII, a descendent of the 1st Duke of Milan. Hardly waiting to be crowned, Louis claimed Milan as his, and persuaded ‘the whore’ Venice and the population of Naples, more than fed up with the costly magnificence, to topple Ludovico. But the Milanese became bored with Louis, too, and turned back to Ludovico and Maximilian for help! Ludovico gathered German and Swiss mercenaries and rode into battle. The Swiss at the crucial moment decided to change sides, which tends to happen with mercenaries, and Ludovico was captured by the French. He was locked up in the prison castle of Loches, where he died, still claiming his rights to Milan, in 1508. The male ducal line died with him.
Fanciful images of Robert II of Scotland / celticjessica.blogspot.com
Stuart, originally Stewart, is the family name of Scottish kings and queens from nearly the end of the fourteenth century until 1714 – English monarchs as well from 1603 to 1714. It was founded by Walter Fitzallen, Steward of the King of Scotland. He in turn descended from Flald Fitzalan who had been Steward of Dol in Brittany.
Walter’s descendent became King Robert II of Scotland, her first Stuart monarch, ruling from 1371 to 1390. Robert’s son the Earl of Carrick became King Robert III, on the Scottish throne from 1390 – 1406. It was this Robert’s son who became James I of Scotland), who married Joan of the Beaufort family, English descendants of John of Gaunt, and this was the first English connection. (more…)
/ diarioya.es
De la Cierva is a historian and politician and the writer of many works of history. He was born in 1926 and at the time of writing is still alive. In 1993 he published Los Años Mentidos: falsificaciones y mentiras de la historia, a lively and entertaining analysis of popular historical errors.
I have just read a book of his published in 2001 described as a ‘guía impresciendible para jóvenes’. The title page tell us that this is the History of Spain from ‘800 000 BC (sic) to 2001. I am not quite certain about the eight hundred thousand years before Christ, but I have found a hilarious ‘falsificacion y mentira’ on pages 294 which should perhaps be corrected before a new edition of this readable work is published.
On page 294 we read this: Es el 4 de agosto de 1704, el ayuntamiento de Gibraltar se traslada a la vecina villa (town) de San Roque y el Principe de Darmstadt toma posesión de la Roca en nombre del Rey de España Carlos III, cuya pendón se alza en la fortaleza. Inglaterra reconoce la posesión española de la plaza pero el almirante Tooke, que ha fracasado el alzar por el Pretendiente el campo de Gibraltar a la plaza de Ceuta, al otro lado del estrecho, decide al regresar de una incursión izar en Gibraltar la bandera inglesa que contra toda justicia y razón histórica sigue allí.
Well now, this means that at that precise moment there were two Kings of Spain, Carlos III and Felipe V, since this incident formed a part of the Spanish Wars of Succession (q.v.). As I remember it ‘Carlos III’ was in fact the Archduke Charles, the Austrian candidate for the Succession. It also means that de la Cierva insists that Gibraltar became English because an admiral planted the flag there. Apparently the Treaty of Utrecht (Q.V. 1713) is of no importance. Philip V was recognised as Spain’s King after the War was over, a new political group (The Carlists) was organised which claimed the Habsburg Archduke should have been King; Gibraltar became a subject of friction between England and Spain ever since; Felipe was a grandson of Louis XIV, which meant that Bourbon/Borbón families ruled in France and Spain. The path was laid for a later Borbón king called Fernando VII, about whose disastrous monarchy we have also written in General-History.
Catherine de Medici, Queen of Henry II of France / heritage-history.com
Catherine de Medici was Queen of France despite her distinguished Italian name. She was born in 1519 and became the wife of Henry II of France in one of those dynastic marriages that litter the Middle Ages. Henry (or Henri) is supposed to have died of septicaemia following a jousting accident. (more…)
Morning, noon and night it is predicted by the Spanish news programmes that Mariano Rajoy may resign and take his Popular Party with him. The reason, we are told, is that an ex-treasurer of the party has said that he made extra payments to high ranking members of the PP since 2008 or before. The news programmes insists that these ‘payments by plain envelope’ mean ‘black money’, or payments NOT declared on tax forms. This is now found to be palpably untrue. Rajoy has even taken the unprecedented step of publishing his tax declarations on his own website. The payments are part of the declared emoluments and expenses, and as such are completely legal – if rather rich-making.
Showing the kind of hypocritical cynicism that I had hoped had vanished with Felipe González, leaders of the PSOE are insisting on ‘complete investigations’ of something that has been completely investigated. This is not unusual at all. But for the saintly Rubalcaba to put on his most Dominican face and find all this ‘disgraceful’ would be extremely funny, a Brian Rix Aldwych farce, if it were not so serious. If the PSOE’s plans to dislodge the Popular Party via articles and headlines in their organ El País lead to Sr. Rajoy’s resignation, Spain will be in the same position as it was on the unexpected and unnecessary abdication of King Alfonso XIII in the Thirties, which led indirectly to the Spanish Civil War. (more…)
Marshal Kutuzov / en.wikipedia.org
The fight between the Japanese and Russia was (and is) significant because it was all about control of both Manchuria and Korea. The Japanese launched an unexpected and unheralded assault on Russian warships anchored in their Manchurian naval base at Port Arthur. Pearl Harbor 37 years later was a sequel (Port Arthur now has another name of course).