Aspet, Haute-Garonne
Aspet (; oc, Aspèth) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Gallery Aspet - Chapelle de Miègecoste et la tour du Chucaou.jpg, Chapel of Miègecoste and the medieval tower of Chucaou Aspet - Eglise saint Martin.jpg, Saint Martin's church Aspet - Fontaine d'Aspet - 06.jpg, The fountain ( monument historique). View from Ray Atkins' house, near Aspet, France.jpg, View from artist Ray Atkins' house Geography Located in the middle of the Pyrenees mountain chain, within the ancient region of Comminges, Aspet sits 15 km south to Saint-Gaudens and at the foot of the Cagire ( in Altitude). Toponymy According to some, the name Aspet comes from the Basque language where ''azpeta'' means ''at the cliff's foot''. The only issue is that there are no cliffs to be seen in Aspet as the landscape is mainly made of rolling hills. The first document stating the existence of the town was found in 1068 and states its name as « ''Spel'' » or « Espel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Communes Of France
The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equivalent are civil parishes, although some areas, particularly urban areas, are unparished. are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are ( or ), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Henry IV Of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Henry was the son of Jeanne III of Navarre and Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. He was baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother. He inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on his mother's death. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. He later led Protestant forces against the French royal army. Henry became king of France in 1589 upon the death of Henry III, his brother-in-law and distant cousin. He was the first Fre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Count Of Foix
The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their court to Pau in Béarn. The Count Francis Phoebus became King of Navarre in 1479. The last count unified with King Henry IV of France in 1607. To this day, the President of France is considered an unofficial successor of the Count (as the current ruler of the French state) as Co-Prince of Andorra. Gallery of Arms File:Arms of the Counts of Foix.svg File:Arms of Foix-Béarn.svg, Arms of the House of Foix-Béarn File:Arms of Foix-Grailly.svg, Arms of the House of Foix-Grailly File:Royal Lesser Arms of Navarre (1479-1483).svg, Arms of the House of Foix-Grailly-Navarre File:Royal Arms of Navarre (1483-1512).svg, Arms of the House of Albret File:Arms of Henri de Bourbon.svg, Arms of the House of Bourbon List of counts of Foix House of Foix ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siege Of Orléans
The siege of Orléans (12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war. The city held strategic and symbolic significance to both sides of the conflict. The consensus among contemporaries was that the English regent, John of Lancaster, would have succeeded in realizing his brother the English king Henry V's dream of conquering all of France if Orléans fell. For half a year the English and their French allies appeared to be winning, but the siege collapsed nine days after Joan's arrival. Background Hundred Years' War The siege of Orléans occurred during the Hundred Years' War, an inheritance dispute over the French throne between the ruling houses of France and England. The conflict had begun in 1337 when England's King Edward III decided to press his claim to the French throne, a claim based on his status as the son of Isabella of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joan Of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Stating that she was acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a savior of France. Joan was born to a propertied peasant family at Domrémy in northeast France. In 1428, she requested to be taken to Charles, later testifying that she was guided by visions from the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine to help him save France from English domination. Convinced of her devotion and purity, Charles sent Joan, who was about seventeen years old, to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She arrived at the city in April 1429, wielding her banner and bringing hope to the demoralized Frenc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, which in 2015 became the Metropolitan City of Genoa, had 855,834 resident persons. Over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. On the Gulf of Genoa in the Ligurian Sea, Genoa has historically been one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean: it is currently the busiest in Italy and in the Mediterranean Sea and twelfth-busiest in the European Union. Genoa was the capital of Republic of Genoa, one of the most powerful maritime republics for over seven centuries, from the 11th century to 1797. Particularly from the 12th century to the 15th century, the city played a leading role in the commercial trade in Europe, becoming one o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to recover Holy Land, Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim conquests, Islamic rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the recovery of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of Crusades were fought, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. In 1095, Pope Pope Urban II, Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI against the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk Turks and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. The first Crusaders had a variety of motivations, including religious salvation, satisfying feud ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne
Saint-Gaudens (; oc, Sent-Gaudenç) is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Saint-Gaudens lies at an altitude of on a ledge overlooking the valley of the Garonne. It faces the Pyrenees and is a natural crossroads for routes between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and between Toulouse and the Val d'Aran in Catalonia. Saint-Gaudens station has rail connections to Toulouse, Bayonne, Pau and Tarbes. History Saint-Gaudens has been inhabited since ancient times (traces of the Iron Age and of Roman occupation) and was originally called Mas-Saint-Pierre, before taking the name of the young shepherd, Gaudens, martyred by the Visigoths at the end of the 5th century for refusing to renounce his faith. The town later developed around the 11th century Romanesque church. It was granted its city charter in 1202 and became the capital of the Nébouzan area, protected by solid ramparts. As an important regional marketplace, Saint-Gaude ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Comminges
The Comminges (; Occitan/ Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the department of Haute-Garonne. This natural region is normally associated with the former domain of the Counts of Comminges, although an earlier definition is based on the Diocese of Comminges, which appeared to include a small part of Aragon. History * The Comminges takes its name from Convenae, the name the Romans gave to the inhabitants of the region. Whilst it is unclear whether this was originally a distinct tribe, the Romanisation of the region established this as the identity of district and its inhabitants. * The origin of the name Comminges is uncertain. It is claimed to date from 473, when Sidonius Apollinaris wrote of the death of the bishop of Comminges, or 506 when Suavis, Bishop of Comminges, attended the Council of Agde. However, the latin texts of the relevant documents use t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ray Atkins
Ray Atkins is a British figurative artist, member of the St Ives School & the London Group and educator. He was born in 1937 in Exeter, Devon, and studied art at Bromley College of Art and at the Slade School of Fine Art. He is known particularly for his large paintings, painted in situ over a period of weeks or months. Atkins taught at Bournemouth College of Art from 1965–70, at Reading University’s department of fine art under Claude Rogers and in 1971 at Epsom School of Art. He went on to paint in Cornwall, teaching at Falmouth School of Art. In 2009, he moved to France, where he continues to paint. Life and career After graduating from the Slade in 1964, Atkins initially worked in London. He was influenced by the painting of Frank Auerbach, and while he was at the Slade School of Fine Art for postgraduate studies he worked in Auerbach’s studio. Before leaving London he completed a series of large paintings of Millwall Dock. Atkins taught at Bournemouth College of A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |