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Castello Brown
Castello Brown is a historic house museum located high above the harbour of Portofino, Italy. Its site has been used for military defence since Roman times. As a Genoese coastal fort, it was called the ''Castello di San Giorgio''. After peace fell upon the region in the early 19th century, the Castello was abandoned. Some decades later, it was purchased by the English consul, who remodelled it as a comfortable villa. His descendants held the property until 1949, then sold it to an English couple who restored several ruined sections, and in turn sold it in 1961 to the City of Portofino, which now opens it to the public. Elizabeth von Arnim wrote and set her novel '' The Enchanted April'' at the Castello in 1922. The award-winning 1991 movie adaptation featuring Miranda Richardson and Joan Plowright was filmed on site. Military history The castle's site is well suited for harbour defence, and appears to have been so used since Roman times. Fortifications from the fourth centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portofino
Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century Portofino has attracted tourism of the European aristocracy and it is now a resort for the world's jet set. History Pliny the Elder (AD 23 – AD 79) referred to (Port of the Dolphin) as on the Ligurian coast between Genoa and the Gulf of Tigullio. The village is mentioned in a ''diploma'' from 986 by Adelaide of Italy, which assigned it to the nearby Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte. In 1171, together with the neighbouring Santa Margherita Ligure, it was included in Rapallo's commune jurisdiction. After 1229 it was part of the Republic of Genoa. The town's natural harbour supported a fleet of fishing boats, but was somewhat too cramped to provide more than a temporary safe haven for the growing merchant marine of the Republic of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doria (family)
The House of Doria ( lij, Döia ) originally ''de Auria'' (from ''de filiis Auriae''), meaning "the sons of Auria", and then ''de Oria'' or ''d'Oria'', is an old and extremely wealthy Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa and in Italy, from the 12th century to the 16th century. Numerous members of the dynasty ruled the republic first as Capitano del popolo and later as Doge. Origins According to legend, a noble Genoese lady named Auria or Oria della Volta fell in love with a noble pilgrim who was going to Jerusalem for the First Crusade; his name was Arduino di Narbonne but their children were named after the mother—''de Oria'', the children of Oria. Arduino was a typical name of the Arduinici family of the Piemonte, some of whose members bore the title of Counts of Auriate; one might then speculate that one of the Arduinici of Auriate gave origin to this family, which suddenly appears in history as a local major power in Liguria in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Resistance Movement
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy from 1943 to 1945. As an anti-fascist movement and organisation, ''La Resistenza'' opposed Nazi Germany, as well as Nazi Germany's Italian puppet state regime, the Italian Social Republic, which was created by the Germans following the Nazi German invasion and military occupation of Italy by the ''Wehrmacht'' and the ''Waffen-SS'' from September 1943 until April 1945 (though general underground Italian resistance and resistance groups to the Fascist Italian government began even prior to World War II). In Nazi-occupied Italy, the Italian anti-fascist resistance fighters, known as the ''partigiani'' ( partisans), fought a ''guerra di liberazione nazionale'', or a war for national liberation, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ( it, Repubblica di Salò ), was a German puppet state with limited diplomatic recognition which was created during the later part of World War II, that existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of German troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation regime provoked widespread national resistance, leading to the Italian Civil War. The Italian Social Republic was the second and final incarnation of the Italian Fascist state, oficially led by Benito Mussolini and his reformed anti-monarchist Republican Fascist Party. The newly-founded state declared Rome its capital but was ''de facto'' centred on Salò (hence its colloquial name), a small town on Lake Garda, near Brescia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congress Of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers and other stakeholders, chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars without the use of (military) violence. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries, but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other and remain at peace, being at the same time shepherds for the smaller powers. More fundamentally, strongly generalising, conservative thinking leaders like Von Metternich also sought to restrain or eliminate republicanism, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ligurian Republic
The Ligurian Republic ( it, Repubblica Ligure, lij, Repubbrica Ligure) was a French client republic formed by Napoleon on 14 June 1797. It consisted of the old Republic of Genoa, which covered most of the Ligurian region of Northwest Italy, and the small Imperial fiefs owned by the House of Savoy inside its territory. Its first Constitution was promulgated on 22 December 1797, establishing a directorial republic. The directory was deposed on 7 December 1799 and the executive was temporarily replaced by a commission. In 1800, a doge was nominated for a 5-year term, which was extended to life in 1802. The Republic was briefly occupied by the Austrian forces in 1800, but Napoleon soon returned with an army and retook it. A new Constitution was published in 1801, establishing institutions more similar to those of the previous Genoese Republic, with a Doge who was president of a Senate. The Ligurian Republic used the traditional Genoese flag, consisting of a red cross on a white bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the ''de facto'' leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures to this day, as a highly celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His wars and campaigns are studied by militaries all over the world. Between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica, not long af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halberd
A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from Middle High German ''halm'' (handle) and ''barte'' (battleaxe) joined to form ''helmbarte''. Troops that used the weapon were called halberdiers. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. It is very similar to certain forms of the voulge in design and usage. The halberd was usually 1.5 to 1.8 metres (5 to 6 feet) long. The word has also been used to describe a weapon of the Early Bronze Age in Western Europe. This consisted of a blade mounted on a pole at a right angle. History The halberd was inexpensive to produce and very versatile in battle. As the halberd was eventually refined, its point was mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus'' ("hook gun"), was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, it originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing". These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms of defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 15th century. The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger. The exact dating of the matchlock's appearance is disputed. It could have appeared in the Ottoman Empire as early as 1465 and in Europe a little before 1475. The h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually disappeared as the use of heavy armour declined, but ''musket'' continued as the generic term for smoothbore long guns until the mid-19th century. In turn, this style of musket was retired in the 19th century when rifled muskets (simply called rifles in modern terminology) using the Minié ball (invented by Claude-Étienne Minié in 1849) became common. The development of breech-loading firearms using self-contained cartridges (introduced by Casimir Lefaucheux in 1835) and the first reliable repeating rifles produced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1860 also led to their demise. By the time that repeating rifles became common, they were known as simply "rifles", ending the era of the musket. Etymology According to the Online Et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Republic's constitution. Originally elected for life, the Doge of Genoa, Doge's office was reduced to two years. At the same time plebeians were declared ineligible, and the appointment of the doge was entrusted to the members of the great and the little councils. His reformed constitution of the Republic of Genoa would last until the end of the republic in 1797. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influence in the councils of the Genoese republic. He is also considered the foremost naval leader of his time. Several ships were named in honour of the admiral, the most famous being the Italian passenger liner , launched in 1951, which sank following a collision in 1956. Early life Doria was born at Oneglia from the ancien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artillery Battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems. The term is also used in a naval context to describe groups of guns on warships. Land usage Historically the term "battery" referred to a cluster of cannon in action as a group, either in a temporary field position during a battle or at the siege of a fortress or a city. Such batteries could be a mixture of cannon, howitzer, or mortar types. A siege could involve many batteries at different sites around the besieged place. The term also came to be used for a group of cannon in a fixed fortification, for coastal or frontier defence. During the 18th century "battery" began to be used as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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