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Château De Valençay
Château de Valençay is a château in the commune of Valençay, in the Indre department of France. It was a residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families. Although it is part of the province of Berry, its architecture invites comparison with the Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley, notably the Château de Chambord. The manor was praised as "one of the most beautiful on earth" by George Sand, who also noted that "no king has owned a more picturesque park". History Château de Valençay is located at the edge of a plateau overlooking the Nahon River. In ancient times, the site of the château was home to a Gallo-Roman villa called ''Valencia us'', the domain of Valans. By the 10th or 11th century, a "heavy and massive tower" had been built, and between 1026 and 1047 a donation charter deeded Valençay to its first recorded lord, Bertrand. In 1220, the then lord of Valençay, Gauthier, was reported to have built a feudal castle or house on the site, but it ... [...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] |
Donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte-and-bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England, south Italy and Sicily. As a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, use spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries; these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus De Milo
The ''Venus de Milo'' (; el, Αφροδίτη της Μήλου, Afrodíti tis Mílou) is an ancient Greek sculpture that was created during the Hellenistic period, sometime between 150 and 125 BC. It is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture, having been prominently displayed at the Louvre Museum since shortly after the statue was rediscovered on the island of Milos, Greece, in 1820. The ''Venus de Milo'' is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose Roman counterpart was Venus. The sculpture is sometimes called the ''Aphrodite de Milos'', due to the imprecision of naming the Greek sculpture after a Roman deity (Venus). Some scholars theorize that the statue actually represents the sea-goddess Amphitrite, who was venerated on the island in which the statue was found. The work was originally attributed to the 4th century Athenian sculptor Praxiteles, but, based upon an inscription on its plinth, it is now widely agreed that the statue w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winged Victory Of Samothrace
The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the beginning of the 2nd century BC. It is composed of a statue representing the goddess Niké (Victory), whose head and arms are missing, and its base in the shape of a ship's bow. The total height of the monument is 5.57 meters including the socle; the statue alone measures 2.75 meters. The sculpture is one of a small number of major Hellenistic statues surviving in the original, rather than Roman copies. ''Winged Victory'' has been exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris, at the top of the main staircase, since 1884. Discovery and restorations In the 19th century In 1863, Charles Champoiseau (1830–1909), acting in charge of the Consulate of France in Adrianopolis (now Edirne in Turkey), undertook from March 6 to May 7 the exploration o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). At any given point in time, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of 72,735 square meters (782,910 square feet). Attendance in 2021 was 2.8 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up five percent from 2020, but far below pre-COVID attendance. Nonetheless, the Louvre still topped the list of most-visited art museums in the world in 2021."The Art Newspaper", 30 March 2021. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture, costumes, cuisine, traditions, and the Silesian language (minority in Upper Silesia). Silesia is along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across the southern border. The region contains many historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. The largest city and Lower Silesia's capital is Wrocław; the historic capital of Upper Silesia is Opole. The biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duchy Of Sagan
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign dukes" and dukes who were ordinary noblemen throughout Europe. Some historic duchies were sovereign in areas that would become part of nation-states only during the modern era, such as happened in Germany (once a federal empire) and Italy (previously a unified kingdom). In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that had unified either partially or completely during the medieval era, such as France, Spain, Sicily, Naples, and the Papal States. Examples In France, several duchies existed in the medieval period, including Normandy, Burgundy, Brittany, and Aquitaine. The medieval German stem duchies (german: Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy," the official title of its ruler being ''Herzog'' or "duke") ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number of Imperial Estates. Most ecclesiastical principalities, free imperial cities, secular principalities, and other minor self-ruling entities of the Holy Roman Empire lost their independent status and were absorbed into the remaining states. By the end of the mediatisation process, the number of German states had been reduced from almost 300 to just 39. In the strict sense of the word, mediatisation consists in the subsumption of an immediate () state into another state, thus becoming ''mediate'' (), while generally leaving the dispossessed ruler with his private estates and a number of privileges and feudal rights, such as low justice. For convenience, historians use the term ''mediatisation'' for the entire restructuring process that to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie-Antoine Carême
Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (; 8 June 178412 January 1833) was a French chef and an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as ''grande cuisine'', the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the nouveau riche ("newly rich") of Paris. Carême is often considered one of the first internationally renowned celebrity chefs. Biography Abandoned by his parents in Paris in 1794 at the height of the French Revolution, he worked as a kitchen boy at a cheap Parisian chophouse in exchange for room and board. In 1798, he was formally apprenticed to Sylvain Bailly, a famous ''pâtissier'' with a shop near the Palais-Royal. The post-revolutionary Palais-Royal was a high-profile, fashionable neighborhood filled with vibrant life and bustling crowds. Bailly recognized his talent and ambition. By the time he was prepared to leave Bailly, he could stipulate that he should be free to leave his new empl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty Of Valençay
The Treaty of Valençay (11 December 1813), after the château of the same name belonging to former French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, was drafted by Antoine René Mathurin and José Miguel de Carvajal y Manrique on behalf of the French Empire and the Spanish Crown respectively. Napoleon Bonaparte, realizing that France was defeated in the Peninsular War and wishing to reestablish an alliance with Spain, intended the Treaty as the preliminary to a full peace treaty between France and Spain, the agreement provided for the withdraw of French troops from Spain, and restoration of Ferdinand VII of Spain, imprisoned at Valençay since 1808, to the Spanish throne usurped by Joseph Bonaparte. Included in the terms was an armistice which neither side, mistrusting the other's intentions, fully intended to respect. It appears Napoleon also extracted an oath from Ferdinand in a secret protocol which required the Spanish monarch to turn the Spanish Army against the Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infante Antonio Pascual Of Spain
Infante Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno Aniello Raimundo Silvestre of Spain (31 December 1755 – 20 April 1817) was a son of King Charles III of Spain and younger brother of King Charles IV of Spain and King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. Biography Born in Acquaviva Palace in Caserta, where the royal family lived before the Royal Palace of Caserta was built, he was the fifth son of Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. A humanist devoted to arts, he bore a striking resemblance to his elder brother Charles IV. At the death of his uncle Ferdinand VI of Spain, who he never met, his parents, brothers Charles and Gabriel, and sisters Maria Luisa and Maria Josefa departed for Spain where his father ruled as Charles III. Aged 39, he married on August 25, 1795, María Amalia of Spain, 16-year-old daughter of his brother Charles IV in a double wedding where Maria Amalia's younger sister, Maria Luisa married Louis, Duke of Parma. She died 3 years late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
