Philip of Alsace to Nikephoros III Botaneiates

Continued from previous post.

Philip of Alsace (1143 – 1 August 1191) was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. His reign began in 1157, while he acted as regent and co-count for his father, Thierry, who was frequently away on crusade. Philip defeated Floris III, Count of Holland and captured him in Bruges. Floris remained in prison until 1167, at which point he was ransomed in exchange for recognition of Flemish suzerainty over Zeeland.

Floris III of Holland (1141 – August 1, 1190), Count of Holland from 1157 to 1190.  Floris III was a loyal vassal to Frederick I Barbarossa. He accompanied the emperor on two expeditions to Italy in 1158 and 1176–1178. Frederick thanked him by making Floris part of the imperial nobility.

Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 – 10 June 1190) was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He believed that the restoration of order in Germany was a necessary preliminary to the enforcement of the imperial rights in Italy. Issuing a general order for peace, he made lavish concessions to the nobles. Abroad, Frederick intervened in the Danish civil war between Svend III and Valdemar I of Denmark and began negotiations with the Eastern Roman Emperor, Manuel I Comnenus.

Manuel I Komnenos (or Comnenus) (28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180) was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean.  The first test of Manuel's reign came in 1144, when he was faced with a demand by Raymond, Prince of Antioch for the cession of Cilician territories. However, due to a growing threat from Islamic forces, Raymond was forced to submit to Manuel ask for the protection of the Emperor.

Raymond of Poitiers (c. 1115 – 29 June 1149) was Prince of Antioch 1136–1149. When the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus had come south, partly to recover Cilicia from Leo of Armenia, and to reassert his rights over Antioch, Raymond was forced to pay homage. Raymond also had promise to cede his principality as soon as he was recompensed by a new fief, which John promised to carve out for him in the Muslim territory to the east of Antioch. The expedition of 1138, in which Raymond joined with John, and which was to conquer this territory, proved a failure.

John II Komnenos (or Latinised as Comnenus) (September 13, 1087 – April 8, 1143) was Byzantine Emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as Kaloïōannēs ("John the Good" or "John the Beautiful"), he was a pious and dedicated man who was determined to undo the damage his Empire had suffered at the battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier. John's closest adviser was his only intimate friend, John Axouch.

John Axouch or Axouchos, also transliterated as Axuch (flourished circa 1087 - circa 1150) was the commander-in-chief (megas domestikos) of the Byzantine Army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos, and the early part of the reign of his son Manuel I Komnenos. As an infant he had been captured by Crusaders at Nicaea in 1097. Given to Alexios I Komnenos as a present, he was raised in the imperial household.

Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus (1056 – 15 August 1118—note that some sources list his date of birth as 1048), was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to halt the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the catalyst that triggered the Crusades.  Previous to his reign, Alexios served with distinction against the Seljuq Turks under the emperor Romanos IV Diogenes (1067–1071).

Romanos (or Romanus) IV Diogenes (c.1030 - 1072) was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert.

Eudokia Makrembolitissa (or Eudocia Macrembolitissa) (c.1021–1096) was the second wife of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas. After his death (1067) she acted as regent and became the wife of Romanos IV Diogenes. After her son Michael VII was deposed in 1078 by Nikephoros III, Eudokia was recalled by the new emperor who offered to marry her. This plan did not come to pass, and Eudokia died as a nun.

Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates (c. 1002 – 10 December 1081) was Byzantine emperor from 1078 to 1081. He belonged to a family which claimed descent from the Byzantine Phokas family. Nikephoros Botaneiates had served as general from the reign of Constantine IX. Drawn to politics, he had been an active participant in the uprising that brought Isaac I to the throne in 1057, including a prominent role in the Battle of Petroe. Although considered a competent general, he suffered a number of humiliating setbacks throughout his career.


To be continued in the next post.

Pope Clement VI to Philip of Alsace

Continued from previous post.

Pope Clement VI (1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352. Clement is most notable as the Pope who reigned during the time of the Black Death (1348–1350), during which he granted remission of sins to all that died of the plague. Clement continued the struggle of his predecessors with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and excommunicated him after protracted negotiations on 13 April 1346.

Louis IV (1 April 1282, Munich – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis was elected in October 1314 upon the instigation of Peter of Aspelt, the Prince-elector and Archbishop of Mainz.

Peter of Aspelt (died 1320) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1306 to 1320, and an influential political figure of the period. He brought the archbishopric to its peak of power. Once personal physician to Rudolf of Habsburg, he became an opponent of the Habsburgs on the wider European stage.

Rudolph I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291), also known as Rudolph of Habsburg,  was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties. In 1281 he compelled Count Philip I of Savoy to cede some territory to him.


Philip I (1207, Aiguebelle, Savoie – 16 August 1285) was the count of Savoy from 1268 to 1285. Before this, he was the bishop of Valence (1241–1267), dean of Vienne (1241–1267) and archbishop of Lyon (1245–1267). While he was at first successful in extending the power of Savoy, in 1282 he was opposed by a coalition of King Rudolph I, Charles of Anjou, the dauphin, and the counts of Geneva.

Charles I (21 March 1226 – 7 January 1285), known also as Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest from 1266, though he had received it as a papal grant in 1262 and was expelled from the island in the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers of 1282. In 1247, while Charles had gone to France to receive the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the local nobility (represented by Barral of Baux and Boniface of Castellane) joined with his mother-in-law the Dowager Countess Beatrice of Savoy and the Imperial cities of Marseille, Arles, and Avignonto to form a defensive league against him.

Barral of Baux (died 1268) was Viscount of Marseilles and Lord of Baux. Barral came to oppose the Albigensian Crusade, and invaded the Comtat Venaissin in 1234 in support of Raymond VII of Toulouse.

Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles (July 1197, Beaucaire, Gard – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.  During the Albigensian Crusade in May 1216, he set out from Marseille and besieged Beaucaire, which he captured on 24 August. He fought to reconquer the county of Toulouse from Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and later Simon's son Amaury VI of Montfort.

Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester (1160 – 25 June 1218), also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade. Simon's part in the Albigensian Crusade had the full backing of his liege lord, the King of France, Philip Augustus, although historian Alistaire Horne, in his book Seven Ages of Paris states that Philippe (sic) "turned a blind eye to Simon de Montfort's brutal crusade...of which he disapproved, but readily accepted the spoils to his exchequer".

Philip II Augustus (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was the last King of the Franks from 1180 to 1190, and the first King of France from 1190 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy. He broke up the great Angevin Empire and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He reorganized the government, bringing financial stability to the country and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign was popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobles and passed some of it on to the growing middle class. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders over the county of Vermandois.

Philip of Alsace (1143 – 1 August 1191) was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. His reign began in 1157, while he acted as regent and co-count for his father, Thierry, who was frequently away on crusade. Philip defeated Floris III, Count of Holland and captured him in Bruges. Floris remained in prison until 1167, at which point he was ransomed in exchange for recognition of Flemish suzerainty over Zeeland.


Continued in the next post.

Nicolaas Zannekin to Pope Clement VI

Continued from previous post.

Nicolaas Zannekin (died 23 August 1328), was a Flemish peasant leader, best known for his role in the Peasant revolt in Flanders 1323-1328. During the early 14th century AD, Zannekin served as leader of the revolt in coastal Flanders against the oppressive tax policy of the Count of Flanders Louis of Nevers.

Louis I (c. 1304 – August 26, 1346, ruled 1322–1346) was Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel. His pro-French policies and excessive taxations levied by Louis caused an uprising in 1323 which escalated into a full-scale rebellion.  After being captured held captive by these rebels, in February 1326 Louis was released thanks to the intervention the King of France, Charles IV and the sealing of the Peace of Arques.

Charles IV, known as the Fair (18/19 June 1294 – 1 February 1328), was the King of France and of Navarre (as Charles I) and Count of Champagne from 1322 to his death: he was the last French king of the senior Capetian lineage. After his first wife died following a premature birth, in 1325 Charles married Jeanne d'Évreux. Since Jeanne was his first cousin, the marriage required the approval of Pope John XXII.

Pope John XXII (1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was pope from 7 August 1316 until his death.  He was an excellent administrator and did much efficient reorganizing. During his papacy he sent a letter to the Muslim ruler Uzbeg Khan, thanking him for his tolerant treatment of Christians.

Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg (1282–1341, reign 1313–1341), was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith. Converted to Islam by Ibn Abdul Hamid, he urged the Mongol elite to convert to Islam, but at the same time, he preserved the lives of Christians, as seen in a letter Uzbeg sent to the Metropolitan Peter, stating that no one should meddle with the Christian church.

Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia (died on 20 December 1326) was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In 1308 king Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia nominated and the Patriarch of Constantinople appointed Peter to the vacant see of Kiev and all Rus'.

Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia (also known as "of Galicia", Boleslaw-Yuri II, and Jerzy-Bolesław Trojdenowicz, 1308 – April 7, 1340) was a ruler of the Polish Piast dynasty who reigned in the originally Ruthenian principality of Galicia. In a treaty of 1338 Bolesław Jerzy offered Casimir III of Poland succession to the throne of Galicia-Volhynia.

Casimir III the Great (30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370), was the last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty. On 24 August 1335, Casimir signed the Treaty of Trentschin or Trenčín with King John of Bohemia to initiate the transfer of the suzerainty over the former Polish province of Silesia to the Kingdom of Bohemia.

John the Blind (10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346) was the Count of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from ophthalmia in 1336, while crusading in Lithuania. A treatment by the famous physician Guy de Chauliac had no positive effects.

Guy de Chauliac or Guigonis de Caulhaco (ca. 1300 – 25 July 1368) was a French physician and surgeon who wrote a lengthy and influential treatise on surgery in Latin, titled Chirurgia Magna. It was translated into many other languages (including Middle English circa 1425) and widely read by physicians in late medieval Europe.  Chauliac's reputation as a physician grew quickly and he was invited to the Papal Court in Avignon, France, to serve as a personal physician to Pope Clement VI.

Pope Clement VI (1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352. Clement is most notable as the Pope who reigned during the time of the Black Death (1348–1350), during which he granted remission of sins to all that died of the plague. Clement continued the struggle of his predecessors with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and excommunicated him after protracted negotiations on 13 April 1346.


Continued in the next post.

Sigismund to Nicolaas Zannekin

Continued from previous post.

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (14 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411.  In 1396 Sigismund led Christian allies in the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages against the Ottoman Empire, and was defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis by forces led by Bayezid I.

Bayezid I (nicknamed "the Thunderbolt"; 1354 – March 8, 1403) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. A Commando Battalion in the Pakistan Army is named Yaldaram Battalion after him.  In the Battle of Ankara, on 20 July 1402, Bayezid was captured by Timur and the Ottoman army was overpowered.

Timur (8 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), historically known as Tamerlane, was a Turk who conquered West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty. Timur is regarded as a military genius and a tactician whose prowess made him one of the world’s great conquerors.  In 1402, after his victory over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Ankara, Timur sent Johannes de Galonifontibus as ambassador to European courts to announce his victory. Timur proposed treaties to facilitate commercial exchanges between European powers and his realm.

Johannes de Galonifontibus was a Dominican monk who was nominated Bishop of Nakhchivān in Persia in March 1377, was made Archbishop of Sultaniya in 1378.  As Timur's ambassador in Europe, Johannes arrived in Paris on 15 June 1403 with an offer of an offensive and defensive alliance with Charles VI, as well as the development of commercial relations.

Charles VI (3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422), called the Beloved and the Mad, was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392 when his friend and advisor, Olivier de Clisson, was the victim of an attempted murder, led to quarrels among the French royal family. The neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy exploited the situation, and by the end of his reign much of France was under foreign occupation.

Olivier de Clisson (1336 – 23 April 1407), nicknamed "The Butcher", was a Breton soldier, the son of the Olivier de Clisson who was put to death in 1343 on the suspicion of having wished to give up Nantes to the English. In 1370, he joined Bertrand du Guesclin, who had lately become constable of France, and followed him in campaigns against the English, including the Siege of Brest in 1373.

Bertrand du Guesclin (c. 1320 – 13 July 1380), known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death. Well known for his Fabian strategy, he took part in six pitched battles and won the four in which he held command. Du Guesclin was knighted in 1354 while serving Arnoul d'Audrehem, after countering a raid by Hugh Calveley on the Castle of Montmuran.
 

Arnoul d'Audrehem (c. 1305 – 1370) was a French soldier and held an important place in the military history of France, first as captain in Angoulême, and in June 1351, in succession to the lord of Beaujeu, as marshal of France. Between 1332 and 1342 he went three times to Scotland to aid King David Bruce in his wars.

David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death. Following the victory of English forces at the Battle of Halidon Hill in July 1333, David and his Queen were sent for safety into France, reaching Boulogne on 14 May 1334, and being received very graciously by King Philip VI of France.

Philip VI (1293 – 22 August 1350), known as the Fortunate and of Valois, was the King of France from 1328 to his death as a member of the Capetian dynasty. He was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328. On 23 August, 1328, Philip fought and won the Battle of Cassel against Nicolaas Zannekin, a wealthy farmer from Lampernisse who was the leader of a band of Flemish independence rebels.

Nicolaas Zannekin (died 23 August 1328), was a Flemish peasant leader, best known for his role in the Peasant revolt in Flanders 1323-1328. During the early 14th century AD, Zannekin served as leader of the revolt in coastal Flanders against the oppressive tax policy of the Count of Flanders Louis of Nevers.


Continued in the next post.

Leonardo da Vinci to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

Continued from previous post.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal.  Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio.

Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488), was an Italian sculptor, goldsmith and painter who worked at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in the early renaissance.  Several great artists passed through his workshop as apprentices including Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was Michelangelo.  In his father's shop, Vasari reports, Domenico made portraits of the passers-by and visitors to the shop: "when he painted the country people or anyone who passed through his studio he immediately captured their likeness". He was eventually apprenticed to Alesso Baldovinetti to study painting and mosaic.

Alesso Baldovinetti (14 October 1425 – 29 August 1499) was an Italian early Renaissance painter.  In 1497 he completed a series of frescoes from the Old Testament, which contained many portraits of leading Florentine citizens, and was valued at a thousand gold florins by a committee which included Cosimo Rosselli. Only some defaced fragments of it now remain.

Cosimo Rosselli (1439 – 1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence. In 1480, Rosselli was one of the painters called by Pope Sixtus IV to work at the wall decoration of the Sistine Chapel.

Pope Sixtus IV (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484.  As a temporal prince who constructed stout fortresses in the Papal States, Sixtus IV committed himself to Venice's aggression against Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, inciting the Venetians to attack in 1482 in the so-called War of Ferrara.

Ercole I d'Este (26 October 1431 – 15 June 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este. He was nicknamed North Wind and the Diamond.  In 1473, Ercole met his spouse Eleonora of Aragon, who had been escorted by a retinue which included the poet Boiardo. Five years later Ercole invested Boiardo with the governorship of Reggio, an office which he filled with noted success till his death.

Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440/1 – December 20, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance poet. He is best remembered for his grandiose poem of chivalry and romance Orlando Innamorato. In 1469, Borso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, sent Boiardo to meet Frederick III.

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (September 21, 1415 – August 19, 1493) was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452. In 1442, Frederick allied himself with Rudolf Stüssi, burgomaster of Zürich, against the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Old Zürich War.

Rudolf Stüssi (died July 22, 1443) served as burgomaster of Zürich during the mid-fifteenth century. His expansionist ambitions for Zurich caused the Old Zürich War (1440–46). In 1433, he traveled to Rome as a representative of Zürich to attend the coronation of Sigismund of Luxembourg. There he was knighted.

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (14 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411.  In 1396 Sigismund led Christian allies in the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages against the Ottoman Empire, and was defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis by forces led by Bayezid I.

Continued in the next post.