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Cent-Suisses
The Cent-Suisses (, ''Hundred Swiss'') were an elite infantry company of Swiss mercenaries that served the French kings from 1471 to 1792 and from 1814 to 1830. History The unit was created in 1471 by King Louis XI. Originally, the company was composed of a hundred men, all from Switzerland and armed with halberds, who were selected for their above-average height. As the weapons of the time evolved, notably with the appearance of firearms, its members were divided between pikemen and arquebusiers. When Swiss mercenaries learned that King Charles VIII was preparing an expedition against Naples, they rushed en masse to be recruited. By the end of 1494, thousands of them were in Rome to join the French Royal Army which would occupy Naples the following February. In 1495, the king's life was saved thanks to the actions of his Swiss infantrymen. Louis de Menthon was appointed the first commander of the Cent-Suisses in 1496. The unit was part of the ''Maison militaire du roi de Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maison Militaire Du Roi De France
The ''maison militaire du roi de France'' (, ''military household of the king of France'') were the Royal guard, military branch of the Maison du Roi, the royal household of the List of French monarchs, French monarchy. Officially part of the French Royal Army, like the rest of the Maison du Roi the ''maison militaire'' was under the authority of the Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi. However, the formation depended on the ''ordinaire des guerres'', controlled by the Secretary of State for War (France), Secretary of State for War, for their budget. Under Louis XIV, these two officers of state were given joint command of the ''maison militaire''. Composition The household was akin to the British Household Division in that it comprised a number of both cavalry and infantry units, serving as the sovereign's personal guard as well as elite troops during war. Recruitment to some of its units was limited to gentlemen, like the ''gardes du corps'' and ''Mousquetaires de la Garde'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Mercenaries
The Swiss mercenaries were a powerful infantry force constituting professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the kings of France, throughout the early modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages into the 19th century. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. There followed a period of decline, as technological and organizational advances counteracted the Swiss' advantages. Switzerland's military isolationism largely put an end to organized mercenary activity; the principal remnant of the practice is the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the Vatican. Ascendancy During the Late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and other conflicts came to see soldi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Full Dress Uniform
Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (military), parades, ceremonies, and receptions, including private ones such as marriages and funerals. Full dress uniforms typically include full-size order (distinction), orders and medals insignia. Styles tend to originate from 19th-century uniforms, although the 20th century saw the adoption of mess dress uniform, mess dress-styled full-dress uniforms. Designs may depend on regiment or service branch (e.g. army, navy, air force, marines). In Western dress codes, full dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian white tie for evening wear or morning dress for day wear – sometimes collectively called ''full dress'' – although military uniforms are the same for day and evening wear. As such, full dress u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archduchy Of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periphery. Its present name originates from the Frankish term ''Oustrich'' – Eastern Kingdom (east of the Francia, Frankish kingdom). The archduchy developed out of the Bavarian Margraviate of Austria, elevated to the Duchy of Austria according to the 1156 ''Privilegium Minus'' by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The House of Habsburg came to the Austrian throne in Vienna in 1282 and in 1453 Emperor Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III, also the ruler of Austria, officially adopted the archducal title. From the 15th century onward, all Holy Roman Emperors but Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, one were Austrian archdukes and with the acquisition of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Bohemian and Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungarian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Duchy Of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population of the Grand Duchy was about 1,815,000 inhabitants. Having brought nearly all Tuscany under his control after conquering the Republic of Siena, Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, was elevated by a papal bull of Pope Pius V to Grand Duke of Tuscany on 27 August 1569. The Grand Duchy was ruled by the House of Medici until the extinction of its senior branch in 1737. While not as internationally renowned as the old republic, the grand duchy thrived under the Medici and it bore witness to unprecedented economic and military success under Cosimo I and his sons, until the reign of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando II, which saw the beginning of the state's long economic decline. That econo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of this kingdom. The kingdom was a member of the Council of Aragon and initially consisted of the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, sovereignty over both of which was claimed by the papacy, which granted them as a fief, the (Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica), to King James II of Aragon in 1297. Beginning in 1324, James and his successors Aragonese conquest of Sardinia, conquered the island of Sardinia and established ''de facto'' their ''de jure'' authority. In 1420, after the Sardinian–Aragonese war, the last competing claim to the island was bought out. After the union of the crowns of Aragon and Crown of Castile, Castile, Sardinia became a part of the burgeoning Spanish Empire. In 1720, the island and its kingdom were ceded by the House o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duchy Of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duchy was an Imperial fief, subject of the Holy Roman Empire, until 1792, with a vote in the Imperial Diet. From the 16th century, Savoy belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. Its territory included the current French departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and the Alpes-Maritimes, the current Italian region of Aosta Valley, a large part of Piedmont and the County of Geneva in Switzerland, which was then lost to the Old Swiss Confederacy. The main Vulgar languages that were spoken within the Duchy of Savoy were Piedmontese and Arpitan. Terminology The Duchy of Savoy was the central and most prominent of the territories possessed by the House of Savoy, and hence this title was and still is used often to indicate th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious [Days]"), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Charles X of France, Charles X, the French House of Bourbon, Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis Philippe I, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans. The 1830 Revolution marked a shift from one constitutional monarchy, under the Bourbon Restoration in France, restored House of Bourbon, to another, the July Monarchy; the transition of power from the House of Bourbon to its cadet branch, the House of Orléans; and the replacement of the principle of hereditary right by that of popular sovereignty. Supporters of the Bourbons would be called Legitimists, and supporters of Louis Philippe were known as Orléanists. In addition, there continued to be Bonapartists supporting the return of Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's heirs. After 18 preca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bourbon Restoration In France
The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history during which the House of Bourbon returned to power after the fall of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814 and 1815. The second Bourbon Restoration lasted until the July Revolution of 1830, during the reigns of Louis XVIII (1814–1815, 1815–1824) and Charles X of France, Charles X (1824–1830), brothers of the late King Louis XVI. Exiled supporters of the monarchy returned to France, which had been profoundly changed by the French Revolution. Exhausted by the Napoleonic Wars, the kingdom experienced a period of internal and external peace, stable economic prosperity and the preliminaries of industrialisation. Background Following the collapse of the French Directory, Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), Napoleon Bonaparte became ruler of France as leader of the French Consulate, Consulate. By the Consulate's end with the creation of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804, Napoleon had consolidated hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Restoration
The First Restoration was a period in French history that saw the return of the House of Bourbon to the throne, between the abdication of Napoleon in the spring of 1814 and the Hundred Days in March 1815. The regime was born following the victory of the Sixth Coalition (United Kingdom, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria) as part of the campaign of France, while the country was in conflict during the First Empire. While the Allied powers were divided over the person to be placed on the throne of France, a subtle game was established between the Bourbons in exile, the French institutions, and the foreign powers, before the abdication of Napoleon on 6 April opened the way to Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, who returned to Paris at the end of the month and moved to the Tuileries Palace. The new regime was constitutional: it was indeed, to reconcile the country, to mix the return to the monarchy with some of the major achievements of the French Revolution. To do this, the sov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurrection Of 10 August 1792
The insurrection of 10 August 1792 was a defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris, increasingly in conflict with the French monarchy, stormed the Tuileries Palace. The conflict led France to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. Conflict between King Louis XVI and the country's new revolutionary Legislative Assembly increased through the spring and summer of 1792 as Louis vetoed radical measures voted upon by the Assembly. Tensions accelerated dramatically on 1 August when news reached Paris that the commander of the allied Prussian and Austrian armies had issued the Brunswick Manifesto, threatening "unforgettable vengeance" on Paris should harm be done to the French royal family. On 10 August, the National Guard of the Paris Commune and ''fédérés'' from Marseille and Brittany stormed the King's residence in the Tuileries Palace in Paris, which was defended by the Swiss Guards. Hundreds of Swiss guardsmen and 400 revolutionari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
