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Ducats
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide international acceptance over the centuries. Similarly named silver ducatons also existed. The gold ducat circulated along with the Florentine florin and preceded the modern British pound sterling and the United States dollar. Predecessors The word ''ducat'' is from Medieval Latin ''ducalis'' = "relating to a duke (or dukedom)", and initially meant "duke's coin" or a "duchy's coin". The first issue of scyphate billon coins modelled on Byzantine '' trachea'' was made by King Roger II of Sicily as part of the Assizes of Ariano (1140). It was to be a valid issue for the whole kingdom. The first issue bears the figure of Christ and the Latin inscription ''Sit tibi, Christe, datus, quem tu regis iste ducatus'' (meaning "O Christ, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger III, Duke Of Apulia
Roger III (1118 – 2 or 12 May 1148) was the eldest son of King Roger II of Sicily and Elvira of Castile. He was the Duke of Apulia from 1134 until his death. Roger's first public act took place at Melfi in 1129, where, though still a child, he accepted the fealty of some rebellious barons along with his father and his younger brother Tancred. His father was crowned king of Sicily the next year on 25 December. It is possible that Roger received the Duchy of Apulia at this time. He had certainly received it from his father by 1134. He was perhaps put under the tutelage or guardianship of Robert of Selby. He took part in his father's campaigns beginning in 1137, when he distinguished himself in the campaign against Ranulf of Alife, whom Pope Innocent II and the Emperor Lothair II had invested as rival duke of Apulia. His first major engagement was the Battle of Rignano on 30 October; a battle in which more experienced warriors, like his father, fled and some, like Duke Sergius V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gonfalone
The gonfalon, gonfanon, gonfalone (from the early Italian ''confalone'') is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar in an identical manner to the ancient Roman vexillum. It was first adopted by Italian medieval communes, and later, by local guilds, corporations and districts. The difference between a gonfalon with long tails and a standard is that a gonfalon displays the device on the non-tailed area, and the standard displays badges down the whole length of the flag. Background A gonfalon can include a badge or coat of arms, or decoration. Today, every Italian comune (municipality) has a gonfalon sporting its coat of arms. The gonfalon has long been used for ecclesiastical ceremonies and processions. The papal "ombrellino", a symbol of the pope, is often mistakenly called "gonfalone" by the Italians because the pope's ceremonial umbrella was often depicted on the banner. ''Gonfalone'' was ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doge Of Venice
The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 and 1797. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the Venetian nobility. The '' doge'' was neither a duke in the modern sense, nor the equivalent of a hereditary duke. The title "doge" was the title of the senior-most elected official of Venice and Genoa; both cities were republics and elected doges. A doge was referred to variously by the titles "My Lord the Doge" ('), "Most Serene Prince" ('), and " His Serenity" ('). History of the title Byzantine era The office of doge goes back to 697. The first historical Venetian doge, Ursus, led a revolt against the Byzantine Empire in 726, but was soon recognised as the () and (a honorific title derived from the Greek word for consul) of Venice by imperial authorities. After Ursus, the Byz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michele Steno
His tomb in Venice. Michele Steno (''Michiel Sten'' in Venetian Language; 1331 – December 26, 1413) was a Venetian statesman who served as the 63rd Doge of Venice from December 1, 1400 until his death. He is remembered as the ruler crucial for establishing the Domini di Terraferma, in the aftermath of the War of Padua. Biography Steno was born in Venice into a family of some, though not great, wealth, and had lived a dissolute life in youth; he and a number of other young men were at one point nearly executed by the government for covering the Doge Marino Faliero's throne with "ignominious" inscriptions against him and his spouse, Aluycia Gradenigo. He later served as proveditor of Venice, and proved a capable diplomat. In 1400 he was elected as doge as a compromise choice, since previous votes had become deadlocked. Upon becoming Doge he took to dressing like Lorenzo Celsi, who had been known for his elegance of dress. In his accession's year, Venice begun a successful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genovino
The genovino was a gold coin used in the Republic of Genoa from 1252 to 1415. History New supplies of gold arrived in Western Europe from Sudan, via caravans from the Sahara, which allowed Florence and Genoa to inaugurate, from the 13th century, the minting of these currencies. The ''genovino'' was issued in Genoa for the first time in 1252, shortly before the Florentine currency, and will be issued until 1415. Next to the ''genovino'' are also struck values equivalent to its eighth ''(ottavino)'' and its quarter (''quartarola).'' The coin had a weight of of 24 carats (i.e. pure gold) and its diameter is approximately . Its obverse represented the door of a castle, typical of medieval Genoese coins, and around the inscription + IANUA, that means door in Latin which resonates like the name of the city, and which had already been used in the first currencies. After 1339, with Simone Boccanegra Simone Boccanegra (; lij, Scimon Boccaneigra ; died 1363) was the first Doge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the 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: it is currently the busiest in Italy and in the Mediterranean Sea and twelfth-busiest in the European Union. Genoa was the capital of 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 of the largest naval powers of the continent and considere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico anno 2013, datISTAT/ref> Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial center. During this time, Florence rose to a position of enormous influence in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (established in 1861). The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Council Of Venice
The Great Council or Major Council ( it, Maggior Consiglio; vec, Mazor Consegio) was a political organ of the Republic of Venice between 1172 and 1797. It was the chief political assembly, responsible for electing many of the other political offices and the senior councils that ran the Republic, passing laws, and exercising judicial oversight. Following the lockout () of 1297, its membership was established on hereditary right, exclusive to the patrician families enrolled in the Golden Book of the Venetian nobility. The Great Council was unique at the time in its usage of lottery to select nominators for proposal of candidates, who were thereafter voted upon. History The exact origins of the Great Council are unclear. Tradition places its establishment in 1172, but it likely has its origin in a 'Council of Wise Men' () that is attested in 1141. That was a council established to limit and control the power of the Doge of Venice, and dominated by the Venetian nobility. Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperpyron
The ''hyperpyron'' ( ''nómisma hypérpyron'') was a Byzantine coin in use during the late Middle Ages, replacing the '' solidus'' as the Byzantine Empire's gold coinage. History The traditional gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the '' solidus'' or '' nomisma'', whose gold content had remained steady at 24 carats for seven centuries and was consequently highly prized. From the 1030s, however, the coin was increasingly debased, until in the 1080s, following the military disasters and civil wars of the previous decade, its gold content was reduced to almost zero. Consequently, in 1092, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos ( 1081–1118) undertook a drastic overhaul of the Byzantine coinage system and introduced a new gold coin, the ''hyperpyron'' (meaning "super-refined"). This was of the same standard weight (4.45 grams) as the ''solidus'', but only 20.5 carat purity instead of 24, resulting in a reduced gold content of only 4.1 grams instead of 4.8 grams. The lower purity wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks, approximately 13,000 French men and women were slain by the rebels, and the government of Charles lost control of the island. This began the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Background The papacy versus the House of Hohenstaufen The rising had its origin in the struggle of investiture between the pope and the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors for control of Italy, especially the Church's private demesne known as the Papal States. These lay between Hohenstaufen lands in northern Italy and the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily in the south; the Hohenstaufens also, at the time, ruled Germany. In 1245 Pope Innocent IV excommunicated Frederick II and declared him deposed, and roused opposition against h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261, and as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire. His reign saw considerable recovery of Byzantine power, including the enlargement of the Byzantine army and navy. It would also include the reconstruction of the city of Constantinople, and the increase of its population. Additionally, he re-established the University of Constantinople, which led to what is regarded as the Palaiologan Renaissance between the 13th and 15th centuries. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
