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John Macky
John Macky (died 1726) was a Scottish spy and travel writer. Between 1688 and 1710 he ran a successful intelligence gathering network across the English Channel, principally concerned with Jacobite and French threats to England. He was also the author of several publications which reflected his travel, political outlook and access to leading figures of the period. Biography Nothing is known of Macky's parentage or early life. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Macky was sent to France by the English government to provide information about Jacobite activity. He successfully infiltrated the Jacobite court at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1692, he was the first person to inform the authorities of the exiled James II's intended invasion of England after the former king had fled to France from England. In October 1693 he was made inspector of the coast from Harwich to Dover, tasked with intercepting hostile communications and intelligence. With the re-establishmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intelligence Gathering Network
An intelligence gathering network is a system through which information about a particular entity is collected for the benefit of another through the use of more than one, inter-related source. Such information may be gathered by a military intelligence, government intelligence, or commercial intelligence network. Intelligence assessment employs intelligence analysis to refine information. Foreign embassies subscribe to the newspapers and keep tabs on the news channels of their host countries — the information doesn't have to be classified to be considered useful intelligence; indeed, so-called OSINT, or open-source intelligence, is increasing in both quantity and utility with the ascendancy of digital media. Researchers may also be employed to dig through archives and check facts. An important form of intelligence is so-called "signals intelligence", which attempts to intercept electronic communications and other signals sent between parties working for a hostile, or p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne, Queen Of Great Britain
Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 8 March 1702, and List of British monarchs, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707 merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of England, England, until her death in 1714. Anne was born during the reign of her uncle Charles II of England, King Charles II. Her father was Charles's younger brother and heir presumptive, James II of England, James, whose suspected Roman Catholicism was unpopular in England. On Charles's instructions, Anne and her elder sister Mary II of England, Mary were raised as Anglicans. Mary married her Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Protestant cousin, William III of Orange, in 1677, and Anne married the Lutheran Prince George of Denmark in 1683. On Charles's death in 1685, James succeeded to the throne, but just three years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Harley, 1st Earl Of Oxford And Earl Mortimer
Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was a British statesman of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ministry. He was raised to the peerage of Great Britain as an earl in 1711. Between 1711 and 1714 he served as Lord High Treasurer, effectively Queen Anne's chief minister. He has been called a ''prime minister'', although it is generally accepted that the de facto first minister to be a prime minister was Robert Walpole in 1721. The central achievement of Harley's government was the negotiation of the Treaty of Utrecht with France in 1713, which brought an end to twelve years of English and Scottish involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1714 Harley fell from favour following the accession of the first monarch of the House of Hanover, George I, and was for a time imprisoned in the Tower of London by his political enemies. He wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Flemings, Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish people, Flemish, which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area, or more generally the Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. Most Flemings live within the Flemish Region, which is a federal state within Belgium with its own elected government. However, like Belgium itself, the official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, which lies within the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, not the Flemish Region, and the majority of residents there are French speaking. The powers of the Flemish Government in Brussels are limited mainly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planned French Invasion Of Britain (1708)
The Planned French Invasion of Britain, took place in March 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Hoping to divert British resources from Flanders, a French Navy expedition was ordered to transport 5,000–6,000 soldiers to northeast Scotland. Once landed, they would help local Jacobites restore James Francis Edward Stuart to the throne of Great Britain. Using a fleet of fast privateers, its commander Claude de Forbin reached Scotland. However, with the Royal Navy in close pursuit, the troops were unable to disembark and he was forced to return home. Lack of French support meant substantive local backing failed to materialise, and the Scottish Jacobites dispersed without significant military action. Background Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV of France recognised William III as king of England and Scotland, instead of the exiled James II, who had been deposed by the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The War of the Spanish Succession began in July 1701, and when Jam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunkirk
Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. Etymology and language use The name of Dunkirk derives from West Flemish 'dune' or 'dun (fortification), dun' and 'church', thus 'church in the dunes'. A smaller town 25 km (15 miles) farther up the Flemish coast originally shared the same name, but was later renamed Oostduinkerke(n) in order to avoid confusion. Until the middle of the 20th century, French Flemish (the local variety of Dutch language, Dutch) was commonly spoken. History Middle Ages A fishing village arose late in the tenth century, in the originally flooded coastal area of the English Channel south of the Western Scheldt, when the area was held by the County of Flanders, Counts of Flanders, va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prime Minister of Great Britain, serving from 1721 to 1742. His formal titles included First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader of the House of Commons. Although the exact dates of Walpole's dominance, dubbed the "Robinocracy", are a matter of scholarly debate, the period 1721–1742 is often used. He dominated the Walpole–Townshend ministry, as well as the subsequent Walpole ministry, and holds the record as the List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure, longest-serving British prime minister. W. A. Speck, W. A. Speck wrote that Walpole's uninterrupted run of 20 years as prime minister "is rightly regarded as one of the major feats of British political history. Explanations a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whigs (British Political Party)
The Whigs were a political party in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Between the 1680s and the 1850s, the Whigs contested power with their rivals, the Tories. The Whigs became the Liberal Party when the faction merged with the Peelites and Radicals in the 1850s. Many Whigs left the Liberal Party in 1886 over the issue of Irish Home Rule to form the Liberal Unionist Party, which merged into the Conservative Party in 1912. The Whigs began as a political faction that opposed absolute monarchy and Catholic emancipation, supporting constitutional monarchism and parliamentary government, but also Protestant supremacy. They played a central role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and were the standing enemies of the Roman Catholic Stuart kings and pretenders. The period known as the Whig Supremacy (1714–1760) was enabled by the Hanoverian succession of George I in 1714 and the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl Of Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, (15 June 1645 – 15 September 1712) was a British Tory statesman. He was a Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for the Northern Department before he attained real power as First Lord of the Treasury. He was instrumental in negotiating and passing the Acts of Union 1707 with Scotland, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. He had many other roles, including that of Governor of Scilly. Family and early career He came from an ancient Cornish family as the son of Sir Francis Godolphin (1605–1667) and nephew of the poet Sidney Godolphin. At the Restoration, he was introduced into the royal household by King Charles II of England, whose favourite he had become, and he also entered the House of Commons as member for Helston, in Cornwall. Although he spoke few words before the House, they were so to the point that he "gradually acquired a reputation as its chief if not its only financial authority". In 1668, he was a succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Ramillies
The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand AllianceAustria, England, and the Dutch Republicthe battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of King Louis XIV of France in 1705. Although the Allies had captured Barcelona that year, they had been forced to abandon their campaign on the Moselle, had stalled in the Spanish Netherlands and suffered defeat in northern Italy. Yet despite his opponents' setbacks LouisXIV wanted peace, but on reasonable terms. Because of this, as well as to maintain their momentum, the French and their allies took the offensive in 1706. The campaign began well for Louis XIV's generals: in Italy Marshal Vendôme defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Calcinato in April, while in Alsace Marshal Villars forced the Margrave of Baden back across the Rhine. Encouraged by these early gains LouisXIV urged Marshal Villeroi to go over to the offensive in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophia Of Hanover
Sophia (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; – ) was Electress of Hanover from 19 December 1692 until 23 January 1698 as the consort of Prince-Elector Ernest Augustus. She was later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Great Britain) and Ireland under the Act of Settlement 1701, as a granddaughter of King James VI and I. Sophia died less than two months before she would have become Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Consequently, her son George I succeeded her first cousin once removed, Queen Anne, to the British throne. The succession to the throne has since been composed entirely of, and legally defined as, Sophia's legitimate and Protestant descendants. Sophia was born in The Hague to Frederick V, formerly Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth (Stuart), daughter of King James VI and I. She grew up in the Dutch Republic, where her family had sought refuge after the sequestration of their Electorate during the Thir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an area of , and a coastline in length. The name, like all similar names ending in ', is pre-Mycenaean Greek, Mycenaean or Pelasgians, Pelasgian in origin. In Greek mythology, the island was said to be named after Zacynthus (mythology), Zacynthus, the son of the legendary Arcadia (region), Arcadian chief Dardanus (son of Zeus), Dardanus. Zakynthos is a tourist destination, especially amongst British tourists, with an Zakynthos International Airport, international airport served by charter flights from northern Europe. The island's nickname is "the Flower of the Levant", bestowed upon it by the Republic of Venice, Venetians, who ruled Zakynthos from 1484 to 1797. History Ancient history The ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned Zakynthos in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
