History Nerd Quiz

If you can answer most of these right then you are a true history nerd

1. Who was the First Holy Roman Emperor
2. Who was the most important man Titian painted?
3. Who said “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”?
4. What was Catherine the Great’s first name and where is she form?
5. How many people rule Russia between Peter the Great and Empress Elizabeth?
6. Who was known for what they did not say?
7. Who was the first head of State killed with a hand gun?
8. Who was a son of a Pope, a cardinal and a Duke?
9. What is a Tudor Rose?
10. Who, from the Florence, is called the magnificent?
11. Roughly how many states were in the Holy Roman Empire before it fell.
12. Who dissolved the Holy Roman Empire?
13. What is the name of the last Dynasty to rule Egypt before it was conquered by Roma
14. What is the order of Henry VIII’s children who ruled (form First to last out of his three children)
15. What is Mary I of England nick name and how did she get it.
16. Who did Mary Queen of Scots marry first and if he stayed alive and they had children what would have happened to their two nations.
17. What nation united Germany?
18. What house was Italy united under?
19. Who (according to Myth) does the Imperil family descend from?
20. What happened to the royal family of Greece and if they are still live, where do they live?
21. How said “ We have waken a sleeping giant”?
22. How many States in the US have been their own Country.
23. How many tribes of Israel are there?
24. How was call the little Duchess, had a Great Uncle that was a pope and married a crown prince.
25. Who is Philip the Fair and why is he important to the power of Spain

Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France

Catherine de' Medici, Duchess of Urbino and Queen of France, is an interesting figure in history. Catherine was alone and used as a pawn after only a few weeks of life. The reason for this was because her mother died in April 1519, only weeks after her birth and her father died in May of the same year. Form then on she would be used by Princes, Kings and Popes until she became the ruler of France though out the reign of her three sons until her death.
Catherine was born in Florence on 13 April 1519 to Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Ubino and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne. After there deaths she was raised by her grandmother and aunt. Loe X, her Great Uncle was in control of her form the binging. He looked over her up bring and hoped that he could marry her to his brother's illegitimate son, Ippolito de' Medici, and set the pair up as rulers of Florence but this never came to pass because he died in 1521. His successor Clement VII also cared for her and placed her in the Palazzo Medici in Florence. However, this almost killed her when there was a uprising in Florence and she was almost killed by the rebels before Charles V's troops could get there.
Clement was the one who arranged the marriage between her and Henry, the second son of the King of France. The marry was an unhappy one form the binging. She saw little of her husband and with Clement's death her standing was undermine. She did not produced a child for 10 years and her husbands took little interest in her. Her husband took a mistress almost at once, Diane de Poitiers, who really took Catherine's position in all but title and responsibility in giving Henry children. Pressure to give Henry a child was increased when Henry became heir to the throne when Francois died. It was discussed that Catherine might be thrown away because of her inability to have a child, until it was found out that something was wrong with the couple and with the help of a doctor, Catherine gave Henry seven surviving children. Nothing changed when she became Queen consort. She finally gained control of her life when her husband died and she became Queen Mother.
Catherine ruled over France came form her three oldest sons dependents on her. Her rule came when the France had became another battle ground in the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism. She tried to compromise with the protestants but this did not work and lead to several wars under her rule. One of the important events of her reign was St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. This was a Massacre of protestants that started in Paris and when thought out France for months afterwards. Catherine was blamed for this act but none real know who real ordered this attack. Catherine's rule ended when Henry II died and Henry of Navarre came to the throne. Catharine still had power but she would never rule again. She die at age sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy.
Catharine is an important person in French history. She held France together in a time of religious and political wars. Although stained as an evil queen that killed thousands of people, she is one of the few Catholic rulers that tried to comprise with her protestant subjects.

What About the Others

Hello the few (if any) readers. I am sorry I have not posted anything but i have been under the wight of a lot of class and a PE class that is kicking my butt ever day but lets move pass that.

So I have been posting a lot of History stuff but this is a history and news/politics blog and I think I found something that I want to post about that is in the news.

We all know what happened 8 years ago on this day and we all know where we were when it happened. Now why I am bring this up other then to note the sad day. Newsweek made a video call Generation 9/11. It features kids that where 10 when the event happened and what they and there family were doing. It was an interesting video but it real only focus on two groups. There were kids that were alive then but were not apart of it and they only had one person that had a family member in the towers that died. However, they did not focus on another group. The kids that lived overseas with there parents, that are in the army. I was one of them. The kids talked about the effects on there lives and how, for the most of them, it effected them but not a great deal. However, for me and the people that lived over seas it a lot changed for us. I had walked through the door of my house, after just being picked up from school by my fathers friend that was watching for the afternoon because my parents were working late, and turned to the TV which was on for my dogs. On the TV was two building that I did not know about and one was on fire. As I put my stuff down, a plane crashed in to the other tower. By the time the towers had fallen I knew what was happening. We were being attack. By then my father had called an had told us that he would not becoming home that night and that we need to lock all the doors and windows and cover them and do not let anyone in. Form then on I was in fear most of the time I was not in the my house or with my father or mother. Watching ever person in a crowd to see if I could tell if they had a bomb on them or a gun under is jacket or you exit out of the place so I knew where to run if I had to. The bases I when to school on and my parents worked on was on high alert. Every car was searched and people checked. At school we did bomb drills every month. My first time on a plane after it was an 8 hour trip of watching people as they got up, to see if they were going to try and take the plane over. After a few years the bases lowered its guard a little but It took me longer to relaxes a little and I still worry some times.

I am not saying that every kid that lived or lives over seas is like this but we are out there. I think people should know all the story, then just one side.

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great, Empress of all the Russias is the most important ruler of Russian after Peter the Great. Form her reforms in government to the patronage of the art she made Russia in to a world power and a driving force in Europe. However She was not apart of the Romanov Dynasty or even Russian
Catherine was born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt. Her family was weak but had connections to several powerful families ( two of her First Cousins Became kings of Sweden). She was used as a pawn in a diplomatic plan by Frederick II of Prussia in the hopes to weaken Austria's friendship with Russia. So Sophia was married to Peter, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Empress Elizabeth's nephew and only heir This didn't work however, Russia was soon at war with Prussia and had Frederick on the run. Meanwhile, Catherine was adapting to her new home; learning Russian, converting to the Russian orthodox church and learning how the Russian court worked.
Even thought she was adapting every well to her new environment, her marriage was not a happy one. Reports says that he was childless and hated her. It is said that once he told a hall of courtiers that was he became emperor he would send her to a convent and be ride of her.
This threat was one in a long list and when this situation started Catherina stated to gain support in the different factions at court, the Leib guards and in other powerful people in different nations. Peter came to power in January 1762 when, as she had Frederick of Prussia trapped in Berlin, Elizabeth die. Upon getting to the throne he made an alliances with Frederick and started to Germanizes the Russian Army (Changing uniforms, ranks and rules). Then he started a campaign to conquer the lands between Russian and, the land of his berth, the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. This aliened all the nobles and any support that he had from them.
Peter's mistake was to go to Oraniebum with his relatives and the few nobles that was still loyal to him and left his wife in St. Petersburg. When he was gone Catherine lead the Leib Guard in a bloodless coup for the throne. The nobles were happy and supported her soon after she took the throne. Thing were not as great for her husband. Three day after the coup he was killed.
Catherine's reign was one of the high points in Russia history. She created many school and created a new organization of territorial rules. She expanded the Russian empire west and south taking on the Ottoman empire and total wiped the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth off the map. She also made Russia an international mediator. Catherine was not all work and no play. She had many lovers that were very important nobles and government officials. When she became bored with ones she gave the higher offices or land. It is said that her former lovers would help pick there replacements.
Catherine changed the faces of Russia and Europe. She was an important enlightenment monarch and a powerful political finger in Europe. Although historians still debate if she was a good monarch, I believe that she is one of the greatest Russian monarch we have known.

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Georgiana (joe-JAI-na) Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire was an important political and social figure in the 18 century. Form around her early twenties she ruled the ton (high society) and created the Devonshire House Circle, the pineal of the ton. Besides being ruler of the ton , her personality and looks made her the trendsetter of Britain and gained her the name of Empress of Fashion. Social events and Fashion was not the only thing that Georgiana was interested to her. The Whig party won many parliament seats and held power for a short time thanks to her. However, Georgiana's life was not a ride of parties, politics and fashion. Georgian was addicted to gambling, always in debt, stuck in a loveless Ménage à trois.Georgiana Spencer was born in 7 June 1757 to John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer. Georgiana's childhood was a smooth one. Things changed when, at seventeenth, she married William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. At first Georgiana thought that she loved the Duke but that changed when she found out that they had nothing in common and that he was keeping a mistress. This destroyed Georgiana's believe that there married was more then politically driven.
With a loveless marriage, she focused on society and politics. Using the wealth of the Cavendish, she became the leader of the ton thought parties and set the trend with expensive taste. With her in the fast lane (partying , drinking and gambling to 4 am), people gravitated to her. This circle that formed around her was called The Devonshire house circle. The members of this salon where some of the most notable literary and political(Whig) figures, like Charles James Fox and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
With this contact to political men, Georgiana found that she could, in a form, participate in her passion of politics. She campaigned for Fox and hosted many political strategy secession at her home. It could be said that she became the fourth head of the Whig party. She influenced and changed many peoples political ideas, and with out her the Whigs would have lost a lot of seats in parliament.
With this success also came the constant threat of people that she owned money to. Georgiana's gambling created a large debt and most of her life was a scrambling to get money form one person to pay off the other. Even when she stopped , her credit was so high that she was deep in debt when she died.
Georgiana relationships was just, if not as more, like are own relationships. She was forced in to a Ménage à trois with her best friend Lady Elizabeth Foster (later, the Duchess of Devonshire after Georgiana's death). Georgiana also had a string of lovers but the major one was Charles Grey. Grey was the lover of her life but the could not stay together. Georgiana became pregnant with Grey's child and her husband gave her an ultimatum. The Duke, because she was not discrete, she had to give Grey up or she could never see her children again.
Georgiana gave Grey up and was sent away to Southern Europe until t he duke recalled her. A venally she was recalled and she changed after this exile. However she did become her old self with one exception she stopped gambling .
When she was in exile the Whig party collapsed and almost vanished but she thanks to her she at lest held the pieces of party together. However, soon she grew past the Whig party and, thought staying in the party, she started to go in her own political direction and thanks to her family and friends she had a link to all political factions. By 1806 she had achieved her goal and the Whigs were in power.
Her joy was short lived. For a few years the Duchess had many different illness thanks to an infected eye that never real healed. By march she was seriously ill with jaundice. She die on March 1806.
Georgiana was woman who when against thought that woman could nothing. She had the ability to lead the nation if she was not a woman and she new it. Brought a political party in to power and had set the trends of sociality for most of her like. She was loved by the people and hated by the government of her day but her high statues did not stop her from making mistakes. She is one the most important political figure of the late 18th century.

For more information read the Duchess by Amanda Foreman

William the Silent, Prince of Orange

William the Silent is a key figure in European history. In a time of Divine Right, William organized and lead a rebellion against the most powerful person of the age, Philip II of Spain.

Philip II ruled over one of the biggest empires in history. His domain incorporated much of Italy, South and North America, the Seventeen Provinces and with many ports and islands in Africa and Asia.


How William became leader of the Dutch Revolt is an interesting story. William was born in the castle of Dillenburg in Nassau.


Very thing changed for William when a man died in the siege of St. Dizier in northern France. René of Châlon Prince of Orange died with no children and so his cousin William was given the Principality of Orange and vast lands in Low Countries. However he would not get this unless he got a Catholic education.


So, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had to rule his lands because of his young age. He was sent to Brussels to study under Charles' sister.
At 22, William was appointed to Council of State, political advisory council in the Netherlands. By 1559 William had become the most powerful man in the Netherlands after the governor-general thanks to his appointment to the Council of State, his tile of Prince and his stadtholdership of provinces Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Burgundy.

William never real wanted to become a leader of a revolt against the Spainsh king. He was seeking more power for the local nobles and to loosen the grip that the Spaniards had on the administration of the Netherlands and for religious freedom. Do to his up bringing as Lutheran and Catholic made him very religious but open to different forms of worship.
The Netherlands was full of religious tension. So Confederacy of Noblemen petitioned Margret of Parma, half-sister to stop the persecution of Protestants. Margret agree as long as they would help restore order at the Beeldenstorm. However, Margret could not fulfill her promise to them and stepped down. Philip replaced his sister with the Duke of Alba, who after taking control formed the Council of Blood.

He formed the Council in order to judge those involved with the rebellion and the iconoclasm. William was one of the many that was called upon by the Council. William did not appear, because we had moved to his Nassau lands in Germany. The Duke had his land confiscated and he was named an outlaw. Because of his political position and his money he became a leader of an armed resistance to Alba. He financed the Watergeuzen and raised an army of German mercenaries. William allied with French Huguenots and his brother Louis lead and invaded the northern Netherlands in 1568. The operation failed because of the Huguenots being attacked and kill by French Royal troops and a small part of Louis army was captured. However, Louis did capture Groningen but was forced back and the army destroyed but Louis made it out of the battle.


After the failing to keep an army together as William tried to invade again, but he maintained this populating thought Propaganda and the claim that he was not fighting against the Spanish king but the inadequate rule of the foreign governors in the Netherlands. Watergeuzen captured the city of Brielle and claimed it for him. This was followed by many cities in Holland and Zeeland opening there gates to the Watergeuzen and reinstated William as the stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland. After that the rebels and William's army captured more city long the country but the Spanish pushed William back to Holland. The Spanish soon captured Orangist cities but did not have much success in Holland. Around this time in 1573, William went over to the Calvinist Church.

After several back and forth Don Requesens, the replacement for Alba, died and several Spanish troops mutinied and sacked Antwerp. William seized on this and got several provinces and cities sign the Pacification of Ghent, but it did gain unity in matters of religion. Don John, the new governor-general, said that he would agree to the Pacification of Ghent but when back on it and attacked Namur and kill all most all the people that lived there and the revolt spread everywhere in the Netherlands. Union of Utrecht was signed after the attack and they declared independence. However, this triumph was cut short when the Catholic Frenchman Balthasar Gérard shot William with a wheel-locked pistol, after William had finish his dinner at his home in Delft. Althought he did not see the end of the war he started a chain of events that lead to the creation to the first Republic since the Romans. His actions foreshadow the revolutionary movement in France and America and he challenged the thought that kings had a divine right to rule and that there people had to follow what they say no matter what.





If you want more information on William and his death read The Awful End of Prince William Silent.

My Favorite Historical Figure

Well, this blog is about politics and history so I am going to start the history part of this Blog by going thought some of my Favorite Historical Figure that have made marks on history. Whether they impact a Country, a Continent or the World.

• William the Silent
• Elizabeth I of England
• Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
• Catherine II of Russia
• Lorenzo de' Medici (Medici)
• Catherine de' Medici
• Aurel Vlaicu
• Alberto Santos-Dumont

These are only a few. There will be more and if any one want to see some one pleases post a comment.