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Causes of the English Civil Wars
The English Civil Wars (1642-1651) were caused by a monumental clash of ideas between King Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649) and his parliament. Arguments over the powers of the monarchy, finances, questions of religious practices and toleration...
Definition
Carolingian Dynasty
The Carolingian Dynasty (751-887) was a family of Frankish nobles who ruled Francia and its successor kingdoms in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. The dynasty expanded from Francia as far as modern Italy, Spain, and...
Definition
Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England ruled as king from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Succeeding his father Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422), Henry VI was crowned the king of France in 1431 but he could not prevent a French revival led by Charles...
Article
Henry IV of France & the Edict of Nantes
Henry of Navarre became the nominal ruler of France after the assassination of Henry III of France (r. 1574-1589), whose marriage to Louise de Lorraine produced no heir. After years of attempts to deny the throne to Navarre, his enemies realized...
Definition
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici (l. 1519-1589) was the queen of France, mother of three kings and two queens and, between 1559 and c. 1576, the most powerful woman in France and, possibly, all of Europe. She was the strength behind the French throne...
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Charles VI of France, the Mad King
Charles VI (1368-1422), King of France, oil on canvas painting by Gillot Saint-Evre, 1837. Commissioned by King Louis Philippe I in 1837, the painting is part of the Portraits of the Kings of France series in the Palace of Versailles. Charles...
Definition
Henry V of England
Henry V of England ruled as king from 1413 to 1422. Succeeding his father Henry IV of England (r. 1399-1413), Prince Henry established himself as a fine military leader in battles against English and Welsh rebels in the first decade of the...
Definition
Charles Vane
Captain Charles Vane was an English pirate active in the Caribbean and off the east coast of North America between 1716 and 1720. The pirate, who infamously refused a pardon and instead fired his cannons at the ship of Governor Woodes Rogers...
Definition
Marie de France
Marie de France (wrote c. 1160-1215 CE) was a multilingual poet and translator, the first female poet of France, and a highly influential literary voice of 12th-century CE Europe. She is credited with establishing the literary genre of chivalric...
Article
The Three Estates of Pre-Revolutionary France
Society in the Kingdom of France in the period of the Ancien Regime was broken up into three separate estates, or social classes: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. These classes and their accompanying power dynamics, originating...