Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)

The Kingdom of Italy (Latin: Regnum Italiae or Regnum Italicum, Italian: Regno d'Italia) was one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, along with the kingdoms of Germany and Burgundy. It comprised most of northern and central Italy, but excluded the Republic of Venice. Its original capital was Pavia until the 11th century.

In 773, Charlemagne (died 814), the King of the Franks, crossed the Alps to invade the Kingdom of the Lombards, which encompassed all of Italy except the Duchy of Rome and some Byzantine possessions in the south. In June 774, the kingdom collapsed and the Franks became masters of northern Italy. The southern regions remained under Lombard control. Charlemagne adopted the title "King of the Lombards" and in 800 had himself crowned "Emperor of the Romans" in Rome. In 781, he gave Italy to his son, Pepin (died 810). In 818 Pepin's line died out and the kingdom passed to his cousin, Lothair I. Members of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule Italy until the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, after which they once briefly regained the throne in 894–96. Until 961, the rule of Italy was continually contested by several aristocratic families from both within and without the kingdom.

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI, (Italian: Pio XI) born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (Italian pronunciation: [amˈbrɔdʒo daˈmjano aˈkille ˈratti]; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), reigned as Pope from 6 February 1922 to his death in 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929. He took as his papal motto, "Pax Christi in Regno Christi," translated "The Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ."

Pius XI issued numerous encyclicals, including Quadragesimo anno on the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's groundbreaking social encyclical Rerum novarum, highlighting the capitalistic greed of international finance, and social justice issues, and Quas primas, establishing the feast of Christ the King. The encyclical Studiorum ducem, promulgated 29 June 1923, was written on the occasion of the 6th centenary of the canonization of Thomas Aquinas, whose thought is acclaimed as central to Catholic philosophy and theology. The encyclical also singles out the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum as the preeminent institution for the teaching of Aquinas: "ante omnia Pontificium Collegium Angelicum, ubi Thomam tamquam domi suae habitare dixeris" (before all others the Pontifical Angelicum College, where Thomas can be said to dwell).

Total war

Total war is warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, and typically involves the use of weapons and tactics that result in significant civilian or other non-combatant casualties, whether collateral damage or not. American-English Dictionary defines "total war" as "war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded." The term can also be applied when the war effort requires significant sacrifices by most of the friendly civilian population.

In the mid-19th century, scholars identified "total war" as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, to an extent inapplicable to less total conflicts, the differentiation between combatants and non-combatants diminishes and even sometimes vanishes entirely as opposing sides can consider nearly every human resource, even that of non-combatants, as nevertheless part of the war effort.

Iron Crown

Iron Crown can refer to:

Braccio da Montone

Braccio da Montone (1 July 1368 – 5 June 1424), born Andrea Fortebracci, and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero.

Biography

He was born to the nobleman Oddo Fortebracci and Giacoma Montemelini at Montone, some 40 km north of Perugia. He married Elisabetta Ermanni with whom he had three daughters. After her death in 1419, he married Niccolina Varano, who bore his first son Carlo in 1421. He later had a son out of wedlock, Oddo, who also became a condottiero.

He began his military career as a page in Guido d'Asciano’s company. When his family was exiled from Perugia and he lost the castle of Montone, he entered Alberico da Barbiano’s "Company of St. George", in which he would make friends with Muzio Attendolo Sforza. At the head of 150 knights, Braccio performed some guerrilla actions which foreshadowed the tactics that his own company would later adopt.

After a short return to Montone, he fought for the Montefeltro and the Malatesta in Romagna, being slightly crippled during the siege of the Castle of Fossombrone (1391). In 1395 he fought again for Barbiano in the Kingdom of Naples, and two years later he was hired by the Republic of Florence. In 1398 he fought for the Pope in the war against Perugia.