• Albert II of Belgium
• Anglo-Saxons
• Anhalt
• Apanage
• Appanage
• Archbishop of Paris
• Archbishop of Reims
• Archduke
• Archon
• Arnulfing
• Arpads
• Austria
• Baron
• Baronet
• Battle of Mohács
• Baudouin I
• Bavaria
• Belgium
• Bosnia (region)
• Brunswick-Lüneburg
• Brussels
• Burgundy (region)
• Caliph of Cordoba
• Capece Minutolo
• Carolingian
• Celts
• Central Java
• Channel Islands
• China
• Chinese history
• Christian
• Cleph
• Confucius
• Conquest of Ceuta
• Coronet
• Count
• County of Portugal
• Courtesy title
• Croatia
• Crusader state
• Cybo-Malaspina
• Daewoo Royale Duke
• Dame (title)
• Danish language
• Demesne
• Denmark
• Despotes
• Dithmarschen
• Duc de Saint-Cloud
• Duchy
• Duchy of Amalfi
• Duchy of Athens
• Duchy of Brunswick
• Duchy of Brzeg
• Duchy of Cleves
• Duchy of Cornwall
• Duchy of Ferrara
• Duchy of Friedland
• Duchy of Gaeta
• Duchy of Krumlov
• Duchy of Lancaster
• Duchy of Legnica
• Duchy of Mantua
• Duchy of Milan
• Duchy of Naples
• Duchy of Naxos
• Duchy of Neopatras
• Duchy of Parma
• Duchy of Racibórz
• Duchy of Zator
• Duke
• Duke (Lombard)
• Duke of Albany
• Duke of Aquitaine
• Duke of Augustenborg
• Duke of Aumale
• Duke of Aveiro
• Duke of Barcelos
• Duke of Beck
• Duke of Bedford
• Duke of Beja
• Duke of Benevento
• Duke of Brabant
• Duke of Braganza
• Duke of Buckingham
• Duke of Burgundy
• Duke of Cambridge
• Duke of Clarence
• Duke of Coimbra
• Duke of Cornwall
• Duke of Cumberland
• Duke of Edinburgh
• Duke of Exeter
• Duke of Finland
• Duke of Franzhagen
• Duke of Gloucester
• Duke of Glucksburg
• Duke of Gottorp
• Duke of Hereford
• Duke of Ireland
• Duke of Kent
• Duke of Lafões
• Duke of Lancaster
• Duke of Norburg
• Duke of Norfolk
• Duke of Normandy
• Duke of Porto
• Duke of Ross
• Duke of Rothesay
• Duke of Somerset
• Duke of Sonderburg
• Duke of Sparta
• Duke of Spoleto
• Duke of Suffolk
• Duke of Surrey
• Duke of Sussex
• Duke of the Franks
• Duke of Torres Novas
• Duke of Viseu
• Duke of Warwick
• Duke of Yansheng
• Duke of York
• Duke Yansheng
• Dukes in France
• Dukes of Normandy
• Dux
• Ealdormanry
• Earl
• Edler
• Emperor
• Empire of Brazil
• Empress dowager
• Ernestine duchies
• Este
• Feudal monarchies
• Feudalism
• Feudatories
• Finland
• Florence
• Frangokratia
• Frank Stenton
• Freiherr
• Gastald
• Germanic monarchy
• Germanic peoples
• Grand Duchy
• Grand duke
• Grand prince
• Grandee
• Grandeza de España
• Greater Poland
• Halland
• Hayam Wuruk
• Heir presumptive
• Henri Christophe
• Henry the Navigator
• Heraldry
• Holstein
• Holy Roman Empire
• Holy See
• House of Ascania
• House of Esterházy
• House of Farnese
• House of Gonzaga
• House of Habsburg
• House of Lancaster
• House of Mecklenburg
• House of Nassau
• House of Visconti
• House of Wettin
• House of Wittelsbach
• House of York
• Iberian Peninsula
• Infanta
• Infante
• John Corvin
• John I of Portugal
• Jutland
• Kalisz
• Katepano
• Khan (title)
• King consort
• King Leopold III
• Kingdom of Greece
• Kingdom of Hungary
• Knight
• Kraków
• Kujavia
• Laland
• Lancashire
• Langres
• Laon
• Lasem
• Latin language
• Lesser Poland
• Lombards
• Low Countries
• Luxembourg
• Lőrinc Újlaki
• Majapahit
• Mangkunegaran Palace
• Manuel I of Portugal
• Margrave
• Maria II of Portugal
• Marquess
• Marquis
• Marquise
• Masovia
• Massa
• Mataram Sultanate
• Matthias Corvinus
• May field
• Mayors of the palace
• Medici
• Merovingian
• Middle Ages
• Modena
• Monarch
• Moors
• Muscovy
• Nassau (state)
• Nationalist
• Neo-Confucian
• Nobile (aristocracy)
• Nobility
• Oldenburg
• Osilia
• Pairie
• Pakualaman
• Palaiologan period
• Parma, Italy
• Pedro I of Brazil
• Pedro II of Brazil
• Peerage of England
• Peerage of Ireland
• Peerage of Scotland
• Phra
• Piast dynasty
• Plantagenet
• Poland
• Pomerania
• Pomerelia
• Posthumous names
• Prefect
• Prince
• Prince consort
• Prince of Asturias
• Prince-bishop
• Prince-Bishop
• Prince-regent
• Princess
• Princess consort
• Privy Purse
• Provence
• Province
• Provinces of Sweden
• Queen consort
• Queen dowager
• Queen mother
• Queen regnant
• Reconquista
• Regent
• Reign
• Reval
• Ritter
• Roman Republic
• Rule of the Dukes
• Sandomir
• Saxe-Altenburg
• Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
• Saxe-Meiningen
• Saxony
• Schleswig
• Schleswig-Holstein
• Selymbria
• Senapati
• Sforza
• Sieradz
• Silesia
• Skåne
• Slavonia
• Spring and Autumn
• States of Germany
• Stem duchy
• Stormarn
• Suebi
• Suffragan bishop
• Sultan Agung
• Surakarta
• Sweden
• Södermanland
• Taifa
• Thai language
• Thema
• Thessaloniki
• Thiufa
• Transylvania
• Tudor dynasty
• United Kingdom
• Viceroy
• Viscount
• Visigoths
• Voivodship
• Warring States
• Wars of the Roses
• Welfs
• Wikipedia INCITE
• Yogyakarta
• Zhu Xi
• Łęczyca
• 
  

• 
  Austria
  Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German:  Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
  The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
  
  wn.com/Austria
• 
  Battle of Mohács
  The Battle of Mohács (Hungarian: mohácsi csata or mohácsi vész; Turkish: Mohaç Savaşı or Mohaç Meydan Savaşı; Croatian: Bitka na Mohačkom polju) was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
  The Ottoman victory led to the partition of Hungary for several centuries between the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, and the Principality of Transylvania. The death of Louis II as he fled the battle marked the end of the Jagiellon dynasty in Hungary and Bohemia, whose dynastic claims were absorbed by the Habsburgs via the marriage of Louis' sister.
  
  wn.com/Battle_of_Mohács
• 
  Bavaria
  Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪ.ɐn] ( listen)), is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany. Bavaria is Germany's second most populous state (after North Rhine-Westphalia), with 12.5 million inhabitants, more than any of the three sovereign states on its borders. Bavaria's capital is Munich.
  One of the oldest states of Europe, it was established as a duchy in the mid first millennium. In the 17th century, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, and Bavaria has since been a free state (republic). Modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia.
  The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Gauls, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, probably did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, Heruli. The name "Bavarian" ("Baiuvarii") means "Men of Baia" which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources c. 520. Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early-8th century. Bavaria was, for the most part, unaffected by the Protestant Reformation.
  
  wn.com/Bavaria
• 
  Belgium
  Belgium (ⁱ/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.
  
  wn.com/Belgium
• 
  Brussels
  Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ( listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French:  Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch:  Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
  Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
  Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.
  
  wn.com/Brussels
• 
  Central Java
  Central Java (Indonesian: Provinsi Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java. This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java is 39,800.69 km² in area; approximately a quarter of the total land area of Java. Its population was 30,380,687 at the 2010 Census, making it the third most-populous province in Indonesia after West Java and East Java, and constituting a bit less than one quarter of the crowded island's population.
  Central Java is also a cultural concept that includes the Special Area and city of Yogyakarta. However, administratively the city and surrounding region has been part of a separate special region since Indonesian independence.
  Located in the middle of the island of Java, the Central Java province is bordered by West Java and East Java provinces. A small portion of its south region is the Yogyakarta Special Region province, fully enclosed by the Central Java province. Yogyakarta is historically and culturally part of the Central Java region, although it is currently a separate political entity. To the north and the south, the Central Java province faces the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. Central Java also includes offshore islands such as Karimun Jawa Islands in the north, and Nusakambangan in the southwest.
  
  wn.com/Central_Java
• 
  China
  China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
  The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
  
  wn.com/China
• 
  Croatia
  Croatia (ⁱ/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska  listen (help·info)), is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia's Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The country's population is 4.29 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism.
  In the early 7th century the Croats arrived in area of present-day Croatia. They organised the state into two dukedoms by the 9th century. Tomislav became the first king by 925 AD, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II as a fascist puppet state. After the war, Croatia became a founding member and a federal constituent of the Second Yugoslavia, a socialist state. In June 1991, Croatia declared independence, which came into effect on 8 October of the same year. The Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration.
  
  wn.com/Croatia
• 
  Denmark
  The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
  Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
  
  wn.com/Denmark
• 
  Dithmarschen
  Dithmarschen (German pronunciation: [ˈdɪtmaʁʃən], Low Saxon pronunciation: [ˈdɪtmaːʃn̩], archaic in English: Ditmarsh, Middle Latin: Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony (district of Stade, from which it is separated by the Elbe river), and by the North Sea.
  The district is located on the North Sea. It is embraced by the Elbe estuary to the south and the Eider estuary to the north. Today it forms a kind of artificial island, surrounded by the Eider river in the north and the Kiel Canal in both the east and southeast. It is a rather flat countryside that was once full of fens and swamps.
  To the north it borders on Nordfriesland and Schleswig-Flensburg, to the east on Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and in the southeast on Steinburg. Its landward boundaries have remained basically the same since the times of Charlemagne. Land reclamation, however, has almost doubled the size of Dithmarschen as land has been wrested from the sea.
  
  wn.com/Dithmarschen
• 
  Duchy of Amalfi
  The Duchy of Amalfi (Italian: Ducato di Amalfi) or the Republic of Amalfi (Italian: Repubblica di Amalfi) was a de facto independent state centred on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th and 11th centuries. The city and its territory were originally part of the larger ducatus Neapolitanus, governed by a patrician, but it extracted itself from Byzantine vassalage and first elected a duke in 958. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial centre whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and superseded by the other maritime republics of the North, like Pisa, Venice, and Genoa. In 1073, Amalfi lost its independence and fell to the Normans, from whose yoke it failed in two separate attempts to free itself.
  The city of Amalfi was founded as a trading post in 339. Its first bishop was appointed in 596. In 838, the city was captured by Sicard of Benevento with help from traitors within the city, who led him in through the waterward defences. The many of the Amalfitans in Salerno sacked that city and left. In 839, Amalfi freed itself from Lombard domination and elected a prefect. Nearby Atrani participated in these early prefectural elections. Subsequently, Amalfi helped to free Siconulf to oppose the ruling Prince of Benevento. In 897, the self-governing republic, still nominally tied to the Byzantine empire, was defeated in a war with Sorrento, supported by Naples, in which her prefect was captured, later ransomed. In 914, the prefect Mastalus I was appointed first judge. In 958, Mastalus II was assassinated and Sergius I was elected first duke (or doge). From 981 to 983, Amalfi ruled the Principality of Salerno. In 987, the Amalfitan bishopric was raised to archiepiscopal status.
  
  wn.com/Duchy_of_Amalfi
• 
  Duchy of Brunswick
  Brunswick (German: Braunschweig) was a historical state in Germany. Originally the territory of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Holy Roman Empire, it was established as an independent duchy by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (Braunschweig).
  The title "Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg" (German: Herzog zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg) was held, from 1235 on, by various members of the Welf family who ruled several small territories in northwest Germany. These holdings did not have all of the formal characteristics of a state, being neither compact nor indivisible. When several sons of a Duke competed for power, the lands were often divided between them; when a branch of the family lost power or became extinct, the lands were reallocated among surviving members of the family; different dukes might also exchange territories. The unifying element of all these territories was that they were ruled by male-line descendants of Duke Otto I.
  After several early divisions, Brunswick-Lüneburg was unified under Duke Magnus II (d. 1373). Following his death, his three sons jointly ruled the Duchy. After the murder of their brother Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg, brothers Bernard and Henry redivided the land, Henry receiving the territory of Wolfenbüttel.
  
  wn.com/Duchy_of_Brunswick
• 
  Duchy of Cleves
  Coordinates: 51°47′N 6°8′E / 51.783°N 6.133°E / 51.783; 6.133
  The Duchy of Cleves (German: Herzogtum Kleve; Dutch: Hertogdom Kleef) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west. Its history is closely related to that of its southern neighbours: the Duchies of Jülich and Berg, as well as Guelders and the Westphalian county of Mark.
  The duchy's territory roughly covered the present-day German districts of Cleves (northern part), Wesel and the city of Duisburg, as well as adjacent parts of the Limburg, North Brabant and Gelderland provinces in the Netherlands.
  In the early 11th century Emperor Henry II entrusted the administration of the Klever Reichswald, a large forested area around the Kaiserpfalz at Nijmegen directly subordinate to the Imperial rule, to local Lower Lorrainian nobles at Geldern and Kleve. A County of Cleves (German: Grafschaft Kleve; Dutch: Graafschap Kleef) was first mentioned in the 11th century. In 1417, the county became a duchy. Upon the death of Count Johann in 1368, the fief was inherited by his nephew Adolf III of the Marck. Cleves and Mark were finally ruled in personal union by the House of La Marck after Adolf's elder brother Count Engelbert III had died without issue in 1391. King Sigismund of Germany raised Count Adolph I to the status of a duke and a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1417.
  
  wn.com/Duchy_of_Cleves
• 
  Duchy of Mantua
  The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, Northern Italy, subject to the Holy Roman Empire.
  After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Byzantines, Longobards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana. The last ruler of the family was the countess Matilde of Canossa (died 1115), who, according to legend, ordered the construction of the precious Rotonda di San Lorenzo (1082). After the death of Matilde of Canossa, Mantua became a free commune and strenuously defended itself from the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries.
  During the Investiture Controversy, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power — as Captain General of the People — in 1273. His family ruled Mantua for the next century, making it more prosperous and artistically beautiful.
  On 16 August 1328, the last Bonacolsi, Rinaldo, was overthrown in a revolt backed by the House of Gonzaga, a family of officials, namely the 60-year-old Luis and his sons Guy, Filippino and Feltrino. Luis Gonzaga, who had been podestà of the city in 1318, was elected People's Captain. The Gonzaga built new walls with five gates and renovated the architecture of the city in the 14th century, but the political situation in the city did not settle until the third Gonzaga, Ludwig I, eliminated his relatives, seizing power for himself. Through a payment of 120,000 golden florins in 1433, John Francis was appointed marquis of Mantua by Emperor Sigismund, whose niece Barbara of Brandenburg he married. In 1459 Pope Pius II held a diet in Mantua to proclaim a crusade against the Turks.
  
  wn.com/Duchy_of_Mantua
• 
  Duchy of Milan
  The Duchy of Milan was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire, in what is now northern Italy. Created in 1395, when it included twenty-six towns and a wide rural area lying between the hills of Montferrat and the Venetian Lagoon, the Duchy was conquered by the Austrians during the 18th century War of the Spanish Succession, and in 1714 it was ceded to Austria by the Treaty of Baden. It remained an Austrian possession until 1796, when it was conquered by a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte, and ceased to exist a year later as the result of the Treaty of Campo Formio, when Austria ceded it to the new Cisalpine Republic.
  After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 restored many other states which he had destroyed, but the Duchy of Milan was not among them. Instead, its former territory became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, with the Emperor of Austria as its king. In 1866 what was left of this kingdom was annexed by the new Kingdom of Italy.
  The Duchy of Milan (Ducatus Mediolani), was created 1 May 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia. At its foundation the duchy included 26 towns and spanned from the hills of Montferrat to the Lagoons of Venice, and included all the former towns of the Lombard League.
  During the rule of the Visconti and Sforza, the duchy had to defend its territory against the Swiss, the French and the Venetians, until the Betrayal of Novara in 1500 when the duchy passed to the French-claim of Louis XII.
  
  wn.com/Duchy_of_Milan
• 
  Empire of Brazil
  The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II, both members of the House of Braganza—a branch of the Capetian dynasty. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom João VI (John VI), fled from Napoleon I's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. João VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir, Pedro, to rule Brazil as regent.
  
  wn.com/Empire_of_Brazil
• 
  Finland
  Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
  Finland ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
  Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.
  
  wn.com/Finland
• 
  Florence
  Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen), alternate obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.
  Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
  The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 72nd most visited in 2009, with 1,685,000 visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the city is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, amongst others, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.
  
  wn.com/Florence
• 
  Halland
   Halland (help·info) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (landskap in Swedish), on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.
  The provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Instead, that function is served by the Counties of Sweden. However, the province of Halland is almost coextensive with the administrative Halland County, though parts of the province belong to Västra Götaland County and Skåne County.
  As of December 31, 2009, Halland had a population of 303,895. Of these, 287,668 lived in Halland County; 13,980 lived in Västra Götaland County; and 2,247 lived in Skåne County.
  During the Danish era the province had no coat of arms and no seal. In Sweden, however, every province had been represented by heraldic arms since 1560. When Charles X Gustav of Sweden suddenly died in 1660 a coat of arms had to be created for the newly acquired province. Each province was to be represented by its arms at the royal funeral. There are several theories about the choice of a lion. Bengt Algotsson, duke of Halland and Finland in the 14th century, used a lion in his personal arms. Blazon: Azure, a Lion rampant Argent langued, armed and dente Gules.
  
  wn.com/Halland
• 
  Holstein
  Holstein (German pronunciation: [ˈhɔlʃtaɪn]) (Northern Low Saxon: Holsteen, Danish: Holsten, Latin and historical English: Holsatia) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany.
  Holstein once existed as the County of Holstein (German: Grafschaft Holstein; 811–1474), the later Duchy of Holstein (German: Herzogtum Holstein; 1474–1866), and was the northernmost territory of the Holy Roman Empire. The history of Holstein is closely intertwined with the history of the Danish Duchy of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig). The capital of Holstein is Kiel.
  Holstein's name comes from the Holcetae, a Saxon tribe mentioned by Adam of Bremen as living on the north bank of the Elbe, to the west of Hamburg. The name means "dwellers in the wood" (Northern Low Saxon: Hol(t)saten; German: Holzsassen).
  After the Migration Period of the Early Middle Ages, Holstein was a borderland between Nordalbingia (part of Old Saxony) at the coast of North Sea, the land of the Slavic Wagrians belonging to the Obotrites at the coast of the Baltic Sea and the land of the Danes in Jutland.
  
  wn.com/Holstein
• 
  Iberian Peninsula
  The Iberian Peninsula (Asturian, Galician, Leonese, Mirandese, Portuguese and Spanish: Península Ibérica, Catalan: Península Ibèrica, Aragonese and Occitan: Peninsula Iberica, French: Péninsule Ibérique, Basque: Iberiar Penintsula), sometimes called Iberia, is a peninsula located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas. It is bordered on the southeast and east by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the north, west and southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The Pyrenees form the northeast edge of the peninsula, separating it from the rest of Europe. In the south, it approaches the northern coast of Africa. It is the second-largest peninsula in Europe, with an area of approximately 582,000 km² (225,000 sq mi).
  The English word Iberia was adapted from the use of the Ancient Greek word Ιβηρία (Ibēría) by the Greek geographers under the Roman Empire to refer to what is known today in English as the Iberian Peninsula. At that time the name did not describe a single political entity or a distinct population of people. Strabo's Iberia was delineated from Keltikē by the Pyrenees and included the entire land mass south-west (he named it "west") of there.
  
  wn.com/Iberian_Peninsula
• 
  Kalisz
  Kalisz [ˈkalʲiʂ] ( listen) is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants (June 2010), the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce. See Kalisz County for the regional administrative area (powiat).
  Kalisz is an important regional industrial and commercial centre^{[citation needed]}, with many notable factories^[which?]. The city is also a centre for traditional folk art. The town was also the site of the former 'Calisia' piano factory, until it went out of business in 2007.
  The name itself stems from the Celtic term cal which means stream, or Slavic term kal, meaning swamp or marsh.
  Kalisz has long been considered the oldest city of Poland because it was mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century A.D., but the claim is now doubted by some (cf. Calisia). The location mentioned by Ptolemy was situated in the territory of the Diduni in Magna Germania on the Amber Trail. There are many artefacts of the Roman times in the area, pointing out that it could have been one of the stops of the Roman caravans heading for the Baltic Sea.
  
  wn.com/Kalisz
• 
  Kingdom of Hungary
  The Kingdom of Hungary was a country in Central Europe covering what is today Hungary, Slovakia, Transylvania (now part of Romania), Carpatho Ruthenia (now part of Ukraine), Vojvodina (now part of Serbia), Burgenland (now part of Austria), and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders. From 1102 it also included Croatia (except Istria), being in personal union with it, united under the Hungarian king. The kingdom existed for almost one thousand years (1000–1918 and 1920–1946) and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world.
  The Latin Regnum Hungariae/Vngarie (Regnum meaning kingdom); Regnum Marianum (Kingdom of St. Mary); or simply Hungaria was the form used in official Latin documents from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s. The German name (Königreich Ungarn) was used from 1849 to the 1860s, and the Hungarian name (Magyar Királyság) was used in the 1840s, and again from the 1860s to 1918. The names in other languages of the kingdom were: Polish: Królestwo Węgier, Romanian: Regatul Ungariei, Croatian: Kraljevina Ugarska, Slovene: Kraljevina Ogrska, Czech: Uherské království, Slovak: Uhorské kráľovstvo, Italian (for the city of Fiume), Regno d'Ungheria.
  
  wn.com/Kingdom_of_Hungary
• 
  Kraków
  Kraków (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkrakuf] ( listen)) also Cracow, or Krakow (English /ˈkrækaʊ/), is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596; the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
  The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. The city has a population of approximately 760,000 whereas about 8 million people live within a 100 km radius of its main square.
  
  wn.com/Kraków
• 
  Lancashire
  Lancashire ( /ˈlæŋkəʃər/ or, less commonly, /ˈlæŋkəʃɪər/) is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. Lancashire is sometimes referred to by the abbreviation Lancs, as originally used by the Royal Mail. The population of the county is 1,449,700. People from the county are known as Lancastrians.
  The history of Lancashire is thought to have begun with its founding in the 12th century. In the Domesday Book (1086), some of its lands had been treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay Inter Ripam et Mersam, "between the Ribble and Mersey", formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Once its initial boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire and Cheshire.
  Lancashire emerged during the Industrial Revolution as a major commercial and industrial region. The county encompassed several hundred mill towns and collieries. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire.Preston, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Chorley, Darwen, Nelson, Colne and Burnley were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a major centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashire's mill towns, particularly during wakes week.
  
  wn.com/Lancashire
• 
  Langres
  Coordinates: 47°51′48″N 5°20′02″E / 47.8633°N 5.3339°E / 47.8633; 5.3339
  Langres is a commune in north-eastern France. It is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département in the Champagne-Ardenne region.
  As the capital of the Romanized Gallic tribe the Lingones, it was called Andematunnum, then Lingones, and now Langres.
  The town is built on a limestone promontory of the same name. This stronghold was originally occupied by the Gauls, and, at a later date the Romans fortified the town belonging to the Celtic tribe the Lingones; Andemantunum the strategic cross-roads of twelve Roman roads.^{[citation needed]} The 1st century Triumphal Gate and the many artefacts exhibited in the museums are witnesses to the Gallo-Roman town.
  After the period of invasions, the town prospered in the Middle Ages due, in part, to the growing political influence of its bishops. The diocese covered Champagne, the Duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, and the bishops gained the right to coin money in the 9th century and to name the military governor of the city in 927. The Bishop of Langres was a duke and peer of France. The troubled 14th and 15th centuries were reason enough for the town to strengthen its fortifications, which still give the old part of the city its fortified character, and Langres entered a period of royal tutelage. The Renaissance, which returned prosperity to the town, saw the construction of numerous fine civil, religious and military buildings that still stand today. In the 19th century, a "Vauban" citadel was added.
  
  wn.com/Langres
• 
  Laon
  Coordinates: 49°33′50″N 3°37′28″E / 49.5639°N 3.6244°E / 49.5639; 3.6244
  Laon (French pronunciation: [lɑ̃]) is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.
  The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In the time of Julius Caesar there was a Gallic village named Bibrax where the Remis (inhabitants of the country round Reims) had to meet the onset of the confederated Belgae. Whatever may have been the precise locality of that battlefield, Laon was fortified by the Romans, and successively checked the invasions of the Franks, Burgundians, Vandals, Alans and Huns. At that time it was known as Alaudanum or Lugdunum Clavatum.
  Remigius, archbishop of Reims, who baptised Clovis, was born in the Laonnais, and it was he who, at the end of the fifth century, instituted the bishopric of Laon. Thenceforward Laon was one of the principal towns of the kingdom of the Franks, and the possession of it was often disputed. Charles the Bald had enriched its church with the gift of very numerous domains. About 847 the Irish philosopher John Scotus Eriugena appeared at the court of Charles the Bald, and was appointed head of the palace school. Eriugena spent the rest of his days in France, probably at Paris and Laon. After the fall of the Carolingians Laon took the part of Charles of Lorraine, their heir, and Hugh Capet only succeeded in making himself master of the town by the connivance of the bishop, who, in return for this service, was made second ecclesiastical peer of the kingdom.
  
  wn.com/Laon
• 
  Luxembourg
  Luxembourg (ⁱ/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.
  
  wn.com/Luxembourg
• 
  Massa
  Massa  listen (help·info) is a town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, the administrative centre of the province of Massa and Carrara. It is located in the Frigido River Valley, near the Alpi Apuane, some 5 kilometers from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
  The Massa area is of high touristic value and also hosts a concentration of some 600 industrial and craft activities, located within the so-called Apuan Industrial Zone, with a direct employment of more than 7,000 people. Together with the twin town of Carrara, Massa is known for the extraction and production of marble.^{[citation needed]}
  During the Roman Empire Massa veternensis in Etruria was the birthplace of Constantius Gallus.
  
  From the 15th to the 19th century, Massa was the capital of the independent Principate (later Duchy) of Massa and Carrara, ruled by the Malaspina and Cybo-Malaspina families. Massa is the first recorded town in Europe in which the magnetic needle compass was used in mines to map them and determine the extent of various mine owners' properties.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Massa
• 
  Modena
  Modena (Italian: [ˈmɔːdena] ( listen); Modenese: Mòdna; Latin: Mutina) is a city and comune (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
  An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now best known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of the famous Italian sports car makers Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati are, or were, located here and all, except Lamborghini, have headquarters in the city or nearby. Lamborghini is headquartered not far away in Sant'Agata Bolognese, in the adjacent Province of Bologna. One of Ferrari's cars, the 360 Modena, was named after the town itself. Also, one of the colors for Ferraris is Modena yellow.
  The University of Modena, founded in 1175 and expanded by Francesco II d'Este in 1686, has traditional strengths in economics, medicine and law and is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy, sixth in the whole world^{[citation needed]}. Italian officers are trained at the Italian Military Academy, located in Modena, and partly housed in the Baroque Ducal Palace. The Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3,000 manuscripts.
  
  wn.com/Modena
• 
  Poland
  Poland ⁱ/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
  
  wn.com/Poland
• 
  Pomerania
  Pomerania - Polish: Pomorze, Kashubian: Pòmòrze or Pòmòrskô, (German: Pommern, Latin: Pomerania or Pomorania) is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. Pomerania was strongly affected by 20th century, post-World War I and II border and population shifts.
  Pomerania belongs to the lowlands of the North European Plain. Outside its few urban centers − most notably the Szczecin and Tricity metropolitan areas − the poor soil is mostly used as farmland, dotted with numerous lakes, forests, and small towns. Agriculture primarily consists of raising livestock, forestry, fishery and the cultivation of cereals, sugar beets, and potatoes. Since the late 19th century, tourism has become an important sector of the economy, primarily in the numerous seaside resorts along the coast. Of the limited industrial zones, the most important products are ships, metal products, refined sugar, and paper.
  
  wn.com/Pomerania
• 
  Saxony
  The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈzaksən]; Upper Sorbian: Swobodny stat Sakska) is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with (18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most-populous (4.3 million) of Germany's sixteen states.
  Located in the middle of an erstwhile German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, a republic from 1918 to 1952 and then again from 1990.
  The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
  Sachsen is divided into three Direktionsbezirke — Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig — which are subdivided into 10 districts:
  
  wn.com/Saxony
• 
  Sieradz
  Sieradz [ˈɕerat​͡s] ( listen) (Latin Syradia, German: Schieratz) is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 44,326 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodship (since 1999), but was previously the eponymous capital of the Sieradz Voivodship (1975–1998), and historically one of the minor duchies in Greater Poland.
  It is one of the oldest towns in Poland, thrice being a location for the coronation of the Polish monarchs. The town was attacked by the Tartars, Bohemians and Teutonic Knights. Polish Kings chaired six assemblies from here.
  The oldest settlements can be traced back to almost 6th century. King Casimir the great had built the Castle of Sieradz.
  In the mid 13th century it was conferred with Municipal rights. It had also welcomed many settlers from Scotland & Netherlands after the 13th century. During the fragmentation of Poland, it was the site of the Duchy of Sieradz.
  In 1445 the election of King Casimir Jagiellonian took place at this town. Until the 16th century the town used to be important trade centre. Merchants from Spain & Portugal were frequently visiting the town for Trade and commerce. In the 17th century due to the Swedish wars, plagues, fires and floods the town lost its trading importance and fell from its prime. In the 18th century the reconstruction of town commenced. The residents during that time were only approximately 1500.
  
  wn.com/Sieradz
• 
  Slavonia
  Slavonia (Croatian: Slavonija) is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia. Slavonia consists of five counties—Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Syrmia, although the territory of the counties includes Baranja, and the definition of the western extent of Slavonia as a region varies. The five counties comprise territory of 12,556 square kilometres (4,848 square miles) and a population of 806,192. The largest city in the region is Osijek, followed by Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci, Vukovar and Požega. Slavonia has undergone considerable demographic changes, reflecting the course of its political history and conquests. It is located in the Pannonian Basin, largely bordered by the Danube, Drava and Sava rivers. The western part of the region consists of the Sava and Drava valleys, and the mountains and hills surrounding the Požega valley; the highest among them is 984-metre (3,228 ft) Psunj. The eastern part of the region largely consists of plains. Slavonia enjoys a moderately warm and rainy continental climate, with relatively low precipitation.
  
  wn.com/Slavonia
• 
  Stormarn
  Stormarn is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Segeberg and Ostholstein, the city of Lübeck, the district of Lauenburg, and the city-state of Hamburg.
  The name Stormarn may be derived from "storm", hence meaning "stormy land". In medieval times the name was applied to a larger area, of which the present-day district is only the eastern half.
  Stormarn became a part of Holstein in the 12th century. When Schleswig-Holstein became a province of Prussia in 1867, the Prussian administration established the district of Stormarn, with Wandsbek as its capital. In 1937 the southwestern part of the district was incorporated into Hamburg, and the district lost half of its population. Since Wandsbek was now a borough of Hamburg, the capital was moved to Bad Oldesloe after the war. In 1970 Stormarn again lost a substantial portion of its territory, when the city of Norderstedt was founded in order to become a part of the Segeberg district.
  
  wn.com/Stormarn
• 
  Surakarta
  Surakarta, often called Solo and less commonly Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people (2009) with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km². The 44 km² city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Bengawan Solo River. The city is the seat of Surakarta Sunanate kraton (palace/court). Together with Yogyakarta, Surakarta is the heir of the Mataram Kingdom that was split into two kingdoms in 1755.
  Surakarta is also widely known by the name "Solo". "Surakarta" is used in formal and official contexts. The city has a similar name to the neighboring district of "Kartasura," where the previous capital of Mataram was located. The variant spelling "Soerakarta" reflects the Dutch orthography in use before the 1948 spelling reform.
  Its ruling family lay claim to being the heirs to the Mataram dynasty. Like Yogyakarta, Solo has two royal palaces.
  
  wn.com/Surakarta
• 
  Sweden
  Sweden (ⁱ/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish:  Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
  At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
  Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
  
  wn.com/Sweden
• 
  Södermanland
   Södermanland (help·info), sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.
  In Swedish, the province name is frequently shortened to Sörmland.
  Södermanland means "Southern man land". It was used as a directional reference to lake Mälaren, compared to Uppland (north) and Västmanland (west).
  The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. There is a corresponding administrative Södermanland County. However, the bulk of the population is within Stockholm County
  The coat of arms was granted in 1560. The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Or, a Griffin rampant Sable beaked, langued, membered and armed Gules." The same CoA was granted for the county in 1940.
  Södermanland is situated between lake Mälaren to the north and the Baltic Sea to the south and east. In the south, the border to Östergötland is comprised by the Kolmården forest.
  
  wn.com/Södermanland
• 
  Thessaloniki
  Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici] ( listen)), also known as Thessalonica ( /ˌθɛsəlɵˈnaɪkə/) and historically known as Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévusa), literally "co-capital", and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa), "co-reigning" city of the Byzantine Empire, alongside Constantinople.
  According to the 2011 census the municipality of Thessaloniki today has a population of 322,240, while the Thessaloniki Urban Area (the contiguous built up area forming the "City of Thessaloniki") has a population of 790,824; making it the fifth largest and most populated city in the Balkans and the second most populated city that is not a capital. Furthermore, the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km² (562.02 sq mi) and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,006,730 inhabitants.
  
  wn.com/Thessaloniki
• 
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
  The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
  
  wn.com/United_Kingdom
• 
  Yogyakarta
  Yogyakarta (English: /ˌjɒɡjəˈkɑrtə/ or /ˌjoʊɡjəˈkɑrtə/,Malay: [jɔɡjaˈkarta]; also Jogja, Jogjakarta) is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region on Java in Indonesia. It is renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949. One of the districts in Yogyakarta, Kotagede, was the capital of Mataram Sultanate between 1575-1640.
  Although missing from the historical record since the migration of the capital of Medang kingdom in the 10th century to the eastern Java, the valley area in the south of Mount Merapi since the 15th century still inhabited by many people and perhaps become part of the region called "Pengging".
  Kotagede was the capital of Mataram Sultanate now part of districts in Yogyakarta. The palace of the founder of Mataram Sultanate, Panembahan Senopati established in scene of part of Alas Mentaok. After a two times move it Capital, (Palace of Pleret and Place of Kerta, both located in Bantul Regency), The capital of Mataram Sultanate moved to Kartasura.
  
  wn.com/Yogyakarta
• 
  Łęczyca
  Łęczyca [wɛnˈt​͡ʂɨt​͡sa] (in full The Royal Town of Łęczyca, Polish: Królewskie Miasto Łęczyca; other names: Lenczyk, Luntschitz, German: Lentschütz, Hebrew: לונטשיץ‎) is a town of 16,594 inhabitants (as of 2004) in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County.
  Łęczyca is one of the oldest Polish cities, mentioned in the 12th century. It was the place of the first recorded meeting of Sejm, the Polish parliament in 1182. It was the capital of the Łęczyca Duchy in the 13th century, and next it became the capital of Łęczyca Voivodeship since 14th till 18th century.
  In 1331 the Teutonic Knights sacked the city during one of their repeated incursions into central Europe. A considerable number of buildings were burned down, including two churches. A few decades later, on the initiative of Kazimierz the Great, the city was walled and a castle built to the southeast of the city.
  The city's prominence came to and end with the Swedish invasion of Poland when the castle was overrun and most of the city once again destroyed, and it remained in a state of crisis until the Partitions.
  
  wn.com/Łęczyca

• 
  Albert II of Belgium
  Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is the King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He is the uncle of the current reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri.
  Albert's full name is Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Christian Eugène Marie in French (pronounced: [albɛʁ feliks œ̃bɛʁ teodɔʁ kʁistjɑ̃ øʒɛn maʁi]), Albert Felix Humbert Theodoor Christiaan Eugène Marie in Dutch (pronounced [ˈʔɑlbəɾt ˈfelɪks ˈɦʏmbəɾt teˈjodoːɾ ˈkɾɪstiːjaːn ʔøːˈʒɛːn ma̙ˈɾiː]), and Albert Felix Humbert Theodor Christian Eugen Maria in German (pronounced [ˈʔalbɛʁt ˈfeːlɪks ˈhʊmbɛʁt ˈteːodoːɐ̯ ˈkʁɪsti̯an ˈʔɔʏɡən maˈʁiːa]).
  He is the second son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) and his first wife, Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). He ascended to the throne in 1993, following the death of his older brother, King Baudouin. His godparents were Prince Felix of Luxembourg and his paternal grandmother, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. He is the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway.
  
  wn.com/Albert_II_of_Belgium
• 
  Austria
  Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German:  Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
  The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
  
  wn.com/Austria
• 
  Celts
  The Celts (usually pronounced  /ˈkɛlts/ but sometimes /ˈsɛlts/, see pronunciation of Celtic) or Kelts were an ethno-linguistic group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Medieval Europe who spoke Celtic languages and had a similar culture.
  The earliest archaeological culture that may justifiably be considered as Proto-Celtic is the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of central Europe from the last quarter of the second millennium BC. Their fully Celtic descendants in central Europe were the people of the Iron Age Hallstatt culture (c. 800-450 BC) named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria. By the later La Tène period (c. 450 BC up to the Roman conquest), this Celtic culture had expanded over a wide range of regions, whether by diffusion or migration: to the British Isles (Insular Celts), France and The Low Countries (Gauls), much of Central Europe, the Iberian Peninsula (Celtiberians, Celtici and Gallaeci) and northern Italy (Golaseccans and Cisalpine Gauls) and following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC as far east as central Anatolia (Galatians).
  
  wn.com/Celts
• 
  Cleph
  Cleph (also Clef, Clepho, or Kleph) was king of the Lombards from 572 or 573 to 574 or 575.
  He succeeded Alboin, to whom he was not related by blood. He was a violent and terrifying figure to the Romans and Byzantines struggling to maintain control of the peninsula. He extended Lombard dominion over all of northern Italy, finishing the conquest of Tuscany and bringing Lombard authority to the gates of Ravenna. He was assassinated after an 18-month reign by a young guard, a slave whom he had mistreated. His death was followed by a ten year interregnum, known as the "Rule of the Dukes" because the territorial dukes were supreme. His son, Authari, eventually took the throne in 585.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Cleph
• 
  Confucius
  Confucius (551–479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history.
  The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, and sincerity. His followers competed successfully with many other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought era only to be suppressed in favor of the Legalists during the Qin Dynasty. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism.
  Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many of the Chinese classic texts including all of the Five Classics, but modern scholars are cautious of attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but only many years after his death.
  Confucius's principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their children (and in traditional interpretations of husbands by their wives), and family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself", an early version of the Golden Rule.
  
  wn.com/Confucius
• Duke of Surrey
  The title of Duke of Surrey was created by Richard II for Thomas Holland, 3rd Earl of Kent. Following Richard's deposition, his successor, Henry IV deprived his predecessors' supporters of many of their titles, including this one, which has never been recreated.
  The title Earl of Surrey, also derived from the county of Surrey, has been used more often and still exists.
  
  wn.com/Duke_of_Surrey
• Frank Stenton
  Sir Frank Merry Stenton (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was a 20th century historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937-1945). He was the author of Anglo-Saxon England, a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period. He delivered the Ford Lectures at Oxford University in 1929.
  Stenton was a professor of history at the University of Reading (1926-1946), and subsequently the university's vice-chancellor (1946-1950). During Stenton's period as vice-chancellor at Reading, he presided over the university's purchase of Whiteknights Park, creating the new campus that allowed for the expansion of the university in later decades. In November 2008, it was announced that a new hall of residence to be constructed on that campus would be named Stenton Hall, in his honour.
  His wife, Doris Mary Stenton, wrote a preface to the third edition of Anglo-Saxon England, published after his death, and edited Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton, published in 1970. She was an historian in her own right, producing English Society in the Early Middle Ages for the Pelican History of England.
  
  wn.com/Frank_Stenton
• 
  Germanic peoples
  The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
  
  wn.com/Germanic_peoples
• 
  Hayam Wuruk
  Hayam Wuruk, also called (after 1350) Rajasanagara, (1334–1389), was a Javanese King from Rajasa Dynasty and the fourth monarch of Majapahit empire. Together with his prime minister Gajah Mada, he reigned the empire at the time of its greatest power. He was preceded by Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi and succeeded by his son in law Wikramawardhana. Most of the account of his life was taken from Nagarakretagama and Pararaton.
  Hayam Wuruk born in 1334, the year that Gajah Mada declared his oath Sumpah Palapa. Hayam Wuruk means "scholar rooster". He was the son of Tribhuwana Tunggadewi and Sri Kertawardhana or Cakradhara. His mother was the daughter of Raden Wijaya founder of Majapahit, meanwhile his father was the son of Bhre Tumapel lesser king of Singhasari. Both Pararaton and Nagarakretagama praised Hayam Wuruk as a handsome, bright, talented, and exceptional student in courtly martial art of archery and fencing, also mastering politics scriptures, as well as arts and music. He was known as an accomplished ceremonial dancer in the court. Some accounts report about Hayam Wuruk performances in a traditional ceremonial Javanese mask dance. His mother, Queen Tribhuwana educate and groom him to become the next monarch of Majapahit.
  
  wn.com/Hayam_Wuruk
• 
  Henri Christophe
  Henri Christophe (who used the anglicized version of Henry Christopher) (6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a former slave and key leader in the Haitian Revolution, which succeeded in gaining independence from France in 1804. In 1805 he took part under Jean-Jacques Dessalines in the invasion of Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic) against French forces, and was documented as killing hundreds of Dominicans, including prisoners.
  After Dessalines was assassinated, Christophe retreated to the Plaine-du-Nord and created a separate government. On 17 February 1807, he was elected President of the State of Haiti, as he named that area. Alexandre Pétion was elected president in the South. On 26 March 1811, Christophe created a kingdom in the North and had himself proclaimed Henry I, King of Haïti. He also created a nobility and named his legitimate son Jacques-Victor Henry as prince and heir.
  He is known for constructing the Citadelle Laferrière, the Sans-Souci Palace, and numerous other palaces. Under his policies of corvee, or forced labor, the Kingdom earned revenues from agricultural production, primarily the commodity of sugar, but the people resented the system. He reached agreement with Great Britain to respect its Caribbean colonies in exchange for their warning his government of any French navy activity threatening Haiti. Unpopular, ill and fearing a coup, he committed suicide. His son and heir was assassinated 10 days later. The general Jean-Pierre Boyer came to power and reunited the two parts of Haiti.
  
  wn.com/Henri_Christophe
• 
  Henry the Navigator
  Henry the Navigator (Portuguese pronunciation: [ẽˈʁik(ɨ)]; Portuguese: Henrique o Navegador) (Porto, 4 March 1394 – Sagres, 13 November 1460) was an infante of the Kingdom of Portugal and an important figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire. He was responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents.
  Henry was the third child of King John I of Portugal, founder of the Aviz dynasty, and of Philippa of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's daughter. Henry encouraged his father to conquer Ceuta (1415), the Muslim port on the North African coast across the Straits of Gibraltar from the Iberian peninsula. He learnt of the opportunities from the Saharan trade routes that terminated there, and became fascinated with Africa in general; he was most intrigued by the Christian legend of Prester John and the expansion of Portuguese trade. Henry is regarded as the patron of Portuguese exploration.
  In "Crónica da Guiné" Henry is described as having no luxuries, not avaricious, speaking with soft words and calm gestures, a man of many virtues who never allowed any poor person leave his presence empty-handed.
  
  wn.com/Henry_the_Navigator
• 
  John I of Portugal
  John I KG (Portuguese: João I [ʒuˈɐ̃w̃]; 11 April 1358 – 14 August 1433) was King of Portugal and the Algarve in 1385–1433. He was called the Good (sometimes the Great) or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal, in Spain, the Bastard, and was the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta.
  John was born in Lisbon as the natural son of Peter I by a woman named Teresa, who, according to Fernão Lopes, was a noble Galician. In the eighteenth century, António Caetano de Sousa found a document on Torre do Tombo, of the sixteenth century, where she was named Teresa Lourenço. In 1364, by request of D. Nuno Freire de Andrade, a Galician Grand Master of the Order of Christ, he was created Grand Master of the Order of Aviz, by which title he was known. He became king in 1385, after the 1383–1385 Crisis.
  On the death of his half-brother Ferdinand I without a male heir in October 1383, strenuous efforts were made to secure the succession for Princess Beatrice, Ferdinand's only daughter. As heiress presumptive, Beatrice had married king John I of Castile, but popular sentiment was against an arrangement in which Portugal would have become virtually annexed by Castile. The 1383–1385 Crisis followed, a period of political anarchy, when no monarch ruled the country.
  
  wn.com/John_I_of_Portugal
• 
  Lombards
  The Lombards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardī), were a Germanic tribe who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy.
  The Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the Historia Langobardorum that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, dwelling in southern Scandinavia (Scadanan), who had migrated southward to seek new lands. In the 1st century AD they formed part of the Suebi, in northwestern Germany. By the end of the 5th century they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria north of the Danube river, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552; his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567.
  Following this victory, Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated after the long Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom there. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, and their invasion of Italy was almost unopposed. By late 569 they had conquered all the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and southern Italy. They established a Lombard Kingdom in Italy, later named Regnum Italicum ("Kingdom of Italy"), which reached its zenith under the eighth-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, and integrated into his Empire. However, Lombard nobles continued to rule parts of the Italian peninsula well into the 11th century, when they were conquered by the Normans, and added to their Kingdom of Sicily. Their legacy is apparent in the regional appellation, Lombardy.
  
  wn.com/Lombards
• 
  Manuel I of Portugal
  Manuel I (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐnuˈɛɫ]; Archaic Portuguese: Manoel I, English: Emmanuel I), the Fortunate (Port. o Venturoso), King of Portugal and the Algarves (Alcochete, May 31, 1469 – December 13, 1521 in Lisbon) was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, (1433–1470), by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal. His name is associated with a period of Portuguese civilization distinguished by significant achievements both in political affairs and the arts. In spite of its small size and population in comparison to the great land powers of Europe, it was able to acquire an overseas empire of vast proportions during Manuel's reign.
  Manuel's mother was the granddaughter of King John I of Portugal; his father, Prince Fernando, was the second surviving son of King Edward of Portugal, thus the younger brother of King Afonso V of Portugal. Manuel succeeded his first cousin King John II of Portugal, who was also his brother-in-law, in 1495.
  Manuel grew up amidst conspiracies of the Portuguese upper nobility against King John II. He was aware of many people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself.
  
  wn.com/Manuel_I_of_Portugal
• 
  Maria II of Portugal
  Dona Maria II (4 April 1819 – 15 November 1853) was Queen regnant of Portugal from 1826 to 1828 and later from 1834 to 1853. She was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves. She was a member of the House of Braganza.
  Born Maria da Glória Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga, in Rio de Janeiro, she was the daughter of the future King of Portugal and first Emperor of Brazil, Pedro IV and I and his first wife Maria Leopoldina, Archduchess of Austria, herself a daughter of Emperor Francis II. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Maria is the only European monarch to have been born outside of Europe, though she was still born in Portuguese territory.
  When Maria's grandfather King John VI died in March 1826, there was a succession crisis in Portugal. The king had a male heir, Peter, but Peter had proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822 and he was then Emperor Peter I of that country. The late king also had a younger son, Miguel, but he was exiled in Austria after leading a number of revolutions against his father and his liberal regime.
  
  wn.com/Maria_II_of_Portugal
• 
  Matthias Corvinus
  Matthias Corvinus (Hungarian: Hunyadi Mátyás or very rarely Corvin Mátyás) (23 February 1443 – 6 April 1490), also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary (as Matthias I) and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death. After conducting several military campaigns he became also King of Bohemia (1469–1490), and Duke of Austria (1486–1490). As a Renaissance ruler, he established education institutions, patronized art and science, and introduced a new legal system in the Kingdom of Hungary.^{[citation needed]} With his patronage Hungary became the first European country which adopted the Renaissance from Italy.
  Medieval Latin: Mattias Corvinus, Romanian: Matia/Matei/Mateiaş Corvin/Corvinul, Croatian: Matija/Matijaš Korvin, Czech: Matyáš Korvín, German: Matthias Corvinus, Polish: Maciej Korwin, Rusyn:Матяш Корвiн/Matiash Corvin, Serbian: Матија Корвин/Matija Korvin, Slovak: Matej Korvín, Slovene: Matija Korvin, Russian: Матьяш Корвин/Matyash Korvin.
  Matthias was born in Kolozsvár (Kingdom of Hungary, now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) in a house now known as the Matthias Corvinus House. He was second son of John Hunyadi, a successful general of the Kingdom of Hungary, and had risen through the ranks of the nobility to become regent of Hungary. Matthias' mother was Erzsébet Szilágyi, from a Hungarian noble family.
  
  wn.com/Matthias_Corvinus
• 
  Moors
  The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa, who came to conquer, occupy and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years.^{[citation needed]} At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed other religions. They called the territory Al Andalus, comprising most of what is now Spain and Portugal.
  " Moors" are not a distinct or self-defined people. Medieval and early modern Europeans applied the name primarily to Berbers, but also at various times to Arabs, Muslim Iberians and West Africans from Mali and Niger who had been absorbed into the Almoravid dynasty. Mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."
  The Andalusian Moors of the late Medieval era inhabited the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish conquests of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates, and the final Umayyad conquest of Hispania.^{[citation needed]} The Moors' rule stretched at times as far as modern-day Mauritania, West African countries, and the Senegal River. Earlier, the Classical Romans interacted with (and later conquered) parts of Mauretania, a state that covered northern portions of modern Morocco and much of north western and central Algeria during the classical period. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as the Mauri.
  
  wn.com/Moors
• 
  Pedro I of Brazil
  Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I, 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he reigned briefly over Portugal, where he became known as "the Soldier King". Born in Lisbon, he was the fourth child of King Dom João VI (John VI) of Portugal and Queen Carlota Joaquina and thus a member of the House of Braganza. When their country was invaded by French troops in 1808, Pedro I and his family fled to Portugal's largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil. Neglected by his parents, he grew up without restraints.
  Pedro was born at 08:00 on 12 October 1798 in the Queluz Royal Palace near Lisbon, Portugal. He was named after St. Peter of Alcantara, and his full name was Pedro de Alcântara Francisco António João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim. He was referred to using the honorific "Dom" (Lord) from birth.
  Through his father, Prince Dom João (later King Dom João VI), Pedro was a member of the House of Braganza (Portuguese: Bragança) and a grandson of King Dom Pedro III and Queen Dona (Lady) Maria I of Portugal, who were uncle and niece as well as husband and wife. His mother, Doña Carlota Joaquina, was the daughter of King Don Carlos IV of Spain. The marriage of Pedro's parents was an unhappy one. Carlota Joaquina was an ambitious woman, who always sought to advance Spain's interests, even to the detriment of Portugal's. Reputedly unfaithful to her husband, she went as far as to plot his overthrow, in league with dissatisfied Portuguese nobles.
  
  wn.com/Pedro_I_of_Brazil
• 
  Pedro II of Brazil
  Dom Pedro II (English: Peter II; 2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza. His father's abrupt abdication and flight to Europe in 1831 left a five-year-old Pedro II as Emperor and led to a grim and lonely childhood and adolescence. Obliged to spend his time studying in preparation for rule, he knew only brief moments of happiness and encountered few friends of his age. His experiences with court intrigues and political disputes during this period greatly affected his later character. Pedro II grew into a man with a strong sense of duty and devotion toward his country and his people. On the other hand, he increasingly resented his role as monarch.
  
  wn.com/Pedro_II_of_Brazil
• 
  Peerage of Scotland
  The Peerage of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Moraireachd na h-Alba) is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent titles were granted.
  After the Union, the old Scottish Peers elected 16 representative peers to sit in the House of Lords. The Peerage Act 1963 allowed all Scottish Peers to sit in the House of Lords, a right which was lost along with all other hereditary peers after the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999. Unlike most other peerage titles, many Scottish titles can pass through female lines, and in the case of daughters only, these pass to the eldest daughter rather than go into abeyance.^{[citation needed]}
  The ranks of the Scottish Peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Lord of Parliament (lord baron). Scottish Viscounts differ from those of the other Peerages (of England, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom) in using of in their title, as in Viscount of Oxfuird. Though this is the theoretical form, most Viscounts drop the "of". The Viscount of Arbuthnott and to a lesser extent the Viscount of Oxfuird still actively use of. Scottish Peers had the right to sit in the Parliament of Scotland.
  
  wn.com/Peerage_of_Scotland
• 
  Suebi
  The Suebi or Suevi (from Proto-Germanic *swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root *swē- meaning "one's own" people, from an Indo-European root *swe-, the third person reflexive pronoun) were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c. 58 BC;
  Some Suebi remained a periodic threat against the Romans on the Rhine, until, toward the end of the empire, the Alamanni, including elements of Suebi, brushed aside Roman defenses and occupied Alsace, and from there Bavaria and Switzerland. A pocket remained in Swabia (an area in southwest Germany whose modern name derives from the ancient name), whereas migrants to Gallaecia (modern Galicia, in Spain, and Northern Portugal) established a kingdom there which lasted for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom.
  In the classical sources, the ethnonym Suebi is used with two different meanings: the specific tribe of Caesar's campaign, "dwelling on the Main", and "broadly, to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany." The broad view is expressed in Tacitus's Germania, a basic written source for the Suebic peoples that states:
  
  wn.com/Suebi
• 
  Visigoths
  The Visigoths (Latin: Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi) were one of two main branches of the later Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germanic peoples who spread through the late Roman Empire during Late Antiquity or the Migration Period. The Visigoths emerged out of the Gothic groups who entered the Roman Empire in and after 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and famously sacked Rome in 410 AD, eventually settling in Spain and Portugal, where they founded a powerful Kingdom.
  After numerous years of migration, which led the Visigoths to compare themselves to the Biblical Hebrew people wandering for 40 years in the Sinai Desert, the Visigoths settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans in 418. For unknown reasons, they soon fell out with their hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. Extending their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Vandals, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Thereafter the only territory north of the Pyrenees that the Visigoths held was Septimania, such that their kingdom became limited to Hispania. The province came to be dominated by the Visigothic small governing elite at the expense of the Byzantine province of Spania and the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia.
  
  wn.com/Visigoths
• 
  Zhu Xi
  Zhu Xi or Chu Hsi (Chinese: 朱熹, October 18, 1130, Youxi, Fujian Province, China – April 23, 1200, China) was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China. His contribution to Chinese philosophy included his assigning special significance to the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean (the Four Books), his emphasis on the investigation of things (gewu), and the synthesis of all fundamental Confucian concepts.
  
  wn.com/Zhu_Xi

Duchess, The (2008)

Actors

• Keira Knightley
• Ralph Fiennes
• Charlotte Rampling
• Dominic Cooper
• Hayley Atwell

Director

• Saul Dibb

• timeline:
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003
• 2002
• 2001

• timeline:
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003
• 2002
• 2001