• Adolescence
• Adrian FitzGerald
• Alcántara
• Amadeus VI
• Anglican Communion
• Anglican ministry
• Archduke
• Aristophanes
• Armour
• Arthurian
• Austria
• Avis (Portugal)
• Baron
• Baronet
• Battle of Crécy
• Battle of Grunwald
• Battle of Montiel
• Battle of Tours
• Bayeux tapestry
• Belgium
• Benefices
• Benito Mussolini
• Boydell Press
• Bucellarius
• Calatrava la Vieja
• Caparison
• Carolingian
• Cataphracts
• Cavaliere
• Cavalry
• Charlemagne
• Charles I of Hungary
• Charles Martel
• Charles the Bald
• Chivalric order
• Chivalric orders
• Chivalry
• Christendom
• Church of England
• Clarendon Press
• Classical Latin
• Clergy
• Coat of arms
• Code of conduct
• Codex Manesse
• Cognate
• Commoners
• Count
• Count of Barcelona
• Courage
• Court (royal)
• Crusader states
• Crusades
• Dame (title)
• David Nicolle
• Demesne
• Derek Pattinson
• Destrier
• Don Quixote
• Duchy of Burgundy
• Duke
• Dutch language
• Earl
• Earls of Desmond
• Earls Palatine
• Early Medieval
• Edler
• Edmund Fitzgibbon
• Elias Ashmole
• Elton John
• Emperor
• Empress dowager
• Equestrian (Roman)
• Equestrian order
• Europe
• Ewart Oakeshott
• Faith
• Fall of Rome
• Feudalism
• First Crusade
• FitzGerald dynasty
• France
• Franks
• Freiherr
• Furusiyya
• Gentleman
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
• Georg von Trapp
• German language
• Germanic peoples
• Germany
• Ghent Altarpiece
• Given name
• Gothic plate armour
• Grand duke
• Grand prince
• Greece
• Greek language
• Harold Godwinson
• Head of state
• Heavy cavalry
• Heavy Cavalry
• Heraldry
• High Middle Ages
• Hipparchus
• Hippeus
• Holy See
• Honour
• Humanities
• Hundred Years' War
• Hungarian people
• Iberian peninsula
• Ideal (ethics)
• Infante
• Infantry
• Iranian peoples
• Italy
• James II of England
• Jan van Eyck
• Jean Froissart
• Jinete
• John II of France
• John Major
• Jonkheer
• Joust
• Judi Dench
• King consort
• Knight
• Knight Bachelor
• Knight of Glin
• Knight of Kerry
• Knight-errant
• Knightly Virtues
• Knights Hospitaller
• Knights Templar
• Late Middle Ages
• Latin
• Le Morte d'Arthur
• Legion of Honor
• Livery collar
• Lord
• Louis XI of France
• Loyalty
• Légion d'Honneur
• Man
• Man-at-arms
• Margrave
• Marquess
• Marquise
• Matter of Britain
• Matter of France
• Medieval literature
• Medieval warfare
• Middle High German
• Miguel de Cervantes
• Military order
• Military orders
• Minnesang
• Monarch
• Monarchy
• Monastic order
• Moors
• Netherlands
• Nobile (aristocracy)
• Nobility
• Norma Major
• Norman Gilroy
• O'Shaughnessy
• Old Bulgarian
• Old English
• Old Frisian
• Old Russian
• Order (decoration)
• Order of Alcántara
• Order of Aviz
• Order of Calatrava
• Order of Santiago
• Order of the Bath
• Order of the Dragon
• Order of the Garter
• Order of the Thistle
• Order of William
• Orders of knighthood
• Ostrogoths
• Ownership
• Page (servant)
• Paul McCartney
• Paul Reeves
• Pearl Poet
• Pheidippides
• Prince
• Prince consort
• Princess
• Princess consort
• Prussia
• Queen consort
• Queen dowager
• Queen mother
• Queen regnant
• Reconquista
• Renaissance
• Republic
• Ridder (title)
• Ritter
• Roll of arms
• Roman Empire
• Roman Republic
• Samurai
• Saracen
• Sarmatians
• Social class
• Spur
• Squire
• St. Martin's Press
• State decoration
• Surcoat
• Surname
• Talk Knight
• Teutonic Knights
• The Clouds
• The Knight's Tale
• Thomas Malory
• Tortosa
• Umayyad Caliphate
• United Kingdom
• Viceroy
• Victorian morality
• Viking
• Viscount
• Vulgar Latin
• War horse
• Warlord
• Warrior
• Wikipedia Splitting
• Xanthippe
• 
  

• 
  Alcántara
  Alcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word al-QanTarah (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge".
  Archaeological findings have attested human presence in the area from the Bronze Age; the first historical inhabitants were the Lusitanians, followed by the Celts, who came from east to the Pyrenees. To this period, and to the following Roman domination, belong remains of several castra (military camps), villas and the bridge which gives its name to the city. The Roman rule lasted from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century, when they were replaced by the Visigoths.
  In the 8th century the Arabs conquered the Iberian peninsula, including Extremadura. In the 12th century the Muslim geographer al-Idrisi described the bridge as one of the world's marvels. In the 12th-13th centuries Alcántara was a frontier city, devoted to military activities and animal husbandry. After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba, it belonged to several Islamic taifas (petty kingdoms).
  
  wn.com/Alcántara
• 
  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 Montiel
  The battle of Najera (1367) was of dubious long-term significance as Pedro of Castile and the Black Prince fell out over money. The Black Prince, affected by a dysentery, soon withdrew his support from Pedro and returned to Aquitaine. The English retreat was terrible as four English soldiers out of five died.
  The Battle of Montiel was fought in 1369 between Franco-Castilian forces, and an alliance of pro-English forces led by the Portuguese. The Franco-Castilian force was led by Bertrand du Guesclin, while Pedro of Castile led a Castilian-Portuguese force. The Franco-Castilians were victorious thanks to the brilliant tactic of du Guesclin.
  After the battle, Pedro fled to the castle of Montiel, where he became trapped. In an attempt to bribe Bertrand du Guesclin, Pedro was lured into a trap outside the castle. In a confrontation with his stepbrother Henry, Pedro was killed. His death on 23 March 1369 marked the end of the Castilian Civil War.
  King Henry named du Guesclin Duke of Molina and he formed an alliance with French King Charles V. Between 1370 to 1376, the Castilian fleet notably ravaged the English coasts many times, while du Guesclin reconquered Poitou and Normandy to the English.
  
  wn.com/Battle_of_Montiel
• 
  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
• 
  Calatrava la Vieja
  Calatrava la Vieja (formerly just Calatrava) is a medieval site and original nucleus of the Order of Calatrava. It is now part of the Archaeological Parks (Parques Arqueológicos) of the Community of Castile-La Mancha. Situated at Carrión de Calatrava, Calatrava during the High Middle Ages was the only important city in the Guadiana River valley. It thus guarded the roads to Córdoba and Toledo.
  Its name is derived from the Arabic Qal'at Rabāḥ قلعة رباح ("fortress of Rabah"), a reference to the Moorish nobleman who held this area in the 8th century, although as a fortress it may date even earlier – to Iberian times.
  References to the site date from as early as 785, and in 853 owing to conflicts between the Muslims of Toledo and the emirate of Córdoba, it was partially destroyed, but rebuilt later. The site was rebuilt under al-Hakam^{[disambiguation needed ]}, brother of Muhammad I. It became the capital of the region. At the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba, the Taifa kingdoms or republics of Seville, Córdoba, and Toledo competed to acquire Calatrava.
  
  wn.com/Calatrava_la_Vieja
• 
  France
  France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
  Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
  
  wn.com/France
• 
  Germany
  Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
  A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
  
  wn.com/Germany
• 
  Greece
  Greece ⁱ/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
  Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
  
  wn.com/Greece
• 
  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
• 
  Italy
  Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
  Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
  
  wn.com/Italy
• 
  Netherlands
  The Netherlands (ⁱ/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] ( listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").
  
  wn.com/Netherlands
• 
  Tortosa
  Tortosa (Catalan pronunciation: [turˈtozə], locally: [toɾˈtoza]. Latin: Dertusa or Dertosa, Arabic: طرطوشة‎ Ṭurṭūšah) is the capital of the comarca of Baix Ebre, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain.
  Tortosa is located at 12 metres above sea level, by the Ebre river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the highest peaks, is located within Tortosa's municipal term.
  Before Tortosa, across the river, rise the massive Ports de Tortosa-Beseit mountains. The area around Mont Caro and other high summits are ofen covered with snow in the winter.
  Tortosa is probably identical to the ancient Hibera, capital of Ilercavonia. This may be the ancient settlement the remains of which have been found on the hill named Castillo de la Zuda. In Roman times, the town adopted the name Dertosa. After more than 400 hundred years of Muslim rule, the city was conquered by the Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1148, as part of the Second Crusade. Because of the crusading appeal made by Pope Eugene III and his representative Nicholas Brakespear (the future Pope Hadrian IV), the siege received the aid of crusaders from multiple nationalities (Genovese, Anglo-Normans, Normans, Southern-French, Germans, Flemish and Dutch), who were on their way to the Holy Land. The siege of Tortosa was narrated by the Genovese chronicler and diplomat Caffaro.
  
  wn.com/Tortosa
• 
  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

• Adrian FitzGerald
  Sir Adrian James Andrew Denis FitzGerald, 6th Baronet, 24th Knight of Kerry (born 24 June 1940) is a hereditary knight, a Conservative Party politician in the UK, and former Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
  The eldest son and heir of Sir George FitzGerald, 5th Baronet, 23rd Knight of Kerry, MC, by his wife Angela (Lady FitzGerald), daughter of Captain James Rankin Mitchell, of Mayfair, Adrian was educated at Harrow School.
  A founder-member (1962) of the Conservative Monday Club, he was firstly editor of their Newsletter, and from 1967-74 editor of their glossy magazine, Monday World. He has served as an elected Councillor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London from 1974 until his retirement in 2002, as Mayor (1984–85), and as Chairman of their Education and Libraries Committees from 1995. In 1989-90 he was Deputy Leader of the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority.
  Sir Adrian has also served as Chairman of Anglo-Polish Society for 1989–92, and is currently its President. He is vice Chairman of the London Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society and a Patron of the Save Sloane Square campaign and the anti-euthanasia organisation Alert.
  
  wn.com/Adrian_FitzGerald
• 
  Aristophanes
  Aristophanes (English pronunciation: /ˌærɨˈstɒfəniːz/; Ancient Greek: [aristopʰánɛːs]; Ἀριστοφάνης, ca. 446 BC – ca. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his 40 plays survive virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, and they are in fact used to define the genre. Also known as the Father of Comedy and the Prince of Ancient Comedy, Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander contributing to the trial and execution of Socrates although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher. His second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by the demagogue Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through the Chorus in that play, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all." (κωμῳδοδιδασκαλίαν εἶναι χαλεπώτατον ἔργον ἁπάντων)
  
  wn.com/Aristophanes
• 
  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
• 
  Benito Mussolini
  Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Italian pronunciation: [beˈniːto musːoˈliːni]; 29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party, ruling the country from 1922 to his ousting in 1943, and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of fascism.
  Originally a member of the Italian Socialist Party and editor of the Avanti! from 1912 to 1914, Mussolini fought in World War I as an ardent nationalist and created the Fasci di Combattimento in 1919, catalyzing his nationalist and socialist beliefs in the Fascist Manifesto, published in 1921. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the 27th Prime Minister of Italy and began using the title Il Duce by 1925, about which time he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. After 1936, his official title was Sua Eccellenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero ("His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire") Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.
  
  wn.com/Benito_Mussolini
• 
  Charlemagne
  Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
  His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
  The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.
  
  wn.com/Charlemagne
• 
  Charles I of Hungary
  Charles I (1288 – 16 July 1342), also known as Charles Robert (Caroberto), was the first King of Hungary and Croatia (1308–42) of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders. Nevertheless, although he was only a child when his grandfather, King Charles II of Naples sent him to Hungary in 1300, Charles would strengthen his rule in the kingdom against his opponents and the powerful magnates following a long series of internal struggles. Charles also carried out numerous important political and economical reforms: he established the so called honor system which made the powerful barons dependent of his favour, and he introduced new coins with a consistently high purity of gold. Charles's foreign policy largely stemmed from dynastic alliances. His most successful achievement was the mutual defense union with Poland and Bohemia against the Habsburgs. Charles also endeavoured to enforce his or his descendants' claim to the Kingdom of Naples, but he could achieve only sham results. Nevertheless, he was one of the most successful rulers of the Kingdom of Hungary whose efforts established his successor's achievements.
  
  wn.com/Charles_I_of_Hungary
• 
  Charles Martel
  Charles Martel (Latin: Carolus Martellus) (23 August 686 – 22 October 741), also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the title of Consul by the Pope, but he refused. He is remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, in which he defeated an invading Moorish army. This victory is traditionally credited with halting northward Islamic expansion in western Europe.
  A brilliant general, he is considered to be a founding figure of the Middle Ages, often credited with a seminal role in the development of feudalism and knighthood, and laying the groundwork for the Carolingian Empire. He was also the father of Pepin the Short and grandfather of Charlemagne.
  Martel was born in Herstal, the illegitimate son of duke Pepin II and his concubine Alpaida. In German-speaking countries he is known as Karl Martell. Alpaida also bore Pepin another son, Childebrand.
  
  wn.com/Charles_Martel
• 
  Charles the Bald
  Charles the Bald (13 June 823 – 6 October 877), Holy Roman Emperor (875–877, as Charles II) and King of West Francia (840–877, as Charles II, with the borders of his land defined by the Treaty of Verdun, 843), was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.
  He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia and then the country between the Meuse and the Pyrenees (in 832, after the rising of Pepin I of Aquitaine) were unsuccessful. The numerous reconciliations with the rebellious Lothair and Pepin, as well as their brother Louis the German, King of Bavaria, made Charles's share in Aquitaine and Italy only temporary, but his father did not give up and made Charles the heir of the entire land which was once Gaul and would eventually be France. At a diet near Crémieux in 837, Louis the Pious bade the nobles do homage to Charles as his heir. This led to the final rising of his sons against him and Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles received that kingdom, finally once and for all. Pepin's son Pepin II would be a perpetual thorn in his side.
  
  wn.com/Charles_the_Bald
• 
  David Nicolle
  Dr. David C. Nicolle (born 4 April 1944) is a British historian specialising in the military history of the Middle Ages, with a particular in the Middle East.
  Nicolle has worked for the BBC Arabic Service, and also lectured in World and Islamic art and architecture at Yarmouk University, Jordan. He currently lives in the United Kingdom.
  Nicolle was on the editorial board of the Medieval History Magazine.
  David Nicolle worked for the BBC Arabic Service before getting his MA at the School of African Oriental Studies. He gained a PHD in Edinburgh University. His interest in the medieval world was shown in the number of books and articles he has written to teach World and Islamic art and architectural history at Yarmouk University in Jordan.
  He married an American, Colette Giroux in 1976; they have a son Frederick Joseph ("Fred", born 1982) and a daughter Dr. Antoinette Laura ("Nette", born 1984). He now lives and works in Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire.
  
  wn.com/David_Nicolle
• 
  Derek Pattinson
  Sir William Derek Pattinson (31 March 1930 – 10 October 2006) was Secretary-General of the General Synod of the Church of England from 1972 until 1990.
  Pattinson was born at Barrow-in-Furness, the only child of Thomas William Pattinson (1898–1970) a civil servant and Elizabeth Pattinson née Burgess (1895–1986) a primary school teacher. He was educated at the County Grammar School, Whitehaven and at The Queen's College, Oxford, where, despite having won the Stanhope Historical Essay Prize, he obtained only Second Class in the Final Honour School of Modern History. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1952 and Master of Arts in 1956. He had been a member of the Church of England since his childhood but during his time at Oxford he moved from the Low Church to Anglo-Catholicism. An alternative version states that he grew up an Anglo-Catholic, that his religious enthusiasm waned at Oxford, and that he returned to the Church when as a civil servant. He entered HM Civil Service, working in the Inland Revenue from 1952 until 1962 and HM Treasury from 1962 until 1965, returning in 1965 as Assistant Secretary in the Inland Revenue, and transferring back to HM Treasury in 1968.
  
  wn.com/Derek_Pattinson
• 
  Don Quixote
  Don Quixote ( /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊtiː/; Spanish: [ˈdoŋ kiˈxote] ( listen)), fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes. The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who reads too many chivalric novels, and sets out to revive chivalry under the name of Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with a unique Earthy wit. He is met by the world as it is, initiating themes like Intertextuality, Realism, Metatheatre and Literary Representation.
  Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".
  
  wn.com/Don_Quixote
• Edmund Fitzgibbon
  Edmund Fitzgibbon (1552? - 1608) was an Irish nobleman of the FitzGerald dynasty, who inherited the Anglo-Norman title of the White Knight and struggled to maintain his loyalty to the crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England.
  Fitzgibbon was the son of John Óg Fitzgerald (alias Fitzgibbon) and Ellen Condon. His father was attainted by statute of the Irish parliament in 1571, and much of Fitzgibbon's subsequent conduct stemmed from his desire to recover the family properties in the province of Munster. Following the first of the Desmond Rebellions he accompanied the rebel James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald to France in March 1575 and returned to Ireland in July. In the following year he leased a large portion of the ancestral lands that had fallen to the crown; these he surrendered in 1579 in return for a fresh lease, which included those same lands as well as lands that had reverted to the crown on his mother's death.
  In later years, the government councillor, Sir Henry Wallop, voiced his resentment at the denial of these lands to the Plantation of Munster, which was established after the Second Desmond Rebellion and the attainder of Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond. Fitzgibbon was regularly traduced by government officials, and his hereditary enemy Lord Roche accused him of complicity in the late rebellion. He found himself under pressure to display unquestioning loyalty to a crown that was unpopular amongst his followers, and he struggled in these trying circumstances.
  
  wn.com/Edmund_Fitzgibbon
• 
  Elias Ashmole
  Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was a celebrated English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices.
  Ashmole was an antiquary with a strong Baconian bent for the study of nature. His library reflected his intellectual outlook, including works on English history, law, numismatics, chorography, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, and botany. Although he was one of the founding members of the Royal Society, a key institution in the development of experimental science, his interests were antiquarian and mystical as well as scientific. He was an early Freemason, although the extent of his involvement and commitment is unclear. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of curiosities and other artifacts. Many of these he acquired from the traveller, botanist, and collector John Tradescant the Younger. Ashmole donated most of his collection, his antiquarian library and priceless manuscripts to the University of Oxford to create the Ashmolean Museum.
  
  wn.com/Elias_Ashmole
• 
  Elton John
  Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.
  In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
  John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.
  
  wn.com/Elton_John
• Ewart Oakeshott
  Ewart Oakeshott (25 May 1916 — 30 September 2002) was a British illustrator, collector, and amateur historian who wrote prodigiously on medieval arms and armour. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Founder Member of the Arms and Armour Society, and the Founder of the Oakeshott Institute. His classification of the medieval sword, the Oakeshott typology, lives on today as the premiere work on the systematic organization of medieval weaponry.
  Oakeshott became interested in arms and armour as a boy. He started collecting swords while he was still a boy at Dulwich UK school, building up a significant collection. In addition he was an artist and illustrated most of his books, and was also a speaker.
  Oakeshott's typology of medieval and early renaissance swords is among his most influential and most lasting works. Though his work was not entirely original, it was certainly groundbreaking. Dr. Jan Peterson had previously developed a typology for Viking swords consisting of twenty-six categories. Peterson's typology was simplified by Dr. R.E.M. Wheeler in short order to only seven categories (Type I-VII). This simplified typology was then slightly expanded by Oakeshott by the addition of two transitional types into its current nine categories (Type I-IX). From this basis, Oakeshott began work on his own thirteen-category typology of the medieval sword ranging from Type X to Type XXII.
  
  wn.com/Ewart_Oakeshott
• 
  Franks
  The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as populating a broad strip of land on the right bank of the Lower and Middle Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357. In the climate of the collapse of imperial authority in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians and conquered all of Gaul except Septimania in the 6th century. The Salian political elite was one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe. The Franks had created one of the most strong and stable barbaric kingdoms.
  The Merovingian dynasty, descended from the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large parts of western Europe by the end of the eighth century, developing into the Carolingian Empire which dominated most of Western Europe. This empire would gradually evolve into France and the Holy Roman Empire.
  
  wn.com/Franks
• 
  Geoffrey Chaucer
  Geoffrey Chaucer ( /ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
  Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. His father and grandfather were both London vintners; several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. (His family name derives from the French chausseur, meaning "shoemaker".) In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffrey's father, was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the twelve-year-old boy to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the £250 fine levied suggests that the family was financially secure—bourgeois, if not elite. John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who, in 1349, inherited properties including 24 shops in London from her uncle, Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated April 3, 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as "moneyer"; he was said to be moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie' .
  
  wn.com/Geoffrey_Chaucer
• 
  Geoffrey of Monmouth
  Geoffrey of Monmouth (Latin: Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, Galfridus Artur, Welsh: Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy) (c. 1100 – c. 1155) was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain"), which was widely popular in its day and was credited, uncritically, well into the 16th century, being translated into various other languages from its original Latin.
  Geoffrey was probably born some time between 1100 and 1110 in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He must have reached the age of majority by 1129, when he is recorded as witnessing a charter.
  In his Historia, Geoffrey refers to himself as Galfridus Monumetensis, "Geoffrey of Monmouth", which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, and which may refer to his birthplace. Geoffrey's works attest to some acquaintance with the place-names of the region. To contemporaries, Geoffrey was known as Galfridus Artur(us) or variants thereof. The "Arthur" in these versions of his name may indicate the name of his father, or a nickname based on Geoffrey's scholarly interests.
  
  wn.com/Geoffrey_of_Monmouth
• 
  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
• 
  Harold Godwinson
  Harold Godwinson, or Harold II; Old English: Harold Gōdwines sunu (c. 1022 – 14 October 1066) was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October of that same year, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England. Harold is the first of only three kings of England to have died in warfare; the other two were Richard I and Richard III.
  Harold was a son of Godwin, the powerful Earl of Wessex, and his wife Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, whose supposed brother Ulf Jarl was the son-in-law of Sweyn I and the father of Sweyn II of Denmark.
  Godwin and Gytha had several children, notably sons Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth and Leofwine and a daughter, Edith of Wessex (1029–1075), who became Queen consort of Edward the Confessor.
  As a result of his sister's marriage to the king, Godwin's second son, Harold, became Earl of East Anglia in 1045. Harold accompanied his father into exile in 1051, but helped him to regain his position a year later. When Godwin died in 1053, Harold succeeded him as Earl of Wessex (a province at that time covering the southernmost third of England). This arguably made him the most powerful figure in England after the king.
  
  wn.com/Harold_Godwinson
• 
  Hipparchus
  Hipparchus/hɪˈpɑːrkəs/, or more correctly Hipparchos (Greek: Ἵππαρχος, Hipparkhos; c. 190 BC – c. 120 BC), was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period. He is considered the founder of trigonometry.
  Hipparchus was born in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey), and probably died on the island of Rhodes. He is known to have been a working astronomer at least from 162 to 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity. He was the first whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive. For this he certainly made use of the observations and perhaps the mathematical techniques accumulated over centuries by the Chaldeans from Babylonia. He developed trigonometry and constructed trigonometric tables, and he solved several problems of spherical trigonometry. With his solar and lunar theories and his trigonometry, he may have been the first to develop a reliable method to predict solar eclipses. His other reputed achievements include the discovery of Earth's precession, the compilation of the first comprehensive star catalog of the western world, and possibly the invention of the astrolabe, also of the armillary sphere, which he used during the creation of much of the star catalogue. It would be three centuries before Claudius Ptolemaeus' synthesis of astronomy would supersede the work of Hipparchus; it is heavily dependent on it in many areas.
  
  wn.com/Hipparchus
• 
  Hungarian people
  Hungarians, also known as Magyars (Hungarian: magyarok), are a nation and ethnic group who speak Hungarian and are primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 14-15 million Hungarians, of whom 10 million live in today's Hungary (as of 2011). About 2.2 million Hungarians live in areas that were part of the Kingdom of Hungary before the 1918-1920 dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Treaty of Trianon, and are now parts of Hungary's seven neighbour countries, especially Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. Significant groups of people with Hungarian ancestry live in various other parts of the world, most of them in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Canada and Australia. Unlike the Hungarians living on the former territory of pre-1918-20 Kingdom of Hungary, only some of the ethnic Hungarians in other areas preserve the Hungarian language and traditions. The Hungarians can be classified into several subgroups according to local linguistic and cultural characteristics; subgroups with distinct identities include the Székely, the Csángó, the Palóc, and the Jassic people.
  
  wn.com/Hungarian_people
• 
  Iranian peoples
  The Iranian peoples (Iranic peoples) are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group that comprise the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of the Indo-European-speaking peoples. Their historical areas of settlement were on the Iranian plateau, and comprised most of Iran and certain areas of Central Asia such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and most of Afghanistan, some parts of western Pakistan, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey, and scattered parts of the Caucasus Mountains. Their current distribution spreads across the Iranian plateau, and stretches from Pakistan's Indus River in the east to eastern Turkey in the west, and from Central Asia and the Caucasus in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south – a region that is sometimes called the Iranian cultural continent, or Greater Persia by scholars, and represents the extent of the Iranian languages and influence of the Persian People, through the geopolitical reach of the Persian empire.
  
  wn.com/Iranian_peoples
• 
  James II of England
  James II & VII (14 October 1633^O.S. – 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Members of Britain's political and religious elite increasingly opposed him for being pro-French and pro-Catholic, and for his designs on becoming an absolute monarch. When he produced a Catholic heir, the tension exploded, and leading nobles called on William III of Orange (his son-in-law and nephew) to land an invasion army from the Netherlands, which he did. James fled England (and thus was held to have abdicated) in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was replaced by William of Orange who became king as William III, ruling jointly with his wife (James's daughter) Mary II. Thus William and Mary, both Protestants, became joint rulers in 1689. James made one serious attempt to recover his crowns, when he landed in Ireland in 1689 but, after the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne in the summer of 1690, James returned to France. He lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV.
  
  wn.com/James_II_of_England
• 
  Jan van Eyck
  Jan van Eyck (or Johannes de Eyck) (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn vɑn ˈɛjk]) (before c. 1395 – before 9 July 1441) was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and is generally considered one of the most significant Northern European painters of the 15th century. The few surviving records indicate that he was born around 1390, most likely in Maaseik. Little is known of his early life, but his activities following his appointment to the court of Philip the Good c. 1425 are comparatively well documented. Van Eyck had previously served John of Bavaria-Straubing, then ruler of Holland, Hainault and Zeeburg. By this time van Eyck had assembled a workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. He moved to Bruges sometime around 1425 and there came to the attention of Philip the Good. He served as both court artist and diplomat and became a senior member of the Tournai painters' guild, where he enjoyed the company of similarly esteemed artists such as Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden. Over the following decade van Eyck's reputation and technical ability grew, mostly from his innovative approaches towards the handling and manipulating of oil paint. His revolutionary approach to oil was such that a myth, perpetuated by Giorgio Vasari, arose that he had invented oil painting.
  
  wn.com/Jan_van_Eyck
• 
  Jean Froissart
  Jean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 1405), often referred to in English as John Froissart, was a medieval French chronicle writer. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France. His history is also an important source for the first half of the Hundred Years' War.
  Little is known of Froissart's life and what is known comes mainly from his chronicle and his poems. Froissart originated from Valenciennes, Hainaut, and his writings suggest his father was a painter of armorial bearings. Froissart began working as a merchant but soon gave that up to become a clerk. By about age 24, he had gained distinction and carried with him a letter of recommendation from Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, (who was also the King of Bohemia) when he became a court poet and a an official historian to Philippa of Hainault, queen consort of Edward III of England.
  The memoirs of his time in Philippa's service, between 1361 and 1369, were later put together with reports of other events he had witnessed, in his Chroniques ("Chronicles"). He took a serious approach to his work:
  
  wn.com/Jean_Froissart
• 
  John II of France
  John II (16 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: Jean le Bon), was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.
  The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame, John became the Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, and Duke of Normandy in 1332. He was created Count of Poitiers in 1344, Duke of Aquitaine in 1345, and Duke of Burgundy (as John I) from 1361 to 1363. By his marriage to Joanna I, Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne, he became jure uxoris Count of Auvergne and Boulogne from 1350 to 1360.
  John succeeded his father in 1350 and was crowned at Notre-Dame de Reims. As king, John surrounded himself with poor administrators, preferring to enjoy the good life his wealth as king brought. Later in his reign, he took over more of the administration himself.
  John was nine years old when his father had himself crowned as Philip VI of France. His ascent to the throne was unexpected, and because all female descendants of his uncle Philip the Fair were passed over, it was also disputed. The new king had to consolidate his power in order to protect his throne from rival claimants. Philip therefore decided to marry off his son John—then thirteen years old—quickly to form a strong matrimonial alliance, at the same time conferring upon him the title of Duke of Normandy.
  
  wn.com/John_II_of_France
• 
  John Major
  Sir John Major, KG, CH, PC, ACIB (born 29 March 1943) is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He held the posts of Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001.
  Despite Thatcher's "notorious" assertion that "she expected to continue in control as a backseat driver," Major's mild and consensual style was seen as complete contrast to Thatcher's forceful and confrontational manner. Early in his term, he presided over British participation in the First Gulf War (March 1991) and negotiated "Game, Set and Match for Britain" at the Maastricht Treaty (December 1991). Despite the British economy then being in recession he led the Conservatives to a fourth consecutive election victory, winning the most votes in British electoral history in the 1992 general election, albeit with a much reduced majority in the House of Commons. He is to date, the last Conservative leader to win an outright majority in a general election.
  
  wn.com/John_Major
• 
  Judi Dench
  Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress.
  Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968.
  During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By.
  Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in each James Bond film since. She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001).
  
  wn.com/Judi_Dench
• 
  Knight of Glin
  The Knight of Glin (dormant or extinct 14 September 2011), also known as the Black Knight, was a hereditary title in the FitzGerald families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The family was a branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, or Geraldines, related to the Earls of Desmond (extinct), who were questionably granted extensive lands in County Limerick by the Duke of Normandy by way of conquest. The title was named after the village of Glin, near the Knight's lands. The Knight of Glin was properly addressed as "Knight" (not, as one might expect, "Sir xxxx FitzGerald").
  The family name "FitzGerald" comes from the (Norman) French "Fils du Gerald", i.e. "Son of Gerald".
  Like the Knights of Kerry, the Knights of Glin descended from one of the younger or illegitimate sons of The 1st Baron Desmond and Honora (daughter of Hugh O'Connor, of Kerry). Lord Desmond was also known as Sir John Fitz-John or Seán Mór na Sursainge, and he lived c. 1260. The last knight, Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, died on September 14, 2011.
  
  wn.com/Knight_of_Glin
• 
  Knight of Kerry
  Knight of Kerry, also called the Green Knight, is one of three Anglo-Irish hereditary knighthoods, all of which existed in Ireland since feudal times. The others were the White Knight (Fitzgibbon/FitzGerald) and the Knight of Glin (Black Knight (FitzGerald)) extinct or dormant since September 2011. All three belong to the FitzGerald dynasty, being created by the Earls of Desmond for their kinsmen.
  Sir Maurice Buidhe fitz John, 1st Knight of Kerry, was the illegitimate son of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond and feudal Lord of Connello (d. 1261 Battle of Callann), son of Thomas fitz Maurice, son of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan, son of the Princess Nest ferch Rhys of Deheubarth and Gerald de Windsor.
  
  wn.com/Knight_of_Kerry
• 
  Louis XI of France
  Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called the Prudent (French: le Prudent), was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois.
  During his 22-year reign, Louis successfully expanded royal power at the expense of the dukes. Shrewd and often vicious, he spun webs of plot and conspiracy which earned him the nicknames the Cunning (Middle French: le rusé) and the Universal Spider (Middle French: l'universelle aragne ). His love for scheming and intrigue made him many enemies, including his father, his brother Charles de Valois, Duc de Berry, as well as his cousins Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Edward IV of England. Louis preferred men of humble origin, and among his advisers were Olivier Le Daim, Louis Tristan L'Hermite, and Cardinal Balue.
  Louis was born at Bourges, Cher in 1423, when the English held northern France and his father Charles VII was restricted to the centre and south. Louis was the grandson of the strong-willed Yolande of Aragon, the princess who was the driving force in driving the English out of France. Louis despised his father, regarding him as a weakling.
  
  wn.com/Louis_XI_of_France
• 
  Miguel de Cervantes
  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Spanish pronunciation: [miˈɣel de θerˈβantes saaˈβeðɾa]; (29 September 1547 – 23 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios ("The Prince of Wits").
  In 1569, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. After five years he was released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order. He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.
  
  wn.com/Miguel_de_Cervantes
• 
  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
• 
  Norma Major
  Dame Norma Christina Elizabeth Major, DBE (née Johnson, born Wagstaff, 12 February 1942), is the wife of Sir John Major, the former British Prime Minister. Major has been a keen supporter of the British Conservative Party.
  
  
  She is the daughter of the late Norman Wagstaff and the late Edith Johnson, and was born Norma Christina Elizabeth Wagstaff. She was born in Shropshire while her father was stationed there. He was killed in a motorcycle accident a few days after the end of World War II, when Norma was three years old, and her mother subsequently changed the family name back to her maiden name, so that she was called Norma Johnson as she was growing up.
  Norma was educated at a boarding school in Bexhill-on-Sea, Oakfield Preparatory School in Dulwich, and Peckham School for Girls where she was Head Girl. She was a skilled dressmaker and trained as a teacher, working at St Michael and All Angels Church of England School, Camberwell. She was also a member of the Young Conservatives.
  At a Conservative Party meeting during the campaign for the 1970 Greater London Council elections she was introduced to John Major by Peter Golds, a party agent. They married on 3 October 1970.
  
  wn.com/Norma_Major
• 
  Ostrogoths
  The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi or Austrogothi) were a branch of the Goths (the other branch being the Visigoths), a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy.
  Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths, at the time known as the Greuthungi, built up a huge empire stretching from the Dniester to the Volga river and from the Black Sea to the Baltic shores. The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them about 370.
  After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. However, a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths existed until at least the 16th century. After the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao (453), the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great first moved to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Italian Kingdom of the German warrior Odoacer. Theodoric became King of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a Kingdom in Italy in 567 AD.
  
  wn.com/Ostrogoths
• 
  Paul McCartney
  Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of the Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), he has been described by Guinness World Records as "The Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time", with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and with Lennon formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. After leaving the Beatles, he began a solo career and later formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine.
  According to the BBC, his Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists—more than any other song. Wings' 1977 release, "Mull of Kintyre", became one of the best-selling singles ever in the UK, and he is "the most successful songwriter" in UK chart history, according to Guinness. As a songwriter or co-writer, he is included on thirty-one number one titles on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA certified units in the United States.
  
  wn.com/Paul_McCartney
• 
  Paul Reeves
  Sir Paul Alfred Reeves, ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, CF, QSO (6 December 1932 – 14 August 2011) was Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand from 1980 to 1985 and the 15th Governor-General of New Zealand from 22 November 1985 to 20 November 1990. He was the first Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology.
  Reeves was born in Wellington in 1932 to D'arcy and Hilda (Pirihira) Reeves, who had moved from Waipawa to Newtown, a working-class suburb of Wellington. Hilda was Māori and of the Te Āti Awa iwi; D'arcy was pakeha and a tram driver, he died in 1950 aged 52.
  He was educated at Wellington College and at Victoria College, University of New Zealand (now the Victoria University of Wellington), where he graduated a BA in 1955 and an MA in 1956. He went on to study for ordination in the Church of the Province of New Zealand at St John's College, Auckland, receiving his Licentiate in Theology in 1958.
  Reeves was ordained deacon in 1958. After serving a brief curacy at Tokoroa, he spent the period 1959–64 in England. From 1959 until 1961 he was an Advanced Student at St Peter's College, Oxford (BA 1961, MA 1965) as well as Assistant Curate at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. He was ordained priest in 1960. He served two further curacies in England, first at Kirkley St Peter (1961–63), then at Lewisham St Mary (1963–64).
  
  wn.com/Paul_Reeves
• 
  Pheidippides
  Pheidippides (Greek: Φειδιππίδης, sometimes given as Phidippides, by Herodotus and Plutarch, or as Philippides), hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.
  The first recorded account showing a courier running from Marathon to Athens to announce victory is from within Lucian's prose on the first use of the word Joy as a greeting in A Slip of the tongue in Greeting.
  The traditional story relates that Pheidippides (530 BC–490 BC), an Athenian herald or hemerodrome (translated as "day-runner" (Kyle 2007),courier (Larcher 1806), "professional-running courier" (Sears 2003) or "day-long runner" (Miller 2006)), was sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon, Greece. He ran 240 km (150 mi) in two days. He then ran the 40 km (25 mi) from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) with the word νικωμεν’ (nikomen–"We have won"), as stated by Lucian "khairate, nikomen" ("hail, we are the winners") to then collapse and die.
  
  wn.com/Pheidippides
• 
  Saracen
  Saracen is an historical term for a certain group of people but the meaning changed during its history. In the early centuries AD in Greek and Latin it referred to a people who lived in desert areas in and near the Roman province of Arabia, and who were specifically distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Early Middle Ages, the term began to be used to describe Arab tribes. By the 12th century, "Saracen" had become synonymous with "Muslim" in Medieval Latin literature. This expansion of the meaning had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Greeks, as evidenced in Byzantine Greek documents from the era of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate.
  Ptolemy's Geography from the second century CE describes Sarakene as a region in the northern Sinai peninsula. Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakenoi living in north-western Arabia (near neighbor to the Sinai).Eusebius of Caesarea references Saracens in his Ecclesiastical history, in which he narrates an account wherein Dionysus, Bishop of Alexandria mentions Saracens in a letter while describing the Roman emperor Decius' persecution: "Many were, in the Arabian mountain, enslaved by the barbarous sarkenoi." The Historia Augusta also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Niger's army in Egypt in 193 CE but provides little information on who they might have been.
  
  wn.com/Saracen
• 
  Sarmatians
  The Iron Age Sarmatians (Latin Sarmatæ or Sauromatæ, Sanskrit Sakas Greek Σαρμάται, Σαυρομάται) were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD.
  Their territory was known as Sarmatia to Greco-Roman ethnographers, corresponding to the western part of greater Scythia (modern Southern Russia, Ukraine, and the eastern Balkans). At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BC, these tribes ranged from the Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black and Caspian seas as well as the Caucasus to the south.
  The Sarmatians declined in the 4th century with the incursions connected to the Migration period (Huns, Goths). The descendants of the Sarmatians became known as the Alans during the Early Middle Ages, and ultimately gave rise to the modern Ossetic ethnic group.
  Sarmatae is in origin probably just one of several tribal names of the Sarmatians which came to be applied to the entire group as an exonym in Greco-Roman ethnography. Strabo in the 1st century names as the main tribes of the Sarmatians the Iazyges, the Roxolani, the Aorsi and the Siraces.
  
  wn.com/Sarmatians
• 
  Thomas Malory
  Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1405 – 14 March 1471) was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland (1506–1552) as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L. Kittredge in 1894, assume that he was Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire, who was a knight, land-owner and Member of Parliament.. Sir Thomas Malory. Leiden: E. J. Brill, Old French adjective maleüré (from Latin male auguratus) meaning ill-omened or unfortunate
  Most of what is known about Malory stems from the accounts describing him in the prayers found in the Winchester Manuscript, distinguishing him from the other six individuals also bearing the name Thomas Malory in the 15th century when Le Morte d'Arthur was written. At the end of the "Tale of King Arthur," being Books I-IV in the printing by William Caxton, is written:
  "For this was written by a knight prisoner Thomas Malleorre, that God send him good recovery."
  At the end of "The Tale of Sir Gareth," Caxton's Book VII:
  
  wn.com/Thomas_Malory
• 
  Xanthippe
  Xanthippe (pronounced /zænˈθɪpi/; Greek: Ξανθίππη, 5th century–4th century BCE) was an ancient Athenian, the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. There are far more stories about her than there are facts. She was likely much younger than Socrates, perhaps by as much as forty years.
  Xanthippe means "blonde horse", from the Greek ξανθός "xanthos" (blonde) and ‘ιππος "hippos" (horse). Hers is one of many Greek personal names with a horse theme (cf. Philippos: "friend of horses"; Hippocrates: "horse tamer" etc.). The "hippos" in an ancient Greek name often suggested aristocratic heritage. One additional reason for thinking Xanthippe's family was socially prominent was that her eldest son was named Lamprocles instead of "Sophroniscus" (after Socrates' father): the ancient Greek custom was to name one's first child after the more illustrious of the two grandfathers. Xanthippe's father is believed to have been named Lamprocles. Since he was even more well-established in Athenian aristocracy than was Socrates' father, his name would have been the preferred choice for the name of the first-born son.
  
  wn.com/Xanthippe

Batman: the Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)

Actors

• Michael Emerson
• David Selby
• Michael Mckean
• Ariel Winter
• Peter Weller

Director

• Jay Oliva

• 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