Showing results for "Duke" in History

John Gaunt was the son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV, and the sire of all those Tudors. He has had pretty bad press: supposed usurper of Richard II’s crown and the focus of hatred in the Peasants’ Revolt, as they torched his home, the Savoy Palace. Helen Carr paints a complex portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, and patronized the arts.

For eight brief years, before he was tragically killed in a mysterious air crash during the Second World War, Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V and Queen Mary, and his beautiful wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, were the British monarchy's - indeed, high society's - most glamorous royal couple; and as golden royal icons, they are still remembered.

By the time of his death, Wellington had been prime minister twice, a shrewd personal advisor to four British monarchs, and one of the nation's most prominent politicians for three decades. Despite his nearly four decades of peacetime service in and out of politics, Wellington has remained one of the titans of the 19th century because of one June day in 1815. Then, as now, the duke of Wellington is best remembered for defeating Napoleon in the famous battle of Waterloo.

Explore the fascinating life of John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722). Rising from modest beginnings as the son of Sir Winston Churchill, an impoverished country gentleman, Johns fortunes changed when his sister Arabella became the mistress of James, Duke of York. This connection launched Churchills illustrious military career. His strategic acumen during the War of the Spanish Succession shattered the belief in French military invincibility, earning him the admiration of the British public. His marriage to Sarah Jennings, a close confidante of Queen Anne, his tactical switch...

Fourteenth-century Italy was chaotic: mercenaries swarmed across the land as competing city-states attempted to vie with each other for power, while pestilence and famine decimated populations. Into this cauldron was born Giangalezzo Visconti, a man who perfectly exemplified all the contradictions of his age. E. R. Chamberlin's The Count of Virtue is a remarkable study of the life and times of Giangaleazzo Visconti that provides fascinating insight into the political, social and cultural world of fourteenth-century Italy.

Sarajevo, June 1914. As Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, tours Bosnia, dark forces are at work to free the Southern Slavs from Vienna. An extraordinary sequence of mistakes and mishaps is fated to change the world forever, and one man stands in the midst of it all. In the space of 24 hours, history stumbles wounded and delirious as the world descends inexorably into a war that will encompass the globe. Seen through the eyes of the key players, this is the story of that terrible day when destiny closed its eyes.

From his earliest years, Prince William has been a photographer's dream come true in the same way his mother had been. While he is not necessarily known for his mother's media savvy, he is well liked by the media, and he is able, consciously or incidentally, to capitalize on this advantage. At the same time, from polo to charities, William is thoroughly his father Charles' son as a Windsor prince.

When England’s King Edward IV fell ill at Easter 1483 after coming back from a fishing trip and died shortly after on April 9, it threw a country that had already suffered a series of wars into a state of chaos. What exactly killed him is unclear, and though some people would later speculate that he had been poisoned, there is every reason to believe that he died of natural causes. Disease was common in medieval England, and doctors lacked much of the medical knowledge now taken for granted.

The story of Valois Burgundy is one of the most exciting of the Late Middle Ages. The four Valois Dukes of Burgundy used political intrigue, calculated splendor, economic power, and good old-fashioned violence to forge a state out of the many Duchies and Counties between France and the Holy Roman Empire. During Burgundy's height its Dukes were seen by many as the equals of Kings and Emperors and their court was at the center of Western Europe's cultural and political development. And then it all fell apart. Please join me as I explore the history and legacy of this forgotten kingdom.

Dive into The Little Duke, a captivating historical fiction novel by Charlotte M. Yonge that chronicles the remarkable life of Richard, Duke of Normandy. At just eight years old, Richard must navigate the treacherous world of power and politics after the shocking murder of his father. Originally serialized in her magazine, The Monthly Packet, this engaging tale brings to life the challenges and triumphs of a young ruler. (summary by Laura Caldwell)

Delve into the remarkable life of Charles the Bold, the final Duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois. Born in 1433, Charles harbored a grand ambition transforming Burgundy into an independent kingdom and crowning himself as its king. Undertaking a relentless expansion of his territory through both acquisition and conquest, he sparked widespread unrest across western Europe. His bitter rivalry with Rene II of Lorraine, however, led to his untimely demise in 1477.

The '91 Louisiana Governor's race was supposed to be forgettable. But when former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke shocked the nation by ousting incumbent Republican Governor Buddy Roemer in the primary, the world took notice. Democrat Edwin Edwards, a former three-term governor and two-time corruption defendant, was left alone to face Duke in the general election—and he was going to lose. Then a little-known state committeewoman stepped in with evidence of Duke's nefarious past.

In 1956 Duke Ellington was featured on the cover of Time magazine after a bravura performance at the Newport Jazz Festival that summer. This remains one of his most iconic achievements and a landmark for jazz music as a whole; only four jazz musicians were ever displayed on the cover of Time. At the same time, however, this recognition stands as one of the prevailing ironies of Ellington's career, as he was deep into the latter stages of his performing life by this point.