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Matthias (1557-1619) was the son of Emperor Maximilian II and younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II. He married his cousin, Archduchess Anna of Austria, becoming successor to his uncle, Archduke Ferdinand II. He was invited to the Netherlands by the rebellious provinces and offered the position of Governor-General in 1578, which he accepted despite the protestations of his uncle, King Philip II of Spain.<br/><br/> Matthias helped to set down the rules for religious peace and freedom of religion, and only returned home in 1581 after the Netherlands deposed Philip II to become fully independent. He became governor of Austria in 1593 by his brother Rudolf's appointment. He forced his brother to allow him to negotiate with the Hungarian revolts of 1605, resulting in the Peace of Vienna in 1606. He then forced his brother to yield to him the crowns of Hungary, Austria and Moravia in 1608, and then making him cede him the Bohemian throne in 1611. By then Matthias had imprisoned his brother, where he remained till his death in 1612.<br/><br/> After Rudolf's death, Matthias ascended to Holy Roman emperor, and had to juggle between appeasing both the Catholic and Protestant states within the Holy Roman Empire, hoping to reach a compromise and strengthen the empire. The Bohemian Protestant revolt of 1618 provoked his strongly Catholic brother Maximilian III to imprison Matthias' advisors and take control of the empire, Matthias being too old and ailing to stop him. Matthias died a year later in 1619.
Ferdinand I (1503-1564) was the son of Philip I of Castile and Queen Joanna I of Castile, grandson of Emperor Maximilian I and younger brother of future emperor Charles V. Born and raised in Spain, he was sent to Flanders in 1518. When Charles became Holy Roman emperor in 1519, Ferdinand was entrusted with the governing of their hereditary Austrian lands, becoming Archduke of Austria and adopting the German culture as his own.<br/><br/> Ferdinand became King of Bohemia and Hungary in 1526 after the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, and served as his brother Charles' deputy in the Holy Roman Empire during his numerous absences, eventually being crowned as King of Germany in 1531 and serving as Charles' designated imperial heir. The crown of Croatia also became his in 1527, and fought to push back the Ottomans from Central Europe, eventually repelling them in 1533 but forced to concede the eastern portion of Hungary.<br/><br/> Ferdinand also had to deal with the Protestant Reformation under Luther, and was able to order the Diet in Augsburg, leading to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. When Charles V abdicated in 1556, Ferdinand was elected as his successor to the imperial throne, becoming Holy Roman emperor in 1558. He continued to ably rule the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1564, leaving an enduring legacy from his handling of the Protestant Reformation and his efforts against the Ottoman Empire.
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of both the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and the Spanish Empire (as Charles I of Spain) from 1516, as well as of the lands of the former Duchy of Burgundy from 1506. He stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556.<br/><br/> Through inheritance, Charles brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish viceroyalties in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly 4 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles), and were the first to be described as 'the empire on which the sun never sets'.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower.<br/><br/> The dome rises from a hexagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade.
Bhumibol Adulyadej (Phumiphon Adunyadet; born 5 December 1927) is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX (and within the Thai royal family and to close associates simply as Lek. Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.
Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar (Burma). The word means 'king' in the Shan and Tai languages.
A balloon is conceptually the simplest of all flying machines. The balloon is a fabric envelope filled with a gas that is lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. As the entire balloon is less dense than its surroundings, it rises, taking along with it a basket, attached underneath, which carries passengers or payload.<br/><br/> Although a balloon has no propulsion system, a degree of directional control is possible through making the balloon rise or sink in altitude to find favorable wind directions.
Between the end of the First World War in 1918 and the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, Japanese graphic design as represented in advertsing posters, magazine covers and book covers underwent a series of changes characterised by increasing Western influence, a growing middle class, industrialisation and militarisation, as well as (initially) left wing political ideals and (subsequently) right wing nationalism and the influence of European Fascist art forms.
King William I (r. 1815-40) is pictured here in the ceremonial dress of a general in the Dutch army. Over it he is wearing an ermine lined and trimmed cloak on which is the emblem of the Military Order of William, established by him in 1815. On the table are the sceptre, crown and general's bicorne. Over the edge of the table hangs a map showing part of the Indonesian archipelago with the words: 'Map of the State of Bantam, Batavia and Cheribon', referring to the the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company had dominated the trade in spices from the East Indies from 1602 until the archipelago became a Dutch colony in 1800. It remained colonized until Indonesia gained independence in 1949.
Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen regnant of England and Queen regnant of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth I's foreign policy with regard to Asia, Africa and Latin America demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime, Protestant power in an increasingly global economy. Her reign saw major innovations in exploration, colonization and the use of England's growing maritime power.
In January 1867, the French Mekong Exploration Commission sidetracked its Mekong journey to visit the Siamese city of Ubon on the Mun River, one of the tributaries of the Mekong. Members of the French delegation were invited to attend the anointment of the new ruler. A French chronicle reads: “The morning of the big day we were deafened by the noise of gongs [and drummers] … Everyone gathered at the palace. Soon the retinue emerged and paraded on the great square. Mounted on a big elephant, which had gigantic tusks, the king of Oubon appeared, surrounded by guards on foot and horses, and followed by his highest dignitaries, mounted as he was.”
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books. It is classified as an incunabulum – that is, a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed (not handwritten) before the year 1501 in Europe. It is also one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.<br/><br/> Latin scholars refer to it as Liber Chronicarum (Book of Chronicles) as this phrase appears in the index introduction of the Latin edition. English speakers have long referred to it as the Nuremberg Chronicle after the city in which it was published. German speakers refer to it as Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (Schedel's World History) in honour of its author. The illustrations in many copies were hand-coloured after printing.
Bảo Đại (22 October 1913 – 30 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn Dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he served as emperor of Annam under French 'protection'. During this period Annam was a protectorate within French Indochina.<br/><br/> Annam today covers the central two-thirds of Vietnam (Contemporary Vietnam being a merger of Annam & the former French Indochina provinces of 'Tonkin' to the north & 'Cochinchina' in the south).<br/><br/> Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932 at the age of 19. The Japanese ousted the French in March 1941 and then ruled through Bảo Đại. At this time, Bảo Đại renamed his country "Vietnam". He abdicated in August 1945 when Japan surrendered. He was chief of state of the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1949 until 1955. Bảo Đại was criticized as being closely associated with France and spending much of his time outside of Vietnam. Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm ousted him in a referendum held in 1955.
The Bamberg Apocalypse, 1000-1020, is held in the Bamberg State Library, Germany. It was commissioned by Otto III (Holy Roman Emperor 980-1002) and contains 57 gilded miniatures produced in the scriptorium at Reichenau.
Exposition poster art in Japan between approximately 1925 and 1941 mirrors the rapid militarisation of society and the growth of militarism, statism and fascism during the Showa Era.<br/><br/> In the 1920s expo poster art features elements of modern art and even Art Deco. Themes are whimsical and outward looking, representing Japan's growing importance and influence in the world of international commerce and art. By the 1930s this kind of poster art had grown much more bleak, less concerned with human themes and more directed towards statism and social control. Feminine imagery disappears to be replaced by wheels of industry, with distinct similarities to contemporary Nazi art in Fascist Germany.<br/><br/> From the outbreak of full scale hostilities with China through to Pearl Harbour and Japan's entry into World War II, ponderous, heavy machinery, marching soldiers, menacing guns and above all bomber aircraft combine to give the posters a crushing, inhuman, Orwellian aspect. This epitomises Japanese fascist art of the Showa Period.
Mehmed III Adli (May 26, 1566 – December 21/22, 1603) was sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595-1603. He remains notorious for having nineteen of his brothers and half brothers murdered to secure power. He also killed over twenty of his sisters. They were all strangled by deaf-mutes. Mehmed III was an idle ruler, leaving government to his mother Safiye Sultan, the valide sultan. The major event of his reign was the Austro-Ottoman War in Hungary (1593–1606). Ottoman defeats in the war caused Mehmed III to take personal command of the army, the first sultan to do so since Suleyman I. Mehmed III's armies conquered Eger in 1596 and defeated the Habsburg and Transylvanian forces at the Battle of Keresztes (Turkish for Battle of Hacova).
This painting was taken from a Muraqqa from Agra. A Muraqqa is an album of artwork which predominated in the 16th century in the Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman empires. The Muraqqa album consists of compilations of various fine arts, including Islamic calligraphy, Ottoman miniatures, paintings, drawings, ghazals and Persian poetry. This magnificent painting shows the emperor passing the coronation parade while one of his courtiers scatters gold coins to the crowd. Also depicted are musicians, trumpeters, mahouts on elephants, wrestlers, a poet, bodyguards, foreign envoys, falconers, soldiers, dancing girls, a peacock and much festivity.
King Chulalongkorn, Rama V (1853–1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He acceded to the throne at the age of 15 after the death of his father, King Mongkut, Rama IV. King Chulalongkorn is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam. His reign was characterized by the modernization of the country, including major governmental and social reforms. He is also credited with saving Siam from being colonized.
Bảo Đại (22 October 1913 – 30 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn Dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he served as emperor of Annam under French 'protection'. During this period Annam was a protectorate within French Indochina.<br/><br/> Annam today covers the central two-thirds of Vietnam (Contemporary Vietnam being a merger of Annam & the former French Indochina provinces of 'Tonkin' to the north & 'Cochinchina' in the south).<br/><br/> Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932 at the age of 19. The Japanese ousted the French in March 1941 and then ruled through Bảo Đại. At this time, Bảo Đại renamed his country "Vietnam". He abdicated in August 1945 when Japan surrendered. He was chief of state of the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1949 until 1955. Bảo Đại was criticized as being closely associated with France and spending much of his time outside of Vietnam. Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm ousted him in a referendum held in 1955.
Bảo Đại (22 October 1913 – 30 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn Dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he served as emperor of Annam under French 'protection'. During this period Annam was a protectorate within French Indochina.<br/><br/> Annam today covers the central two-thirds of Vietnam (Contemporary Vietnam being a merger of Annam & the former French Indochina provinces of 'Tonkin' to the north & 'Cochinchina' in the south).<br/><br/> Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932 at the age of 19. The Japanese ousted the French in March 1941 and then ruled through Bảo Đại. At this time, Bảo Đại renamed his country "Vietnam". He abdicated in August 1945 when Japan surrendered. He was chief of state of the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam) from 1949 until 1955. Bảo Đại was criticized as being closely associated with France and spending much of his time outside of Vietnam. Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm ousted him in a referendum held in 1955.
The coronation of Ogodei Khan in 1229, from Rashid al-Din, early 14th century.
Tashi Namgyal (October 26, 1893 – December 2, 1963) was the ruling Chogyal (King) of Sikkim from 1914 to 1963. He was the son of Thutob Namgyal.<br/><br/> Namgyal was the 11th ruler of the Namgyal dynasty of Sikkim, succeeding his half brother Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, who had ruled from February to December in 1914, till his death from heart failure. Born in Tibet and crowned by the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, he was a strong advocate for closer links with India.