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Leopold I (1640-1705) was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III, and became heir apparent after the death of his older brother, Ferdinand IV. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1658 after his father's death, and by then had also become Archduke of Austria and claimed the crowns of Germany, Croatia, Bohemia and Hungary.
Charles IV (1316-1378), born Wenceslaus, was the eldest son of King John of Bohemia and grandson of Emperor Henry VII, making him part of the Luxembourg dynasty. He spent several years in the court of his uncle, King Charles IV of France, after whom he would rename himself during his coronation.<br/><br/> In 1346, Charles was chosen as King of Germany by Pope Clement VI and some of the prince-electors in opposition to Emperor Louis IV. He was seen by many as a papal puppet and the 'Priests' King' due to the extensive concessions he had to make to the pope. His initial position was weak, but the sudden death of Louis in 1347 prevented a longer civil war, allowing Charles to claim the throne of Germany and Bohemia, after his father's death during the Battle of Crecy the year previous.<br/><br/> Charles was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor in 1355, and later became King of Burgundy in 1365, making him the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. In the latter years of his reign, Charles took little part in the actual running of German affairs apart from securing the election of his son Wenceslaus as King of Germany in 1376. He died in 1378, having long suffered from gout.
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant.<br/><br/> At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century. Occupied by the Portuguese Empire in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. It remained the main seat of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa was chosen instead.<br/><br/> The city was later occupied by the Dutch and the British, with the Kingdom of Cochin becoming a princely state.
Mulkirigala (Mulgirigala) is a village in Sri Lanka located near Viraketiya in the district of Hambantota of Southern Province.<br/><br/> Mulgirigala rock cave monastery, with its remarkable history and unrivalled setting, has historical significance dating back to the 2nd century BCE. Reminiscent of the better-known Golden Dambulla Rock Cave Temple, it is one of the 64 temples built by King Kavantissa who reigned in Mahagama, a principality in the ancient kingdom of Ruhuna of Sri Lanka.
Lascarins (Lascareen, Lascoreen and Lascarine) is a term used in Sri Lanka to identify indigenous soldiers who fought for the Portuguese during the Portuguese era (1505–1658) and continued to serve as colonial soldiers until the 1930s.
'Nazi plunder' refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures.<br/><br/> Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), affectionately referred to as the Monuments Men, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing.
Johan Anthoniszoon 'Jan' van Riebeeck (April 21, 1619 – January 18, 1677), was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town. Commissioned by the Dutch East India Company, the merchant Jan van Riebeeck established the European settlement in South Africa at Cape Town, anchoring in the bay at the foot of the Table Mountain on April 6, 1652. Cape Town is called the Mother City to this day.<br/><br/> Van Riebeeck joined the Dutch East India Company and sailed to Batavia in April 1639, as an assistant surgeon, having learned the craft from his surgeon father. From there he went to Japan, and in 1645, Van Riebeeck was given charge of the company trading station at Tongking (Tonkin, now in Vietnam). Van Riebeeck was recalled from the post in Tongking by the Dutch authorities when it was discovered that he was conducting trade for his own account.<br/><br/> On his voyage back from and Indochina, the ship stopped for 18 days in the sheltered Table Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope at the south end of Africa. While there, van Riebeeck realized that the area could supply passing ships with fresh produce.<br/><br/> Jan van Riebeeck has been viewed as the founding father of their nation by many of the Afrikaner population of South Africa. His image appeared on stamps and currency for many years, and April 6 used to be known as Van Riebeeck's Day.
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873.<br/><br/> The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
'Nazi plunder' refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures.<br/><br/> Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), affectionately referred to as the Monuments Men, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing.
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo.<br/><br/> Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, and its status as capital was retained when the nation became independent in 1948. In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
'Nazi plunder' refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures.<br/><br/> Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), affectionately referred to as the Monuments Men, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, seven miles from Colombo. Buddhists believe the temple to have been hallowed during the third and final visit of the Buddha to Sri Lanka, eight years after gaining enlightenment. Its history would thus go back to before 500 BCE.<br/><br/> The Mahawansa records that the original Stupa at Kelaniya enshrined a gem-studded throne on which the Buddha sat and preached.<br/><br/> The temple flourished during the Kotte era but much of its land was confiscated during the Portuguese empire. Under the Dutch empire, however, there were new gifts of land and under the patronage of King Kirthi Sri Rajasingha the temple was rebuilt. It was refurbished in the first half of the 20th century with the help of Helena Wijewardana.<br/><br/> The temple is also famous for its image of the reclining Buddha and paintings by the native artist Solias Mendis which depict important events in the life of the Buddha, in the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, also incidents from the Jataka tales. It is the venue for the Duruthu Maha Perehera procession each January. An 18-foot stone statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has been erected at the temple.
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Spanish: <i>Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion</i>), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition (<i>Inquisicion espanola</i>), was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.<br/><br/> The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. The regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain.<br/><br/> The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, after a period of declining influence in the preceding century.
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia, near the eastern boundary of Europe.<br/><br/> Marked by constant close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids, it is often regarded as one of the single largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.7–2 million wounded, killed or captured) battles in the history of warfare. The heavy losses inflicted on the German Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war. It was a turning point in the European theatre of World War II; German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses.
The Ghent Altarpiece (also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb or The Lamb of God, Dutch: Het Lam Gods) is a very large and complex 15th-century Early Flemish polyptych panel painting.<br/><br/> Commissioned and designed as an altarpiece, it comprises 12 panels, eight of which are hinged shutters painted on each side, giving two distinct views depending on whether they are open or closed. Except for Sundays and festive holidays, the outer wings were closed and covered with cloth.<br/><br/> It was begun by Hubert van Eyck who was most likely responsible for the overall design, but died in 1426. Probably, the individual panels were executed by his younger and better known brother Jan van Eyck between 1430 and 1432.<br/><br/> In 1945, the altarpiece was returned from Germany after spending much of World War II hidden in an Austrian salt mine, which greatly damaged the paint and varnish.
This painting may represent the former Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist vihara (monastery) in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India.<br/><br/> Chudamani Vihara was constructed in 1006 CE by the Srivijayan king Sri Vijaya Maravijayattungavarman with the patronage of Rajaraja Chola. The vihara building survived in dilapidated condition till 1867, when Jesuit missionaries demolished it. Since 1856 about 350 Buddha bronzes have been found at Nagapattinam, dating from the 11th to the 16th century.
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Spanish: <i>Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion</i>), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition (<i>Inquisicion espanola</i>), was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.<br/><br/> The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. The regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain.<br/><br/> The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, after a period of declining influence in the preceding century.
The Indian general election of 1951–52 elected the first Lok Sabha since India became independent in August 1947. Until this point, the Indian Constituent Assembly had served as an interim legislature.<br/><br/> The Indian National Congress (INC) won a landslide victory, winning 364 of the 489 seats and 45% of the total votes polled. This was over four times as many votes as the second-largest party. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country.
Kuragala Cave Temple is an ancient Buddhist holy site in the Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka which has roots in the pre-Christian era and declared at the beginning of 20th century as a protected place by the department of archaeology of the country.<br/><br/> There is a small mosque and a shrine at the place used by Dafthar Jailani, a Sufi group, for prayer. The mosque and the temple have co-existed since 10th century CE.
Jan Hus, often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, early Christian reformer and Master at Charles University in Prague. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical Reformation, Hus is considered the first Church reformer, as he lived before Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli.<br/><br/> Hus was a key predecessor to Protestantism, and his teachings had a strong influence on the states of Western Europe, most immediately in the approval of a reformist Bohemian religious denomination, and, more than a century later, on Martin Luther himself. He was burned at the stake in 1415 for 'heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church'.
The English 'brothel' comes from the French bordel or 'place of prostitution'.<br/><br/> Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500 – c. 1566) was a leading artist of the second generation of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, who were influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Unlike some of these Hemessen had visited Italy at least once, and also Fontainebleau, where there was at the time a colony of Italian artists, the First School of Fontainebleau, working on the palace there.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873.<br/><br/> The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
Jan Wandelaar (1690, Amsterdam – 1759, Leiden), was an 18th-century painter and engraver from the Northern Netherlands.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Periplus of the Red Sea (Ancient Greek: Περίπλους τὴς Ἐρυθράς Θαλάσσης, Latin: Periplus Maris Erythraei) is a Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Indian subcontinent.<br/><br/> The text has been ascribed to different dates between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, but a mid-1st century date is now the most commonly accepted. Although the author is unknown, it is clearly a firsthand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean.<br/><br/> Although Erythraean Sea (Ancient Greek: Ἐρυθρά Θάλασσα) literally means 'Red Sea', to the Greeks it included the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.
Brueghel's satirical comment reflects the collapse of 'Tulipomania' in the 1640s. In the painting, speculators are depicted as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly of Tulipomania, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor's court and one is carried away to the grave.<br/><br/> Tulip mania or tulipomania (Dutch names include: tulpenmanie, tulpomanie, tulpenwoede, tulpengekte and bollengekte) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.<br/><br/> At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.
Brueghel's satirical comment reflects the collapse of 'Tulipomania' in the 1640s. In the painting, speculators are depicted as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly of Tulipomania, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor's court and one is carried away to the grave.<br/><br/> Tulip mania or tulipomania (Dutch names include: tulpenmanie, tulpomanie, tulpenwoede, tulpengekte and bollengekte) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.<br/><br/> At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.
Oriental carpets more than two centuries old have rarely survived and are rarely represented in Islamic Art since Sunni Islam (and to a lesser extent Shia) eschews representational art in favour of precisely the repetetive geometric symbols and arabesques found, for example, in oriental carpets.<br/><br/> This means that most examples of 17th century and earlier oriental carpets, mainly produced in Muslim lands, are only to be found in paintings from Christian lands where rich oriental carpets were associated with wealth, power and taste.<br/><br/> Such carpets featured as an important decorative feature in paintings from the 14th century onwards, leading to the dichotomy that there are more depictions of oriental carpets produced before the 17th century in European paintings than there are actual oriental carpets surviving from the same period.<br/><br/> Because of this European paintings have proved an invaluable source of reference for the study of the history of carpetmaking and carpets.
Jan van Eyck was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges and one of the most significant Northern Renaissance artists of the 15th century.<br/><br/> In addition to the Ghent Altarpiece and the illuminated miniatures of the Turin-Milan Hours, about 20 surviving paintings are confidently attributed to him, all dated between 1432 and 1439.
Kandahar (Ancient Greek, Alexandria Arachosia) is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 468,200 as of 2006. It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city.<br/><br/> Kandahar is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit.<br/><br/> Many empires have long fought over the city, due to its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the capital of the Hotaki dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Afghan Empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan.<br/><br/> From 1996 to 2001, Kandahar served as the capital of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Since 2002, the city is slowly being rebuilt.
The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies.<br/><br/> The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese. It also traded with India and established ports, factories and warehouses there.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
The Gold Coast of West Africa was captured from the Portuguese by the Dutch West India Company (GWC) in 1637, and was used as a port for trading gold, as well as for its fleets’ long voyages to Asia where the Netherlands controlled majority stakes in the spice trade, and to the Americas where the GWC shipped slaves. The Gold Coast remained in Dutch hands until 1872-4 when the British moved in and made it a Crown Colony. Ghana achieved independence in 1957.<br/><br/> In this oil painting, the director-general wears a bright red jacket with richly embroidered cuffs. Below his tricorn hat he wears a wig, but a long ponytail is visible and there are traces of powder on his shoulder. Pranger points to an ivory staff of office on the table, which is covered with a green cloth bearing the initials GWC—'Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie'—meaning the Dutch West India Company. Behind him a servant waits patiently, holding a ‘pajong’, a ceremonial parasol, under his arm.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ('opperhoofd') of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817 - 1824. During his first stay on the island (1809–1813) he had an affair with a Japanese woman and the couple had a child, which died in 1813. When he arrived in Dejima for the second time in August 1817 he was accompanied by his wife Titia Bergsma, whom he had married in 1815, his son Johannes, and Petronella Munts, a Dutch wetnurse and an Indonesian maid. The ladies and the little boy were not allowed to stay. In the short time they stayed there, till December 1817, they were often drawn by artists who had only ever seen Japanese women. 500 hundred different prints were made and widely circulated throughout the country.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ('opperhoofd') of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817 - 1824. During his first stay on the island (1809–1813) he had an affair with a Japanese woman and the couple had a child, which died in 1813. When he arrived in Dejima for the second time in August 1817 he was accompanied by his wife Titia Bergsma, whom he had married in 1815, his son Johannes, and Petronella Munts, a Dutch wetnurse and an Indonesian maid. The ladies and the little boy were not allowed to stay. In the short time they stayed there, till December 1817, they were often drawn by artists who had only ever seen Japanese women. 500 hundred different prints were made and widely circulated throughout the country.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ('opperhoofd') of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817 - 1824. During his first stay on the island (1809–1813) he had an affair with a Japanese woman and the couple had a child, which died in 1813. When he arrived in Dejima for the second time in August 1817 he was accompanied by his wife Titia Bergsma, whom he had married in 1815, his son Johannes, and Petronella Munts, a Dutch wetnurse and an Indonesian maid. The ladies and the little boy were not allowed to stay. In the short time they stayed there, till December 1817, they were often drawn by artists who had only ever seen Japanese women. 500 hundred different prints were made and widely circulated throughout the country.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ('opperhoofd') of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817 - 1824. During his first stay on the island (1809–1813) he had an affair with a Japanese woman and the couple had a child, which died in 1813. When he arrived in Dejima for the second time in August 1817 he was accompanied by his wife Titia Bergsma, whom he had married in 1815, his son Johannes, and Petronella Munts, a Dutch wetnurse and an Indonesian maid. The ladies and the little boy were not allowed to stay. In the short time they stayed there, till December 1817, they were often drawn by artists who had only ever seen Japanese women. 500 hundred different prints were made and widely circulated throughout the country.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ('opperhoofd') of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817 - 1824. During his first stay on the island (1809–1813) he had an affair with a Japanese woman and the couple had a child, which died in 1813. When he arrived in Dejima for the second time in August 1817 he was accompanied by his wife Titia Bergsma, whom he had married in 1815, his son Johannes, and Petronella Munts, a Dutch wetnurse and an Indonesian maid. The ladies and the little boy were not allowed to stay. In the short time they stayed there, till December 1817, they were often drawn by artists who had only ever seen Japanese women. 500 hundred different prints were made and widely circulated throughout the country.
René Descartes ( 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist who spent most of his life in the Dutch Republic.<br/><br/> He has been dubbed the father of modern philosophy, and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his <i>Meditations on First Philosophy</i> continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is equally apparent; the Cartesian coordinate system — allowing reference to a point in space as a set of numbers, and allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system (and conversely, shapes to be described as equations) — was named after him.<br/><br/> He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the scientific revolution and has been described as an example of genius.
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae, or Argos. He and his brother Menelaus were also known as 'Atrides', the sons of Atreus. Agamemnon had four children by his wife Clytaemnestra. Menelaus was married to Clytaemnestra's sister, Helen. When Helen was abducted—or seduced—by the Trojan Paris, the result was the Trojan war. Agamemnon was a central player in the war as both commander of the Greek fleet and Helen's brother-in-law. In order to summon up winds to propel his ships, he was forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia to the goddess Artemis. This eventually led to his downfall. Clytaemnestra never forgave Agamemnon for the death of her daughter and took her revenge years later when he returned from Troy.
Hirohito, the Shōwa Emperor (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989), was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to exclusively by his posthumous name Emperor Shōwa.<br/><br/> At the start of his reign, Japan was one of the great world powers and one of the five permanent members of the council of the League of Nations. Emperor Hirohito headed Japan's imperial expansion, militarization, and involvement in World War II. After the war, he was not prosecuted, but remained emperor, though with significantly reduced power.
Comfort women were women and girls forced into a prostitution corps created by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The name 'comfort women' is a translation of a Japanese name <i>ianfu</i> (慰安婦). Ianfu is a euphemism for <i>shōfu</i> (娼婦) whose meaning is 'prostitute'.<br/><br/> Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 to as high as 400,000, but the exact numbers are still being researched and debated. Many of the women were from occupied countries, including Korea, China, and the Philippines, although women from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and other Japanese-occupied territories were used for military brothels.<br/><br/> Stations were located in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, then Malaya, Thailand, Burma, New Guinea, Hong Kong, Macau, and French Indochina. A smaller number of women of European origin from the Netherlands and Australia were also involved.
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of Medway or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch, under nominal command of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, bombarded and then captured the town of Sheerness, sailed up the River Thames to Gravesend, then up the River Medway to Chatham, where they burnt three capital ships and ten lesser naval vessels and towed away the Unity and the Royal Charles, pride and normal flagship of the English fleet. The raid led to a quick end to the war and a favourable peace for the Dutch.
Fort St George (or historically, White Town) is the name of the first English (later British) fortress in India, founded in 1644 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai.<br/><br/> The East India Company, which had entered India around 1600 for trading activities, had begun licensed trading at Surat, which was its initial bastion. However, to secure its trade lines and commercial interests in the spice trade, it felt the necessity of a port closer to the Malaccan Straits, and succeeded in purchasing a piece of coastal land, originally called Chennirayarpattinam or Channapatnam, from a Vijayanagar chieftain named Damerla Chennappa Nayaka based in Chandragiri, where the Company began the construction of a harbour and a fort.<br/><br/> The fort was completed on 23 April 1644, coinciding with St George's Day, celebrated in honour of the patron saint of England. The fort, hence christened Fort St George, faced the sea and some fishing villages, and it soon became the hub of merchant activity.<br/><br/> The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings. The fort is one of 163 notified areas in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587—1629) was an officer of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) who held two terms as its Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Renowned for his administering skills, he was also a cruel and ruthless leader, remembered most for his quote: 'Despair not, spare your enemies not, for God is with us.' <br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies.<br/><br/> The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563—1611) was a Dutch Protestant merchant, traveller and historian who is credited with copying top-secret Portuguese nautical maps while working as secretary for the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa in the 1580s. He published several books in Holland which enabled the maritime passage to the elusive East Indies to be opened to the English and the Dutch. This enabled the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to break the 16th century monopoly enjoyed by the Portuguese on trade with the East Indies and the Spice Islands.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
The land council was a judicial body in the Dutch East Indies. It was the ordinary court for both indigenous people in civil and criminal cases and for non-European foreigners in criminal cases.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head and torso and the tail of a fish. Mermaids are represented broadly in folklore, literature, and popular culture. In Japan, mermaids are called ningyo or 'fish people'. An old Japanese belief was that eating the flesh of a ningyo could grant immortality.
The Dutch traveler Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1562-1611) lived in Goa on the west coast of India between 1583 and 1588, where he acted as secretary to the Portuguese archbishop Dom Vicente da Fonseca.<br/><br/> After he returned to the Low Countries, in 1592 he collaborated with the Dutch scholar, Berent ten Broecke, to write a series of accounts of the Indies using his extensive first-hand experience as well as a number of Iberian maps, books, and manuscripts he had collected during his travels.<br/><br/> Linschoten’s works circulated widely and were repeatedly reissued and translated in Europe, but the most famous is the celebrated Itinerario, first published in 1596. It describes all of maritime Asia from Mozambique to Japan and is illustrated by three maps and thirty-six coloured engravings made from original drawings by Linschoten.
'Carte faite sur les lieux par Daniel Tavernier en plusieurs voiages qu´il a fait au Tonquin' or 'Map of the places [visited] by Daniel Tavernier during several voyages to Tonkin'. Map / Chart by Jan Luyken (1649-1712). China's Hainan Island is shown, but not the Paracels of Spratlys Islands.