>Robert's birth-date is usually given as 1054, but may have been 1051. As a child he was betrothed to Margaret, the heiress of Maine, but she died before they could be wed, and Robert didn't marry until his late forties. In his youth he was reported to be courageous and skillful in military exercises. He was, however, also prone to laziness and weakness of character that discontented nobles and the King of France exploited to stir discord with his father William. He was unsatisfied with the share of power allotted to him and quarreled with his father and brothers fiercely. In 1063, his father made him the Count of Maine in view of his engagement to Margaret. The county was presumably run by his father until 1069 when the county revolted and reverted to Hugh V of Maine.
>In 1077, Robert instigated his first insurrection against his father as the result of a prank played by his younger brothers William Rufus and Henry, who had dumped a full chamber-pot over his head. Robert was enraged and, urged on by his companions, started a brawl with his brothers that was only interrupted by the intercession of their father. Feeling that his dignity was wounded, Robert was further angered when King William failed to punish his brothers. The next day Robert and his followers attempted to seize the castle of Rouen. The siege failed, but, when King William ordered their arrest, Robert and his companions took refuge with Hugh of Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais. They were forced to flee again when King William attacked their base at Rémalard.
Post historical figures who had one hell of a life
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>Robert fled to Flanders to the court of his uncle Robert I, Count of Flanders, before plundering the county of the Vexin and causing such mayhem that his father King William allied himself with King Philip I of France to stop his rebellious son. Relations were not helped when King William discovered that his wife, Robert's mother Queen Matilda, was secretly sending her son Robert money. At a battle in January 1079, Robert unhorsed King William in combat and succeeded in wounding him, stopping his attack only when he recognized his father's voice. Humiliated, King William cursed his son. King William then raised the siege and returned to Rouen.
>At Easter 1080, father and son were reunited by the efforts of Queen Matilda, and a truce lasted until she died in 1083. Robert seems to have left court soon after the death of his mother, Queen Matilda, and spent several years travelling throughout France, Germany and Flanders. He visited Italy seeking the hand of the great heiress Matilda of Tuscany (b. 1046) but was unsuccessful. During this period as a wandering knight Robert sired several illegitimate children. His illegitimate son, Richard, seems to have spent much of his life at the royal court of his uncle William Rufus. This Richard was killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest in 1099 as was his uncle, King William Rufus, the next year. An illegitimate daughter was later married to Helias of Saint-Saens.
>In 1087, the elder William died of wounds suffered from a riding accident during a siege of Mantes. At his death he reportedly wanted to disinherit his eldest son but was persuaded to divide the Norman dominions between his two eldest sons. To Robert he granted the Duchy of Normandy and to William Rufus he granted the Kingdom of England. The youngest son Henry was given money to buy land. Of the two elder sons Robert was considered to be much the weaker and was generally preferred by the nobles who held lands on both sides of the English Channel since they could more easily circumvent his authority. At the time of their father's death the two brothers made an agreement to be each other's heir. However this peace lasted less than a year when barons joined with Robert to displace Rufus in the Rebellion of 1088. It was not a success, in part because Robert never showed up to support the English rebels.
>In 1096, Robert formed an army and left for the Holy Land on the First Crusade. At the time of his departure he was reportedly so poor that he often had to stay in bed for lack of clothes. In order to raise money for the crusade he mortgaged his duchy to his brother William for the sum of 10,000 marks.
>When William II died on 2 August 1100, Robert was on his return journey from the Crusade and was about to marry a wealthy young bride to raise funds to buy back his duchy. As a result, his brother Henry was able to seize the crown of England for himself. Upon his return, Robert – urged by Flambard and several Anglo-Norman barons – claimed the English crown on the basis of the short-lived agreement of 1087. In 1101, he led an invasion to oust his brother Henry; he landed at Portsmouth with his army, but his lack of popular support among the English (Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, was decidedly against him and the Charter of Liberties issued at Henry's coronation was well liked) as well as Robert's own mishandling of the invasion tactics enabled Henry to resist the invasion. Robert was forced by diplomacy to renounce his claim to the English throne in the Treaty of Alton. It is said that Robert was a brilliant field commander but a terrible general in the First Crusade. His government (or misgovernment) of Normandy as well as his failed invasion of England suggests that his military skills were little better than his political skills.
>In 1105, however, Robert's continual stirring of discord with his brother in England as well as civil disorder in Normandy itself prompted Henry to invade Normandy. Orderic reports on an incident at Easter 1105 when Robert was supposed to hear a sermon by the venerable Serlo, Bishop of Sées. Robert spent the night before sporting with harlots and jesters, and while he lay in bed sleeping off his drunkenness his unworthy friends stole his clothes. He awoke to find himself naked and had to remain in bed and missed the sermon.
>n 1106, Henry defeated Robert's army decisively at the Battle of Tinchebray and claimed Normandy as a possession of the English crown, a situation that endured for almost a century. Captured after the battle, Robert was imprisoned in Devizes Castle for twenty years before being moved to Cardiff.
>In 1134, Robert died in Cardiff Castle in his early eighties. Robert Curthose, sometime Duke of Normandy, eldest son of the Conqueror, was buried in the abbey church of St. Peter in Gloucester. The exact place of his burial is difficult to establish – legend states that he requested to be buried before the High Altar. His effigy carved in bog oak, however, lies on a mortuary chest decorated with the attributed arms of the Nine Worthies (missing one – Joshua, and replaced with the arms of Edward the Confessor). The effigy dates from about 100 years after his death and the mortuary chest much later. The church subsequently has become Gloucester Cathedral.
And that's all i have.
Interesting story, thanks for posting user
JUST
KEK
matilda sounds qt
The way she got married to William the Conqueror is hilarious.
>when Duke William II of Normandy (later known as William the Conqueror) sent his representative to ask for Matilda's hand in marriage, she told the representative that she was far too high-born to consider marrying a bastard. After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse by her long braids, threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants and rode off.
William the Conqueror confirmed for tsun?
>teddy
>lord byron
i woke up from a nap 10 minutes ago so im not able to think but those two will always come to mind
Despite lacking the decisiveness that a medieval leader needs to have, I can somewhat respect Robert Curthose compared to his asshole father. Robert was a paragon of chivalry. After William the Bastard died (very painfully I might add), Robert released 2 of William's hostages, Ulf (Harold Godwinson's youngest son) and Duncan, son of King Malcolm III of Scotland. He even knighted the 2 of them before he sent them off on their way. Compare that to what William Rufus to Earl Morcar who unfortunately spent the remainder of his years in captivity.
Robert Curthose was also bros with Edgar Atheling, the true heir to England. Edgar even accompanied Curthose on the First Crusade. I'm half-inclined to think that if Robert had been victorious over his brother Henry, the line of Cerdic might have survived. It's possible that Robert Curthose's son might marry a daughter of Edgar Atheling (or what Henry Beauclerc did and marry Edith, Edgar's niece). Robert might replace the Anglo-Norman lords who supported his brother with Anglo-Saxons who might be inclined to curry favor with a Crusading hero who was also friends with the last Anglo-Saxon heir to the throne.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a big budget well-written depiction of William the Bastard and his family. That shit writes itself. Robert warring against his own father and wounding the Bastard in the arm before he realized that he injured his own father. After all, the English served the Bastard in his chastisement of Maine; this was the 1st time in recorded history that English troops set foot in France and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. Robert would be of higher status than even his father since he was amongst the 1st rank of Crusaders when they took Jerusalem.
The Church also objected to their marriage because they were 3rd cousins.
She was also a vindictive cunt. When she was a teenager, Matilda was infatuated with an Anglo-Saxon envoy to her father's court, Brithric Mau. Brithric didn't reciprocate her advances and returned home. Years later, Matilda got her revenge by seizing Brithric on trumped-up charges and acquired his estates.
Robert's brother-in-law Stephen of Blois was part of the First Crusade. He abandoned the siege of Antioch because he thought it was hopeless. Everyone including his wife Adela (the Bastard's 5th daughter) mocked and shamed him so much that he joined the ill-fated Crusade of 1101. Stephen died on march, but salvaged his reputation somewhat.
Stephen's 2nd son (also named Stephen) would seize the throne of England after Henry Beauclerc's death, thus sparing the Anarchy. King Stephen was similar to his uncle Robert by being a good-natured guy who wasn't willing to do cruel and ruthless measures as king.
>This Richard was killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest in 1099 as was his uncle, King William Rufus, the next year.
The Bastard's 2nd son (who was also named Richard) was killed in the New Forest too. Some people say that it was divine retribution for the Bastard driving people out of their homes so that he expand his hunting grounds.
>A no name, scrawny, knock-kneed mulatto girl from the slums of St. Louis.
>Wacky international hi-jinks
>The most beautiful woman of the jazz age, and the toast of Paris.
Josephine Baker had a fascinating life. The french, who loved her to death, tend to play up her role as a spy for the French Resistance, but she admits in her memoir that she spent most of the war sick.
>According to Yusupov's account, Yusupov invited Rasputin to his home shortly after midnight, and ushered him into the basement. Yusupov offered Rasputin tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. At first, Rasputin refused the cakes, but then began to eat them. To Yusupov's surprise, Rasputin did not appear to be affected by the poison.[3]:590 Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. Taking a revolver from Dmitry Pavlovich, Yusupov returned to the basement and, referring to a crucifix that was in the room, told Rasputin that he'd "better look at the crucific and say a prayer," then shot him once in the chest. Believing him to be dead, they then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat, in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night.[3]:590-1 Upon returning to the Moika Palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead.[3]:591 Suddenly, Rasputin leapt up and attacked Yusupov, who - with some effort - freed himself and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed, and made it into the palace's courtyard before being shot by Purishkevich and collapsing into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped Rasputin's body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Neva river.[3]:591-2
And after all of that, the autopsy revealed he drowned to death.
>God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Saul's courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, and brave in battle. So David enters Saul's service as one of the royal armour-bearers, and plays the lyre to soothe the king, who from time to time is troubled by an evil spirit.[12]
>War comes between Israel and the Philistines, and the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat.[13] David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul's army, declares that he can defeat Goliath.[14] Refusing the king's offer of the royal armour,[15] he kills Goliath with his sling.[16] Saul inquires the name of the young hero's father.[17]
>Saul sets David over his army. All Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him ("What else can he wish but the kingdom?").[18] Saul plots his death, but Saul's son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his father's schemes and David flees. He goes first to Nob, where he is fed by the priest Ahimelech and given Goliath's sword, and then to Gath, the Philistine city of Goliath, intending to seek refuge with King Achish there. Achish's servants or officials question his loyalty, and David sees that he is in danger there.[19] He goes next to the cave of Adullam, where his family join him.[20] From there he goes to seek refuge with the king of Moab, but the prophet Gad advises him to leave and he goes to the Forest of Hereth,[21] and then to Keilah, where is involved in a further battle with the Philistines. Saul plans to besiege Keilah so that he can capture David, so David leaves the city in order to protect its inhabitants.[22] From there he takes refuge in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph.[23]
>Jonathan meets with David again and confirms his loyalty to David as the future king. The people of Ziph notify Saul that David is taking refuge in their territory, Saul seeks confirmation and plans to capture David in the Wilderness of Maon, but his attention is diverted by a renewed Philistine invasion and David is able to secure some respite at Ein Gedi.[24] Returning from battle with the Philistines, Saul heads to Ein Gedi in pursuit of David and enters the cave where, as it happens, David and his supporters are hiding, "to attend to his needs". David realises he has an opportunity to kill Saul, but this is not his intention: he secretly cuts off a corner of Saul's robe and when Saul has left the cave he comes out to pay homage to Saul as the king and to demonstrate, using the piece of robe, that he holds no malice towards Saul. The two are thus reconciled and Saul recognises David as his successor.[25] Anglican theologian Donald Spence Jones holds that, "one of the most beautiful characteristics of David’s many-sided nature was this enduring loyalty to Saul and to Saul’s house".[26]
>Alternatively, or (in the opinion of some commentators) subsequently,[27] Saul and David were reconciled following a similar occurrence when David was able to infiltrate Saul's camp on the hill of Hachilah and remove his spear and a jug of water from his side while he and his guards lay asleep. In this account (1 Samuel 26), David is advised by Abishai that this is his opportunity to kill Saul, but David declines, saying he will not "stretch out [his] hand against the Lord’s anointed".[28] David shows, by removing Saul's spear, that he had chance to take Saul's life but did not do so. Saul confesses that he has been wrong to pursue David, blesses him and promises that he "will do great things and surely triumph".[29] David prays that his own protection will be like his protection of Saul. The New King James Version and the New International Version both identify this episode as a second reconciliation between Saul and David [30] (with no account of any intervening dispute) but theologian Albert Barnes says the incident "is of a nature unlikely to have occurred more than once".[31]
>This, it seems, was their last interview: after this they saw each other no more.[32]
>A different tradition is recalled in 1 Samuel 27:1-4, namely that Saul ceased to pursue David because David took refuge a second time [33] with Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. Robert Jamieson, in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary, suggests that Saul and David had "become irreconcilable" despite the reconciliations described in 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26.[34] Achish permits David to reside in Ziklag, close to the border between Gath and Judea, from where he leads raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, but leads Achish to believe he is attacking the Israelites in Judah, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites. Achish believes that David had become a loyal vassal, but he never wins the trust of the princes or lords of Gath and at their request Achish instructs David to remain behind to guard the camp when the Philistines march against Saul.[35] David returns to Ziklag.[36] Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle,[37] and David is anointed king over Judah.[38] In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, and war ensues until Ish-Bosheth is murdered.[39]
>With the death of Saul's son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all of Israel.[40] He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital.[41] He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city,[42] intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of his sons.[43] Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David stating, "your throne shall be established forever."[44] David wins more victories over the Philistines, while the Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites and king Hadadezer of Aram-Zobah pay tribute after being defeated.[45]
>During a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba [46] and causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite.[47] In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him stating, "the sword shall never depart from your house."[48] In fulfillment of these words, David's son Absalom rebels.[49] The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom's forces are routed, and Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, and killed by Joab, contrary to David's order. Joab was the commander of David's army.[50] David laments the death of his favourite son: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"[51] When David is old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king.[52] Bathsheba and Nathan go to David and obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba's son Solomon as king, according to David's earlier promise, and the revolt of Adonijah is put down.[53] David dies at the age of 70 after reigning for 40 years,[54] and on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to take revenge on his enemies.[55]
ramesses ii
>lived 90 years
>had over 100 kids with dozens of wives and concubines
>when he died, people panicked because nobody alive knew an existence without him as pharaoh, and they all thought the world would end
>Like his father, Kim had a fear of flying[108] and always traveled by private armored train for state visits to Russia and China.[109] The BBC reported that Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who traveled with Kim across Russia by train, told reporters that Kim had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day and ate them with silver chopsticks.[110]
>A famous legend has persisted from ancient times. As deacon in Rome, St Lawrence was responsible for the material goods of the Church and the distribution of alms to the poor.[8] St Ambrose of Milan relates that when the treasures of the Church were demanded of St Lawrence by the Prefect of Rome, he brought forward the poor, to whom he had distributed the treasure as alms.[9] "Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you; to which I will add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the Church's crown."[5] The Prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared with hot coals beneath it, and had Lawrence placed on it, hence St Lawrence's association with the gridiron. After the martyr had suffered pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared: "I'm well done. Turn me over!"[8][10] From this derives his patronage of cooks, chefs, and comedians.
I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
en.m.wikipedia.org
>Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he confessed. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes fell from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed.
>When a majority of the nation's newspapers expressed support of the strikers, Goldman and Berkman resolved to assassinate Frick, an action they expected would inspire the workers to revolt against the capitalist system. Berkman chose to carry out the assassination, and ordered Goldman to stay behind in order to explain his motives after he went to jail. He would be in charge of the deed; she of the word.[41] Berkman tried and failed to make a bomb, then set off for Pittsburgh to buy a gun and a suit of decent clothes. Goldman, meanwhile, decided to help fund the scheme through prostitution. Remembering the character of Sonya in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment (1866), she mused: "She had become a prostitute in order to support her little brothers and sisters...Sensitive Sonya could sell her body; why not I?"[42] Once on the street, she caught the eye of a man who took her into a saloon, bought her a beer, gave her ten dollars, informed her she did not have "the knack," and told her to quit the business. She was "too astounded for speech".[42] She wrote to Helena, claiming illness, and asked her for fifteen dollars.[43]