Augustus II or Frederick-Augustus I was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. He was born in 1670 at Dresden and died in 1733. He was the second son of John George III, elector of Saxony. He succeeded his brother in the electorate in 1694, and the Polish throne having become vacant, in 1696, by the death of John Sobieski, Augustus presented himself as a candidate for it and was successful. He joined with Peter the Great in the war against Charles XII of Sweden, invaded Livonia, but was defeated by Charles near Riga, and at Clissow, between Warsaw and Cracow. In 1704 he was deposed, and two years later formally resigned the crown to Stanislaus I, now devoting himself to his Saxon dominions. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles at Pultowa, the Poles recalled Augustus, who united himself anew with Peter. The two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania, but the Swedish general Steinbock defeated the allies at Gadebusch, on December the 20th, 1712. The death of Charles XII put an end to the war, and Augustus concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed in Poland against the Saxon troops, but through the mediation of Peter an arrangement was concluded by which the Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom. Augustus now gave himself wholly up to voluptuousness and a life of pleasure. His court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe. The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of their king, and the last years of his reign were characterized by boundless luxury and corruption of manners. His wife left him one son. The Countess of Konigsmark bore him the celebrated commander Marshal Saxe (Maurice of Saxony). Research Augustus II
Corn Laws are various enactments designed to ensure an adequate supply of cereal foods to a country, usually by protection allotted to its own farmers.
In Britain the name was commonly given to certain statutes passed to protect the agricultural interest in Britain. The first form of interference by legislative enactment with the corn-trade in England, beginning soon after the Conquest, was the prohibition of exportation, an expedient in those times to prevent scarcity in a sudden emergency. The exportation of grain was prohibited in the reign of Edward III in 1360-61, Calais and other appointed ports being excepted. This provision was relaxed by a statute of Richard II in 1394, by which exportation was permitted from all ports not excepted by royal proclamation.
In 1436, under Henry VI, the exportation of grain was permitted without license whenever the price of wheat did not exceed 6s. 8d per quarter, and barley 3s. 4d. In 1463 a statute of Edward IV prohibited importation until the price exceeded the limit at which exportation was permitted. This was the beginning of protection, properly so called.
At the restoration of Charles II duties were imposed both on exportation and importation, while the old principle of a standard price, beyond which exportation was prohibited, was retained. At the Revolution a new policy still more favourable to the agricultural interest was adopted. By act 1 William and Mary, cap xii., a bounty was granted on the exportation of corn, and the duties on exportation were abolished. The amount of the bounty was 5s. for every quarter of wheat exported while the price was at or under 48s, with corresponding prices for other grains.
The exportation of grain reached its highest point about 1750. From this period the country, which had always been normally a grain-exporting country, began, on account of the increase of population and expansion of mechanical industries, to fall off in this respect, and in 1778 became permanently a grain-importing country. From this time the main efforts of the agricultural interest, largely represented in the parliament and the ruling classes of the kingdom, were concentrated on obtaining the imposition of prohibitory duties on foreign grain. In 1804, for instance, if the price of corn was below 63s. a prohibitory duty of 24s. 3d. was laid on what was imported; if between 63s and 66s, a duty of 2s. 6d; and only when the price at home had risen as high as 66s per quarter was the foreign grain allowed to pass at a nominal duty of 6d. With variations of more or less importance this sliding-scale of prohibitory duties continued in force until 1846, when Sir Robert Peel, influenced by the corn-law repeal agitation, and more especially by the Anti-Corn-law League, headed by Cobden and Bright, carried a measure repealing the duty on imported corn, except a nominal sum of 1s per quarter, which also in 1869 was done away with, but was temporarily re-imposed in 1902-1903. Research Corn Laws
The Council of Constance was a general council of the Church of Rome, held between 1414 and 1418. The German emperor, the pope, 33 cardinals, 3 patriarchs, 47 archbishops, 145 bishops, 124 abbots, 750 doctors, and about 18,000 priests and monks, besides many princes and counts, were present at this assembly, which condemned to deathHuss and Jerome of Prague, expelled the rival popes John XXIII, Gregory XII, and Benedict XIII, and elected Martin V to the papal chair. Research Council of Constance
Bendict XIV (real name Prospero Lambertini) was an Italian pope. He was born in 1675 at Bologna and died in 1758. A man of superior talents, passionately fond of learning, of historical researches, and monuments of art, Benedict XIII. made him, in 1727, bishop of Ancona; in 1728 cardinal, and in 1732 archbishop of Bologna. In every station he fulfilled his duties with the most conscientious zeal. He succeeded Clement XII as pope in 1740, and showed himself a liberal patron of literature and science. He was the author of several esteemed religious works. Research Benedict XIV
Alphonso XII was King of Spain. He was born in 1857 and died in 1885. The only son of Queen Isabella II and her cousin Francis of Assisi, he left Spain with his mother when she was driven from the throne by the revolution of 1868, and until 1874 resided partly in France and partly in Austria. In the latter year he studied for a time at the English military college, Sandhurst, being then known as Prince of the Asturias. His mother had given up her claims to the throne in 1870 in his favour, and in 1874 Alphonso came forward himself as claimant, and in the end of the year was proclaimed by General MartinezCampos as king. He now passed over into Spain and was enthusiastically received, most of the Spaniards being by this time tired of the republican government, which had failed to put down the Carlist party. Alphonso XII was successful in bringing the Carlist struggle to an end in 1876, and henceforth he reigned with little disturbance. He married first his cousin Maria de las Mercedes, daughter of the Duire de Montpensier; second, Maria Christina, archduchess of Austria, whom he left a widow with two daughters, a son (later Alphonso XIII) being born posthumously. Research Alphonso XII
Anne Boleyn (Anne Bullen) was the second wife of Henry VIII. She was born in 1501 or 1507 and died in 1536. She was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.
She attended Mary, sister of Henry, on her marriage with Louis XII., to France, as lady of honour, returning to England about 1522, and becoming lady of honour to Queen Catherine. The king, who soon grew passionately enamoured of her, without waiting for the official completion of his divorce from Catherine, married Anne in January, 1533, having previously created her Marchioness of Pembroke. When her pregnancy revealed the secret, Thomas Cranmer declared the first marriage void and the second valid, and Anne was crowned at Westminster with unparalleled splendour. On September the 7th, 1533, she gave birth to a baby girl who was to become Elizabeth I.
She was speedily, however, in turn supplanted by her own lady of honour, Jane Seymour. Suspicions of infidelity were alleged against her, and in 1536 the queen was brought before a jury of peers on a charge of treason and adultery. Smeaton, a musician, who was arrested with others, confessed that he had enjoyed her favours, and on May the 17th she was condemned to death. The clemency of Henry VIII went no further than the substitution of the scaffold for the stake, and she was beheaded on May the 19th, 1536. Whether she was guilty or not has never been decided; that she was exceedingly indiscreet is certain. Five hundred years later demands were made for her to be granted a royal pardon on the grounds that charges against her were obviously fabricated by the king who simply wanted to be rid of her. Research Anne Boleyn
Augustus II or Frederick-Augustus I was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. He was born in 1670 at Dresden and died in 1733. He was the second son of John George III, elector of Saxony. He succeeded his brother in the electorate in 1694, and the Polish throne having become vacant, in 1696, by the death of John Sobieski, Augustus presented himself as a candidate for it and was successful. He joined with Peter the Great in the war against Charles XII of Sweden, invaded Livonia, but was defeated by Charles near Riga, and at Clissow, between Warsaw and Cracow. In 1704 he was deposed, and two years later formally resigned the crown to Stanislaus I, now devoting himself to his Saxon dominions. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles at Pultowa, the Poles recalled Augustus, who united himself anew with Peter. The two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania, but the Swedish general Steinbock defeated the allies at Gadebusch, on December the 20th, 1712. The death of Charles XII put an end to the war, and Augustus concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed in Poland against the Saxon troops, but through the mediation of Peter an arrangement was concluded by which the Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom. Augustus now gave himself wholly up to voluptuousness and a life of pleasure. His court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe. The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of their king, and the last years of his reign were characterized by boundless luxury and corruption of manners. His wife left him one son. The Countess of Konigsmark bore him the celebrated commander Marshal Saxe (Maurice of Saxony). Research Augustus II
Pierre Du Terrail, Seigneur De Bayard was a French knight. He was born in 1476 at Catle Bayard and died in 1524. He was known as chevalier sanspeur et sans reproche (knight without fear and without reproach). At the age of eighteen he accompanied Charles VIII to Italy, and in the battle at Verona took a standard. At the beginning of the reign of Louis XII, in a battle near Milan, he entered the city at the heels of the fugitives, and was taken prisoner, but dismissed by Ludovico Sforza without ransom.
In Apulia he killed his calumniator, Sotomayor, and afterwards defended a bridge over the Garigliano singly against the Spaniards, receiving for this exploit as a coat of arms a porcupine, with the motto Vires agminis unus habet ('one has the strength of a band'). He distinguished himself equally against the Genoese and the Venetians, and, when Julius II declared himself against France, went to the assistance of the Duke of Ferrara.
He was severely wounded at the assault of Brescia, but returned, as soon as cured, to the camp of Gaston de Foix, before Ravenna, and after new exploits was again dangerously wounded in the retreat from Pavia. In the war commenced by Ferdinand the Catholic he displayed the same heroism, and the fatal reverses which embittered the last years of Louis XII only added to the personal glory of Bayard. When Francis I ascended the throne he sent Bayard into Dauphine to open a passage over the Alps and through Piedmont. Prosper Colonna lay in wait for him, but was made prisoner by Bayard, who immediately after further distinguished himself in the battle of Marignano.
After his defence of Mezieres against the invading army of Charles V he was saluted in Paris as the saviour of his country, receiving the honour paid to a prince of the blood. His presence reduced the revolted Genoese to obedience, but failed to prevent the expulsion of the French after the capture of Lodi. In the retreat the safety of the army was committed to Bayard, who, however, was mortally wounded by a stone from a blunderbuss in protecting the passage of the Sesia. He kissed the cross of his sword, confessed to his squire, and died on April the 30th, 1524. He was buried in a church of the Minorites, near Grenoble. Research Bayard
Benedict XIII was a pope. He was a learned and well-disposed man, originally Cardinal Orsini and Archbishop of Benevento, he became pope in 1724, He bestowed his confidence on Cardinal Coscia, who was unworthy of it, and abused it in gratifying his avarice. He died in 1730, and was succeeded by Clement XII. Research Benedict XIII
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Augustus II
