Early years.

Louis was born in 1120 in Paris, the second son of Louis VI of France and Adelaide of Maurienne. The early education of Prince Louis anticipated an ecclesiastical career. As a result, he became well-learned and exceptionally devout, but his life course changed decisively after the accidental death of his older brother Philip in 1131, when he unexpectedly became the heir to the throne of France. In October 1131, his father had him anointed and crowned by Pope Innocent II in Reims Cathedral. He spent much of his youth in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger, an advisor to his father who also served Louis well during his early years as king.

Early reign.

Following the death of Duke William X of Aquitaine, Louis VI moved quickly to have his son married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had inherited William's territory, on 25 July 1137. In this way, Louis VI sought to add the large, sprawling territory of the duchy of Aquitaine to his family's holdings in France. On 1 August 1137, shortly after the marriage, Louis VI died, and Louis VII became king. The pairing of the monkish Louis and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure; she reportedly once declared that she had thought to marry a king, only to find she had married a monk. There was a marked difference between the frosty, reserved culture of the northern court in the Íle de France, where Louis had been raised, and the rich, free-wheeling court life of the Aquitaine with which Eleanor was familiar. Louis and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix.  In the first part of his reign, Louis VII was vigorous and zealous in his prerogatives. His accession was marked by no disturbances other than uprisings by the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers, who wished to organise communes. He soon came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II, however, when the archbishopric of Bourges became vacant. The king supported the chancellor Cadurc as a candidate to fill the vacancy against the pope's nominee Pierre de la Chatre, swearing upon relics that so long as he lived, Pierre should never enter Bourges. The pope thus imposed an interdict upon the king.  Louis VII then became involved in a war with Theobald II of Champagne by permitting Raoul I of Vermandois, the seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife, Theobald II's sister, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, sister of the queen of France. As a result, Champagne decided to side with the pope in the dispute over Bourges. The war lasted two years (1142–1144) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry-le-François. At least 1500 people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities, Louis removed his armies from Champagne and returned them to Theobald. He accepted Pierre de la Chatre as archbishop of Bourges and shunned Raoul and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he declared his intention of mounting a crusade on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges. Bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay on Easter 1146.  In the meantime, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy in 1144. In exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the county of Vexin — a region vital to Norman security — to Louis. Considered a clever move by Louis at the time, it would later prove yet another step towards Angevin rule.  In June 1147, in fulfillment of his vow to mount the Second Crusade, Louis VII and his queen set out from the Basilica of St Denis, first stopping in Metz on the overland route to Syria. Soon they arrived in the Kingdom of Hungary, where they were welcomed by the king Géza II of Hungary, who was already waiting with King Conrad III of Germany. Due to his good relationships with Louis VII, Géza II asked the French king to be his son Stephen's baptism godfather. Relations between the kingdoms of France and Hungary remained cordial long after this time: decades later, Louis's daughter Margaret was taken as wife by Géza's son Béla III of Hungary. After receiving provisions from Géza, the armies continued the march to the East. Just beyond Laodicea at Honaz, the French army was ambushed by Turks. In the resulting battle of Mount Cadmus, the Turks first bombarded the French with arrows and heavy stones, then swarmed down from the mountains and massacred them. The historian Odo of Deuil gives this account: During the fighting the King Louis lost his small and famous royal guard, but he remained in good heart and nimbly and courageously scaled the side of the mountain by gripping the tree roots [...] The enemy climbed after him, hoping to capture him, and the enemy in the distance continued to fire arrows at him. But God willed that his cuirass should protect him from the arrows, and to prevent himself from being captured he defended the crag with his bloody sword, cutting off many heads and hands.  Louis VII and his army finally reached the Holy Land in 1148. His queen Eleanor supported her uncle, Raymond of Antioch, and prevailed upon Louis to help Antioch against Aleppo. But Louis VII's interest lay in Jerusalem, and so he slipped out of Antioch in secret. He united with King Conrad III of Germany and King Baldwin III of Jerusalem to lay siege to Damascus; this ended in disaster and the project was abandoned. Louis VII decided to leave the Holy Land, despite the protests of Eleanor, who still wanted to help her doomed uncle Raymond. Louis VII and the French army returned home in 1149.

A shift in the status quo.

The expedition to the Holy Land came at a great cost to the royal treasury and military. It also precipitated a conflict with Eleanor that led to the annulment of their marriage. Perhaps the marriage to Eleanor might have continued if the royal couple had produced a male heir, but this had not occurred. The Council of Beaugency found an exit clause, declaring that Louis VII and Eleanor were too closely related for their marriage to be legal, thus the marriage was annulled on 21 March 1152. The pretext of kinship was the basis for annulment, but in fact, it owed more to the state of hostility between Louis and Eleanor, with a decreasing likelihood that their marriage would produce a male heir to the throne of France. On 18 May 1152, Eleanor married the Count of Anjou, the future King Henry II of England. She gave him the duchy of Aquitaine and bore him three daughters and five sons. Louis VII led an ineffective war against Henry for having married without the authorization of his suzerain. The result was a humiliation for the enemies of Henry and Eleanor, who saw their troops routed, their lands ravaged, and their property stolen. Louis reacted by coming down with a fever and returned to the Ile-de France.  In 1154, Louis VII married Constance of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VII of Castile. She also failed to supply him with a son and heir, bearing only two daughters, Margaret and Alys. By 1157, Henry II of England began to believe that Louis might never produce a male heir, and that the succession of France would consequently be left in question. Determined to secure a claim for his family, he sent his chancellor, Thomas Becket, to press for a marriage between Margaret and Henry's heir, Henry the Young King. Louis agreed to this proposal, and by the Treaty of Gisors (1158) betrothed the young pair, giving as a dowry the Norman city of Gisors and the surrounding county of Vexin.  Louis VII was devastated when Constance died in childbirth on 4 October 1160. As he was desperate for a son, he married Adela of Champagne just 5 weeks later. To counterbalance the advantage this would give the king of France, Henry II had the marriage of their children (Henry "the Young King" and Margaret) celebrated at once. Louis understood the danger of the growing Angevin power; however, through indecision and a lack of fiscal and military resources in comparison to Henry II, he failed to oppose Angevin hegemony effectively. One of his few successes was a trip to Toulouse in 1159 to aid Raymond V, Count of Toulouse, who had been attacked by Henry II: after he entered into the city with a small escort, claiming to be visiting his sister, the Countess, Henry declared that he could not attack the city while his liege lord was inside, and went home.

Diplomacy.

At the same time, Emperor Frederick I was making good the imperial claims on Arles. When a papal schism broke out in 1159, Louis VII took the part of Pope Alexander III, the enemy of Frederick I, and after two comical failures of Frederick I to meet Louis VII at Saint Jean de Losne (on 29 August and 22 September 1162), Louis VII definitely gave himself up to the cause of Alexander III, who lived at Sens from 1163 to 1165. In return for his loyal support, Alexander III gave Louis the golden rose.  More important for English history would be Louis' support for Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he tried to reconcile with Henry II. Louis sided with Becket as much to damage Henry as out of piety – yet even he grew irritated with the stubbornness of the archbishop, asking when Becket refused Henry's conciliations, "Do you wish to be more than a Saint?"  Louis also tried to weaken Henry by supporting his rebellious sons, and encouraged Plantagenet disunity by making Henry's sons, rather than Henry himself, the feudal overlords of the Angevin territories in France. But the rivalry among Henry's sons and Louis's own indecisiveness broke up the coalition (1173–1174) between them. Finally, in 1177, the pope intervened to bring the two kings to terms at Vitry-le-François.  In 1165, Louis' third wife bore him a son and heir, Philip. Louis had him crowned at Reims in 1179, in the Capetian tradition (Philip would in fact be the last king so crowned). Already stricken with paralysis, Louis himself could not be present at the ceremony. He died on 18 September 1180 in Paris and was buried the next day at Barbeau Abbey, which he had founded. His remains were moved to the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 1817.

Marriages and children.

Louis' children by his three marriages:  with Eleanor of Aquitaine:  with Constance of Castile:  with Adele of Champagne:

Legacy.

From the point of view of the preservation and expansion of the French royal domains, the reign of Louis VII was a difficult and unfortunate one. Yet royal authority was more strongly felt in the parts of France distant from these domains: more direct and more frequent connections were made with distant vassals, a result largely due to an alliance between the clergy with the crown. Louis VII thus reaped the reward for services rendered the church during the least successful portions of his reign. His greater accomplishments lie in the development of agriculture, population, commerce, the building of stone fortresses, as well as an intellectual renaissance. Considering the significant disparity of political leverage and financial resources between Louis VII and his Angevin rival Henry II, not to mention Henry's superior military skills, Louis VII should be credited with helping to preserve the Capetian dynasty.

Fictional portrayals.

Louis is a character in Jean Anouilh's 1959 play "Becket". In the 1964 film adaptation he was portrayed by John Gielgud, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was also portrayed by Charles Kay in the 1978 BBC TV drama series "The Devil's Crown". He has a role in Sharon Kay Penman's novels "When Christ and His Saints Slept" and "Devil's Brood." The early part of Norah Lofts' biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine deals considerably with Louis VII, seen through Eleanor's eyes and giving her side in their problematic relationship. Louis is one of the main characters in Elizabeth Chadwick's novel "The Summer Queen".

Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young (), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI, hence his nickname, and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced.

Ludvík VII. Francouzský (1120/1121 — 18. září 1180 Paříž) byl francouzský král z dynastie Kapetovců, syn Ludvíka VI. a Adély z Maurienne, korunován v roce 1131 v Remeši.


Gameplay.

The game combines exploration and combat. Both elements make use of the Prince's acrobatic capability and agility. Throughout much of the game, the player must attempt to traverse the palace by running across walls, ascending or descending chasms by jumping back and forth between walls, avoiding traps, climbing structures and jumping from platform to platform, making other types of well-timed leaps, solving puzzles and using discovered objects to progress.  During combat, many of the same moves vital to the player in other situations can be put to use to overpower enemies. An example is the ability of the Prince to jump off walls in order to strike enemies decisively. The player generally attacks enemies and blocks using a dagger, although other objects or factors, such as the Dagger of Time and its time-control abilities eventually prove to be critical to victory.  In "The Two Thrones", the Prince's acrobatic skills have improved and is now able to launch himself off walls at 45 degree angles at strategically placed vertical shutters, slide down chutes and balance on swinging poles, among other things. The designers have also improved the stealth system. Instead of merely being able to do more damage when striking without being seen, the game uses a speed-kill system. If the player does not complete the speed kill, the enemy knocks him off and the speed kill fails. The number of moves or the length of time required depends on how strong the opponents are. The same system is also used in some of the boss battles.  The Prince also develops a split personality, known as the Dark Prince, and this alter ego constantly bickers with him in his mind about right and wrong. At times, the Prince physically transforms into the Dark Prince. These transformations are scripted and not controlled by the player. During these times, however, the Prince retains control of his body, and the player still has control over the character. For the most part, the Prince's dark side is simply an inner voice.  When controlling the Dark Prince, the player loses the ability to wield a secondary weapon, instead using the "Daggertail", a bladed whip fused to his arm. This allows medium range combat moves and new interactions with the environment. The Dark Prince also constantly loses health as a result of the semi-transformation, with eventual death from the loss. He goes back to full health whenever he collects Sand, from either a monster or object. Also, his Daggertail gives him a different button combination for speed kills, in which he strangles his victims. Coming into contact with water allows the Prince to return to normal

Plot.

The game is set after the events of "", in which the Prince kills the Dahaka, saves Kaileena and prevents the Sands of Time from being created. Unlike the previous games, the story is narrated by Kaileena. The Prince's actions alter the timeline of events that took place before that point. In the original timeline, the Vizier and Maharajah traveled to the Island of Time and found an hourglass filled with the Sands of Time. In the modified timeline, they find the hourglass empty. Since the Vizier never released the Sands of Time and fought the Prince, he is still alive at the beginning of this game. Farah, who helped the Prince during the events for "Sands of Time", has never met the Prince.  As The Prince and Kaileena return to the city of Babylon, they find it being ravaged by war. Their ship is attacked and destroyed, and he and Kaileena wash ashore. The Prince awakens and watches as enemy soldiers take Kaileena away. The Prince fights his way into the palace and confronts the Vizier, who kills Kaileena with the Dagger of Time, unleashing the Sands again. The Vizier then impales himself with it and makes himself immortal. The Prince is also affected, having a whip-like weapon known as a Daggertail embedded in his skin when the Sands infect the wound. However, in the confusion following the release of the Sands, the Vizier throws the Dagger aside and the Prince manages to steal it before the Sands infected him completely.  The Prince falls into the sewers and gets carried to the outskirts of Babylon. As he travels through the city once again to kill the Vizier, he finds that the infection caused by the Sands of Time is affecting his mind, giving rise to an alter ego called the Dark Prince (voiced by Rick Miller), manifested by a voice within. The Dark Prince is cold, cruel, arrogant and sarcastic; he attempts to convince the Prince that he should strive to serve only himself, using his vengeance as a catalyst for his other emotions. On many occasions, the Dark Prince seizes control of the Prince's body and the Prince is fully transformed into a hybrid sand monster with abilities that allow the Prince to pass otherwise insurmountable obstacles.  Later, the Prince encounters Farah (voiced by Helen King), who is surprised that the Prince knows her name. Despite this, the pair begin to grow an entirely new romance together. The Prince eventually starts to ignore the Dark Prince, and begins to fight against the suffering of his people, which the Dark Prince had always spoken against.  In the palace gardens, the Vizier captures Farah and casts the Prince into an ancient well, where the long silent Dark Prince emerges once again and tries to take permanent control. The Prince desperately tries to resist the power, driving slowly deeper into the well looking for an escape, but he slowly weakens. At the bottom of the well, the Prince stumbles upon the dead body of his father Sharaman. He mourns for him, accepting the consequences of what he has done and wields his father's sword to resist the Dark Prince's power.  At the top of the Tower of Babel, the Prince confronts and kills The Vizier with the Dagger of Time. The Sands are released from the Vizier and his soldiers who die slowly. Seeing this the people of Babylon rejoice. The Sands take the shape of Kaileena who cleanses the Prince's infection and destroys the Dagger of Time. She tells that this world wasn't meant for her but there will be other worlds for her where she will find her place. She tells the Prince that he's free and his journey is at an end and disappears. As the Prince finds Sharaman's crown, the Dark Prince takes it and tells him that whatever the Prince owns will be rightfully be his and lures the Prince into his mind, where the two struggle until the Prince abandons his shadow. The game ends with Farah asking how the Prince knows her name and the Prince beginning to tell

Reception.

By the end of December 2005, sales of "The Two Thrones" had surpassed 1.5 million copies. The game received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.  The game and "Rival Swords" have received positive to mixed reviews. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 86.45% and 85 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version; 86.35% and 85 out of 100 for the Xbox version; 85.25% and 84 out of 100 for the GameCube version; 82.81% and 85 out of 100 for the PC version; 82.40% for the mobile version; 71.22% and 70 out of 100 for the Wii version; and 70.44% and 74 out of 100 for the PSP version.  IGN gave the PC version 9 out of 10, saying, "Two Thrones is great. The story is cool, the heroes are likable, the weak are pitiable, the villains are bastards, the major plot points are exciting, the art is grand, the sound is wonderful...and then the gameplay comes." GameSpy gave it four stars on all platforms except the PSP and Wii versions, saying of the PC version, "All of [the] settings, without exception, are stunning. As might be expected, the sharper, more detailed graphics for the PC version of the game are the clear winner when compared with the consoles, especially at higher resolutions." GameSpot gave the PC version 8.4 out of 10.  Non video-game publications gave the game some positive reviews. "The A.V. Club" gave the game an A− and stated: "The nice thing about sequels to successful games is that all the rough edges are buffed out, and "The Two Thrones" honors its graceful hero with impeccable controls and design." "Maxim" gave it a score of eight out of ten and said that the game "gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure." "The Times" gave it a favorable review and said, "The graphics are superb, especially on the Xbox, and if you can cope with the frustration of replaying tricky scenes again and again, this could be the game for you." "The Sydney Morning Herald" also gave it four stars out of five and stated that "One of the best new features is the Speed Kill, a stealth attack that requires timed button presses for successful take-downs - a brilliant addition to the already exhilarating game play." "Detroit Free Press" gave the PS2 version three stars out of four and said, "The fighting in "The Two Thrones" is superb. The prince has a nice array of combination moves that accompany his acrobatic skills. But the signature part of combat is the speed kill, which allows you some nifty and gruesome stealth kills." However, Charles Herold of "The New York Times" gave it an average review and stated that "I felt all the considerable pleasure the game had given me had been taken back."

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Ubisoft Montreal. It was released in December, 2005 in North America for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and the Nintendo GameCube. It was ported to the PlayStation Portable and Wii, under the title Prince of Persia: Rival Swords with the Wii version utilizing the motion-sensing functionality of its controller, while the PSP version added exclusive content. A remastered, high-definition version of "The Two Thrones" was released on the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 on December 21, 2010.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (Princ z Persie: Dva trůny) je šesté pokračování počítačové hry Prince of Persia a zároveň poslední (třetí) díl trilogie příběhu o Píscích času. Hra byla vydána v roce 2005 francouzskou vývojářskou firmou Ubisoft a navazuje na předchozí dva díly prince (Sands of Time, Warrior Within). Původní název hry měl být "Prince of Persia: Kindred Blades". Předělávka této hry vyšla také na platformách PSP a Wii pod názvem "Rival Swords".


Host city selection.

The IOC selected St. Moritz to host the 1948 Games at the 39th general session in Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 1946. The selection process consisted of two bids, and saw St. Moritz be selected ahead of Lake Placid, United States. St. Moritz was selected because it was located in Switzerland, which had remained neutral during the war, and also because it had already hosted a Winter Games in 1928. This made the organization of the Games simpler and more economical. Despite the existence of many of the venues, it was still a difficult task to organize a Winter Olympic Games in less than 18 months.

Organizing.

The Comite Olympique (CO) was composed of local dignitaries and members of the Swiss National Olympic Committee (COS). They decided to separate into several sub-committees responsible for various aspects of the Games. These committees included housing and maintenance, venue construction, finances, and media and advertising. The local committees worked very closely with the Swiss federal government and the IOC to ensure that the organization of the Games proceeded without hindrance. Since no athletes' village existed from the previous Games, the athletes and officials were housed in hotels around the city. It was very important for the committees to draw upon their experiences from the 1928 Olympics. Their selection of locations for the various events was contingent on the weather conditions as all the events were held outdoors.  Over 800 people were involved in reporting the news of the Games to the world. Nearly 500 press credentials were issued by the Press Commission for the Games. Television would not make its Olympic debut until 1956. The coverage of the 1948 Games was split between newspapers and radio broadcasts. The organizing committee had to provide technology, such as long distance telephone lines and telegraph services, to assist the press in communicating with their constituents.  Over 2,200 people were needed to provide all the services for the press, officials and athletes at the Games. These services included sanitation, security, and care of the venues. Accommodating the influx of people into St. Moritz was a difficult task for the organizing committee. It was complicated by the mountainous region in which the community was situated. A massive project to improve the village's transportation infrastructure had to be completed prior to the Games. This included building and widening roads for vehicular traffic. Several train stations were built to accommodate the increased demands for public transit. They also had to increase the capacity of the city's sewers. All of the projects had to be approved by the Swiss government, and justified by its impact on the success of the Games. To aid the organizing committee the IOC demanded that all participating nations provide lists of their athletes several months prior to the Games. Consequently, the Swiss knew exactly how many athletes and officials to plan for.

Politics.

Since these Games were the first since World War II they were given the name "The Games of Renewal." Japan and Germany were not invited to these Games because they were still ostracized by the international community for their role in World War II. Their absence was short-lived though, as they returned to Olympic competition in 1952. The Soviet Union did not send athletes to the St. Moritz Games of 1948, but they did send ten delegates as observers of the Games to determine how successful the Soviet athletes would have been had they competed.

Impact of World War II.

Sapporo, Japan had been the choice for the 1940 Winter Games. In 1938, the Japanese decided to decline the invitation to host the Games claiming that preparations for the Olympic Games were draining the country's resources. The IOC turned to the host of the 1936 Games, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which would make it the only city to host consecutive Games. This became impractical when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939; subsequently Germany withdrew its bid to host the Games. Finland believed it could host the Games and extended an invitation to the IOC, but the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland ended all hope of an Olympic Games in 1940. The 1944 Winter Olympics had been awarded to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in 1939. As the war continued, this proved to be impractical and the second consecutive olympiad passed without a celebration of the Games. The IOC was presented with two possible host cities for the first post-war Games: Lake Placid, United States and St. Moritz, Switzerland. The IOC decided to award the Games to Switzerland, a neutral country, immediately following World War II, in order to avoid political posturing on the part of former combatants.  The impact of World War II was still being felt in 1948. The lack of financial resources and human energy made the organization of the Games challenging. Athletes were also affected by a lack of resources. Many competitors arrived with little or no equipment. In one notable case, Norwegian skiers had to borrow skis from the American team in order to compete.

Events.

Medals were awarded in 22 events contested in 4 sports (9 disciplines). There were also two demonstration sports, military patrol and the winter pentathlon.

Bobsled.

Two sliding sports were contested at the 1948 Winter Games, the first was bobsled. A controversy erupted when it was alleged that the sleds of the United States team had been sabotaged. It was discovered that the steering wheels had been damaged. After news broke of the apparent improprieties a truck driver stepped forward and admitted to having accidentally backed into the shed housing the bobsleds. The accident however did not hinder the United States teams who won a bronze in the two-man event and a gold and a bronze in the four-man event. The Swiss two-man teams placed first and second, which is the best possible results for the event since only two teams were allowed to enter. The driver of the first place team, Felix Endrich, beat his coach, the driver of the second place team, Fritz Feierabend.

Ice Hockey.

The ice hockey tournament was won by Canada, with Czechoslovakia second and Switzerland third. This was the fifth Olympic gold medal for Canada in hockey. The only team to beat Canada since hockey was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics was Great Britain at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The tournament was almost cancelled when rival teams representing the United States arrived. An Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team was supported by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and an Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) team was supported by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG). The International Olympic Committee ruled that neither team could compete, but the Swiss organizing committee allowed the AAU team to march in the opening ceremony, and the AHA team to play unofficially, without being eligible for medals.

Figure skating.

Barbara Ann Scott became the first and only Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, when she won the competition at St. Moritz. Despite the distraction caused by a low-flying airplane during her compulsory routine, she was able to muster the focus to place first entering the free skate. The ice had been shredded the night before the free skate by two ice hockey games (the ice resurfacer had not yet been invented); nonetheless she was able to adjust her routine to avoid the potholes and emerge victorious.  Eighteen-year-old American Dick Button completed the unprecedented North American sweep of the figure skating gold medals. He led the field after the compulsory skate and then won the gold medal by becoming the first person to ever complete a double axel in competition. Later in the 1952 Olympics, Dick Button would win gold a second time. His victory came at the expense of Swiss world champion Hans Gerschwiler who fell during the free skate. Despite the mishap Gershwiler would win the silver medal.

Speed skating.

The speed skating competition was held on the same rink that had hosted the events in 1928. At above sea level, the speed skating competition was held at the second highest altitude in Olympic history, only Squaw Valley in 1960 was higher. The competition was dominated by the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden who won nine out of the twelve possible medals. Scandinavians had done poor in speed skating events up until the 1948 Games. The reason for their success was that speed skating in Europe had come to a stand still during World War II. Only countries that were ancillary to the conflict had the resources to keep their speed skating programs intact. The 500 meter race was won by Finn Helgesen of Norway. There was a three-way tie for second place between Norwegian Thomas Byberg and Americans Robert Fitzgerald and Kenneth Bartholomew. All three had finished in exactly 43.2 seconds. Swede Åke Seyffarth won a gold medal in the 10,000 meter race and a silver medal in the 1,500 meter race. The 5,000 meter event was affected by weather. The twenty racers encountered both wind, sun, and snow in the course of the day's competition. Finally long-distance specialist Reidar Liaklev from Norway prevailed.

Alpine skiing.

Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at these Games. A few events had been held at the 1936 Games but the St. Moritz Games featured a full slate of three men's and three women's alpine events. Frenchman Henri Oreiller won a medal in all three Alpine events; gold in the downhill and combined, and bronze in the slalom. He was one of only two athletes to win two gold medals at the 1948 Games, and he was also the only athlete to win three or more medals.  Austria dominated the women's alpine events, winning five out of a possible nine medals. Trude Beiser was a double-medal winner, earning gold in the combined event and silver in the downhill. She was not the only female skier to win two medals though, United States skier Gretchen Fraser won gold in the slalom and took silver behind Beiser in the combined. Austrian Erika Mahringer earned two medals by winning bronze medals in both the slalom and the combined.

Cross-country skiing.

In cross-country skiing a total of 106 skiers from 15 nations competed in three events. The events were the 50 kilometer race, the 18 kilometer race and the 4 x 10 kilometer relay. There were no women's events at the 1948 Games. Martin Lundström of Sweden was the other athlete to win two gold medals when he won the 18 kilometer race and participated on the winning cross-country relay team. Overall Sweden won seven out of a possible fifteen medals in the Nordic events, including all three gold medals and a sweep of the 18 kilometer race. All fifteen medals were won by either Sweden, Norway, or Finland.

Skeleton.

Skeleton made its second appearance at the Olympics during these Games. It debuted at the 1928 Winter Olympics also held in St. Moritz. Skeleton was a form of luge, which had originally appeared in the St. Moritz region at the end of the 19th century. American John Heaton won his second Olympic medal in the skeleton, he won his first 20 years earlier when he was 19 years old. Italian slider Nino Bibbia won the gold medal. It was the first of his 231 career wins on the Cresta Boblsed track. One of the curves at Cesana Pariol, where the bobsled, luge, and skeleton events took place at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, was named after Bibbia.

Nordic combined.

The Nordic combined event had been contested at each Winter Olympics since 1924. Nordic combined required athletes to first compete in the open 18 kilometer cross-country ski race alongside the other cross-country competitors. Their times would be assigned a point value. Two days later the athletes would take two jumps off the ski jump hill. The jumps would be given a point value and the longest jump would be combined with their cross-country time to create a score. Traditional Nordic combined power Norway was stunned at the 1948 Games when Finland's Heikki Hasu became the first non-Norwegian to win the event. In fact Norway did not even make the podium. Hasu's teammate Martti Huhtala took the silver and Sven Israelsson from Sweden won the bronze.

Ski jumping.

The Norwegians swept the ski jumping event. Birger Ruud had won the gold medal in the ski jumping event at both the 1932 and 1936 Winter Games. The twelve-year hiatus due to World War II meant that Ruud was 36 years old in 1948. He had retired from competition and was coaching the Norwegian team. However, when he arrived at the Games he decided to come out of retirement and compete one last time. Despite not having competed for several years he earned a silver medal. Norwegian Petter Hugsted won the gold and teammate Thorleif Schjelderup won the bronze.

Demonstration sports.

Two demonstration sports were held at the 1948 Games. Military patrol had been a demonstration sport at the 1924, 1928, and 1936 Winter Olympic Games. It entailed a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting at targets. Eventually the competition would be renamed Biathlon and was made an official Olympic medal sport at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley, United States. Winter pentathlon involved five competitions: 10 kilometer cross-country ski race, shooting, downhill skiing, fencing and horseback riding. This was the first and last time the event was held. Fourteen competitors took part in the event.

Calendar.

The opening ceremonies were held at 10:00 am on January 30 along with the initial hockey games and the first two runs of the two-man bobsled. The closing ceremonies were held at 4:00 pm on February 8. All of the medals were awarded at the closing ceremonies rather than immediately after the event as current tradition dictates.

Venues.

The Stad Olympique (Olympic Stadium) hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium was also used for speed skating, the figure skating competition and the medal games for ice hockey. Most of the ice hockey games were held at the "Suvretta" and "Kulm" stadiums in St. Moritz. Bobsled was held at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun. Skeleton was contested on the Cresta Run track. Olympia Bob Run was built in 1897 and modernized for the 1948 Games while the Cresta Run was first constructed in 1885. The ski jump competitions were held at Olympiaschanze ski jump hill in St. Moritz. It was built in 1927 for the 1928 Games, and remained in use until 2006. The alpine events were held on ski-runs in and around Piz Nair.

Participating nations.

28 nations competed in St. Moritz, the same number as the previous Winter Games in 1936. Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Korea, and Lebanon all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games. Germany and Japan were not invited because of their involvement in World War II. Italy, despite being an Axis power originally, was allowed to send athletes after their defection to the Allies in 1943. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, and would not compete again as independent nations until 1992. Argentina returned to the Winter Games after missing the 1932 and 1936 Games, and Australia and Luxembourg did not compete in 1948, even though they had participated in 1936.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees.

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Medal count.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1948 Winter Games.

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ), was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

V. zimní olympijské hry se uskutečnily ve dnech 30. ledna až 8. února 1948 ve švýcarském Svatém Mořici. Československé barvy hájilo 47 reprezentantů, z toho 6 žen. Největšího úspěchu dosáhli hokejisté. Ani jeden zápas neprohráli, a jen díky horšímu skóre skončili na druhém místě za Kanadou, s kterou remizovali. Výborně se prezentovaly i československé krasobruslařky, když Jiřina Nekolová obsadila čtvrté a Ája Vrzáňová páté místo.


Early career.

Mikhail Kutuzov was born in Saint Petersburg on 16 September 1745. His father, Lieutenant-General Illarion Matveevich Kutuzov, had served for 30 years with the Corps of Engineers, had seen action against the Turks and served under Peter the Great. Mikhail Kutuzov's mother came from the noble family of Beklemishev. Given his father's distinguished service and his mother's high birth, Kutuzov had contact with the imperial Romanov family from an early age.  In 1757, at the age of 12, Kutuzov entered an elite military-engineering school as a cadet private. He quickly became popular with his peers and teachers alike, proving himself to be highly intelligent, and showed bravery in his school's numerous horse-races. Kutuzov studied military and civil subjects there, learned to speak French, German and English fluently, and later studied Polish, Swedish, and Turkish; his linguistic skills served him well throughout his career. In October 1759, he became a corporal.  In 1762, Kutuzov, by then a captain, became part of the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by Colonel Alexander Suvorov. Kutuzov studied Suvorov's style of command and learned how to be a good commander in battle. Suvorov believed that an effective order should be simple, direct, and concise, and that a commander should care deeply about the health and training of his soldiers. Kutuzov also adopted Suvorov's conviction that a commander should lead his troops from the front (instead of from the rear) to provide an example of bravery for the troops to follow. Suvorov also taught Kutuzov the importance of developing close relationships with those under his command. Kutuzov followed this advice to the benefit of his career. This advice contributed to Kutuzov's appointment as Commander-in-Chief in 1812.  Late in 1762, Kutuzov became aide-de-camp to the military governor of Reval, the Prince of Holstein-Beck, in which role he showed himself to be a capable politician. In 1768 Kutuzov fought in Poland, after the Polish szlachta—the Polish noble class—rebelled against Russian influence. In this conflict, Kutuzov captured several strong defensive positions, thereby proving his skill on the battlefield.  In October 1768, the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Two years later, Kutuzov, now a major, joined the army of the soon-to-be-famous Count Pyotr Rumyantsev in the south to fight against the Turks. Though Kutuzov served valiantly in this campaign, he did not receive any medals, as another officer reported to Rumyantsev that Kutuzov mocked Rumyantsev behind his back. Rumyantsev had Lieutenant-Colonel Kutuzov transferred into Prince Vasily Dolgorukov-Krymsky's Russian Second Army fighting the Turks and the Tatars in the Crimea. During this campaign Kutuzov learned how to use the deadly Cossack light cavalry, another skill which would prove useful in the defence of Russia against Napoleon's invading armies in 1812. In 1773 he was ordered to storm the well-defended town of Alushta on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. When his troops' advance faltered, Kutuzov grabbed the fallen regimental standard and led the attack. While charging forward, he was shot in the left temple—an almost certainly fatal wound at the time. The bullet went right through his head and exited near the right eye. However, Kutuzov slowly recovered, though frequently overcome by sharp pains and dizziness, and his right eye remained permanently twisted. He left the army later that year due to his wound.  Kutuzov's pain did not subside, and so he decided to travel to Western Europe for better medical care. He arrived in Berlin in 1774, where he spent much time with King Frederick the Great of Prussia, who took great interest in Kutuzov. They spent long periods of time discussing tactics, weaponry, and uniforms. Kutuzov then travelled to Leyden, Holland and to London in England for further treatment. In London Kutuzov first learned of the American Revolutionary War. He would later study the evolution of American general George Washington's attrition campaign against the British. The American experience reinforced the lesson that Rumyantsev had already taught Kutuzov; that one does not need to win battles in order to win a war.  Kutuzov returned to the Russian Army in 1776 and again served under Suvorov—in the Crimea—for the next six years. He learned that letting the common soldier use his natural intellect and initiative made for a more effective army. Suvorov also taught him how to use mobility in order to exploit the constantly changing situation on the battlefield. By 1782 Kutuzov had been promoted to brigadier general as Suvorov recognised Kutuzov's potential as a shrewd and intelligent leader. Indeed, Suvorov wrote that he would not even have to tell Kutuzov what needed to be done in order for him to carry out his objective. In 1787 Kutuzov was again wounded in the left temple, in almost exactly the same place as before, and again doctors feared for his life. However, Kutuzov recovered, though his right eye was even more twisted than before and he had even worse head-pains.  In 1784 he became a major general, in 1787 governor-general of the Crimea; and under Suvorov, whose disciple he became, he won considerable distinction in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), at the taking of Ochakov, Odessa, Bender, and Izmail, and in the battles of Rymnik (1789) and Mashin (July 1791). He became a lieutenant-general (March 1791) and successively occupied the positions of ambassador at Istanbul, governor-general of Finland, commandant of the corps of cadets at Saint Petersburg, ambassador at Berlin, and governor-general of Saint Petersburg (1801–1802).  Kutuzov was a favourite of Tsar Paul I (reigned 1796–1801), and after that emperor's murder he was temporarily out of favour with the new monarch Alexander I, though he remained loyal.

Napoleonic Wars.

In 1805 Kutuzov commanded the Russian corps which opposed Napoleon's advance on Vienna.  On the eve of Austerlitz, Kutuzov tried to convince the Allied generals of the necessity of waiting for reinforcements before facing Napoleon. Alexander believed that waiting to engage Napoleon’s forces would be seen as cowardly. Kutuzov quickly realised that he no longer had any power with Alexander and the Austrian chief of staff General-Major Franz von Weyrother. When he asked Alexander where he planned to move a unit of troops, he was told "That's none of your business." Kutuzov pretended to sleep throughout the battle planning session as he feared that Alexander would blame him for the inevitable defeat.  Kutuzov was present at the battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Though Alexander’s orders made it clear that the Russians should move off the strategic Pratzen Plateau, Kutuzov stalled for as long as possible as he recognised the advantage that Napoleon would gain from this high ground. Finally, Alexander forced Kutuzov to abandon the Plateau. Napoleon quickly seized the ridge and broke the Allied lines with his artillery which now commanded the battlefield from the Pratzen Plateau. The battle was lost, and over 25,000 Russians were killed. Kutuzov was put in charge of organising the army’s retreat across Hungary and back into Russia as Alexander was overcome by grief.  He was then put in charge of the Russian army operating against the Turks in the Russo-Turkish War, 1806–1812. Understanding that his armies would be badly needed in the upcoming war with the French, he hastily brought the prolonged war to a victorious end and concluded the propitious Treaty of Bucharest, which stipulated the incorporation of Bessarabia into the Russian Empire.  Alexander I presented to M. I. Kutuzov his portrait adorned with diamonds for the successful end of the Rusciuc operation; on 29 October 1811 he was granted the title of Count for "successes in the war against the Turks", and on 29 July 1812, he received honorary title of "kniaz" (prince) for "contribution to the end of war and Peace Treaty with the Ottoman Empire."

The Patriotic War (1812).

When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (then Minister of War) chose to follow the scorched earth principle and retreat rather than to risk a major battle. His strategy aroused grudges among most of the generals and soldiers, notably Prince Pyotr Bagration. As Alexander had to choose a new general, there was only one choice: Kutuzov. He was popular among the troops mainly because he was Russian (most of the generals commanding Russian troops at that time were foreign), he was brave, had proven himself in battle, strongly believed in the Russian Orthodox Church, and he looked out for the troops’ well-being. The nobles and clergy also regarded Kutuzov highly. Therefore, when Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief in late August and joined the army on 29 August 1812, Russians supported his appointment. Only Alexander, repulsed by Kutuzov’s physique and irrationally holding him responsible for the defeat at Austerlitz, did not celebrate Kutuzov’s commission.  Within two weeks Kutuzov decided to give major battle on the approaches to Moscow. He withdrew the troops still further to the east, deploying them for the upcoming battle. Two huge armies clashed near Borodino on 7 September 1812 in what has been described as the greatest battle in human history up to that date, involving nearly a quarter of a million soldiers. The result of the battle was inconclusive, with near a third of both the French and the Russian army killed or wounded. After a conference at the village of Fili, Kutuzov fell back on the strategy of his predecessor: withdraw in order to preserve the Russian army as long as possible.  This came at the price of losing Moscow, whose population was evacuated. Having retreated along the Kaluga road and replenished his munitions, he forced Napoleon into retreat in the Battle of Maloyaroslavets and blocked his way through Kaluga. This allowed Kutuzov to force Napoleon to retreat via Mozhaisk and Smolensk, the devastated route of his advance that Napoleon had wished to avoid. The old general's cautious pursuit of the retreating Grande Armée evoked much criticism, but ultimately only a small remnant (93,000 of the 690,000 men) of the Grande Armée returned to Prussian soil alive. Hence the Russian general's caution was thoroughly vindicated.  Alexander I awarded Kutuzov the rank of general-field marshal on 31 August 1812 for his role in the Battle of Borodino. He later awarded Kutuzov the victory title of "His Serene Highness Knyaz Golenischev-Kutuzov-Smolensky" (Светлейший князь Голенищев-Кутузов-Смоленский) on 6 December 1812, for his victory at the Battle of Krasnoi at Smolensk in November 1812.

Death and legacy.

Early in 1813, Kutuzov fell ill, and he died on 28 April 1813 at Bunzlau, Silesia, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now Bolesławiec, Poland. Memorials have been erected to him there, at the Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow and in front of the Kazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, where he is buried, by Boris Orlovsky. He had five daughters; his only son died of smallpox as an infant. As he had no male heir, his estates passed to the Tolstoy family, as his eldest daughter, Praskovia, had married Matvei Fyodorovich Tolstoy.  Today, Kutuzov is still held in high regard, alongside Barclay and his mentor Suvorov.  Alexander Pushkin addressed the Field Marshal in the famous elegy on Kutuzov's sepulchre. The novelist Leo Tolstoy clearly idolised Kutuzov. In his influential 1869 novel "War and Peace", the elderly, sick Kutuzov plays a major role in the war sections. He is portrayed as a gentle spiritual man, far removed from the cold arrogance of Napoleon, but with a much clearer vision of the true nature of warfare. Tolstoy wrote of Kutuzov's insight and the national sentiment, "... this sentiment elevated Kutuzof to the high pinnacle of humanity from which he, the general-in-chief, employed all his efforts, not to kill and exterminate men, but to save and have pity on them."  During the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), the Soviet government established the Order of Kutuzov which, among several other decorations, was preserved in Russia upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thus remaining among the highest military awards in Russia, only second to the Order of Zhukov.  Also, during World War II, one of the key strategic operations of the Red Army, the Orel Strategic Offensive Operation "Kutuzov" was named after the Field Marshal () (12 July – 18 August 1943).  No less than ten Russian towns have been named "Kutuzovo" in honour of the general. Notable among them is the former German town of Schirwindt (now Kutuzovo in the Krasnoznamensky District of the Kaliningrad Oblast) - the first town in Germany proper that was reached by Soviet infantry.  A "Sverdlov"-class cruiser named for Kutuzov was commissioned in the Soviet Navy in 1954. It is now preserved as a museum ship in Novorossiysk.  The monument to Kutuzov in the city of Brody in Western Ukraine was demolished in February 2014 as part of the Euromaidan demonstrations.

Freemason.

In 1779 Kutuzov was initiated into the German Masonic lodge "Three Keys" (Ratisbon). He was a member of the Moscow lodges "Sphinx" and "Three Banners." He also participated in the meetings of the Masonic lodges of St. Petersburg, Frankfurt, Berlin. He had a higher degree of initiation in the Swedish system. Within the Freemasons he was known as "evergreen laurel".

Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kutuzov Graf von Smolensk) (; ) was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as one of the finest military officers and diplomats of Russia under the reign of three Romanov Tsars: Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I. His military career was closely associated with the rising period of Russia from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Kutuzov is considered to have been one of the best Russian generals.

Michail Illarionovič kníže Goleniščev-Kutuzov-Smolenskij (, Petrohrad, Ruské impérium –, Bolesławiec, Slezsko, dnešní Polsko) byl ruský vojevůdce z období napoleonských válek.


Early life.

Childhood.

Henry was born at the royal Château de Fontainebleau, the fourth son of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici and grandson of Francis I of France and Claude of France. His older brothers were Francis II of France, Charles IX of France, and Louis of Valois. He was made Duke of Angoulême and Duke of Orléans in 1560, then Duke of Anjou in 1566.  He was his mother's favourite; she called him "chers yeux" ("precious eyes") and lavished fondness and affection upon him for most of his life. His elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, partially because he resented his better health.  The royal children were raised under the supervision of Diane de Poitiers.

Youth.

In his youth, Henry was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II. Unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was both fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts and reading. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother.  At one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself "a little Huguenot", he refused to attend Mass, sang Protestant psalms to his sister Margaret (exhorting her all the while to change her religion and cast her Book of Hours into the fire), and even bit the nose off a statue of Saint Paul. His mother firmly cautioned her children against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies. Instead, he became nominally Roman Catholic.

Sexuality.

Reports that Henry engaged in same-sex relations with his court favourites, known as the "mignons," date back to his own time. Certainly he enjoyed intense relationships with them. The scholar Louis Crompton maintains that all of the contemporary rumours were true. Some modern historians dispute this. Jean-Francois Solnon, Nicolas Le Roux, and Jacqueline Boucher have noted that Henry had many famous mistresses, that he was well known for his taste in beautiful women, and that no male sex partners have been identified. They have concluded that the idea he was homosexual was promoted by his political opponents (both Protestant and Catholic) who used his dislike of war and hunting to depict him as effeminate and undermine his reputation with the French people. Certainly his religious enemies plumbed the depths of personal abuse in attributing vices to him, topping the mixture with accusations of what they regarded as the ultimate devilish vice, homosexuality. And the portrait of a self-indulgent sodomite, incapable of fathering an heir to the throne, proved useful in efforts by the Catholic League to secure the succession for Cardinal Charles de Bourbon after 1585.  Gary Ferguson found their interpretations unconvincing: "It is difficult to reconcile the king whose use of favourites is so logically strategic with the man who goes to pieces when one of them dies." Katherine Crawford, by contrast, emphasizes the problems Henry's reputation encountered because of his failure to produce an heir and the presence of his powerful mother at court, combined with his enemies' insistence on conflating patronage with favouritism and luxury with decadence.

Elizabeth.

In 1570, discussions commenced arranging for Henry to court Queen Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth, almost 37, was expected by many parties in her country to marry and produce an heir. However, nothing came of these discussions. In initiating them, Elizabeth is viewed by historians as having intended only to arouse the concern of Spain, rather than contemplate marriage seriously. The chance of marriage was further blighted by differing religious views (Henry was Catholic, Elizabeth Protestant) and his opinion of Elizabeth. Henry tactlessly referred to Elizabeth as a "putain publique" (public whore) and made stinging remarks about their difference in age (he was 18 years younger). Upon hearing (inaccurately) that she limped because of a varicose vein, he called her an "old creature with a sore leg".

Wars of Religion.

Prior to ascending the French throne in 1574, Henry served as a leader of the royal army in the French Wars of Religion, taking part in the victories over Huguenots at the Battle of Jarnac (March 1569) and at the Battle of Moncontour (October 1569). While still Duke of Anjou, he helped plot the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572. Though Henry did not participate directly, historian sees him as the royal most responsible for the massacre, which involved the targeted killing of many key Huguenot leaders. Henry III's reign as King of France, like those of his elder brothers Francis and Charles, would see France in constant turmoil over religion.  Henry continued to take an active role in the Wars of Religion, and in 1572/1573 led the siege of La Rochelle, a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city. At the end of May 1573, Henry learned that the Polish "szlachta" had elected him King of Poland (a country with a large Protestant minority at the time) and political considerations forced him to negotiate an end to the assault. Negotiators reached an agreement on 24 June 1573, and Catholic troops ended the siege on 6 July 1573.

King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1573–1575).

Following the death of the Polish ruler Sigismund II Augustus on 7 July 1572, Jean de Monluc was sent as the French envoy to Poland to negotiate the election of Henry to the Polish throne in exchange for military support against Russia, diplomatic assistance in dealing with the Ottoman Empire, and financial subsidies.  On 16 May 1573, Polish nobles chose Henry as the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Lithuanian nobles boycotted this election, however, and it was left to the Lithuanian ducal council to confirm his election. The commonwealth elected Henry, rather than Habsburg candidates, partly in order to be more agreeable to the Ottoman Empire (a traditional ally of France through the Franco-Ottoman alliance) and strengthen a Polish-Ottoman alliance that was in effect.  A Polish delegation went to La Rochelle to meet with Henry, who was leading the Siege of La Rochelle. Henry left the siege following their visit. In Paris, on 10 September, the Polish delegation asked Henry to take an oath, at Notre Dame Cathedral, to "respect traditional Polish liberties and the law on religious freedom that had been passed during the interregnum". As a condition of his election, he was compelled to sign the "Pacta conventa" and the Henrician Articles, pledging religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Henry chafed at the restrictions on monarchic power under the Polish-Lithuanian political system of "Golden Liberty". The Polish-Lithuanian parliament had been urged by Anna Jagiellon, the sister of the recently deceased king Sigismund II Augustus, to elect him based on the understanding that Henry would wed Anna afterward.  At a ceremony before the Parlement of Paris on 13 September, the Polish delegation handed over the "certificate of election to the throne of Poland-Lithuania". Henry also gave up any claims to succession and he "recognized the principle of free election" under the Henrician Articles and the "pacta conventa".  It was not until January 1574 that Henry was to reach the borders of Poland. On 21 February, Henry's coronation was held in Kraków. In mid-June 1574, upon learning of the death of his brother Charles IX, Henry left Poland and headed back to France. Henry's absence provoked a constitutional crisis that the Parliament attempted to resolve by notifying Henry that his throne would be lost if he did not return from France by 12 May 1575. His failure to return caused Parliament to declare his throne vacant.  The short reign of Henry at Wawel Castle in Poland was marked by a clash of cultures between the Polish and the French. The young king and his followers were astonished by several Polish practices and disappointed by the rural poverty and harsh climate of the country. The Poles, on the other hand, wondered if all Frenchmen were as concerned with their appearance as their new king appeared to be.  In many aspects, Polish culture had a positive influence on France. At Wawel, the French were introduced to new technologies of septic facilities, in which litter (excrement) was taken outside the castle walls. On returning to France, Henry wanted to order the construction of such facilities at the Louvre and other palaces. Other inventions introduced to the French by the Polish included a bath with regulated hot and cold water, as well as dining forks.  In 1578, Henry created the Order of the Holy Spirit to commemorate his becoming first King of Poland and later King of France on the Feast of Pentecost and gave it precedence over the earlier Order of St. Michael, which had lost much of its original prestige by being awarded too frequently and too readily. The Order would retain its prestige as the premier chivalric order of France until the end of the French monarchy.

French reign (1575–1589).

Henry was crowned king of France on 13 February 1575 at Reims Cathedral. Although he was expected to produce an heir after he married Louise of Lorraine, age 21, on 14 February 1575, no issue resulted from their union.  In 1576, Henry signed the Edict of Beaulieu, which granted many concessions to the Huguenots. His action resulted in the Catholic activist Henry I, Duke of Guise, forming the Catholic League. After much posturing and negotiations, Henry was forced to rescind most of the concessions that had been made to the Protestants in the edict.  In 1584, the King's youngest brother and heir presumptive, Francis, Duke of Anjou, died. Under Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was Protestant Henry of Navarre, a descendant of Louis IX (Saint Louis). Under pressure from the Duke of Guise, Henry III issued an edict suppressing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne.  On 12 May 1588, when the Duke of Guise entered Paris, an apparently spontaneous Day of the Barricades erupted in favor of the Catholic champion. Henry III fled the city.  Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada that summer, the king's fear of Spanish support for the Catholic League apparently waned. Accordingly, on 23 December 1588, at the Château de Blois, he invited the Duke of Guise to the council chamber where the duke's brother Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, already waited. The duke was told that the king wished to see him in the private room adjoining the royal bedroom. There, royal guardsmen murdered the duke, then the cardinal. To make certain that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the king had the duke's son imprisoned.  The Duke of Guise had been very popular in France, and the citizenry turned against Henry for the murders. The Parlement instituted criminal charges against the king, and he was compelled to join forces with his heir, the Protestant Henry of Navarre, by setting up the Parliament of Tours.

Overseas relations.

Under Henry, France named the first Consul of France in Morocco in the person of Guillaume Bérard. The request came from the Moroccan prince Abd al-Malik, who had been saved by Bérard, a doctor by profession, during an epidemic in Constantinople and wished to retain Bérard in his service.  Henry III encouraged the exploration and development of New World territories. In 1588, he granted Jacques Noël, the nephew of Jacques Cartier, privileges over fishing, fur trading, and mining in New France.

Assassination and burial.

On 1 August 1589, Henry III lodged with his army at Saint-Cloud, and was preparing to attack Paris, when a young fanatical Dominican friar, Jacques Clément, carrying false papers, was granted access to deliver important documents to the king. The monk gave the king a bundle of papers and stated that he had a secret message to deliver. The king signalled for his attendants to step back for privacy, and Clément whispered in his ear while plunging a knife into his abdomen. Clément was then killed on the spot by the guards.  At first, the king's wound did not appear fatal, but he enjoined all the officers around him, in the event that he did not survive, to be loyal to Henry of Navarre as their new king. The following morning, on the day that he was to have launched his assault to retake Paris, Henry III died.  Chaos swept the attacking army, most of it quickly melting away; the proposed attack on Paris was postponed. Inside the city, joy at the news of Henry III's death was near delirium; some hailed the assassination as an act of God.  Henry III was interred at the Saint Denis Basilica. Childless, he was the longest-living of Henry II's sons to have become king and also the last of the Valois kings. Henry III of Navarre succeeded him as Henry IV, the first of the kings of the House of Bourbon.

Henry III (19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589; born,, ) was King of France from 1574 until his death as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.

Jindřich III. Francouzský nazývaný též Jindřich z Valois (19. září 1551, Fontainebleau – 2. srpna 1589, Saint Cloud) byl vévoda z Anjou, v letech 1573–1574 král Polska a od roku 1574 král Francie, poslední panovník z dynastie Valois.


Biography.

Boris Lyatoshinsky was born on January 3, 1895 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). This town is well known for its cultural life. Several well-known people originated here, including the pianist Svyatoslav Richter, philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Lyatoshinsky's parents were musical and well-educated. His father, Mykola Leontiyovych Lyatoshynsky, was a history teacher and activist in historical studies. He was also the director of various gymnasiums in Zhytomyr, Nemyriv, and Zlatopol. Lyatoshynsky's mother played the piano and sang.  Lyatoshinsky started playing piano and violin at 14, he wrote a mazurka, waltz, and quartet for piano. He also attended the Zhytomyr Gymnasium, from where he graduated in 1913. After graduating, he attended Kiev University and later the newly established Kiev Conservatory where he studied composition with Reinhold Glière in 1914. Lyatoshynsky graduated from Kiev University in 1918 and from the Kiev Conservatory in 1919. During this time, he composed his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 1, and Symphony No. 1, Op. 2. By the time Lyatoshinsky wrote his Symphony No.1 (1918) as his graduation composition, he became influenced by the music of Wagner and atonality. It could be suggested that this was the first Symphony composed in the Ukraine. It was performed and conducted in 1919 by Reinhold Glière who taught the student composer and who recalls (writing at the time of Lyatoshinsky's 60th birthday): ‘I was glad to notice the relation of his first String Quartet to the traditions of Russian musical classics. Such quality revealed itself even more in his First Symphony, which was the final course work of the composer.’ ‹see L's letters in Grecenko› In his opinion, Lyatoshinsky was a gifted student and worked very hard on developing various compositional techniques. Further musical pieces of the composer were described by Glière as ‘intensive searches’ of individuality. Lyatoshinsky is influenced by the symbolism and expressionism: this can be traced to his choice of poetic texts which he sets to Romances; the treatment of the melody, choice of the instruments; harmonic manipulations, such as unclear tonality, dissonant chords and the complex parallel chord structures.  During this early period of the composer's development, he draws some inspiration from musical works by Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, and Scriabin. Many young composers, like Lyatoshinsky, who were living in Russia during the early years of the twentieth century, regarded Alexander Skriabin's (1872- 1915) experiments as a triumphant turning point in music. Taking his initial inspiration from some techniques used by Skriabin, the young Ukrainian avant- garde took tonality to its limits and beyond. In his ‘Piano Trio No.1 (1920), Lyatoshinsky demonstrates a debt to Scriabin, still searching for new musical methods and pushing boundaries of harmonic language.  At the age of 25 (1922), Lyatoshinsky, by then professor and lecturer in the Kiev Music Conservatoire, pioneered the development of Associazia Suchasnoi Musiki (The Society of Contemporary Music). (Similar establishments were organised throughout the Soviet Union.) From 1922, he taught composition. It appears that Lyatoshinsky, despite receiving a conservative musical education, was determined to raise the standards of contemporary composition; he was not only making innovative changes regarding his own music but also leading other young contemporary composers, helping them to establish new methods of writing.  Modernism did not exist as a musical discourse in Ukraine; rather, it was reflected in the works of B. Yanovsky, F. Yakimenko, M. Verikivsky, and L. Revuzky. Their musical works show influences of impressionism, expressionism, neoclassicism, and constructivism. However, it was Lyatoshinsky who captured the radical ways of modernism in his compositions, focusing on the decadent moods of morbid pessimism and motivic transformation.  From 1922 to 1925 he was director of the Association of Modern Music in the name of Mykola Leontovych. These were, arguably, the happiest years of the composer's life, where he could express himself freely and was able to work creatively with fellow composers without any intervention from the authorities. He was working feverishly, writing music for the voice, violin and the piano. Lyatoshinsky composed Suites, Ballades and numerous songs (some of them even set to the lyrics of the Chinese ancient poets). His cycle of seven pieces for the piano Vidobragennia (Reflections, written in 1925) remains one of his most celebrated musical works. His music shows increasing decadent melancholic moods and pessimism.  Lyatoshinsky carried on experimenting with various music materials. During the 1920s he created 24 Romances (written between 1922- 1924 and based on texts by poets-symbolists), Sonata for the violin and fortepiano, and Third Quartet. His opera Zolotui Obruch (The Golden Hoop) based on the novel of the Ukrainian writer I. Franko, describes the struggle of the Ukrainians against the Mongol invaders in the thirteenth century. The opera was performed in the various theatres in Ukraine, even though it was not staged for very long. (Lyatoshinsky's second Opera, Shchors, based on the story of the Commander Nikolai Shchors, was finished in the 1930s.)  Lyatoshinsky's two Piano Sonatas and Sonata for the violin and the piano appear between 1924 and 1926. The Piano Sonata No.1 was his first printed work, published in Moscow, in 1926. This work was unusual for its time. It displays the fine skill of a piano player and a composer, who is not afraid of experimenting. Thus, Lyatoshinsky changes the structure of the traditional Sonata piece, creating only one movement and uses challenging rhythmic combinations. The Sonata No2 (1925), dedicated to Miaskovsky, displays the composer's technique which includes the use of the romantic shapes and a strongly defined thematicism. Some of the melodic ideas presented by the composer are supported by a growling accompaniment, the two often functioning in cross-rhythm.  The start of 1926 was a turning point for Lyatoshinsky's art; afterwards it would never be quite the same again. By this time, folk music was firmly integrated into the ‘map’ of future cultural policies, providing perfect grounds for the development of Nationalism. Thus, Lyatoshinsky composed an Overture based on Four Ukrainian Folk Songs, which used complicated arrangements of folk themes. It seems Lyatoshinsky's music was destined to follow the familiar track taken by his fellow composers. However, he carried on writing music in his preferred style, changing it and fusing with folk themes in order to fit in with the demands of the Soviet authorities. In 1929, Lyatoshinsky composed the Ballade for piano, similar in style to his previous Sonatas. Triplets and quintuplets appear super-imposed while Lyatoshinsky manipulates, transforms and imitates motivic wave deformations heard in the bass accompaniment. These compositional methods of writing reveal defining aspects of his 1920s style and his further development.  Amongst other works composed in the 1930s are the Second Piano Trio and many arrangements of Ukrainian songs. Following the commission from the officials of the Odessa's Opera and Ballet theatre, Lyatoshinsky made the trip to Tadzhikistan in order to study folk music and compose a ballet about the life of local people. As a result, Lyatoshinsky composed Three Musical Pieces for the violin and the piano based on the folk music of Tadzhikistan (the region very little known or even unheard of before Stalin's nationalism idea). ‹see L's letters, in Grecenko› Amongst Lyatoshinsky's compositions is an arrangement of a Jewish folk song ‘Genzelex’ (Little Geese). In it, he preserved an original melody and decorated it harmonically, using F major and d minor tonalities and added complex chords within the harmony. (This composition remained in the archives of the composer until it was re-discovered in 2000.)  From 1935 to 1938 and from 1941 to 1944 Lyatoshinsky taught concurrently at the Moscow Conservatory. Lyatoshinsky wrote his Second Symphony in B flat (1936) in his favourite modernistic style, obviously knowing that this was not quite what was expected of him. He is ‘painting’ disturbing images of the dark reality of Soviet life, often using means of atonality. Written in the conventional three- movement form, the symphony is full of contrasting moods and severely dramatic conflicts. Lyatoshinsky, indeed, had taken a huge risk. His Symphony was finished at the time when Dmitry Shostakovich and other composers were singled out for political attack during the so-called Musical Conference, which in real life amounted to political hearings.  The planned premiere of Lyatoshinsky's Symphony (in February 1937) did not take place. It is not entirely clear why this particular performance of Symphony No 2 was delayed until 1941. It can be only suggested that he experienced some difficulties and it was not possible for him to achieve this sooner. His non-performed Symphony was already gathering some negative comments in the local press (as well as Shostakovich's Fourth) regarding its unnecessary complexity and the absence of positive images of Soviet life.  At the orchestral rehearsals, Lyatoshinsky noted that ‘members of the orchestra were divided’‹see Lyatoshinsky's letter, in M. Kopiza›; some praised his works and others criticised it. Some musicians ‘were incredibly insolent’ that “it was no music at all”, “it is rubbish” and “definite 100% formalism”. Lyatoshinsky replied that he was surprised of such a reception and could not believe that ‘musicians from Moscow could allow such a rude unethical attack’ towards him. He admitted that it was understandable that there would be different opinions about his composition, but it was not a work of a formalist. ‘I have written it sincerely’, carried on Lyatoshinsky, ‘using my own characteristic musical language’. After his speech, the orchestra musicians ‘were shouting so much as if someone was physically attacked’ and ‘emotions were high’. It was unfortunate for Lyatoshinsky that a representative from the newspaper Musica, D. Zhitomirsky was also present at the above rehearsal. Five days later he wrote a very critical article in Sovetskaya Musica. Lyatoshinsky recalled that he had ‘never heard such destructive criticism’ in all his life.  In 1948 Lyatoshinsky came to the National Conference of the Composers in Moscow (19 April) even though he was already excluded from the Composers’ Union of USSR. As he mentioned in his letter, ‘I will be a participant of this [forthcoming] Conference, not a composer. My 3rd Symphony cannot be performed yet while my ‘old’ works remain, are disregarded by everyone and they are banned from performances [ne stoit i nelzia pokazivat].’‹L's letter, M.Kopiza› In May 1948 he responded to a letter from Gliére, ‘I feel much the same- very bad; as the result of the previous events, I have completely “disappeared” from all concerts and Radio programs. If I was to say it in one word, for now, I am dead as a composer [!], and when my resurrection will take place, I don’t know.’ This letter was written after Lyatoshinsky received another ‘dose’ of severe criticism of his Symphony No.2. This work was dismissed and performances forbidden; Lyatoshinsky was labelled as a ‘formalist’ and his music as ‘anti-people’s’.  During the Second World War, Lyatoshinsky created some chamber works, ‘beautiful compositions’ (as observed by Glière ) such as Ukrainian Quintet (for the piano, violin, viola and cello), Shevchenko's Suite for the piano (dedicated to legendary long-suffering Ukrainian poet), Ukrainian Quintet Fourth String Quartet (based on the Ukrainian themes), Suite for the Quartet, Second Trio for the piano and many solo and choir arrangements. Remarkably, Lyatoshinsky chooses themes for his compositions based on the songs with a melancholic character, such as Pechal za Pechaliu (The Sadness is following Sorrow). During these years, Lyatoshinsky carried on his work as an academic and a composer.  Between 1941- 1943 many faculties of the Moscow Conservatoire, including the music department, were relocated to Saratov, a town near the Russian river Volga. Lyatoshinsky expected to work not only as a composer but as a public figure. During this time, Lyatoshinsky established contacts and worked collaboratively with the administrators of the local Concert Hall and Radio Committee; he took charge and led operations to save and transport Ukrainian musical manuscripts to the areas of non- conflict. At this time Lyatoshinsky approached the transitional moment in his music, achieving the necessary compromise between pessimistic decadence and revitalisation. It is characterised by the demands of the renewal in the face of anxiety and despair, reviving a vital driving force by means of modernistic fusion of atonality with the motivic realisation of folk song, encapsulated in the polyphonic writing.  In 1946, Lytoshinsky's Ukrainian Quintet was honoured with the Stalin prize (in 1952 he received another Stalin prize, this time for the music in film about a Ukrainian national poet and a revolutionary hero Taras Shevchenko).  In 1951, the composer re-discovers energy despite previous set- backs and carries on writing his Third Symphony which develops themes of heroic struggles placed against pessimistic dejection which were interpreted by his contemporaries as epic philosophical themes of war and peace. Lyatoshinsky presents himself as a demonstrative traditionalist, master of the symphonic writing and tradition of thematic development. At the same time, he considers structural and expressive forms of decay, deformation, mannerism, nihilism, sickness and convalescence. The Symphony establishes the connections with Lyatoshinsky's keen interest in stylistic hybridity expressed through the use of the classical form, motivic development, atonality and primitivism of folk song.  Lyatoshinsky was actively seeking and arranging performances of his Symphonies. His Fourth Symphony (in B minor) was performed shortly after the composer had written it (in October 1963 he was still finishing the orchestration for this work and in February of the same year it was performed in the Moscow Conservatoire.). One more performance was planned for the Congress of the Composers of the Ukraine, in March 1963 and another one in February 1966, this time for the Congress of the composers of Russia. In his letter to A. Dmitriev, he admits that the Fourth Symphony contains ‘autobiographical features’ and is ‘very precious’ to him. ‹L's letter, in Grecenko› ‘The ring of the bells that you hear’, he writes, ‘reflects the passing of time, memories of the past centuries; centuries, covered... with the dust of eternity and the ring of the bells.’  After the death of Stalin, Lyatohinsky at least was free to speak his own symphonic mind, making free use of motivic development, dissonances and atonal language. In his next and last Fifth (Slavonic) Symphony (in C major), the composer included the Russian folk song as the main theme and a song from Yugoslavia as a secondary theme. Lyatoshinsky carried on using folk material in his music, widening his repertoire of folk themes and making references to republics of the Soviet Union, such as Russia, and Slavic countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Slovakia.  During the 1960s, Lyatoshinsky was accepted as a member of the Composers’ Union of the USSR. Amongst other privileges, he enjoyed there were ‘cultural’ trips abroad, where he met other fellow composers and discussed his works. Such tours, completed with cultural programmes of performances and composers’ meetings were assuming a function (particularly during the Cold War period) as advertisements for and ambassadors of both national pride and communism to the non- communist world. Some of these outings were recorded in Lyatoshinsky's letters. He writes about visiting England for two weeks as a return favour after two British composers (he does not specify who they were) stayed in Moscow six months earlier.  Lyatoshinsky's cultural trips continued, with visits to Austria and Switzerland; his wife accompanied him. This was an opportunity time for the composer to promote his works and establish himself as an international composer. Unknown to him there was limited time to achieve this ambition. After completing the various choir works and his Festive Overture for the Symphonic orchestra in 1968 he died suddenly, leaving behind his plans for composing his Sixth Symphony.  Lyatoshinsky was the recipient of many awards and medals for his achievements. In 1938 and 1955 he was granted ‘A sign of Honour’, in 1946- ‘For Heroic Achievement’ and ‘Labour Red Flag’. In the 50th of year of the Soviet Rule he received the medal of ‘Lenin’. Posthumously, Lyatoshinsky obtained a distinction as the People's Artist of the Ukrainian USSR in 1968 and had been honoured as a great Ukrainian Composer in 1971, receiving the Shevchenko National Prize, after his death.  Lyatoshinsky wrote a variety of works, including five symphonies, symphonic poems, and several shorter orchestral and vocal works, two operas, chamber music, and a number of works for solo piano. His earliest compositions were greatly influenced by the expressionism of Scriabin and Rachmaninov (Symphony No.1). His musical style later developed in a direction favored by Shostakovich, which caused significant problems with Soviet critics of the time, and as a result Lyatoshynsky was accused (together with Prokofiev and Shostakovich) of formalism and creation of degenerative art. Many of his compositions were rarely or never performed during his lifetime. The 1993, a recording of his symphonies by the American conductor Theodore Kuchar and the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra (on the Naxos/Marco Polo label) brought his music to worldwide audiences.

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Boris Mykolayovych Lyatoshinsky or Lyatoshynsky (, "Borys Mykolayovych Lyatoshyns′kyi"; January 3, 1895 – April 15, 1968) was a Ukrainian composer, conductor, and teacher. A leading member of the new generation of twentieth-century Ukrainian composers, he was awarded a number of accolades, including the honorary title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and two Stalin State Prizes.

Borys Mykolajovyč Ljatošynskyj, (3. ledna 1895, Žytomyr, Ukrajina – 15. dubna 1968, Kyjev, Ukrajina), byl ukrajinský hudební skladatel, dirigent, pedagog, zakladatel moderního směru v ukrajinské klasické hudbě.


Biography.

Hulak-Artemovsky was born in Horodyshche a city in present-day Ukraine (at the time a part of Imperial Russia) to the family of a priest, and went on to study at the Kiev Theological Seminary from 1835 to 1838. Having gained the attention of Mikhail Glinka, the young Semen was brought to the capital of the empire, St Petersburg, in 1838 to receive vocal training directly from Glinka, as well as entry into the Imperial Chapel Choir. The following year, Hulak-Artemovsky left to continue his studies in Italy. Towards the end of his stay in that country, he began performing opera in Florence. Upon his return to St. Petersburg in 1842, Hulak-Artemovsky became a soloist of the Imperial Opera at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, a position he held for 22 years. In 1852 and 1853 he sang roles in Anton Rubinstein's first two operas, "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Fomka the Fool".  Hulak-Artemovsky performed at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow from 1864 to 1865. He performed over fifty operatic roles during his career, including Ruslan in Glinka's "Ruslan and Lyudmila", Masetto in Mozart's "Don Giovanni", as well as Antonio and Lord Ashton in Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix" and "Lucia di Lammermoor".  A composer of operas, as well as vocal and instrumental music, Hulak-Artemovsky composed his seminal work "Zaporozhets za Dunayem" in 1864, after completing the libretto in 1862.  His friendship with Taras Shevchenko began in the fall of 1838, after a chance meeting in St. Petersburg. The lifelong friendship continued during Shevchenko's incarceration and subsequent release, and was said to have strongly influenced Hulak-Artemovsky's view of the world. He dedicated his song "A Maple Tree Stands Over The River" (, translit. "Stoyit' yavir nad vodoyu") to Shevchenko.  Hulak-Artemovsky died at the age of 60 in Moscow.

Semen Stepanovich Hulak-Artemovsky (, also referred to as Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky and Artemovs’kyj) ( – ), was a Ukrainian opera composer, singer (baritone), actor, and dramatist who lived and worked in Imperial Russia.

Semen Stepanovyč Hulak-Artemovskyj () nebo Semjon Stěpanovič Gulak-Artěmovskij (; 16. února 1813, Horodyšče – 17. dubna 1873 Moskva, Rusko) byl ukrajinský zpěvák, hudební skladatel, dramatický herec, dramaturg.