<story><title>I walked across Luxembourg</title><url>https://blog.ioces.com/matt/posts/i-walked-across-luxembourg/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pavlov</author><text>The history of Luxembourg is an interesting microcosm of how the fortunes of states and dynasties have ebbed and flowed in Europe over the past thousand years.&lt;p&gt;There was a time when the House of Luxembourg was the main rival to the Habsburgs for control of central Europe, contributing four Holy Roman Emperors:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Duchy_of_Luxemburg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Duchy_of_Luxemburg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The dukes of this area used to be so important to European politics that Henry VIII of England married a Dutch duke&amp;#x27;s daughter for political reasons (and immediately regretted it of course, as he was wont to do).&lt;p&gt;The area of the Duchy used to be several times larger, but over centuries it was nibbled away by France, Prussia, and finally the creation of Belgium.&lt;p&gt;It has been under Spanish rule (those Habsburgs again), then invaded by the French revolutionary republic and annexed into France as a department simply called Forêts (Forests) because the revolutionaries didn&amp;#x27;t want to keep any names that honored the old nobility. After Napoleon&amp;#x27;s defeat the Congress of Vienna aimed to restore old borders and reinstate monarchies, but with multiple claims on Luxembourg, it was split and became a grand duchy whose head of state was the King of Netherlands.&lt;p&gt;It became an independent country in 1890 when the Dutch king died without a male heir. Dutch law allowed the throne to pass to a female child, but the Grand Duchy was under different laws and was inherited by a claimant rather than the new Dutch queen. (Monarchy is pretty weird in practice.)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dalbasal</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Dutch law allowed the throne to pass to a female child, but the Grand Duchy was under different laws and was inherited by a claimant rather than the new Dutch queen. (Monarchy is pretty weird in practice.)&lt;p&gt;Game of Thrones, with its campy portrayal of regal titles and announcements, kind of drives this point home. European aristocracy, especially those derived from germanic and other barbarian cultures, held titles like collectibles. Lordships accrued rather than expanded. The could be dispersed and often were.&lt;p&gt;If you watch Queen Elizebeth coronation, the list of titles would shame Daenerys Targaryen. It&amp;#x27;s quite surreal. Queen of Jamaica, Empress of India, Defender of the faith...&lt;p&gt;Even the 20th century version was not unrelated to real politics, but as you go back, this reflected real political power and machinations. Every title had different rules, different arbiters, and disputes led to actual wars.</text></comment>
<story><title>I walked across Luxembourg</title><url>https://blog.ioces.com/matt/posts/i-walked-across-luxembourg/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pavlov</author><text>The history of Luxembourg is an interesting microcosm of how the fortunes of states and dynasties have ebbed and flowed in Europe over the past thousand years.&lt;p&gt;There was a time when the House of Luxembourg was the main rival to the Habsburgs for control of central Europe, contributing four Holy Roman Emperors:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Duchy_of_Luxemburg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Duchy_of_Luxemburg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The dukes of this area used to be so important to European politics that Henry VIII of England married a Dutch duke&amp;#x27;s daughter for political reasons (and immediately regretted it of course, as he was wont to do).&lt;p&gt;The area of the Duchy used to be several times larger, but over centuries it was nibbled away by France, Prussia, and finally the creation of Belgium.&lt;p&gt;It has been under Spanish rule (those Habsburgs again), then invaded by the French revolutionary republic and annexed into France as a department simply called Forêts (Forests) because the revolutionaries didn&amp;#x27;t want to keep any names that honored the old nobility. After Napoleon&amp;#x27;s defeat the Congress of Vienna aimed to restore old borders and reinstate monarchies, but with multiple claims on Luxembourg, it was split and became a grand duchy whose head of state was the King of Netherlands.&lt;p&gt;It became an independent country in 1890 when the Dutch king died without a male heir. Dutch law allowed the throne to pass to a female child, but the Grand Duchy was under different laws and was inherited by a claimant rather than the new Dutch queen. (Monarchy is pretty weird in practice.)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mcv</author><text>The reason it was such a strategic position, is because the town was a natural fortress. It&amp;#x27;s located on top of a high, flat rock, which is riddled with tunnels for gun casemates, making the town of Luxembourg very hard to take.&lt;p&gt;It was a vital part of the Spanish Road that the Spanish Habsburgs needed to move troops from their lands in Italy to the north during the 80 Years War.</text></comment>