In 2007, France celebrates 330 years since the death of the most famous Frenchman - the captain of the Royal Musketeers Charles D'Artagnan. Today, his name, like the name of a real hero, has become a legend. How much truth is in it?
In fact, the musketeer's name was Charles de Batz de Castelmore. According to historians, he was born in Gascony, between the towns of Tarbes and Auch in the castle of Castelmore. The exact date of his birth is unknown, since the lists of those baptized before 1662 have disappeared. Charles D'Artagnan was the youngest of 7 or 8 children in the family of Bertrand de Batz de Castelmore and Francoise Montesquiou. There is no information about his childhood and youth, but it is known that in 1640 he, as befitted young Gascon nobles, joined the ranks of the French Guard. Cadets-Guards then did not receive a penny, but military training was free and made it possible to apply for higher army ranks in the future. Further, events developed in such a way that, it seems, Alexandre Dumas was able to create two characters from the historical D'Artagnan at once - the cunning Gascon and his antagonist Count Rochefort, close to Cardinal Richelieu. So, Charles takes the name of his mother known at court - D'Artagnan (the younger branch of the Montesquieu family) and receives a baptism of fire in campaigns against the Huguenots in the wars "For the Faith".
After that, he enters into direct submission to the successor of Cardinal Richelieu, the Italian Mazarin, and a little later he will gain fame and awards for "courage, loyalty and courage." Since the appointment of the personal courier of the cardinal, detailed documents appear with the mention of the name of Charles d'Artagnan. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs still keeps the original instructions to D'Artagnan on negotiating with the governors of the fortresses on the terms of surrender. During this period, contemporaries call him "the henchman of Cardinal Mazarin", who, being a courier on special diplomatic missions, performs secret and particularly risky missions. D'Artagnan himself has time everywhere: for example, during the siege of Dunkirk, he replaces one of the wounded commanders of the elite military unit of the Musketeers Company.
In 1646, as a result court intrigue at the head of the "Company" is the nephew of Cardinal Mazarin, not too inclined to burden himself with official duties. As a result, the cardinal's close associate, D'Artagnan, becomes the actual head of the most elite unit of the country, which, in fact, meant the possibility of his direct contact with the first persons of the kingdom.
The case was not long in coming: the musketeer was made responsible for the parade procession of the royal wedding cortege, the path of which passed through Gascony, which could not but affect his popularity. D'Artagnan's compatriots stood for hours along the roads to see the son of poor Gascony, flying on a horse ahead of the aristocrats from the most famous families of France.
Two other historical and at the same time adventurous moments in D'Artagnan's career are the arrest of the presumptuous temporary worker Fouquet, the keeper-plunderer of the state treasury, and the ultra-delicate mission to rid the king of his unwanted son-in-law. Regarding the first, the king personally gave the order to d'Artagnan in the strictest confidence.
Since 1670, D'Artagnan has clearly been a confidant of the king, often following the personal oral instructions of the monarch. D'Artagnan's reputation is so impeccable that, obeying, they take him at his word. Moreover, in the documents of that era, he is called the title "count".
Relatively personal life D'Artagnan is worth noting that his adventures in Dumas' novel do not have any documentary evidence. At the age of 45, he stops his choice not on the beautiful haberdasher Madame Bonacieux, but on the richest aristocratic widow, 35-year-old Charlotte de Chanlesi.
Despite the fame, reputation and irresistible charm of the captain of the Musketeers, the widow, fearing for her fortune, agreed to marry only on condition of a marriage contract. The contract, dated March 5, 1659, bears the signatures of King Louis XIV, Cardinal Mazarin and Marshal de Gramont.
The favor of the king and queen, their presence at the christening of the eldest son of the D'Artagnan couple, as well as the acquired status and wealth - all this was not enough to save the marriage of Charles and Charlotte. There is no direct evidence of the reasons for the breakup between the spouses, but there are plenty of indirect ones, and they all point to the monstrous jealousy of the spouse. Regrettably, but the captain of the Royal Musketeers suffered from her scandals, as the last haberdasher of the kingdom ...
According to some historians, the only love of the Gascon's life was Queen Anna of Austria, whose portrait adorned the captain's house. In the spring of 1672, the king, preparing for the war against Holland, appoints D'Artagnan as the governor of the city of Lille - an important strategic point for the upcoming campaign, the last in the life of the hero - on June 24, 1673, he dies during the assault on Maastricht. According to custom, he is buried along with other fallen soldiers in the area of the battlefield.
The king and courtiers sincerely mourn him, and the poet writes an epitaph: "... D'Artagnan and Glory rest together." To date, two authentic portraits of D'Artagnan are known. The first is an engraving that adorns a book by Gatien Courtil de Sandras, and the second is by court painter van der Meulen. D'Artagnan was handsome and noble. He dressed strictly in the Spanish fashion, preferring black to all colors, but as a sign of nobility he wore red heels. When the notary came to make a posthumous inventory of the property in his house on the Rue Bac in the fashionable Latin Quarter of Paris, he discovered a very extensive wardrobe. Some of his suits were adorned with diamonds...
And yet, according to contemporaries, d'Artagnan was the best rider of the kingdom and his appearance "resembled the god of war Mars."
He preferred beautiful Spanish stallions, which he bought for a lot of money.
Between England and France - a series of successive military conflicts that lasted from 1337 to 1453.
It ended on October 19, 1453 with the capitulation of the English garrison in Bordeaux and the abandonment of Calais, the last English possession in France.
The prerequisites for conflicts throughout the entire period that the Hundred Years War lasted were already in the distant past, even in the reign of William the Conqueror. When Duke William of Normandy became the new English king in 1066 after his victory at the Battle of Hastings, he united England with the Duchy of Normandy in France.
Under Henry II Plantagenet, the lands that belonged to England in France expanded, but the kings who succeeded him found them too large and difficult to manage.
By 1327, England owned only two regions in France - Aquitaine and Ponthieu.
When the last of the French Capetian kings, Charles IV the Handsome, died in 1328, his closest male relative was his nephew Edward III of England (mother Isabella was the sister of Charles and daughter of Philip IV the Handsome).
The French nobility sought to ensure that the throne was taken by Philip of the Valois family (as King Philip VI), not only because Edward's rights to the French crown were transferred through the female line. First of all, he was an Englishman, which means he was not a suitable candidate. Edward III, although he was then fifteen years old, was furious, but could not do anything.
In 1337, Philip, in punishment for the fact that Edward provided shelter to Philip's cousin and enemy Robert d'Artois, demanded the return of Aquitaine to France. Edward, in response, demanding for himself the crown of France by right of descent, declared war on Philip.
The counts of Flanders supported the claims of the British during the period that the Hundred Years War lasted, because of their personal interest - mutually beneficial trade in wool and fabrics was carried out between England and Flanders. The dukes of Brittany and Normandy, allied with the British, feared the aspirations of those who wanted to create a strong centralized French kingdom.
In 1340, Edward formally assumed the title of "King of France and of the French Royal Arms". Modern historians are debating whether he really believed that he could take the French throne. But whatever his pretensions or hopes, it gave him important leverage in dealing with Philip. Thanks to the title, he could provoke more than one problem, encourage discontented Frenchmen to choose themselves as king over Philip, use him as a powerful weapon during negotiations, offering to give up large territorial concessions in France in exchange for the crown.
During the period of the Hundred Years' War, the British won brilliant victories in 1346, at Poitiers in 1356, and at Agincourt in 1415. The finest hour of the British came when Henry V took control of Paris, Normandy, most of northern France. He married the daughter of the Mad Catherine of Valois and forced the French king to recognize him as regent of France and successor to the French throne.
Charles and Henry died in 1422. The eighth Dauphin of France in 1429 was crowned as inspired by the victories of Joan of Arc over the British.
Henry VI was the only English king actually crowned King of France at the age of ten in Paris in 1431. But gradually, the independent territories located on the other side of the English Channel left the British control.
In 1436, the French invaded Aquitaine and took Bordeaux, which had been in British hands for three hundred years and was the center of a thriving wine trade. A deputation of citizens arrived in England in 1452 to ask for help from Henry VI.
All military conflicts, how long the Hundred Years War lasted, took place on the territory of France. The country's population is believed to have halved during this period.
A force of approximately 3,000 men, under the command of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, moved into France. Talbot was able to return most of western Aquitaine, but in July 1453 french army defeated the English at Castillon, and Talbot himself, an outstanding commander admired by both the French and the English, was killed.
When it became clear that no more help would arrive from England, Bordeaux surrendered in October, marking the end of the war. How many years did the Hundred Years' War last in total? It covers a period of 116 years (from 1337 to 1453) with more or less long breaks. Although no major battle took place afterwards, the Hundred Years' War officially ended on 29 August 1475 with the signing of the peace treaty at Piquini between King Louis XI of France and King Edward IV of England.
In the history of mankind there were wars that lasted more than a century. Maps were redrawn, political interests were defended, people died. We recall the most protracted military conflicts.
Punic War (118 years)
By the middle of the III century BC. the Romans almost completely subjugated Italy, swung at the entire Mediterranean and wanted Sicily first. But the mighty Carthage also claimed this rich island. Their claims unleashed 3 wars that stretched (intermittently) from 264 to 146. BC. and got the name from the Latin name of the Phoenicians-Carthaginians (puns).
The first (264-241) - 23 years old (began just because of Sicily). The second (218-201) - 17 years (after the capture of the Spanish city of Sagunta by Hannibal). The last (149-146) - 3 years. It was then that the famous phrase "Carthage must be destroyed!" was born.
Pure warfare took 43 years. The conflict in total is 118 years.
Results: Besieged Carthage fell. Rome has won.
Hundred Years War (116 years)
Went in 4 stages. With pauses for truces (the longest - 10 years) and the fight against the plague (1348) from 1337 to 1453.
Opponents: England and France.
Reasons: France wanted to oust England from the southwestern lands of Aquitaine and complete the unification of the country. England - to strengthen influence in the province of Guyenne and return those lost under John the Landless - Normandy, Maine, Anjou.
Complication: Flanders - formally was under the auspices of the French crown, in fact it was free, but depended on English wool for cloth making.
Reason: the claims of the English king Edward III from the Plantagenet-Anjou dynasty (the maternal grandson of the French king Philip IV the Handsome of the Capetian family) to the Gallic throne.
Allies: England - German feudal lords and Flanders. France - Scotland and the Pope.
Army: English - mercenary. under the command of the king. The basis is infantry (archers) and knightly units. French - knightly militia, under the leadership of royal vassals.
Turning point: after the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431 and the Battle of Normandy, the national liberation war of the French people began with the tactics of guerrilla raids.
Results: October 19, 1453 the English army capitulated in Bordeaux. Having lost everything on the continent, except for the port of Calais (it remained English for another 100 years). France switched to a regular army, abandoned knightly cavalry, gave preference to infantry, and the first firearms appeared.
Greco-Persian War (50th Anniversary)
Altogether, war. Stretched with lulls from 499 to 449. BC. They are divided into two (the first - 492-490, the second - 480-479) or three (the first - 492, the second - 490, the third - 480-479 (449). For the Greek policies-states - the battle for independence. For the Achaeminid Empire - captivating.
Trigger: Ionian rebellion. The battle of the Spartans at Thermopylae is legendary. The battle of Salamis was a turning point. The point was put by "Kalliev Mir".
Results: Persia lost the Aegean Sea, the coasts of the Hellespont and the Bosporus. Recognized the freedom of the cities of Asia Minor. The civilization of the ancient Greeks entered the time of the highest prosperity, laying the culture, which, even after millennia, the world was equal to.
War of the Scarlet and White Rose (aged 33)
Confrontation of the English nobility - supporters of two tribal branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - Lancaster and York. Stretched from 1455 to 1485.
Prerequisites: "bastard feudalism" - the privilege of the English nobility to pay off military service from the lord, in whose hands large funds were concentrated, with which he paid for the army of mercenaries, which became more powerful than the royal one.
The reason: the defeat of England in the Hundred Years War, the impoverishment of the feudal lords, their rejection of the political course of the wife of the feeble-minded king Henry IV, hatred of her favorites.
Opposition: Duke Richard of York - considered the right to power of the Lancasters illegitimate, became regent under an incapacitated monarch, in 1483 - king, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth.
Results: Violated the balance of political forces in Europe. Led to the collapse of the Plantagenets. She placed the Welsh Tudors on the throne, who ruled England for 117 years. Cost the lives of hundreds of English aristocrats.
Thirty Years' War (30 years)
The first military conflict of a pan-European scale. Lasted from 1618 to 1648.
Opponents: two coalitions. The first is the union of the Holy Roman Empire (in fact, Austrian) with Spain and the Catholic principalities of Germany. The second - the German states, where power was in the hands of Protestant princes. They were supported by the armies of reformist Sweden and Denmark and Catholic France.
Reason: The Catholic League was afraid of the spread of the ideas of the Reformation in Europe, the Protestant Evangelical Union - they aspired to this.
Trigger: Revolt of Czech Protestants against Austrian domination.
Results: The population of Germany has decreased by a third. The French army lost 80 thousand. Austria and Spain - more than 120.
After the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new independent state, the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (Holland), was finally fixed on the map of Europe.
Peloponnesian War (age 27)
There are two of them. The first is the Little Peloponnesian (460-445 BC). The second (431-404 BC) is the largest in the history of Ancient Hellas after the first Persian invasion of the territory of Balkan Greece. (492-490 BC).
Opponents: Peloponnesian Union led by Sparta and the First Marine (Delosian) under the auspices of Athens.
Reasons: The desire for hegemony in the Greek world of Athens and the rejection of their claims by Sparta and Corypha.
Contradictions: Athens was ruled by an oligarchy. Sparta is a military aristocracy. Ethnically, the Athenians were Ionians, the Spartans were Dorians.
In the second, 2 periods are distinguished. The first is "Arkhidamov's War". The Spartans made land invasions into the territory of Attica. Athenians - sea raids on the coast of the Peloponnese. It ended in the 421st signing of the Peace of Nikiev. After 6 years, it was violated by the Athenian side, which was defeated in the battle of Syracuse. The final phase went down in history under the name Dekeley or Ionian. With the support of Persia, Sparta built a fleet and destroyed the Athenian at Aegospotami.
Results: After the conclusion in April 404 BC. Athens lost the fleet, torn down the Long Walls, lost all colonies and joined the Spartan alliance.
How many years was the Hundred Years War
In general, the term "Hundred Years War" is very conditional. Of course, hostilities were not uninterrupted throughout the entire period. And they were in 1337-1453. At that time, two powerful states appeared in Europe: and England. Dreams of a united European state under the leadership of the Pope or the Emperor have dissipated like smoke. And the hundred years war was caused by the conflict between these two states. What were the reasons:
- the English rulers remained vassals of the French king;
- the powerful French state was a danger to England;
- rivalry between states for Flanders.
But the main reason was the possession of England in France - Guienne (or Gascony). The war continued in periods that alternated with lengthy truces. It was the first European war that affected other countries as well.
The course of the war
Conventionally, the war can be divided into 4 stages. The first step was taken by the English King Edward, who landed his troops in France. The first major battle took place in 1346, where the British won thanks to their archers. It is believed that this battle was the beginning of the end of the era of chivalry. But after the battle fighting were discontinued for 10 years due to the plague. The plague claimed more lives than the war.
But already in 1356 the French again suffered a crushing defeat. And in 1360, a peace was signed, according to which the French crown lost a third of its possessions. The peace lasted 9 years. During this time, it increased its military power and was able to capture the previously lost territories. This time the concluded peace was unfavorable for the British. The next phase of the war began in 1415. The British won almost every battle until 1428. Then it appears key person- Joan of Arc. She helped the French win until 1431, when she was captured by the British and executed.
But this did not affect the further course of the war. The French continued to liberate their territories and the last blow came in 1453. The British were smashed to smithereens.
