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Teatro San Carlo

Teatro San Carlo

left The Teatro di San Carlo is a famous opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest working theatre in Europe. The San Carlo was built by the Bourbon monarch Charles III of Spain who wanted to endow Naples with a theatre. The theater was inaugurated on the 4 November 1737 -- the king's nameday -- with a performance of Metastasio's opera Achille in Sciro, with music written by Domenico Sarro, who also conducted the orchestra and two ballets as intermezzi created by Grossatesta. The new theater was much admired for its architecture, its gold decorations, and the sumptuousness blue upholstery (the official colours of the Bourbons) At the time, Neapolitan opera enjoyed great success all over Europe, not only in the field of opera buffa but also in that of opera seria with Leo, Porpora, Traetta, Piccinni, Vinci, Anfossi, Durante, Jommelli, Cimarosa, Paisiello, Zingarelli. Naples became the capital of European music and even foreign composers considered the San Carlo theatre as the goal of their career: Hasse (who later settled in Naples) Haydn, Johann Christian Bach and Gluck. Similarly the most prominent singers performed at the San Carlo, and many of them consolidated their fame in Naples, from Lucrezia Anguiari, called "La Cochetta" to the renowned castrati Caffarelli (Gaetano Majorano), Farinelli (Carlo Broschi), Gizziello (Gioacchino Conti) the three of them coming from the Conservatories of Naples - to Gian Battista Velluti, the last castrato. On 12 February 1816 the San Carlo was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt however within ten months on order of King Ferdinand IV, another Bourbon. Apart from the creation of the orchestra pit suggested by Verdi in 1872, the installation of electricity in 1890, the subsequent abolition of the central chandelier and the construction of the new foyer with a new wing dedicated to the dressing rooms, the theatre has undergone no substantial changes since that time.. On 12 January 1817, the rebuilt hall was inaugurated with Mayr's Il sogno di Partenope. Stendhal attended the second night of the inauguration and wrote: "There is nothing in all Europe, I won't say comparable to this theatre, but which gives the slightest idea of what it is like..., it dazzles the eyes, it enraptures the soul...". From 1815 to 1822, Gioacchino Rossini was house composer and artistic director of the royal opera houses, including the San Carlo, and he wrote nine operas during this time: Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra (1815), La Gazzetta, Otello, ossia il Moro di Venezia (1816), Armida (1817), Mosè in Egitto, Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818), Ermione, Bianca e Falliero, Edoardo e Cristina, La Donna del Lago (1819), Maometto Secondo (1820), and Zelmira (1822). Among the regular singers of the period were, apart from Manuel Garcia, his daughter Maria Malibran, Giuditta Pasta, Isabella Colbran, Giovan Battista Rubini, Domenico Donzelli and the two great rivals: French singers Adolphe Nourrit and Gilbert Duprez -- the inventor of the C from the breast. After a performance of Zelmira, Rossini fled from Naples with Colbran who had until that moment been the lover the empresario, Barbaja's lover. The impresario signed then up another rising star of Italian opera: Gaetano Donizetti. As artistic director of the royal opera houses Donizetti remained in Naples from 1822 until 1838, composing a sixteen operas for the theatre, among which Maria Stuarda (1834), Roberto Devereux (1837), Poliuto (1838) and the famous Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), written for soprano Tacchinardi-Persiani and for tenor Duprez. Vincenzo Bellini also staged his first work, Bianca e Gerlando, at the San Carlo. Giuseppe Verdi was also associated with the theater. In 1841, his Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio was performed there and in 1845 he wrote his first opera for the theatre, Alzira the second was Luisa Miller in 1849. His third should have been Gustavo III but it was forbidden at the last minute by the censor; it was later performed in Rome with the changed title of Ballo in Maschera. With the end of the nineteenth century, Giacomo Puccini and the other composers of verismo operas, such as from Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano, and Cilea stage their works there.

External link


- [http://www.teatrosancarlo.it/ Teatro di San Carlos website] Category:Opera houses in Italy Category:Naples ja:サン・カルロ劇場

Naples

:Alternate uses: See Naples (disambiguation) Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning "New City"; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. The city has a population of about 1 million, and together with its suburbs, the metropolitan area has 3.7 million inhabitants (Neapolitans). It is located just halfway between the Vesuvius volcano and a separate volcanic area, the Campi Flegrei, all part of the Campanian volcanic arc. Napoli is where pizza originally came from. It is rich in historical, artistic and cultural traditions and gastronomy. Neapolitan is a colourful, rich italian dialect- known in Naples as Napulitano. The metropolitan area of Naples is second in Italy by population, with over 4,400,000 inhabitants. The city is served by Naples International Airport.

History

see main article History of Naples History of Naples

Food and drink

Naples is by tradition the home of pizza. It is the birthplace of the Pizza Margherita, which traditionally is made with mozzarella cheese, pomodoro (tomato) and basil - each representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. The pizza was created as homage to Queen Margherita when she visited the city. La vera pizza ("true pizza") should be made in a wood-burning oven similar to a Tandoori oven. Naples is also famous for its pasta dishes, where spaghetti is often served with sugo di pomodoro, a tomato sauce which gets its full flavour from sun-ripe Campanian San Marzano tomatoes. Another excellent Campanian dish found in Naples is melanzane alla parmigiana, which is fried slices of aubergine (eggplant) gratinéed with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Often one can get another version of melanzane alla parmigiana with an addition of mozzarella cheese. Naples offers several kinds of unique pastry, the most famous of which is perhaps the babà, followed by choux (Neapolitans write it as sciù) and the Pastiera, a cake prepared for Easter. The babà (also known as savarin) is a mushroom-shaped piece of leavend sweet paste, soaked with an orange flavoured mixture of Pastiera and water. Choux is a small "bubble" of leavened paste stuffed with light cream, usually coffee or chocolate flavored. The Pastiera is a cake with a complicated recipe, varying by the county in which it is prepared. The ingrediants are typically annealed grain, eggs, and sometimes cream. It is always combined with boiled rice. Another typical Neapolitan pastry is the Sfogliatella (riccia or frolla). Naples is also known for its gelato. Gelato is not ice cream, but rather iced milk.

Tourist attractions

gelato Naples itself is less visited than some of the surrounding attractions. There are, however, many attractions within the city. La Villa Comunale (formerly a royal park) has been refurbished and stretches along the seafront in the smarter western end of the city. It contains an aquarium which is possibly Europe's oldest and is favoured by the locals for family walks on Sunday mornings. The Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli contains a large collection of Roman artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as the Farnese Marbles, some of the greatest surviving Roman statues, an amazing numismatical collection; The Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte contains art collections including works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli and Caravaggio. Naples is the home of the Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest active opera house in Europe, which opened its doors on November 4, 1737. Other notable monuments are: 1737
- Castel dell'Ovo
- Castel Nuovo with the Arch of Triumph of Alfonso I
- Palazzo Reale
- Piazza del Plebiscito
- Cathedral of St. January
- church of Santa Chiara
- church of San Lorenzo Maggiore
- church of Santa Maria Donna Regina
- church of Gesù Nuovo ("new Jesus")
- church of San Domenico Maggiore

Under Naples

San Domenico Maggiore Guided tours operate around the Stratification of Naples which shows the city through the layers laid down across history. Subterranean Naples consists of old Greco-Roman reservoirs dug out from the soft tufo stone on which, and from which, the city is built. You can visit approximately one kilometer of the many kilometers of tunnels under the city. There are also large catacombs in and around the city.You can find, even, a lot of trash buried deep under the roads, dating to the Greeks and the Romans.

Also in Naples

Naples is the site of three major military bases. Naval Support Activity Naples, located in Capodichino is a major US Navy base which is responsible for the support and control of US Naval assets in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility, and Bagnoli, known as Joint Force Command South (formerly AFSOUTH, many Sailors still call it this) is a major NATO base, which is responsible for the coordination of NATO forces in the south European Region. There is also the Support Site, which consists mostly of housing and personnel support facilities, located in Gricignano di Aversa. Capodichino is the site of the Naples International Airport.

Around Naples

The islands of Procida, (famously used as the set for much of il Postino), Capri and Ischia can all be reached quickly by Aliscafi (twin-hulled ferries). Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast are situated south of Naples. The Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum (destroyed in the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius) are also nearby. Near Naples there is Pozzuoli and the Campi flegrei were the romans fuond a rich military colony.

Sporting Naples

Naples is the home of the underachieving soccer team Napoli. With the help of Diego Maradona, they achieved rare success in 1987 and in 1990 by winning the scudetto, the UEFA cup, italian supercup and the italian cup. In 2004 the football team was declared bankrupt and has been subsequently reborn into the lower division of Serie C1 as 'Napoli Soccer'.

The Neapolitan diaspora

Naples has seen many of its children spread throughout the world, setting up 'Little Italies' in many countries. The majority of these Neapolitans who left Italy went to the Americas, especially the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.

Gulf of Naples


- Ischia
- Capri
- Procida
- Sorrento
- Positano
- Pozzuoli

Famous Neapolitans


- Enrico Alvino architect
- Giambattista Basile poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- Libero Bovio
- Giordano Bruno
- Battistello Caracciolo
- Renato Carosone
- Enrico Caruso
- Benedetto Croce philosopher
- Antonio de Curtis (Totò) writer and actor
- Eduardo De Filippo writer and actor
- Peppino De Filippo actor
- Titina De Filippo actress
- Massimo Troisi actor
- Enrico De Nicola jurist, journalist and politician
- Salvatore Di Giacomo writer, poet and lyricist
- Armando Diaz general and politician
- Gaetano Filangieri jurist
- Vincenzo Gemito sculptor
- Luca Giordano
- Giacinto Gigante
- Ruggero Leoncavallo
- Pirro Ligorio, mannerist architect
- Alfonso Maria de' Liguori jurist and writer (Catholic saint)
- Giovan Battista Marino
- Domenico Morelli painter
- Giovanni Paisiello
- Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
- Giovanni Pontano
- Basilio Puoti
- Salvator Rosa poet, satirist and Baroque era painter
- Ferdinando Russo poet, journalist and writer
- Raffaele Sacco poet and lyricist
- Ferdinando Sanfelice
- Jacopo Sannazaro
- Domenico Scarlatti
- Matilde Serao journalist and novelist
- Massimo Stanzione
- Domenico Antonio Vaccaro sculptor, architect and painter
- Giambattista Vico philosopher
- Raffaele Viviani
- Sophia Loren actress

Community Boards of Naples

Naples is politically divided in 10 Community Boards :
- 1 : Chiaia, Posillipo and S.Ferdinando
- 2 : Avvocata, Montecalvario, S.Giuseppe, Porto, Mercato and Pendino
- 3 : Stella and S.Carlo all'Arena
- 4 : S.Lorenzo, Vicaria and Poggioreale-Zona Industriale
- 5 : Arenella and Vomero
- 6 : Barra, Ponticelli and S.Giovanni a Teduccio
- 7 : Miano, S.Pietro a Patierno and Secondigliano
- 8 : Chiaiano, Piscinola-Marianella and Scampia
- 9 : Pianura and Soccavo
- 10 : Bagnoli and Fuorigrotta

See also


- Two Sicilies
- Monarchs of Naples and Sicily
- Duchies of Naples
- Viceroys of Naples

External links


- [http://www.comune.napoli.it City Council's website]
- [http://www.compart-multimedia.com/virtuale/us/napoli/naples.htm Naples, Italy] Virtual reality movies and photo gallery
- [http://www.napoli.com/english Around Naples]
- [http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/newAN.html Around Naples, slightly different version of above site.]
- [http://www.ctpn.it Compagnia Trasporti Pubblici (Public Transport Company)]
- [http://www.unicocampania.it/ing/home.htm Consorzio Unico Campania, English Home Page]
- [http://www.unina.it Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II"] University of Naples
- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5207 Satellite image of Naples and Vesuvius] at NASA's Earth Observatory
- [http://www.verapizzanapoletana.org/vpn/charter.html Association of the Verace Pizza Napoletana (The True Pizza Society)]
- [http://www.marketplace.it/museo.nazionale/ Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli (National Archaeological Museum)]
- [http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/napoliwatch.html Napoliwatch - reports in English of all Napoli Soccer's matches]
- [http://www.bnnonline.it/traduzio/eng/engfirst.htm Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli (National Library of Naples)] Category:Coastal cities of Italy
- Category:Cities in Campania Category:Cumaean colonies Category:Former countries in Europe ko:나폴리 ja:ナポリ simple:Naples

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain and southern Italy; other Bourbons held important duchies. Spain currently has a Bourbon monarch. Bourbon monarchs ruled Navarre (from 1555) and France (from 1589 until the 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet branch, the House of Bourbon-Orleans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was overthrown. Philip V of Spain was the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, from 1700. The Spanish Bourbons—nowadays, in Spain the name is spelt Borbón—have been overthrown and restored several times, ruling 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, and 1975 to the present day. From this Spanish line comes the royal line of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1734–1806 and 1815–1860, and Sicily only in 1806–1816), the Bourbon-Sicilies family, and the Bourbon rulers of the Duchy of Parma. In 1919 Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg married a cadet of the Bourbon-Parma line, and thus her successors, who have ruled Luxembourg since her abdication in 1964, have also technically been members of the House of Bourbon. The Princes of Condé (Bourbon-Condé) were a cadet branch of the Bourbon-Vendômes and, in turn, were senior to the Princes of Conti (Bourbon-Conti). Both these lines became extinct in the early nineteenth century.

Origin of the House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon as a noble family dates at least from the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord who was a vassal of the King of France. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of king Louis IX of France married Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon. Their son Louis was made duke of Bourbon in 1327. The senior line of his heirs was dispossessed of the dukedom in 1523, due to the treason of Duke Charles III, but the junior line of La Marche-Vendôme acquired the Dukedom of Vendôme. The Bourbon-Vendôme branch became the ruling house of first the tiny remnant of the Kingdom of Navarre on the northern side of the Pyrenees (1555) and then of France (1589), with Henry III of Navarre becoming Henry IV of France.

The rise of Henry IV

The first Bourbon king of France was Henry IV. He was born on December 13, 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre. Antoine de Bourbon, his father, was a ninth generation descendent of King Louis IX of France. Jeanne d'Albret, his mother, was the Queen of Navarre and the niece of King Francis I of France. He was baptized Catholic, but raised Calvinist. After his father was killed in 1563, he became Duke of Vendôme at the age of 10, with Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572) as his regent. Five years later, the young duke became the nominal leader of the Huguenots after the death of his uncle the Prince of Condé in 1568. Henry succeeded to Navarre as Henry III when his mother died in 1572. That same year Catherine de Medici, the influential mother of King Charles IX, arranged for the marriage of her daughter, Margaret of Valois, to Henry as a peace offering between the Catholics and Huguenots. Many Huguenots had gathered for the wedding held on August 24 and were massacred by the Catholics in what became known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Henry saved his own life by converting to Catholicism. He repudiated his conversion in 1576 and resumed his leadership of the Huguenots. The period from 1576 to 1584 was relatively calm in France, with the Huguenots consolidating control of much of the south with only occasional interference from the royal government. Extended civil war erupted again in 1584, when Duke of Anjou, younger brother of King Henry III, died, leaving Navarre next in line for the throne. Thus began the War of the Three Henries, as Henry of Navarre, Henry III, and the ultra-Catholic leader, Henry of Guise fought a confusing three-cornered struggle for dominance. When Henry III was assassinated on July 31, 1589 Navarre became the first Bourbon king of France as Henry IV. Much of Catholic France, organized into the Catholic League refused to recognize a Protestant monarch and instead recognized Henry IV's uncle, the Cardinal de Bourbon, as king as Charles X, and the civil war continued. Henry won the crucial victory at Ivry on March 14, 1590, and following the death of the Cardinal the same year, the forces of the League lacked an obvious Catholic candidate for the throne and divided into various factions. Nevertheless, as a Protestant, Henry IV was unable to take devoutly Catholic Paris, or to ultimately defeat his enemies, now supported by the Spanish. He reconverted to Catholicism in 1593—he is said to have remarked, "Paris is worth a mass"—and was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Chartres on February 27, 1594.

The Early Bourbon Kings of France

Henry granted the Edict of Nantes April 13, 1598, establishing Catholicism as an official state religion, but otherwise assuring the Huguenots equal rights with the Catholics. This compromise ended the religious wars in France. That same year the Treaty of Vervins ended the war with Spain, adjusted the Spanish-French border, and resulted in a belated recognition by Spain of Henry as king of France. Ably assisted by Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully, Henry reduced the land tax known as the taille; promoted agriculture, public works, construction of highways, and the first French canal; started such important industries as the tapestry works of the Gobelins; and intervened in favor of Protestants in the duchies and earldoms along the German frontier. This last was to be the cause of his assassination. Henry's marriage to Margaret, which had produced no heir, was annulled in 1599 and he married Marie de Medici, the niece of the grand duke of Tuscany. A son, Louis, was born to them in 1601. Henry IV was assassinated on May 14, 1610 in Paris. Louis XIII was only nine-years-old when he succeeded his father. He was to prove a weak ruler, his reign effectively a series of distinct regimes, depending who held the effective reins of power. At first, Marie de Medici, his mother, served as regent and advanced a pro-Spanish policy. To deal with the financial troubles of France, summoned the Estates General in 1614; this would be the last time that body met until the eve of the French Revolution. Marie arranged the 1615 marriage of Louis to Anne of Austria, the daughter of King Philip III of Spain. In 1617, however, Louis conspired with Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes to dispense with her influence, having her favorite Concino Concini assassinated on April 26 of that year. After some years of weak government by Louis's favorites, the King made Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, a former protégé of his mother, the chief minister of France in 1624. Richelieu advanced an anti-Habsburg policy. He arranged for Louis' sister, Henrietta Maria, to marry King Charles I of England, on May 11, 1625. Her pro-Catholic propaganda in England was one of the contributing factors for the English Civil War. Richelieu, as ambitious for France and the French monarchy as for himself, laid the ground for the absolute monarchy that would last in France until the Revolution. He wanted to establish a dominating position for France in Europe, and he wanted to unify France under the monarchy. He established the role of intendants, non-noble men whose arbitrary powers were granted by (and revocable by) the monarchy and superseded many of the traditional duties and privileges of the noble governors. Although it required a succession of internal military campaigns, he abolished the fortified Huguenot towns that Henry had allowed. He involved France in the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) against the Habsburgs in 1635. He died in 1642 before the conclusion of that conflict, having groomed Jules Cardinal Mazarin as a successor. Louis XIII outlived him but by one year, dying in 1643 at the age of forty-two. After a childless marriage for twenty-three years he had a son with Anne on September 5, 1638, who he named after himself. When Louis XIV succeeded his father he was only five-years-old. He would become one of the most powerful men ever in history. His mother Anne served as his regent with her favorite Jules Mazarin as chief minister. Mazarin continued the policies of Richelieu, bringing the Thirty Years War to a successful conclusion in 1648 and defeating the noble challenge to royal absolutism in a series of civil wars known as the Fronde. He continued to war with Spain until 1659. In that year the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed signifying a significant shift in power, France had replaced Spain as the dominant state in Europe. One of the terms of the treaty arranged the marriage of Louis to his cousin Maria Theresa, the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, by his first wife Elizabeth, the sister of Louis XIII. They were married in 1660 and had a son, Louis, in 1661. Mazarin died on March 9, 1661 and it was expected that Louis would appoint another chief minister, as had become the tradition, but instead he shocked the country by announcing he would rule alone. Louis intended to glorify France by making war on his neighbors. For six years he reformed the finances of his state and built formidable armed forces. France fought three wars between 1667 and 1697 and though some territory was gained it hardly seemed worth it. Maria Theresa died in 1683 and the next year he married Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon. She had great influence over him especially in matters of religion. Louis XIV was staunchly Catholic and he revoked the Edict of Nantes on October 18, 1685, undoing the religious tolerance established by grandfather, Henry IV, almost a hundred years before. The last war waged by Louis XIV proved to be one of the most important to dynastic Europe. In 1700, King Charles II of Spain died without a son. Louis's son the Grand Dauphin, as nephew to the late king, was closest heir, and Charles willed the kingdom to the Dauphin's second son, the Duke of Anjou. Other powers, particularly the Austrian Habsburgs, who had the next closest claims, objected to such a vast increase in French power. Initially, most of the other powers were willing to accept Anjou's reign as Philip V, but Louis's arrogance and blunders soon made the English, the Dutch, and other powers join the Austrians in a coalition against France. The War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 and raged for 12 years. In the end Louis's grandson was recognized as King of Spain, but Spain's other European territories were largely ceded to Austria, and France was nearly bankrupted by the cost of the struggle. Louis died on September 1, 1715 ending seventy-two year reign, the longest in European history. The reign of Louis XIV was so long that he had outlived both his son and eldest grandson. He was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV. Louis XV was born on February 15, 1710 and thus only five at his ascension, the third Louis in a row to become king of France before the age of ten. Initially, the regency was held by the Duke of Orleans, Louis XIV's nephew, as nearest adult male to the throne. This Regency period was seen as one of debauchery and loose morals following the austere nature of the latter years of Louis XIV's reign, which had seen a series of cripplingly expensive wars and the King's turn to religion. Following Orleans's death in 1723, another junior Bourbon, the Duke of Bourbon, the representative of the Bourbon-Condé line, became Prime Minister. It was expected that Louis would marry his cousin, the daughter of King Philip V of Spain, but this marriage was cancelled by the duke in 1725 so that Louis could marry Maria Leszczynska, the daughter of Stanislas, former king of Poland. Bourbon's motive appears to have been a desire to produce an heir as soon as possible so as to reduce the chances of a succession dispute between Philip V and the Duke of Orleans in the event of the sickly king's death. Maria was already an adult woman at the time of the marriage, while the Infanta was still a young girl. Nevertheless, Bourbon's action brought a very negative response from Spain, and for his incompetence Bourbon was soon replaced by Cardinal Fleury, the young king's tutor, in 1726. Fleury was a peace loving man who intended to keep France out of war, but circumstances presented themselves that made this impossible. The first cause of these wars came in 1733 when Augustus II, the elector of Saxony and king of Poland died. With French backing Stanislas was again elected king. This brought France into conflict with Russia and Austria who supported Augustus III, duke of Saxony and son of Augustus II. Stanislas lost the Polish crown, but he was given the Duchy of Lorraine as compensation, which would pass to France after his death. Next came the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740 in which France supported King Frederick II of Prussia against Maria Theresa, archduchess of Austria. Fleury died in 1743 before the conclusion of the war. Shortly after Fleury’s death in 1745 Louis was most influenced by his mistress the Marquise de Pompadour. She reversed the policy of France in 1756 by creating an alliance with Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years War. The war was a disaster for France, losing most of her overseas possessions to the British in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Great Britain replaced France as the most dominant country in the world. Louis’ only son died in 1765 making his grandson the dauphine. Maria, his wife, died in 1768 and Louis himself died on May 10, 1774.

Early Bourbons of Spain and Italy

The Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon was founded by Philip V. He was born in 1683 in Versailles, the second son of the dauphine, the son of Louis XIV. He was the Duke of Anjou and probably never expected to be raised to a rank higher then that. However when King Charles II of Spain was dying without issue and he adopted Philip as his heir, being the great grandson of King Philip IV of Spain. Having a Bourbon king on both the French and Spanish thrones disturbed the balance of power in Europe and when Charles died on November 1, 1700 a Grand Alliance of European nations united against Philip. In the Treaty of Utrecht signed on April 11, 1713 Philip was recognized as king of Spain, but Sicily was ceded to Savoy and the Spanish Netherlands, Milan and Naples went to Austria. Philip had two sons with his first wife. After she died he married Elizabeth Farnese, the niece of Duke Francesco of Parma, in 1714. She also gave Philip two son and intended them to win back the lost territory in Italy. She induced Philip to occupy Sardinia and Sicily in 1717. A Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Austria and the Netherlands, was organized on August 2, 1718 to stop him. In the Treaty of The Hague signed on February 17, 1720 Philip renounced his claim to Sardinia and Sicily, but assured the ascension of his eldest son with Elizabeth to the Duchy of Parma upon the current duke’s death. Philip abdicated in January 1724 in favor of Louis I, his eldest son with his first wife, but Louis died in August and Philip resumed the throne. When the War of the Polish Succession began in 1733 they saw it as another opportunity to advance the claims of their sons. Philip formed the Family Compact with Louis XV, his uncle and king of France. Their son Charles, duke of Parma since 1731, invaded Naples. At the conclusion of peace on November 13, 1738 Parma was ceded to Austria in exchange for Naples and Sicily. Philip also used the War of the Austrian Succession to win more territory in Italy. He did not see it to its conclusion because he died in 1746. Ferdinand VI, the second son of Philip V and his first wife, succeeded his father. He was a peace-loving monarch who kept Spain out of the Seven Years War. He died in 1759 in the mists of that conflict and was succeeded by his half brother Charles III. Charles was the eldest son of Philip and Elizabeth. He was born in 1716 and became the Duke of Parma when the last Farnese duke died in 1731. He conquered the kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the War of the Polish Succession and became king there as Charles IV in 1734 renouncing Parma to Austria. When he ascended to the Spanish throne he abdicated in Sicily in favor of his third son, Ferdinand. Charles revived the Family Compact with France on August 15, 1761 and joined in the Seven Years War against Britain in 1762. He also opposed Britain during the American Revolution in June 1779. He died in 1788. Elizabeth Farnese’s ambitions were realized at the conclusion of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 when Parma was ceded by Austria to her second son, Philip. Her eldest son, Charles, was already the king of the Two Sicilies. She died in 1766.

The Bourbons During the French Revolution

Louis XVI had become the dauphine of France upon the death of his father, the son of Louis XV, in 1765. He married Marie Antoinette, a daughter of Maria Theresa, in 1770. Louis intervened in the American Revolution against Britain in 1778, but he is most remembered for the French Revolution. France was in financial turmoil and Louis was forced to convene the estates-general on May 5, 1789. They formed the National Assembly and forced Louis to accept a constitution that limited his powers on July 14, 1790. He tried to flee France in June 1791, but was captured. The French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792 and a republic was proclaimed. The chain of Bourbon monarchs begun in 1589 was broken. Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793. Marie Antoinette and her son, Louis, were held as prisoners. Many French royalists proclaimed him Louis XVII, but he never reigned. She was executed on October 16, 1793. He died of tuberculosis on June 8, 1795 at the age of ten while in captivity. The French Revolution quickly spread throughout Europe and the other Bourbon monarchs were threatened. Ferdinand was forced to flee from Naples in 1806 when Napoleon Bonaparte deposed him and installed his brother, Joseph, as king. Ferdinand continued to rule from Sicily until 1815. Napoleon conquered Parma in 1800 and compenstated the Bourbon duke with Etruria, a new kingdom he created from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It was short-lived when Napoleon annexed Etruria in 1807. King Charles IV of Spain had been an ally of France. He succeeded his father, Charles III, in 1788. At first he declared war on France on March 7, 1793, but he made peace on June 22, 1795. This peace became an alliance on August 19, 1796. His chief minister, Manuel de Godoy convinced Charles that his son, Ferdinand, was plotting to over throw him. Napoleon exploited the situation and invaded Spain in March 1808. This led to an uprising that forced Charles to abdicate on March 19 in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Napoleon forced Ferdinand to return the crown to Charles on April 30 and then convinced Charles to relinquish it to him on May 10. In turn, he gave it to his brother, Joseph, king of Naples on June 6. Joseph abandoned Naples to Joachim Murat, the husband of Napoleon’s sister. This was very unpopular in Spain and resulted in the Peninsular War, a struggle that would contribute to the downfall of Napoleon.

The Bourbon Restoration in France and its aftermath

With the abdication of Napoleon on April 11, 1814 the Bourbon Dynasty was restored to the kingdom of France in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Napoleon escaped from exile and Louis fled in March 1815. Louis was again restored after the Battle of Waterloo on July 7. The conservative elements of Europe dominated the post-Napoleonic age, but the values of the French Revolution could not be easily swept aside. Louis granted a constitution on June 14, 1814 to appease the liberals, but the ultra-royalist party, led by his brother, Charles, continued to influence his reign. When he died in 1824 his brother became king as Charles X much to the dismay of French liberals. Talleyrand reportedly remarked of the restored Bourbon rulers that they had "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Charles passed several laws that appealed to the upper class, but angered the middle class. The situation came to a head when he appointed a new minister on August 8, 1829 that did not have the confidence of the chamber. The chamber censured the king on March 18, 1830 and in response Charles proclaimed five ordinances on July 26 intended to silence criticism against him. This almost resulted in another revolution as dramatic as the one in 1789, but moderates were able to control the situation. As a compromise the crown was offered to Louis-Philippe, duke of Orleans, a descendent of the brother of Louis XIV, and the head of the Orleanist cadet branch of the Bourbons. He was proclaimed king of the French on August 7. The resulting regime, known as the July monarchy lasted until the Revolution of 1848. The Bourbon monarchy in France ended February 24, 1848, when Louis-Philippe was forced to abdicate and the short-lived French Second Republic was established. Some legitimists refused to recognize the Orleanist monarchy. After the death of Charles in 1836 his son was proclaimed Louis XIX, though this title was never formally recognized. Charles' grandson Henri, comte de Chambord, the last Bourbon claimant of the French crown, was proclaimed by some Henry V, but the French monarchy was never restored. Following the 1870 collapse of the empire of Emperor Napoleon III, Henri was offered a restored throne. The stubborn Chambord refused to accept the throne unless France abandoned the revolution-inspired tricolour and accepted what he regarded as the true Bourbon flag of France. The tricolour, originally associated with the French Revolution and the First Republic, had been used by the July Monarchy, the Second Republic and both Empires; the French National Assembly could not possibly agree. A temporary Third Republic was established, while monarchists waited for the comte de Chambord to die and for the succession to pass to the Comte de Paris, who was willing to accept the tricolour. Henri lived until 1883, by which time public opinion had come to accept the republic as the "form of government that divides us least." His death without issue marked the extinction of the French Bourbon.

Later Bourbon monarchs outside France

Upon the fall of the Napoleonic empire, Ferdinand I was restored to the throne of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1815. His subjects revolted on July 2, 1820 and he was forced to grant a constitution on July 13. Austria invaded in March 1821 and revoked the constitution. He was succeeded by his son, Francis I, in 1825 and by his grandson, Ferdinand II, in 1830. Another revolution erupted on January 12, 1848 and Ferdinand was also forced to grant a constitution on February 10. This constitution was revoked in 1849. Ferdinand was succeeded by his son, Francis II, in May 1859. When Giuseppe Garibaldi captured Naples on September 7, 1860 Francis restored the constitution on July 2 in an attempt to save his sovereignty. He failed and his kingdom was incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy on March 17, 1861. After the fall of Napoleon his wife, Maria Louisa, was made Duchess of Parma. As compensation, Charles Louis, the former king of Etruria, was made the Duke of Lucca. When Maria Louisa died in 1847 he was restored to Parma as Charles II. Lucca was incorporated into Tuscany. He was succeeded by his son, Charles III, and grandson, Robert I, in 1854. The people of Parma voted for a union with the kingdom of Sardinia on March 13, 1860. After Italian unification in 1861 the Bourbon dynasty in Italy was no more. The Spanish branch of the Bourbon dynasty was the only one to survive into the 20th century. Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne of Spain after the fall of Napoleon in March 1814. Like his Italian Bourbon counterpart his subjects revolted against him in January 1820 and he was forced to grant a constitution. A French army invaded in 1823 and the constitution was revoked. Ferdinand married his fourth wife, Maria Christina, the daughter of Francis I, the Bourbon king of Sicily, in 1829. Despite his many marriages he did not have a son so on June 30, 1833 he was influenced by his wife to abolish the Salic Law so that her daughter, Isabella, could become queen depriving his brother, Don Carlos, of the throne. Isabella II succeeded her father when he died on September 29, 1833. She was only three years old and Maria Cristina, her mother, served as regent. Maria knew that she needed the support of the liberals to oppose Don Carlos so she granted a constitution in 1834. Don Carlos found his greatest support in Catalonia and the Basques country because the constitution centralized the provinces thus denying them the autonomy they sought. He was defeated and fled the country in 1839. Isabella was declared of age in 1843 and she married her cousin Francisco de Asiz, the son of her father’s brother, on October 10, 1846. A military revolution broke out against Isabella in 1868 and she was deposed on September 29. She abdicated in favor of her son, Alfonso, in 1870, but Spain was proclaimed a republic for a brief time. When the Spanish Republic failed the crown was offered to Isabella’s son who accepted on January 1, 1875 as Alfonso XII. Don Carlos, who returned to Spain, was again defeated and resumed his exile in February 1876. Alfonso granted a new constitution on July 1876 that was more liberal then the one granted by his grandmother. His reign was cut short when he died in 1885 at the age of twenty-eight. Alfonso XIII was born on May 17, 1886 after the death of his father. His mother, Maria Christina, the second wife of Alfonso XII served as regent. Alfonso XIII was declared of age in 1902 and he married Eugenia of Battenberg, the granddaughter of Victoria, queen of Great Britain, on May 31, 1906. He remained neutral during World War I, but supported the military coup of Miguel Primo de Rivera on September 13, 1923. A movement towards the establishment of a republic began in 1930 and Alfonso fled the country on April 14, 1931. He never formally abdicated, but lived the rest of his life in exile. He died in 1941. The Bourbon dynasty seemed finished in Spain as in the rest of the world, but it would be resurrected. The Second Spanish Republic was overthrown in the Spanish Civil War, leading to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. He named Juan Carlos de Bourbon, a grandson of Alfonso XIII, his successor on July 22, 1969. When Franco died on November 20, 1975 a Bourbon monarch was restored to the throne two days later of Spain as Juan Carlos I. The new king oversaw the Spanish transition to democracy; the Spanish Constitution of 1978, approved on September 28, 1978, recognized the monarchy. Though it is not a powerful as it once was under Louis XIV and it is all but extinct in its native country of France the house of Bourbon has survived to the present day world of republics. It seems likely that it will continue as well under Juan Carlos' son, Filipe, who officially became heir apparent when he turned eighteen years old in 1986.

List of Bourbon rulers

Monarchs of France

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.
- Henry IV, the Great 1589–1610
- Louis XIII, the Just 1610–1643
- Louis XIV, the Sun King 1643–1715
- Philippe II of Orléans (Regent) 1715–1723
- Louis XV, the Well-Beloved 1715–1774
- Louis XVI 1774–1793
- Louis XVII (never actually reigned) 1793–1795
- Louis XVIII 1814–1824
- Charles X 1824–1830

Monarchs of Spain

Dates indicate reigns, not lifetimes.
- Felipe V, 1700–1724 and 1724–1746
- Luis I, 1724 (ruled less than one year)
- Fernando VI, 1746–1759
- Carlos III, 1759–1788
- Carlos IV, 1788–1808
- Fernando VII, El Deseado 1813–1833
- Isabel II, La Chata 1833–1868
- Alfonso XII, 1875–1885
- Alfonso XIII, 1886–1931
- Juan Carlos I, 1975–present

Other Bourbon rulers


- Kings of the Two Sicilies
- Dukes of Bourbon
- Dukes of Montpensier
- Dukes of Vendôme
- Dukes of Orleans
- Dukes of Parma
- Princes of Condé
- Princes of Conti

See also


- Members of the House of Bourbon
- List of French monarchs
- List of Spanish monarchs
- Members of the French Royal Families
- Kings of France family tree
- Bourbon family tree
- French Wars of Religion
- Legitimists
- Carlism House of Bourbon Category:French nobility Bourbon Category:French monarchy Category:History of France Category:History of Spain ja:ブルボン家

4 November

November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 57 days remaining.

Events


- 1576 - Eighty Years' War: In Belgium, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed).
- 1677 - The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later be known as William and Mary.
- 1842 - Abraham Lincoln, future US President, marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.
- 1852 - Count Camillo Benso di Cavour became the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expanded to become Italy.
- 1861 - The University of Washington opens in Seattle, Washington as the Territorial University
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville - Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.
- 1869 - The first issue of the scientific journal Nature is published.
- 1884 - U.S. presidential election, 1884: Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his two non-consecutive terms.
- 1889 - Menelek of Shoa obtains the allegiance of a large majority of the Ethiopian nobility, paving the way for him to be crowned emperor.
- 1890 - City & South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.
- 1899 - Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.
- 1918 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.
- 1918 - The German Revolution begins when 40,000 sailors take over the port in Kiel.
- 1921 - The Sturmabteilung or SA is formally formed by Adolf Hitler
- 1922 - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
- 1924 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming elected as the first woman governor in the United States.
- 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, New York City's most notorious gambler, is shot dead over a poker game.
- 1939 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
- 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein - Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces on a five-month retreat.
- 1948 - T.S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- 1952 - U.S. presidential election, 1952: Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
- 1955 - The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio after it was totally destroyed in World War II.
- 1956 - Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
- 1960 - Filming wraps on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable -- the last film for both.
- 1966 - Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the Arno and Po rivers flood; 113 people die, 30,000 are rendered homeless, and countless Renaissance artworks and books are destroyed.
- 1970 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta over to South Vietnam.
- 1979 - Iran hostage crisis begins: Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (63 of whom are American).
- 1980 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.
- 1989 - The congress of the Solidarity Party is inaugurated in Sweden. The congress decides, contrary to the proposal of the central committee, not to disband the party.
- 1993 - Jean Chrétien takes office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1993 - Bolivia becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1993 - A series of fires destroy 1000 homes in southern California, causing between 500 million and 1 billion USD of damage. Half of the fires turn out to be arson.
- 1993 - A China Airlines Boeing 747 overran Runway 13 at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport while landing during a typhoon, injuring 22 people.
- 1995 - After attending a peace rally in Tel Aviv's Kings Square, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is mortally wounded by an extreme right-wing Israeli assassin. He dies of his wounds later that night in a Tel Aviv Hospital.
- 2001 - Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying crops and thousands of homes.
- 2001 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established.
- 2003 - The largest-ever solar flare is recorded.
- 2003 - Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy becomes the first person indicted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He was eventually acquitted.

Births


- 1448 - King Alphonso II of Naples (d. 1495)
- 1470 - King Edward V of England, one of the two princes in the Tower
- 1575 - Guido Reni, Italian painter (d. 1642)
- 1631 - Mary of Orange, eldest daughter of Charles I of England and mother of William III of England (d. 1660)
- 1661 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1742)
- 1740 - Augustus Montague Toplady, author of hymn, "Rock of Ages"
- 1765 - Pierre Girard, French mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1836 - Henry J. Lutcher, Business leader (d. 1912)
- 1874 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (d. 1920)
- 1879 - Will Rogers, American humorist and entertainer (d. 1935)
- 1883 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician (d. 1953)
- 1901 - Princess Bang-ja of Korea (d. 1989)
- 1908 - Józef Rotblat, Polish physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2005)
- 1909 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (d. 1978)
- 1913 - Gig Young, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1914 - Martin Balsam, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1916 - Walter Cronkite, American news broadcaster
- 1918 - Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1923 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch businessman (d. 2002)
- 1929 - Doris Roberts, American actress
- 1930 - Dick Groat, baseball player
- 1932 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)
- 1937 - Loretta Swit, American actress
- 1944 - Scherrie Payne, American singer (The Supremes)
- 1946 - Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States
- 1946 - Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (d. 1989)
- 1951 - Traian Băsescu, President of Romania
- 1953 - Carlos Gutierrez, American politician
- 1955 - Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland
- 1961 - Kathy Griffin, American comedienne and actress
- 1961 - Daron Hagen, American composer, conductor, and collaborative pianist
- 1961 - Ralph Macchio, American actor
- 1961 - Les Sampou, American musician
- 1965 - Wayne Static, American singer and guitarist (Static-X)
- 1969 - Matthew McConaughey, American actor
- 1969 - Sean Jean "Puff Daddy" Combs, American rapper
- 1972 - Luis Figo, Portuguese footballer
- 1972 - Tabassum Hashmi, Indian actress
- 1975 - Eduard Kokcharov, Russian handball player
- 1976 - Mario Melchiot, Dutch footballer
- 1986 - Alexz Johnson, Canadian singer

Deaths


- 1411 - Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)
- 1584 - Saint Charles Borromeo, Italian cardinal (b. 1538)
- 1652 - Jean-Charles de la Faille, Belgian mathematician (b. 1597)
- 1669 - Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (b. 1603)
- 1698 - Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician and mathematician (b. 1625)
- 1702 - John Benbow, English admiral (b. 1653)
- 1704 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (b. 1654)
- 1781 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (b. 1721)
- 1801 - William Shippen, American physician and delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1712)
- 1847 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)
- 1893 - Pierre Tirard, French politician (b. 1827)
- 1918 - Wilfred Owen, English poet (b. 1893)
- 1924 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
- 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, American gambler (b. 1882)
- 1930 - Buddy Bolden, American musician (b. 1877)
- 1955 - Cy Young, baseball player (b. 1867)
- 1968 - Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (b. 1892)
- 1980 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (b. 1905)
- 1982 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (b. 1959)
- 1986 - Kurt Hirsch, German mathematician (b. 1906)
- 1995 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1922)
- 1999 - Malcolm Marshall, West Indian cricketer (b. 1958)
- 2003 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (b. 1923)

Holidays


- Roman festivals - start of the Ludi Plebeii
- R.C. Saints - Feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
  - St. Charles Borromeo
  - St. Birrstan
  - St. Clarus
  - St. Emeric
  - St. Joannicus
  - St. Modesta
  - St. Nicander and Hermas
  - St. Philologus and Patrobas
  - St. Pierius
  - St. Vitalis
- Also see November 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Qudrat (Power) - First day of the 13th month of the Bahá'í calendar
- Italy - celebration of victory in WWI, the date of the Armed Forces
- Russia - Day of People’s Unity (or National Unity Day)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 3 - November 5 - October 4 - December 4 - more historical anniversaries ko:11월 4일 ms:4 November ja:11月4日 simple:November 4 th:4 พฤศจิกายน

1737

Events


- 12 February — The San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated in Naples, Italy.
- May 28 — The planet Venus passed in front of Mercury. The event is witnessed during the evening hours by the amateur astronomer John Bevis at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. As of 2005, it is still the only such planet/planet occultation that has been directly observed.
- Benjamin Franklin created the Philadelphia police force - the first city-paid force.
- In Britain the Theatrical Licensing Act requires plays to be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for censorship.
- Georg August University of Göttingen Founded
- The direct male line of the Medici family becomes extinct
- Richmond, Virginia founded
- Austro-Turkish War begins
- Our Lady of Guadalupe is designated the patron saint of Mexico City
- The (Belfast) News Letter newspaper founded in Ireland
- Lancaster County Prison is first constructed
- North Adams, Massachusetts first settled
- New Salem, Massachusetts first settled
- Hardwick, Massachusetts first settled
- Westminster, Massachusetts first settled

Births


- January 23 - John Hancock, American statesman and revolutionary (d. 1793)
- January 29 - Thomas Paine, American patriot and pamphleteer (d. 1809)
- April 27 - Edward Gibbon, English historian (d. 1794)
- May 20 - William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, British statesman (d. 1805)
- September 9 - Luigi Galvani, Italian physician and physicist (d. 1798)
- September 14 - Michael Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1806)
- September 19 - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the American Declaration of Independence (d. 1832)
- December 26 - Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (d. 1815)
- Frances Abington, English actress (d. 1815)
- John Hunter, second governor of New South Wales (d. 1821)
- Johann Friedrich Struensee, Danish royal physician (d. 1772)
- Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese shogun (d. 1786)

Deaths


- January 17 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
- January 29 - George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, British soldier (b. 1666)
- February 14 - Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
- March 16 - Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (b. 1670)
- May 4 - Eustace Budgell, English writer (b. 1686)
- May 10 - Emperor Nakamikado of Japan (d. 1702)
- July 9 - Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
- September 27 - John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English privy councillor (b. 1680)
- November 20 - Caroline of Ansbach, queen of George II of Great Britain (b. 1683)
- December 11 - John Strype, English historian and biographer (b. 1643)
- December 18 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian luthier (b. 1644)
- December 19 - James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (b. 1667)
- December 27 - William Bowyer, English printer (b. 1663)
- William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1657) Category:1737 ko:1737년

Metastasio

Pietro Trapassi (January 13, 1698 – April 12, 1782), Italian poet, is better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio. He was born in Rome, where his father, Felice Trapassi, a native of Assisi, had taken service in the Corsican regiment of the papal forces. Felice married a Bolognese woman, Francesca Galasti, and established himself in business as a grocer in the Via dei Cappellari. Two sons and two daughters were the fruit of this marriage. The eldest son, Leopoldo, played an important part in the poet's life. Pietro, while still a child, is said to have attracted crowds by reciting impromptu verses on a given subject. On one such occasion 1709, two men of distinction stopped to listen: Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, famous for legal and literary erudition as well as his dictatorship of the Arcadian Academy, and Lorenzini, a critic of some note. Gravina was attracted by the boy's poetic talent and personal charm, and made Pietro his protégé; in the course of a few weeks he adopted him. Felice Trapassi was glad enough to give his son the chance of a good education and introduction into society. Gravina hellenized the boy's name Trapassi into Metastasio, and intended his adopted son to be a jurist like himself. He therefore made the boy learn Latin and begin the study of law. At the same time he cultivated his literary gifts, and displayed the youthful prodigy both at his own house and in the Roman coteries. Metastasio soon found himself competing with the most celebrated improvvisatori of his time in Italy. Days spent in severe studies and evenings devoted to the task of improvising eighty stanzas at a single session were fast ruining Pietro's health and straining his poetic faculty. At this juncture Gravina had to journey into Calabria on business. He took Metastasio with him, exhibited him in the literary circles of Naples, and then placed him under the care of his kinsman Gregorio Caroprese at Scaléa. In country air and the quiet of the southern seashore Metastasio's health revived. Gravina decided that he should never improvise again, but should be reserved for nobler efforts, when, having completed his education, he might enter into competition with the greatest poets. Metastasio responded to his patron's wishes. At the age of twelve he translated the Iliad into octave stanzas; and two years later he composed a tragedy in the manner of Seneca on a subject from Trissino's Italia liberata - Gravina's favourite epic. It was called Giustino. Gravina had it printed in 1713; but the play is lifeless; and forty-two years later Metastasio told his publisher, Calsabigi, that he would willingly suppress it. Caroprese died in 1714, leaving Gravina his heir; and in 1718 Gravina also died. Metastasio inherited a fortune of 15,000 scudi. At a meeting of the Arcadian Academy, he recited an elegy on his patron, and then settled down to enjoy his wealth. Metastasio was now twenty. During the last four years he had worn the costume of abbé, having taken the minor orders without which it was then useless to expect advancement in Rome. His romantic history, personal beauty, charming manners and distinguished talents made him fashionable. Within two years he had spent his money and increased his reputation. He now decided to apply himself seriously to the work of his profession. In Naples, he entered the office of an eminent lawyer named Castagnola, who exercised severe control over his time and energies. While slaving at the law, Metastasio in 1721 composed an epithalamium, and probably also his first musical serenade, Endimione, on the occasion of the marriage of his patroness the Princess Pinelli di Sangro to the Marchese Belmonte Pignatelli. In 1722, the birthday of the empress had to be celebrated with more than ordinary honours, and the viceroy applied to Metastasio to compose a serenata for the occasion. He accepted this invitation, but it was arranged that his authorship should be kept secret. Under these conditions Metastasio produced Gli orti esperidi. Set to music by Nicola Porpora, and sung by Porpora's pupil, the castrato Farinelli, making a spectacular debut, it won the most extraordinary applause. The great Roman prima donna, Marianna Bulgarelli, called 'La Romanina' from her birthplace, who had played Venus in this drama, spared no pains until she had discovered its author. La Romanina persuaded the poet to give up the law, and promised to secure for him fame and independence if he would devote his talents to the musical drama. In La Romanina's house Metastasio became acquainted with the greatest composers of the day - including Porpora, from whom he took lessons in music; with Hasse, Pergolese, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vinci, Leo, Durante, and Marcello, all of whom were destined in the future to set his plays to melody. Here too he studied the art of singing, and learned to appreciate the style of such men as Farinelli. Gifted with extraordinary facility in composition, and with a true poetic feeling, he found no difficulty in producing plays which, while beautiful in themselves, judged merely as works of literary art, became masterpieces as soon as their words were set to music, and rendered by the singers of the greatest school of vocal art the world has ever seen. Reading Metastasio in the study, it is impossible to do him justice. But the conventionality of all his plots, the absurdities of many of his situations, the violence he does to history in the persons of some leading characters, his "damnable iteration" of the theme of love in all its phases, are explained and justified by music. Metastasio lived with La Romanina and her husband in Rome. Moved by an affection half maternal half romantic, and by a true artist's admiration for so rare a talent, she adopted him more passionately even than Gravina had done. She took the whole Trapassi family - father, mother, brother, sisters - into her own house. She fostered the poet's genius and pampered his caprices. Under her influence he wrote in rapid succession the Didone abbandonata, Catone in Utica, Ezio, Alessandro nell' Indie, Semiramide riconosciuta, Siroe and Artaserse. These dramas were set to music by the chief composers of the day, and performed in the chief towns of Italy. But meanwhile La Romanina was growing older; she had ceased to sing in public; and the poet felt himself more and more dependent in an irksome sense upon her kindness. He gained 300 scudi for each opera; this pay, though good, was precarious, and he longed for some fixed engagement. In September 1729 he received the offer of the post of court poet to the theatre at Vienna, with a stipend of 3000 florins. This he at once accepted. La Romanina unselfishly sped him on his way to glory. She took the charge of his family in Rome, and he set off for Austria. In the early summer of 1730 Metastasio settled at Vienna in the house of a Spanish Neapolitan, Niccolo Martinez, where he resided until his death. This date marks a new period in his artistic activity. Between the years 1730 and 1740 his finest dramas, Adriano, Demetrio, Issipile, Demofoonte, Olimpiade, Clemenza di Tito, Achille in Sciro, Temistocle and Attilio Regolo, were produced for the imperial theatre. Some of them had to be composed for special occasions, with almost incredible rapidity - the Achille in eighteen days, the Ipermestra in nine. Poet, composer, musical copyist and singer did their work together in frantic haste. Metastasio understood the technique of his peculiar art in its minutest details. The experience gained at Naples and Rome, quickened by the excitement of his new career at Vienna, enabled him almost instinctively, and as it were by inspiration, to hit the exact mark aimed at in the opera. At Vienna Metastasio met with no marked social success. His plebeian birth excluded him from aristocratic circles. To make up in some measure for this comparative failure, he enjoyed the intimacy of the Countess Althann, sister-in-law of his old patroness the Princess Belmonte Pignatelli. She had lost her husband, and had some while occupied the post of chief favourite to the emperor. Metastasio's liaison with her became so close that it was believed they had been privately married. La Romanina had tired of his absence, and asked Metastasio to get her an engagement at the court theatre. He was ashamed of her and tired of her, and wrote dissuading her from the projected visit. The tone of his letters alarmed and irritated her. She seems to have set out from Rome, but died suddenly upon the road. All we know is that she left him her fortune after her husband's life interest in it had expired, and that Metastasio, overwhelmed with grief and remorse, immediately renounced the legacy. This disinterested act plunged the Bulgarelli-Metastasio household at Rome into confusion. La Romanina's widower married again. Leopoldo Trapassi, and his father and sister, were thrown upon their own resources. As time advanced, the life which Metastasio led at Vienna, together with the climate, told on his health and spirits. From about the year 1745 onward he wrote little, though the cantatas which belong to this period, and the canzonetta Ecco quel fiero istante, which he sent to his friend Farinelli, rank among the most popular of his productions. It was clear, as Vernon Lee has phrased it, that "what ailed him was mental and moral ennui". In 1755 the Countess Althann died, and Metastasio was reduced to the society which gathered round him in the bourgeois house of the Martinez. He sank rapidly into the habits of old age; and, though he lived till the year 1782, he was very inactive. He bequeathed his whole fortune of some 130,000 florins to the five children of his friend Martinez. He had survived all his Italian relatives. During the forty years in which Metastasio overlived his originality and creative powers his fame went on increasing. In his library he counted as many as forty editions of his own works. They had been translated into French, English, German, Spanish, even into modern Greek. They had been set to music over and over again by every composer of distinction, each opera receiving this honour in turn from several of the most illustrious men of Europe. They had been sung by the best virtuosi in every capital, and there was not a literary academy of note which had not conferred on him the honour of membership. Strangers of distinction passing through Vienna made a point of paying their respects to the old poet at his lodgings in the Kohlmarkt Gasse. But his poetry was intended for a certain style of music - for the music of omnipotent vocalists, of thaumaturgical soprani. With the changes effected in the musical drama by Gluck and Mozart, with the development of orchestration and the rapid growth of the German manner, a new type of libretto came into demand. Metastasio's plays fell into undeserved neglect, together with the music to which he had linked them. Farinelli, whom he styled "twin-brother", was the true exponent of his poetry; and, with the abolition of the class of singers to which Farinelli belonged, Metastasio's music suffered eclipse. It was indeed a just symbolic instinct which made the poet dub this unique soprano his twin brother. The musical drama for which Metastasio composed, and in working for which his genius found its proper sphere, has so wholly passed away that it is now difficult to assign his true place as a poet in Italian literary history. His inspiration was essentially emotional and lyrical. The chief dramatic situations are expressed by lyrics for two or three voices, embodying the several contending passions of the agents brought into conflict by the circumstances of the plot. The total result is not pure literature, but literature supremely fit for musical effect. Language in Metastasio's hands is exquisitely pure and limpid. Of the Italian poets, he professed a special admiration for Tasso and for Giambattista Marini. But he avoided the conceits of the latter, and was no master over the refined richness of the former's diction. His own style reveals the improviser's facility. Of the Latin poets he studied Ovid with the greatest pleasure, and from this predilection some of his own literary qualities may be derived. For sweetness of versification, for limpidity of diction, for delicacy of sentiment, for romantic situations exquisitely rendered in the simplest style, and for a certain delicate beauty of imagery sometimes s