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expanded the powers of the monarchy and pursued an aggressive foreign policy that led to the Seven Years’ War of the North (1563–70) against Denmark.

Erik’s major foreign policy objective was to free Sweden’s Baltic Sea trade from Danish control.

his half brother John, duke of Finland, also sought a foothold in the east and signed a treaty with Sigismund II Augustus, king of Poland, agreeing to marry the king’s daughter against Erik’s wishes.

leading to a conflict with his half brother Erik XIV, king of Sweden from 1560. Erik limited John’s authority and imprisoned him in 1563 after the Duke had acquired a base in Poland by marrying Catherine (1562), sister of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland. After his release in 1567, John joined with his younger brother, the future Charles IX of Sweden, in 1568 to overthrow Erik and secure the throne for himself.

In 1586 John nominated his son Sigismund, who had been brought up as a Catholic, for the vacant Polish throne but withdrew his sponsorship when the Poles demanded the return of Estonia as a condition of Sigismund’s accession.

John and Charles, who had contested his brother’s religious policy, became reconciled in common opposition to the nobles’ aspirations, but Sigismund nevertheless assumed the Polish throne in 1587.

Aristotle, Greek Aristoteles, (born 384 bce, Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece—died 322, Chalcis, Euboea), ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history.

He was the author of a philosophical and scientific system that became the framework and vehicle for both Christian Scholasticism and medieval Islamic philosophy.

Aristotle’s intellectual range was vast, covering most of the sciences and many of the arts,

“Real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road,” G.K. Chesterton said, “but drawing life from them, like a root.”

Wheatcroft seems like a single Lilliputian attempting to tie down Gulliver with a single thread. As with Jefferson, the thread will not hold. Such historical figures are more than bit players in our own morality play

This is a historical case in which “other than that” doesn’t work. You cannot justifiably say: He was a racist — other than saving Western civilization from an endless night of racist tyranny

with the overall aim of crippling or destroying Austria, France’s long-standing continental enemy

Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia, one of the richest Habsburg provinces. His army defeated the Austrians at Mollwitz in April 1741 and overran Silesia

an alliance with Bavaria and Spain and, later, with Saxony and Prussia against Austria

the third major war of Louis XIV of France, in which his expansionist plans were blocked by an alliance led by England, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Austrian Habsburgs

the epileptic and partly insane king Charles II, was unable to produce heirs

the Austrian Habsburgs, headed by the Holy Roman emperor Leopold I

War of the Polish Succession, (1733–38), general European conflict waged ostensibly to determine the successor of the king of Poland, Augustus II the Strong

The war resulted mainly in a redistribution of Italian territory and an increase in Russian influence over Polish affairs

After Augustus died (Feb. 1, 1733), Austria and Russia supported the election of his son Frederick Augustus II of Saxony as king of Poland

In 1981 U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan was shot during an assassination attempt

In fact, a peaceful transition of power is seen as vital to a democracy.

Thus it is somewhat surprising that presidential succession in the United States has often been unclear and problematic. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention (1787) spent little time on succession

Charles was the first child of Philip V’s marriage with Isabella of Parma. Charles ruled as duke of Parma, by right of his mother, from 1732 to 1734 and then became king of Naples

he became king of Spain and resigned the crown of Naples to his third son, Ferdinand I

Charles III was convinced of his mission to reform Spain and make it once more a first-rate power

original name Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte

French Revolutionary general and marshal of France (1804), who was elected crown prince of Sweden (1810), becoming regent and then king of Sweden and Norway (1818–44).

formed Swedish alliances with Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig (1813)

In 1388 Charles VI assumed full authority himself.

In 1392 the king lost his sanity, a shocking event that aroused popular solicitude for the crown. His recurrent lapses into insanity, however, played into the hands of his uncles. Philip the Bold again dominated the council. Fortunately for France, England was incapable of renewing the war.

When conflict with England was renewed in the 15th century, circumstances had changed. Henry IV of England was committed to the recovery of English rights in France

King Louis XVIII’s second return from exile was far from glorious. Neither the victorious powers nor Louis’s French subjects viewed his restoration with much enthusiasm, yet there seemed to be no ready alternative to Bourbon rule.

Within France, political tensions were exacerbated by Napoleon’s mad gamble and by the mistakes committed during the first restoration. The problem facing the Bourbons would have been difficult enough without these tensions

The most heterogeneous of all was the independent group—an uneasy coalition of republicans, Bonapartists, and constitutional monarchists brought together by their common hostility to the Bourbons and their common determination to preserve or restore many of the Revolutionary reforms.

Under the former dauphin, now Charles V (reigned 1364–80), the fortunes of war were dramatically reversed. Charles had a high conception of royalty and a good political sense. While he shared the house of Valois’s taste for luxury and festivity, he reverted to the Capetian tradition of prudent diplomacy.

Edward III did not press to conclude the renunciations; but he reserved his authority in Aquitaine by inserting in his coronation oath a clause prohibiting the alienation of rights attached to the crown

Charles the Bad once again revolted unsuccessfully, his dynastic claim to Burgundy running afoul of the king’s; the succession to Brittany was settled by arms

Between 1808 and 1813, during the Napoleonic Wars, Ferdinand was imprisoned in France by Napoleon.Ferdinand was the son of Charles IV

Charles IV was sufficiently alarmed to arrest Ferdinand but forgave him.

Charles was overthrown by the Revolt of Aranjuez (March 17, 1808), and he abdicated in favour of Ferdinand.

queen of Spain (1833–68) whose troubled reign was marked by political instability and the rule of military politicians. Isabella’s failure to respond to growing demands for a more progressive regime, her questionable private life, and her political irresponsibility contributed to the decline in monarchical strength and prestige that led to her deposition in the Revolution of 1868.

The elder daughter of Ferdinand VII

Isabella was proclaimed queen on her father’s death in 1833. Her right to succeed to the throne was disputed by supporters of her uncle, Don Carlos, and her accession precipitated civil war (First Carlist War, 1833–39).

The restoration of royal authority was not, of course, simply a matter of adjusting theories of kingship; there was a clear practical reason for Henry’s success. The country had tottered on the brink of disintegration for three decades. By the time of Henry’s succession, it was generally recognized that only a strong personality, independent of faction, could guarantee the unity of the state, even though unity meant religious toleration for the Protestant minority. In the Edict of Nantes (April 13, 1598) Henry guaranteed the Huguenots freedom of conscience and the right to practice their religion publicly in certain prescribed areas of the country.

Although the problem of religion was not finally settled by the Edict of Nantes, Henry did succeed in effecting an extended truce during which he could apply himself to the task of restoring the royal position

The chief need of the monarchy was to improve the financial situation, parlous since the days of Henry II’s wars and aggravated by the subsequent internecine conflict.

founder of the house of Trastámara, which lasted until 1504.

The illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile, Henry rebelled against his younger half brother, Peter I (Peter the Cruel), invaded Castile with French aid in 1366, and was crowned king at Burgos. Peter sought English aid, and Henry was routed by Edward the Black Prince

captured Peter, whom he murdered on March 23, 1369

virtual ruler of Sweden

Charles in 1568 was one of the leaders of a rebellion against the rule of his half brother Erik XIV that placed his other brother on the throne as John III.

The brothers were reunited in 1587, however, when both opposed the nobles’ state council, which promoted the candidacy of John’s son Sigismund (king of Poland as Sigismund III Vasa) for the Polish throne.

Manuel was fortunate to have reigned at all; he was the ninth child of Dom Fernando, who was the younger brother of Afonso V. Manuel’s father died a year after Manuel was born. King Afonso had one of Manuel’s sisters married to his heir, John II, and another to the powerful Duke of Bragança. On his accession John II had Bragança executed on a charge of treason and later murdered Manuel’s only surviving brother on suspicion of conspiracy.

On the death of his own legitimate son in 1491, John recognized Manuel as his heir. Although he later contemplated legitimizing his remaining son, Jorge, he finally left the crown to Manuel.

Manuel’s claims to these newly discovered lands were confirmed by the papacy and recognized by the Spanish, with whom Manuel maintained close relations.

Philip, the second son of Louis IX of France (Saint Louis), became heir to the throne on the death of his elder brother Louis (1260). Accompanying his father’s crusade against Tunis in 1270, he was in Africa when Louis IX died. He was anointed king at Reims in 1271.

Philip was less successful militarily. In 1276 he declared war to support the claims of his nephews as heirs in Castile but soon abandoned the venture. In 1284, at the instigation of Pope Martin IV, Philip launched a campaign against Peter III of Aragon, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, in which the Aragonese opposed the Angevin rulers of Sicily. Philip crossed the Pyrenees with his army in May 1285, but the atrocities perpetrated by his forces provoked a guerrilla uprising. After a meaningless victory at Gerona and the destruction of his fleet at Las Hormigas, Philip was forced to retreat. He died of fever on the way home.