In autumn 1558, Calvin became ill with a fever. He was afraid he might die before finishing his last revision of the "Institutes". Because of this, he forced himself to work. The last edition became much longer, so Calvin called it a new work. It was 21 chapters in the edition before the last one. However, in the last one, it was 80. This was because of more detail in the material that was already there: more subjects were not really added. Soon after he became better, he strained his voice while preaching. This made him cough violently. He burst a blood-vessel in his lungs. His health became much worse after this. He preached his last sermon in St. Pierre on February 6, 1564. On April 25, he made his will. In his will, he left a little money to his family and to the "collège". A few days later, the ministers of the church came to visit him. He died of septicaemia. This goodbye is recorded in "Discours d'adieu aux ministres". He remembered his life in Geneva. Calvin died on May 27, 1564. He was 54. On the next day, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière de Plainpalais. People are not sure where the grave is exactly. However, a stone was added in the 19th century to mark a grave traditionally thought to be Calvin's.
Trebuchet
A Trebuchet was a device used in wars and sieges in the Middle Ages. It could be used to throw stones at ramparts, trying to break them down. It could also be used to throw things over the walls of a city. These could be corpses of animals or people that had died of the plague. Trebuchets were more accurate than other medieval catapults.
The trebuchet works in a simple way. The basket of the trebuchet is filled with heavy rocks. This acts as a counterweight for the other end, which is usually filled with one large rock. Several men arm the trebuchet by raising the counterweight up and the firing arm down. At this point the arm is released, the heavy basket swings down and the arm swings up, launching the rock far and fast.
The sling adds an additional 10-15 feet of arm length and gives the projectile a whip like speed then releases. The sling gives the projectile most of its speed.
Tarascon
Tarascon, sometimes called Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a city in the south of France. The city is about 20 km from either Arles or Avignon. The city was founded by the Romans in the year 48. Some people know the city from the book Tartarin de Tarascon by Alphonse Daudet. There is also a castle near the city. About 14.000 people lived in Tarascon in 2003.
Kurdistan
Kurdistan is a mountainous area in the Middle East, that is mainly inhabited by Kurds.
The Kurdish people is estimated to be around 35-40 million people.
In Iranian Kurdistan, the cities of Piranshahr & Mahabad are the two main cities of Mokrian district.
Aigues-Mortes
Aigues-Mortes (French for "dead waters") is a city in the south of France. It is in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It was originally founded by the Romans in the year 102 BC. The first records mentioning it under its current name date from the 10th century. Louis IX of France rebuilt the port in the 13th century. It was the only French port of the Mediterranean at that time. The city is laid out as a bastide. It was the starting point for the Seventh Crusade (1248) and Eighth Crusade (1270). Due to changes of the coastline, the city is several miles from the sea. It is linked to the sea through a canal, nowadays. It has well-preserved city walls. In 1999, about 6.000 people lived there. Aigues-Mortes is about 35 km from Nîmes.
3 BC
Year 3 BC was a common year starting on Wednesday or Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Messalla.
6 BC
Year 6 BC was a common year starting on Sunday or Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Balbus and Vetus.
Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II (Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor) (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was King of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second (but oldest surviving) son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans. He succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and was king until his death.
Leopold is mainly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State. He lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He treated the people badly in order to make money. His harsh rule was responsible for the deaths of between five to 10 million Congolese people. The Congo became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century. As a result, Leopold II was forced to give control of it to the government of Belgium. Despite owning and ruling it as a dictator, Leopold II never visited the Congo Free State and Africa.
Leopold II married Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria, in Brussels on 22 August 1853.
On 15 November 1902, Italian anarchist Gennaro Rubino tried to assassinate Leopold. Rubino fired three shots at the King. The shots missed Leopold and Rubino was immediately arrested. Leopold II had a wedding ceremony with Caroline Lacroix, a prostitute, on 14 December 1909, five days before his death. This was not legal under Belgian law.
He was succeeded as King of the Belgians by his nephew Albert, son of his brother Philippe.
George V
George V (born George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 186520 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom. He was the first British monarch with the family name Windsor. His father was Edward VII.
George was born in 1865. He was in the Royal Navy when he was twelve; he left the Navy to become king. George was crowned King and Emperor of India in 1911. He was married to Princess Mary of Teck.
As King during World War I, George and his wife visited the warfront regularly. He changed the family name to "Windsor" to remove any association with a German heritage, because Germany was very unpopular at this time. Among other things, he started the "Royal Christmas Broadcast" tradition. He was known for being a stamp collector. His sons Edward and George would later become kings of the United Kingdom and British Empire.
George was a popular monarch. Many people thought he was a good king. He died in 1936, at the age of 70. George was king for 25 years and 8 months. His granddaughter is the current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
George was born the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). He married a distant cousin (his double second cousin once removed) Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary), and they stayed married until his death.
George was known as the Duke of York for many years until his grandmother, Queen Victoria, died peacefully at the age of 81. His father, Edward, inherited the throne gaining the nickname "Edward the Peaceful" for his hard work maintaining stability when tensions were increasing. Edward's death was greeted with great sadness across the empire, George describing him as "my best friend". By the time George became king Britain was the richest, most powerful nation in the world and during his reign the Empire expanded to its greatest ever extent.
George was quick to prove himself a decent and popular monarch. He became a symbol of British resistance during the First World War in which he, and his wife, visited the war front regularly. However, at home his popularity was waning with even H.G Wells referring to him as "an alien" because of his German background (his grandfather Prince Albert was German). Growing increasingly worried he changed the family name to “Windsor" to remove any association with a German heritage. He was seriously injured when thrown by his horse at a troop review in France.