After four years of fighting, Christine was victorious thanks to French military support of her brother Louis XIII. Not only did she keep the duchy for her son, she also prevented France getting too much power within her sons dominions thus preserving power for herself. When peace was concluded in 1642, Prince Maurice married Christines eldest daughter Luisa Cristina to cement the peace. Christine stayed in control of Savoy, until her son could follow in her footsteps. Even though her formal regency ended in 1648, she remained ruler of Savoy till her death.
Christine was notorious as much for her capricious rule as for her many lovers. She lived an uninhibited private life and had relationships with the French Ambassador, Marini, her brother-in-law, Maurice as well as Count Filippo d'Aglié, a handsome courtier who remained faithful to her all her life. It was under her influence that her son married her niece, Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans in a proxy wedding. Knowing that Françoise Madeleine was so young and timid, it allowed Christine the opportunity to maintain her power over Savoy and her son. However, she died shortly after her sons wedding at the Palazzo Madama, her residence in Turin aged 57. She was buried at the Basilica of Sant'Andrea.
Françoise Madeleine died in 1664 childless. He remarried in 1666 to Marie Jeanne of Savoy. Marie Jeanne would give birth to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia who would later marry another French Princess Anne Marie d'Orléans. 17 years after her death, in 1680, her granddaughter Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria married Louis XIII's grandson "Louis, Grand Dauphin" thus making Christine a direct ancestress of most royalty today. Revealed on NBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' that one of her descendants is model/actress Brooke Shields.
In her widowhood she lived at the "Palazzo Madama" which she had rebuilt. She was also organised the reconstruction of the Castello del Valentino as well as the additions to the Royal Palace of Turin. She would also later own "Vigno di Madama Reale", later the private residence of Anne Marie d'Orléans.
Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus I (8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also titular King of Cyprus and Jerusalem. He was also known as the "Lion of Susa".
He was born in Turin to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Catherine Micaela of Austria. He spent much of his childhood at the Spanish court in Madrid. When his brother Filippo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont died, he became legitimate heir to the duchy and received the loyalty swore of the court at Racconigi on 21 January 1607.
After a crisis with relationships with Spain, he was married to Henry IV of France's daughter Christine Marie in 1619.
Victor Amadeus became Duke of Savoy after his father's death in 1630. Charles Emmanuel's policies had brought a great instability in the relationships with both France and Spain, and troops were needed to defend the Duchy. As money was lacking to recruit mercenaries or train indigenous soldiers, Victor Amadeus signed a peace treaty with Spain. With the Treaty of Cherasco, Savoy was given back Pinerolo, although, according to a secret point of the agreement, that important stronghold was to remain with France in exchange for Geneve.
On 25 September of that year, Victor Amadeus fell ill after a dinner offered by the Duke of Créqui. Carried to Turin, he died here on 7 October.
Alex Rider
Alex Rider is a series of spy books. It is written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The series is about a teenage spy named Alex Rider. The series is aimed at young adults. There are ten books in the series, but short stories and other books have been published too. The novels are published by Walker Books in the United Kingdom. The first novel, "Stormbreaker", was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2000 and was adapted into a movie in 2006. Over 10 million books in the Alex Rider series have been sold worldwide.
UPC-Arena
The UPC-Arena (formerly known as Arnold Schwarzenegger stadium) is a football stadium in Graz, Austria. It is the homeground of SK Sturm Graz.
The first stadium was built before the Second World War. In the 1950s it was renovated and expanded with a skating rink (now home of the ice hockey team Graz 99ers) and an indoor pool. In the 1970s it became home ground of the big football clubs of Graz, SK Sturm and Grazer AK. The stadium was originally named after the bodybuilder, actor and Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger who was born near Graz. It was built from 1994 to 1997 and was opened with the derby Grazer AK versus SK Sturm Graz. When Governor Schwarzenegger did not pardon a prisoner from the death penalty a discussion started about the name. Governor Schwarzenegger took back the right to use his name. Now the name was Stadium Graz-Liebenau after the part of the town where it is. In 2006 the stadium was named UPC Arena after a sponsor of SK Sturm Graz. UPC is a big Austrian internet provider.
The stadium has a capacity of 15 400 in 27 sectors. For Champions League matches the capacity is expanded to 16 000. The field has a lawn heating. Two video walls and floodlight are also in the arena.
The stadium was host for the national team of Austria versus Faroe Islands on 5 September 2009 which ended 3–1 for the home team. Altogether 14 matches of the national team were held here (The first one was in 1970 versus Yugoslavia). Also the match England versus Japan on 30 May 2010 was held in the arena. The English team had a training Camp in Styria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The match ended 2–1 to England. In 2011 it will be one of the venues for the American Football world championship.
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons (born March 24, 1985) is an American actor. Parsons is best known for playing the role of Sheldon Cooper in the television series, "The Big Bang Theory". In 2010, he won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor In a Comedy Series" and in 2011, he won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actor - Television Series - Musical or Comedy". Both of these awards were given to him for his role in The Big Bang Theory.
According to The New York Times, Parsons is gay.
Johnny Galecki
John Mark "Johnny" Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an Belgian-born American actor. Galecki is best known for playing the role of David Healy on "Roseanne" and Leonard Hofstadter on "The Big Bang Theory".
Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium to American parents. He was raised in Oak Park, Illinois.
Galecki dated Kaley Cuoco who is his co-star on "The Big Bang Theory". They dated secretly for two years before they broke up.
In February 2012, it was revealed that Galecki was dating actress Kelli Garner since 2011.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is an 1997 martial arts action/adventure movie that was produced by Lawrence Kasanoff and was directed by John R. Leonetti. It is based on the video game franchise, "Mortal Kombat" and is the sequel to the 1995 movie, "Mortal Kombat". "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" was released on November 21, 1997 in North America, February 13, 1998 in the United Kingdom and on April 9, 1998 in Australia. The movie received negative reviews with a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic gave it a 11 out of 100.
Litefoot
Gary Paul Davis (born March 1, 1969 in Upland, California), known by his stage name Litefoot, is an American rapper and actor. He is of Cherokee and Chichimeca descent. He was the first Native American person to rap and he called his style of music, "Tribalistic Funk".
David is also an actor and acted in the movies The Indian in the Cupboard in 1995, in 1997, Kull the Conqueror in 1997 and Adaptation in 2002.
Bridesmaid