Query: “Houlton has been exploring this possibility for years.

Relevant passages:
Thirty Years' War <=SEP=> The Thirty Years ' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648 . It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history , as well as the deadliest European religious war , resulting in eight million casualties .   Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire , it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers . These states employed relatively large mercenary armies , and the war became less about religion and more of a continuation of the France -- Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence . In the 17th century , religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today . During that era , almost everyone was vested on one side of the dispute or another , which was also closely tied to people 's ethnicities and loyalties , as religious beliefs affected ideas of the legitimacy of the political status of rulers .   The war was preceded by the election of the new Holy Roman Emperor , Ferdinand II , who tried to impose religious uniformity on his domains , forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples . The northern Protestant states , angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had been granted in the Peace of Augsburg , banded together to form the Protestant Union . Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor , Rudolf II , who ruled from Protestant Prague . Ferdinand 's policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic .   These events caused widespread fears throughout northern and central Europe , and triggered the Protestant Bohemians living in the then relatively loose dominion of Habsburg Austria to revolt against their nominal ruler , Ferdinand II . After the so-called Prague Defenestration deposed the emperor 's representatives in Prague , the Protestant estates and Catholic Habsburgs started gathering allies for war . They ousted the Habsburgs and elected the Calvinist Frederick V , Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as the new king of the Kingdom of Bohemia . Frederick took the offer without the support of the union . The southern states , mainly Roman Catholic , were angered by this . Led by Bavaria , these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor . The Empire soon crushed this perceived rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain , executing leading Czech aristocrats shortly after . The Protestant world condemned the Emperor 's action .   After the atrocities committed in Bohemia , Saxony finally gave its support to the union and decided to fight back . Sweden , at the time a major military power , soon intervened in 1630 under its king Gustavus Adolphus , transforming what had been simply the Emperor 's attempt to curb the Protestant states into a full-scale war in Europe . Spain , wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic , intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally , Austria . No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders , Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs .   The Thirty Years ' War devastated entire regions , with famine and disease resulting in high mortality in the populations of the German and Italian states , the Crown of Bohemia , and the Southern Netherlands . Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds , which imposed severe hardships on the inhabitants of occupied territories . The war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers .   The Dutch Republic enjoyed contrasting fortune ; it ended its revolt against Spain in 1648 and subsequently enjoyed a time of great prosperity and development , known as the Dutch Golden Age , during which it became one of the world 's foremost economic and naval powers . The Thirty Years ' War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster , part of the wider Peace of Westphalia . The war altered the previous political order of European powers . The rise of Bourbon France , the curtailing of Habsburg ambition , and the ascendancy of Sweden as a great power created a new balance of power on the continent , with France emerging from the war strengthened and increasingly dominant in the latter part of the 17th century .

Marcus Davis <=SEP=> Marcus Paul Davis ( born August 24 , 1973 ) , is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC . A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014 , Davis also competed for Bellator MMA , the MFC , the Cage Fury Fighting Championships , and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2 .

Farleigh Hungerford Castle <=SEP=> Farleigh Hungerford Castle , sometimes called Farleigh Castle or Farley Castle , is a medieval castle in Farleigh Hungerford , Somerset , England . The castle was built in two phases : the inner court was constructed between 1377 and 1383 by Sir Thomas Hungerford , who made his fortune working as a steward to John of Gaunt . The castle was built to a quadrangular design , already slightly old-fashioned , on the site of an existing manor house overlooking the River Frome . A park was attached to the castle , requiring the destruction of a local village . His son , Sir Walter Hungerford , a successful knight and courtier to Henry V , became rich during the Hundred Years War with France and extended the castle with an additional , outer court , enclosing the parish church in the process . By Walter 's death in 1449 , the substantial castle was richly appointed and its chapel decorated with murals .   The castle largely remained in the hands of the Hungerford family over the next two centuries , despite periods during the War of the Roses in which it was held by the Crown following the attainder and execution of members of the family . At the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 , the castle , modernized to the latest Tudor and Stuart fashions , was held by Sir Edward Hungerford . Edward declared his support for Parliament , becoming a leader of the Roundheads in Wiltshire . Farleigh Hungerford was seized by Royalist forces in 1643 , but recaptured by Parliament without a fight near the end of the conflict in 1645 . As a result , it escaped slighting following the war , unlike many other castles in the south-west of England .   The last member of the Hungerford family to hold the castle , Sir Edward Hungerford , inherited it in 1657 , but his gambling and expensive living forced him to sell the property in 1686 . By the 18th century the castle was no longer lived in by its owners and fell into disrepair ; in 1730 it was bought by the Houlton family , when much of it was broken up for salvage . Antiquarian and tourist interest in the now ruined castle increased through the 18th and 19th centuries . The castle chapel was repaired in 1779 and became a museum of curiosities , complete with the murals rediscovered on its walls in 1844 and a number of rare lead anthropomorphic coffins from the mid-17th century . In the 1915 Farleigh Hungerford Castle was sold to the Office of Works and a controversial restoration programme began . It is now owned by English Heritage , who operate it as a tourist attraction , and the castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument .