Habsburgs in the context of "King Louis XIV"

Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand [lwi lə ɡʁɑ̃]) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil [lə ʁwa sɔlɛj]), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch in history. An emblem of the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV's legacy includes French colonial expansion, the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War involving the Habsburgs, and a controlling influence on the style of fine arts and architecture in France, including the transformation of the Palace of Versailles into a center of royal power and politics. Louis XIV's pageantry and opulence helped define the French Baroque style of art and architecture and promoted his image as supreme leader of France in the early modern period.

Louis XIV began his personal rule of France in 1661 after the death of his chief minister Cardinal Mazarin. A believer in the divine right of kings, Louis XIV continued Louis XIII's work of creating a centralized state governed from a capital. Louis XIV sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France by compelling many members of the nobility to reside at his lavish Palace of Versailles. In doing so, he succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many of whom had participated in the Fronde rebellions during his minority. He consolidated a system of absolute monarchy in France that endured until the French Revolution. Louis XIV enforced uniformity of religion under the Catholic Church. His revocation of the Edict of Nantes abolished the rights of the Huguenot Protestant minority and subjected them to a wave of dragonnades, effectively forcing Huguenots to emigrate or convert, virtually destroying the French Protestant community.

The Dutch, or Netherlanders (Dutch: Nederlanders), are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, Germany, Guyana, Indonesia, New Zealand, Sint Maarten, South Africa, Suriname, and the United States. The Low Countries were situated around the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire, forming a part of their respective peripheries and the various territories of which they consisted had become virtually autonomous by the 13th century. Under the Habsburgs, the Netherlands were organised into a single administrative unit, and in the 16th and 17th centuries the Northern Netherlands gained independence from Spain as the Dutch Republic. The high degree of urbanisation characteristic of Dutch society was attained at a relatively early date. During the Republic the first series of large-scale Dutch migrations outside of Europe took place.

The traditional arts and culture of the Dutch encompasses various forms of traditional music, dances, architectural styles and clothing, some of which are globally recognisable. Internationally, Dutch painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh are held in high regard. The predominant religion among the Dutch is Christianity, encompassing both Latin Catholicism and Calvinist Protestantism. However, in contemporary times, the majority no longer adhere to a particular Christian denomination. Significant percentages of the Dutch are adherents of humanism, agnosticism, atheism or individual spirituality (including ietsism).

The Unification of Germany (German: Deutsche Einigung, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈʔaɪnɪɡʊŋ] ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without the Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). After the deletion of the German Confederation due to the Austro-Prussian War, it commenced on 18 August 1866 with the adoption of the North German Confederation Treaty establishing the North German Confederation, initially a military alliance de facto dominated by the Kingdom of Prussia which was subsequently deepened through adoption of the North German Constitution.

The process symbolically concluded when most of the south German states joined the North German Confederation with the ceremonial proclamation of the German Empire (German Reich) having 25 member states and led by the Kingdom of Prussia of Hohenzollerns on 18 January 1871; the event was typically celebrated as the date of the German Empire's foundation, although the legally meaningful events relevant to the completion of unification occurred on 1 January 1871 (accession of South German states and constitutional adoption of the name "German Empire"), 4 May 1871 (entry into force of the permanent Constitution of the German Empire) and 10 May 1871 (Treaty of Frankfurt and recognition of the Empire by the French Third Republic).

The Peace of Westphalia (German: Westfälischer Friede, pronounced [vɛstˈfɛːlɪʃɐ ˈfʁiːdə] ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, participated in the treaties.

The negotiation process was lengthy and complex. Talks took place in two cities, because each side wanted to meet on territory under its own control. A total of 109 delegations arrived to represent the belligerent states, but not all delegations were present at the same time. Two treaties were signed to end the war in the Empire: the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, with the Habsburgs (rulers of Austria and Spain) and their Catholic allies on one side, battling the Protestant powers (Sweden and certain Holy Roman principalities) allied with France (though Catholic, strongly anti-Habsburg under King Louis XIV).

Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–1711) was one of the most significant attempts to topple the rule of the Habsburgs over Hungary. The war was conducted by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by Francis II Rákóczi and resigned soldiers and peasants fought alongside the noblemen. The insurrection was unsuccessful, ending with the Treaty of Szatmár; however, the Hungarian nobility managed to partially satisfy Hungarian interests.

Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of the powerful House of Sforza, which had ruled the Duchy of Milan since 1450.

Smart, energetic and ambitious, Bona became heavily involved in the political and cultural life of the Polish–Lithuanian union. To increase state revenue during the Chicken War, she implemented various economic and agricultural reforms, including the far-reaching Wallach Reform in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In foreign policy, she allied with the Ottoman Empire and sometimes opposed the Habsburgs. Her descendants became beneficiaries of the Neapolitan sums, a loan to Philip II of Spain that was never completely paid.

Brugg (sometimes written as Brugg AG in order to distinguish it from other Bruggs) is a Swiss municipality and a town in the canton of Aargau and is the seat of the district of the same name. The town is located at the confluence of the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat, with the Aare flowing through its medieval part. It is located approximately 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) from the cantonal capital of Aarau; 28 kilometers (17 mi) from Zürich; and about 45 kilometers (28 mi) from Basel.

Brugg is the Swiss German term for bridge (German: Brücke). This is an allusion to the purpose of the medieval town's establishment under the Habsburgs, as the town is located at the narrowest point on the Aare in the Swiss midlands. The Habsburgs’ oldest known residence is located in the neighborhood of Altenburg, which had previously been an independent community. Prior to their relocation to Austria, Brugg was the center of the Habsburgs' territory. Between 1415 and Napoleon’s invasion in 1798, Brugg was a subject territory of Bern. Since then it has belonged to the canton of Aargau.