Books by "Anna E. C. Simoni"
2 books found
A gripping and thought-provoking account of the reign of King James I, who united Britain and made England the global power we know today. The British monarchy of today descends directly from one leader: King James I, whose huge—and much overlooked—influence launched England as a major international trade power, established the King James Bible, and united the royal families of Scotland and England under one house and one monarch. Along with his wife, Anna of Denmark, and his children—Henry, Elizabeth, and Charles—James sought to broker agreements between the warring Catholic and Protestant princes in Europe and establish an era of peace. Instead, James set the groundwork for his children to grow up and champion a militant Protestantism that plunged the entire continent into religious war. At his ascension, England was economically behind, but James's global ambitions began to shift the tide: As ships departed London for America, Russia, Persia, India, and Japan, the fledgling East India Company began to intertwine ever closer with the crown. And James himself was dogged by scandal, running a court famously reputed for vice and venality. But his court was also rich in art, drama, and literature. Shakespeare's King Lear and Macbeth—said to have been inspired by James himself—were both first performed at the Jacobean court. Set across England and the Continent, over the course of twenty years—beginning with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 and the ascension of James I and ending in 1625 with Charles I becoming king—The Sun Rising presents a rich and compelling portrait of the royal family and a story of dynastic power politics, which ultimately and viciously split Europe.
After the famous 'Battle of Nieuwpoort' in West Flanders in 1600, another feat of arms was to follow in the same area: the Siege of Ostend, which lasted from 1601 to 1604. Maurits was, yet again, to play the leading role and, despite the fact that the outcome was less of a success for the young Republic of the Seven United Netherlands than the battle of Nieuwpoort had been, the result was a Spanish conquest of a city of total devastation and, by then, wholly depopulated. Nevertheless a considerable impression had been made upon the Northern Netherlands. The most weird and wonderful machines of war had been tested, whilst a variety of new military siege techniques had been brought into play. There was even talk of 'the University of Ostend', with the implication that, from a military perspective, the siege was a very instructive experience. Many, too, were the rumours and the garbled tales that began to circulate soon after the end of the affair. One example was the legend of the soldier in the Spanish army who appeared to be a woman. In this book, Dr. Simoni provides a detailed and stimulating account of the manner of, and the form by which the tales of these shocking occurrences arose soon after the events of the siege had been set down, and immediately went into print after the details had reached the North. These reports were to leave such a lasting impression in the Republic, that 'Ostend' became one of the most well known feats of arms in the penultimate stages of the struggle for freedom from Spain. The book is, thus, a brilliant example of the received history of one of the most controversial events of the Eighty Years War. The role of the Leiden printer and publisher, Hendrick van Haestens, stands central to 'the Ostend Story'. He provides accounts of the fighting in no less than three publications. Dr. Simoni, in this study, reaches the conclusion that Haestens' reports are deserving of a more important place than they have found thus far. It is mainly to him that we owe the provision of a clear and lively picture of the famous siege.