Great Dynasties

Fülszöveg

In this book we follow the record of
sovereignty and power through sixteen
royal dynasties in France, Great Britain,
Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy and
Portugal — the Capets, the Hapsburgs,
the Stuarts, the Hohenzollerns, the
Bourbons, the Romanovs and others, in
a period spanning a thousand years of
European history from the dawn of
feudal times to the industrial society of
today.
Common to all great dynasties is an
ancestry of mixed blood. As heraldry
shows, the coats of arms of the
European royal families are discussed
from the concept of the divine right of
kings to the secular role of Emperors as
servants of the state. The book also
shows that despite the political
unification brought about by
matrimonial alliances, the national
feuds still remained.
Kings, Queens, Emperors and
Consorts were all placed by history in
such a position as to influence the lives
of so many others by virtue of their
actions. Some strove nobly to educate
and improve the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

In this book we follow the record of
sovereignty and power through sixteen
royal dynasties in France, Great Britain,
Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy and
Portugal — the Capets, the Hapsburgs,
the Stuarts, the Hohenzollerns, the
Bourbons, the Romanovs and others, in
a period spanning a thousand years of
European history from the dawn of
feudal times to the industrial society of
today.
Common to all great dynasties is an
ancestry of mixed blood. As heraldry
shows, the coats of arms of the
European royal families are discussed
from the concept of the divine right of
kings to the secular role of Emperors as
servants of the state. The book also
shows that despite the political
unification brought about by
matrimonial alliances, the national
feuds still remained.
Kings, Queens, Emperors and
Consorts were all placed by history in
such a position as to influence the lives
of so many others by virtue of their
actions. Some strove nobly to educate
and improve the feudal conditions of
their people. Others were selfish tyrants
with no other thought than to indulge
their luxuries and vices at the expense of
their country's welfare, turning a blind
eye to all appeals for social reform. In
this book the strengths and weaknesses
of individual monarchs and rulers are
revealed and measured against the
standards and ideals expected of them in
their positions of great rank — the
power struggles, blood feuds, legal
debates and love matches that make up
the rich tapestry of history. Vissza