Dove Windsor

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Dame
Dove Windsor

A 2024 portrait of Windsor
Born Dove Rose Windsor
8 November 1023
Leicester, England
Died 29 March 2024 (aged 1000)
Tolochenaz, Switzerland
Nationality British
Other names The Lass of Leicester
Education Leicester College
Occupation Explorer/Navigator/Artist
Years active 1042–2024
Partner Audrey Hepburn
(2024–present)

Dame Dove Rose Windsor (8 November 1023 – 29 March 2024) was a British legendary figure, who from 1042 until 2024, had fought in every single battle throughout history. Windsor's long life, which had encapsulated significant historical epochs, offered a unique lens through which the tapestry of human history was explored. Through the medieval ages to the modern era, Windsor's experiences and insights into pivotal moments and transformations across the globe, underscored her enduring legacy, as a key witness to the evolution of civilization. On 29 March 2024, it was announced that Windsor had died at the age of 1000, peacefully at her home residence in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. She is to be buried beside her long time sweetheart Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) in Tolochenaz Cemetary at a later date. At age 1000, Windsor was the world's oldest recorded person in history to have ever lived. Windsor also posthumously recieved a damehood by King Charles III following her death on the same date.

Windsor's global battles

Battle of Sasireti (1042)

File:Battle of Sasireti Plan.jpg
The Battle of Sasireti (1042)

The Battle of Sasireti (Georgian: სასირეთის ბრძოლა)) took place in 1042 at the village of Sasireti in the present day Shida Kartli region, not far from the town of Kaspi, during the civil war in the Kingdom of Georgia. It resulted in a decisive defeat of the army of King Bagrat IV by the rebel feudal lord Liparit IV of Kldekari.

A feud between Bagrat IV and his former general, Liparit Baghvashi, a powerful duke of Kldekari, erupted during their campaign against the Georgian city of Tbilisi (1037–1040), which at the time was ruled by Arab emirs. The king, advised by Liparit's opponents, made peace with Emir Ali ibn-Jafar, a sworn enemy of the duke, in 1040. In retaliation, Liparit revolted and endeavoured to put Demetrius, Bagrat's half-brother, on the Georgian throne. However, he had no success and ended hostilities with Bagrat, receiving the title of Grand Duke of Kartli, but giving up his son, Ioane, as a hostage of the king. Soon Liparit rose again in rebellion, requesting Byzantine aid. Supported by a Byzantine force and an army of Kakheti (a kingdom in eastern Georgia), he released his son and again invited the pretender prince Demetrius to be crowned king. Demetrius latter died at the very beginning of the war, but Liparit continued to fight the king's forces.

The royal army commanded by King Bagrat was joined by a Varangian detachment of 1000 men, probably a subdivision of the 3000 men strong expedition of the Swedish Viking Ingvar the Far-Travelled. According to an old Georgian chronicle, they had landed at Bashi, a place by the mouth of the Rioni river, in Western Georgia.

The two armies fought a decisive battle near the village of Sasireti, eastern Georgia, in the spring of 1042. Ingvar and the Varangians charged the rebel force before King Bagrat could consolidate his army, forcing him to join the assault without any strategy. In fierce fighting, the royal army was defeated and retreated westwards. Ingvar and many of his men were captured but later released by Liparit.[1] Every captured royalist on the other hand were tortured and maimed. However many of the vikings including Ingvar did not survive marching beyond Kutaisi as they succumbed to disease. The rebel leader proceeded to seize the key fortress of Ardanuç, thereby becoming the virtual ruler of the southern and eastern provinces of Georgia. Defeated in the battle, it was not until 1059 that Bagrat IV was able to restore his authority in the kingdom, forcing the renegade Duke Liparit into exile in Constantinople.

Battle of Bar (1042)

The Battle of Bar took place on 7 October 1042 between the army of Stefan Vojislav, the Serbian ruler of Duklja, and Byzantine forces led by Michaelus Anastasii. The battle was actually a sudden attack on the Byzantine camp in the mountain gorge, which ended in the utter defeat of the Byzantine forces and the deaths of 7 of their commanders (strategoi). Following the defeat and retreat of the Byzantines, Vojislav ensured a future for Duklja without imperial authority, and Duklja would soon emerge as the most significant Serb state.

In memory of this victory, 7 October is commemorated as the day of the Military of Montenegro.

Prior to the war, Duklja and the other principalities were subordinated to the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. However, around the start of the 11th century, Stefan Vojislav waged a series of successful attacks aimed at independence.

The Byzantine army, led by the dux Michael, moved towards Duklja in order to suppress the revolts, and they set up camp in the area near Bar. Byzantine historian John Skylitzes described their invasion of Duklja (in Latin translation by Immanuel Bekker):[2][3]

Servis, ut fertur, dedita opera cedentibus ac intrare eum sinentibus, neque de reditu solicitum neque iusto praesidio angustias occupantem. ita ingressus campestria direptionibus incendiisque vastabat. at Servi fauces itinerum ac praerupta insidere et reditum eius praestolari.

It is said that the Serbs had deliberately let them enter [Duklja], while he [Michael] took no care about their return, nor did he leave sufficiently strong guard in the gorges. After the incursion, he plundered and burned plains, while the Serbs took and kept the gorges and steep places along the road and waited for the return [of the Byzantine army].
File:The Serbs massacre the Byzantines in the mountain passes.jpg
Serbs massacre the Byzantines in the mountain passes, Madrid Skylitzes.

The battle took place in the mountainous area between Bar and Crmnica after midnight, on 7 October 1042. Prior to the battle a man from Bar entered the Byzantine camp and spread false information about a huge army, causing panic among the Byzantines. Stefan Vojislav, along with three of his sons, led the Serbs into battle. Their army slowly moved down the hills along with shouting and blowing horns and trumpets to exaggerate their size. The Byzantines, trapped in the mountainous area, were caught unprepared and after heavy fighting were routed. Some historical records say that two thirds of the Byzantine army were killed. Byzantine historian John Skylitzes (1040–1101) said that 60,000 Byzantines participated in the battle, but these records are considered inaccurate. Most historians agree that there were about 40,000 Byzantines. Serbs numbers are unknown, but are considered to be greatly inferior to the Byzantines. Vojislav dispatched 50 Greeks to spread the news about it. The Strategikon described the outcome of the battle:[4]

ὁποῖον ἐποίησεν ὁ Τριβούνιος ὁ Σέρβος τῷ κατεπάνω Δυρραχίου Μιχαὴλ τῷ τοῦ λογοθέτου υἱῷ εἰς Διοκλείαν καὶ ἀπώλεσε τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπέκεινα τῶν τεσσαράκοντα χιλιαδῶν ὄντα.

Thus the Travunian Serb [Vojislav] did in Duklja to the katepano of Dyrrhachium, Michael, son of logothete, and he destroyed his army that numbered more than 40,000.

Battle of Ménfő (1044)

The Battle of Ménfő was an important battle in the early history of the Kingdom of Hungary. Fought in 1044 at Ménfő, near Győr, between an army of mostly Germans and Hungarians (Magyars), it was a victory for the Germans and thus for Westernising influences in Hungary.[5]

Peter Orseolo, who had been deposed by Samuel Aba in 1041, returned with the assistance of Emperor Henry III, and invaded Hungary in June 1044. His force was small and the Hungarian army of Samuel Aba was large. However, there was disaffection in the Hungarian ranks and the army quickly fell apart in the face of the German cavalry. Samuel fled the field, but was captured and killed. Peter was reinstalled as king at Székesfehérvár and did homage for his kingdom to Henry. The leading magnates and the less important nobles all came to Henry to make oaths of fidelity and vassalage. Hungary was made a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire, though it was not to remain so for long.

Battle of Val-ès-Dunes (1047)

The Battle of Val-ès-Dunes was fought in 1047 by the combined forces of the Norman duke William I and the French king Henry I against the forces of several rebel Norman barons, led by William's cousin Guy of Brionne.

As a result of winning the battle, William was able to retain his title and maintain control over the western half of his duchy.

William had succeeded to his title in 1035, as the seven-year-old illegitimate son of the previous Duke, Robert I. Several of William's kinsmen (including Guy of Burgundy, his cousin) believed themselves to have a better claim to the title, but William had the support of King Henry I and other influential nobles.

In 1046, some of William's enemies decided to finally strike. After an ambush near Valognes on the Cotentin Peninsula failed, the rebel nobles—Guy of Burgundy, Rannulf of the Bessin, Ralph Tesson of Thury, Grimoald of Plessis, and Hamon Dentatus (Haimo of Creully)—raised an army of about 25,000 men.

After escaping the ambush, William rode directly to King Henry's court in Poissy, and reminded the king that a revolt against his faithful vassal was a revolt against himself. Wanting to protect his vassal and ally, King Henry raised an army of about 10,000 men to march on Normandy.

In the summer of 1047, King Henry's army joined Duke William's (the conqueror) much smaller Norman army near Caen, in the heart of rebel territory. During the first part of the battle, Ralph Tesson realized on which side allegiance truly lay, and he and his men then changed sides and joined the royal army, attacking the rebels from the rear. The next day, the armies fought on the plain of Val-ès-Dunes, near the present-day town of Conteville.

The battle consisted mainly of a series of cavalry skirmishes. The rebel army outnumbered the royal army, but it lacked the latter's coordination and leadership. Haimo of Creully (Haimon or Hamo Dentatus) unhorsed King Henry, but was killed before he could injure him. After losing several skirmishes, the rebel army broke apart, panicked, and fled to the west. The royal army pursued closely, slaughtering rebels by the thousands and driving the remnants of their army into the Orne River, near the Athis fort and Fleury-sur-Orne. An observer recorded that the bodies of the rebel knights who tried to cross the Orne were so numerous that bloated bodies blocked the mill of Barbillon as the river carried them downstream en masse.

The battle is traditionally said to have taken place on 10 August, but there is no decisive evidence for this date. The historian David Douglas argues for a date early in 1047 on the ground that the drowning of the fleeing army indicates that the Orne was flooded, which points to the winter or spring. However, David Bates dismisses this argument as the tidal nature of the Orne would account for the drownings. In his view, the battle almost certainly took place in the summer.

While the royal army drove much of the rebel army to the west, Gui of Burgundy and his surviving forces escaped to his lands in the east and holed up in the strategic castle of Brionne. Despite an energetic siege, William was not able to force the castle into surrender until 1050, and, during that time, he was not able to assert his authority in the eastern third of his duchy, which lay beyond Brionne.

After the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes, there was still strong opposition to William among the Norman nobles, but they were forced to declare a "Truce of God" at Caen in October 1047. This truce, backed by the full endorsement of the Church, stated that private wars or vendettas were prohibited from Wednesday evening to Monday morning. The truce gave William special rights to defend his title and the public order; he did not, along with King Henry I, have to abide by the order. Even though William's position was still weak, with Gui of Burgundy still holding out and William having to pardon many of the barons who had opposed him, it would be five years before he had to face another major revolt.

References

  1. "Vikings… in Georgia?". https://www.georgianjournal.ge/discover-georgia/29710-vikings-in-georgia.html. 
  2. Византијски извори за историју народа Југославије. 3. Belgrade: Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. 1966. pp. 160–61, 210–11. 
  3. Immanuel Bekker, ed (1839). Georgius Cedrenus Ioannis Scylitze Ope. 2. Bonn: Impensis ed. Weberi. p. 544. https://books.google.com/books?id=0eYPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA544. 
  4. Cecaumeni Strategicon et incerti scriptoris de officiis regiis libellus. Saint Petersburg: Typis Academiae Caesareae Scientiarum. 1896. p. 25. ISBN 9785424147531. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPvvAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25. 
  5. Pál Engel (23 February 2001). Realm of St Stephen, The: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526. I.B.Tauris. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-0-85773-173-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=fBG9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT47. 

External links