Perhaps the most famous member from the house of Babenberg was Leopold V "the Virtuous", the crusader Austrian duke known for imprisoning the renowned Richard the Lionheart when he traveled through Austria on his long way back from the Holy Land. Why did he do this? I explain...
Leopold V wanted to join Babarossa for the Third Crusade but his disputes with the Hungarian king Béla III prevented him from going. However when the Emperor died in 1190, Leopold decided to travel to the crusade by ship from Venice, arriving in time for the 1191 siege of Acre.
After Barbarossa's death his son Frederick VI Duke of Swabia took command but he too died during the siege of Acre. Thus the command of the Imperial forces was given to Leopold V. When King Philip II of France and King Richard I the Lionheart of England arrived, Acre surrendered.
As the leader of the Imperial German contingent Leopold V wanted to have the same prestige as the two kings, but was denied. In the city, his ducal banner was put next to the banners of Kingdom of Jerusalem, France and England, but was removed by Richard the Lionheart himself!
This infuriated Leopold who left the Holy Land in anger and returned to Austria where he complained about Richard to Emperor Henry VI. When Richard left the Holy Land he was captured by Leopold's Austrian forces while traveling on land from Adriatic to Bavaria.
Richard was then handed over to Emperor Henry VI by Leopold V and a huge ransom was demanded! This ransom was paid. The Pope Celestine III was furious by Leopold capturing a fellow crusader and excommunicated him!
Things did not end well for Leopold as he died in brutal agony before he could redeem himself. During a tournament, a horse fell on his foot which had to be amputated. He had his servants chop his foot off and succumbed to gangrene!
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This is the Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen made in 1937.
I was always fascinated with this car.
It's crazy how in 1938 this car recorded a speed of 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph). This remained the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road until broken in 2017.
The record was set by German driver Rudolf Caracciola who drove this car on the Reichs-Autobahn A5 between Frankfurt and Darmstadt on 28 January 1938.
This reflected the obsession with breaking records and showcasing industrial prowess of nations at the time.
The onlookers who observed the spectacle of a car racing at astonishing 432.7 km/h past them also noted the brutal boom of the side spewing exhaust stacks as the silver car hurtled past.
It must have been an incredible spectacle to witness!
Hussite war wagons proved so effective that within 100 years this tactic spread from Bohemia all the way to India!
In 1526 Mughal Emperor Babur employed war wagons to win the First Battle of Panipat.
A short thread on how this style of warfare spread over the world. 🧵
The tactic of "wagenburg" (wagon fort) was adopted in the Hussite Wars (1419-1434) by the Hussites, a religious movement which fought armies of crusader knights from all over Europe.
The use of such war wagons enabled them to withstand the cavalry charges of armored knights.
The purpose of these war wagons was not just to present an obstacle for the cavalry but also to give handgunners protection to fire their weapons at the enemy.
The main weakness of handguns at the time was the long reloading time, during which handgunners were vulnerable.
There was a scene in the movie Lord of the Rings where they light signal fires to warn of an attack.
But this is how the defense system of Habsburg lands actually worked against the Ottoman threat!
A network of bonfires was in place to warn people of incoming Ottoman raids. 🧵
In the Lord of the Rings these are called the Beacon-hills of Gondor.
They are permanently manned stations across the hills where great fireplaces are kept in the state of readiness.
In this manner, people all over the kingdom can be informed of an attack quickly.
People might think this is something that belongs to the fictional world, but in 15-16th centuries the Habsburgs actually established a similar system like this.
The mountainous regions of Carniola and Styria offered many good strategic positions!
In 1927 Benito Mussolini ordered to drain the Lake Nemi south of Rome to recover the wrecks of the Nemi ships, two large pleasure barges built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula.
Unfortunately the remains of the ships were destroyed by fire in 1944 during WWII.
It is speculated that Nemi ships were elaborate floating palaces, with mosaic floors, heating and plumbing, baths, galleries and saloons, as well as a large variety of vines and fruit trees, similar to other Caligula's galleys described by Suetonius!
Lake Nemi is a volcanic lake which was popular by wealthy Romans due to clean air and uncontaminated water and cooler temperatures during the hot summer months.