Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was born in 1464 to Jacques de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Lord of L'Isle-Adam and Jeanne de Nesle. His brother, Antoine, succeeded their father as Lord after his death in 1471, while his brother, Louis, opted an ecclesiastical career. 1/10
It is likely Philippe followed his brother Louis for a career in clergy, since he was soon involved in the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller), which had been founded (officially) in 1113 as a monastic hospitaller order. 2/10
The Order became a powerful force in Levant after it added land and knights, and transformed into a military order under Raymond de Puy. But the fall of Jerusalem forced them to find a new base. In 1309, they captured Rhodes from Constantinople and made it their base. 3/10
By Philippe's time, the Knights Hospitaller had established themselves at Rhodes, but they had to deal with a formidable form in the Ottoman Empire. After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, Rhodes became considerably less secure. 4/10
It was at this juncture that Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam got elected as the head of his order in 1521. The new Grand Master had his work cut out for him. The Ottomans besieged Rhodes in 1522 and this time the knights capitulated and had to leave the island. 5/10
The Knights Hospitaller were homeless again. Meanwhile, Philippe's nephew, Charles, who had inherited L'Isle-Adam from Antoine in 1504, sold it off to a relative, Anne de Montmorency, in 1527. Anne de Montmorency had become Grand Master (grand maître) of France in 1526. 6/10
France and the Holy Roman Empire were at war over Italy at the time. The Pope found himself wrong footed allying with France, when the imperial soldiers came to Rome in 1527. It didn't take long for the Pope to switch back to the imperial side. 7/10
The Knights Hospitaller travelled from Crete to Messina to Viterbo to Rome to Nice in search of a new base of operations. But it was only in 1530 that they could acquire a new base, and that too for a very odd price. 8/10
Philippe de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam received the islands of Malta and Gozo and Tripoli on the African coast from Emperor Karl, who was also King of Sicily. In return for its usage, the Knights Hospitaller had to provide, among other things, a single Maltese falcon annually. 9/10
It didn't take long for the Ottomans to seize Tripoli, but Malta was another story. A great siege in 1565 failed to provide results after the Knights Hospitaller withstood the Ottoman force. It was only in 1798 that the Knights lost Malta - to the French under Napoléon. 10/10
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Valdemar Valdemarsen was born in 1170 to Valdemar Knudsen, King of Denmark and Sofia of Minsk. Earlier in life, King Valdemar had to outlast a civil war with his cousin, Svend Eriksen, and second cousin, Knud Magnussen, for the throne of Denmark. 1/10
When King Valdemar died in 1182, his elder son, Knud Valdermarsen, succeeded as King, while Valdemar became Duke of Schleswig (Southern Jutland). The river Eider that lied south of Schleswig was a natural boundary that separated Denmark from the Holy Roman Empire. 2/10
Albert von Buxthoeven was born around 1165. He had an elder brother named Hermann and his uncle was Hartwig von Utlede, who became Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in 1184. Hartwig von Utlede appears to have had close ties with the Saxon Duke, Heinrich der Löwe. 1/10
The period saw merchants from Bremen and Lübeck, another city under the influence of Heinrich der Löwe, develop bases among the Baltic tribes. As their influence increased, Archbishop Hartwig extended his Archbishopric to the Baltic consecrating Meinhard as Bishop of Üxküll. 2/10
Hermann von Salza was born around 1165 in Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire (Germany). Not much is known about his early years, though he may have taken part in the Siege of Acre in 1189, where the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed. 1/10
The Order was started by merchants from Lübeck and Bremen to provide medical support for the wounded in the siege. In 1197, Emperor Heinrich raised German knights for battle in the Levant. The Landgrave of Thuringia was among those that answered the call. 2/10
When the Romans made their calendar, it started with March and had only ten months. The second King of Rome is traditionally attributed to have added January and February.
That change was brought about by the fifth King of Rome, who oddly did not change the numerically named September, October etc. to match the rearranged calendar. 3/4
Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was born in 1706 to Karthika Thirunal and Raghava Varma. His mother was the sister of Rama Varma, who became King of Venad in 1721. Venad was one of the many successor states of the Chera Kingdom in the South West of the Indian subcontinent. 1/10
Protected by the Western Ghats in its east, the Cheras had flourished till the 12th century. After its collapse, many city states with varying power over its neighbours had come up, with the southernmost Ay Kingdom breaking away and forging connections with the Pandyas. 2/10
India will never recognize the capacity of its citizens. Now it is the time for @socialepfo 🤷
Managed to reach till Step 8 and then instead of receiving OTP gets redirected to Aadhar site for a Virtual ID. But once that is entered, EPFO becomes non-responsive. Same process has continued multiple times. 🤦
Very odd day. Site seems to be working okay overall now. But not much luck in getting the last step done, though other things appear to be working fine. Even managed to change the intended nomination. The date appears to have been extended thankfully.