King Louis I of France - Louis the Pious

King Louis I of France - Louis the Pious Louis I was also known as: Louis the Pious or Louis the Debonair (in French, Louis le Pieux, or Louis le Dà ©bonnaire; in German, Ludwig der Fromme; known to contemporaries by the Latin Hludovicus or Chlodovicus). Louis I was known for: Holding the Carolingian Empire together in the wake of his father Charlemagnes death. Louis was the only designated heir to survive his father. Occupations: Ruler Places of Residence and Influence: EuropeFrance Important Dates: Born: April 16, 778Forced to abdicate: June 30, 833Died: June 20, 840 About Louis I: In 781 Louis was appointed king of Aquitaine, one of the sub-kingdoms of the Carolingian Empire, and though he was only three years old at the time he would acquire great experience managing the kingdom as he matured. In 813 he became co-emperor with his father, then, when Charlemagne died a year later, he inherited the empire though not the title Roman Emperor. The empire was a conglomerate of several different ethnic groups, including Franks, Saxons, Lombards, Jews, Byzantines and many others across a great span of territory. Charlemagne had handled the many differences and the large size of his realm by dividing it up into sub-kingdoms, but Louis represented himself not as a ruler of different ethnic groups, but as a leader of Christians in a unified land. As emperor, Louis initiated reforms and redefined the relationship between the Frankish empire and the papacy. He carefully structured a system whereby various territories could be assigned to his three grown sons while the empire remained intact. He took swift action in quashing challenges to his authority and even sent his half-brothers into monasteries to prevent any future dynastic conflicts. Louis also performed voluntary penance for his sins, a display that deeply impressed contemporary chroniclers. The birth of a fourth son in 823 to Louis and his second wife, Judith, triggered a dynastic crisis. Louiss elder sons, Pippin, Lothair and Louis the German, had maintained a delicate if uneasy balance, and when Louis attempted to reorganize the empire to include little Charles, resentment raised its ugly head. There was a palace revolt in 830, and in 833 when Louis agreed to meet Lothair to settle their differences (at what became known as the Field of Lies, in Alsace), he was instead confronted by all his sons and a coalition of their supporters, who forced him to abdicate. But within a year Louis had been released from confinement and was back in power. He continued to rule energetically and decisively until his death in 840. More Louis I Resources: Dynastic Table: Early Carolingian Rulers Louis I on the Web The Ordinance of Louis the Pius - Division of the Empire of the Year 817Extract from Altmann und Bernheim, Ausgewahlte Urkunden, p. 12. Berlin, 1891, at Yale Law Schools Avalon Project. Emperor Louis the Pious: On Tithes, 817Extract from A Source Book for Medieval Economic History at Paul Halsalls Medieval Sourcebook. Louis the Pious: Grant of Minting Coins to Abbey of Corvey, 833Another extract from A Source Book for Medieval Economic History at Paul Halsalls Medieval Sourcebook. Louis I in Print The link below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the books page at one of the online merchants. The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europeby Pierre Richà ©; translated by Michael Idomir Allen The Carolingian EmpireEarly Europe   Guide Note: This Whos Who Profile of Louis I was originally posted in October of 2003, and was updated in March of 2012. Content is copyright  ©2003-2012 Melissa Snell.   Chronological Index Geographical Index Index by Profession, Achievement, or Role in Society

How to Overcome Stage Fright

How to Overcome Stage Fright Imagine standing at the tribune, a couple of seconds before you actually start delivering your graduation speech. Think of the moment when you stand behind the mic, just before the first line of the song you want to perform for the crowd. How does it feel? Are you full of happy excitement or feel like running away (if only you could do it on those shaky legs)? In case it makes you feel any better – John Lennon used to throw up before his live performances. Youre not alone in the struggle. Its Not About You One of the most common reasons of a stage anxiety is worrying what the audience is going to think about you. Well, heres a fun fact: They dont really care about your personality. Most of the time people are worried only about themselves. You are to engage, educate or entertain your audience. If they are satisfied with what they get, they wont judge the one who delivers it too hard. Thus, concentrate on the material youre going to present instead of focusing on your personality. Practice Practice makes perfect. The rule applies to almost every sphere of our lives, right? Public speaking is not an exception. Training helps your brain to reduce the number of unknown variables it has to deal with when the due date comes. This allows you to focus on your story, entertaining your reader and making the whole thing much more fun. If memorizing a speech is a challenge for you, take a look at our infographics on how to memorize a speech. Send Good Vibes Perception is everything, isnt it? Thats why thinking of your audience as of a group of friendly, interested people, rather than a bunch of guys, ready to destroy you with criticism, will be of a great help. Smile and remember about eye contact. Avoid gazing at people, though: diverting your eyes to look at your notes or fix the appliances makes you look human, which is certainly good. We like the things we can relate to. Thus, looking not-so-perfect at times might even be a good thing. Power Posing Body language can shape our behavior, the way we make decisions and feel about ourselves. Power posing is a great tool to achieve these results. The study shows, that standing in a high-power pose for about 2 minutes may seriously boost your confidence and reduce stress. What are these poses? Think of a Wonder Woman or a Superman signature positions. Fake it till you make it. Or, actually, fake it until you become it. Dont Cram Sounding human and looking natural is crucial for successful delivery and impressing your listeners. Thats why you dont want to learn every single word by heart, when it comes to delivering a speech. You surely are to know what goes after what and have some cards or the outline in front of your eyes. Memorizing every single word will make you sound robotic. If you are having difficulties with writing a speech, consider our speech-writing help. If you are going to sing, act or dance in public – situation is a bit different. Here youll seek for a certain degree of mechanization, where you know all the moves, cues or direction of the melody. Nevertheless, leaving some space for your soul and inspiration will help you and your audience enjoy the event much more. Breathe Breathing in certain patterns may be a very powerful relaxation technique. First, it has a positive impact onto your physical state: blood pressure stabilize your brain gets that desired portion of oxygen the muscles relax All in all, you feel far more calm and confident. Second, you simply focus your attention on an activity, not on your being anxious and stressed out. Profit! No Caffeine Lots of people simply cant function without their favorite brew. In fact, its kind of a ritual, that has to be comforting and energizing. That is certainly true. Another fact here is that caffeine is a strong stimulant: it accelerates your heart rates dehydrates the vocal chord and can even make you sweat more intensively Add the general nervousness and get a cocktail of being overly jumpy, sweaty and squeaky. Try saving your cuppa as a reward for success. In case that just doesnt work for you – stick to your regular amount, and dont add any extra portions of caffeine before the actual event. Stretch Out Do a couple of yoga poses. Choose the level of difficulty that suits you best and focus on maintaining that balance, breathing and keeping muscles nice and tight. If youre a fan of yoga already – you know how awesome it is. In case youre not quite into that – give it a shot! You dont have to make yoga your daily routine, but it may work just fine for stressful situations, just like your public performance. Now, take a breath. Your presentation, speech, play or concert will go great. Especially, with our tips. Shine bright! Youll nail it.