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From today's featured article
Castle of Guines in 2012
The
siege of Guines
took place from May to July 1352 when a French army under
Geoffrey de Charny
unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the French castle
(pictured)
at
Guines
which had been seized by the English the previous January. The siege was part of the
Hundred Years' War
and took place during the uneasy and ill-kept
truce of Calais
. The strongly fortified castle had been taken by the English during a period of nominal truce and the English king,
Edward III
, decided to keep it. Charny led 4,500 men and retook the town but was unable to either recapture or
blockade
the castle. After two months of fierce fighting, a large English night attack on the French camp inflicted a heavy defeat and the French withdrew. Guines was incorporated into the
Pale of Calais
. The threat posed by this enclave caused the French to garrison 60 fortified positions around it, at ruinous expense. The castle was besieged by the French in 1436 and 1514, but was relieved each time, before falling to the French in 1558. (
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From today's featured list
Today's featured picture
|
The
common moorhen
(
Gallinula chloropus
) is a bird species in the
rail
family, Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the
Old World
, from Africa to Europe and Asia. It lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. A midsized to large rail, the common moorhen ranges in length from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and spans 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. It gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. This common moorhen was photographed in the Parc des Chanteraines near
Gennevilliers
in the suburbs of Paris, France.
Photograph credit:
Alexis Lours
|
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