American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

William I (April 24, 1533-July 10, 1584) known as William the Silent, was the founder of Dutch independence. He became Prince of Orange (1544) and ruler of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht (1599). He had served Charles V, King of Spain, as Commander of the troops in France. When Charles died, Philip II became king. Philip not only hated William, but proceeded to stamp out the Protestants in Holland. William I could not permit this persecution and turned on the king, eventually gaining freedom from Spain and forming the Dutch Republic, becoming the first stadtholder of the independent Northern Province in 1579....

Maine History (1527) from The Original 13-A Documentary History of Religion in America's First Thirteen States (Amerisearch, Inc., 2009): <John Rut was the first Englishman to set foot upon American soil in Maine, the territory being called Norumbega. Accounts of exploration of the coast of Maine begin with St. Brendan's enchanted voyages between 512-530. In 990, Biarne sailed from Iceland for Greenland, but driven by storms discovered an unknown land covered with forests. Leif and Thorward Ericson, sons of Eric the Red, made voyages to the coast of "Vineland," followed by other Norsemen in 1000 AD to Vinland. In 1497, John...

John Knox (c.1514-November 24, 1572) was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. To appreciate the significance of John Knox, the historical setting of Europe must be explained. The King of France, Francis I, caused a scandal in Europe by making an alliance with Muslim Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent against Italy, Spain and England. Francis I ordered the punishment of religious dissidents known as Waldensians. Over the next century, religious wars between Catholics and Protestants resulted in tragic atrocities. Lorenzo de' Medici, to whom Niccolò Machiavelli dedicated his notorious book, The Prince, 1515, had his daughter, Catherine de' Medici, marry the...

Ambroise Pare' (1510-December 20, 1590) was a pioneer French surgeon, who greatly raised the standard of surgery. Rising to fame as a field surgeon in the French army, he discarded the common practice of cauterization, (using hot irons and boiling oils in the sealing of wounds), in favor of cleansing wounds with ointments and performing ligatures, surgically tying off major arteries. Ambroise Pare' was so successful that he was appointed to the court and served four different kings. The favorite saying of Ambroise Pare' was: <I treated him, God cured him.> 1510AP001 -- American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All...

John Calvin (July 10, 1509-May 27, 1564) was a renown religious reformer in Geneva, Switzlerland. Calvin's followers were called Calvinists, With kings and queens killing subjects who believed differently than they did, Calvin wrestled with Romans 13: "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." For most of world history the "governing authorities" were monarchs. Monarchs had subjects who were required to submit to government mandates. A problem arose, though. What if the "governing authority" had mandate to kill you and your family if you believed differently? Reformers who "protested"...