The clansmen of the Fitzgeralds of Desmond and Kildare, one of the great families of Norman nobles who settled in Ireland at the time of the conquest under Henry II. They were exceedingly turbulent, and during Tudor times were constantly intriguing with Spain, and rebelling against English rule. Their last and most serious rising was in 1569, when they held out against the royal troops until 1580, when the clan was practically broken up, and ceased to be a power in Irish politics.
German Concordat.
See Aschaffenburg.
Germanada.
An association of the people of Valencia directed against the privileges of the nobles, formed in 1519, with the connivance of the Emperor Charles V.
Germanic League.
A league composed of the smaller German States, with portions of the dominions of Prussia and Austria, and the Free Cities, constituted at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Its constitution underwent considerable changes in the course of the risings which took place in various states in 1848, while in 1866 Prussia annexed all the states north of the Main.
Germany, Unification of.
This was accomplished at Versailles in 1871, when Hesse, Baden, Würtemberg, and Bavaria applied to be allowed to enter the North German Confederation. At the same time the King of Bavaria invited William to assume the Imperial Crown, and on his acceptance the German Empire, as it at present exists, was constituted.