History.

The only historical mention of the actual Roland is in the "Vita Karoli Magni" by Charlemagne's courtier and biographer Einhard. Einhard refers to him as "Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus" ("Roland, prefect of the borders of Brittany"), indicating that he presided over the Breton March, Francia's border territory against the Bretons. The passage, which appears in Chapter 9, mentions that "Hroudlandus" (a Latinization of the Frankish "*Hrōþiland", from "*hrōþi", "praise"/"fame" and *"land", "country") was among those killed in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland was evidently the first official appointed to direct Frankish policy in Breton affairs, as local Franks under the Merovingian dynasty had not previously pursued any specific relationship with the Bretons. Their frontier castle districts such as Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, south of Mont Saint-Michel, are now divided between Normandy and Brittany. The distinctive culture of this region preserves the present-day Gallo language and legends of local heroes such as Roland. Roland's successor in "Brittania Nova" was Guy of Nantes, who like Roland, was unable to exert Frankish expansion over Brittany and merely sustained a Breton presence in the Carolingian Empire.  According to legend, Roland was laid to rest in the basilica at Blaye, near Bordeaux, on the site of the citadel.

Legacy.

Roland was a popular and iconic figure in medieval Europe and its minstrel culture. Many tales made him a nephew of Charlemagne and turned his life into an epic tale of the noble Christian killed by hostile forces, which forms part of the medieval Matter of France.  The tale of Roland's death is retold in the 11th-century poem "The Song of Roland", where he is equipped with the olifant (a signaling horn) and an unbreakable sword, enchanted by various Christian relics, named Durendal. The "Song" contains a highly romanticized account of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and Roland's death, setting the tone for later fantastical depiction of Charlemagne's court.  It was adapted and modified throughout the Middle Ages, including an influential Latin prose version "Historia Caroli Magni" (latterly known as the "Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle"), which also includes Roland's battle with a Saracen giant named Ferracutus who is only vulnerable at his navel. The story was later adapted in the anonymous Franco-Venetian epic "L'Entrée d'Espagne" ( 1320) and in the 14th-century Italian epic "La Spagna", attributed to the Florentine Sostegno di Zanobi and likely composed between 1350 and 1360.  Other texts give further legendary accounts of Roland's life. His friendship with Olivier and his engagement with Olivier's sister Aude are told in "Girart de Vienne" by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube. Roland's youth and the acquisition of his horse Veillantif and sword are described in "Aspremont". Roland also appears in "Quatre Fils Aymon", where he is contrasted with Renaud de Montauban against whom he occasionally fights.  In Norway, the tales of Roland are part of the 13th-century "Karlamagnús saga".  In the "Divine Comedy" Dante sees Roland, named Orlando as it is usual in Italian literature, in the Heaven of Mars together with others who fought for the faith.  Roland appears in "Entrée d'Espagne", a 14th-century Franco-Venetian chanson de geste (in which he is transformed into a knight errant, similar to heroes from the Arthurian romances) and "La Spagna", a 14th-century Italian epic.  From the 15th century onwards, he appears as a central character in a sequence of Italian verse romances as "Orlando", including "Morgante" by Luigi Pulci, "Orlando Innamorato" by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and "Orlando furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto. (See below for his later history in Italian verse.) The "Orlandino" of Pietro Aretino then waxed satirical about the "cult of personality" of Orlando the hero. The Orlando narrative inspired several composers, amongst whom were Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel, who composed an Italian-language opera with "Orlando".  In Germany, Roland gradually became a symbol of the independence of the growing cities from the local nobility. In the late Middle Ages many cities featured defiant statues of Roland in their marketplaces. The Roland in Wedel was erected in 1450 as symbol of market and Hanseatic justice, and the Roland statue in front of Bremen City Hall (1404) has been listed together with the city hall itself on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 2004.  In Aragón there are several placenames related to Roldán or Rolando, including the mountain pass Roland's Breach and the rock formation Salto de Roldán.  In Catalonia Roland (or "Rotllà", as it is rendered in Catalan) became a legendary giant. Numerous places in Catalonia (both North and South) have a name related to "Rotllà". In step with the trace left by the character in the whole Pyrenean area, Basque "Errolan" turns up in numerous legends and place-names associated with a mighty giant, usually a heathen, capable of launching huge stones. The Basque word "erraldoi" (giant) stems from "Errol(d)an", as pointed out by the linguist Koldo Mitxelena.  In the Faroe Islands, Roland appears in the ballad of "Runtsivalstríðið" (Battle of Roncevaux).  A statue of Roland also stands in the city of Rolândia in Brazil. This city was established by German immigrants, many of whom were refugees from Nazi Germany, who named their new home after Roland to represent freedom.

Figure of speech.

The English expression "to give a Roland for an Oliver", meaning either to offer a or "to give as good as one gets", recalls the "Chanson de Roland" and Roland's companion Oliver.

Roland (; ; or "Rotholandus"; or "Rolando"; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's "Vita Karoli Magni", which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed by rebellious Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.


Biography.

Early life.

Paul Landers was born in East Berlin, Germany, as son of the Slavists Anton and Erika Hiersche. His mother comes from Ełk in Mazuria, Poland, and his father from Böhmisch Kahn, today Velké Chvojno, Czech Republic. Both parents had to leave their home countries after the Second World War and met during their studies in Halle (Saale). Landers lived in Moscow for a short time as a child. He can speak Russian a little; however, he can not read or write it.

Music career.

In 1983, at the age of 18, Landers became part of the East German punk band Feeling B, which was founded by singer Aljoscha Rompe and drummer Alexander Kriening. Some weeks later they recruited 16 year-old Christian "Flake" Lorenz to play bass, though Flake played just an organ at this point of time. Lorenz used his organ to create bass sounds for the new band. The band had various temporary drummers, including Christoph "Doom" Schneider later in their career. Landers also played in a number of other bands including Die Firma and Die Magdalene Keibel Combo.  In the late 1980s, Landers met Till Lindemann during some showings of the GDR documentary "flüstern und SCHREIEN", which showed first of all some varieties of young music culture in the GDR. He also met Richard Kruspe, a friend of Lindemann, during this period. Some time after this, Landers played guitar in Lindemanns and Kruspe's band First Arsch. In 1992, that band released their only album, "Saddle up". Lindemann, Kruspe, Schneider, and bassist Oliver Riedel formed a new band called Templeprayers in 1993. They won the Berlin Senate Metro Beat Contest in 1994 that enabled them to have a four-track demo professionally recorded. Landers and Flake soon joined this band, which became known as Rammstein.

Personal life.

When he married Nikki Landers in 1984 (at the age of 20), he took his wife's surname and switched his middle and first name, thus making his name "Paul Landers". Paul also has a son born in 1990, Emil Reinke, and a younger daughter.

Equipment.

Guitars Amps  Also uses signature Paul Landers PL1 Tech 21 FLyrig multi effect pedal.

Paul Landers (born "Heiko Paul Hiersche;" 9 December 1964) is a German musician, notable as the guitarist for German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, and the punk rock band Feeling B.


Life.

František Palacký was born in the northeastern Moravian village of Hodslavice, now part of the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. His ancestors had been members of the community of the Bohemian Brethren, and had clandestinely maintained their Protestant belief throughout the period of religious persecution, eventually giving their adherence to the Augsburg confession as approximate to their original faith. Palacký's father was a schoolmaster and a man of some learning. The son was sent in 1812 to the Evangelic Lutheran Lyceum at then-Hungarian city of Bratislava, where he came in contact with the philologist Pavel J. Šafařík and became a zealous student of Slavic languages (he mastered 11 languages and became familiar with a few others). After some years spent in private teaching, Palacký settled in 1823 at Prague. Here he found a warm friend in Josef Dobrovský, whose good relations with the Austrian authorities shielded him from the hostility shown by the government to students of Slav subjects. Dobrovský introduced him to Count Sternberg and his brother Francis, both of whom took an enthusiastic interest in Bohemian history. Count Francis was the principal founder of the Society of the Bohemian Museum, devoted to the collection of documents bearing on Bohemian history, with the object of reawakening national sentiment by the study of the national records.

Joining of Czech national movement.

Public interest in the movement was stimulated in 1825 by the new "Časopis Českého musea" ("Journal of the Bohemian Museum"), of which Palacký was the first editor. The journal was at first published in Czech and German, and the Czech edition survived to become the most important literary organ of Bohemia. Palacký had received a modest appointment as archivist to Count Sternberg and in 1829 the Bohemian estates sought to confer on him the title of historiographer of Bohemia, with a small salary, but it was ten years before the consent of the Viennese authorities was obtained. Meanwhile, the estates, with the tardy assent of Vienna, had undertaken to pay the expenses of publishing Palacký's capital work, "Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě" ("The History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia"). This book, which comes down to the year 1526 and the extinction of Czech independence (Palacký admitted that in writing about the national history since 1526, he "would have to lie"), was founded on laborious research in the local archives of Bohemia and in the libraries of the chief cities of Europe, and remains the standard authority. The first volume was printed in German in 1836, and subsequently translated into Czech. The publication of the work was hindered by the police-censorship, which was especially active in criticizing his account of the Hussite movement.  Palacký, though entirely national and Protestant in his sympathies, was careful to avoid an uncritical approbation of the Reformers' methods, but his statements were held by the authorities to be dangerous to the Catholic faith. He was compelled to cut out parts of his narrative and to accept as integral parts of his work passages interpolated by the censors. After the abolition of the police-censorship in 1848 he published a new edition, completed in 1876, restoring the original form of the work. The fairest and most considerable of Palacký's antagonists in the controversy aroused by his narrative of the early reformation in Bohemia was Baron Helfert, who received a brief from Vienna to write his "Huss und Hieronymus" (1853) to counteract the impression made by Palacký's "History". Konstantin von Höfler, a German professor of history at Prague, edited the historical authorities for the period in a similar sense in his "Geschichte der hussitischen Bewegung" in Bohmen. Palacký replied in his "Geschichte des Hussitenthumes und Professor Löffler" (Prague, 1868) and "Zur böhmischen Geschichtschreibung" (Prague, 1871).

Political activism.

The Revolution of 1848 forced the historian into practical politics. In his famous "Psaní do Frankfurtu" ("A Letter to Frankfurt") he refused to take part in the preliminary parliament consisting of 500 former deputies to the all-German Diet, which met at Frankfurt, on the grounds that as a Czech he had no interest in German affairs. In early June oversaw the Slavic Congress at Prague as its president. Later that year he was deputed to the Reichstag which sat at town of Kroměříž (Kremsier) between October 1848 and March 1849. He was at this time in favour of a strong Austrian empire, which should consist of a federation of the southern German and the Slavonic states, allowing the retention of their individual rights. This movement was called Austroslavism. Its views met with some degree of consideration at Vienna, and Palacký was even offered a portfolio in the Pillersdorf cabinet. The collapse of the federal idea and the definite triumph of the party of reaction in 1852 led to his retirement from politics.  After the liberal concessions of 1860 and 1861, however, he became a life member of the Austrian senate. His views met with small support from the assembly, and with the exception of a short period after the decree of September 1871, by which the emperor raised hopes for Bohemian self-government, he ceased to appear in the senate from 1861 onwards. In the Bohemian Diet ("zemský sněm") he became the acknowledged leader of the nationalist-federal party ("staročeši"). He sought the establishment of a Czech kingdom that should include Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, and in his zeal for Czech autonomy he even entered into an alliance with the Conservative nobility and with the extreme Catholics. He attended the Panslavist congress in Moscow in 1867. He died in Prague on 26 May 1876.

Legacy.

Palacký is considered as one of the three Fathers of the nation – the first being the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, the second is František Palacký and the third is President of Czechoslovakia Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Various individuals like to emphasize one over the other. As to historians, none have surpassed his history of Bohemia except when they have focused on a narrower time period. Even these have been directly or indirectly influenced by his work.

František Palacký (; 14 June 1798 – 26 May 1876) was a Czech historian and politician, the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation".


Early life.

Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on September 26, 1874. After his father was killed in an accident, Hine began working and saved his money for a college education. He studied sociology at the University of Chicago, Columbia University and New York University. He became a teacher in New York City at the Ethical Culture School, where he encouraged his students to use photography as an educational medium. Hine led his sociology classes to Ellis Island in New York Harbor, photographing the thousands of immigrants who arrived each day. Between 1904 and 1909, Hine took over 200 plates (photographs) and came to the realization that documentary photography could be employed as a tool for social change and reform.

Documentary photography.

In 1907, Hine became the staff photographer of the Russell Sage Foundation; he photographed life in the steel-making districts and people of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the influential sociological study called The Pittsburgh Survey.  In 1908 Hine became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), leaving his teaching position. Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor, with focus on the use of child labor in the Carolina Piedmont, to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice. In 1913, he documented child laborers among cotton mill workers with a series of Francis Galton's composite portraits.  Hine's work for the NCLC was often dangerous. As a photographer, he was frequently threatened with violence or even death by factory police and foremen. At the time, the immorality of child labor was meant to be hidden from the public. Photography was not only prohibited but also posed a serious threat to the industry. To gain entry to the mills, mines and factories, Hine was forced to assume many guises. At times he was a fire inspector, postcard vendor, bible salesman, or even an industrial photographer making a record of factory machinery. During and after World War I, he photographed American Red Cross relief work in Europe. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Hine made a series of "work portraits," which emphasized the human contribution to modern industry. In 1930, Hine was commissioned to document the construction of the Empire State Building. He photographed the workers in precarious positions while they secured the steel framework of the structure, taking many of the same risks that the workers endured. To obtain the best vantage points, Hine was swung out in a specially-designed basket 1,000 ft above Fifth Avenue. At times, he remembered, he hung above the city with nothing below but "a sheer drop of nearly a quarter-mile." During the Great Depression Hine again worked for the Red Cross, photographing drought relief in the American South, and for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), documenting life in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He also served as chief photographer for the Works Progress Administration's National Research Project, which studied changes in industry and their effect on employment. Hine was also a faculty member of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.

Later life.

In 1936, Hine was selected as the photographer for the National Research Project of the Works Projects Administration, but his work there was not completed.  The last years of his life were filled with professional struggles by loss of government and corporate patronage. Hine hoped to join the Farm Security Administration photography project, but despite writing repeatedly to Roy Stryker, Stryker always refused. Few people were interested in his work, past or present, and Hine lost his house and applied for welfare. He died on November 3, 1940 at Dobbs Ferry Hospital in Dobbs Ferry, New York, after an operation. He was 66 years old.

Legacy.

Hine's photographs supported the NCLC's lobbying to end child labor and in 1912 the Children's Bureau was created. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 eventually brought child labour in the US to an end.  After Hine's death, his son Corydon donated his prints and negatives to the Photo League, which was dismantled in 1951. The Museum of Modern Art was offered his pictures and did not accept them, but the George Eastman House did.  In 2006, author Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop's historical fiction middle-grade novel, "Counting on Grace" was published by Wendy Lamb Books. The latter chapters center on 12-year-old Grace and her life-changing encounter with Hine, during his 1910 visit to a Vermont cotton mill known to have many child laborers. On the cover is the iconic photo of Grace's real-life counterpart, Addie Card (1897–1993), taken during Hine's undercover visit to the Pownal Cotton Mill.  In 2016, "Time" published colorized versions of several of Hine's photographs of child labor in the US.

Collections.

Hine's work is held in the following public collections:

Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the United States.


History.

The firm entered the automobile business with the Ligier JS2, a mid-engined sports car for the road initially powered by a Ford V6 and from 1971 by the same Maserati V6 engine as the Citroën SM. The JS2 was considered by many as a well-designed car with a very good power-to-weight ratio. The Ligier motorcars were all designated with the prefix "JS" in honour of Ligier's great friend and cohort Jo Schlesser who was killed in the 1968 French Grand Prix while driving for Honda. The final SMs were also produced in the Ligier factory in Vichy. The 1973 energy crisis caused such a decline in the market for the JS2 that production ceased soon after, and the firm changed its focus to microcars, for example, 1984 moped-powered Ligier JS6.  One of the world's first experimental prototypes of automatic parallel parking was developed on a Ligier electric car at INRIA in the mid-1990s.  In September 2008, Ligier Automobiles completed its acquisition of Beneteau Group's Microcar division, with financing provided by 21 Investimenti Partners. Phillipe Ligier, son of the company's founder, remains as CEO. The Ligier and Microcar brands are to retain their separate identities and manufacturing facilities. The merger creates Europe's second largest microcar manufacturer (after Daimler's Smart unit, if one considers that a microcar), and largest manufacturer of drivers license-exempt vehicles. In August 2018, Ligier teased a new road-going sports car to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The car will be built in collaboration with Onroak. It will feature a 3.7 liter V6 producing approximately 330 hp, and a 6-speed manual transmission. It will be homologated to FIA E II-SH regulation. More details are to be released in September 2018, and it is expected to go on sale in November 2018 at a price of €89,000.

Models.

The Ligier model line currently consists of the JS50 line of mini cars, the X-Pro line of small commercial vehicles, and the Be Up/Be Two line of open-air, roadster-type vehicles. The company also produces a line of quad bikes and off-road utility vehicles sold as the Be Pro, Be Four, and Be Truck.  The JS50, Ixo, Xtoo, Nova or Ambra are about two and a half meters long and have two seats. They are front-engined. Power units include two 2-cylinder four-stroke diesels of about half a liter displacement and feature a CVT for power transfer.

EZ10.

The Ligier vehicle that's gained the most attention, is EZ10 "EasyMile", a self-driving shuttle bus for light city transit. EasyMile SAS develops and markets the autonomous vehicles, and is a joint venture formed in June 2014 by Ligier and Robosoft Technology PTE Ltd (France). The joint venture is the result of the CityMobil2 project co-funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7).  One EZ10 minibus can house between 8–10 passengers, and its speed is up to 40 km/h. In 2017, EZ-10 was introduced on the grounds of National Taiwan University in Taipei, and in Tallinn, Estonia.  In conjunction with Estonia's presidency of the EU Council, the minibus was presented in Tallinn on 14 July 2017 by EasyMile, and the tech companies in Estonia that co-financed the month-and-a-half-long project to bring the shuttle bus to the country. The buses will serve one line, including a stretch of tram line under reconstruction, and will run in Tallinn until the end of August.

Ligier in motorsport.

Ligier is best known for its Formula One team that operated from to. Ligier entered Formula One in with a Matra V12-powered car, winning its first Grand Prix with Jacques Laffite in.  Ligier also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from to.

Ligier is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier, specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Championship between 1976 and 1996.


Churches.

Anscar Vonier, writing in the "Catholic Encyclopedia" says that "from the very start the abbey boasted of two churches, one in honour of St. Peter and the other in honour of the Blessed Virgin." The church of St Peter was demolished in the eighteenth century; the existing church dedicated to the Virgin pre-existed the founding of the monastery. After the ravages of the Normans, who penetrated via the Loire and burned the monastery buildings, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 1026, this became the great late eleventh-century Romanesque basilica, which occasioned the erection of a great tower, that was intended as the west front of the abbey church, which was completed in 1218. It was here that the "Fleury Playbook" was compiled, perhaps in dedication to the new church. The tower of Abbot Gauzlin, resting on fifty columns, forms a unique porch. The Carolingian style church is about three hundred feet long, its transept one hundred and forty feet. The choir of the church contains the tomb of a French monarch, Philip I of France, buried there in 1108. Of the mediaeval abbey's buildings, only this basilica survives in the modern monastery.

Medieval history.

The seventeenth-century Benedictine scholar Jean Mabillon accepted the traditional founding of Fleury as by Leodebaldus, abbot of St-Aignan (Orléans) about 640, in the existing Gallo-Roman villa of "Floriacum", in the "Vallis Aurea", the "Golden Valley". This was the spot selected by the Abbot of St-Aignan for his Benedictine foundation. Rigomarus was its first abbot.  The most famous of the Merovingian abbots was St. Mommolus, who effected the translation of the relics there of Benedict of Nursia. The monastery underwent a season of reform in its monastic life, about 930, along the lines first laid out at Cluny. The monastery enjoyed the patronage of the Carolingian dynasty for generations; it was also central to the political ambitions of the "Robertian" house descended from Robert I of France, several of whom had held the title Duke of the Franks. The monk of Fleury named Helgaud (died ca 1068), was chaplain to King Robert II and wrote a brief "Epitoma vitae Roberti regis". Fleury had particular significance in lending legitimacy to its patrons. Although royal and ducal patronage had material advantages, there was also a price to be paid in terms of monastic autonomy when the ducal candidate conflicted with the choice of the monastic community.  Theodulphus, bishop of Orléans established at Fleury a school for young noblemen recommended there by Charlemagne. By the mid-ninth century its library was one of the most comprehensive ever assembled in the West, and scholars such as Lupus of Ferrières (d. 862) traveled there to consult its texts. Later under St. Abbo of Fleury (abbot 988-1004), head of the reformed abbey school, Fleury enjoyed a second golden age; it kept up close relations with abbeys in England. Later, among the non-resident abbots "in commendam" were Cardinals Odet de Coligny and Antoine Sanguin in the reign of François I and Cardinal Richelieu.

Modern history.

Like all Benedictine monasteries in France, the community was scattered by the French revolution. Nevertheless, a Benedictine presence remained continually: the parish was held by a monk disguised as a secular priest, and there were numerous attempts to restore the monastery throughout the 19th century. Finally, in 1944, the community (which had been resident at Pierre-qui-Vire) was restored to the abbey, which was rebuilt as a member of the Subiaco Congregation. The monastery is remembered each day at Evensong in Winchester Cathedral with an additional short said prayer at the conclusion of The Responses - The Fleury Prayer.

Benedict of Nursia's relics.

Fleury is reputed to contain the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, a claim disputed by the monks of Monte Cassino. Mommolus, the second Abbot of Fleury, is said to have effected their transfer when that abbey fell into decay after the ravages of the Lombards in the seventh century. Benedict's relics, and the "Miracula S. Benedicti" developed over three centuries by five monks of Fleury, including Andreas of Fleury (c.1043), attracted pilgrims, bringing wealth and fame. The monks of Monte Cassino impugned the claims of Fleury, but without ever showing any relics to make good their contention that they possess the body of the founder.

Fleury Abbey (Floriacum) in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, France, founded about 640, is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, which possesses the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia. Its site on the banks of the Loire has always made it easily accessible from Orléans, a center of culture unbroken since Roman times. Today the abbey has over forty monks and is headed by the abbot Etienne Ricaud.


Plot summary.

The Vicomte de Valmont is determined to seduce the virtuous, married, and therefore inaccessible Madame de Tourvel, who is staying with Valmont's aunt while her husband is away on a court case. At the same time, the Marquise de Merteuil is determined to corrupt the young Cécile de Volanges, whose mother has only recently brought her out of a convent to be married—to Merteuil's previous lover, who has rudely discarded her. Cécile falls in love with the Chevalier Danceny (her young music tutor), and Merteuil and Valmont pretend to help the secret lovers in order to gain their trust and manipulate them later to benefit their own schemes.  Merteuil suggests that the Vicomte should seduce Cécile in order to enact her revenge on Cécile's future husband. Valmont refuses, finding the challenge too easy and preferring to devote himself to seducing Madame de Tourvel. Merteuil promises Valmont that if he seduces Madame de Tourvel and provides her with written proof of seduction, she will spend the night with him. He expects rapid success, but does not find it as easy as his many other conquests. During the course of his pursuit, Valmont discovers that Cécile's mother has written to Madame de Tourvel about his bad reputation. He avenges himself by seducing Cécile as Merteuil had suggested. Meanwhile, Merteuil takes Danceny as her lover.  By the time Valmont has succeeded in seducing Madame de Tourvel, he seems to have fallen in love with her. Jealous, Merteuil tricks him into deserting Madame de Tourvel—and reneges on her promise of spending the night with him. In retaliation, Valmont reveals that he prompted Danceny to reunite with Cécile, leaving Merteuil abandoned yet again. Merteuil declares war on Valmont and reveals to Danceny that Valmont has seduced Cécile.  Danceny and Valmont duel, and Valmont is fatally wounded. Before he dies, he gives Danceny the letters proving Merteuil's own involvement. These letters are sufficient to ruin her reputation so she flees to the countryside, where she contracts smallpox. Her face is left permanently scarred and she is rendered blind in one eye, so she loses her greatest asset: her beauty. But the innocent also suffer from the protagonist's schemes: desperate with guilt and grief, Madame de Tourvel succumbs to a fever and dies, while Cécile returns to the convent, dishonoured.

Literary significance and criticism.

"Les Liaisons dangereuses" is celebrated for its exploration of seduction, revenge, and human malice, presented in the form of fictional letters collected and published by a fictional author.  The book was viewed as scandalous at the time of its initial publication, though the real intentions of the author remain unknown. It has been suggested that Laclos's intention was the same as that of his fictional author in the novel; to write a morality tale about the French nobility of the Ancien Régime. However, this theory has been questioned on several grounds. In the first place, Laclos enjoyed the patronage of France's most senior aristocrat—Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Secondly, all the characters in the story are aristocrats, including the virtuous ones like Madame de Tourvel and Madame de Rosemonde. Finally, many royalist and conservative figures enjoyed the book, including Queen Marie Antoinette, which suggests that—despite its scandalous reputation—it was not viewed as a political work until the French Revolution made it appear as such, with the benefit of hindsight.  Wayland Young notes that most critics have viewed the work as... a sort of celebration, or at least a neutral statement, of libertinism... pernicious and damnable... Almost everyone who has written about it has noted how perfunctory are the wages of sin..."  He argues, however, that... the mere analysis of libertinism... carried out by a novelist with such a prodigious command of his medium... was enough to condemn it and play a large part in its destruction.  In a well-known essay on "Les Liaisons dangereuses", which has often been used as a preface to French editions of the novel, André Malraux argues that, despite its debt to the libertine tradition, "Les Liaisons dangereuses" is more significant as the introduction of a new kind of character in French fiction. Malraux writes that the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are creations "without precedent"; they are "the first [in European literature] whose acts are determined by an ideology".  In a manner, "Les Liaisons dangereuses" is a literary counterthesis to the epistolary novel as exemplified by Richardson's "Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded". Whereas Richardson uses the technique of letters to provide the reader with a feeling of knowing the protagonist's true and intimate thoughts, Laclos' use of this literary device is exactly opposite: by presenting the reader with grossly conflicting views from the same writer when addressing different recipients, it is left to the reader to reconcile story, intentions and characters behind the letters. The use of duplicitous characters with one virtuous face can be viewed as a complex criticism of the immensely popular naïve moral epistolary novel.

Adaptations.

The novel has been adapted into various media, under many different names.

Les Liaisons dangereuses (; English: Dangerous Liaisons) is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782.


History.

Eastern Rumelia was created as an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The region roughly corresponded to today's southern Bulgaria, which was also the name the Russians proposed for it; this proposal was rejected by the British. It encompassed the territory between the Balkan Mountains, the Rhodope Mountains and Strandzha, a region known to all its inhabitantsBulgarians, Ottoman Turks, Greeks, Roma, Armenians and Jewsas Northern Thrace. The artificial name, Eastern Rumelia, was given to the province on the insistence of the British delegates to the Congress of Berlin: the Ottoman notion of "Rumelia" refers to all European regions of the empire, i.e. those that were in Antiquity under the Roman Empire. Some twenty Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) villages in the Rhodope Mountains refused to recognize Eastern Rumelian authority and formed the so-called "Republic of Tamrash".  The province is remembered today by philatelists for having issued postage stamps from 1880 on. See the main article, Postage stamps and postal history of Eastern Rumelia.

Unification with Bulgaria.

After a bloodless revolution on 6 September 1885, the province was annexed by the Principality of Bulgaria, which was "de jure" an Ottoman tributary state but "de facto" functioned as independent. After the Bulgarian victory in the subsequent Serbo-Bulgarian War, the "status quo" was recognized by the Porte with the Tophane Agreement on 24 March 1886. With the Tophane Act, Sultan Abdul Hamid II appointed the Prince of Bulgaria (without mentioning the name of the incumbent prince Alexander of Bulgaria) as Governor-General of Eastern Rumelia, thus retaining the formal distinction between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia and preserving the letter of the Berlin Treaty. However, it was clear to the Great Powers that the union between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia was permanent, and not to be dissolved. The Republic of Tamrash and the region of Kardzhali were reincorporated in the Ottoman Empire. The province was nominally under Ottoman suzerainty until Bulgaria became "de jure" independent in 1908. 6 September, Unification Day, is a national holiday in Bulgaria.

Government.

According to the Treaty of Berlin, Eastern Rumelia was to remain under the political and military jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire with significant administrative autonomy (Article 13). The law frame of Eastern Rumelia was defined with the Organic Statute which was adopted on 14 April 1879 and was in force until the Unification with Bulgaria in 1885. According to the Organic Statute the head of the province was a Christian Governor-General appointed by the Sublime Porte with the approval of the Great Powers. The legislative organ was a Provincial Counsel which consisted of 56 persons, of which 10 were appointed by the Governor-General, 10 were permanent and 36 were directly elected by the people.  The first Governor-General was "Knyaz" (Prince) Alexander Bogoridi (1879–1884), a Bulgarian aristocrat, who was acceptable to both Bulgarians and Greeks in the province. The second Governor-General was Gavril Krastevich (1884–1885), a famous Bulgarian historian. Before the first Governor-General, Arkady Stolypin was the Russian Civil Administrator from 9 October 1878 to 18 May 1879.  During the period of Bulgarian annexation Georgi Stranski was appointed as a "Commissioner for South Bulgaria" (9 September 1885 – 5 April 1886), and when the province was restored to nominal Ottoman sovereignty, but still under Bulgarian control, the "Knyaz" (or Prince) of Bulgaria was recognised by the Sublime Porte as the Governor-General in the Tophane Agreement of 1886.

Administrative divisions.

Eastern Rumelia consisted of the departments (called in Bulgarian окръзи "okrazi", in Ottoman terminology "sanjaks") of Plovdiv (Пловдив, Filibe), Tatarpazardzhik (Татарпазарджик, Tatarpazarcığı), Haskovo (Хасково, Hasköy), Stara Zagora (Стара Загора, Eski Zağra), Sliven (Сливен, İslimye) and Burgas (Бургас, Burgaz), in turn divided into 28 cantons (equivalent to Bulgarian околии "okolii", Ottoman "kazas").  The cantons were:

Population and ethnic demographics.

The earliest information on the ethnic demographics of Eastern Rumelia, before the first census was conducted, comes from ethnographic maps of the Balkans by Western cartographers. There is however little information on the actual population numbers of the different ethnic groups before 1878. According to a British report before the 1877–1878 war, the non-Muslim population (consisting mostly of Bulgarians) of Eastern Rumelia was about 60%, a proportion that grew due to the flight and emigration of Muslims during and after the war. The 1878 census show a population of 815,946 people- 573,231 Bulgarians (70.29%), 174,759 Muslims (21.43%), 42,516 Greeks (5.21%), 19,524 Roma, 4,177 Jews, and 1,306 Armenians.  The results of the first Regional Assembly elections of 17 October 1879 show a predominantly Bulgarian character: Of the 36 elected deputies, 31 were Bulgarians (86.1%), 3 were Greeks (8.3%) and two were Turks (5.6%). The ethnic statistics from the censuses of 1880 and 1884 show a Bulgarian majority in the province. In the discredited census of 1880, out of total population of 815,951 people some 590,000 (72.3%) self-identified as Bulgarians, 158,000 (19.4%) as Turks, 19,500 (2.4%) as Roma, and 48,000 (5.9%) belonged to other ethnicities, notably Greeks, Armenians and Jews. The repetition of the census in 1884 returned similar data: 70.0% Bulgarians, 20.6% Turks, 2.8% Roma and 6.7% others.  The Greek inhabitants of Eastern Rumelia were concentrated on the coast, where they were strong in numbers, and certain cities in the interior such as Plovdiv (known in Greek as "Philippopolis"), where they formed a substantial minority. Most of the Greek population of the region was exchanged with Bulgarians from the Greek provinces of Macedonia and Thrace in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars and World War I.  Eastern Rumelia was also inhabited by foreign nationals, most notably Austrians, Czechs, Hungarians, French people and Italians.  The ethnic composition of the population of Eastern Rumelia, according to the provincial census taken in 1884, was the following: The population's ethnic composition in the Bulgarian provinces of Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Sliven, Yambol and Burgas, which have approximately the same territory as Eastern Rumelia according to the 2001 census is the following:

Property rights.

Property abandoned by Muslims fleeing the Imperial Russian Army during the 1877–1878 war was appropriated by the local Christian population. The former owners, mostly large landholders, were threatened with trial by military court if they had committed crimes during the war so that they would not return. Two Turkish landowners who did return were in fact sentenced to death thus preventing others from desiring to come back. Those Turkish landowners who were not able to take possession of their land were financially compensated, with the funds collected by the Bulgarian peasants, some of whom were indebted as a result. For those who did return a 10% property tax was issued, forcing many to sell off their property in order to pay the tax. Michael Palairet claimed that land rights of Muslim owners were largely disregarded, despite being guaranteed by the great powers, and the de-Ottomanization of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia led to economic decline in the region. Though this is contradicted by many other authors, who show rapid growth of the economy as well as rapid industrial development and growth of exports in Bulgaria after 1878.

Notes and references.

Notes.

<br

Eastern Rumelia (, "Iztochna Rumeliya";, "Rumeli-i Şarkî";, "Anatoliki Romylia") was an autonomous territory ("oblast" in Bulgarian, "vilayet" in Turkish) in the Ottoman Empire, created in 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin and "de facto" ended in 1885, when it was united with the Principality of Bulgaria, also under Ottoman suzerainty. It continued to be an Ottoman province "de jure" until 1908, when Bulgaria declared independence.


Biography.

Born in the Almonesson section of Deptford Township, New Jersey, he moved from there with his family to Clayton at the age of nine and worked in a glass factory before moving to Haddonfield and then the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia during his mid-teens. Sheppard, or "Peerless Mel" as he was nicknamed, was rejected by the New York Police because he had a slightly enlarged heart. Cardiopulmonary problems notwithstanding, Sheppard won three consecutive AAU titles in the 880 yards (805 m) from 1906 to 1908 and became a main favorite for the middle distance events at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. By late 1907 Sheppard held the world indoor records for 600 yards, 880 yards, 1000 yards and the mile.

Sheppard and Guy Haskins.

During the indoor season of 1907/08 Sheppard raced Guy Haskins 3 times and losing all 3. In the first he was well beaten, in the second when about to be beaten again he threw Haskins to the floor with a flying mare (which he also did to another runner, Adam O'Shea, in the Millrose Games) and was disqualified, and in the third he walked off the track when about to be beaten again. By May the "New York Times" reported that Haskins, "unquestionably the best half-mile and mile performer in the country", had been refused selection for the United States team to the 1908 Olympics for which he had been trying. He was not selected for the Australasian team either, largely for financial reasons.

1908 Olympic Games.

The 1908 Olympics were the first true championships for the 1500 metres, as the previous Olympics were not well attended by the top milers of the day. However, the heats for the final were capricious in their format: only the winner of each of the eight heats would qualify for the final, and there was no seeding to ensure that top runners were separated in their heats. Accordingly, top runners like 1904 and 1906 Olympic champion James Lightbody, John Halstead, second-fastest in history in the event and three-time AAA champion George Butterfield all failed to advance.  Sheppard won the 1500 metres, setting an Olympic record at 4:05.0 in the first round that fell in the very next heat, when Norman Hallows ran a 4:03.6. Sheppard matched Hallows' time in the final the next day to win the first running gold medal awarded at the 1908 Games.  In the 800 metres, Sheppard won his first round (semifinal) heat with a time of 1:58.0; James Lintott remained close throughout the race and threatened to eliminate Sheppard from the competition. Noted for being a frontrunner, Sheppard ran the first 400 metres of the 800 metres final in 53 seconds and went on to win in the world record time of 1.52.8.  He earned his third gold medal on the medley relay race. He was the final runner on the American team, running fully half of the 1600 metre race. He was passed the baton by fellow Irish American Athletic Club member John Baxter Taylor, Jr., who would become the first African-American to win an Olympic Gold medal. Even without being in as good of form as he had been in the individual races, Sheppard had little trouble retaining the leads giving to him by his teammates, William Hamilton, Nate Cartmell, and John Taylor. The team won both the first round and final, in times of 3:27.2 and 3:29.4. Sheppard's 800 metre split for the final was 1:55.4.

1 Mile Relay World's Record.

At the Amateur Athletic Union metropolitan championships held at Travers Island in 1909, Sheppard was part of the Irish American Athletic Club's four-man relay team that broke the world's record for the one mile relay, with a time of 3 minutes 20 2/5 seconds. The other three men on the record breaking team were; C.S. Cassara, William Robbins and James Rosenberger. His 1910 trading card called him "undoubtedly the greatest mid-distance runner the world has ever seen."

1912 Olympic Games.

After winning Amateur Athletic Union titles at in 1911 and 1912, Sheppard was a favourite to defend his Olympic 800 metres title at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. At Stockholm, he tried the same tactics as in London, but after an opening lap of 52.4, he was overtaken by teammate Ted Meredith who set a new world record of 1.51.9. Sheppard won his fourth gold medal as lead-off runner on the 4 × 400 m relay team that set a world record of 3:16.6.

Post-competition career.

Sheppard was a member of the New Jersey National Guard and the 69th Regiment. During World War I, he served as an athletic director at a number of military training camps. After the war he coached for a number of amateur athletic clubs. Sheppard worked for John Wanamaker and was the recreational director for the Millrose A.A., which was formed by Wanamaker's employees. Sheppard coached the U.S. women's track and field team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

Death.

Sheppard died at his home in Bayside, Queens, New York City. He was buried in New Camden Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey. His obituary cites "acute indigestion" as the cause of death. He was survived by his wife Estelle (née) Symon, his daughter Adelaide Kohler of Wildwood, New Jersey and his son Melvin Sheppard Jr., who was on the track and cross-country team at Princeton University in 1932.

Legacy.

While it is widely claimed that "after retiring from sports Sheppard became a lawyer (he was one of the defenders of the Lindbergh child kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann)" this is apparently an Internet myth. The lead attorney for Bruno Hauptmann was a Mr. Edward J. Reilly. "The Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann," by Sidney B. Whipple, (originally published by Doubleday, Doran & Co., NY, 1937) makes no mention of Sheppard. Whipple lists the defense team present for the first day of trial as "Mr. Reilly, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Pope, Mr. Rosecrans." There is no evidence that Mel Sheppard ever practiced law, or had anything to do with the Lindbergh child kidnapper.

Melvin Whinfield "Peerless Mel" Sheppard (September 5, 1883 – January 4, 1942) was an American athlete, member of the Irish American Athletic Club and winner of four gold medals and one silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics. Along with Henry Taylor of the United Kingdom, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.


Design.

The 3310 was developed at the Copenhagen Nokia site in Denmark and unveiled at the "Don't be bored. Be totally board." lifestyle event in Oberhausen, Germany, as well as "Nokia Unplugged" concerts in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a compact and sturdy phone featuring an 84 × 48 pixel pure monochrome display. It has a lighter battery variant which has fewer features; for example the 133 g battery version has the start-up image of two hands touching while the 115 g version does not. It is a slightly rounded rectangular unit that is typically held in the palm of a hand, with the buttons operated with the thumb. The blue button is the main button for selecting options, with "C" button as a "backspace", "back" or "undo" button. Up and down buttons are used for navigation purposes. The on/off/profile button is a stiff black button located on the top of the phone. Like its predecessor Nokia 3210, the 3310 was marketed as a customisable consumer-oriented handset targeting the youth. It is about a centimetre shorter than the 3210.  The 3310 is known for being reasonably durable due to its casing and construction, a feature which is often humorously exaggerated in online communities. Numerous videos also exist of the phone being put through increasingly-severe damage tests to test the phone's strength, including being dropped from a great height (sometimes while being protected with makeshift cases made from various objects), being crushed by heavy objects or being struck by vehicles or hammers, many times of which the phone proved its record. The 3310's reputation for durability led HMD Global to develop the Nokia 800 Tough with MIL-STD-810G standard compliance in mind.

Features.

The Nokia 3310's main new feature introduced over its predecessors was a Chat function. This is an instant messaging-like feature that works on standard SMS. The 3310 was popular for SMS text messaging because of Chat and also because it allowed long messages three times the size of a standard SMS text message, at 459 characters. It also featured threaded SMS writing and voice dialing for the quick dialing of selected numbers.  The 3310 is known for having many features that were rare for the time. These include many utilities, such as a calculator, Nokia network monitor, stop watch and a reminder function. It has four games: "Pairs II", "Space Impact", "Bantumi", and the hugely popular "Snake II". The "Snake" series of games had been popular on Nokia handsets since the late 1990s. "CNET" remembered "Space Impact", a shoot 'em up in which the player fires projectiles at oncoming aliens, as a mediocre game overall but impressive for fitting a mobile device with its complexity and length. It was later recreated for other mobile devices.  The Nokia 3310 runs on Nokia's proprietary Series 20 software.

Customization.

The Nokia 3310 can be customized with interchangeable "Xpress-On" covers, and thousands of different designs have been produced by various companies. It also has over 35 ringtones built-in with space for seven custom tones. These can either be downloaded, or composed by the user on the handset. The phone has various "profiles" that can set a number of preferences such as silent mode where the phone will not ring, useful for situations where it is inappropriate to do so. Screensavers can be made from received picture messages.

Variants.

3315, 3390 and 3395.

An enhanced version of the 3310 is the Nokia 3315, which has some additional features: The 3315 was also released in Australia. Most versions of the 3310 could be upgraded to include the additional features of the 3315 by using a data cable.  There are two North American variants of the 3310; one is the Nokia 3390, which operates on GSM 1900. The Nokia 3395 is an updated version of the 3390 which includes the additional features of the Asian 3315 model, and it has poor reception if connected to a GSM 850 area.

WAP-enhanced models (3330 and 3350).

The Nokia 3330 added a CSD-based WAP capability, animated screensavers, a pinball game named 'Bumper' and phonebook (stored in the phone memory as opposed to the SIM card in earlier models) with a 100 entry capacity to the model. It also has the capability of downloading Java MIDP apps via WAP (Snake II mazes, Bumper tables, Space Impact chapters).  An Asia-Pacific only version, known as the Nokia 3350, was in essence an improved 3330 with WAP, rhythmic backlight alert, animated screensavers, two-way Navi-Key, dedicated call and hang buttons, Chinese lunar calendar and a 96×65-pixel screen. Some 3350s have back covers that feature a photo-insert window, allowing users to put personal pictures from photographs, magazine cut-outs, etc.

AMPS/D-AMPS-based versions (3320 and 3360).

The Nokia 3360 and 3320 are related models designed for the U.S. and Canadian markets respectively. They are externally similar to the 3310 and 3390, but use Digital AMPS ("TDMA")/AMPS technology rather than GSM.  Like the Asian 3350, they include two dedicated call and hang buttons and two soft keys. They also feature an infrared port. Unlike the 3390, the 3360 and 3320 do not support voice dialing. At 136 gram each, they are also slightly heavier than the 3390, which weighs 119 grams.

Legacy.

In a retrospective piece, TechRepublic called the Nokia 3310 "a big tough cockroach of a phone" and praised its "legendary durability".  In November 2015, the Nokia 3310 was chosen as one of the first three "National Emojis" for Finland. The emoji is referred to as "The Unbreakable", as the phone was known for its toughness and durability.

Revival.

On 14 February 2017, it was reported that a revived version of the 3310 would be unveiled at the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by HMD Global Oy, the Finnish manufacturer with rights to market phones under the Nokia brand, with the price point of 49 euros. On 26 February 2017, the modernised version of the 3310 was relaunched at a price of €49.

The Nokia 3310 is a GSM mobile phone announced on 1 September 2000, and released in the fourth quarter of the year, replacing the popular Nokia 3210. It sold very well, being one of the most successful phones with 126 million units sold worldwide, and being one of Nokia's most iconic devices. The phone is still widely acclaimed and has gained a cult status due to its durability.


History.

The town of Dmanisi is first mentioned in the 9th century as a possession of the Arab emirate of Tbilisi, though the area had been settled since the Early Bronze Age. An Orthodox Christian cathedral – "Dmanisi Sioni" – was built there in the 6th century. Located on the confluence of trading routes and cultural influences, Dmanisi was of particular importance, growing into a major commercial center of medieval Georgia. The town was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the 1080s, but was later liberated by the Georgian kings David the Builder and Demetrios I between 1123 and 1125. The Turco-Mongol armies under Timur laid waste to the town in the 14th century. Sacked again by the Turkomans in 1486, Dmanisi never recovered and declined to a scarcely inhabited village by the 18th century. The castle was controlled by the House of Orbeliani.

Archaeological site.

Extensive archaeological studies began in the area in 1936 and continued in the 1960s. Beyond a rich collection of ancient and medieval artifacts and the ruins of various buildings and structures, unique remains of prehistoric animals and humans have been unearthed. Some of the animal bones were identified by the Georgian paleontologist A. Vekua with the teeth of the extinct rhino "Dicerorhinus etruscus etruscus" in 1983. This species dates back presumably to the early Pleistocene epoch.  The discovery of primitive stone tools in 1984 led to increasing interest to the archaeological site. In 1991, a team of Georgian scholars was joined by the German archaeologists from Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, and later the U.S., French and Spanish researchers.

"Homo erectus georgicus".

Early human (or hominin) fossils, originally named "Homo georgicus" and now considered "Homo erectus georgicus", were found at Dmanisi between 1991 and 2005. At 1.8 million years old, they are now believed to be a subspecies of "Homo erectus" and not a separate species of "Homo". These fossils represent the earliest known human presence in the Caucasus.  Subsequently, four fossil skeletons were found, showing a species primitive in its skull and upper body but with relatively advanced spines and lower limbs. They are now thought to represent a stage soon after the transition from "Australopithecus" to "Homo erectus".  Human habitation in the Caucasus goes back to the remotest antiquity. The hominin remains discovered in 1991 by David Lordkipanidze at Dmanisi, Kvemo Kartli (1.8 million years old) are the oldest found outside Africa. Neanderthal remains have been found at Ortvale K’lde (1973) and elsewhere in the Caucasus (36,000–50,000 years old).  The Dmanisi hominin remains are still making an impact on the paleontological community. the Dmanisi skull 5 is in the middle of a controversy: many hominin fossils formerly thought to be different species may not have been separate species at all. Several early members of the genus Homo were possibly one evolving lineage.

Dmanisi (, ) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. The hominin site is dated to 1.8 million years ago.<ref name="doi10.1073/pnas.1106638108">1.85-1.78 Ma 95% CI. It was the earliest known evidence of hominins outside Africa before stone tools dated to 2.1 million years were discovered in 2018 in Shangchen, China.


Life.

Frederick Augustus succeeded his father in Anhalt-Zerbst in 1747, at the age of thirteen. His mother, the Dowager Princess Johanna Elisabeth, acted as regent on his behalf until 1752.  He was one of the sovereigns who supported Britain in the American Revolutionary War with soldiers. For this, he received a substantial monetary compensation.  In 1776 he granted religious tolerance in his lands.  Due to a quarrel with the Kingdom of Prussia, he was forced to flee into exile in Basel and later Luxembourg, where he died.

Marriages and succession.

In Zerbst on 17 November 1753 Frederick Augustus married firstly Caroline (b. Kassel, 10 May 1732 – d. Zerbst, 22 May 1759), daughter of Prince Maximilian of Hesse-Kassel and granddaughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. The marriage was childless.  In Ballenstedt on 27 May 1764 Frederick Augustus married secondly Fredericka Auguste Sophie (b. Ballenstedt, 28 August 1744 – d. Coswig, 12 April 1827), daughter of Victor Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg. Like the first marriage, this union was childless.  On his death the line of Anhalt-Zerbst became extinct and the succession to the principality was disputed between the other branches of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Köthen and Anhalt-Dessau; finally, in 1796 Anhalt-Zerbst was divided and ceased to exist.  The dominion of Jever (which was annexed to Zerbst by the marriage of Prince Rudolph with Magdalene of Oldenburg, heiress of that land) was ruled under the Semi-Salic Law; for this, was given to the Empress Catherine II of Russia, born Princess Sophie Auguste Fredericka of Anhalt-Zerbst and Frederick Augustus's only surviving sibling.

Frederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (8 August 1734 in Alt Stettin – 3 March 1793 in Luxembourg), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and the last ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst.


Family.

The issue of Pepin's relationships is not entirely clear. A litany of Liber confrater augiensis attributes to him as his wife a certain Chrotais (or Ruadheid), married shortly before 796,. However, the Vita Hludowici written by Thégan around 840 says that King Bernard of Italy was born of a concubine ( ex concubina natus ), an affirmation reinforced by a litany of St. Gallen placing Bernard in a list of Carolingians of illegitimate birth.  We do not know the origin of Chrotais but his name, that of Bernard of Italy and the fact that Adalard de Corbie and his half-brother Wala are then the protectors of Bernard of Italy suggests a close relationship between Chrotais and these. This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that the first names of Bernard, Gundrada and Theodrada are found in the brothers and sisters of Wala and Adalard. Only, it is chronologically improbable that Chrotais is daughter of Wala, impossible that it is daughter of a brother or sister of Wala, who were too young, and the Vita Adalhardiis formal about the fact that Bernard had only five children. It remains as an explanation that the wife of Pepin d'Italie is a grand-niece of his namesake, the third wife of Charles Martel.  Pepin had one son and five daughters (they were: Adelaide, married Lambert I of Nantes; Atala; Gundrada; Bertha; and Tetrada), all of whom but the eldest were born between 800 and Pepin's death. All except Adelaide and Tetrada died before their grandfather's death in 814. Tetrada married Adelaide's stepson, Lambert II of Nantes. Pepin's son was Bernard. Pepin was expected to inherit a third of his father's empire, but he predeceased him. The Lombard crown passed on to his illegitimate son Bernard, but the empire went to Pepin's younger brother, Louis the Pious.

Pepin or Pippin (or "Pepin Carloman", "Pepinno", April 777 – 8 July 810), born Carloman, was the son of Charlemagne and King of the Lombards (781–810) under the authority of his father.


SS career.

Reichleitner joined the Nazi Party in 1936 as member number 6,369,213 and the Schutzstaffel in 1937 as member number 357,065. He began his career as a "Kriminalsekretär" of the Gestapo in Linz. Later Reichleitner was assigned to work in the Action T4 euthanasia program at the nearby Hartheim Euthanasia Centre. He first served as an assistant supervisor (together with Franz Stangl) under officer Christian Wirth before assuming Wirth's position of chief supervisor at Hartheim. Reichleitner was also partly responsible for getting Stangl a supervising job in T-4.  Reichleitner was married to Anna Baumgartner from Steyr.

Sobibor death camp.

On 1 September 1942, at the rank of "SS-Obersturmführer" (First Lieutenant), on the orders of Wirth and Odilo Globocnik, Reichleitner took command of the Sobibór extermination camp with Franz Stangl's departure to Treblinka. Reichleitner rarely showed his face in the camp, and it has been claimed that he was a heavy drinker, but his reign of Sobibór was even more strict than that of his predecessor. Moshe Bahir, a camp inmate, wrote:  Reichleitner, a man in his late forties, with an Austrian accent, was dressed always with great elegance and wore gloves. He did not have direct contact with the Jews and the transports. He knew that he could rely on his subordinates, who were very frightened of him. He ran the camp with German precision. During his time the "Aktionen" went smoothly, and all the transports that arrived on a certain day were liquidated. He never left them for the following day...  On one occasion, when an old man from the transports slapped SS officer Karl Frenzel, Reichleitner took the man aside and shot him on the spot in front of his family and the entire convoy of people.

Sobibor revolt.

After "Reichsführer-SS" Heinrich Himmler visited Sobibór on 12 February 1943, he promoted Reichleitner to "SS-Hauptsturmführer" (Captain). Reichleitner was on leave on the day of the successful Sobibór revolt, 14 October 1943. With about 300 of the 600 prisoners having escaped, the remainder were shot dead per the direct orders of Himmler. Sobibór was closed within a few days and the Nazis attempted to remove any traces of its existence.  In autumn 1943, like so many of the perpetrators of Operation Reinhard, Reichleitner was then transferred to the Fiume area of Italy to kill Jews and quell the partisan resistance movement there. Franz Reichleitner was killed by partisans on 3 January 1944 at Fiume, Italy.

Franz Karl Reichleitner (2 December 1906 – 3 January 1944) was an Austrian member in the SS of Nazi Germany who participated in Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. Reichleitner served as the second and last commandant of Sobibór extermination camp from 1 September 1942 until the camp's closure on or about 17 October 1943. As the commanding officer of the camp, Franz Reichleitner directly perpetrated the genocide of Jews.


Structure, shape and characteristics.

The nave of the structure consists of three aisles divided by two rows of eight columns. It has an overall floor area of with a maximum height of. The tower is high and at one time was part of the medieval city fortifications. The cathedral is constructed in the traditional crucifix shape.  Together with the castle on the hill adjacent, and somewhat similar in its striking but fairly stark Gothic lines and colouring, St Martin's 85 m spire dominates Old Town's skyline.  As with the castle, the surroundings of St Martin's are as memorable as the structure itself. The cathedral sits amid picturesque remains of outbuildings in a spacious staired courtyard, and a working seminary with robed adepts on a cobblestoned side-street. The tower is capped by a replica of the Hungarian Crown resting on a gilded pillow.  The altar is dominated by an equestrian statue group depicting St. Martin in a typical Hungarian hussar dress. The saint is dividing his cloak to give part to a beggar as protection from the cold.

Construction history.

Long before the construction of the cathedral, the site had been the crossroads and contained the former centre of the town, a market and probably also a chapel. Worship services were held at Bratislava Castle, where the chapter and provost's office had their seat. As the visits became less bearable and the castle's safety was threatened, King Emeric of Hungary requested the Pope Innocent II for permission to relocate the provost's office into forecastle, and The Pope assented in 1204. The church was relocated in 1221, and was originally built in Romanesque style and sanctified to the Holy Savior.  As the town grew into a city and received additional privileges in 1291, the sanctuary became insufficient for its needs. Construction of a new Gothic cathedral began in 1311 on the site of the earlier church and an adjacent cemetery.  Construction continued until 1452 due to the difficulty of construction and lack of funding. For a period in the early fifteenth century, construction halted due to the Hussite Wars. In 1452, the church was finally completed and consecrated, however, work continued until the sixteenth century. During this period, a new long presbytery and the Gothic chapels of Czech Queen Sofia and of Saint Anne were added in the 15th century.  Eighteenth century additions to the sanctuary include the Baroque Chapel of St. John the Merciful, and serves as a mausoleum. It was constructed at the price of 2000 pieces of gold at the expense of Cardinal Péter Pázmány and the famous Baroque equestrian sculpture of St Martin was added in 1744. Both works were designed by Georg Rafael Donner  In 1760, the top of the Gothic tower was struck by lightning and later replaced by a Baroque one, which was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1835 and reconstructed in 1847 (with some modifications), and topped by the crown of St Stephen  The church attained its present-day appearance during the period 1869 to 1877, when it was re-Gothicised after suffering damage by fire, war, earthquake and other disasters.

Coronations.

The cathedral became the coronation church of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1563, succeeding the "Virgin Mary Church" in Székesfehérvár, after the Ottoman Empire conquered that city. On 8 September 1563, the Crown of St. Stephen was placed on the head of Maximilian II, son of Emperor Ferdinand I of Habsburg. In total, the coronations of 11 kings and queens plus 8 of their consorts occurred here between 1563 and 1830, including that of Maria Theresa of Austria.  List of crowned kings/queens and of their consorts, with dates in parentheses:

Crown of St Stephen.

The tower is topped by a gold-plated replica of the Crown of St. Stephen. It was placed in 1847 following restoration of the damaged tower, to commemorate the cathedral's importance as a coronation church. It weighs, measures over in diameter, and rests on a gold-plated pillow and stands high. The pillow and crown contain a total of of gold and were restored in August 2010.

Catacombs, crypts and sepulchres.

Since the cathedral was built over a cemetery, it contains catacombs of unknown length and crypts holding the sepulchres of many significant historical figures, up to below the church. To date, three crypts have been discovered:  Over the centuries, the cathedral's sepulchres filled with many significant figures, such as ecclesiastic dignitaries, presidents of the historic Pozsony county as well as Jozef Ignác Bajza, the author of the first Slovak novel, but also with dozens of bishops, canons, French priests fleeing the French revolution and many people outside the Catholic Church.

Present.

Today, the church is deteriorating due to vibrations caused by heavy traffic on the access ramp to the nearby Nový Most bridge. Restoration efforts began in 1997 and the cathedral has been a national cultural monument since 11 November 2002.  Since 2003, it has hosted the "Korunovačné slávnosti" (Coronation Feasts) festival which re-enacts the coronation of one of the monarchs crowned in the cathedral. From 1995 to February 2008 it was the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava.

Additional information.

Video and Photo of reconstruction of gold-plated representation of the Crown of St. Stephen (in Slovak).

The St Martin's Cathedral (, or, ) is a church in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bratislava.


Etymology.

The species name "sphondylium", meaning "vertebrate", refers to the shape of the segmented stem. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Description.

"Heracleum sphondylium" reaches on average of height, with a maximum of. The hollow, ridged stem with bristly hairs arises from a large tap root. The leaves can reach of length. They are once or twice pinnate, hairy and serrated, divided into 3–5 lobed segments.  Hogweed has 5-petalled pinkish or white flowers, arranged in umbels usually less than 30 cm of diameter with 15 to 30 rays. The peripheral flowers have a radial symmetry (zygomorphic). The terminal umbels are flat-topped and the outermost petals are enlarged. Flowering typically occurs between June and October. The flowers are pollinated by insects, such as beetles, wasps and especially flies. The small fruits are schizocarps, flattened and winged, elliptical to rounded and glabrous, up to 1 cm long. The seed dispersal is by wind ("anemochory").  The characteristic pig-like smell of the flowers gives it its name. The leaves are commonly mined by the larvae of the leaf miner "Phytomyza spondylii".  "H. sphondylium" is smaller than dangerous "Heracleum mantegazzianum" (giant hogweed) and "Heracleum sosnowskyi" (Sosnowsky's hogweed), and should not be confused. However, it contains some of the same phytophototoxic compounds (furanocoumarins), albeit at lower concentrations, and there is evidence that the sap from common hogweed can also produce phytophotodermatitis (burns and rashes) when contaminated skin is exposed to sunlight. Care therefore needs to be used when cutting or trimming it, to prevent'strimmers rash'.  The small picture-winged fly "Euleia heraclei" is, as its name suggests, found on hogweed.

Distribution.

"H. sphondylium" has an Eurasian distribution, growing throughout Europe and eastwards to central Asia. Its native range just extends into North Africa. The species has been introduced to suitable habitats elsewhere, such as Canada and the U.S. In particular, "H. sphondylium" is recorded as introduced to Ontario by the Database of Vascular Plants of Canada but reports of "H. sphondylium" in Canada are rare..

Habitat.

The plant is common in grassland, herb-rich meadows, in hedges, meadows and woods, road verges and railway embankments, waste and cultivated ground. It prefers moist, nitrogen-rich soils. It can occur in mountain areas up to of altitude.

Uses.

In the 18th century, people on the Kamchatka Peninsula distilled a spirit called "raka" from a "sweet grass" that was most likely "H. sphondylium". The raka was flavored with blue-berried honeysuckle ("Lonicera caerulea").  Borscht derives from an ancient soup originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbels of common hogweed. The young shoots are considered excellent eating by many foragers.  In eastern European countries and especially Romania, "H. sphondylium" is used as an aphrodisiac and to treat gynecological and fertility problems and impotence. It is also sometimes recommended for epilepsy. However, there are no clinical studies to prove its efficacy at treating any of these problems.  The seeds can be dried and used as a spice, with a flavour similar to that of cardamom.

Subspecies.

This species has variable characteristics and many forms have been described. The following names are accepted by The Plant List:

Similar species.

The water parsnip ("Sium suave"), western water hemlock ("Cicuta douglasii") and spotted water hemlock ("Cicuta maculata") all have white flowers in large compound umbels, which can lead to misidentification. All water hemlock and poison hemlock are highly poisonous, but water parsnip is not. Both have clusters of small white flowers shaped like umbrellas, and have the same habitat near the shore line of lakes and rivers. Water parsnip has leaves only once compound, and water hemlock has leaves which are three times compound. Water hemlock has a large swelling at the stem base, and has bracts at the base of each small flower cluster, not at the base of the main flower head. The water parsnip has small bracts at the base of flowers and main flower head as well. The cow parsnips ("Heracleum lanatum", "Heracleum maximum") are also confused in this group with similar flower groupings. However, the cow parsnips have large, broad leaves, and an unpleasant odour.

Heracleum sphondylium, commonly known as hogweed, common hogweed or cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant, in the umbelliferous family Apiaceae that includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is native to Europe and Asia. The common name eltrot may also be applied, but is not specific to this species. Umbelliferous plants are so named because of the umbrella-like arrangement of flowers they produce. The North American species "Heracleum maximum" (also called cow parsnip) is sometimes included as a subspecies of "H. sphondylium".


Taxonomy.

"Arapaima gigas" was originally regarded as the only species in the genus "Arapaima", but the subsequent identification of further species, together with the rarity of specimens and the loss of several type specimens, has led to some uncertainty regarding classification within the genus and the identity of described individuals.

Description.

The species is among the largest known freshwater fish, commonly measuring and reportedly exceptionally reaching lengths of up to. Adults may weigh up to. "A. gigas" has a streamlined body with dorsal and anal fins set well back towards the tail. While the body is mainly gray to gray-green, its Brazilian local name "pirarucu" derives from an indigenous word for "red fish", thought to refer to either the red flecks on the scales towards the tail, or the reddish-orange color of its meat. The fish have "flexible armor-like scales" made up of "a hard mineralized outer layer" and "a tough-but-flexible inner layer" that help protect it from attacks by piranhas.

Distribution.

"A. gigas" is native to freshwater in the basin of the Amazon River; it is known to occur in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Peru. In Bolivia, the paiche is considered an invasive species, affecting local native species and the ecosystem. It was first found in 1976 and presumably introduced from Peru being washed out of a Peruvian fish farm by a flood. The species has been introduced to parts of East Asia, both for fishing purposes and accidentally.  Fossils of arapaima (or very similar species) have been found in Colombia, in the Villavieja Formation, which dates from the Miocene era.

Ecology.

"A. gigas" has the capability to breathe surface air to supplement the oxygen it derives from the use of its gills, and indeed is dependent on surfacing every 5–15 minutes to loudly gulp air at the surface. As in other species in the genus, a modified swim bladder that contains lung-like tissue is used for this purpose.  The species primarily feeds on fish, although juveniles will prefer insects and fish larvae until fully grown. They will also consume birds, mammals, fruits and seeds on the water surface.  Spawning occurs in lakes and river channels during the time of low water levels (August to March). After the young hatch from eggs laid in a nest constructed by both parents, the male remains to protect them for a period of about three months. The young reach sexual maturity at an age of four to five years; average life span in captivity is 15–20 years.

Conservation.

The species has in the past been heavily impacted by overfishing, exacerbated by their easily exploited habit of surfacing regularly for air-gulping. The IUCN is currently not assigning a conservation status to "A. gigas" due to a lack of detailed information about population developments. Arapaima fishing was banned outright in Brazil from 1996 to 1999, due to declining populations; since then, both subsistence and commercial fishing have been permitted in specially designated areas, and a sophisticated sustainable management strategy has led to massive recovery of stocks, from 2,500 in 1999 to over 170,000 in 2017. For Bolivia, the paiche as an invasive species is itself considered a threat to local native species according to reports. There are various reports on a correlation between the spreading of paiche and the decline in numbers of native fish species in parts of the Bolivian amazon. Effects on local fish species populations and on fishing behaviors vary strongly by region. A joint study of the Bolivian government and different research organizations from 2017 points out the necessity to further evaluate the complex environmental and socioeconomic impact of paiche in the country.

Arapaima gigas, also known as pirarucu, is a species of arapaima native to the basin of the Amazon River. Once believed to be the sole species in the genus, it is among the largest freshwater fish. The species is an obligate air-breather and needs to come to the surface regularly to gulp air.


Biography.

He was born in Angers in 1788. His father was a wood carver and ornamental sculptor, who had joined the volunteer Republican army as a musketeer, fighting against the Chouans of La Vendée. He studied in the studio of Jean-Jacques Delusse and in 1808 traveled to Paris to study in the studio of Philippe-Laurent Roland.  While in Paris he did work both on the Arc de Triomphe and the exterior of the Louvre. In 1810 he succeeded in taking the second place prize at the École des Beaux-Arts for his Othryades. In 1811 David's "La Douleur" won the École's competition for "tête d'expression" followed by his taking of the Prix de Rome for his "Epaminondas" in the same year. He spent five years in Rome, during which time he frequented the studio of Antonio Canova and made small trips around Italy to Venice, Naples and Florence.  Returning from Rome around the time of the restoration of the Bourbons and their accompanying foreign conquerors and returned royalists, David d'Angers would not remain in the neighborhood of the Tuileries, opting instead to travel to London. Here John Flaxman and others took him to task for the political sins of David the painter, to whom he was erroneously supposed to be related.  With great difficulty he made his way to Paris again, where a comparatively prosperous career opened before him. His medallions and busts were in much request, as well as orders for monumental works. One of the most famous of these was that of "Gutenberg at Strassburg"; but those he himself valued most were the statue of "Barra" (Joseph Bara), a drummer boy who purportedly continued to beat his drum until the moment of death in the war in La Vendée, and the monument to the Greek liberator Markos Botsaris.  David's busts and medallions were very numerous, and among his sitters may be found not only the illustrious men and women of France, but many others both of England and Germany countries which he visited professionally in 1827 and 1829. His medallions number over 500.  David's fame rests firmly on his pediment of the Pantheon, his marble "Wounded Philopoemen" in the Louvre and his equestrian monument to General Jacques-Nicolas Gobert in Père Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to that of Gobert, he did sculptures for seven other tombs at Père Lachaise, including the bronze busts of the writer, Honoré de Balzac and physician Samuel Hahnemann.  In the "Musée David" in Angers is an almost complete collection of his works either in the form of copies or in the original moulds. As an example of his benevolence of character may be mentioned his rushing off to the sickbed of Rouget de Lisle, the author of the "Marseillaise Hymn", modelling and carving him in marble without delay, making a lottery of the work, and sending to the poet in the extremity of need the proceeds.  Of "Reviving Greece", his monument to the Greek liberator Markos Botsaris, showing a Greek child reading his name, Victor Hugo said, "It is difficult to see anything more beautiful in the world; this statue joins the grandeur of Pheidias to the expressive manner of Puget."

Pierre-Jean David (12 March 17884 January 1856) was a French sculptor, medalist and active freemason. He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter Jacques-Louis David in 1809 as a way of both expressing his patrimony and distinguishing himself from the master painter.


History.

Early history of the Bastille.

The Bastille was built between 1370 and 1383 during the reign of King Charles V as part of the defenses of Paris, the structure was converted into a state prison in the 17th century by Richelieu, who was king Louis XIII's chief minister. At that time it primarily housed political prisoners, but also religious prisoners, "seditious" writers, and young rakes held at the request of their families. It began to acquire a poor reputation when it became the main prison for those taken under lettres de cachet issued by the King of France.  By the late 18th century, the building was made up of eight close-packed towers, around 24 m (80 ft) high, surrounding two courtyards and the armoury. The prisoners were held within the 5-7 story towers, each having a room around 4.6 m (15 ft) across and containing various articles of furniture. The infamous cachots (dungeons), the oozing, vermin-infested subterranean cells were no longer in use, since the respective reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, who both worked on reforming the penal system in France. The governor of the prison was given a daily allowance per prisoner, the amount depending on their status—from nineteen livres per diem for scientists and academics down to three for commoners. In terms of standards, there were many worse prisons in France, including the dreaded Bicêtre, also in Paris. However, in terms of popular literary accounts, the Bastille was a place of horror and oppression, a symbol of autocratic cruelty.

Storming of the Bastille.

The confrontation between the commoners and the Ancien Régime ultimately led to the people of Paris storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789, following several days of disturbances. At this point, the prison was nearly empty, with only seven inmates: four counterfeiters, two madmen, and a young aristocrat who had displeased his father. The regular garrison consisted of about 80 'invalides' (veteran soldiers no longer capable of service in the field) under Governor Bernard-René de Launay. They had however been reinforced by a detachment of 32 grenadiers from one of the Swiss mercenary regiments summoned to Paris by the Monarchy shortly before 14 July.  A crowd of around 600 people gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the guns and the release of the arms and gunpowder. Two people chosen to represent those gathered were invited into the fortress and slow negotiations began.  In the early afternoon, the crowd broke into the undefended outer courtyard and the chains on the drawbridge to the inner courtyard were cut. A spasmodic exchange of gunfire began; in mid-afternoon the crowd was reinforced by mutinous Gardes Françaises of the Royal Army and two cannons. De Launay ordered a ceasefire; despite his surrender demands being refused, he capitulated and the victors swept in to liberate the fortress at around 5:30.

Later history.

On 16 June 1792, the area occupied by the Bastille was turned into a square celebrating liberty, and a column would be erected there. The first stone was laid by Palloy; however, construction never took place, and a fountain was built instead in 1793.  In 1808, as part of several urban improvement projects for Paris, Napoléon planned to have a monument in the shape of an elephant built here, the Elephant of the Bastille. It was designed to be 24 m (78 ft) in height, and to be cast from the bronze of cannons taken from the Spanish. Access to the top was to be achieved by a stairway set in one of the legs. However, only a full-scale plaster model was built. Victor Hugo immortalized the monument in the novel "Les Misérables" where it is used as a shelter by Gavroche. The monument was demolished in 1846.  In 1833, Louis-Philippe decided to build the July Column as originally planned in 1792. It was inaugurated in 1840.

The area today.

The former location of the fort is currently called "Place de la Bastille". It is home to the Opéra Bastille. The large ditch ("fossé") behind the fort has been transformed into a marina for pleasure boats, the Bassin de l'Arsenal, to the south, which is bordered by the Boulevard de la Bastille. To the north, a covered canal, the Canal Saint-Martin, extends north from the marina beneath the vehicular roundabout that borders the location of the fort, and then continues for about 4.4 kilometers to the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad.  On Thursdays and Sundays, a large, open-air market occupies part of the park to the north of the Place de la Bastille, along the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir. Consumers can find fresh fruit, fish, meat, cheese and bread along with clothing and typical flea market items.  Some undemolished remains of one tower of the fort were discovered during excavation for the Métro (rail mass-transit system) in 1899, and were moved to a park (the Square Henri-Galli) a few hundred metres away, where they are displayed today. The original outline of the fort is also marked on the pavement of streets and pathways that pass over its former location, in the form of special paving stones. A café and some other businesses largely occupy the location of the fort, and the Rue Saint-Antoine passes directly over it as it opens onto the roundabout of the Bastille.

The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris where the Bastille prison stood until the storming of the Bastille and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution. No vestige of the prison remains.


History.

The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of Ming Dynasty, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is currently located in Dongcheng Beijing, China. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. Jia ging also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of the Sun (日壇) in the east, the Temple of Earth (地壇) in the north, and the Temple of Moon (月壇) in the west. The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. By then, the state budget was insufficient, so this was the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in imperial times.  The temple was occupied by the Anglo-French Alliance during the Second Opium War. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight Nation Alliance occupied the temple complex and turned it into the force's temporary command in Beijing, which lasted for one year. The occupation desecrated the temple and resulted in serious damage to the building complex and the garden. Robberies of temple artifacts by the Alliance were also reported. With the downfall of the Qing, the temple complex was left un-managed. The neglect of the temple complex led to the collapse of several halls in the following years.[2]  In 1914, Yuan Shikai, then President of the Republic of China, performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China. In 1918 the temple was turned into a park and for the first time open to the public.  The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

Buildings and layout.

The Temple grounds cover of parkland and comprises three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:

Ceremony.

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the "Son of Heaven", who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.  Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden City through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

Symbolism.

Earth was represented by a square and Heaven by a circle; several features of the temple complex symbolize the connection of Heaven and Earth, of circle and square. The whole temple complex is surrounded by two cordons of walls; the outer wall has a taller, semi-circular northern end, representing Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular southern end, representing the Earth. Both the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar are round, each standing on a square yard, again representing Heaven and Earth. The number nine represents the Emperor and is evident in the design of the Circular Mound Altar: a single round marmor plate is surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9 plates.  The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars, representing the four seasons, twelve months and twelve traditional Chinese hours respectively. Combined together, the twelve middle and twelve outer pillars represent the traditional solar terms. All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven.  The Seven-Star Stone Group, east of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, represents the seven peaks of Taishan Mountain, a place of Heaven worship in classical China.  There are four main supportive, dragon pillars each representing a season. The structure, held up by these dragons, imitates the style of an ancient Chinese royal palace. Twelve inner pillars symbolize the lunar months, and it is thought that the twelve outer pillars refer to the 12 two-hour periods of the day.

Park.

The surrounding park is quite extensive, with the entire complex totaling. Some of it consists of playgrounds, exercise and game areas. These facilities are well used by adults, as well as by parents and grandparents bringing children to play. Some of the open spaces and side buildings are often used, particularly in the morning, for choral shows, ethnic dances, and other presentations.

Access.

The Temple of Heaven is located in southern Dongcheng District, which until 2010 was part of Chongwen District. The park itself is open daily from 6:00am–10:00 pm. The relic sites inside the park open at 8:00 and close at 17:30 from April 1 to October 31, and close at 17:00 from November 1 to March 31. There is a nominal entry charge which varies according to whether it is peak season or off season. Tickets stop selling one hour and half before gate closing.  All four of the park's gates are accessible by public transportation.

The Temple of Heaven () is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.