Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a church in Paris, France, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. It contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine. Jean-Paul Marat is buried in the church's cemetery.

The sculpted tympanum, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, is the work of French sculptor Gabriel-Jules Thomas.

Renowned organist, composer, and improviser Maurice Duruflé held the post of Titular Organist at Saint-Étienne-du-Mont from 1929 until his death in 1986.

History

During the Gallo-Roman era, the Parisii tribe of Lutetia gradually settled a hill on the left bank of the Seine, called Mount Lucotecius. This land was less marshy than their earlier settlement by the river, and became the site of a theatre, baths and villas. In the 6th century, Clovis, the King of the Franks, built a basilica at the top of the hill, dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. Clovis was buried there, along with his wife Clotilde, and several kings of the Merovingian dynasty. Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of the city, who had defended the city against a barbarian invasion, was also buried there. The Abbey of Sainte-Genevieve was founded next to the church in 502, and the church became part of the abbey.

In 1222, as the population of the neighbourhood grew, and particularly to serve the masters and students of the new College of Sorbonne, Pope Honorius III authorized the establishment of an autonomous church, which was devoted this time to St Etienne, or Saint Stephen. The new church was constructed just to the north of Abbey church.

As more colleges were founded and the neighbourhood continued to grow, the church authorities decided to construct an entirely new and larger church, in the new flamboyant Gothic style. In 1492, the nearby Génovéfain monks donated a portion of their land for the site. The work proceeded very slowly. The architect Stephen Viguier planned the apse and the bell tower in 1494, and the first two bells were cast in 1500. The choir of was completed in 1537, and the altars of the apse chapels were blessed in 1541. but as the work continued, styles also changed. In the same year, contracts were awarded to artisans to complete the windows and sculpture, which were now to be in the new Renaissance style. The nave, also in the Renaissance style, was not finished until 1584. The construction of the façade did not begin until 1610, with the first stone placed by Marguerite de Valois. The church was finally consecrated on 25 February 1626 by Jean-François de Gondi, first archbishop of Paris, The ornate carved pulpit was installed in 1651.

During the 17th and 18th century, the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont enjoyed great prestige. It was the starting point of an annual procession, carrying the shrine of Saint Genevieve to Notre Dame de Paris, and back. The remains of a number of prominent scientists and artists were interred there, including Pierre Perrault, the painter Eustache Le Sueur and Blaise Pascal. Those of Racine were transferred in 1711 from Port-Royal in Saint-Etienne. In 1744, King Louis XV decided to replace the nearby abbey with an even larger church, which, after many modifications and changes of purpose, eventually became the Panthéon.

During the French Revolution, the church was first closed and then turned into a "Temple of Filial Piety." The sculpture, decoration and stained glass suffered extensive damage, and many church treasures and relics disappeared. Catholic worship was finally restored in 1803, under the Concordat of 1801. The neighbouring abbey church was demolished in 1804, and replaced by rue Clovis. Only the old bell tower survived, and is now part of the Lycée Henri IV campus.

Under the Second Empire of Napoleon III, the church was extensively restored by the Paris city architect Victor Baltard between 1865 and 1868. The façade was restored and increased in height and sculpture and stained glass destroyed in Revolution was replaced. He also added a new chapel the Chapel of Catechisms.

Timeline
Building works included:
 6th century: first chapel was formed from the crypt of St. Geneviève Abbey
 13th century: separate church built on the north side of chapel
 1491: bell tower was built
 1537: chancel was built
 1545: gallery was built (see image of church interior)
 1580: vaults of the nave and the transept were built
 1624: bell tower was raised
 1807: demolition of the abbey church

Exterior

The west front or façade of the church, in the Renaissance style and in the form of an elongated pyramid of three levels, was built in 1610 following the plan of Charles Guerin. The lowest level is covered with sculpture, and is topped by a triangular classical fronton, with a bas-relief depicting the Resurrection of Christ. The central feature of the level above is a Gothic rose window, under a curvilinear fronton, decorated with sculpture depicting the coat of arms of France and those of the old Abbey. On the top level, the triangular gable features an elliptical rose window.

Interior

The interior is a that of a hall church of large proportions, sixty-nine meters long and 25.5 meters wide. The collateral aisles on either side of the nave and choir are unusually high, and have large windows, filling the church with light. The interior of the church combines Flamboyant Gothic architecture, including elaborate rib vaults with hanging keystones, alongside elements of Italian Renaissance decoration, such as classical columns and arcades, and an abundance of sculpted heads of angels integrated into the architecture.

Nave and pulpit

The nave has two levels of grand arcades with circular columns and rounded arches which separate the nave from the outer, or collateral aisles. These arcades have a passageway with balustrades. The balustrades are also used on special church holidays to display tapestries from the church collection. The upper walls of the collateral aisles have very large windows, which fill the interior with light.

One unusual feature of the interior is the slight curve of the axis from the nave to the transept, caused by the irregular site.

The most prominent decorative work in the nave is the pulpit, created in 1651 by Germain Pillion. It is supported by a carved sculpture of Samson kneeling upon a lion, and holding the jawbone of an ass with which he fought the Philistines. Other statues of the virtues and other allegorical figures carved by Claude Lestocart surround the pulpit.

Jubé or rood screen

The most unusual feature of the church is the jubé or rood screen, created in about 1530, the only existing example in Paris. It is an elaborate sculptural screen which separates the nave from the choir. The screen was used as a platform to read the scripture to the ordinary parishioners. They were very common during the Middle Ages, but were largely abolished in the 17th and 18th centuries under a decree of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) which aimed at making the ceremonies in the choir more visible to the ordinary parishioners in the nave.

The screen was designed by Antoine Beaucorps, and while its purpose is Gothic, its decoration is French Renaissance. It takes the form of an arched bridge facing the choir with three arcades. A tribune for readings occupies the center facing the nave. Two very elegant spiral stairways give access to the tribune from the sides. The decoration includes two statues of "Renommées", or "Renowned ones," based on classical Roman statues, holding olive branches and crowns.

The church is characterized by its curved axis of the nave to the transept, the rood screen (the sole surviving example in Paris) of finely carved stone by Father Biard (1545), his chair designed by Laurent de La Hyre and sculpted by Claude Lestocart and its organ case (1631) (the oldest in the capital). The church also contains the shrine containing the relics of St. Genevieve until 1793 (when they were thrown in the sewer), the tomb of Blaise de Vigenere, of Blaise Pascal, of Racine, and Mg Sibour.

The choir and side chapels

Chapel of Saint-Genevieve

The Chapel of Saint Genevieve is a Flamboyant Gothic shrine to the patron saint of Paris. Her original tomb and relics were destroyed during the French Revolution. The chasse or reliquary seen now was made in the 19th century of chiseled and gilded copper. It contains a fragment of her original tomb. Overlooking the tomb is a ciborium, an ornamental work featuring statues of the wise and foolish virgins, representing those faithful versus those who reject the church.

Chapel of the Virgin

Behind the altar in the apse at the east end of the church is the semi-circular Chapel of the Virgin. A small cloister was built at the east end of the church between 1605 and 1609. It originally enclosed a small cemetery, but no longer has any tombs. The interior originally contained three galleries with twenty-four stained glass windows, made with great realism with the use of enamel paints baked onto the glass. The windows illustrated scenes from the Old Testament and New Testament, as well as scenes of Paris life. Twelve of the original windows survived the Revolution and can be seen today, including the "Adoration of the Holy Sacrament" and the "Mystic Wine-Press.

Cloister Gallery, Chapel of Communion Stained Glass Collection

The Chapel of Communion (also known as the Cloister Gallery or Chamber of Catechisms) adjoining the choir originally contained the remains of clerics of the church, and was known for that reason as the "Chapel of the Charnel House". Late in the French Revolution, the bodies of Jean-Paul Marat, after he was killed by Charlotte Corday, and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau (1795) were removed from the Panthéon, where they had been placed as revolutionary heroes, and kept in the chapel until they were later buried in ordinary graves.

During the First World War, when Paris was being bombarded by German artillery outside the city, a group of twelve 17th-century stained glass windows, belonging to the Churches of Saint-Eustache, Paris; Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois; Saint-Merri; and Saint Eustache were transferred to the chapel for their protection. Following the war, the windows remained there, and underwent restoration, funded by the City of Paris. Unlike most other Paris stained glass windows of that period, they are at eye level and can be examined up close.

Windows 1 & 2: "Miracle of the Billettes" and "The Church as a Ship"
The first window tells an old anti-Semitic tale. In the upper window, Christ holds the sacred host. Below, a woman gives the host to a Jew named Tomthon. Tomthon throws the host into boiling water and stabs it with a dagger, but the host is indestructible. The woman rescues the host and takes it the Church of the Billettes.

The second window is called "The Church as a Ship". In the upper window is Noah's ark, with animals. In the center, a ship is floating atop a wooden cross, which protects it from storms, illustrated by surrounding evil faces. Christ steers the ship, while the passengers include an emperor, a king, a magistrate, Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, and the donors of the window. At the top Christ is shown blessing five loaves given to him by a child.

Windows 3 & 4: "Muliplication of Loaves" and "The Brass Serpent"
Window Three depicts Christ blessing five loaves of bread given him by a child (top), and Christ breaking bread with the disciples (below).

Window Four, "The Brass Serpent", dates from the 16th century, and, unlike the other windows, is made entirely of simple pieces of coloured glass, rather than glass with the figures painted with enamel pigments and then baked onto the glass. It depicts a story told in the Book of Numbers 21-19, telling how Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole. Any man who was bitten by a serpent could look upon the brass serpent, and live.

Windows 5 & 6: "Passover" and "Rites of Purification"
The top left portion of Window Five depicts a traditional Jewish Passover supper, with lamb on the table. On the top right, exterminating angels are killing the first born in Egypt. The lower part of the window depicts a Christian passover, with the Holy Communion. On the right, devils are leading humans into temptation.

The "Rites of Purification" (Window Six) is a sort of visual textbook on that topic, and is also based on an engraving by L. Gaultier. On the top left, the Great Priest and three Levites are purifying themselves in a basin, known as the "Sea of Airan." On the right is an imaginative illustration of the Temple of Solomon. On the lower left Christ is washing the feet of the Apostles, and there is a depiction of an early Christian church.

Windows 7 & 8: "Elijah's Sacrifice" and the "Adoration of the Host"
Window Seven depicts the Sacrifice of Elijah, and his triumph over the pagan priest of Baal. In the window, a Celestial fire lights a sacrificial bonfire, while on the upper right the priests of Baal pray in vain.

Window Eight (restored in 2021), at the top shows the miracle of Manna, where bread was delivered in the wilderness. The lower portion depicts the Monstrance holding the Host, surrounded by Angels.

Windows 9 & 10: the "Adoration of the Holy Sacrament" and "the Mystical Wine Press" (1618)
The "Mystical Wine Press" (1618) theme was inspired by an engraving by Jacques Lavolette printed in 1580. The subject is the blood of Christ, which is to be the mankind's salvation. In the center, Christ is distributing the redeeming blood. In the background of the window center, a barrel of the blood, accompanied by an angel, is being pulled by a lion, an ox and an eagle, the symbols of the Apostles Saints Luke, Mark and John. In the next portion of the window, the wine barrel is brought to a Church and distributed during the sacrameant of Eucharist. In the lower portion of the window, four doctors of the church, are storing the blood in barrels. On the right are Pope Paul III and King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis), Cardinal de Chatillon, and others, who are rolling the barrels into the cellar of a church.

Windows 11 & 12: Eucharist and the Oak of Moreh
Window Eleven has one 17th century section, at the top, depicting the origin of Eucharist, showing the blessing of wine and bread, and the Prophet Abraham returning home in triumph. Below are two later panels of glass, the Annunciation on the left (19th century), and the Last Supper (1612) inspired by Durer's "Great Passion of Christ".

Window Twelve illustrates the story of the Oak of Moreh, based on a text of Genesis 18 1–12. Abraham receives three mysterious angels, who promise he will have a son. They also forecast the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, shown on the above right.

Art and decoration

The chapels along the sides of the cathedral and side walls of the Chapel of St. Genevieve display sculpture and paintings by number of important 16th, 17th and 18th century artists, many of which are protected by the French Ministry of Culture. These include:

 "The Nine Choirs of Celestial Spirits", by Louis Licherie de Beurie (1629–1687) depicts, on a very large canvas, the hierarchy of the angels, below the word "Jehovah" in Hebrew letters, including, at the top, the senior angels, the Seraphim, down to the lowest ranks at the bottom. (Chapel of the Crucifix).
 A group of eight life-size eight stone and terra cotta sculptures representing the stages of the placement of Christ's body in the tomb. (Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre). (Side wall of the Chapel of Saint-Genevieve).
 "Saint Charles Borromée distributing alms", by Quentin Varin (1627), depicting the Bishop of Milan distributing alms to the people of Milan during the famine of 1570 and the plague of 1576. (Chapel of Saint-Charles-Borromée)
 "Ex Voto to Saint Genevieve", by Nicolas de Largilliere (1696), a very large canvas which commemorates the annual 1694 procession of the tomb of Saint Genevieve, which was made to bring an end to a draught and famine which had struck Paris that year. According to tradition, at the end of the procession, it suddenly began to rain, ending the drought. It was commissioned by the provosts of the merchants and magistrates of Paris. At the top of the picture are angels, in the center is Saint Geneviève, praying, with the rain clouds she has summoned, and at the bottom are very fine portraits of the magistrates of Paris in 1694.

The Presbytere

The Prebytere was built next to the church in about 1725 as the private residence of Louis, Duke of Orleans, son of the Regent of France. It was purchased by the church and is now the residence of the curé of the church, and a protected historical landmark.

The organ
In 1636, the organ, built by Pierre Pescheur, was installed. When the organ was damaged by fire in 1760, it was rebuilt by Cliquot. Further work was carried out in 1863 by Cavaillé-Coll, and the present instrument is the work of further revision by Beuchet-Debierre in 1956

The case of the organ of the tribune was made beginning in 1633 by Jean Buron, and is the oldest and best-preserved original case in Paris. It is topped by sculpture of Christ surrounded by angels playing the kinnor, an ancient Hebrew variation of the lyre.

See also
List of historic churches in Paris

References

Bibliography (in French)
Dumoulin, Aline; Ardisson, Alexandra; Maingard, Jérôme; Antonello, Murielle; Églises de Paris (2010), Éditions Massin, Issy-Les-Moulineaux,

External links

Official Website
L'Internaute Magazine: Diaporama (in French)
flickr group dedicated to St-Étienne-du-Mont
deri montlar

Roman Catholic churches in the 5th arrondissement of Paris
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1624
17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont


Priit Loog (born 6 January 1984) is an Estonian stage, television and film actor.

Early life and education
Priit Loog was born in Viljandi in 1984. He attended primary and secondary schools in Viljandi before studying theatre at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy in Viljandi, graduating in 2007.

Stage career
Following graduation, he became engaged at the Endla Theatre in Pärnu in 2007, where he is still currently employed. Loog has appeared in over thirty productions to date during his engagement at the Endla. Some of his most memorable roles at the Endla include those in stage productions by such varied international playwrights and authors as: Tom Stoppard, Astrid Lindgren, Gustave Flaubert, Wajdi Mouawad, Luigi Pirandello, Jane Austen, Maurice Maeterlinck, Georg Buchner, Peter Quilter, Tennessee Williams, and J. M. Barrie. Among his more memorable performances at the Endla in roles by Estonian playwrights and authors include those of: Karl Ristikivi, Urmas Vadi, Tiit Palu, Kalju Kangur, Andrus Kivirähk, Gerda Kordemets, Mart Kivastik, and Triinu Ojalo.

Loog has won the Endla Audience Favorite Award in 2011, 2013, and 2015 and the Colleague Award in 2010 and 2015.

Film and television
Loog made his feature film debut in a small role in the 2006 Oleg Fesenko directed Russian-Estonian horror film Vedma (English release title: The Power of Fear). This was followed by another small role in the 2008 Asko Kase directed Estonian historical drama Detsembrikuumus. Loog's first substantial film role came in the 2012 in the role of Tõnn in the Andres Kõpper and Arun Tamm directed crime-comedy Vasaku jala reede, for Tallinn Skyline Productions. In 2015, he appeared in the role of Paul Mets in the Elmo Nüganen directed World War II period drama 1944, which depicted the war through the eyes of Estonian soldiers having to choose sides and thus fight against their fellow countrymen. In 2015, it was announced that Loog would appear as Andres in a Tanel Toom directed film Tõde ja õigus, an adaptation of A. H. Tammsaare's sweeping social epic pentalogy of the same name. The film began production in late 2016 and was released in February 2019 and Loog subsequently won the Best Actor award at the 2020 Estonian Film and Television Awards for his role in the film.

Priit Loog made his television debut as the character Richard Rõõmus in the Eesti Televisioon's (ETV) Tuulepealne maa; a twelve-part mini-series chronicling Estonia's history from the Estonian War of Independence, post-war life throughout the 1920s up until 1940, and World War II. In 2009, he was a regular performer on the TV3 improvisational comedy sketch comedy series Vilde tee. From 2010 until 2013, he played the role of Paul Moorits on the popular Kanal 2 drama series Pilvede all. He has also made several appearances in different roles between 2010 and 2014 on the TV3 crime-comedy Kättemaksukontor.

In 2021, he appeared in the role of Peeter in the Ergo Kuld directed comedy film Jahihooaeg alongside Harriet Toompere, Mirtel Pohla and Grete Kuld.

Personal life
Priit Loog currently resides in Pärnu. He is in a long-term relationship and has one daughter. He is an avid amateur photographer and fisherman.

References

External links

1984 births
Living people
Estonian male stage actors
Estonian male film actors
Estonian male television actors
21st-century Estonian male actors
People from Viljandi

Priit Loog


Corona Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, just north of Market Street and Eureka Valley.  Corona Heights is often considered part of the Castro and Upper Market areas.

Location
The Corona Heights neighborhood stretches between Buena Vista Park and Eureka Valley.  The streets within Corona Heights were literally cut out of the large hill that once encompassed all of Buena Vista Park and extended all the way down to Market Street.

History
In 1899, excavation began on the hill to make way for the Gray Brothers Quarry and brick factory.  The quarry had removed tons of rock and produced tens of thousands of bricks, creating a blasted landscape.

George and Harry Gray (the Gray brothers) owned a total of three quarries in San Francisco.  Besides The Corona Heights Quarry, One was located on Telegraph Hill, and the third at Thirtieth and Castro (now called Billy Goat Hill) located above Noe Valley.

They had a bad reputation that was well deserved.  Of the bricks that were produced at the factory, many of them were used in the Cable Car beds.  Subsequently, it was determined that these bricks were substandard and had to be replaced.  The community became enraged with the Gray brothers when adults and children were injured by falling rocks and homes were damaged by flying debris.  Although the Gray brothers faced lawsuit after lawsuit, they kept quarrying.

In 1909, Carolyn Bush, their cashier and George Gray's secretary, was shot and killed by an unpaid worker who lost his temper.  A few years later in 1915 George, by then a millionaire, was at the Thirtieth and Castro quarry.  He was confronted by Joseph Lococo, a 26-year-old former worker whom Gray refused to pay back wages of $17.50. George was murdered by Lococo at the quarry. The quarrying and the company ended at that time.

After the quarry
Because of the quarry, streets had been cut out of the rock for transport vehicle access and from the general quarrying done to the area.  This made the location prime real estate for people who began to  build their homes on the streets cut into the hill.

Many of the neighborhood homes have views (due to the elevation on the hill), close proximity to underground transportation (MUNI), and are situated just a few blocks from The Castro, local restaurants, and neighborhood hangouts.  At the top of the hill, where the quarry used to stand, there is now the Corona Heights Park: a large, open space with panoramic views of the city and the bay.  Corona Heights Park also features a fenced-in, maintained dog park.

Attractions and characteristics
Corona Heights Park, a large, open space, city park, with panoramic views of the city and the bay
Randall Museum, focuses on the arts, crafts, sciences, and natural history
The Castro District

Corona Heights features prominently in Fritz Leiber's famous horror novel "Our Lady of Darkness" (1977).

Gallery

References

External links

 Castro SF.org: The Complete Local Guide
 Corona Heights.com: "San Francisco's Best Kept Secret."

Neighborhoods in San Francisco
Western Addition, San Francisco

Corona Heights, San Francisco


Lichtenstein Castle is a castle near Honau in Swabian Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The castle is on a cliff. There has been a castle on this land since around 1200. It was destroyed two times. The first time was in the Reichskrieg's War of 1311. The second time was by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle was not rebuilt and became a ruin.

In 1802, King Frederick I of Württemberg built a hunting lodge there. In 1837, the land passed to his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg. He added the current castle in 1840–42.

Today, the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach. It is open to visitors. The castle has a large collection of historic weapons and armour.

Buildings and structures in Baden-Württemberg
Castles in Germany
13th-century buildings and structures

Lichtenstein Castle


The 1835 Wolverhampton riot was an outbreak of violence upon the occasion of a hotly contested county by-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom during Wednesday and Thursday, 26–27 May 1835. The magistrates, asserting that a dangerous mob had formed, which was assaulting electors and damaging property, called in the dragoons. The soldiers, under the command of one Captain Manning, fired on the mob who had retreated to the cemetery and wounded four of them, including three boys. One of the wounded, who had received a shot in the knee, had his leg amputated.

The riot received great attention in the time and was the subject of a discussion in the House of Commons and of a special inquiry, which cleared the soldiers and magistrates of blame. It is not clear to this day whether their actions were indeed warranted by the situation on the ground. At any rate, the riot illustrates the high level of social tension in the English towns of that period. In fact, it was compared at the time to analogous earlier riots in Bristol and Manchester.

Background
The Wolverhampton by-election was held after the passage Reform Act of 1832. One candidate was the Whig politician Colonel George Anson, an experienced MP and the brother of the Earl of Lichfield who had a large following in the area. The other candidate was Sir Francis Goodricke (1797–1865), a Tory.

While the non-electors of the town were predominantly of Radical persuasion, the electors were more evenly divided between Whig and Tory supporters. The tense campaign quickly grew violent on the first day of polling, with the mob allegedly assaulting those electors who voted or intended to vote for the Tory candidate. In some cases, electors claimed that they were prevented from voting and bodily assaulted. In other cases, they were beaten after casting their votes. This sort of carrying on was not uncommon in English elections of this time, but the actual extent of the disturbances was later hotly disputed in the House of Commons.

Arrival of the troops
After the polling was completed for the first day, a mass of Anson's supporters surrounded Goodricke's campaign headquarters in the Swan Inn and threw some stones at the windows. The town magistrates, who considered the situation to be quickly getting out of hand, in part owing to the lack of sufficient police (there were a small number of untrained special constables on hand, who could or would dare do little in the face of the mob), called in a troop of the 1st Dragoons that had been stationed nearby, per an earlier request by the magistrates.

Once the soldiers had arrived, the Riot Act was read by one of the magistrates and the soldiers almost immediately fired at the mob which had by now moved to the cemetery. Four people were shot. Later, the soldiers charged the crowd, dealing out blows with the flat sides of their swords.

Controversy
A number of widely divergent accounts of the events were given and it seems impossible to fully reconcile them. The critics also alleged that instead of the customary one hour, only five minutes were given to the crowd to disperse after the reading of the Riot Act.

Death of a soldier's horse
All sides agree that the proximate cause for the soldier's charge on firing and the crowd was the death of one of the soldiers' horses. However, the accounts substantially differ on what actually happened to the horse. According to one version, the horse was killed by a stone thrown by the mob - showing that the soldiers were provoked. According to another account, the soldiers first charged the crowd and the horse fell during the charge. A third version, offered in Parliament by ?? was that the horse was stabbed by a short knife, once again partially vindicating the soldiers' conduct. However, it is possible that the horse was accidentally stabbed by a sword drawn by one of the soldiers.

Role of the soldiers
Another source of contention was the subsequent dispersal of the soldiers into small group of twos and threes. According to one position (voiced for example by Sir G. Hardinge), this was a highly irregular measure, as the soldiers were no longer under the control of the officers and could engage in wanton acts of cruelty. Others had alleged that this dispersal was necessary to patrol the town and to re-establish public order.

Inquiry

Aftermath
Sir F. Goodricke actually won the election and sat for two years in Parliament (not standing for re-election in 1837). During that time he never rose to speak.

Sources

Riots and civil disorder in the West Midlands
1835 in England
1835 riots
History of Wolverhampton
19th century in Staffordshire
May 1835 events
1835 crimes in the United Kingdom

1835 Wolverhampton riot


Scone Palace  is a Category A-listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it is an example of the Gothic Revival style in Scotland.

Scone was originally the site of an early Christian church, and later an Augustinian priory. Scone Abbey was severely damaged in 1559 during the Scottish Reformation after a mob whipped up by the famous reformer, John Knox, came to Scone from Dundee. Having survived the Reformation, the Abbey in 1600 became a secular Lordship (and home) within the parish of Scone, Scotland. The Palace has thus been home to the Earls of Mansfield for over 400 years. During the early 19th century the Palace was enlarged by the architect William Atkinson. In 1802, David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield, commissioned Atkinson to extend the Palace, recasting the late 16th-century Palace of Scone. The 3rd Earl tasked Atkinson with updating the old Palace whilst maintaining characteristics of the medieval Gothic abbey buildings it was built upon, with the majority of work finished by 1807.

The Palace and its grounds, which include a collection of fir trees and a star-shaped maze, are open to the public.

History of Scone

Prehistory and tradition

Scotland was one of the last kingdoms to adopt and benefit from the written word and the legal system it upheld. Only at the end of the 11th century did Scotland see a growth of record keeping, with property rights logged via legal charter and royal government practice noted in writing. It is likely that there were a few documents written before the 11th century, however, Scotland's particularly turbulent history is likely to have been witness to the loss or destruction of many documents. The first piece of hard evidence that relates to Scone is a charter dating to 906.

Naming of Scone

It is not known why exactly the area is called "Scone" (pronounced "Scoon"). The search for a meaning to the word has not been helped by the fact that throughout the last 10 centuries, Scone has been written as Scon, Scoon, Scoan, Scoine, Schone, Skoon, Skune, Skuyn, Skuyne, Sgoin, Sgàin and Sgoinde. It is difficult thus to know where to start in terms of the etymology of Scone. It is known that Scone was at the heart of the ancient Pictish kingdom and thus one would think that the name would derive from the Pictish language. The existence of a distinct Pictish language during the Early Middle Ages is attested clearly in Blessed Bede's early 8th century Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, which names Pictish as a language distinct from that spoken by the Britons, the Irish, and the English.

It was thus believed that "Scone" derives from the P-Celtic word "Sken" meaning "cut" or "cutting". This has been gaelicized as "Sgàin" (pronounced "Skene"). And may be a fine example of the amalgamation of the Pictish and Gaelic cultures and languages. The Brittonic origin of the place-name "Scone" is of great importance regarding the history and status of the place, and may explain why the famous Kenneth MacAlpin, first King of Scots, chose Scone as his capital.

The meaning "cutting" could relate to what is now known as "the Friars' Den". The Gaelic origin of the place name "Scone", if not entirely discredited, is rendered more unlikely by modern analysis of place names in the east of Scotland where Scone is situated. Such analysis supports the above argument that an Insular Celtic language related to the more southerly P-Celtic Brittonic languages was formerly spoken in Pictavia (and thus not a Q-Celtic language).

Ancient Kingdom of Scone

Scone was from at least the 9th century the crowning-place of the Kings of Scots and home to the Stone of Scone, more commonly referred to as the Stone of Destiny. Kenneth MacAlpin (traditionally known as the first King of Scots), Shakespeare's Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, and Charles II number amongst the 42 kings of Scots inaugurated and crowned at Scone. It was believed that no king had a right to reign as king of Scots unless he had first been crowned at Scone upon the Stone of Scone. In the Middle Ages, the land was the site of a major Augustinian abbey, Scone Abbey, nothing of which now remains above ground level except detached architectural fragments. Scone was also the site of the first Parliament of Scotland, or Council/Assembly. King Constantine II in 906 called for an assembly to meet at Scone. The assembly was recorded in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba; Alba being the early name for the early medieval Kingdom of Scotland. The Chronicle records that:King Constantine and Bishop Cellach met at the Hill of Belief near the Royal City of Scone and pledged themselves that the laws and disciplines of the faith, and the laws of churches and gospels, should be kept pariter cum Scottis.

Scone was thus the centre of power in the ancient Kingdom of Alba, doubling up as the site of both Scottish coronations and parliaments. Further to this in medieval times Scone acted as a royal residence and hunting ground. Robert II would have spent most of his life calling Scone home. He was eventually laid to rest in the Abbey itself, although his grave has never been located. A popular old saying suggests the significance of Scone's status in the Kingdom of Alba's, and later Scotland's, governance and rule:As the Bell of Scone rang, So mote it be.

This saying has often been re-quoted as "When the Bell of Scone tolls, the law of the land has been made". It is a statement of the great significance of the ceremonies held at Scone, and the judgments made from a top the Moot Hill. It is old sayings like this which frustrated historians, as the sayings clearly detail Scone's important role in Scottish history, and in the early formation of the Scottish nation. The primary source of much of Scone's early history and modern reputation is reliant upon Scottish folklore. An example of another piece of Scottish folklore which reminds us of Scone's position as the premier seat of power in the evolving early medieval Scottish nation is the Gaelic:Comhairle clag Sgàin: An rud nach buin duit na bean dà.
"Counsel of the bell of Scone, Touch not what is not thine own."

In Gaelic poetry Scone's association more specifically with kings and king-making gave it various poetic epithets, for instance, Scoine sciath-airde, meaning "Scone of the High Shields", and , meaning "Scone of the Noisy Shields". The "Noisy Shields" here refer to a folkloric ceremony in which magnates would gather at Scone for a Council. As they entered the Great Hall each magnate in turn would hang their shield displaying their coats of arms on the walls before beating their weapons against them.

The mons placiti or Scone Moot Hill is the inauguration site of the Scottish Kings. It is also called 'Boot Hill', possibly from an ancient tradition whereby nobles swore fealty to their king whilst wearing the earth of their own lands in their foot-bindings or boots, or even by standing upon the earth that they had brought with them from their respective homelands (carrying the soil in their boots). The tradition being that the Moot Hill, or rather 'Boot Hill', came into being as a result of this tradition of nobles bring a piece of their own lands to Scone. The kings of Scots, themselves inaugurated upon the Moot Hill, were thus making during these ceremonies a hugely symbolic commitment to the people of Scotland, the Scots. This commitment was made from atop a hill which, if one believes the tradition, represented all parts of the kingdom of Scots and thus allowed the King to make his oaths whilst standing symbolically upon all of Scotland.

Scone Abbey

Scone was an ancient gathering place of the Picts, and was probably the site of an early Christian church. The place of coronation was called Caislean Credi, 'Hill of Credulity', which survives as the present Moot Hill. In the Middle Ages the mound was marked with a stone cross, but this disappeared probably during the Scottish Reformation in 1559, when the Abbey buildings were sacked by a mob from Dundee and led by John Knox.

From 1114 to 1559, Scone was one of Scotland's major monasteries and later abbeys. It is often said to have been founded by King Alexander I. It is more likely the case that the monastery's status was 'formalised' as a result of King Alexander I's charter. A representation of the church on the Abbey's seal, and some surviving architectural fragments, show that it was built in the Romanesque style, with a central tower crowned with a spire. Between 1284 and 1402 Scone Abbey (sometimes referred to as the Palace of the Abbots) often served to house the Parliament of Scotland.

Alexander II and Alexander III, both crowned at Scone, ruled from 1214 to 1286. For centuries the greatest treasure at Scone was the Stone of Scone upon which the early Kings of Scotland were crowned. When Edward I of England carried off the Stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey in 1296, the Coronation Chair that still stands in the abbey was specially made to fit over it. Robert the Bruce was crowned at Scone in 1306 and the last coronation was of Charles II, when he accepted the Scottish crown in 1651. The Stone of Scone is now in Edinburgh Castle (Historic Scotland) along with the Scottish regalia.

Scone Abbey flourished for over four hundred years. In 1559, it fell victim to a mob from Dundee during the early days of the Reformation and was largely destroyed. In 1580 the abbey estates were granted to Lord Ruthven, later the Earl of Gowrie, who held estates around what is now called Huntingtower Castle. The Ruthvens rebuilt the Abbot's Palace of the old abbey as a grand residence. In 1600, James VI charged the family with treason and their estates at Scone were passed to Sir David Murray of Gospetrie (later known as Lord Scone), one of James' most loyal followers.

In 1604, the Palace of Scone was the family seat of the Murrays of Scone and the 1st Lord Scone. These Murrays were a branch of the Murrays of Tullibardine (later Atholl), whose original family seat was Balvaird Castle in Fife. The branch included William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench (8 November 1756 – 4 June 1788).

Modern palace

The modern palace, which was designed by William Atkinson in the Gothic Revival style for the 3rd Earl of Mansfield and built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, was completed in 1807. One of its best known features is the gallery.

Landscaping work around the Palace was undertaken by John Claudius Loudon. Further work was undertaken in 1842 to make Scone Palace ready for the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

On view in the State Rooms of Scone Palace are collections of furniture, ceramics, ivories, and clocks. Some of the prized contents of Scone Palace are Rococo chairs by Pierre Bara, further items by Robert Adam and Chippendale, Dresden and Sèvres porcelains, as well as a collection of Vernee Martin vases and a Jean-Henri Riesener writing desk given to David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield, by Marie-Antoinette. The collection at Scone Palace also includes a range of Scottish and British portraiture including works by Reynolds, Ramsay, and de László. One of the best-known pieces is Sir David Wilkie's painting, "The Village Politicians".

The Lennox Room, named after the Duke of Lennox, is rich in pieces with Royal connections including the bed-hanging made by Mary Queen of Scots.

The collection of large European ivories came from Bavaria, Italy and France. They were carved in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in elephant and walrus tusk, and collected mainly by William David Murray, 4th Earl of Mansfield.

The grounds of Scone Palace include the Moot Hill, the crowning place of the kings of Scots. A replica of the Stone of Scone sits upon the Moot Hill in front of a 17th-century chapel containing a fine monument dedicated to the 1st Lord Scone by the Flemish sculpture Maximilian Colt.The chapel also had a monument to the encapsulated heart of the first wife of the 2nd Earl of Mansfield.

The Murray Star shaped maze covers an area of 1600 square meters. It is planted in a mixture of copper and green beech, designed to resemble the Earl of Mansfield's family tartan, Ancient Murray of Tullibardine, and is in the shape of a five-pointed star which is part of the Mansfield family emblem.

There are fine woodlands in the grounds and policies of Scone Palace, some of the fir trees being at least 250 years old. The grounds of the Palace were the first place in Britain to which David Douglas introduced the Douglas fir tree species.

Notable gardeners
David Douglas (botanist)
David Taylor Fish

References
General

Christie, Christopher, The British Country House of the Eighteenth Century, Manchester University Press, Oxford (2000)
Norwich, John Julius, Treasures of Britain: the Architectural, Cultural, Historical and Natural History of Britain, W. W. Norton Publishing (2002)

Specific

External links

Scone Palace Website
Scottish Game Fair

1808 establishments in Scotland
Houses completed in 1808
Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross
Listed palaces in Scotland
Country houses in Perth and Kinross
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Gardens in Perth and Kinross
Historic house museums in Perth and Kinross
Stone of Scone

Scone Palace


In the Battle of Villagarcia (also known as the Battle of Llerena) on 11 April 1812, British cavalry commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton routed a French cavalry force led by  Charles Lallemand at the village of Villagarcia in the Peninsular War. Cotton intended to trap the French cavalry, which was separated by a number of miles from the main body of the French army, by executing simultaneous frontal and flank attacks. The plan came close to disaster when the forces making the frontal assault pushed forward prematurely.  The situation was saved by the timely arrival of John Le Marchant's force on the French left flank.

Background

The recent fall of the French occupied fortress city of Badajoz, on 6 April 1812, allowed the Anglo-Portuguese forces under Wellington to take the strategic offensive.  Prior to moving the bulk of his forces north where he would launch his Salamanca campaign Wellington entrusted a considerable proportion of his available cavalry to a force under General Sir Rowland Hill who was ordered to drive the retreating French army of Marshal Soult, who had failed in his attempt to relieve Badajoz, back into Andalusia to the south. The French rearguard under General D'Erlon were under orders to fall back towards Seville if pressed hard.  Hill's cavalry, under Sir Stapleton Cotton, were indeed pressing those French forces still remaining in the province of Extremadura hard.

Forces
Stapleton Cotton's cavalry consisted of John Le Marchant's heavy brigade (3rd and 4th Dragoons and 5th Dragoon Guards), John Slade's heavy brigade (1st Dragoons, and 3rd and 4th Dragoon Guards) and Frederick Ponsonby's (in temporary command due to General Anson's absence) light brigade (12th, 14th and 16th Light Dragoons). Only Ponsonby's brigade and the 5th Dragoon Guards were involved in the fighting.

The French cavalry force, attached to D'Erlon's two infantry divisions, commanded by General François "Charles" Lallemand was composed of the 2nd Hussars and the 17th and 27th Dragoons.

Battle

On the evening of 10 April 1811, General Cotton climbed the steeple of a church in Bienvenida. He knew that the French were occupying Llerena and saw that there were considerable numbers of French cavalry five miles closer to him near the village of Villagarcia. Cotton decided that he should attempt to trap the French cavalry with his superior forces.  During the night he despatched Ponsonby with the 12th and 14th Light Dragoons to probe the Villagarcia area, whilst Le Marchant was sent on a circuitous march to get on the French left flank and, it was hoped, cut off their retreat. Slade was also instructed to concentrate his brigade on Bienvenida, though he seems to have been tardy in moving. Cotton retained the 16th Light Dragoons as a reserve.  At some time during the night Cotton realised that Ponsonby's force might alert the French before Le Marchant was within striking distance and despatched an aide-de-camp with orders to halt the light cavalry; unfortunately the order arrived too late.

Two squadrons of the British light cavalry had forced the French vedettes out of the village of Villagarcia but, around dawn, had run into the full force of the French cavalry and were then chased back. Ponsonby subsequently found his two regiments faced by the three strong regiments under Lallemand and had to make a controlled withdrawal whilst skirmishing against heavy odds.

Following his orders, Le Marchant had moved his brigade though the night over tortuous terrain for a considerable distance. Coming down from rugged hills bordering the plain where the action was fought Le Marchant and the 5th Dragoon Guards had pulled considerably ahead of the other two regiments of the brigade. Le Marchant noticed, looking through the trees of the wood his men were moving through, that French cavalry, drawn up in two deep columns of squadrons, were pushing the six squadrons of light dragoons back towards a narrow ravine flanked by stone walls. Le Marchant realised that an immediate charge was needed, before Ponsonby's squadrons were forced into the congested and broken ground to their rear.

Lallemand, it is recorded, caught a glimpse of red-coated figures in the woods to his left and rode to alert General Peyremmont, who was leading the 2nd Hussars. Peyremmont scorned Lallemand's concerns, saying that the British dragoons were probably a small detachment who had lost their way.

At this point the advantage that the French had enjoyed in the action was suddenly reversed. Le Marchant led his dragoon guards out of the woods and they formed their ranks whilst accelerating into the charge. The 5th Dragoon Guards attacked with their squadrons in echelon, their left refused, and struck the deep and exposed left flank of the French formation to considerable effect. Simultaneously with Le Marchant's charge the 16th Light Dragoons, led by Cotton, appeared to Ponsonby's right-rear; they jumped a stone wall in line, and also charged. The French cavalry were thrown into instant confusion and were swiftly broken.

The British pursuit, continuing to inflict casualties and take prisoners, was conducted all the way back to the walls of Llerena where the bulk of D'Erlon's force was concentrated.  The French rallied briefly at a ditch halfway to Llerena, but they were outflanked by the 16th Light Dragoons and were forced into flight once more. A few hours later the French abandoned Llerena and continued their retreat out of Extremadura.

Results
The French lost 53 killed or wounded, plus 136 captured (including 4 officers - one a lt. colonel) and were induced to leave the province of Extremadura. The British lost 51 troopers killed or wounded.

Cotton had shown initiative in conceiving a plan to trap the French cavalry, however, the plan was wholly reliant on the timing of the movements on the flanks coinciding with those of the centre.  As a result, it was probably rather too complex and came dangerously close to breaking down in execution.  However, Cotton was flexible in extemporising once his original plan was rendered irrelevant when his central force made its presence known to the enemy too soon. Slade's heavy brigade did not make an appearance at all.

Le Marchant, in his first large-scale action as a general, proved himself as able a commander of cavalry in the field as he was a military innovator and educator.

Notes

References

External links

Battles of the Peninsular War
Battles of the Napoleonic Wars
Battles involving the United Kingdom
Battles involving France
Battle of Villagarcia
Battle of Villagarcia
April 1812 events

Battle of Villagarcia


The Blackhawk Museum, founded in 1988, consists of five distinct galleries in a facility in Danville, California with a significant collection of classic, rare, and unique automobiles. In addition to its gallery Classic Car Collection, the museum's four other galleries are The Spirit of the Old West, Art of Africa, Into China, and World of Nature.

The museum is located within the Blackhawk Plaza shopping center and is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a subsidiary of a not-for-profit Behring Global Educational Foundation.

History
Founded by a partnership between benefactor Ken Behring and Don Williams that began in 1982, the Blackhawk Automotive Museum first opened its doors in .  The museum was established to ensure that significant automotive treasures would be exhibited for public enjoyment and educational enrichment.

Hacienda-based architect Doug Dahlin is responsible for the design of the museum.

In February 2015, the Blackhawk Museum added a permanent collection of 19th century North American artifacts called The Spirit of the Old West, showcasing both the settler and Native American stories of the European expansion into North America during the 1800s.

Collections

The museum houses about ninety classic cars. It also houses a display showcasing the work of the Wheelchair Foundation.

One of the museum's most unusual possessions is a 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C with a body paneled with tulipwood. Over the years, the museum has also housed a 1962 John F. Kennedy limousine and a Chinese Hongqi, the first Chinese-made automobile to be imported to the United States.

The museum is a partner in organizing the local Concours d'Elegance event, which showcases some of the museum's collection among the usual entrants.

Several changing exhibitions, representative of topics in transportation, culture, and science as they relate to our society, have been hosted in the various galleries and reception areas throughout the museum. Current exhibitions include selections of American jukeboxes from the golden age of the juke box and a display of antique gas pumps. Since 2000, the Blackhawk Automotive Museum has been an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and together they have partnered to bring a variety of cultural exhibitions, historical artifacts, and significant automobiles from across the US.

Since its opening, exhibits showcasing African art, Chinese history, and exotic animals have been added.

References

External links

 Blackhawk Museum

Museums established in 1988
Automobile museums in California
Museums in Contra Costa County, California
Smithsonian Institution affiliates
1988 establishments in California

Blackhawk Museum


Rolls-Royce has used the Phantom name on full-sized luxury cars over the past century, and is the second,  longest-used automobile nameplate in the world after the Chevrolet Suburban. The Phantom is a low volume, hand-built limousine, which in earlier generations was custom built to the customers desires, and sometimes extravagant whims. As automobile manufacturing became more prolific, and vehicles from other manufacturers could be built in greater numbers and at reduced prices, the Phantom remained hand-built and production of individual models only began once the order was placed. The use of the name "phantom" is a long tradition of naming models after "ghosts".

Earlier versions from Rolls-Royce consisted of the chassis and engine, then arrangements were made to customize the body and interior to whatever the buyer requested. The Phantom is popular with wealthy business people, royalty and celebrities who desire the best of everything, and want a car with exclusivity and elegance.

During the years 1931-1998 when Rolls-Royce also manufactured Bentley vehicles, the Phantom was exclusive to Rolls-Royce and the approach to opulent vehicles wasn't shared with Bentley. When Bentley was an independent automaker, they did produce on a limited basis the Bentley 8 Litre limousine. When Rolls-Royce assumed operations and ownership, the 8 Litre was discontinued. Bentley would not manufacture a limousine until 2002 when the Bentley State Limousine was presented to Elizabeth II.

List of Generations
Rolls-Royce Phantom I, 1925–1931
Rolls-Royce Phantom II, 1929–1935
Rolls-Royce Phantom III, 1936–1939
Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, 1950–1956
Rolls-Royce Phantom V, 1959–1968
Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, 1968–1990
Rolls-Royce Phantom VII, 2003–2017
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, 2007–2017
Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé, 2008–2017
Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII, 2017–present

Rolls-Royce Phantom


Heliopolis (Jwnw, Iunu; ,  'the Pillars'; ; ) was a major city of ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the 13th or Heliopolite Nome of Lower Egypt and a major religious centre. It is now located in Ayn Shams, a northeastern district of Cairo.

Heliopolis was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, occupied since prehistoric Egypt. It greatly expanded under the Old and Middle Kingdoms but is today mostly destroyed, its temples and other buildings having been scavenged for the construction of medieval Cairo. Most information about the ancient city comes from surviving records.

The major surviving remnant of Heliopolis is the obelisk of the Temple of Ra-Atum erected by Senusret I of Dynasty XII. It still stands in its original position, now within Al-Masalla in El Matareya, Cairo. The  high red granite obelisk weighs 120 tons (240,000 lbs) and is believed to be the oldest surviving obelisk in the world. Under Augustus, the Romans took the Obelisk of Montecitorio from Heliopolis to Rome, where it remains. The two smaller obelisks called Cleopatra's Needles, in London and New York, also came from the city.

Names

Heliopolis is the Latinised form of the Greek name Hēlioúpolis (), meaning "City of the Sun". Helios, the personified and deified form of the sun, was identified by the Greeks with the native Egyptian gods Ra and Atum, whose principal cult was located in the city.

Its native name was  ("The Pillars"), whose exact pronunciation is uncertain because ancient Egyptian recorded only consonantal values. Arabic : Iwan إيوان.

Its traditional Egyptological transcription is Iunu but it appears in biblical Hebrew as ʾŌn (, ), and ʾĀwen () leading some scholars to reconstruct its pronunciation in earlier Egyptian as *ʔa:wnu, perhaps from older /ja:wunaw/. Variant transcriptions include Awnu and Annu. The name survived as Coptic  ŌN.

The city also appears in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts as the "House of Ra".

History

Ancient

In ancient Egypt, Heliopolis was a regional center from predynastic times.

It was principally notable as the cult center of the sun god Atum, who came to be identified with Ra and then Horus. The primary temple of the city was known as the Great House ( or Per Aat, *Par ʻĀ'at) or House of Atum ( or Per Atum, *Par-'Atāma; , Pithom). Its priests maintained that Atum or Ra was the first being, rising self-created from the primeval waters. A decline in the importance of Ra's cult during Dynasty V led to the development of the Ennead, a grouping of nine major Egyptian deities that placed the others in subordinate status to Ra–Atum. The high priests of Ra are not as well documented as those of other deities, although the high priests of Dynasty VI (BC) have been discovered and excavated.

During the Amarna Period of Dynasty XVIII, Pharaoh Akhenaten introduced a kind of henotheistic worship of Aten, the deified solar disc. As part of his construction projects, he built a Heliopolitan temple named "Elevating Aten" ( or Wetjes Aten), whose stones can still be seen in some of the gates of Cairo's medieval city wall. The cult of the Mnevis bull, another embodiment of the Sun, had its altar here as well. The bulls' formal burial ground was situated north of the city.

The store-city Pithom is mentioned once in the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 1:11), and according to one theory, this was Heliopolis.

Hellenistic
Alexander the Great, on his march from Pelusium to Memphis, halted at this city.

The temple of Ra was said to have been, to a special degree, a depository for royal records, and Herodotus states that the priests of Heliopolis were the best informed in matters of history of all the Egyptians. Heliopolis flourished as a seat of learning during the Greek period; the schools of philosophy and astronomy are claimed to have been frequented by Orpheus, Homer,  Pythagoras, Plato, Solon, and other Greek philosophers. Ichonuphys was lecturing there in 308 BC, and the Greek mathematician Eudoxus, who was one of his pupils, learned from him the true length of the year and month, upon which he formed his octaeterid, or period of 8 years or 99 months. Ptolemy II had Manetho, the chief priest of Heliopolis, collect his history of the ancient kings of Egypt from its archives. The later Greek rulers, the Ptolemies, probably took little interest in their "father" Ra as Greeks were never much of sun worshipers and the Ptolemies favored the cult of Serapis, and Alexandria had eclipsed the learning of Heliopolis; thus with the withdrawal of royal favour Heliopolis quickly dwindled, and the students of native lore deserted it for other temples supported by a wealthy population of pious citizens. By the first century BC, in fact, Strabo found the temples deserted, and the town itself almost uninhabited, although priests were still present.

Heliopolis was well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, being noted by most major geographers of the period, including Ptolemy, Herodotus, and others, down to the Byzantine geographer Stephanus of Byzantium.

Roman
In Roman Egypt, Heliopolis belonged to the province Augustamnica, causing it to appear as  when it needed to be distinguished from Roman Heliopolis. Its population probably contained a considerable Arabian element. Many of the city's obelisks were removed to adorn more northern cities of the Delta and Rome. Two of these eventually became London's Cleopatra's Needle and its twin in New York's Central Park.

Islamic
During the Middle Ages, the growth of Fustat and Cairo only a few kilometres away caused its ruins to be massively scavenged for building materials, including for their city walls. The site became known as the "Eye of the Sun" (Ayn Shams) and ʻArab al-Ḥiṣn.

Legacy
The importance of the solar cult at Heliopolis is reflected in both ancient pagan and current monotheistic beliefs. Classical mythology held that the Egyptian bennu, renamed phoenix, brought the remains of its predecessor to the altar of the sun god at Heliopolis each time it was reborn. In the Hebrew Bible, Heliopolis is referenced directly and obliquely, usually in reference to its prominent pagan cult. In his prophesies against Egypt, Isaiah claimed the "City of the Sun" () would be one of the five Egyptian cities to follow the Lord of Heaven's army and speak Hebrew. Jeremiah and Ezekiel mention the House or Temple of the Sun () and Ôn, claiming Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire would shatter its obelisks and burn its temple and that its "young men of Folly" (Aven) would "fall by the sword".

The "Syrian Heliopolis" Baalbek has been claimed to have gained its solar cult from a priest colony emigrating from Egypt.

The Titular Episcopal See of Heliopolis in Augustamnica remains a titular see of both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Present site

The ancient city is currently located about  below the streets of the middle- and lower-class suburbs of Al-Matariyyah, Ain Shams, and Tel Al-Hisn in northern Cairo. The area is about  west of the modern suburb which bears its name.

Some ancient city walls of crude brick can be seen in the fields, a few granite blocks bearing the name of Ramesses II remain, and the position of the great Temple of Ra-Atum is marked by the Al-Masalla obelisk. Archaeologists excavated some of its tombs in 2004. In 2017, parts of a colossal statue of Psamtik I were found and excavated.

Gallery
A selection of old maps showing Heliopolis are below:

See also

List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities
Other Heliopolises, particularly
 Heliopolis, the 20th-century suburb of Cairo
 Ilioupoli, the 20th-century suburb of Athens settled by Egyptian Greeks
Ancient Egyptian creation myths – in reference to the religious belief system of Iunu at Heliopolis
List of Egyptian dynasties – in reference to the reigns centered at Heliopolis
Benben

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography
 Allen, James P. 2001. "Heliopolis". In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald Bruce Redford. Vol. 2 of 3 vols. Oxford, New York, and Cairo: Oxford University Press and The American University in Cairo Press. 88–89
 Bilolo, Mubabinge. 1986. Les cosmo-théologies philosophiques d'Héliopolis et d'Hermopolis. Essai de thématisation et de systématisation, (Academy of African Thought, Sect. I, vol. 2),  Kinshasa–Munich 1987;  new ed., Munich-Paris, 2004.
 Reallexikon der Ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte - Hans Bonnet

 The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart
 Redford, Donald Bruce. 1992. "Heliopolis". In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman. Vol. 3 of 6 vols. New York: Doubleday. 122–123

External links
Obelisk of Psametik II from Heliopolis, removed and  reerected by Augustus in Rome

Cities in ancient Egypt
Roman sites in Egypt
Archaeological sites in Egypt
Former populated places in Egypt
Hebrew Bible cities
Nile Delta
History of Cairo
Tells (archaeology)

Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)


Kashmir and Jammu was a princely state in the Himalayas next to the territories of British India in the north. It was ruled by a Hindu Maharaja.

The state was created in 1846 after the defeat of the Sikhs. The East India Company annexed the Kashmir valley and wanted to recover some of the cost of the Anglo-Sikh war. The Muslim majority Kashmir was sold to the Dogra ruler of Jammu under the Treaty of Amritsar. The area of the state were set by the Treaty of Amritsar of 1846 "situated to the eastward of the Indus and westward of the Ravi River it covered an area of 80,900 km2.

After the British left India the princely state was divided between Pakistan and India  as war took place between the neighbours.

Creation
Before the creation of the princely state, Kashmir had been ruled by the Durrani Empire it was then taken over by the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh. During Sikh rule Jammu had been a tributary of the Sikh Empire in the Punjab region, but after the death of its Raja, Kishore Singh, Dogra,  in 1822 his son Gulab Singh was recognised by the Sikhs as being his heir. He then began expanding his kingdom.

As Ruler Jammu Gulab Singh took over Bhadarwah then  Kishtwar. Taking over Kishtwar meant that Singh had now gained control of two of the roads which led into Ladakh which allowed him to take control of that territory. Although there were huge difficulties, due to the mountains and glaciers, the Dogras under Gulab Singh's officer, Zorawar Singh managed to conquered the whole of Ladakh.

A few years later, in 1840, General Zorawar Singh invaded Baltistan and captured the Raja of Skardu who had sided with the Ladakhis, and took over his country. The following year (1841) Zorawar Singh tried to invade Tibet, however due to the winter weather and by being attacked by the Tibetians. He along with almost all of his army died.

In the winter of 1845 war broke out between the British and the Sikhs. Gulab Singh remained neutral until the battle of Sobraon in 1846, when he became a trusted adviser of Sir Henry Lawrence. This allowed him to gain land for himself - all the hilly or mountainous land to the east of the Indus and west of the Ravi River.

Kashmir itself was not easy for the Maharaja to take over. The Maharaja's army had to fight Imam-ud-din - the Sikh governor. Imam-ud-din was aided by the Bambas from the Jhelum valley. They managed to defeat Gulab Singh's troops near to Srinagar, killing Wazir Lakhpat. However Imam-ud-din was later persuaded by Sir Henry Lawrence to stop fighting and Kashmir passed without further fighting to the new ruler.

Expansion
Not long afterwards the Hunza Raja, attacked Gilgit territory. Nathu Shah on behalf of Gulab Singh responded by leading a force to attack the Hunza valley; he and his force were destroyed, and Gilgit fort fell into the hands of the Hunza Raja, along with Punial, Yasin, and Darel. The Maharaja then sent two armies, one from Astor and one from Baltistan, and after some fighting Gilgit fort was taken back. In 1852 the Dogra troops were defeated by Gaur Rahman of Yasin, and for eight years the Indus formed the boundary of the Maharaja's territories.

Gulab Singh died in 1857, his successor, Ranbir Singh, sided with the British during the Indian Rebellion. After the rebellion had been defeated by the British Ranbir decided to take back Gilgit. In 1860 a force under Devi Singh crossed the Indus, and moved towards Gaur Rahman's strong fort at Gilgit. Gaur Rahman had died just before the arrival of the Dogras. The fort was taken and held by the Maharajas until 1947.

Although Ranbir Singh was tolerant of other religions his control over the country was weak, between 1877 and 1879 a dreadful famine took place in Kashmir.

Geography
Jammu was the southernmost part of the state and was next to the Punjab districts of Jhelum, Gujrat, Sialkot, and Gurdaspur.

Transport
There used to be a route from Kohala to Leh, it was possible to travel from Rawalpindi via Kohala and over the Kohala Bridge into Kashmir. The route from Kohala to Srinagar was a cart-road 132 miles in length, from Kohala to Baramulla the road was close to the Jhelum River. At Muzaffarabad the Kishenganga River joins the Jhelum and at this point the road from Abbottabad and Garhi Habibullah meet the Kashmir route. The road carried heavy traffic and had to be repaired main times by the authorities.

Flooding
In 1893 very serious floods took place in the Jhelum because of rain that fell for 52 hours, and much damage was done to Srinagar. However the floods of 1903 was much more severe.

End of the princely state
In 1947 the Indian Independence Act was passed, this meant that British India would become two independent states - Pakistan and India. Also each of the princely states would be free to join India or Pakistan - or remain independent. All of princely ended up becoming part of Pakistan or India.

However the ruler of Kashmir wanted to remain independent, neither joining Pakistan or India, this led to war between the two neighbouring countries in which Kashmir became divided between them. Each considered that all of the former princely state belongs to them. This has led to several wars. The Kashmir conflict between the two nuclear neighbours remains one of the hardest and longest running disputes that the  United Nations Security Council has been trying to solve.

Related pages
 Azad Kashmir
 Kashmir

References

Indian princely states
Former subdivisions of Pakistan
1952 disestablishments
19th-century establishments in India
1846 establishments in the United Kingdom
1950s disestablishments in India
1950s disestablishments in the United Kingdom
1840s establishments in Asia

Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)


USS McNair (DD-679) was a  of the United States Navy.

Namesake

Frederick Valette McNair was born on 13 January 1839 at Abington, Pennsylvania. He was appointed midshipman on 21 December 1853, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1857. He served on the Atlantic blockade stations and Mississippi River patrols during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of rear admiral in July 1898. He served as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 1898 to 1900. Rear Admiral McNair died at Washington, D.C., on 28 November 1900, while awaiting orders.

Construction and commissioning
McNair was laid down 30 June 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; launched 14 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. F. V. McNair, Jr., daughter-in-law of Rear Admiral McNair; and commissioned on 30 December 1943.

Service history

World War II
McNair departed New York on 5 March 1944 for the Pacific. By 14 June, as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 54 (DesRon 54), she was in the screen for the battleships that opened their guns against Japanese shore installations on Saipan. For the next 19 days, she provided fire support and carried out antisubmarine patrols. On 3 July, she was detached from TF 52 to escort ships between Eniwetok and Saipan. Rejoining that force on the 25th, she provided fire and screening support for the invasion of Tinian. Detached again 2 August, McNair steamed to Guadalcanal to prepare for the next offensive operation, the Palaus. From 6–21 September, she supported the land forces effecting the capture and occupation of the southern Palaus with counterbattery and harassing fire. After the battle of Angaur, she sailed south to Manus Island, the staging area for the Leyte invasion.

Arriving in the Leyte Gulf transport area on 20 October, McNair took up antisubmarine patrol duty to protect ships and troops as the latter began to storm the shore at Dulag. In the first hours of the 25th, she remained at her station to cover the entrance to Leyte Gulf as her sister ships of DesRon 54 conducted their much-heralded night torpedo attack on Japanese men-of-war steaming toward the northern end of Surigao Strait and defeat under the guns of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's battleline.

The next day, she got underway for Hollandia where she took up escort work, ensuring the safe arrival of reinforcements at Leyte. Then she sailed back to the Solomons for rehearsals for the assault on Luzon. Clearing Guadalcanal on 25 December, she screened transports to Manus, continuing on to Lingayen Gulf with them on 2 January 1945. She entered the gulf on 11 January. There, until the 14th, she provided close fire support and met the attacks of kamikazes with skill. She then joined the fast carriers for strikes in support of the Iwo Jima offensive. By 16 February, she was 72 miles (133 km) off Honshū, screening the carriers as their planes struck at the Tokyo-Yokohama area, thus keeping Japanese planes at home while landings were made on Iwo. The force next moved south to provide air cover over the embattled island. On the 21st, McNair helped  fight off kamikaze and torpedo planes, splashing two of the latter, and then escorted her to Eniwetok for repairs.

On 18 March, the destroyer was back with the carriers for raids on the Nansei Shoto in preparation for the upcoming Okinawa campaign. On 1 April, they provided close support as troops landed on that enemy bastion. McNair remained off Okinawa to aid in fighting off the daily air attacks until 27 April, when she returned to Ulithi for repairs. Returning to Okinawa on 25 May, she conducted further shore bombardment and antiaircraft patrol missions before returning on 13 June to Leyte, the staging area of the fast carriers' last deployment against Japan.

The force steamed north on 1 July, and for the next month and a half ranged the coasts of the enemy's home islands, raining destruction on industrial and military targets on Honshū, Hokkaidō, and the Kuriles. On 12 August, after her guns had pounded Paramushiro in the Kuriles, McNair headed for the Aleutians.

At Adak, Alaska on the 14th, she received news of the Japanese surrender and with that news, new orders to return to Japan for occupation duty in the Aomori-Ominato area. Two months later, on 12 October, she departed for the United States, arriving at San Francisco, Calif. on 4 November. At San Diego on 28 May 1946, she decommissioned and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

1951–1963

In 1950, world tension increased as the divided country of Korea became the site of overt hostilities. McNair was soon taken out of mothballs, recommissioning 6 July 1951. Before the end of the year she had reported for duty in the Atlantic Fleet. On 6 September 1952, she departed her home port, Newport, R.I., for a world cruise that took her through the Panama Canal to Korea, where she served as gunfire support ship for United Nations troops and as guardian of carriers of the 7th Fleet. After 3 months in the combat area, she transited the Suez Canal en route home, arriving Newport 11 April 1953. In July she headed back across the Atlantic for a midshipman training cruise to northern Europe, followed by her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.

McNair remained on the east coast until 18 April 1956, when she sailed on 72 hours notice for the Middle East. There, she cruised the Red Sea and along the northern Egyptian coast until mid-July. On 20 July, she cleared Gibraltar and by the 28th was back at Newport.

Tension in the Middle East remained high, and in May 1957 McNair was back in the Mediterranean. Transiting the Suez Canal 22 May with her division, DesDiv 202, she again cruised in the Red Sea area until July. She then returned to the Mediterranean for 6th Fleet operations, departing for Newport 22 August. In June 1958, McNair again sailed eastward to help deal with another explosive situation in the politically unstable eastern Mediterranean area. From 23 July to 20 August she patrolled off Lebanon. In mid-September, tension decreased and the destroyer departed for Newport, arriving on the 30th.

McNairs 1959 6th Fleet deployment was followed by assignment to the 4th Naval District as a Naval Reserve training ship, based at Philadelphia, Penn. On 13 August 1961, the Brandenburg Gate between East and West Berlin was closed and construction on the Berlin Wall was begun by East Germany. As tension in the city, and the world, increased, Allied garrisons were reinforced and ships of the Allied navies stood by to await developments. McNairs reserve crew was recalled to active duty and the destroyer again joined the active fleet for operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean. In mid-February, she sailed on her last European deployment, a 5-month cruise to northern European ports. By 7 September, she had resumed her status as a Naval Reserve training ship and had returned her reservist crew to civilian life. In August 1963, she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for preinactivation overhaul. Decommissioning there on 30 December, she joined the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

McNair was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1974. She was sold on 10 June 1976 and broken up for scrap.

Awards
McNair received eight battle stars for World War II service and two for the Korean War.

References

External links
navsource.org: USS McNair
hazegray.org: USS McNair

World War II destroyers of the United States
Cold War destroyers of the United States
Korean War destroyers of the United States
Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey
1943 ships
Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy

USS McNair


Patrick Joseph Casey (born 4 August 1941, Dublin, Ireland), commonly called Pat Casey, was an Ireland rugby union player.

He began playing rugby at school at C.B.C. Monkstown before moving onto University College Dublin. He played for Lansdowne Football Club (where he is in their hall of fame) and provincially for Leinster. He made his international  debut on 16 January, 1963 against France. He was capped 12 times, scoring three tries for Ireland at wing playing alongside the likes of Mike Gibson, Tony O'Reilly, Tom Kiernan and Willie John McBride.

Casey scored one of the greatest tries in Irish rugby history against England in an 18–5 rout at Twickenham in 1964. A move begun by débutante fly half Mike Gibson in their 22 was finished off by Casey. The game was one of the first ever rugby games captured by RTÉ television cameras. It is the largest win by any "Home Nation" team against England of all time in Twickenham.

Casey also scored a try for Leinster in the same year versus the All Blacks in an 11–8 defeat. A 40-yard interception almost made history for the Irish province.

References

1941 births
Living people
Rugby union players from Dublin (city)
Irish rugby union players
Ireland international rugby union players
Alumni of University College Dublin
Lansdowne Football Club players
University College Dublin R.F.C. players
People educated at C.B.C. Monkstown
Rugby union wings

Patrick Casey (rugby union)


Mooncusser Films, LLC is the film and video production company founded by documentary producer/director Christopher Seufert. Notable projects include cinema verité films with alterna-folk musician Suzanne Vega, the late illustrator Edward Gorey, and one upcoming portrait of legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles. Mooncusser Films has provided content to PBS, the Discovery Channel, VH-1, Twin Cities Public Television, and the History Channel.

Director Christopher Seufert is most known for his award-winning educational film series about the Cape Cod dayboat fishing industry in New England.

He also worked with actress Julie Harris, veteran journalist Walter Cronkite, and with musician Chris Trapper of the Push Stars.
Mooncusser Films Walter Cronkite Project
Mooncusser Films Official Web Site
Mooncusser Films Suzanne Vega Documentary
Documentary with filmmaker Albert Maysles
Article at NewEnglandFilm.com
Mooncusser Films Edward Gorey Documentary

Film production companies of the United States

Mooncusser Films


Pursuit–evasion (variants of which are referred to as cops and robbers and graph searching) is a family of problems in mathematics and computer science in which one group  attempts to track down members of another group in an environment. Early work on problems of this type modeled the environment geometrically. In 1976, Torrence Parsons introduced a formulation whereby movement is constrained by a graph. The geometric formulation is sometimes called continuous pursuit–evasion, and the graph formulation discrete pursuit–evasion (also called graph searching). Current research is typically limited to one of these two formulations.

Discrete formulation
In the discrete formulation of the pursuit–evasion problem, the environment is modeled as a graph.

Problem definition
There are innumerable possible variants of pursuit–evasion, though they tend to share many elements. A typical, basic example is as follows (cops and robber games): Pursuers and evaders occupy nodes of a graph. The two sides take alternate turns, which consist of each member either staying put or moving along an edge to an adjacent node. If a pursuer occupies the same node as an evader the evader is captured and removed from the graph. The question usually posed is how many pursuers are necessary to ensure the eventual capture of all the evaders. If one pursuer suffices, the graph is called a cop-win graph. In this case, a single evader can always be captured in time linear to the number of n nodes of the graph. Capturing r evaders with k pursuers can take in the order of r n time as well, but the exact bounds for more than one pursuer are still unknown.

Often the movement rules are altered by changing the velocity of the evaders. This velocity is the maximum number of edges that an evader can move along in a single turn. In the example above, the evaders have a velocity of one. At the other extreme is the concept of infinite velocity, which allows an evader to move to any node in the graph so long as there is a path between its original and final positions that contains no nodes occupied by a pursuer. Similarly some variants arm the pursuers with "helicopters" which allow them to move to any vertex on their turn.

Other variants ignore the restriction that pursuers and evaders must always occupy a node and allow for the possibility that they are positioned somewhere along an edge. These variants are often referred to as sweeping problems, whilst the previous variants would fall under the category of searching problems.

Variants
Several variants are equivalent to important graph parameters. Specifically, finding the number of pursuers necessary to capture a single evader with infinite velocity in a graph G (when pursuers and evader are not constrained to move turn by turn, but move simultaneously) is equivalent to finding the treewidth of G, and a winning strategy for the evader may be described in terms of a haven in G. If this evader is invisible to the pursuers then the problem is equivalent to finding the pathwidth or vertex separation.  Finding the number of pursuers necessary to capture a single invisible evader in a graph G in a single turn (that is, one movement by the pursuers from their initial deployment) is equivalent to finding the size of the minimum dominating set of G, assuming the pursuers can initially deploy wherever they like (this later assumption holds when pursuers and evader are assumed to move turn by turn).

The board game Scotland Yard is a variant of the pursuit–evasion problem.

Complexity
The complexity of several pursuit–evasion variants, namely how many pursuers are needed to clear a given graph and how a given number of pursuers should move on the graph to clear it with either a minimum sum of their travel distances or minimum task-completion time, has been studied by Nimrod Megiddo, S. L. Hakimi, Michael R. Garey, David S. Johnson, and Christos H. Papadimitriou (J. ACM 1988),  and  R. Borie, C. Tovey and S. Koenig.

Multi-player pursuit–evasion games
Solving multi-player pursuit–evasion games has also received increased attention; see R Vidal et al., Chung and Furukawa , Hespanha et al. and the references therein. Marcos A. M. Vieira and Ramesh Govindan and Gaurav S. Sukhatme provided an algorithm that computes the minimal completion time strategy for pursuers to capture all evaders when all players make optimal decisions based on complete knowledge. This algorithm can also be applied to when evader are significantly faster than pursuers. Unfortunately, these algorithms do not scale beyond a small number of robots. To overcome this problem, Marcos A. M. Vieira and Ramesh Govindan and Gaurav S. Sukhatme design and implement a partition algorithm where pursuers capture evaders by decomposing the game into multiple multi-pursuer single-evader games.

Continuous formulation
In the continuous formulation of pursuit–evasion games, the environment is modeled geometrically, typically taking the form of the Euclidean plane or another manifold. Variants of the game may impose maneuverability constraints on the players, such as a limited range of speed or acceleration. Obstacles may also be used.

If a lion is chasing a man with equal speed, then it is clear that the man can escape on a plane or a sphere by always moving on the straight line away from the lion. When both are confined in a circular disk, it seemed likely for the lion to catch the man. Besicovitch proved in 1952 that the man has a strategy to evade capture indefinitely against any strategy.

Applications
One of the initial applications of the pursuit–evasion problem was missile guidance systems formulated by Rufus Isaacs at the RAND Corporation.

See also
 Angel problem
 Chases and Escapes
 Homicidal chauffeur problem
 Princess and monster game
 Search games
Pursuit curve

Notes

References

Combat modeling

Pursuit–evasion