Mark Hamilton Schauer (born October 2, 1961) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative for  from 2009 to 2011.

Schauer was previously a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002 and a member of the Michigan Senate from 2003 to 2009, where he served as the Minority Leader from 2007 to 2009. In each legislative body, he represented Battle Creek and its surrounding region. In 2008, he was elected to the House of Representatives, defeating Republican incumbent Tim Walberg by 48.8% to 46.5%. A moderate Democrat, Schauer was defeated in a rematch with Walberg in 2010 by 50.2% to 45.4%.

Schauer was the Democratic nominee for governor of Michigan in the 2014 election. He was defeated by incumbent Republican Governor Rick Snyder by 51% to 47%. After the election, Schauer became chairman of PAC Advantage 2020, which aims to help Democrats retake state legislative chambers.

Early life and education
Schauer was born and raised in Howell, Michigan. His mother, Myra (Trafton), was a registered nurse, and his father, Robert Schauer, was a high school science teacher. He was valedictorian of his class at Howell High School. He later graduated summa cum laude from Albion College in 1984, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Gerald R Ford Institute for Public Policy.

Schauer worked as an urban planner for the Calhoun County Planning Department, 1984–1987, while he completed a master's degree in public administration from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He earned a master's degree in political science from Michigan State University in 1997.

Career
Schauer began his career in program development for the Community Action Agency in Battle Creek. Shortly afterwards, the director left for another position and Schauer was selected to run the CAA, which then consisted of 200 employees, had a 21-member board of directors and offered a broad range of programs for the poor, including home weatherization, a foster grandparent program, food assistance and the local Head Start Program for children.

Schauer was also a founding board member of Battle Creek Habitat for Humanity in 1988 and was honored for fifteen years of service by being named the "2003 Public Official of the Year" by Habitat for Humanity of Michigan. Schauer has also been actively involved in the supporting the Food Bank of South Central Michigan and the Urban League of Battle Creek.

He also serves on the board of directors of the Kids 'N' Stuff Children's Museum in Albion. He was a coordinator of the Calhoun County Human Services Coordinating Council, 1992–1997.

In 1993, Schauer ran for a seat on the Battle Creek City Commission and lost by 200 votes. However, he was later appointed to fill an unexpired term and was then elected to a full term in 1995.

Michigan House of Representatives (1997–2003)

Elections
In 1996, Schauer ran for the 62nd district of the Michigan House of Representatives. He won re-election in 1998 and in 2000, with 67% of the vote.

Tenure
In 1999, he strongly opposed Republican Governor John Engler's plan to appoint a monitor for Detroit Public Schools. He called it "very dangerous" and it was "receivership."

He served as the Assistant Democratic Leader from 1999 to 2000.

Committee assignments
House Education Subcommittee on Violence in the Schools (Chair)

Michigan Senate

Elections
In 2002, Schauer ran for the 19th district of the Michigan Senate. He defeated Republican State Representative Mickey Mortimer 55%-45%. In 2006, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican Elizabeth Fulton 61%-39%.

Tenure
He served as the Senate Minority Whip from 2003 to 2006. He became the Senate Minority Leader after the 2006 elections.

In 2004, he supported the MCCA reform.

In June 2007, Schauer, along with state senators Liz Brater and Gilda Jacobs, and state representative Robert Jones, endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for U.S. president.

Committee assignments
Judiciary

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections
2008

In August 2007, Schauer formed a finance committee to challenge freshman Republican U.S. Representative Tim Walberg, who was identified as a top target by the DCCC. Schauer was considered a top contender for the Democratic nomination and his announcement resulted in David Nacht, who had raised $160K in the first quarter, to drop out of the race. In September 2007, former State Senator Jim Berryman also dropped out of the Democratic race. Schauer won the Democratic primary by a landslide, defeating Sharon Marie Renier 71%-29%.

In the general election, Schauer defeated Walberg 49%-46%. He won four of the district's seven counties: Calhoun (56%), Washtenaw (51%), Eaton (50%), and Jackson (48%). He is the second Democrat to represent this district since World War I; the district had been numbered as the 2nd District prior to the 1990s round of redistricting.

2010

Walberg filed for a rematch in 2010. Schauer was endorsed by Michigan's largest newspaper, the Detroit Free Press. Schauer's re-election bid was considered to be a toss-up by aggregate polling. Likewise, nonpartisan polling showed the race as a dead heat. In the final days before the election, former President Bill Clinton headlined a rally for Schauer in his home town.

On November 2, 2010, Walberg defeated Schauer 50%-45%. The incumbent won just two of the district's seven counties: Eaton (48%) and his home of Calhoun (50%).

Tenure
In the 111th Congress, Schauer voted with his party on most major legislation, including votes in support of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program; and in support of a repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. His predecessor, Tim Walberg, had opposed legislation similar to each of these bills in the 110th Congress. Schauer supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, earning him praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and pledged "vigorous oversight" of how funds were used. In addition, Schauer supported the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, stating that the legislation would "protect consumers, crack down on the risky practices that put our entire economy at risk, and help lay the groundwork to get our economy back on track" and that his vote was "about doing what's fair." Schauer also supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a vote that would receive considerable attention in his 2010 re-election loss.

Based on his bill sponsorship behavior relative to other members of Congress, the web site GovTrack rated Schauer as a "moderate Democratic follower," indicating that Schauer fell near the center of his own party and generally supported the legislative efforts of fellow members.

Schauer voted against the Federal Reserve Transparency Act to audit the Federal Reserve System.

Committee assignments
Committee on Agriculture
Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Aviation
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit  (Vice Chair)
Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Post-congressional career

BlueGreen Alliance
After leaving Congress, Schauer began working with BlueGreen Alliance, described in an interview as "a partnership of 10 unions and four environmental groups that is dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy." In the same interview, Schauer noted that he had also been working with the Construction Laborers' union on Michigan wind farm projects. Schauer stated that "[his] work is focused on jobs, jobs, jobs—that support families and sustain our communities."

In July 2011, Schauer declined to seek a third rematch with Walberg in the 2012 elections. He also ruled out running against Republican Justin Amash in the 3rd congressional district after redistricting moved his house into that district.

2012 labor protests
On December 11, 2012, Schauer was one of an estimated 12,500 demonstrators at the Michigan State Capitol protesting the proposed Right-to-work legislation. Labor activists and Democrats in the state legislature criticized the legislation as being "about union-busting and retribution for Proposal 2, a failed Nov. 6 labor-backed ballot initiative that would have barred a right-to-work law and enshrined collective bargaining in the state constitution," and suggested that it had been "fast-tracked" without proper discussion or debate.

During the protests, Schauer was among the demonstrators pepper sprayed by police. In a video interview conducted shortly after the incident, he characterized the protests as "a peaceful demonstration where people [were] exercising their First Amendment rights" in which demonstrators were not "touching the building or endangering the building in any way," and stated that the use of pepper spray was "not necessary." When asked whether the incident would prompt him to run for elected office again, Schauer deflected the question, saying only, "I'm angry. What the legislature is doing is wrong, it's cowardly."

2014 gubernatorial election

Following the 2012 Right-to-work protests, Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling conducted a survey testing incumbent Republican Governor Rick Snyder against various Michigan Democrats. Their survey found that although Schauer was unknown by 72 percent of Michigan voters, he would lead Snyder in a hypothetical election, 44 percent to 39 percent. On February 8, 2013, Schauer was interviewed on WKAR's Off the Record, where he stated that he was considering running for governor but that he wasn't "there yet." He admitted some reluctance to commit to a campaign, noting that his "two favorite words in the English language for me are 'Grandpa Schauer.'"

Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, who had removed herself from consideration in January, stated in April 2013 that she expected Schauer to be nominated unopposed. In May 2013, Politico reported that the Democratic Governors Association had identified Schauer as a "formidable opponent" to Snyder, and a number of potential rivals for the Democratic nomination gave their support to a potential Schauer candidacy. Michigan Board of Education president John Austin endorsed Schauer, saying "I look forward to helping Mark any way I can, and working with Mark to promote what's best for Michigan." Former U.S. Representative Bart Stupak, who had previously been identified as a leading potential candidate, issued a statement in support of a potential Schauer campaign, saying "[Schauer is] one of the hardest-working people I've ever met, and I know he'd make a terrific governor." Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, echoed those sentiments, stating that "Mark Schauer is the right candidate at the right time. He brings the energy and passion that Democrats will rally around, and he brings the know-how and policy expertise that Michigan needs."

On May 14, 2013, Schauer told the Detroit Free Press that he was "strongly leaning toward putting a campaign together." Ten days later, Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Representatives John Dingell, John Conyers, Sander Levin, Gary Peters, and Dan Kildee issued a joint endorsement of Schauer's potential candidacy. On May 28, Schauer made it official that he is running for Michigan governor.

Schauer lost to incumbent Governor Rick Snyder on November 4, 2014.

Advantage 2020
After the election, Schauer became Chairman of the super PAC Advantage 2020, which aims to help Democrats retake state legislative chambers ahead of the 2020 census and subsequent redistricting, which will redraw Congressional district boundaries.

Political positions

Education
Upon receiving the endorsement of the Michigan Education Association, Schauer stated his intention to be "the education governor" if elected. Appearing in an ad produced by the Democratic Governors Association in January 2014, Schauer highlighted his father's career as a high school science teacher and attacked incumbent Governor Rick Snyder for signing a budget that cut education spending by $1 billion—a figure disputed by the Snyder campaign.

On April 16, 2014, Schauer's campaign released a document outlining his priorities for public education, including plans to universal publicly funded pre-school; establishing state standards for maximum class sizes; and eliminating the controversial Education Achievement Authority instituted under Snyder's administration. A Snyder campaign spokesperson criticized the plan for lacking specific details about funding and implementation; Schauer defended his plan and criticized Snyder for "[running] in 2010 without telling anybody what he would do."

Following a series of articles published by the Detroit Free Press detailing a year-long investigation of charter schools in Michigan, Schauer called for "more accountability and transparency," and criticized charter schools that operate as for-profit organizations.

Minimum wage
In November 2013, Schauer proposed increasing Michigan's minimum wage from $7.40 per hour to $9.25 per hour over three years, and then indexing future minimum wage increases to inflation. Incumbent Governor Rick Snyder indicated that such a change would not be a part of his agenda, with a spokesperson explaining that increasing the minimum wage "hasn't been a burning issue because Michigan is already above the federal minimum."

Public opinion polling indicated broad support for increasing Michigan's minimum wage, with 65 percent of voters supporting a proposed ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over three years. With the ballot initiative expected to boost Democratic turnout in the November 2014 elections, the majority-Republican Michigan Legislature moved to support a minimum wage increase to just $8.15 per hour, which would preempt the $10.10 proposal and keep the initiative off the ballot in November.

However, disagreement within the Michigan Senate Republican caucus meant the $8.15 proposal could not pass with Republican votes alone. On May 15, 2014, the Michigan Senate passed compromise legislation raising the minimum wage to $9.20 per hour over three years, supported by the majority of the Senate Democratic caucus and half of the Senate Republicans. Schauer appeared on the floor of the Senate arm-in-arm with Republican Majority Leader Randy Richardville, congratulating Richardville and highlighting the similarities between his original proposal and the legislation that had just been passed. The final version of the legislation (passed on May 27, 2014, and signed by Snyder later that day) increased the minimum wage to $9.25 per hour over three years, then indexing future increases to inflation—nearly identical to Schauer's November 2013 proposal.

Taxes
In an op-ed in The Holland Sentinel, Schauer criticized incumbent Governor Rick Snyder for what he characterized as "the Snyder Senior Tax." Schauer cited taxes on retirement income instituted in 2012 and potential cuts in pensions as part of the settlement in the Detroit bankruptcy before concluding that "[s]eniors and retirees are paying more in taxes because of Snyder's tax policies."

Schauer has also objected to what he calls "a massive $1.8 billion tax cut to businesses," referencing the 2011 elimination of the Michigan Business Tax. Schauer has contrasted this tax cut with cuts in education spending and tax increases on pensions, saying that "[w]e've got to get our priorities right and we've got to get our fundamentals right."

Same-sex marriage

Following the Supreme Court rulings in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry, Schauer called upon incumbent Governor Rick Snyder to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and indicated that if elected, he would seek to legalize same-sex marriage in Michigan as well. When Michigan's bans on same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples were overturned in DeBoer v. Snyder, Schauer issued a statement supporting the ruling and encouraged Snyder and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to not appeal the decision. Four Michigan counties issued 323 marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the ruling but before an appeals court stayed on the decision, and Schauer has encouraged the state of Michigan to recognize those marriages.

Schauer's running mate for lieutenant governor, Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, is one of the county clerks who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples prior to the appeal.

Electoral history
2010 Election for the U.S. Representative – Michigan's 7th District

2008 Election for the U.S. Representative – Michigan's 7th District

2006 Election for the Michigan State Senate – 19th District

2002 Election for the Michigan State Senate – 19th District

2000 Election for the Michigan State House – 62nd District

1998 Election for the Michigan State House – 62nd District

1996 Election for the Michigan State House – 62nd District

Personal life
Schauer lives in Battle Creek with his wife, Christine Schauer. Together, they own My Style... Your Style, a Battle Creek consignment shop. In November 2012, Christine was elected Calhoun County Treasurer. Schauer has three stepchildren and four grandchildren.

References

Further reading

External links
Mark Schauer for Governor

|-

1961 births
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American politicians
Albion College alumni
American Protestants
American urban planners
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives
Democratic Party Michigan state senators
Michigan State University alumni
People from Howell, Michigan
People from Battle Creek, Michigan
Western Michigan University alumni
Members of Congress who became lobbyists

Mark Schauer


Westbury College Gatehouse () is a 15th-century gatehouse to the 13th-century College of Priests located in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England, and now a National Trust property.

History
The Gatehouse originally formed part of Westbury College, a residence for the dean and canons of Holy Trinity Church.  The college building was fortified with towers, turrets and battlements surrounding a quadrangle, onto which the gatehouse opened.  The college itself had been founded earlier, but these buildings were erected between 1459 and 1469 by John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester and Westbury.  William Canynge, the notable Bristol merchant and politician, may have contributed to their construction.  He trained for the priesthood in Westbury from 1467 and was made dean in 1469.

In 1544, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the college became a private dwelling.  In 1643 during the English Civil War it was burnt by Prince Rupert's forces, to prevent its use by Parliamentarian troops.  By 1771, a Georgian house had been built alongside the gatehouse.  Now, the only other surviving parts of the original college are two round towers and the retaining wall alongside the River Trym.  These can be seen from College Road and Trym Road.

Current use
Westbury College Gatehouse is a Grade I listed building. The College Gatehouse was acquired in 1907 by the National Trust, and is currently on a 100-year lease to Holy Trinity Church.  It is managed by the church as a local meeting place, and is regularly used by the church youth groups, as well as the local Air Cadets 2442 Squadron and the local school Westbury Primary's After School Club.

Tours of the building can be arranged via the National Trust office at Leigh Woods in Bristol.

References

External links
 Westbury College Gatehouse information at the National Trust

Buildings and structures completed in 1469

Grade I listed buildings in Bristol
Grade I listed gates
Gates in England
National Trust properties in Bristol
Westbury-on-Trym
Gatehouses (architecture)

Westbury College Gatehouse


Alexandru Zub (born October 12, 1934) is a Romanian historian, biographer, essayist, political activist and academic. A former professor at the University of Iași, noted for his contribution to the study of cultural history and Romanian history, he is currently head of the A.D. Xenopol Institute of History (an office he has held since 1990). He was elected a full member of the Romanian Academy in 2004 (having been a correspondent member since 1991); currently, he serves as head of the Academy's History Department.

A political prisoner during the early years of Communist Romania, and a known dissident, Zub was selected by Vladimir Tismăneanu on the panel of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, which presented its Final Report to Parliament on December 18, 2006.

Biography
Zub was born in Vârfu Câmpului, Botoșani County. He attended the School of Pedagogy in Șendriceni, and later completed university studies at the Faculty of History of the University of Iași, graduating in 1957. The same year, he took part in a rally commemorating the medieval Prince of Moldavia Stephen the Great, which was considered nationalist by the Communist regime. Zub was arrested and imprisoned for the following six years, first in Iași, and later at Jilava Prison, Gherla Prison, and near Brăila.

After his release, he took up research in the Central University Library of Iași, and began publishing biographies and studies of Romanian culture, which proved to be highly influential during the period of relative liberalization at the start of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime. He has since notably authored works on major figures of Romanian historiography (including Mihail Kogălniceanu, Vasile Pârvan, Alexandru D. Xenopol), as well as ample studies on cultural phenomena. In 1977-1978, he was the recipient of a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Zub was awarded full recognition for his contributions to Romanian historiography, and he became a founding member of the Association of Former Political Prisoners. A Directeur d'Études at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in 1993 and 2004, Zub became a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1995. In 2000, he was decorated Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Romania.

His activity in 1957, occurring in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution, earned him the recognition of the Hungarian government; on October 16, 2006, the 50th commemoration of the rebellion, Zub was presented with the commemorative medal Hero of Liberty.

As part of the controversial criticism he expressed in regard to the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, the writer Paul Goma, who had been himself a member of the panel, questioned the Commission's ability to deal with the issue. Goma stated: "as for Al. Zub, he has specialized in Xenopol, in Kogălniceanu, in Pârvan - out of which [specialization] he never did emerge, so he has no idea, for instance, about the «happenings» during the Second World War". This attitude notably drew criticism from Bedros Horasangian (who considered Goma's words "banterings" and their effect "void").

In 1991, Alexandru Zub supervised the PhD candidature of Sorin Antohi, a fellow member of the Commission, member of the staff for the Central European University, and Zub's co-author on a 2000 volume published by Polirom. Antohi failed to complete his degree and was expelled from the program; a 2006 investigation proved that he had been misrepresenting his academic credentials, which caused his withdrawal from his academic position at Central European University. Contacted by journalists, Zub refused to comment, and called on the press not to harass Antohi.

In 2007, Zub was involved in a scandal at the Xenopol Institute, after he allegedly had the election of four young history researchers to the Scientific Council of the Institute canceled by Dan Berindei, the head of the History Section of the Romanian Academy and the coordinator of the Institute. The researchers protested against Zub's managership, labeling it "despotic" and asking for his resignation.

Selected works

In Romanian
Mihail Kogălniceanu, 1817-1891. Biobibliografie ("Mihail Kogălniceanu, 1817-1891. Bio-bibliography"), Editura Enciclopedică/Editura Militară, Bucharest, 1971
A. D. Xenopol, 1847-1920. Biobibliografie ("A. D. Xenopol, 1847-1920. Bio-bibliography"), 1973
Vasile Pîrvan. Efigia cărturarului ("Vasile Pîrvan. The Scholar's Effigy"), Editura Enciclopedică/Editura Militară, Bucharest, 1974; second edition, 2003
Mihail Kogălniceanu istoric ("Mihail Kogălniceanu as a Historian"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1974
Junimea. Implicații istoriografice ("Junimea.Historiographical Implications"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1976
A scrie și a face istorie. Istoriografia română postpașoptistă ("Writing and Making History. Romanian Historiography Post-1848"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1981
Biruit-au gândul. Note despre istorismul românesc ("The Thought Has Broken Through. Notes on Romanian Historicism"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1983
Pe urmele lui Vasile Pîrvan ("On the Footsteps of Vasile Pîrvan"), Editura Sport-Turism, Bucharest, 1983
Mihail Kogălniceanu, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1984; second edition, 2004
De la istoria critică la criticism. Istoriografia română la finele secolului XIX și începutul secolului XX ("From Critical History to Criticism. Romanian Historiography at the End of the 19th Century and the Start of the 20th Century"), Editura Academiei, Bucharest, 1985; second edition, 2000
Cunoaștere de sine și integrare ("Self-awareness and Integration"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1986; second edition, 2004
Istorie și istorici în România interbelică ("History and Historians in Interwar Romania"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1989; second edition, 2003
Istorie și finalitate ("History and Finality"), Editura Academiei, Bucharest, 1991; second edition, 2004
La sfârșit de ciclu. Despre impactul Revoluției franceze ("At the End of a Cycle. On the Impact of the French Revolution"), Institutul European, Iași, 1994
Eminescu. Glose istorico-culturale (Eminescu. Historical and Cultural Glosses"), Editura Enciclopedică Gheorghe Asachi, Chișinău, 1994
În orizontul istoriei ("In History's Horizon"), Institutul European, Iași, 1994
Impasul reîntregirii ("The Deadlock of Reunion"), Editura Timpul, Iași, 1995
Chemarea istoriei. Un an de răspântie în România postcomunistă ("The Call of History. A Crucial Year in Post-Communist Romania"), Editura Junimea, Iași, 1997
Discurs istoric și tranziție ("Historical Discourse and Transition"), Institutul European, Iași, 1998
Orizont închis. Istoriografia română sub dictatură ("Restricted Horizon. Romanian Historiography under Dictatorship"), Institutul European, Iași, 2000
with Sorin Antohi: Oglinzi retrovizoare. Istorie, memorie si morală în România ("Rearview Mirrors. History, Memory, and Morals in Romania"), Polirom, Iași, 2000
Istoriografia română la vârsta sintezei: A. D. Xenopol ("Romanian Historiography at the Age of Synthesis: A. D. Xenopol"), Institutul European, Iași, 2004
Mihail Kogălniceanu, architect al României moderne ("Mihail Kogălniceanu, the Architect of Modern  Romania"), Institutul European, Iași, 2005
Clio sub semnul interogației. Idei, sugestii, figuri ("Clio under the Question Mark. Ideas, Suggestions, Figures"), Polirom, Iași, 2005
Romanogermanica. Secvențe istorico-culturale ("Romanogermanica. Cultural-Historical Sequences"), Editura Universității Al. I. Cuza, Iași, 2005

In French
L'Historiographie roumaine à l'âge de la synthèse: A. D. Xenopol ("Romanian Historiography at the Age of Synthesis: A. D. Xenopol"), Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1983
Les dilemmes d'un historien: Vasile Pîrvan ("Vasile Pîrvan: the Dilemmas of a Historian"), Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1985

In English
Reflections on the Impact of the French Revolution. 1789, de Tocqueville, and the Romanian Culture, The Center for Romanian Studies, Iași/Oxford/Portland,  2000

Notes

References
 Press release of November 10, 2006: Alexandru Zub is named Doctor Honoris Causa at the Ovidius University site
 Profile at the Romanian Presidency site
 Alexandru Zub at the Polirom site
 Mirela Corlățan, "Sorin Antohi, profesor doctor puțin impostor" ("Sorin Antohi, a Professor Doctor Who Is Something of an Impostor"), in Cotidianul, October 21, 2006
 Paul Goma, "Open Letter Addressed to President Traian Băsescu", republished in Ziua, May 8, 2006
 Bedros Horasangian, "Volo, «Volvo» și «Volga»" ("Volo, «Volvo» and the «Volga»), in Ziua, May 17, 2006
 Raul Florea, "Academicianul Alexandru Zub spune că a fost făcut nesimțit și îl face «derbedeu» pe unul dintre asistenți" ("Academician Alexandru Zub Says He Was Called «Thick-Skinned» and Labels One of His Assistants «Rascal»"), in Gândul, April 20, 2007

External links
Profile at the Humboldt Club site
 Profile at the Romanian Academy site
 Profile at Polirom.ro
 Alexandru Zub's Acceptance Speech at the Romanian Academy, January 27, 2006
 Alexandru Zub, "Memoria ca formă de justiție" ("Memory as a Form of Justice"), in Convorbiri Literare

1934 births
Titular members of the Romanian Academy
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni
Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Grand Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania
Living people
People from Botoșani County
Romanian activists
Romanian biographers
Romanian male writers
Male biographers
Romanian dissidents
Romanian essayists
20th-century Romanian historians
21st-century Romanian historians
Inmates of Gherla prison
Romanian prisoners and detainees
Romanian writers in French
Male essayists
Inmates of Jilava Prison

Alexandru Zub


One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd (published by St. Martin's Press in 1998) is the first novel by journalist Jim Fergus.  The novel is written as a series of journals chronicling the fictitious adventures of "J. Will Dodd's" ostensibly real ancestor in an imagined "Brides for Indians" program of the United States government.

An introduction by "J. Will Dodd" places the journals in a contemporary context, and lends an air of realism.

The book won the 1999 Fiction of the Year Award from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association. It has since sold over 250,000 copies in the United States, and its French translation was on the French bestseller list for 57 weeks and has sold over 400,000 copies in that country. Its sequel, published in 2017, is The Vengeance of Mothers.

Plot

The premise of the story is that the Northern Cheyenne Indians are shrinking in numbers and seek a way to assimilate into white society.  They decide to marry white women and have half-blood children, enabling the two cultures to blend naturally. The Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf approaches President Ulysses Grant with the proposal to trade 1000 white women for 1000 horses, an offer publicly refused by the government.
However, the government sees the placating of the Indians as being to their benefit, so they begin the "Brides for Indians" program in which women who are physically healthy and of child rearing age may volunteer to go. However, in order to keep the plan unpublished, they offer the trip to women in prison, asylums, and other restrictive situations.

In Chicago, May Dodd was born into a wealthy family but she fell in love with a man who was "beneath" her, and bore his two children out of wedlock, so her family had her institutionalized in a mental asylum and had her children taken away.  The "Brides for Indians" program sounded like a way out of the asylum, so she joined and started a life of adventure.

The story does meet with some non-fictional characters and situations, including Chief Little Wolf of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, description of many Cheyenne beliefs, and the military forced move to the reservations. Some other situations are adapted from real life, including Little Wolf's murder of a tribe member and exile.

Reception
The book received a positive review from Kirkus Reviews, which stated: "An impressive historical, terse, convincing, and affecting." The book also met with criticism about its depiction of Native people and women, with one reviewer writing: "This is also a case of a truly badly written woman."

References

1998 novels
1998 debut novels

One Thousand White Women


Peter Casserly (28 January 1898 – 24 June 2005) was, at age 107, the last surviving member of the 1st AIF serving in France in the First World War. At the time of his death, he was believed to be the oldest living Australian man, and his marriage to Monica Delgado was also believed to be Australia's longest.

Early years 1898–1917

Casserly was born in Perth, Western Australia. His father, who was born in Australia, but of Irish descent, had moved to Western Australia in search of gold; but ended up working for the railways and on the wharves, barely earning enough to put food on the table for his eleven children.

Casserly attended the Christian Brothers College in Perth until he left school at thirteen to become a blacksmith's apprentice, and was working at the blacksmith's when World War I broke out. In 1917, he was working as a fireman for the West Australian Railways when he saw a recruiting advert by the Australian army for experienced railwaymen to serve in France, and he enlisted on Saint Patrick's Day.

World War I service 1917–1919

Casserly was sent to a training camp in Melbourne before leaving for France. When his troop carrier, the Ascanius, was moored off Fremantle, he was refused permission to say goodbye to his mother, so he sent her a message in a bottle, which was found and sent to her.

On arrival in France, he was sent to the Somme, where he served as an armed guard with the 2nd Transport Unit. The trains to and from the battlefront were subject to frequent bombardment from the Germans. Casserly served with the 2nd, 5th and 16th Railway Transport Units in Belgium and France. He also served as a sapper supporting Australian and British forces fighting in Ypres, Armentières and Amiens.

Casserly was court-martialled on 18 May 1918 on a charge of "When on active service, using violence to his superior officer in that he 'in the field' on 5 May 1918 violently assaulted Sgt A.G. Riddie". He was found guilty of the charge and was sentenced to 12 months 'IHL' ('In Hard Labour'). He was admitted to No. 1 Military Prison in France on 5 June 1918. On 15 October 1918, the remainder of his sentence was suspended, and he rejoined his unit.

After the ceasefire, Casserly was involved in cleaning up until his discharge on 11 September 1919. After the war he made a decision never to serve in the armed forces again. He only attended two Anzac Day marches in his life – in 1917 and in 2004 when he was driven as the guest of honour.

1919–2005

After the war, Casserly returned to Fremantle where he worked as a wharf labourer, timber worker, seaman, and fisherman. He started his own timber yard, then established a cray fishing service. Casserly won a Royal Humane Society bravery award for saving a man from drowning.

In 1923, Casserly married Filipino-born Monica Delgado. The couple had two sons, Eddie and Peter Jr. The couple were married for eighty years until Monica's death in 2004. The marriage is believed to be Australia's longest nuptial union. The couple lived for many years in the White Gum Valley near Perth in a home that Casserly built himself. After they both became centenarians, the couple moved into the Craigville Gardens in Melville, Western Australia.

He was awarded the 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal in 1999, and was part of a contingent of surviving veterans to tour the Western Front in 1993. Although fifty Australian servicemen received the Légion d'honneur, Casserly did not because of the previously mentioned court-martial. John Howard presented him with a Centenary Medal in 2001 in honour of the one-hundredth anniversary of Australian Federation.

Casserly died in Perth on 24 June 2005. He was survived by his son, Peter, seven grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

When asked about the secret to a long life, he replied: "Keep on breathing, I suppose."

Honours and awards

 British War Medal
 Victory Medal
 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal (awarded 21 April 1999)
 Centenary Medal (awarded 1 January 2002)

References

External links
 Obituary, 25 June 2005, Sydney Morning Herald
 Media release, 24 June 2005, De-Anne Kelly, Minister for Veteran Affairs

1898 births
2005 deaths
Men centenarians
Australian centenarians
Australian military personnel of World War I
Australian people of Irish descent

Peter Casserly


The JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB) is an astronomy database about small Solar System bodies. It is maintained by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA and provides data for all known asteroids and several comets, including orbital parameters and diagrams, physical diagrams, close approach details, radar astrometry, discovery circumstances, alternate designations and lists of publications related to the small body. The database is updated daily when new observations are available. In April 2021 the JPL Small-Body Database started using planetary ephemeris (DE441) and small-body perturber SB441-N16. Most objects such as asteroids get a two-body solution (Sun+object) recomputed twice a year. Comets generally have their two-body orbits computed at a time near the perihelion passage (closest approach to the Sun) as to have the two-body orbit more reasonably accurate for both before and after perihelion. For most asteroids, the epoch used to define an orbit is updated twice a year. Orbital uncertainties in the JPL Small-Body Database are listed at the 1-sigma level.

On 27 September 2021 the JPL Solar System Dynamics website underwent a significant upgrade.

 orbits were computed in August 2021 and in the last 12 months more than 3.3 million orbits have been computed.

Close-approach data
As of August 2013 (planetary ephemeris DE431) close-approach data is available for the major planets and the 16 most massive asteroids. Close approach data is available by adding &view=OPC to the query string at the end of the body's URL. Close approach data used to be available by adding ;cad=1 or &cad=1 to the query string. The Wayback Machine prefers the &cad=1 option. The JPL Small-Body Database close approach table lists a linearized uncertainty. The time of close approach uncertainty and min/max distance correspond to the 3-sigma level.

Orbit viewer
In the past, one could view a 3D visualization of the body's orbit using a Java applet. As of mid-2023, one could see something similar using JPL's Orbit Viewer tool, which was implemented using JavaScript, Three.js and WebGL.

The visualized orbits use unreliable 2-body methods, and hence should not be used for accurately determining the time of perihelion passage or planetary encounter circumstances. For accurate ephemerides use the JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System that handles the n-body problem using numerical integration.

See also
 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System
 Jet Propulsion Laboratory Development Ephemeris
 NEODyS
 Sentry (monitoring system)

References

External links
 Small-Body Database Lookup
 Small-Body Database Query

Observational astronomy
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomical catalogues
JPL online services

JPL Small-Body Database


Ronald Gene Rightnowar (born September 5, 1964) is an American former major league baseball player who played for one year—1995—for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rightnowar is known for having been a replacement player who crossed picket lines during spring training in 1995 while the 1994 Major League Baseball strike was still going on.

Early life and education
Rightnowar graduated from Whitmer High School in Toledo.  He also attended and played baseball at Eastern Michigan University.

Minor-league career
After college, Rightnowar was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent on September 30, 1986. In 1987, Rightnowar began his minor-league career by spending the entire season pitching for the Fayetteville Generals in the Class A South Atlantic League. Rightnowar went 7-7 for Fayetteville (which was in its first season of existence), making 39 appearances, striking out 65, walking 37, saving 6 games and posting a 4.96 earned run average.

In 1988, Rightnowar was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the High-A Florida State League, where he went 2–0 in 17 games with 32 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 49⅓ innings pitched. Rightnowar also posted a 1.46 ERA.

In 1989, Rightnowar advanced to AA ball, pitching for the London Tigers and going 2–8 with a 5.00 ERA in 36 appearances. Rightnowar saved five games that season.

The following year, Rightnowar divided his time between three Detroit Tigers minor-league teams: London (2-2, 3.25 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 9 walks, 4 saves, 44⅓ innings pitched and 23 games), the Class-A Niagara Falls Rapids (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, 7 innings pitched in just one appearance), and the AAA Toledo Mud Hens (4-5, 4.74 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 10 walks, 6 saves, 38 innings pitched in 28 games).

In 1991, Rightnowar divided his time between London (2-1, 3.91 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 8 walks, 3 saves, 25⅓ innings pitched in 15 appearances) and Toledo (1-1, 3.94 ERA, 5 strikeouts, 15 walks, 3 saves, 29⅔ innings pitched in 23 games).

The following year, Rightnowar played solely for his hometown Mud Hens and continued his role as a middle reliever, posting a 3–2 record but a high 6.16 ERA. He pitched 57 innings in 34 games, picking up three saves, striking out 33 and walking 18.

In 1993, Rightnowar began the season with Toledo again, going 2–2 with a 3.55 ERA in 58-1/3 innings pitched.  Appearing in 22 games, Rightnowar struck out 32, walked 19 and saved one game. On August 28, 1993, the Detroit Tigers traded Rightnowar to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later. With the trade, Rightnowar joined the Brewers' AAA New Orleans Zephyrs minor-league club for the remaining week of the minor-league season, pitching in four games and posting an 0–0 record with a 10.38 ERA.  Rightnowar also struck out eight and walked two in 8-2/3 innings pitched.

In 1994, Rightnowar's pitching improved dramatically, as he played a full season for the Zephyrs. He went 8–2 with a 2.25 ERA in 51 games, pitching 88 innings, striking out 79, walking just 21 and saving 11 games. Unfortunately, Rightnowar did not receive a September call-up, because major-league baseball players went on strike on August 12, 1994.

Replacement baseball

As the 1995 baseball season neared, Rightnowar was asked by the Brewers' coaches if he would be interested in being a replacement player in the 1995 season. "The major-league coaching staff made it clear that I needed to pitch," Rightnowar told the Ottawa Citizen later in 1995. "They said they needed to see me and see what I could offer the club."

The 234-day players strike ended before the 1995 baseball season ever officially began.  While Rightnowar did pitch in some spring-training games (which was enough for the major-league baseball players union to classify Rightnowar and all such players as strike-breakers), he was sent down to the Brewers' AAA New Orleans minor-league team once the strike ended, and started the 1995 season pitching for New Orleans.

Major-league debut and career

After Cal Eldred went on the disabled list for the rest of the season, the Brewers promoted Rightnowar to the major leagues on May 19, 1995. He was to be the first replacement player to join the Brewers' big-league club that season. Before he even threw a pitch, Rightnowar was given a frosty reception from the major-leaguers. "My first day, everyone was kind of cold toward me," Rightnowar told the Ottawa Citizen in 1995. "I understood. I respect their right to be angry. But then I called the leaders on the club and asked to speak to the team. I wanted to tell them my side of the story."

Rightnowar allowed that there was some bitterness for him in what should have been a happy moment. "It really stunk, to be honest with you," Rightnowar told the Toledo Blade in 2005. "From the time I was 8 or 9 years old, I had dreamed of what the day would be like if, and when, I ever made it to the big leagues. I figured it would be a real special day in my life, just like the day I got married. But I felt awful. They were all giving me the cold shoulder."

Ultimately, Rightnowar explained his reasons for crossing the picket lines.  "For about 20 minutes, they fired questions and took shots at me," he told the Blade. "I told them they could call me 'scab' or whatever. But I told them I hoped they respected my decision.  This was my one shot and I knew it."

On May 20, 1995, Rightnowar made his major league debut, working 2⅓ innings of scoreless relief against the Texas Rangers. On May 22, 1995, Rightnowar won his first big-league game against the Cleveland Indians, pitching two innings of relief and giving up one earned run. "That first major-league victory - man, what a great feeling!" Rightnowar told reporters after the game. "This is really special."

Rightnowar stayed with the Brewers until August 5, 1995, when he was sent down to the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs. He finished his season with New Orleans with a 1–1 record and a 2.67 ERA. Rightnowar also struck out 22, walked 9, saved 10 games, and pitched in 30⅓ innings in 25 games.

Rightnowar rejoined the Brewers on September 6, 1995, returning to the team's 40-man roster once New Orleans' season ended and major-league teams were able to expand their rosters. Rightnowar ended his Brewers season—and, ultimately, his major-league career—with a 2–1 record, a 5.40 ERA, 22 strikeouts, 18 walks, and one save in 36-2/3 innings pitched in 34 games.  His one MLB save came on June 7, 1995. Rightnowar went 1 scoreless inning to close out a 6-3 Brewers win over the Twins.

Retirement

On October 16, 1995, Rightnowar was granted free agency. No major-league teams showed an interest in Rightnowar after the 1995 season, so he retired.

After major-league baseball

In 1997, Rightnowar was hired as admissions director at Toledo Christian Schools. He also has co-owned a sports training center and coached a nine-team travel baseball league.  He is currently a mortgage originator at Genoa Bank in Genoa, Ohio.

References

External links

Retrosheet
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics

1964 births
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Caribes de Oriente players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Eastern Michigan Eagles baseball players
Fayetteville Generals players
Lakeland Flying Tigers players
Living people
London Tigers players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Milwaukee Brewers players
New Orleans Zephyrs players
Niagara Falls Rapids players
Baseball players from Toledo, Ohio
Toledo Mud Hens players

Ron Rightnowar


BMW xDrive is the marketing name for the all-wheel drive system found on various BMW models since 2003. The system uses an electronically actuated clutch-pack differential to vary the torque between the front and rear axles. Models with the DPC torque vectoring system also have a planetary gearset to overdrive an axle or rear wheel as required.

Prior to the introduction of xDrive, all-wheel drive was available on several models since 1985, based on an all-wheel drive system that uses viscous couplings.

Predecessor
The first BMWs available with all-wheel drive were the 1985-1992 E30 325iX and 1991-1996 E34 525iX models. These cars use centre and rear differentials with viscous couplings to vary the torque split between wheels. The centre differential has a default front:rear torque split of 37:63, due to the planetary gear. Up to 80% of the torque can be transferred to the tripping axle, using the increasing shear force of the silicone fluid in the viscous coupling (due to the slotted/grooved plates inside the unit) as wheel slip causes one axle to spin faster than the other. The same principle applies to the rear differential varying the torque split between the rear wheels. The front differential has no locking function. All-wheel drive was discontinued when the E30 3 Series and E34 5 Series were replaced by the E36 and E39 respectively.

All-wheel drive was reintroduced in 2001 for the X5 SUV and E46 3 series 325xi, 330xi and 330xd sedans/wagons. The system is similar to the earlier version, except without the viscous couplings. Instead, the electronic stability control (DSC) system applies the brake to wheels that are slipping, helping transfer power to the wheels with traction.

Design
Unlike its predecessor, the xDrive system uses an electronically actuated clutch-pack differential that engages to send torque to the front axle. In the case of the 2018 X3 through X6 models, the default torque split is 40:60 and the system is able to send 100% of the torque to either axle. However, full torque transfer to the front axle can only be achieved if the rear wheels have absolutely no traction, as the rear drive shaft is hard-coupled to the transmission output,.  The wet clutch is applied through a high speed electric servo motor turning a cam-shaped actuator disc.  In most vehicles, the system uses open differentials at the front and rear, relying on the brakes (controlled by the electronic stability control system) to transfer torque away from the slipping wheel on each axle.

A different system is used on BMWs which are based on a transverse engine front-wheel drive platform, such as the BMW X1 (F48), BMW 1 Series (F40) and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. These models use a Haldex system which sends 100% of the torque to the front wheels by default, only sending torque to the rear wheels when the front wheels are slipping.

Dynamic Performance Control
An upgraded version of xDrive with torque vectoring, called 'Dynamic Performance Control' (DPC), was introduced on the 2008 BMW X6 and has since become available on other vehicles including the BMW X5 M. As per most torque vectoring systems, the primary function is to increase agility in cornering. The DPC system is also used by the electronic stability control (DSC) to correct for understeer/oversteer, with one reviewer commenting that it provided smoother results and avoided the temporary power loss associated with the traditional method of using individual wheel brakes in such situations.

The DPC system can distribute torque between the front and rear axles, and between the two wheels on the rear axle. The system uses a clutch pack and planetary gearset within the differential to overdrive a wheel or axle as required.

Applications
The first xDrive models (as opposed to the earlier all-wheel drive system) were released in 2003. These consisted of the newly released BMW X3 (E83), facelifted BMW X5 (E53). In the following years, the availability of xDrive increased throughout the model range, and it is currently available on most models.

The first BMW M models to use xDrive were the 2009 E70 X5M and E71 X6M models. The first non-SUV BMW M model to not be rear-wheel drive was the 2017 F90 M5, which was only available with xDrive.

In Canada, 50 percent of BMWs sold in 2005 were fitted with xDrive. As of 2010, BMW Canada stopped offering rear-wheel drive versions of models that were available with xDrive, for example the only BMW 6 Series (F12) 650i version available without xDrive in 2012 was the convertible version.

References

BMW
Four-wheel-drive system tradenames

BMW xDrive


A makeover is a radical change in appearance. When the word is used to describe a change in human physical appearance, it may imply a change in clothing, haircut, or cosmetics. A personal makeover might also include weight loss, plastic surgery, dental veneers, or contact lenses. Sometimes a makeover is used to refer to non-physical things, such as a makeover of character, personality or attitude. It can also refer to a dramatic change in construction, such as when a building is renovated or is refurbished. Makeovers are usually referred to in a positive manner, as a way to start fresh or improve your life.

In media

Television
Makeovers are often popular television subjects. Long a staple subject of daytime talk shows, they have recently moved into the limelight in television shows such as Queer Eye. Other popular makeover shows include What Not to Wear, How to Look Good Naked, Plain Jane, Extreme Makeover, MADE, Ambush Makeover and Pimp My Ride. There is also a category of reality TV based on giving makeovers to homes, such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 60 Minute Makeover and Property Brothers.

See makeover reality television series.

Computer software and online tools can also be used for performing what are known as Virtual Makeovers. Using a photograph of a human face, software can apply cosmetics, hairstyles, and various eyewear such as contact lenses and sunglasses in order to allow users to visualize different looks without physically trying them on. Today, virtual makeup works in real-time using phone camera tracking, and examples are Visage Technologies's MakeApp, L'Oreal's Makeup Genius, and Oriflame's Makeup Wizard.

Film
In film there is a trope of a character, usually a girl, undergoing a dramatic makeover in appearance or personality. Some examples include:
 Now, Voyager (1942)
 Cinderella (1950)
 My Fair Lady (1964)
 Grease (1978)
 The Breakfast Club (1985)
 Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
 Moonstruck (1987)
 Clueless (1995)
 She's All That (1999)
 Miss Congeniality (2000)
 The Princess Diaries (2001)
 Mean Girls (2004)
 The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
 The House Bunny (2008)

Books
There is also a series of books, aimed at teenage girls, called The Makeover Series, written by Suzanne Weyn. There are several experts who perform the art of makeovers. Usually makeover artists specialize in hair styling, make-up or clothing.

"The Makeover Guy" is a registered trademark for author and makeover expert Christopher Hopkins who is known for his television head-to-toe makeovers. He has a book called "Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45".

See also
 Pygmalion (play)
 Don't Make Me Over (song)

References

External links

Cosmetics

Makeover


Hulon E. Crayton (c. 1956 – February 14, 2015) was a smooth jazz saxophonist hailing from Panama City, Florida, who  started his jazz career as a member of noted jazz group On Call.

Hulon released his debut release, First Impressions, via Premier Musique Group in 2010. First Impressions was produced by noted smooth jazz artist Jeff Kashiwa and included eight original songs co-written by Kashiwa and Hulon, and also features a cover of the song "The Cisco Kid" by the band, War. The song "Sax on the Beach," served as the album's first single and reached No. 16 on the SmoothJazz.com Top 50 Indie Chart and was featured on the noted jazz website AllAboutJazz.com, in addition to receiving national and international airplay at terrestrial and online radio. The song "Dr. Goodfoot" served as the album's second single.

First Impressions was recorded at SGR Studios in Panama City, Florida with additional drum tracks recorded at Two Sticks Audio in Seattle, Washington, and Ahhsum Studios in West Covina, California. The album was mixed by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording in New York City, New York.

In addition to his jazz career, Hulon was also a noted entrepreneur and philanthropist. Hulon ran The Arthritis and Infusion Center, a successful medical practice that specializes in the treatment of Rheumatological diseases and disorders as well as sports-related injuries. Hulon practiced rheumatology starting in 1986, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Rheumatology. Hulon had a master's degree in hospital administration and served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserve, obtaining the rank of captain. Hulon, and his wife, Dinah, created the Crayton Foundation, which assists minorities with funding their college education. He died aged 58 on February 14, 2015.

Discography

 First Impressions (2010)

References

External links
 Official site

Smooth jazz saxophonists
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
2015 deaths
People from Panama City, Florida
Musicians from Florida
American rheumatologists
United States Army officers
1950s births
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health alumni
American male jazz musicians
20th-century American saxophonists

Hulon


The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of what is now Belgium. Unlike its neighbours such as the counties of Brabant and Hainaut, it was within the territory of the Kingdom of France. The counts of Flanders held the most northerly part of the kingdom, and were among the original twelve peers of France. For centuries, the economic activity of the Flemish cities such as Ghent, Bruges and Ypres made Flanders one of the most affluent regions in Europe, and also gave them strong international connections to trading partners.

Up to 1477, the core area under French suzerainty was west of the Scheldt and was called "Royal Flanders" (Dutch: Kroon-Vlaanderen, French: Flandre royale). Aside from this, the counts, from the 11th century onward, held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire: "Imperial Flanders" (Rijks-Vlaanderen or Flandre impériale). The county joined its Low Country neighbours within the Burgundian Netherlands from 1384, which eventually complicated its relationship with France. Most of the county became part of the Empire after the Peace of Madrid in 1526 and the Peace of the Ladies in 1529.

By 1795 the entire Austrian Netherlands, the successor of the Burgundian Netherlands, was acquired by France under the French First Republic, and this was recognized by treaty in 1797. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, these territories, including most of the old county of Flanders, passed to the newly established United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was split up between 1830 and 1839 into the modern countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The territories of the old county are now the only part of the late medieval French kingdom outside of modern-day France, Catalonia having been renounced in 1258.

Etymology
The term Flanders originally referred to the area around Bruges. It is first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius (–660), the Vita sancti Eligii. The work was written before 684 but has been known only since 725. This work mentions only the place "in Flandris".

A germanic etymology for "Flanders" and "Flemish" (Dutch: Vlaanderen, Vlaams) was proposed by Maurits Gysseling in 1948, working based upon an article by René Verdeyen in 1943.

According to this proposal the terms Flanders and Flemish are likely derived from words derived from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz, meaning stream, current, flood or eddy. Based on this, it is proposed that there was a proto-Germanic term *flaumdra which referred to waterlogged land. According to Toorians, the strength of this proposal is that it would describe the salt marshes and mud flats of this low-lying coastal region. It was regularly inundated, before the development of dykes which started around 1050. However, a weak point of the proposal is that the Germanic wordforms which it requires are not found in any records of Dutch or its dialects. Comparison was instead based upon Old High German flewen and flouwen, and Old Norse flaumr.

Geography

The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with the present-day region of Flanders in Belgium, but even there, it extends beyond the present provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders. Some of the historic county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The land covered by the county is spread out over:
 Belgium:
 two of the five Flemish provinces: West Flanders and East Flanders
 part of the Flemish province of Antwerp: the land of Bornem
 part of the Walloon province of Hainaut: Tournaisis and the region around Moeskroen (that belonged to West Flanders until 1962)
 France:
 French Flanders (in the Nord departement)
 the French westcorner: the region around Dunkirk, Bergues and Bailleul, an area where Flemish used to be the main language
 Walloon Flanders, where the Picard language, closely related to French, was spoken.
 Artois (in the Pas-de-Calais department): removed from Flanders in 1191 and created as independent county in 1237
 Netherlands:
 Zeelandic Flanders, a region between Belgium and the Western Scheldt in the southern part of the modern province of Zeeland, which from 1581 formed part of the Generality Lands under control of the Dutch Republic.

Flag and arms

The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191; a climbing or rampant black lion on a gold field. In the story about the Battle of the Golden Spurs, the arms and its corresponding battlecry Vlaendr'n den leeuw ("Flanders, the Lion!") plays a crucial role in the forming of a Flemish consciousness, which was popularised in the 19th century by the book De Leeuw van Vlaanderen by Hendrik Conscience. As a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of the Flemish Community.

It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the lion flag with him from the Holy Land, where in 1177 he supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight, but this is a myth. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, when he had not yet taken one step in the Levant, disproves it. In reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period lions also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg and other territories. It is curious that the lion as a heraldic symbol was mostly used in border territories and neighbouring countries of the Holy Roman Empire. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, who used an eagle in his personal arms. In Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables of Aesop.

History

Prehistory and antiquity
The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory. During the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, a collective name for all Celtic and Germanic tribes in the north of Gaul. For Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates.

Julius Caesar conquered the area around 54 BC and the population was partially romanised from the 1st to the 3rd century. The Roman road that connected Cologne with Boulogne-sur-Mer was used as a defense perimeter. In the south the Gallo-Romanic population was able to maintain itself, while the north became a no-mans land that also suffered from regular floods from the North Sea.

In the coastal and Scheldt areas Saxon tribes gradually appeared. For the Romans, Saxon was a general term, and included Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Erules. The coastal defense around Boulogne and Oudenburg, the Litus Saxonicum, remained functional until about 420. These forts were manned by Saxon soldiers.

From their base land Toxandria the Salian Franks further expanded into the Roman empire. The first incursion into the lands of the Atrebates was turned away in 448 at Vicus Helena. But after the murder of the Roman general Flavius Aëtius in 454 and Roman emperor Valentinianus III in 455, the Salic Franks encountered hardly any resistance. From Duisburg, king Chlodio conquered Cambrai and Tournai, and he reached the Somme. After his death two Salic kingdoms emerged. Childeric is recorded in 463 as king of Tournay and ally of the Romans against the Visigoths. He was also administrator of the province of Belgica Secunda. His son Clovis I conquered from 486 on all of Northern France.

Early Middle Ages
The abandoned coast and Scheldt region had been partially repopulated since the 4th century by Saxons and Franks from the east of the Rhine that retained their Germanic culture and language. In the 5th century Salic Franks settled in present-day Northern-France and Wallonia, primarily around the cities of Courtrai, Tournai and Bavay. They adapted to the local Gallo-Romanic population. From the 6th century on the no-mans-land farther north was filled by Franks from the Rhinelands and other Germanic groups from the Netherlands and Germany.

The first wave of immigration in the present day Flemish territory was accompanied by limited Christianisation. In the wake of the immigrants, missionaries tried to convert the heathen population, but had little success. The bishoprics were reinstated, usually with the same natural borders of the Late-Roman era; the Silva Carbonaria separated the Bishopric of Cambrai from the Bishopric of Tongeren, while the Scheldt again became the border between the bishoprics of Cambrai and Tournai. Vedast and Eleutherius of Tournai were assigned to reinstate the bishoprics of Arras and Tournai. However, these bishoprics failed to survive independently. In the late 6th century the bishopric of Arras was connected to that of Cambrai, and at the start of the 7th century the same was done to the bishoprics of Tournai and Noyon.

At the end of the 6th century, the duchy of Dentelinus was created in the north of what would later constitute Neustria. The duchy presumably included the bishoprics of Boulogne, Thérouanne, Arras, Tournai, Cambrai and Noyon: thus, the northwestern region between the North Sea and the Silva Carbonaria, an area the outlines of which were very similar to the later Flanders. The duchy was primarily intended to serve as a military and strategic deterrent against Frisian and Saxon invasions, and was a cornerstone in the military defense of the Merovingian Empire. In 600, Chlothar II (584–628) was forced to temporarily cede the duchy to Austrasia, but after the restoration of the Austrasian dual-monarchy in 622–623, the duchy was returned.

7th century

At the end of the 6th and the 7th century a new inflow emerged from the western Pas-de-Calais. This area had been germanised in the 5th century and descendants of the Saxons and Franks had settled in future Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant. New groups of germanic settlers also came in from the Netherlands and Germany. Their new settlements often received the name of their germanic leader, with '-inga haim' added. -Inga haim meant 'the settlement of the tribe of X'. For example: Petegem comes from Petta-inga-haim, which meant 'the settlement of the tribe of Petta'.

The colonisation and germanisation of Flanders took place primarily in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 7th century the population-level had risen sufficiently to start rebuilding the religious, military and administrative infrastructure. In the area of linguistics, the situation stabilised so that a large, bilingual region with a linear language border could emerge in the 8th century. In Pas-de-Calais, which had been densely populated a long time, a language barrier had emerged in the 6th–7th century, but in the 9th century a romanisation-movement started that has continued until the present day.

The Christianisation attempts in the 6th century by bishops like Eleutherius and Vedast had largely failed. Thus, in the 8th century a different strategy was chosen. A new Christianisation attempt was made under influence from king Dagobert I. He appointed several devoted missionaries from the southern parts of his kingdom to his royal domains in the northern parts of his kingdom. The missionaries were tasked with founding monasteries and abbeys there, that were to serve as centers of Christianity in a pagan region. From these centers, the conversion of the local populace could be started.

In 649 Audomar founded an abbey at Sithiu (the Abbey of Saint Bertin) and in 680 Aubertus founded the Abbey of St. Vaast near Arras. The Christianisation of the population was mainly the work of missionaries like Amandus (St. Bavo's Abbey and St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent) and Eligius (coastal region and Antwerp). In his 'vita', Eligius makes the first mention of the word 'Flanders', when he toured the area around 650.

During the 7th century the first Gaue or pagi were created in the Flemish territories. Gaue were administrative subdivisions of the civitates. The Gaue from the 7th and 8th century would form the basis of the county of Flanders. The pagus Tornacensis dates from , and from the 7th century we know of the 'pagus Cambracinsis' in 663, the pagus Taroanensis from 649 and the pagus Bracbatensis at the end of the century. From the 8th century we know of the pagus Rodaninsis from 707, the pagus Gandao from the first quarter of the 8th century, the pagus Mempiscus from 723 and the pagus Flandrensis from around 745. Lastly, the pagus Austrebatensis and the pagus Curtracensis are also counted as Merovingian gaue.

Carolingians

In 751 the Carolingian Mayors of the Palace succeeded in removing the Merovingians from power and obtaining the throne for themselves. The last Merovingian king, Childeric III, was placed in captivity at the later Abbey of Saint Bertinus in St. Omer, and his long hair, a symbol of royal power, was cut off.

Charlemagne succeeded his father Pepin the Short in Neustria and Austrasia, and after the death of his brother Karloman he was able to reunite the entire Frankish Empire. Though he resided in Aachen, he spent much time travelling through his territories. In 811 he inspected the fleet that he had ordered built in Boulogne and Ghent, to protect against Viking invasions.

The region comprising future Flanders was, from an economic point of view, a flourishing region, with a series of ports along the Scheldt river: Ghent, Tournai, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Lambres at Douai on the Scarpe and a number of seaports: Quentovic, Boulogne and Isère portus, a port at the mouth of the Yser. Moreover, the region included a number of rich abbeys, such as Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint Bavo's Abbey, Saint-Amand Abbey and the Abbey of St. Vaast.

Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious. Even during Louis' life his three sons started fighting over his heritage. They eventually concluded multiple treaties, of which the Treaty of Verdun, signed in 843, would be the definitive treaty. These treaties created East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia, inherited by Charles the Bald, included the original county of Flanders, that spanned roughly between Oudenburg, Aardenburg and Torhout.

After the Middle-Frankish kings died out, the rulers of the West and East-Frankish Kingdoms divided the Middle-Frankish kingdom amongst themselves in the treaty of Meerssen in 870. Now Western Europe had been divided into two sides: the solid West Francia (the later France) and the loose confederation of principalities of East Francia, that would become the Holy Roman Empire.

In the north these two powers were separated by the Scheldt river, which had previously separated West Francia from Middle Francia. This separation remained unchanged until the times of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Growth in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries (864–1071)

Militarily, economically and politically, Europe went through a deep crisis. The Vikings invaded from the north, the Magyar from the east and the Saracens from the south. All left trails of destruction. The central authorities of the two Frankish kingdoms were unable to organise an effective defensive, causing the population to lose faith and trust in their far-removed rulers. In the wake of this power vacuum, local powerful individuals saw their chance. Often these individuals were the descendants of people associated with Charlemagne.

The county of Flanders originated from the Gau of Pagus Flandrensis, led by the Forestiers dynasty, who had been appointed by Charlemagne, who had made a small contribution by uniting small feudal territories in the higher parts of the Flemish Valley. The forestiers dynasty also strengthened the hold of the church on the relatively desolate area.

The first Margrave (Count) of Flanders was Baldwin I, who became count in 862, and a romantic anecdote is connected to this: Baldwin eloped with the daughter of the Frankish king Charles the Bald, Judith of West Francia. Judith, who had previously been married to two English kings, refused her father's command to return to him. After mediation by the pope, the Frankish king reconciled with his son-in-law, and gave him the title of margrave, and the corresponding feudal territories as dowry. Margrave was primarily a military appointment and some versions of the story theorize that King Charles made Baldwin Margrave in the hope that he would be killed by the Vikings.

Initially the French kings meant to secure the safety of the northern French border from Viking invasions with this act. The counts, however, made good use of the crisis situation by incorporating the surrounding plundered territories into the county. The counts expanded the influence of the original Flemish pagus over the years over all territories south and west of the Scheldt river, including presentday the lordship of the Four Amts, Zeelandic Flanders, the burgraviate of Aalst to the east and the County of Artois to the south, which remained part of Flanders until it became a separate county in 1237. After that date, the county of Artois at various times still came under the dominion of the count of Flanders as a separate title, until it was absorbed by the French crown.

Prosperity in the 12th and 13th century (1071–1278)

The House of Flanders remained in power until 1119, when Baldwin VII of Flanders died heirless, and the county was inherited by Charles the Good, of the House of Denmark. He abandoned the title "Marquis of Flanders", which had been used alongside the comital style since the 10th century. The counts of Flanders were the last French lords using the title marquis, which would not be used again in France until 1504. After a short interlude under William Clito of Normandy (1127–1128), the county went to Thierry of Alsace of the House of Alsace. Under Thierry (1128–1168) and his successor Philip of Alsace, Flanders' importance and power increased.

In the second half of the 12th century, the county went through a period of great prosperity when Philip of Alsace managed to incorporate the County of Vermandois into Flanders through the inheritance of his wife. The territories he controlled now came to within 25 kilometers of Paris, and were larger than the territories his feudal lord, the French king, directly controlled.

During the rule of the House of Alsace, cities developed and new institutions were formed. The ports of Gravelines, Nieuwpoort, Damme, Biervliet, Dunkirk, and Mardijk were founded, as well as Calais by Philip's brother Matthew of Alsace. Aside from colonisation, the ports also functioned to reduce the silting of the rivers Aa, Yser and Zwin, which were endangering the accessibility of Saint-Omer, Ypres and Bruges. Biervliet also served as a counter to Hollandic influence.

Trade partners included England, the Baltic countries and France over sea, and the Rhineland and Italy over land. The wool trade with England was of special importance to the rising cloth industry in Flanders. The wealth of many Flemish cities (as their Belltowers and cloth halls testify) came from the drapery industry. Aside from this, the grain trade with England and through Holland with Hamburg were also important. Saint-Omer became the most important transit-port for French wine in the 12th century. These were the centuries of the breakthrough of the Flemish merchants, with their trade with England, the Baltic area and South-West France, as well as the land routes to the Rhineland and Italy though later only the yearly fairs of Champagne. Flanders's flourishing trading towns made it one of the most urbanised parts of Europe.

In 1194, Baldwin I of Constantinople of the House of Hainaut, succeeded the House of Alsace.

The crisis of the 14th century (1278–1384)
In 1278 Guy of Dampierre, of the House of Dampierre, became count of Flanders. The king of France wanted to definitively conquer Flanders, and started the Franco-Flemish War (1297–1305). Increasingly powerful in the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban centres were instrumental in defeating the French invasion attempt, defeating the French at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. But finally the French prevailed at the battle of Mons-en-Pévèle and with the subsequent treaty of Athis-sur-Orge (1305) Flanders lost  Lille, Douai, and Orchies to France and had to pay exorbitant fines but retained their independence as a fief of the French kingdom. During this period, Flanders experienced a period of relative prosperity with its strong cloth industry and diverse artwork. Trade in Flanders was so extensive that statues of the Madonna and Child were made in Flanders with ivory, which was accessible only by the Indian Ocean trade networks.

Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however, owing to widespread European population decline following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War (1338–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North Walsham in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the wool industry.

The Burgundian 15th century (1384–1506)

Through his marriage with Margaret of Dampierre in 1369, Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, made an end to the independence of Flanders. Flanders became the possession of the House of Valois-Burgundy, that ruled over the Burgundian State. In 1449 the city of Ghent revolted against duke Philip the Good. In 1453 Philip crushed the rebels at the battle of Gavere, ending the revolt.

The cities of Ghent and Bruges had previously operated virtually as city-states,
and upon the death of duke Charles the Bold attempted to re-assert this position by means of the Great Privilege that they wrested from Mary of Burgundy, Charles' daughter and successor. In 1482 this last Burgundian ruler died, making her young son Philip I of Castile of the House of Habsburg the new count, and her husband Maximilian I of Austria the regent. The Flemish cities staged two more revolts, but these were ultimately subdued by the armies of the Holy Roman Empire.

The 1493 Treaty of Senlis established peace between France and the Habsburgs; per the terms of the treaty, Flanders would henceforth be a territory of the Holy Roman Empire.

The seventeen provinces in the 16th century (1506–98)

Under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (born in the Flemish city Ghent), Flanders became a member of the Burgundian Circle. The county was later involved in the Guelders Wars.

Through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, the County of Flanders was officially detached from France. It became an independent territory of the Holy Roman Empire. This constitutional act made Flanders part of the Seventeen Provinces, that constituted the Low Countries and from then on would be inherited as a whole.

The Low Countries held an important place in the Empire. For Charles personally, they were the region where he spent his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the rich cities, they were also important for the treasury. Lordship transferred to the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg with Philip II of Spain, and after 1556 belonged to the Kings of Spain.

It was in Steenvoorde (In French Flanders) in 1566 that the Beeldenstorm broke loose. The Beeldenstorm spread through all of the Low Countries and eventually led to the outbreak of the Eighty Years' War and the secession of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Originally Flanders cooperated with the northern provinces as a member of the Union of Utrecht, and also signed the Act of Abjuration in 1581, but from 1579 to 1585, in the period known as the "Calvinist Republic of Ghent", it was reconquered by the Spanish army.

The Spanish 17th century (1598–1713)

Flanders stayed under Spanish control. Through the efforts of the French king Louis XIV, the entire southern part of Flanders was annexed by France, and became known as South-Flanders or French Flanders. This situation was formalised in 1678 at the Treaty of Nijmegen.

The Austrian 18th century (1713–89)

After the extinction of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs became counts of Flanders. Under Maria Theresa of Austria, the Austrian Netherlands flourished.

Last years (1789–97)
In 1789 a revolution broke out against emperor Joseph II. In 1790 the county of Flanders and a separate province called West Flanders, which constituted the territories given back by France to the Emperor, were two of the founding members of the United States of Belgium. Just like the other parts of the Austrian Netherlands, the county of Flanders declared its independence. This took place on the Friday-market at Ghent on 4 January 1790. The "Manifest van Vlaenderen" was drawn up by Charles-Joseph de Graeve and Jean-Joseph Raepsaet.

The county of Flanders officially ceased to exist in 1795, when it was annexed by France, and divided into two departments: Lys (present day West Flanders) and Escaut (present day East Flanders and Zeelandic Flanders). Austria confirmed its loss in the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio.

After the French Revolution the county was not restored, and instead the two departments continued their existence as the provinces of East and West Flanders in the Unitarian United Kingdom of the Netherlands and later, after the Belgian Revolution, in Belgium.

Count of Flanders title
From 1840 onwards, the title "Count of Flanders" has been appropriated by the monarchy of Belgium. As a rule it was given to the second in line of succession to the Belgian throne. The title of count of Flanders was abolished by royal decision on 16 October 2001.

Important treaties and battles which involved the County of Flanders
 Battle of Cassel (1071)
 Battle of Axpoele in 1128
 Peace of Peronne in 1199
 Battle of Bouvines in 1214
 Peace of Melun in 1226
 Battle of West-Kapelle in 1253
 Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302
 Battle of Arke in 1303
 Battle of Zierikzee in 1304
 Battle of Mons-en-Pevele in 1304
 Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge in 1305
 Battle of Cassel (1328)
 Battle of Westrozebeke in 1382
 Eighty Years' War from 1568 to 1648
 Pacification of Ghent in 1576
 Union of Utrecht in 1579
 Act of Abjuration in 1581

See also
 History of Flanders

References

Notes

Bibliography
  (1948): "Vlaanderen, oorspronkelijke ligging en etymologie", in Album Prof. Dr. Frank Baur p. 192–220, Leuven.
  (1960): Toponymisch woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (voor 1226), Tongeren.
  (1977–1983): Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Haarlem,
  (2006): Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, HBuitgevers, Baarn,
  (1943): Korte geschiedenis van het ontstaan van het graafschap Vlaanderen van Boudewijn de IJzeren tot Robrecht den Fries, Brussels – The Hague.
  (1941–1942): "Het ontstaan van het vorstendom Vlaanderen", Belgisch tijdschrift voor filologie en geschiedenis, XX, 553–572 en XXI, 53–93.
  (1944): Vlaanderen onder de eerste graven, Antwerp.
  (1992): Medieval Flanders, London,
  (1949–1958): Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Haarlem – Antwerp.
  (1942): "De graven van Vlaanderen en hun domein, 864–1191", Wetenschappelijke Tijdingen, VII, 25–32.

External links

 Maps (900–1350)
 Summary of the French expansionism into Flanders

1380s in the Burgundian Netherlands

Flanders
Former provinces of France
History of Flanders
Flanders, County of
862 establishments

County of Flanders