Richard Morris Titmuss  (1907–1973) was a pioneering British social researcher and teacher. He founded the academic discipline of social administration (now largely known in universities as social policy) and held the founding chair in the subject at the London School of Economics.

His books and articles of the 1950s helped to define the characteristics of Britain's post World War II welfare state and of a universal welfare society, in ways that parallel the contributions of Alva Myrdal and Gunnar Myrdal in Sweden. He is honoured in the Richard Titmuss Chair in Social Policy at the LSE, which is currently held by Julian Le Grand.

Titmuss's association with eugenics extended beyond the British Eugenics Society, to encompass other personal and intellectual connections.

He is also honoured by the annual Richard Titmuss Memorial Lecture in the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Early life

Titmuss was born 16 October 1907 at Lane Farm, Stopsley, near (now a suburb of) Luton, Bedfordshire, the second child of farmer Morris Titmuss and Maud Louise (née Farr), also of farming background. Titmuss was brought up in the countryside and left St Gregory's preparatory school at 14 with no formal qualifications, having suffered from illness which curtailed his attendance. John Stewart, author of Richard Titmuss- A Commitment to Welfare (2020), observes that "although the school did seem to prioritise sport, its ambitions to send pupils on to public schools... suggests rather more academic rigour than is allowed in the usual accounts of the Titmuss myth". Stewart notes that general understanding of Titmuss's upbringing is shaped by an account of his life provided shortly after his death by Margaret Gowing, "a friend with whom he had worked during the Second World War"; it was from Gowing that the view of the Titmuss parents as "not up to much" derives- his mother "incompetent domestically", his father "failing as a farmer". Gowing herself heard of some of these matters from Titmuss's widow, Kathleen ("Kay"), who disliked her mother-in-law; Titmuss's daughter, Ann Oakley, wrote that Gowing's account was "weakened by its reliance on the singular perspective" of Titmuss's wife, she having sought to highlight "how important she had been to (Titmuss's) success, and how unimportant, indeed damaging" had been his upbringing, particularly by his mother. Per Stewart: "A particular version of Titmuss's life and work was put forward by Kay until the end of his life, and has had a shelf-life beyond. This was Kay ... the defender of the faith, defender of a man who had risen from poverty, formulated, with her background but essential assistance, new ways of thinking about social welfare... someone to be loved and admired". Stewart observes of Morris Titmuss's eventually curtailed farming endeavours and later similarly fraught efforts to operate a haulage business that this work took place amidst the financial upheavals following the First World War, and that all things considered "he was able to leave farming without leaving any debt behind, continued to pay his older son's school fees", and bought the terraced house at Hendon to which the family relocated.

Although Titmuss's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography reflects the above popularized account from Gowing, and calls his father an "unsuccessful small farmer", noting his wife to be of "rather less modest" farming background, Titmuss's upbringing "isolated and impecunious",
 Titmuss's daughter, Ann Oakley, undertook extensive research on her father's life, concluding the Titmuss family "wasn't all that impoverished": Morris Titmuss first leased Lane Farm from its owner, a widow, two years before his marriage to Maud, and subsequently leased 48 acres of adjacent land from a Major Clutterbuck. Lane Farm came to consist of 329 acres of arable and 34 of pastoral land, on which Morris Titmuss kept ten cows, eight other cattle, and six working horses, and employed five men and a boy in the business of selling milk and cultivating the land for the growth of animal feed. The farmhouse in which Richard Titmuss was raised contained "a drawing-room... dining-room... kitchen... scullery... pantry... four bedrooms and a boxroom"; the children were wet-nursed, as Oakley notes, "a fate that hardly befell babies in really poor families"; Richard's godmother was wife of the clergyman who had officiated Morris and Maud Titmuss's wedding, and who was "a prominent figure in the local Freemasons" and, with Morris Titmuss, active in the Stopsley Parish Council. Morris Titmuss's "middle-class, potentially income-draining, pursuits" included horse-racing; in 1908, his horse "Red Eagle" won the Hertfordshire Hunt Point-to-Point Steeplechase.

Eventually, having spent twenty years at Lane Farm, Morris Titmuss fell foul of a post-World War I government initiative to maximize cultivation of human food and provide smallholdings for ex-servicemen; the Bedfordshire War Agricultural Executive Committee decided to remove two fields (one sown with white clover, the other pasture)- totalling almost 33 acres- from Morris Titmuss's control, without which, he protested, his cows' milk-production could not continue at its present rate. He did however agree to relinquish ten acres. From this point onward conflict between Morris and the Bedfordshire County Council persisted, he questioning the validity of the Council's claims over the land he farmed, and the Council questioning his competency as a farmer. A Council inspector issued a damning verdict of Lane Farm in 1917; despite the support of the widow from whom he leased the farm, the estate's trustees eventually agreed with the sale of the farm to the Council for the availability of ex-servicemen. The Titmuss family relocated to a small terraced house at Hendon, where Morris Titmuss tried to turn around a "struggling haulage business", dying of heart problems in 1926.

Per Oakley, the seventeenth-century Titmuss (then "Tyttmuss") family were "well-off inhabitants" of Fairlands farm, "now a public park in Stevenage", with a predominant farming tradition from then on.

Career
An autodidact, he worked for a large insurance company as an actuary for 16 years whilst simultaneously pursuing an interest in social topics through reading, debating and writing. His initial concerns were with such issues as insurance and the age structure of the population, migration, unemployment and re-armament, foreign policy and the peace movement. In 1938 he published Poverty and Population, which focused on the regional differences between the North and South. In 1939, he published Our Food Problem. Around this time, Titmuss was also active in the British Eugenics Society.

In 1942, he was recruited to write a volume in the civil series of the official war history, the History of the Second World War. His Problems of Social Policy was published in 1950 which established his reputation as well as securing him the new chair at the London School of Economics. In this process, he was strongly supported by the sociologist T. H. Marshall.

At the LSE, where he was the first professor of Social Administration, he transformed the teaching of social work and social workers and established Social Policy as an academic discipline. He also contributed to a number of government committees on the health service and social policy. He also did some consulting in Africa, sometimes together with Professor Brian Abel-Smith, who was later his successor in his chair.

His concerns focused especially on issues of social justice. His final and perhaps the most important book, The Gift Relationship expressed his own philosophy of altruism in social and health policy and, like much of his work, emphasized his preference for the values of public service over private or commercial forms of care. The book was influential and resulted in a study of the blood bank systems, specifically with regard to regulation on the private blood market exchange. President Nixon called for a complete study of the lack of coordination within the system only months following publication of Titmuss' findings.

He has been criticized by Kenneth Arrow for a somewhat poor reading of some sociological classics (though he never claimed to be a sociologist), such as the works of Émile Durkheim; while this may partly reflect his somewhat inadequate academic training, it also derives from his impatience with non-participatory sociology and his preference (this became a defining characteristic of "his" discipline of 'social administration') for engagement with contemporary social policy issues and even some of its more fallible institutions. For example, he was much criticised for his role as a vice-chairman of the government's Supplementary Benefits Commission which some critics felt did not allow him enough distance. He, by contrast argued in favour of trying to make inadequate institutions work better for the benefit of the poor even if his involvement with them had the potential to sully the purity of his reputation.

He held his chair from 1950, after brief spells in the Cabinet Office and the Social Medicine Research Unit, until his death in 1973.

Influence
Some of his works are still read and some have been re-printed in newly edited forms exploring their contemporary relevance. Many of the writings for which he is known were actually delivered as lectures at the LSE or when he was a much sought-after public speaker. Although several of these were later assembled as 'readers' or 'essays', he never completed a summary of his work or philosophy nor wrote a single magnum opus on social policy. Consequently there remains some confusion in secondary literature on his precise perspective on key issues, either of sociology or public policy.

The Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy was established after his death. Like Titmuss, its current holder, Professor Julian Le Grand has been a government adviser on health policy. However, his emphasis on the potential for the private or quasi markets within the NHS differs markedly from that of Titmuss who strongly believed in the state and universal services that were allocated exclusively on the basis of needs (instead of income or prestige).

Personal life

He married Kathleen ("Kay") Miller, a social worker. Their only daughter, Ann Oakley, has edited some of his works for recent re-publication, and has written a biography of her parents, Man and Wife: Richard and Kay Titmuss: My Parents' Early Years. In this she chronicles the important role Kay played in supporting his early work, and in co-authoring their book Parents' Revolt (1942), which focused on the decline of the birth rate. Oakley has, however, also been critical of the role played by her mother in creating and promulgating the "Titmuss myth" of her father's poverty-stricken origins, stating that this was designed to elevate Titmuss as a "champion of equality and the welfare state transcending his own impoverished background through sheer hard work, a truly self-made man", and that Kay Titmuss sought to emphasise "how important she had been to (Titmuss's) success" in contrast to his parents.

Titmuss was an agnostic.

Major works
His major works include:
 Problems of Social Policy, R. M. Titmuss, 1950
 Essays on the Welfare State, R. M. Titmuss, 1958
 Income Distribution and Social Change, R. M. Titmuss, 1962
 Commitment to Welfare, 1968
 Titmuss, Richard, The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy (1970). Reprinted by the New Press,  (reissued with new chapters 1997, John Ashton & Ann Oakley, LSE Books)
 Titmuss, Richard, Social Policy. An Introduction. Edited by Brian Abel-Smith and Kay Titmuss.George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd. London. 1974.

See also recently edited collections of his lectures and articles:

References

External links
 Richard Titmuss biography
 The Social Policy Association
 Catalogue of the Richard Titmuss papers held at LSE Archives
 Commitment to Welfare, 1968
 John Vaizey, In breach of promise, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983, 56–78.

1907 births
1973 deaths
Academics of the London School of Economics
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the British Academy
British sociologists

Richard Titmuss


Lucy's Fur Coat was an American rock band that formed in 1992 in San Diego, California, United States, with rhythm guitarist and chief songwriter Mike Santos on lead vocals. Deciding they needed a more prominent front man, they added lead vocalist Charlie Ware within their first year. Other original band members included Tony Sanfilippo, guitar; Rob Brown, bass; and Scott "Scoots" Bauer, drums.

With the band's powerful rock sound and Ware's spastic dancing, the band became a huge local draw. The band signed to Relativity Records and released Jaundice in 1994. The band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada in support of the record. The song "Treasure Hands" received extensive airplay, especially in Southern California.

Internal struggles within the band led to drummer Bauer leaving, replaced by Scott Clark.  But the band members felt their record company never fully supported them, and friction between the band and its management with Relativity led to the band breaking up briefly, in order to get out of their contract. In 1998, the band reunited and recorded a new CD "How to Survive an Air Crash" on SRH Records. Santos left the band and Lucy's Fur Coat continued as a four-piece and soldiered on, mostly playing at local clubs. Though the band generated some major label interest, they failed to get signed and again the group broke up. Lucy's Fur Coat has reunited several times over the years for one-off shows, some of which have included Santos.

Ware and Sanfilippo formed the band Pumphouse with Petey X of Rocket from the Crypt. Santos and Brown joined Marc Balanky (Funeral March, The Palominos), Tom Perry (Deadbolt) and Joe Camacho (Malachi Crunch) to form the country band The Scramblers. Santos later formed the group The Coolest Band in America in 2004, which released CDs "Air Conditioned" and "Memo."  Currently, Ware, Santos, Petey X, Morgan Smith (the Front) and Mark Magard (Louis XIV and Convoy) formed the band Midnight Rivals and are gigging in the San Diego area. Santos also fronts "Bayside Bridge Club" a retro first-wave group with Charlie Brownell (who also played with Rob Brown in The Chasers), Jeff Trag, D Segel, and Danno. In 2016, Santos joined Balanky, Perry and Mark Sgarbossa to form Sea Base, later adding Rob Brown as a member of the Armada.

Discography
Albums
Jaundice (Relativity, 1994)
How to Survive an Air Crash (SRH, 1998)

Singles
"Speed Queen" / "Friend" / "Insanity" (Red Eye Records, 1993)
"Treasure Hands" / "Not My Fault" / "Falling Out" / "I Give Up" (Relativity, 1994)
"Elementary" / "Sensor" / "Treasure Hands" (Relativity, 1994)
"Sensor" (Relativity, 1994) - promo
"Lucy" / "Watergun" (Goldenrod, 1994)
"Aurora" / "Stealth" (Goldenrod, 1995)

Compilation album appearances
Saint Doug: San Diego Local Music Soundtrack - "I Give Up" (91X, 1994)
Lose Your Illusion 1 - "Shapely" (SRH Records, 1998)

References

External links
Lucy's Fur Coat - My Space Page

Alternative rock groups from California
Musical groups from San Diego
American grunge groups
Musical groups established in 1992

Lucy's Fur Coat


The Sonnenberg is a ski resort in the Upper Harz surrounded by the Harz National Park. The settlement of the same name located there is part of the borough of Sankt Andreasberg.

Topography

About a kilometre southeast of the Großer Sonnenberg is the Kleiner Sonnenberg which is only 40 cm lower. The L 519 state road runs over the 830 m high saddle between the two mountains and between the village of Sonnenberg and the main town of Sankt Andreasberg. Following the line of the crest further to the southeast for a further kilometre and beyond another saddle, 833 m high, one reaches the 892 m high Rehberg.

On the eastern slope of the Großer Sonnenberg is a triangulation station at a height of 838 m; this is the height shown on most topographical maps and is frequently misinterpreted as the actual height of the Großer Sonnenberg.

Winter sports
There are three T-bars and a rope tow on the Sonnenberg for Alpine sports.

 Total piste length: 2,600 m
 Height difference: ca. 200 m
 Difficulty: 1,400 m easy; 1,200 m medium

For cross-country skiers the Sonnenberg Langlauf Network (Loipennetz Sonnenberg) offers a direct link to the trails around Sankt Andreasberg. In addition there is a connexion to the Ackerloipe and a link trail to Oderbrück, that runs past Oderteich. For tobogganists there is a separate toboggan piste. Medical support is provided by a first aid station operated by the Sankt Andreasberg Mountain Rescue organisation (Bergwacht Sankt Andreasberg) on the large car park, that is open during winter weekends. Due to its height the Sonnenberg has guaranteed snow until spring.

On the Sonnenberg there is also the state biathlon centre, in which national and international competitions are staged. In 2009, a snowmaking facility was built.

See also
 List of mountains and hills in Lower Saxony
 List of mountains in the Harz

External links
 Information about the Sonnenberg ski region
 Großer Sonnenberg ski lifts

Mountains of Lower Saxony
Mountains of the Harz
Mountains under 1000 metres
Ski areas and resorts in Germany
Sankt Andreasberg

Sonnenberg (Harz)


Tony Anthony (born Andonis Andreou Athanasiou; 30 July 1971, name changed by deed poll in 1975 to Andonis Andrew Anthony, but known since childhood as Tony) is a British Christian evangelist. He became prominent following the 2004 publication of his autobiography, Taming The Tiger, in which he claimed to have been a violent criminal before converting to Christianity. The book was well received by the Christian community, and Anthony began an international ministry as an evangelist. However, an independent investigation in 2013 concluded that large sections of the book are false.

Early life and conversion
Tony Anthony was born in London. According to his books, his father is Italian, and his mother is Chinese, and he spent part of his childhood with relatives in Canton, China. He claimed to have been trained in kung fu by his grandfather,
and that he won three Kung Fu world championships after returning to London, before working as a bodyguard and turning to violence and crime, including murder, after his fiancée died in a car accident.

He recounted that in 1989 he was arrested for burglary in Cyprus and was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Central Jail of Nicosia, where his Buddhist upbringing did not give him much strength to endure the harsh conditions. Over six months, he was visited every week by an Irish missionary, Michael Wright, and converted to Christianity.
They developed a friendship which continued after Anthony's release.

He was sentenced again in 2001 to 15 months in prison in the United Kingdom for perverting the course of justice and other charges. By his own version of events, his car had hit a female motorcyclist at night, killing her, but he had not stayed at the scene and later denied it to the police. The person killed was Elizabeth Bracewell, sister to footballer Paul Bracewell. Anthony's wife, Sara, received a sentence of 120 hours of community service for her role in the cover-up. When Anthony was jailed (as when he married) he used a false date of birth.

Anthony set up Avanti Ministries in 2003 to support his evangelistic work (avanti is the Italian for 'go'). The organisation received charitable status on 3 June 2004.

In 2004, Authentic Media (then part of Christian publishers Send the Light and currently owned by the Australian company Koorong) published Anthony's autobiography, Taming The Tiger. The book won the 2005 Christian Booksellers Convention award, was translated into 25 languages, and 1.5 million copies were distributed. Taming The Tiger brought Anthony to the attention of Christians worldwide, who were enthralled by the conversion of such a violent criminal. He travelled internationally to tell his story; video interviews were broadcast in Canada on 100 Huntley Street in 2005 and 2011,
and in the Netherlands by Evangelische Omroep. Anthony was also the keynote speaker at the Global Day of Prayer event in London in 2010. He was a member of the Leigh Road Baptist Church.

Investigation
Concerns began to be expressed about Anthony's claims to have been a Kung Fu champion and violent enforcer. Christian journalist Gavin Drake writes:

Questions were asked about the authenticity of Taming the Tiger ever since it was first published in 2004. Critics were quick to point out that it reads like a work of fiction...

Users of a martial arts website also began to doubt Anthony's story, starting in 2007.

Mike Hancock is credited with initiating the events that finally exposed Anthony. Hancock was appointed as a director of Avanti Ministries in December 2010, but received evasive answers when he asked for proof of Anthony's claims. Having failed to convince the other directors of the need to verify Anthony's story, he resigned in January 2012. Hancock then joined with another former director of Avanti Ministries, Geoff Elliott, who had similar concerns, Anglican church leader Carl Chambers, and prison chaplain David Buick, and together they sought to uncover the truth about Anthony. Chambers created a website documenting his research into Anthony's claims.  Additional members of the group were Tony Pancaldi, Aaron Peterson and Jon Mason. Collectively, they became known as the Research Group.

In October 2012, the Research Group presented a detailed complaint to the Evangelical Alliance, an umbrella organisation of which Avanti Ministries was a member. Following discussions with the Alliance, Avanti Ministries agreed to set up an independent investigation conducted by a panel comprising three senior members of the Evangelical Alliance council. A joint press release issued by Avanti Ministries and the Evangelical Alliance on 12 July 2013 advised:
The panel produced its report on 26 June 2013 and concluded, based on the evidence submitted to it, that large sections of the book Taming the Tiger, and associated materials, which claim to tell the true story of Tony Anthony's life, do not do so.

Avanti Ministries have refused to release the panel's report, citing confidentiality, but Gavin Drake has indicated that the Research Group challenged virtually all of Anthony's claims regarding his life prior to becoming a Christian. A comment by Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, confirmed that the information available online comprises most of the issues raised in the original complaint.

Specific aspects of Anthony's story that have been disputed include his birth in the early 1960s to an Italian father, his childhood in China, his training in Kung Fu and winning three world championships, and his role as a bodyguard and enforcer for international gangsters and diplomats. Drake indicated that Anthony confirmed that his real name is Andonis Andreou Athanasiou and he was born on 30 July 1971, which would make him too young to have participated in the events described in his book.

Subsequent events
On 16 July 2013, the Avanti Ministries board made public their decision to close down the organisation. Authentic Media, Anthony's publisher, also announced that they were withdrawing his materials from sale.

In a statement published on his personal website, Anthony accepted that there were some errors in Taming the Tiger relating to his childhood, and claimed he was unaware of these details when the book was written. Anthony maintained that the substance of the book is true, but did not respond to the more significant allegations. The statement was reported by the Christian Today website.

On 30 August 2013, John Langlois OBE, the chair of the inquiry panel, released a strongly-worded letter expressing his concerns at the lack of transparency shown by Avanti Ministries. He said that a statement from Avanti Ministries was "a deliberate deception" and explicitly accused Anthony of making false claims:

...I concluded that:
 Tony Anthony never went to China as a child as claimed,
 He was never involved in Kung Fu as claimed, and
 He was never involved in Close Protection as claimed.

The inquiry's conclusion was reported in both secular and Christian media, with British national newspaper The Observer describing Anthony as a "serial fantasist". Christianity printed a lengthy article about the investigation and its conclusions. Other press coverage included Anthony's local newspaper the Southend Standard, Reform magazine, and French magazine Marianne.

Following Avanti Ministries' refusal to release the report, and Anthony's trivialisation of the allegations, the Evangelical Alliance removed Avanti Ministries from membership on 19 September 2013. A few days later, Anthony's former church, Leigh Road Baptist Church, released a statement indicating that they accept the findings of the inquiry and can no longer support his ministry. They confirmed that Anthony was no longer a member of this church.

On 21 October 2013, the New Zealand Herald reported that Anthony was making a six-week visit to New Zealand, and that the NZ Christian Network, a similar organisation to the Evangelical Alliance, had issued a warning because Anthony's biography had been found to be '99 per cent false'. The national leader of the Elim Pentecostal Church in New Zealand was reported as saying that they are suspending support for Anthony pending their own investigations.

On 25 March 2014, British Christian website The Way published an article in support of Anthony. The article referred to a subsequent investigation by Ian Bruce which concluded that the allegations made against Anthony were unjust, and called on the Evangelical Alliance and Christianity magazine to apologise for them.
However, Gavin Drake (the journalist who wrote the 2013 report) concluded that Bruce's website did not cast doubts on his investigation or the Evangelical Alliance/Avanti panel.
Luke Hughes-Bunger, director of The Hub Christian Resource Centre which had published evidence related to the 2013 investigation, issued a further point-by-point response, concluding that Bruce's investigation had done further harm to Anthony's credibility.

Republication of Taming The Tiger
On 9 July 2015, RoperPenberthy Publishing announced that they have published a revised edition of Anthony's autobiography, Taming The Tiger, and media interest in Anthony was reawakened.

The first report was on the Christian Today website, dated 17 July 2015. It covered the earlier controversy, the republication of Taming The Tiger, and also pointed out discrepancies in a report on Anthony's website about a 2014 meeting at Royal Holloway University. The author concluded,
For the majority, the holes in his [Anthony's] story are simply too big for him to retain his credibility as an evangelical Christian witness.

Premier Media (the parent company of Premier Christian Radio) followed, with an internet article dated 22 July 2015, again covering the events of 2013 and the republication of Taming The Tiger. A day later, the Evangelical Alliance reiterated their previous statement that Anthony's claims had been found to be untrue.

Bibliography
 Taming The Tiger, Tony Anthony with Angela Little, Authentic Lifestyle, 2004-08-01,
 Passion, Tony Anthony with Angela Little, Authentic Publishing, 2010-05-07,
 Cry of the Tiger, Angela Little, Authentic Media, 2008-04-01,

See also
Mike Warnke – an American evangelist whose claims were also disputed

References

External links
 Personal website

1971 births
Living people
English evangelists
English evangelicals
Converts to Protestantism from Buddhism
Controversies in Christian literature

Tony Anthony (evangelist)


The Finders were an intentional community and a cult founded in Washington, D.C. in the early 1970s by former Air Force Master Sergeant Marion Pettie (1920–2003).

1987 arrest case

The Finders came to wider public attention when two members of the movement were arrested in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1987 and charged with misdemeanor child abuse of the six children accompanying them, the two men having remained silent when, in a public park, the police inquired as to their identity and relationship to the children. The men were Douglas Ammerman and James Michael Holwell, both described as "well-dressed men in suits." They used a van to transport "six scruffy, hungry children" of varying ages. The age range of the children was between 2 and 11.

The two oldest children, referred to as "Mary" and "Max", were interviewed by law enforcement, as the others were too young to properly communicate. It was noted that medical examinations of the children showed signs of sexual abuse and malnutrition, as well as bite marks potentially belonging to an adult human. During the interview as well as eyewitness testimony from neighbors, it was discovered that the children were raised on a farm belonging to Pettie with little adult supervision, with there being twenty adults and one other child present. The younger children were observed to display behavior indicating they were not used to being in a house or using indoor plumbing, requesting to go outside to use the bathroom, or urinating in their pants (noted to lack underwear). "Max" had a poor concept of time. They explained that they were being "weaned" from their mothers and were rarely allowed inside the house, even sleeping outside. Neighbors observed that the children apparently lived in the farm's watermelon field. Mary described Ammerman and Holwell as their "teachers", teaching them to read and "play games". One game involved disrobing a man, wearing his clothes, and going through his pockets for money (she later revised her statement and asserted that only jackets were involved). The two reported seeing female members of the cult naked and believed this to be another game as well. When questioned about "bad touches" Mary denied sexual abuse but "became very fidgety and wanted to end the interview". At another Finders farm in Virginia, agents recorded cages on the premises, with witnesses asserting they were used to keep children. , the full medical and psychological reports are not available for public viewing.

According to U.S. District Court records in Washington, a confidential police source had previously told authorities that the Finders were "a cult" that conducted "brainwashing" techniques at a warehouse and a Glover Park duplex raided by law enforcement. This source told of being recruited by the Finders with promises of "financial reward and sexual gratification" and of being invited by one member to "explore" satanism with them, according to the documents. Police sources said some of the items seized showed pictures of children engaged in what appeared to be "cult rituals." Officials of the U.S. Customs Service said that the material seized included photos showing children involved in bloodletting ceremonies of animals and one photograph of a child in chains. It was noted by a detective during the investigation that documents were discovered with detailed instructions about methods to obtain children for unspecified purposes (including the impregnation of female members of the community, purchasing, trading, and kidnapping), but neither the documents nor anyone else with knowledge of them could later be found.

Robert Gardner Terrell, who owned one of the raided properties, claimed ″We are rational people″, ″not devil worshipers or child molesters″, and ″anything we've done is based on the desire for the children to have the richest life they could have.″ According to Terrell the recovered photos of naked children were of Holwell's own children, and the dead goats shown in the photos mentioned by the Customs Service were already butchered with the children being taught how to prepare them. The men were released six weeks later, with the state of Florida dropping all charges against them.

The Finders leader Robert Terrell publicly gathered with members at the Vietnam Memorial Park in Tallahassee to speak with members of the press and give the public an opportunity to meet the group personally in order 'to dispel the bad image bestowed on the group by law enforcement and the media'.

Federal authorities concluded that there was no evidence of criminal activity, with it being noted that although more could have been done for the children, it was difficult to compile accurate information with what knowledge they did have into their lifestyle only being able to be judged subjectively. The authorities contacted the mothers of the children, who came to Tallahassee and retrieved them.

Allegations against the Cult
Despite this resolution, the issue was brought to wider attention in 1993 when Henry T. "Skip" Clements, an officer in private-sector consulting and a resident of Stuart, Florida, obtained a copy of the 1987 report which stated that the DC Police Department investigation into The Finders had been dropped as a "a CIA internal matter." Clements alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency had compelled the U.S. Customs Service to cease the investigation, supposedly because the commune was used as a front to train agents. Clements' allegations drew the interest of two United States Congress members Tom Lewis and Charlie Rose, leading to an investigation by the Department of Justice into the Finders and the 1987 investigation.  CIA spokesman David Christian asserted that the charges were a misunderstanding stemming from a company by the name of Future Enterprises Inc. being used to train agents, with one member of the Finders working as a part-time accountant there.

Conspiracies
In 2019, the FBI released hundreds of documents related to The Finders, noting on their FBI Vault website it was their top requested topic. Despite a lack of evidence or verification by the Washington, DC Police Department, the belief that these reports indicated a larger conspiracy became popular in some quarters.

The Finders are often ascribed as an early example of Satanic Panic in the US. Some authors have gone as far as describing The Finders conspiratorial beliefs as the 'Patient Zero' to other conspiratorial beliefs regarding the U.S. Intelligence Services allegedly covering up or taking part in sexual abuse. Similar allegations of a grand scale governmental coverup can be found in other claims such as those surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

References

External links
 The Finders, FBI.Vault.gov

1970s establishments in Washington, D.C.
1987 in Florida
1993 controversies in the United States
Intentional communities in the United States
Conspiracy theories in the United States
False allegations of sex crimes
Lifestyles
Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in the 1970s
Satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the United States
Cults

The Finders (movement)


The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,500 and 17,500 words; awards are also given out for pieces of longer lengths in the Novel and Novella categories, and for shorter lengths in the Short Story category. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a novelette must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The Nebula Award for Best Novelette has been awarded annually since 1966. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.

Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be members. Works are nominated each year by members in a period around December 15 through January 31, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Soon after, members are given a month to vote on the ballot, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. The rules were changed to their current format in 2009. Previously, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then be awarded in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary list for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.

During the 58 nomination years, 231 authors have had works nominated; 50 of these have won, including co-authors and ties. Ted Chiang has won three times out of three nominations, and Poul Anderson, Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, Sarah Pinsker, and Connie Willis have each won twice out of five, two, four, six, and five nominations, respectively. One of Anderson's nominations was under the pseudonym Michael Karageorge. Ursula K. Le Guin has the most nominations of any author with seven, including one win and not including one withdrawn nomination. James Patrick Kelly and Richard Bowes are tied for the most nominations without winning at six.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the novelette was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist.

  *   Winners and joint winners

See also
 Hugo Award for Best Novelette

Explanatory notes

References

External links
 Nebula Awards official site

1966 establishments in the United States
Awards established in 1966
Novelette
Short story awards

Nebula Award for Best Novelette


A ruif is the top pairt o the biggin. It keeps oot the rain an the snaw an pertects fowk frae the sun. Some ruifs are sclent sae the rain an snaw faw aff eithly. Some ruifs are flet, but even flet ruifs hae a wee bit o a sclent sae the watter can flowe awa towards a cundie.

Flet ruifs are for ordinar kivered in cahootchie or kynds o plastic. You can walk on a flet ruif. At the laggin o a flet ruif thare is whiles a ravel, that hinders fowk frae fawin aff the ruif.

Structural ingineerin
Structural seestem

Ruif


Tunne-Väldo Kelam (born 10 July 1936) is an Estonian politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Estonia. He is a member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, part of the European People's Party.

Early life and education
After graduating from Tallinn 2. Secondary School in 1954 he studied history in the University of Tartu (1954–1959). He was a senior researcher in the State Central Archives in Tartu (1959–1965) and a senior scientific editor of the Estonian Soviet Encyclopaedia in Tallinn (1965–1975). From 1959 till 1970, as a member of the "Science" society, Kelam was also part-time lecturer and columnist on international relations.

Resistance to the Soviet occupation
In 1972 he prepared a memorandum to the UN on behalf of two underground citizens' groups, which asked for the UN assistance to evacuate the Soviet occupation forces and organize free elections. Smuggled out of the country, the memorandum caused lively interest in the West but resulted also in the wave of KGB repressions at home. Kelam narrowly escaped arrest but lost his job in the Encyclopaedia and all his public activities were suppressed. He stayed for the next dozen years under strict KGB surveillance but continued to operate half-underground, organizing unofficial opposition groups and passing to the West information about human rights violations in the Soviet occupied Estonia. From 1979 till 1987 Kelam was employed as a night-shift worker on a state poultry farm.

Political activity
By the end of the 1980s he had become one of the leading advocates for restoration of independence in Estonian society. In August 1988 Kelam became a founding member of the Estonian National Independence Party (ERSP, Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Partei), the first non-Communist political party on the territory of the Soviet Union. In 1989 he emerged as one of the leaders of the Estonian Citizens' Committees Movement - a massive citizens' initiative in support of restoration of the independent nation state. In February 1990 Kelam was elected to the Congress of Estonia - a transition time representative body of Estonian citizens, which aspired for full-fledged independent statehood on the basis of the legal continuity of the Republic of Estonia. From 1990 to 1992 Kelam served as chairman of the Estonian Committee, an executive body of the Congress of Estonia. In August 1991 he was instrumental in achieving a national understanding with the Soviet Estonia's Supreme Council on the principles of restoring Estonian statehood.

Kelam was member of the Constitutional Assembly (1991–1992) and was elected to the first constitutional parliament, the Riigikogu, in 1992, where he served until 2004.
He was a Vice Speaker of Riigikogu (1992–2003) and chairman of the European Affairs Committee (1997–2003).

As the last chairman of the conservative Estonian National Independence Party (1993–1995), Kelam led his party into merger with the National Coalition Party Pro Patria (1995), which resulted in creation of the centre-right Pro Patria Union. He succeeded Mart Laar as its chairman (2002–2005). In 2002–2003 he represented the Riigikogu in the Convention on the Future of Europe. He was elected to the membership of the European Parliament in 2004, in 2009 and in 2014.

He is also a board member of the Human Rights Institute (since 1997), the Kistler-Ritso Foundation (since 1998) which built the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn and was chief elder of the Estonian Scouting Association (1996–2007).

Kelam is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism. (2008) and is one of the initiators of the European Parliament's resolution on European Conscience and Totalitarianism (2009). He also initiated the publication of the book "Reunification of Europe" (2009) which presents the 20th century experiences of ten post-Communist EU member states.

Decorations
Tunne Kelam has been decorated with the Estonian Order of the Coat of Arms, 1st class (2005), with the French Grand Officier de l'Ordre National du Merité (2001), with Robert Schuman medal and honorary diploma (2006), with the Baltic Parliamentary Assembly's Diploma and the Sash of Honour for the outstanding contribution to the restoration of independence (1999), with Rotary International Paul Harris award (1990) etc. He is honorary citizen of the State of  Maryland (1991).

Personal life
Tunne Kelam is married to Mari-Ann Kelam, a politician and former press spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Estonia). He has a daughter from a previous marriage. Tunne Kelam's brother was composer Kuldar Sink.

Tunne Kelam has also written two books.

References

External links

 Tunne Kelam

1936 births
Living people
People from Valga Parish
Estonian National Independence Party politicians
Pro Patria Union politicians
Isamaa politicians
Members of the Riigikogu, 1992–1995
Pro Patria Union MEPs
MEPs for Estonia 2004–2009
MEPs for Estonia 2009–2014
MEPs for Estonia 2014–2019
Soviet dissidents
Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 1st Class
University of Tartu alumni
Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class
20th-century Estonian politicians
21st-century Estonian politicians
Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999
Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003
Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007

Tunne Kelam


St. Lawrence's Church is the most important cultural object of Kalnalis Village in Telšiai Diocese, situated on the right-hand bank of the Salantas River in Lithuania. The settlement, which is surrounded by the Salantas and Kūlupis Valleys, was established at the end of the 18th century, when the Grūšlaukė landowner Ignas Oginskis built St. Lawrence's Church here in 1777. It has retained its cultural significance, not only because it is an important part of the community, but also because Bishop Motiejus Valančius was baptised here.

History
In 1883 the church burned down, and a new church was immediately built in its place that has survived to this day. The church is wooden and cruciform, with a single tower and 4 corner turrets. On the western edge of the churchyard stands a rectangular pyramid-shaped three level wooden bell tower. On the south-western and northern sides, the churchyard is surrounded by a loose stone fence, and on the southeast by a masonry fence. Above the church and the bell tower, wooden openwork ornamental crosses were raised, which are monuments to the 19th century craft of cross-making.

In 1997, the church with its bell tower was incorporated into the real heritage registry.

Gallery

References

1777 establishments in Europe
18th-century churches in Lithuania
Churches completed in 1777

Church of St. Lawrence, Kalnalis


The PRIMEHPC FX10 is a supercomputer designed and manufactured by Fujitsu. Announced on 7 November 2011 at the Supercomputing Conference, the PRIMEHPC FX10 is an improved and commercialized version of the K computer, which was the first supercomputer to obtain more than 10 PFLOPS on the LINPACK benchmark. In its largest configuration, the PRIMEHPC FX10 has a peak performance 23.2 PFLOPS, power consumption of 22.4 MW, and a list price of US$655.4 million. It was succeeded by the PRIMEHPC FX100 with SPARC64 XIfx processors in 2015.

Specifications
 Node specifications:
 Theoretical peak performance: 236.5 GFLOPS
 Processor: One 1.848 GHz, 16-core SPARC64 IXfx
 Memory capacity: 32 or 64 GB
 Memory bandwidth: 85 GB/s
 Tofu Interconnect link bandwidth: 5 GB/s per direction (Tofu has dedicated links for each direction)
 System specifications:
 4 to 1,024 racks
 384 to 98,304 compute nodes
 Theoretical peak performance: 90.8 TFLOPS to 23.2 PFLOPS
 Total memory capacity: 12 TB to 6 PB
 Interconnect: Torus fusion (Tofu); 6D mesh/torus hybrid
 Cooling method: Direct water cooling and air cooling (with optional exhaust cooling unit)
 Operating System:
 Linux-based

Installations
The first installation of the PRIMEHPC FX10 was at the University of Tokyo's Information Technology Center. Named Oakleaf-FX, the system has a peak performance of 1.135 PFLOPS and consists of 4,800 nodes (for a total of 76,800 cores) and 150 TB of memory in 50 racks. Oakleaf-FX was ordered in November 2011, and it became operational in April 2012. In June 2012 was ranked as the 18th fastest supercomputer in the 39th TOP500 list of the fastest supercomputers, with a LINPACK benchmark performance of 1.043 PFLOPS.

In June 2012, Fujitsu received an order from the Republic of China's Central Weather Bureau, the first PRIMEHPC FX10 sale outside of Japan. This system, which was installed in 2014, has a performance of over 1 PFLOPS.

In addition to serving as a platform for high-performance computing, the PRIMEHPC FX10 was also intended to serve as a software development platform for the K computer, which it is compatible with. Fujitsu has sold several systems for K computer software development, including a 96-node system in June 2012 to Kobe University's Graduate School of Informatics, and 384-node system in August 2012 to the University of Tokyo's Institute for Solid-State Physics.

See also
 K computer
 Supercomputing in Japan
 TOP500

References

External links
 Fujitsu PRIMEHPC FX10
 Fujitsu Supercomputers

Fujitsu supercomputers
SPARC microprocessor products

PRIMEHPC FX10


Operation Undergo was an attack by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on the German garrison and fortifications of the French port of Calais, during September 1944. A subsidiary operation was executed to capture German long-range, heavy artillery at Cap Gris Nez, which threatened the sea approaches to Boulogne. The operation was part of the Clearing the Channel Coast undertaken by the First Canadian Army, following the success of Operation Overlord and the break-out from Normandy. The assault on Calais used the tactics of Operation Wellhit at Boulogne, sealing the town, bombardments from land, sea and air, followed by infantry assaults supported by armour, including flame-throwing tanks and creeping barrages.

The city had been declared a fortress () but when pressed, its second-rate garrison needed little persuasion to surrender. This reluctance to fight to the end was repeated at Cap Gris Nez. The 7th and 8th Canadian Infantry Brigades started the main attack from south-west of Calais and cleared the outer defences on the southern and western sides of the port. The 8th Canadian Brigade was then transferred to the eastern side and the inner defensive lines were attacked from both sides. The Germans called for a truce which, after some misunderstanding, led to an unconditional surrender of the garrison. The 9th Brigade took the heavy batteries on Cap Gris Nez at the same time.

Background

Allied break-out
In northern France, all German armed forces (Wehrmacht) retreated after the disaster at Falaise and the Allied break-out. There were no reserve defences to fall back on, as Adolf Hitler had forbidden their construction. The rapid Allied advances into eastern France and through Belgium stretched Allied supply lines and the capture of ports for supply was the task given to the First Canadian Army by General Bernard Montgomery, who judged that he needed the Channel ports of Le Havre, Dieppe, Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk to supply the 21st Army Group, if an attempt was to be made to advance into Germany without opening Antwerp first. Most of the ports had been fortified and were to be held by their garrisons for as long as possible.

After his surrender, the fortress commander,  Ludwig Schroeder, called the garrison, consisting of 7,500 sailors, airmen and soldiers, of whom only 2,500 were fit for use as infantry, "mere rubbish". Many of the garrison troops were  ("ethnic Germans" born in foreign countries) and  (foreign volunteers); morale was low and the troops were susceptible to Allied propaganda. A report of the post battle interrogations of prisoners concluded that,

Schroeder was judged by his interrogators as a "mediocre and accidental" leader, who became commander by coincidence.

Terrain

The French coast goes northwards from Boulogne and turns sharply at Cap Gris Nez to a line roughly south to north-east, which continues beyond the Belgian border. There are no large natural harbours but important docks have been formed in the low-lying land at Calais. The landscape around Cap Gris Nez and Cap Blanc Nez nearby, is a continuation of the rolling rural Boulonnais hills, Calais is on the coastal edge of a low flat plain drained by the River Aa and man-made watercourses. The city had been fortified for centuries; the defences were used by the British and French in the siege of Calais in June 1940 and were added to the German Atlantic Wall coastal defence system built after 1940. In 1944 the Germans had 42 heavy guns in the vicinity of Calais, including five batteries of cross-channel guns,  (four  guns at Sangatte),  (150 mm guns near Wissant),  (four  guns),  (four  guns) and  (three  guns). The Germans had broken the drainage systems, flooding the hinterland and added large barbed wire entanglements, minefields and blockhouses.

Prelude
The Allies judged it essential to silence the German heavy coastal batteries around Calais which could threaten Boulogne-bound shipping and bombard Dover and inland targets. Spry devised a plan similar to Operation Wellhit, the capture of Boulogne, earlier in September. A bombardment from land, sea and air was to "soften up" the defenders, even if it failed to destroy the defences. Infantry assaults would follow, preceded by local bombardments to keep the defenders under cover until too late to be effective and accompanied by Churchill Crocodile and Wasp flame-throwing vehicles to act as final "persuaders". Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers would be used to deliver infantry as close to their objectives as possible.

The assaults were planned to approach Calais from the west and south-west, avoiding the worst inundations and the main urban areas. The attack of the 8th Canadian Brigade from the west was against the positions at Escalles, near Cape Blanc Nez and Noires Mottes. The 7th Canadian Brigade was to assault the garrisons of Belle Vue, Coquelles and Calais. The eastern side of the city was screened by The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa to prevent a break-out; the 9th Canadian Brigade would take over from the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment at Cape Gris Nez and prepare to capture the batteries there.

Montgomery had been directed to bring Antwerp into operation and ordered General Harry Crerar, commander of the First Canadian Army, quickly to capture the Channel Ports. Crerar recognised the considerable effort being used to capture the ports and the time needed to bring them back into use. Having obtained the Royal Navy's views he decided that he was prepared to accept the "masking" (isolating the enemy garrison with a reduced force) of Calais and redeployment of the troops and equipment to Antwerp, a more significant port but this was not passed on to Spry, who continued with the assault on Calais.

Battle

Wissant
The 7th Canadian Brigade had sealed off Calais in early September and the Regina Rifles captured the coastal town of Wissant, isolating the Cap Gris Nez batteries from Calais and took  with its four  guns. This success prompted Spry to attack Cap Gris Nez with two battalions but the attempt failed and the area was left for later.

Calais

The 7th and 8th Canadian Infantry Brigades opened their attack on Calais and its western coastal defences at  on 25 September after a day's delay, following preparatory air and artillery bombardments. The Régiment de la Chaudière were to advance through Escalles, taking Cap Blanc Nez and link up near Sangatte with the North Shore Regiment. The North Shores had the difficult task of taking the fortified Noires Mottes, high ground near Sangatte and the site of . To shield Canadian activity around Cap Blanc Nez and Calais from observation and interference from the batteries at Cap Gris Nez, a large smoke screen was established along a  line inland from Wissant, for five days. The capture of Cap Blanc Nez proved to be unexpectedly easy. As soon as the Chaudieres' assault reached the first defences, the garrison offered to surrender. This was completed just two hours later, most defenders reportedly being dead drunk.

The North Shores' attack on Noires Mottes was supported by flail tanks from the 79th Armoured Division and gunfire from the 10th Armoured Regiment on the approach through minefields and by Crocodiles to reduce fortifications. Early attempts by small groups of Germans to surrender were discouraged when they were shot down by their own side. The advance was held up by the defenders and bomb craters that obstructed the Crocodiles before nightfall. Negotiations were opened with the help of German prisoners and the Noires Mottes garrison surrendered at first light on the following morning, 26 September. A formidable defensive position and nearly 300 prisoners had been captured cheaply; the Sangatte battery was also surrendered. Examination of the forts showed that they had been extensively booby-trapped.

The early success of the 8th Canadian Brigade had captured ground that overlooked the attack front of the 7th Canadian Brigade, which greatly helped the attacks on the Belle Vue Ridge and Coquelles. The 1st Canadian Scottish, the Regina Rifles and The Royal Montreal Regiment were to attack through the Belle Vue fortifications to the seafront just east of Sangatte. At first, following closely the creeping artillery barrage, the Canadians overran the first defences. Much had been missed by the bombardment and the Reginas suffered many casualties until the reserves, the Canadian Scots and flame-throwing Crocodiles overcame the defenders. The 8th Canadian Brigade reached Sangatte on the morning of 26 September, with its objectives complete, it was transferred to the eastern side, relieved the Camerons and applied pressure from another direction.

The next stages would be the 7th Canadian Brigade advance through Coquelles and flooded ground to Fort Nieulay and a frontal attack on Calais by the Regina Rifles, following a railway by boat across more flooded ground to the south-west of the city's factory area. These advances were difficult, the defenders held their ground and had to be overrun step-by-step. The Canadian Scots were ordered to make a night attack along the coast to Fort Lapin. On 27 September, the Canadians withdrew temporarily during an attack by heavy bombers on German strongpoints. Fort Lapin fell only after further air attacks and support from tanks and flame-throwing tanks. The Winnipegs, again assisted by flame-throwing tanks, captured Fort Nieulay and the Reginas reached their immediate target, the factory district.

Further advances were made by the 7th Canadian Brigade on 28 September but two companies of the Canadian Scots, having crossed the canal protecting Calais' western side, were pinned down and cut off until the truce. Plans were in hand for further crossings into the city when Schroeder requested that Calais be declared an open city. This was rejected as a delaying tactic but a truce was agreed on 29 September to allow the safe evacuation of 20,000 civilians. Plans were laid for an attack on Calais supported by more air attacks as soon as the truce expired at noon on 30 September.

The Canadians attacked immediately after the truce expired, despite German attempts to surrender; Crerar said that "the Hun, if they wished to quit, could march out with their hands up, without arms, and flying white flags in the normal manner". Schroeder had ordered the garrison to cease resistance and the 7th Canadian Brigade, entering from the west, met no opposition, German troops surrendering everywhere. It required a Canadian officer, Lt Colonel P. C. Klaehn (C.O. of the Cameron Highlanders), at some personal risk, to enter Calais during an artillery bombardment to accept the formal surrender. Schroeder left Calais at  and went into captivity.

Cap Gris Nez

The first attempt by elements of the 7th Canadian Brigade to take Cap Gris Nez from 16 to 17 September failed; the brigade was redeployed for its role at Calais and it was replaced by the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment until a stronger force was available. The 9th Canadian Brigade, with armoured support from the 1st Hussars (6th Armoured Regiment) and flail tanks, Churchill Crocodiles and Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) from the 79th Armoured Division, was deployed to Cap Gris Nez to take the three remaining heavy batteries. On the right, The Highland Light Infantry of Canada (HLI) would attack the two northern batteries,  at Floringzelle and  about  south-east of Cap Gris Nez. On the left, The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (NNS) faced  at Haringzelles,  south of . On the landward side, the guns were protected by minefields, barbed wire, blockhouses and anti-tank positions.

The infantry were preceded by attacks by 532 aircraft from RAF Bomber Command on 26 September and by 302 bombers on 28 September. Although these probably weakened the defences as well as the defenders' will to fight, cratering of the ground impeded the use of armour, causing tanks to bog down. Accurate shooting by Winnie and Pooh, British heavy guns at Dover, disabled . The battery had fired inland and caused some casualties among the British artillery assembled inland of Wissant, despite the smokescreen.

On 29 September, artillery opened fire at  and the infantry attack began after ten minutes behind a creeping barrage that kept the defenders under cover. The Germans readily surrendered once the attackers were among them. The HLI had captured  by  fewer than three hours from H-Hour and  was taken during the afternoon. The NNS encountered even less resistance, reaching the gun houses without opposition. The concrete walls were impervious even to AVRE petard mortars but their noise and concussion, along with hand grenades thrown into embrasures, induced the German gunners to surrender by mid-morning. The NNS continued on to capture the local German headquarters at Cran-aux-Oeufs. Despite the impressive German fortifications, the defenders refused to fight on and the operation was concluded at relatively low cost in casualties.

Aftermath

The damage to the port was severe and the facilities were not available until November, after Antwerp had been opened. Even then, traffic was limited to personnel. The reduction of the German heavy coastal batteries allowed use of Boulogne; mine-sweeping had commenced within hours of the success of the 9th Canadian Brigade. The capture of the German guns on Cap Gris Nez ended four years of artillery exchanges. Five military personnel and 16 civilians were killed by shelling in Dover from 23 to 26 September, when the town was hit by the last artillery barrage. The mayor of Dover was sent a German flag from the batteries to mark the event.

The Canadians were criticised for their performance at Calais and the other Channel ports; their progress was compared unfavourably with that of other Allied units. Montgomery commented that the Canadian Army had been "badly handled and very slow". Montgomery had a low opinion of Crerar and there has been speculation that Crerar's departure on sick leave was a euphemism for his removal from command. His replacement, the energetic Guy Simonds, was much preferred by Montgomery and he commanded the forces that cleared the approaches to Antwerp.

The commander of 84 Group, RAF, Air Vice Marshal Leslie Brown, displeased Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham by his close co-operation with the Canadian Army. Coningham wished to see the air force act independently, not in close co-operation with the army and looked for "someone less subservient to the army". Once Antwerp had been opened, he replaced Brown with Air-Vice Marshal Edmund Hudleston.

Orders of battle

Allied
 Canadian 3rd Infantry Division (All data from Monahan, Appendix C (1947) unless specified.)
 7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars)
 The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (machine gun)
 7th Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 12th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 13th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 14th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 3rd Anti-tank Regiment
 4th Light Anti-aircraft Regiment
 16th Field Company
 3rd Canadian Divisional Signals, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
 No. 3 Defense and Employment Platoon (Lorne Scots)
 "C" Flight, 660 (Air Observation Post) Squadron, RAF
 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade
 The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
 The Regina Rifle Regiment, less 1 company
 1 company, Royal Montreal Regiment
 1st Battalion The Canadian Scottish Regiment
 7 Canadian Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)
 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade
 The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
 Le Régiment de la Chaudière
 North Shore Regiment
 8 Canadian Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)
 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade
 The Highland Light Infantry of Canada
 The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
 The North Nova Scotia Highlanders
 9 Canadian Infantry Brigade Ground Defence Platoon (Lorne Scots)

Artillery
 9th Army Group Royal Artillery
 9th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
 10th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
 11th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
 107th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
 51st Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery
 2nd Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery
 3rd Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 4th Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery
 15th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
 1st Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery
 "C" Flight, 661 (Air Observation Post) Squadron, RAF

Tanks and specialist vehicles
 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade (part of)
 6th Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars)
 10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse)
 79th Armoured Division (part of)
 141st Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps (Churchill Crocodile (flamethrowing tanks)
 6th Assault Regiment Royal Engineers (AVRE)
 1st Lothians and Border Horse (flail tanks)
 "C" Squadron, 22nd Dragoons (flail tanks)
 25th Canadian Armoured Delivery Regiment (The Elgins) (part of)
 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron
 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (part of)
 12th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery
 13th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery
 14th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery

German garrison
 Luftwaffe anti-aircraft troops
 Kriegsmarine coastal battery detachments
 242nd Naval Coastal Artillery Battalion (Cap Gris Nez)
  Infantry (various)

See also
 Cross-Channel guns in the Second World War

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links
 9 Army Group Royal Artillery history
 canadiansoldiers.com article "Calais, 1944"

Conflicts in 1944
1944 in France
Battles of World War II involving Canada
Undergo
History of Calais
World War II in the Pas-de-Calais
Military operations of World War II involving Germany
September 1944 events
October 1944 events

Operation Undergo


Isomaltose is a disaccharide similar to maltose, but with a α-(1-6)-linkage instead of the α-(1-4)-linkage. Both of the sugars are dimers of glucose, which is a pyranose sugar. Isomaltose is a reducing sugar. Isomaltose is produced when high maltose syrup is treated with the enzyme transglucosidase (TG) and is one of the major components in the mixture isomaltooligosaccharide.

It is a product of the caramelization of glucose.

See also
Isomalt
Isomaltase
Maltose

References

External links

Disaccharides

Isomaltose


Jamukha () was a Mongol military and political leader and the chief rival to Temüjin (later Genghis Khan) in the unification of the Mongol tribes.

Biography
Jamukha was born in the Jadaran, a sub-tribe of the Khamag Mongol confederation, and was an anda (i.e. blood brother) to Temüjin.

According to The Secret History of the Mongols, when Börte, wife of Temüjin, was abducted by the Three Merkits; Wang Khan, Jamukha and Temüjin combined forces against the Merkits to recover her.

In 1201, the leaders of the thirteen remaining tribes hostile to Temüjin (among them the Merkits, Tatar, and Naimans) and the Mongol tribes not allied with him (Jadaran, Taichuud, and others) assembled a kurultai and elected Jamukha as Gur-khan, universal ruler, a title used by the rulers of the Kara-Khitan Khanate. Jamukha's assumption of this title was the final breach between Temüjin and Jamukha, leading Temüjin to form a coalition of tribes to oppose him. In the fall of that year, a great battle broke out between Jamukha's alliance and the Keraite-Khamag Mongol alliance at the Ergune valley. This decisive battle, known as the Battle of the Thirteen Sides, ended with Temüjin's victory and eventual ascension as Khan of all united Mongol tribes.

Jamukha was less successful in building a coalition. For example, he did not recruit shepherds who lacked tribal status in the Mongol tradition, which allowed Temüjin to recover from a series of military defeats inflicted by Jamukha and to emerge victorious.

Following the Battle of the Thirteen Sides, Jamukha was betrayed and captured by his own men, who submitted him to the now-victorious Temüjin. Due to one of the laws which Temüjin came up with ("Never betray your Khan"), he had the men immediately executed and later Jamukha interrogated. Jamukha was given a choice to live and join Temüjin, but he instead requested to die in his blood-brother's hands, and thus was soon after executed "without spilling any blood".

In popular culture
Jamukha is a major character in the 1965 film Genghis Khan, portrayed by Stephen Boyd, and the 2007 film Mongol, portrayed by Honglei Sun.  In The Conqueror, the screenplay depicts him as unfailingly loyal and subordinate to Temujin, but ends with him insisting on the bloodless execution (when Temujin swears to grant him any favor he requests), as opposed to the 1965 film, which depicts them as lifelong rivals and enemies who both perish in a climactic duel.

He appears (as "Jamuga") in the game Genghis Khan II by KOEI as a playable ruler.

References

Sources
Heirs to Discord: The Supratribal Aspirations of Jamuqa, Toghrul, and Temüjin
Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers, 2005. Print.

Genghis Khan
13th-century Mongol khans
1206 deaths
Year of birth unknown

Jamukha


Lochton is a settlement on the Slug Road in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.  Roman legions marched from Raedykes to Normandykes Roman Camp somewhat east of Lochton, using higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying areas including  the Burn of Muchalls. That march used the nearby Elsick Mounth, an ancient trackways crossing the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains, lying westerly of Netherley.

See also
Cairn Mon Earn

References

Villages in Aberdeenshire

Lochton


Risskov is the name of both a neighbourhood and a district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark.

The district of Risskov is sometimes referred to as Vejlby-Risskov, as it is a merger of the neighbourhood of Risskov and the neighbourhood of Vejlby. The old neighbourhood of Risskov at the seaside of the Aarhus Bay, is one of the most affluent areas in Denmark.

Etymology
The name of Risskov literally means The Forest of Riis, as described on the memorial stone marking the entrance to the area and derives from the small local forest of Riis Skov. The southern parts of the forest was granted to the city of Aarhus by Margaret I of Denmark as the first, Danish public forest. In 1542, Christian III of Denmark granted the northern part of the forest to Aarhus as well. From early on, the forest was used for leisurely activities, and during the 1800s, restaurants, entertainment parks and musical pavilions sprang up in different parts of the woodland. Today the forest is known for its sharp smell of ramson in the spring and its abundance of anemones. It is still a popular destination for families and couples. Supposedly the ramson was brought to Denmark by Spanish soldiers, who then brought it to the forest of Riis Skov in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars. In October 1951, a meteorite exploded in the atmosphere over Denmark and the largest piece of it, about the size of a clenched fist, was recovered in Riis Skov, where a memorial stone now commemorates the event.

Attractions
Today the neighbourhood of Risskov is an affluent suburban area, with many large mansions and detached houses in connectivity with the sandy beaches of Bellevue and the woodland park of Riis Skov in the south.

Notable sights in Risskov include:
 Riis Skov, the first public forest in Denmark.
 Den Permanente, a public seabath.
 Bellevue Beach, one of four beach parks in Risskov.
 Åkrogen beach park. A beach and recreational nature site, north of Bellevue at Egå Marina. Only the southern section belongs to Risskov.

The beaches at Risskov, presents a beautiful panoramic view of the Bay of Aarhus, with Samsø, Helgenæs and Mols visible on the horizon on most days.

Literature
Writer Svend Aage Madsen has written many stories about Aarhus and Risskov, where he himself resides. Writer and performer Jens Blendstrup grew up in Risskov, and some of his stories are set in this particular neighbourhood. Blendstrup's childhood memoirs (with fictional elements) from Risskov appears in his novel "Gud taler ud" (God speaks up), which was turned into a screenplay and movie of the same name in 2017.

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References

Neighborhoods of Aarhus
Aarhus N

Risskov


The Round Church (, Kragla tsarkva), also known as the Golden Church (Златна църква, Zlatna tsarkva) or the Church of St John (църква "Свети Йоан", tsarkva "Sveti Yoan"), is a large partially preserved early medieval Eastern Orthodox church. It lies in Preslav, the former capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, today a town in northeastern Bulgaria.  The church dates to the early 10th century, the time of Tsar Simeon I's rule, and was unearthed and first archaeologically examined in 1927–1928.

Considered to be one of the most impressive examples of medieval Bulgarian architecture, the Round Church takes its name from the distinctive shape of one of its three sections, the cella (naos), which is a rotunda that serves as a place of liturgy. The church's design also includes a wide atrium and a rectangular entrance area, or narthex, marked by two circular turrets.

The church has been likened to examples of religious architecture from the late Roman (Early Christian) period, the Caucasus, and the Carolingian Pre-Romanesque of Charlemagne because of its characteristic plan, which is significantly different from contemporaneous Bulgarian or Byzantine buildings. The church's alternative name, the Golden Church, stems from its possible and popular identification with a "new golden church" in Preslav referenced in a medieval literary source.

The Round Church's rich interior decoration, which makes ample use of mosaics, ceramics and marble details, distinguishes it from other churches in Preslav. Its interior features hundreds of drawings depicting ships, fauna, and Christian figures. Medieval inscriptions on the walls range from names of saints in Byzantine Greek to separate letters and short texts in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.

Background
Founded in 681 as a pagan state, Bulgaria was formally Christianised by Byzantine clergy in the 860s, under Prince Boris (r. 852–889). The right to convert Bulgaria to Christianity was the subject of a political dispute between Byzantium and the Papacy. With the conversion to Christianity, Boris hoped to solve internal ethnic issues and improve the foreign relations of his state, which was not treated equally by the Christian rulers of Europe.

The Round Church was constructed during the rule of Boris' son and successor, Simeon (r. 893–927), whose successful campaigns established Bulgaria's temporary superiority over Byzantium, at times threatening the Byzantine capital at Constantinople. He extended the territory of the First Bulgarian Empire over most of the Balkans, to the Adriatic and the Aegean. Simeon also conquered the lands of modern Serbia and Montenegro and efficiently eliminated the Magyar threat from the north. Counted among Bulgaria's greatest leaders, Simeon was a benefactor of literature and the arts; his reign is considered the "Golden Age" of medieval Bulgarian culture because of Bulgaria's literary influence over contemporary Slavic Europe.

The city of Preslav was made the capital of Bulgaria early in Simeon's reign, partly because of the former capital Pliska's association with pre-Christian paganism. Simeon turned Preslav into a cultural centre, a true rival to Constantinople. Some of the most eminent scholars of Bulgaria's Golden Age worked at the Preslav Literary School. Intended more as a royal residence and a showcase of cultural power than a fortress, the city boasted impressive architecture, including a large number of characteristic palaces and dozens of churches. Among them the Round Church, regarded as "one of the most impressive monuments of medieval Bulgarian architecture" and an "expression of the highest achievements of Old Bulgarian culture", stood out.

Identification and history
The Round Church is popularly identified with the "new golden church" referenced in a colophon to an Old Bulgarian translation of Athanasius of Alexandria's Orations Against the Arians. The text says that the translation was done on the order of Prince Simeon by Constantine of Preslav and copied by Theodore Dox, "at the mouth of the Ticha in the [Byzantine] year 6415 indiction 14 [907 AD], where the same prince had the holy new golden church built". It is uncertain whether the "mouth of the Ticha" refers to a narrow section of the river, to the Ustie pass near the city, or possibly to a certain location next to the outer city walls and in the direct vicinity of the Round Church ruins. This problem aside, if "golden" is to be taken literally, the source is also unclear as to whether the church is the new one among the city's golden churches, or the single golden one among the new churches in Preslav. Scholar Stancho Vaklinov considers the identification of the Round Church as the "new golden church" from literature "incontestable", while art historian Nikola Mavrodinov is of the opinion that it is probable. On the other hand, historian A. P. Vlasto believes this identification to be "not absolutely certain".

If the church from the marginal note is equated with the Round Church, then it can be conclusively dated to no more than a few years before 907. While the church can be ascribed to no later than the 10th century, some scholars have suggested that it may have been constructed directly on top of a much earlier late Roman basilica due to its antiquated plan. A possible donor (ktetor) of at least part of the church's construction is a high-ranking church official (chartophylax) named Paul, who is mentioned in an inscription inside the church. The main part of the work was likely funded by Simeon, who may have acted as a chief sponsor.

There is debate in Bulgarian academic circles as to whether the church was built as a monastery church or as a separate cathedral. If the buildings neighbouring the church are interpreted as the residential part of a monastery, it was most probably established after the construction of the Round Church, during the rule of Tsar Peter I (r. 927–969). The absence of entrances on these buildings on the sides facing the church and the presence of a large atrium make it unlikely. Another argument against the Round Church being a monastery church is its location, isolated from other buildings yet accessible to the public outside the inner city. Scholar Bistra Nikolova considers it a city cathedral and compares it in function to the Great Basilica in Pliska. Another researcher, Krastyu Miyatev, sees it as a royal church of Simeon, but art historian Nikola Mavrodinov and archaeologist Totyu Totev insist it belonged to a monastery from the beginning.

The earliest excavations of the site were carried out in 1927–1928 by archaeologists from the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia and the Bulgarian Antiquities Society under the direction of Yordan Gospodinov. A second effort headed by Krastyu Miyatev resulted in a much more in-depth study, and archaeological research at the site is ongoing. In 1927, the Round Church, along with the entirety of medieval Preslav, was proclaimed a historical and archaeological reserve and placed under state protection as a national antiquity. In 1970, it was individually included in the list of monuments of culture of national importance with a publication in that year's State Gazette, issue 46. As part of the Veliki Preslav architectural reserve, the Round Church is listed as No. 98 among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.

The Church of St Petka in Ruse, opened in 1944, was built as a reconstruction of the Round Church in Preslav. The Round Church underwent partial restoration in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In December 2009, plans were announced to reconstruct the church in its entirety, without demolishing or altering any of the original structural remains. A monument dedicated to Tsar Simeon was unveiled in the immediate vicinity of the Round Church on 27 May 2007 to honour the 1080th anniversary of his death. Despite not being an active church, it is regularly used for baptisms and weddings.

Architecture

Location and style
The Round Church was built outside Preslav's inner city, which mostly included the royal palace and its associated buildings such as the Royal Basilica. It was still within the outer city limits, and lay in Preslav's southeastern part, some  from the South Gate of the inner city. It was situated on a high terrace. Today the Round Church, along with the other ruins of medieval Preslav, lie not far from the modern town of Veliki Preslav, which is the administrative centre of a municipality in Shumen Province, northeastern Bulgaria.

While no church from this age in the Slavic-populated parts of the Balkans was up-to-date with contemporary Byzantine architecture, the Round Church differs markedly because of its centralized, circular plan, which is unique in medieval Bulgarian architecture. The rounded and dynamic nature of its shapes is in contrast with the sharp rectangular designs of that period.   It is most likely based on the abundant examples of late Roman or early Byzantine buildings that lay ruined in the Bulgarian lands. The layout, particularly the rotunda, resembles churches from the time of Justinian I such as the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, the Little Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (today Istanbul), and the Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki.  Even if the plan is unusual, the technology and principles employed in its construction are contemporary to the 10th century and in accord with other monuments in Preslav.

Byzantine churches are not the only source of inspiration that researchers attribute to the Round Church. Some scholars link its design to an Armenian influence, perhaps brought to Bulgaria by craftsmen from the Caucasus. In general, churches with such an antiquated plan in the Balkans are associated with the migration of Cappadocian, Armenian, or Georgian monks. Another possible model for the Round Church in Preslav may well be found in Carolingian architecture from the time of Charlemagne, and particularly the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, western Germany, with which it shares some characteristics. At the time of the Round Church's construction, Bulgaria was in direct contact with the Frankish Empire. One trait of the Round Church that is claimed by scholars to be a very recognisable Carolingian influence is the presence of a monumental westwork.

Description
The Round Church includes three sections: the wide atrium (or courtyard), the narthex and the cella (also naos or, due to its shape, rotunda), each serving as a premise to the other. The sections were not necessarily built at the same time, and it is generally accepted that a reconstruction of the church was carried out some time after its completion. Mavrodinov and archaeologist Karel Škorpil believe the narthex and cella comprised the first building period, while the atrium was added very shortly after that and by the same architect.

The church has a total length of , including the atrium. It was mostly built of rectangular limestone blocks sparingly joined with mortar. Inside the apse, the mortar is red-coloured. The floor was covered by marble and stone tiles glued on top of red mortar in the narthex and white mortar elsewhere. Red and yellow bricks and pieces of bricks were used for the atrium, the arches, and possibly the dome; some brick pieces were used to fill spaces between the stones on the walls.

Atrium
The outermost part of the Round Church is its atrium, the flanked open space leading into the narthex. It is accessed by means of three gates (one on each wall), of which the entrance on the main west wall is the most elaborate and grandest in appearance. The atrium is almost square in shape and measures . A water well was constructed in the center of the courtyard; it was linked to a water conduit.

The sides of the atrium are decorated by a multitude of vaults with piers in between. In total, there are fourteen vaults: four on each of the courtyard's three walls and one each where the west wall meets the sides. The atrium includes an equal number of round limestone columns each standing opposite one of the piers,  apart.

Narthex

The rectangular narthex constitutes the middle part of the building, between the atrium and the cella, and serves as the lobby of the church. It lies directly east of the atrium, through a wide gate flanked by a couple of high circular turrets. Mavrodinov likens the narthex of the Round Church to similar structures in the churches of Mount Athos, because of its depth.

Together with the north and south wall, the entrance of the narthex effectively isolates two smaller parts of the atrium, similar in plan and accessible through doors. The north part includes a small necropolis, while the south part was probably a baptistery, as it features a square installation with a clay pipe that resembles a baptismal font. However, Nikolova considers its shape much too unusual and its depth unsuitable for baptism, and believes it may instead have been designed as a vessel for dispensing holy water.

Measuring , the narthex is the part of the Round Church which has survived in best shape, as some of its walls reach . Its two turrets have a diameter of ; each has an entrance facing the interior of the narthex and three windows. The higher reaches of the towers were reached via spiral stairways, archaeological remains of which have been unearthed in the north turret. There are two pairs of columns inside the narthex, supporting its second floor, which is accessible from the north tower. The columns divide the narthex into three naves and mark the way from the narthex entrance to the gates of the rotunda.

Rotunda
The round cella is the easternmost and most important part of the church, as it was where the liturgy was performed. The diameter of the rotunda is . It is accessed through three gates, all from the narthex. It was entirely covered by a dome. Twelve vaults, semicircular as seen from the inside and pentagonal on the outer wall, were constructed north and south of the rotunda's eastern part, the apse, which itself fits into one of the vaults. Large buttresses reinforce the structure both inside and outside. A circle of ten or twelve white marble columns was inscribed inside the rotunda,  from the interior buttresses. The capitals of the columns are similar to those of the royal palace in Preslav. A copper-plated wooden coffin lay in a burial chamber by one of the vaults near the apse.

The semicircular apse fits naturally with the other vaults of the rotunda despite being larger, and features vaults on its north and south walls. The marble ambon was situated in the center of the circle of columns and of the whole rotunda, directly under the dome's centre, as evidenced by a mortar padding. Stairs from the east and west, aligned with the apse, used to lead up to the ambon. The bishop's throne or cathedra probably lay near one of the south vaults, which was likely enlarged for the purpose.

Decoration

The interior was lavishly decorated with colourful Byzantine-style mosaics, cornices, and ceramics. With the exception of the Corinthian and Doric column capitals, which are of Roman or Byzantine origin, the rest of the decoration was created specifically for and during the church's construction. Vlasto finds a Proto-Bulgarian flavour in the church's interior and a relationship with the art of Persia or Central Asia. Thus, he believes that it is not based on Byzantine examples of that age. Of a contrary opinion is Miyatev, who points out significant similarities between the decoration of the Round Church and that of the Church of the Mother of God (now part of the Fenari Isa Mosque) from 908 in Constantinople. Mavrodinov goes a step further to claim that the architect of the Round Church was directly inspired by ancient examples, citing in particular the rich sculptural decoration.

The Round Church was unmatched in its ceramic decoration by any church in Preslav, and was the only known building in the city to rely heavily on polychrome ceramic tiles. Ceramic and mosaic icons were a highlight of the interior; they ranged in size from almost life-sized to miniature. While the ceramic images were constructed out of clay tiles, the mosaic icons were more varied in their material, which included clay, glass, and stone of various shades on a gold-coloured background. Among the portrayed saints and biblical figures are Charalampus and perhaps Joel. Some of the images were enclosed in ellipses.

The Round Church featured marble and limestone cornices. These included a large number of intertwined ornaments and details, such as palmettes, grape clusters, leaves, and chamfers. Besides classic ornamental shapes, the cornices feature some that are entirely new in character or well-known yet redesigned motifs. Floral decoration dominates the cornices. Tiles found inside the church ruins depict birds and other animals in addition to geometric shapes and floral motifs, all glazed in either brown, yellow, green, blue, or blue-green. The walls were covered in polished marble facing with encrusted shapes.

Epigraphy

The Round Church contains many medieval inscriptions, both official and scratched on its walls as graffiti. One study counted a total of 193 signs and 30 drawings, the vast majority bearing some kind of Christian symbolism. As a whole, the epigraphy of the Round Church dates from the 10th century, and three alphabets are represented: the Greek, the Glagolitic, and the Cyrillic, as well as two languages: Byzantine Greek and Old Bulgarian (the eastern Bulgarian recension of Old Church Slavonic). The Glagolitic inscriptions of the Round Church bear evidence that the use of that alphabet in Preslav continued alongside Cyrillic.

Perhaps the most famous and valuable writing on the walls of the church is a Cyrillic inscription on the south wall of the premises south of the narthex, conventionally known as the baptistery. The inscription was clumsily written on top of a mortar putty and says in translation: "Church of Saint John, built by chartophylax Paul". Despite being dated to the 10th century and its mention of the church's dedication and its potential donor, it cannot be described a classic donor's inscription because of its unnatural location and clumsy writing. Nikolova considers it more likely that the author of the inscription was a literate person who served under chartophylax Paul and desired to spread his fame. She believes the text may refer to the construction of the narthex only rather than the whole church, because she is of the opinion that the narthex may have been added after the building of the rotunda.

Other examples of the epigraphy of the Round Church include several short Glagolitic and Cyrillic texts and separate letters. Among the Glagolitic inscriptions is the Preslav Abecedarium, a liturgical text including the first thirteen letters of that alphabet; some of the Cyrillic texts were written on ceramic tiles. The names and descriptions attached to the icons are in Greek, while there are also bilingual inscriptions in Greek and Bulgarian. Individual letters inscribed on the walls illustrate the way Greek and simplified Glagolitic letterforms were combined to form the early Cyrillic alphabet. On the walls of the church are graffiti of Christian crosses, animals, and up to 11 depictions of ships. At least one epitaph has been discovered, inscribed on the tombstone of a woman described as "God's servant Tudora".

References

Sources

In English

In Bulgarian

External links

 Three-dimensional reconstruction of the Round Church (accessible at 3D, Audio & Video; requires QuickTime 7)

Archaeological sites in Bulgaria
History of Shumen Province
10th-century churches
Churches in Bulgaria
Preslav
Buildings and structures in Shumen Province
Tourist attractions in Shumen Province
Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings
Round churches
Bulgarian Orthodox cathedrals
Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture

Round Church, Preslav