James I of Aragon

James I the Conqueror (; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276. His long reign—the longest of any Iberian monarch—saw the expansion of the Crown of Aragon in three directions: Languedoc to the north, the Balearic Islands to the southeast, and Valencia to the south. By a treaty with Louis IX of France, he achieved the renounce of any possible claim of French suzerainty over the County of Barcelona and the other Catalan counties, while he renounced northward expansion and taking back the once Catalan territories in Occitania and vassal counties loyal to the County of Barcelona, lands that were lost by his father Peter II of Aragon in the Battle of Muret during the Albigensian Crusade and annexed by the Kingdom of France, and then decided to turn south. His great part in the Reconquista was similar in Mediterranean Spain to that of his contemporary Ferdinand III of Castile in Andalusia. One of the main reasons for this formal renunciation of most of the once Catalan territories in Languedoc and Occitania and any expansion into them is the fact that he was raised by the Knights Templar crusaders, who had defeated his father fighting for the Pope alongside the French, so it was effectively forbidden for him to try to maintain the traditional influence of the Count of Barcelona that previously existed in Occitania and Languedoc.
As a legislator and organiser, he occupies a high place among the European kings. James compiled the "Llibre del Consolat de Mar", which governed maritime trade and helped establish Aragonese supremacy in the western Mediterranean. He was an important figure in the development of the Catalan language, sponsoring Catalan literature and writing a quasi-autobiographical chronicle of his reign: the "Llibre dels fets".
Early life and reign until majority.
James was born at Montpellier as the only son of Peter II of Aragon and Marie of Montpellier. As a child, James was made a pawn in the power politics of Provence, where his father was engaged in struggles helping the Cathar heretics of Albi against the Albigensian Crusaders led by Simon IV de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who were trying to exterminate them. Peter endeavoured to placate the northern crusaders by arranging a marriage between his two-year-old son James and Simon's daughter. He entrusted the boy to be educated in Montfort's care in 1211, but was soon forced to take up arms against him, dying at the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213. Montfort would willingly have used James as a means of extending his own power had not the Aragonese appealed to Pope Innocent III, who insisted that Montfort surrender him. James was handed over to the papal legate Peter of Benevento at Carcassonne in May or June 1214.
James was then sent to Monzón, where he was entrusted to the care of Guillem de Montredó, the head of the Knights Templar in Spain and Provence; the regency meanwhile fell to his great-uncle Sancho, Count of Roussillon, and his son, the king's cousin, Nuño. The kingdom was given over to confusion until, in 1217, the Templars and some of the more loyal nobles brought the young king to Zaragoza.
In 1221, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. The next six years of his reign were full of rebellions on the part of the nobles. By the Peace of Alcalá of 31 March 1227, the nobles and the king came to terms.
Acquisition of Urgell.
In 1228, James faced the sternest opposition yet from a vassal. Guerau IV de Cabrera occupied the County of Urgell in opposition to Aurembiax, the heiress of Ermengol VIII, who had died without sons in 1208. Although Aurembiax's mother, Elvira, had made herself a protégée of James's father, upon her death in 1220 Guerau occupied the county and displaced Aurembiax, claiming that a woman could not inherit.
James intervened on behalf of Aurembiax, to whom he owed protection. He bought Guerau off and allowed Aurembiax to reclaim her territory, which she did at Lleida, probably also becoming one of James' earliest mistresses. She surrendered Lleida to James and agreed to hold Urgell in fief for him. On her death in 1231, James exchanged the Balearic Islands for Urgell with her widower, Peter of Portugal.
Relations with France and Navarre.
From 1230 to 1232, James negotiated with Sancho VII of Navarre, who desired his help against his nephew and closest living male relative, Theobald IV of Champagne. James and Sancho negotiated a treaty whereby James would inherit Navarre on the old Sancho's death, but when this occurred in 1234, the Navarrese nobles elevated Theobald to the throne instead, and James disputed it. Pope Gregory IX was required to intervene. In the end, James accepted Theobald's succession.
James endeavoured to form a state straddling the Pyrenees in order to counterbalance the power of France north of the Loire. As with the much earlier Visigothic attempt, this policy was victim to physical, cultural, and political obstacles. As in the case of Navarre, he declined to launch into perilous adventures. By the Treaty of Corbeil, signed in May 1258, he ended his conflict with Louis IX of France, securing the renunciation of any French claims to sovereignty over Catalonia, including the County of Barcelona.
Reconquest.
After his false start at uniting Aragon with the Kingdom of Navarre through a scheme of mutual adoption, James turned to the south and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. On 5 September 1229, the troops from Aragon, consisting of 155 ships, 1,500 horsemen and 15,000 soldiers, set sail from Tarragona, Salou, and Cambrils, in southern Catalonia, to conquer Majorca from Abu Yahya, the semi-independent Almohad governor of the island. Although a group of Aragonese knights took part in the campaign because of their obligations to the king, the conquest of Majorca was mainly a Catalan undertaking, and Catalans would later make up the majority of Majorca's settlers. James conquered Majorca on 31 December 1229, and Menorca (1232) and Ibiza (1235) were later acquired during the reconquest.
Valencia capitulated to Aragonese rule on 28 September 1238, following an extensive campaign that included the Siege of Burriana and the decisive Battle of the Puig, where the Aragonese commander, Bernat Guillem I d'Entença, who was also the king's cousin, died from wounds received in action.
Chroniclers say he used gunpowder in the siege of Museros castle.
During his remaining two decades after Corbeil, James warred with the Moors in Murcia, on behalf of his son-in-law Alfonso X of Castile. On 26 March 1244, the two monarchs signed the Treaty of Almizra to establish their zones of expansion into Andalusia so as to prevent squabbling between them. Specifically, it defined the borders of the newly created Kingdom of Valencia. James signed it on that date, but Alfonso did not affirm it until much later. According to the treaty, all lands south of a line from Biar to Villajoyosa through Busot were reserved for Castile.
Crusade of 1269.
Abaqa, the "Khan of Tartary" (actually the Ilkhan), corresponded with James in early 1267, inviting him to join forces with the Mongols and go on crusade. James sent an ambassador to Abaqa in the person of Jayme Alaric de Perpignan, who returned with a Mongol embassy in 1269. Pope Clement IV tried to dissuade James from crusading, regarding his moral character as sub-par, and Alfonso X did the same. Nonetheless, James, who was then campaigning in Murcia, made peace with Muhammad I, the Sultan of Granada, and set about collecting funds for a crusade. After organising the government for his absence and assembling a fleet at Barcelona in September 1269, he was ready to sail east. The troubadour Olivier lo Templier composed a song praising the voyage and hoping for its success. A storm, however, drove him off course, and he landed at Aigues-Mortes. According to the continuator of William of Tyre, he returned via Montpellier "por l'amor de sa dame Berenguiere" ("for the love of his lady Berengaria") and abandoned any further effort at a crusade.
James's sons Pedro Fernández and Fernán Sánchez, who had been given command of part of the fleet, did continue on their way to Acre, where they arrived in December. They found that Baibars, the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt, had broken his truce with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and was making a demonstration of his military power in front of Acre. During the demonstration, Egyptian troops hidden in the bushes ambushed a returning Frankish force that had been in Galilee. James's sons, initially eager for a fight, changed their minds after this spectacle and returned home via Sicily, where Fernán Sánchez was knighted by Charles of Anjou.
Patronage of art, learning, and literature.
James built and consecrated the Cathedral of Lleida, which was constructed in a style transitional between Romanesque and Gothic with little influence from Moorish styles.
James was a patron of the University of Montpellier, which owed much of its development to his impetus. He also founded a "studium" at Valencia in 1245 and received privileges for it from Pope Innocent IV, but it did not develop as splendidly. In 1263, James presided over a debate in Barcelona between the Jewish rabbi Nahmanides and Pablo Christiani, a prominent "converso".
James was the first great sponsor and patron of vernacular Catalan literature. Indeed, he may himself be called "the first of the Catalan prose writers." James wrote or dictated at various stages a chronicle of his own life in Catalan, "Llibre dels fets", the first autobiography by a Christian king. As well as being a fine example of autobiography, the "Book of Deeds" expresses concepts of the power and purpose of monarchy, examples of loyalty and treachery in the feudal order, and medieval military tactics. More controversially, some historians have looked at these writings as a source of Catalan identity, separate from that of Occitania and Rome.
James also wrote the "Libre de la Saviesa" or "Book of Wisdom." The book contains proverbs from various authors, reaching from the time of King Solomon to nearly his own time with Albertus Magnus. It even contains maxims from the medieval Arab philosophers and from the "Apophthegmata Philosophorum" of Honein ben Ishak, which was probably translated at Barcelona during his reign. A Hebrew translator by the name of Jehuda was employed at James's court during this period.
Though James was himself a prose writer and sponsored mostly prose works, he had an appreciation of verse. In consequence of the Albigensian Crusade, many troubadours were forced to flee southern France and many found refuge in Aragon. Notwithstanding his early patronage of poetry, by the influence of his confessor Ramon de Penyafort, James brought the Inquisition into his realm in 1233 to prevent any vernacular translation of the Bible.
Succession.
The favour James showed his illegitimate offspring led to protest from the nobles, and to conflicts between his legitimate and illegitimate sons. When one of the latter, Fernán Sánchez, who had behaved with gross ingratitude and treason toward his father, was slain by the legitimate son Peter, the old king recorded his grim satisfaction.
In his will, James divided his states between his sons by Yolanda of Hungary: the aforementioned Peter received the Hispanic possessions on the mainland and James received the Kingdom of Majorca, which included the Balearic Islands, the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya, and the Lordship of Montpellier. The division inevitably produced fratricidal conflicts. In 1276, the king fell very ill at Alzira and resigned his crown, intending to retire to the monastery of Poblet, but he died at Valencia on 27 July.
His mummified body was later exhumed in 1856, when the monastery was under repair. A photograph of the king was taken. The photograph of the head of the mummy clearly shows the wound in the left eyebrow that the king himself explained in a passage from his Llibre dels fets (Book of Deeds):
As I was coming with the men, I happened to turn my head towards the town in order to look at the Saracens, who had come out in great force, when a cross-bowman shot at me, and hit me beside the sun-hood, and the shot struck me on the head, the bolt lighting near the forehead. It was God's will it did not pass through the head, but the point of the arrow went half through it. In anger I struck the arrow so with my hand that I broke it: the blood came out down my face; I wiped it off with a mantle of "sendal" I had, and went away laughing, that the army might not take alarm.
Marriages and children.
James first married, in 1221, Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. Though he later had the marriage annulled, his one son by her was declared legitimate:
In 1235, James remarried to Yolanda, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary by his second wife Yolande de Courtenay. She bore him numerous children:
James married thirdly Teresa Gil de Vidaure, but only by a private document, and left her when (as he claimed) she developed leprosy.
The children in the third marriage were recognised in his last will as being in the line of succession to the throne, should the senior lines fail.
James also had several lovers, both during and after his marriages, and a few bore him illegitimate sons.
By Blanca d'Antillón:
By Berenguela Fernández:
By Elvira Sarroca:


Crown Candy Kitchen

Crown Candy Kitchen is a restaurant, ice cream fountain, and candy store located on St. Louis Avenue in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri.
A St. Louis landmark, it is the oldest operating soda fountain in the metropolitan area, and one of the oldest in the country. The restaurant has an old-fashioned decor with Coca-Cola memorabilia from the 1930s, an antique cash register, and four-person booths. It offers a simple menu with sandwiches and is known for its desserts, especially for its handmade malts or malted milkshakes. It is popular as a lunch destination with office workers in nearby downtown St. Louis. The chocolate is made from decades-old molds, some imported from Holland and Germany.
History.
The restaurant was founded in 1913 by two Macedonian immigrants. It was first operated by Harry Karandzieff and his friend Pete Jugaloff, then his son George, and later George's three sons, Andy, Tommy, and Mike Karandzieff.
Harry Karandzieff and his friend Pete Jugaloff opened Crown Candy in 1913.
Crown Candy has been making ice cream since 1925.
A fire caused by a space heater damaged the restaurant on December 25, 1983. Some Coca-Cola memorabilia and $2,000 of candy was destroyed.
Business was slowest in the 1970s and it picked up in the 1990s.
Crown Candy switched from Coca-Cola to Pepsi in 1999.
Crown Candy challenge.
The restaurant offers a challenge to consumers of their trademark malts. Should a person drink five 24-ounce (710 mL) malts or shakes within 30 minutes, they receive the malts for free and have their name inscribed upon a plaque in the store. The record for the five malt challenge is 2 minutes, 29 seconds by Randy Santel. For seven malts, the record is six minutes, by Ben Monson. Since 1913, only about 55 people have successfully completed the Crown Candy Challenge, while several attempt it each week.
In popular culture.
The Crown Candy challenge was attempted on the Travel Channel's television series, "Man v. Food", by the show's host, Adam Richman, on an episode that aired on 25 February 2009. Richman was only able to finish about four of the five malts.
In 2012, it was featured on another Adam Richman-hosted show, "Best Sandwich in America", for its "Heart-Stopping BLT" sandwich, which uses 14 pieces of crispy, kettle-cooked bacon.


Noviomagus Cantiacorum

Noviomagus, also known as Noviomagus Cantiacorum (Latin for "Noviomagus of the Kentish") to distinguish it from other places with that name, was a Roman settlement in southeastern Britain. It was just southeast of the Thames ford near Westminster on the British Watling Street and the Thames bridge at Londinium along the Roman route.


The Stijkel Group

The Stijkel Group () was a Dutch resistance group that fought the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War. They operated between 1940 and 1942.
In April 1941, forty-three men and four women of the Stijkel Group were betrayed and captured. Thirty-two were executed in Berlin following a secret trial before a German military court. The others were sentenced to prison camps. Following the war, those who had been executed were re-interred in Westduin Cemetery in The Hague, and the present monument was erected.
Han Stijkel.
Han Stijkel was the leader of the Stijkel Group. He commanded the group until their betrayal in 1942. He was the first of the group to be executed in Berlin..


Hilgenried Bay

Hilgenried Bay () is a bay on the German North Sea coast near Hilgenriedersiel, a village in the municipality of Hagermarsch in the Lower Saxon county of Aurich. It was probably formed during the Dunkirk transgression as a result of the washing out of the mouth of one or more small streams, but has now largely silted up.
In the 9th century, the village of Nesse emerged as a trading settlement and important port. The region around Hilgenried bay was probably the scene of the so-called Battle of Norditi, in which in 884 a Frisian army under the command of Archbishop Rimbert of Bremen-Hamburg defeated the Danish Vikings, precipitating the complete withdrawal of Vikings from East Frisia.
The bay only needed to be relatively lightly dyked during the High Middle Ages because the local streams only had a very small catchment and did not hinder the reclamation of land greatly. Nesse was cut off from the sea no later than the 13th century and around 1300 the enclosing line of dykes was completed.


Gertrude of Flanders, Countess of Savoy

Gertrude of Flanders (1135–1186) was a Countess Consort of Savoy.
She was the daughter of Thierry, Count of Flanders, and his second wife Sibylla of Anjou. In 1155, she married Humbert III, Count of Savoy, but he divorced and confined her in 1163. She was freed thanks to Robert, bishop of Cambrai, and returned to the court of her brother, Philip of Flanders. She remarried Hughues d'Oisy, but the marriage was annulled, and she retired to a convent.


Louise McIlroy

Dame Anne Louise McIlroy (11 November 1874 – 8 February 1968), known as Louise McIlroy, was a distinguished and honoured Irish-born British physician, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. She was both the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and to register as a research student at the University of Glasgow. She was also the first woman medical professor in the United Kingdom.
Early life and education.
McIlroy was born on 11 November 1874 at Lavin House, County Antrim (present-day Northern Ireland). Her father, James, was a general practitioner at Ballycastle. In 1894 she matriculated at the University of Glasgow to study medicine and obtained her MB ChB in 1898. In 1900 she received her MD with commendation. During her studies she won class prizes in both medicine and pathology.
Career.
Her postgraduate work took her throughout Europe where she further specialised in gynaecology and obstetrics, becoming a Licentiate of Midwifery in Ireland in 1901. Her first position was as a house surgeon at the Samaritan Hospital For Women in Glasgow in 1900, followed by Gynaecological Surgeon at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow from 1906–10. She continued her studies, gaining a DSc from the University of Glasgow in 1910. In 1911 she took up the position of First Assistant to Professor J. M. Munro Kerr, who held the Muirhead Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University.
At the outbreak of the First World War she and other women medical graduates offered their services to the government. They were declined as "the battlefield .. [was] no place for women". They decided to set up the Scottish Women's Hospital for Foreign Service. She commanded the Girton and Newnham unit of the hospital at "Domaine de Chanteloup", Sainte-Savine, near Troyes, France before being posted to Serbia and, three years later, Salonika.
During her time in Salonika she established a nurses training school for Serbian girls and oversaw the establishment of the only orthopaedic centre in the Eastern Army. She finished her war service as a surgeon at a Royal Army Medical Corps hospital in Constantinople.
In 1921, she was appointed to the Royal Free Hospital in London as consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology. She was the first woman Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the London School of Medicine for Women, becoming the first woman to be appointed a medical professor in the United Kingdom.
On 7 July 1921, McIlroy delivered a paper at the Medico-Legal Society in London. In it, she said that the "most harmful method [of contraception] of which I have experience is the use of the pessary". Dr Halliday Sutherland heard her talk and he later quoted her in his 1922 book "Birth Control". When Marie Stopes sued Dr Sutherland for libel over remarks in the book, McIlroy because a witness for the defence.
She retired in 1934, in her own words "'to gain a few years of freedom"' although she continued private practice at Harley Street and other hospitals and clinics throughout London. At the outbreak of the Second World War she came out of semi-retirement to work as a consultant for the maternity service at Buckinghamshire County Council. She was also the senior obstetrician to the Maternity Hospital for the Wives of Officers, Fulmer Chase.
She was active in several professional medical associations: her interest in medical legal matters culminated in her becoming President of the Medico-Legal Society of London; at the British Medical Association (BMA) she was vice-president of the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1922, 1930 and 1932; a member of the Representative Body from 1936–39; a member of the BMA Council from 1938 to 1943, President of the BMA Metropolitan Counties Branch in 1946 and she was also president of the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Publications.
Throughout her career McIlroy wrote many articles in journals such as The Lancet, the British Medical Journal and The Practitioner, gave lectures and presented papers at conferences. Her particular interest was pre-eclampsia, pain relief during childbirth, managing asphyxia in newborn babies and social issues. She authored and co-authored several books including;
Honours.
For her work during the First World War McIlroy was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1916, the Médaille des Epidemies, the Serbian Order of St. Sava and the Serbian Red Cross Medal.
She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 30 March 1920 for her services to medicine and in 1929 she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
She was elected as a Foundation Fellow to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
In 1932 she became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians and was elected as a Fellow in 1937.
She received several honorary degrees including a DSc from Belfast of which she was particularly proud.
She was an Honorary Fellow of the Liverpool Medical Institution.
Later life.
After the Second World War she returned to her retirement and left London to live with her sister, Dr Janie McIlroy, in Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland. She died in the Glasgow Hospital on 8 February 1968, aged 93. She never married.


Thomas Goodwillie

Thomas Goodwillie was a Scottish sculptor active in Moray in the nineteenth century. He is known for carving the statue of George Gordon in his robes of the office of chancellor of Marischall College, Aberdeen, in 1855, which sits atop the Duke of Gordon's Monument, and for his work with David Bryce, creating many of the sculptures that decorate Cullen House. He worked with Alexander Reid on numerous buildings, including the parish church at Inverkeithny, and the Falconer Museum in Forres, for which he carved the faces of eminent scientists into the keystones of the arched interior. He also carved the bull's head into the keystone of the arch at the west front of Alexander Ross's large Italianate range at Home Farm in Kinloss, and he created the cartouche featuring Saint Giles in the town hall in Elgin.


Hollandic dialect

Hollandic or Hollandish ( ) is the most widely spoken dialect of the Dutch language. Hollandic is among the Central Dutch dialects. Other important language varieties of spoken Low Franconian languages are Brabantian, Flemish (East Flemish, West Flemish), Zeelandic and Limburgish.
History.
Originally in the later County of Holland, Old Frisian was spoken. Low Franconian settlers did not come until the 12th and 13th centuries , when Flemish settlers, speaking, played an important part in draining the swamplands between the coast of Holland and the city of Utrecht. They mixed with the original inhabitants, and a Hollandic dialect was created that was partly Low Franconian and partly Frisian .
In the 16th century, Dutch was standardised, with the Brabantian dialect of Antwerp being the most influential one, according to many linguists. The written language of the County of Holland, which was the most urbanised area in Europe, began to imitate the Brabantian standard.
During the Eighty Years' War, especially after 1585, the Sack of Antwerp and the 1580s successes of the Duke of Parma made between 100,000 and 200,000 of Brabantish and Flemish, many Calvinist, settle in the cities of Holland proper. The refugees caused a mixture of their dialects with those of the people who were already there. The new language replaced most of the original Hollandic dialects with Brabantian influences and further diluted the Frisian influences on Dutch.
That certainly slowed linguistic change by the influence on spoken language of the very conservative written standard. As a result, Standard Dutch has kept many features of late-16th-century Brabantian.
Distance from standard language.
The colloquial Dutch in Holland proper (the area of the old County of Holland), particularly the Hollandic now spoken in some urban areas, is closer to Standard Dutch than anywhere else.
Shades of other dialects.
In Friesland, there are areas and cities in which Hollandic is spoken but strongly influenced by West Frisian. In the north of North Holland, especially in the region of West Friesland, Scheveningen, Katwijk and other coastal places, the original West Frisian substratum of the Hollandic dialect is still an important part of the local West Frisian dialect group.
In Zaanstreek (central North Holland), a traditional region, the old Hollandic dialect, Zaans, is still found but with little West Frisian influence. Some words are similar because of the influence of migrating West Frisian farmers in the 13th to the 15th centuries. Zaans can be seen as one of the few (together with Westfries) and oldest original Hollandic dialects and is still spoken today, like the old Waterlands dialect, which exists as well in Volendam. Both Zaans and Waterlands are unintelligible for someone who does not come from that region in North Holland. However, people who speak Zaans, West Frisian or Waterlands are able to understand one another better than outsiders because all three dialects use similar words.
On the South Holland island of Goeree-Overflakkee, West Flemish is spoken. In the east and south, the Hollandic dialects gradually become Brabantian forms like the South Guelderish. Utrechts-Alblasserwaards, spoken in the area immediately east of the coastal districts, is considered to be a subdialect of Hollandic or a separate dialect.


363 Galilee earthquake

The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be VII ("Very strong") on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. The earthquakes occurred on the portion of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
Impact.
Sepphoris, north-northwest of Nazareth, was severely damaged. Nabratein and the Nabratein synagogue (northeast of Safed) were destroyed. The earthquake may have been responsible for the failure of the plan to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem with the permission of the Emperor Julian.
Petra, in what is now Jordan, was fatally damaged.
References.
Sources


Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy

Amadeus IV (119711 June 1253) was Count of Savoy from 1233 to 1253.
Amadeus was born in Montmélian, Savoie. The legitimate heir of Thomas I of Savoy and Margaret of Geneva, he had however to fight with his brothers for the inheritance of Savoy's lands after their father's death. His brothers Pietro and Aimone spurred a revolt in Aosta Valley against Amadeus, but he was able to crush it with the help of Manfred III of Saluzzo and Boniface II of Montferrat, who were his sons-in-law. Together with his brother, Thomas, he fought against the communes of Turin and Pinerolo, but with uncertain results.
He was succeeded by his young son Boniface.
Career.
Head of the family.
As the eldest son of Thomas I of Savoy, Amadeus inherited the county and associated lands on his father's death in 1233. However, his brothers Peter and Aymon demanded that he divide the territories and give them their share. In July 1234, he and his brother William convened a family meeting at Château de Chillon. While both sides arrived with armed troops, William was able to negotiate a treaty between the brothers. This treaty kept the lands intact, but recognized the authority of the younger brothers within certain regions under Amadeus. These territories were on the frontiers of Savoy lands, designed to encourage the brothers to expand the county rather than diminish it. When his brother Thomas left his career in the church in 1235, Amadeus granted him similar territories.
Before he had a son, Amadeus changed his mind many times regarding his will. Initially, he had made his sons-in-law his heirs, but in 1235, he rewrote his will in favour of his brother Thomas. In December of that year, it went back to having his sons-in-law as heirs, until Amadeus was preparing for the siege. Then he rewrote the will in favour of Thomas. In March 1239, his daughters convinced him to return it to their favour. On 4 November 1240, Thomas returned and persuaded him to rewrite the will in his brother's favour again. When Thomas left, once again the will was reversed. His final will was written in 1252, leaving the title and nearly everything to his son, Boniface, and naming his brother Thomas as regent and second in line for the title.
Among European powers.
Amadeus faced many challenges in balancing the demands of the greater powers in Europe at that time. Henry III of England wrote to Amadeus in 1235 to seek his consent and blessing to marry the Count's niece, Eleanor of Provence In 1238, Amadeus went to the court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in Turin, where he was knighted by the Emperor. Then with his brothers, he led troops as part of the siege of Brescia. In July 1243, Amadeus and his brother Thomas were ordered by Enzo of Sardinia to join him in a siege of Vercelli, which had recently switched allegiances from the Empire to the Pope. Not only was the attack on the city unsuccessful, but Amadeus and his brother were excommunicated for it. When the brothers wrote to the new Pope Innocent IV to appeal the excommunication, he granted their request.
In late 1244, when Pope Innocent IV fled from Rome, Amadeus met him in Susa and escorted him through the passes to Chambéry, and then provided his brother Philip as escort for the Pope downriver to Lyon. However, Amadeus was then willing to open the same passes to the imperial army. He also signed a treaty with Henry III on 16 January 1246 which gave rights of passage through the passes to the English in exchange for an annual payment of 200 marks. That same month, Amadeus joined a force which went to Provence to rescue his niece, Beatrice of Provence from the forces of Frederick and escort her to her marriage to Charles of Anjou By May 1247, Frederick was ready to move against the Pope. He had gathered his army in Turin, and ordered those still loyal to him in the kingdoms of Arles and France to meet at Chambéry (the capital of Savoy). However, the revolt of Parma pulled Frederick back from this plan. That same summer, Amadeus blocked an attempt by the Pope to send 1500 soldiers to the Lombard League. On 8 November 1248, Frederick asked Amadeus and his brother Thomas to go to Lyon and start negotiations for peace. However, their efforts were unsuccessful and war continued until the death of Frederick.
Family and children.
He married twice, and each marriage produced children


White Tower (Brixen)

The "White Tower" (in German "Weißer Turm" ) is located in Brixen (; ; or ), a small town in South Tyrol, Italy. It dates back to the 15th century.
The Gothic architecture tower stands 72m tall and the cathedral close to it is dedicated to Saint Michael. Along with the two towers of the Cathedral of Brixen, it is one of the emblems of the city's bishopric. It has about 200 stairs which lead to the complex carillon mechanism of 43 bells. After its restoration in 2006, the White Tower is used as a museum. The White Tower is a registered cultural heritage monument (number 14186) in South Tyrol.
History.
The construction of the tower started in the 15th century. In 1444 the tower caught fire and in 1459 the theologian Nicholas of Cusa commissioned its reconstruction in a Gothic style. Because of the tower's new roof color, the local population named it "Black Tower". In 1591 an octagonal brick helmet was constructed, and the roof of the tower was painted white, so it was renamed the ""White" "Tower". These rebuilding works increased the overall height of the Tower, making it the tallest building and the symbol of the city of Brixen. Because of its height and its dominant position over the historic centre of the city, the tower was used by a night watchman, who lived there and was able to get a complete overview of the surroundings. The Tower originally had a copper dome, the so-called "Black Dome"". It was later removed and replaced with a white thin plate made by war debris in 1918. The Tower also had a double-sloped roof, which was used by firemen to detect potential fires. This type of roof was often copied in the area near the city of Brixen .
From "Black Tower" to "White Tower".
The naming convention changed from "Black Tower" to ""White Tower";" the height of the tower was also increased. It received a Gothic bell chamber and a pointed octagonal Gothic helmet, which was made of masonry in 1591 and dyed white.<mapframe latitude="46.716434" longitude="11.657696" zoom="17" width="279" height="205" align="right">{
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}</mapframe>The "White Tower" is one of the few architectural reminders of the late Gothic Style in South Tyrol. A large part of the ecclesiastical and secular building stock of the city of Brixen had been converted to Baroque style after 1600 or had undergone historical redesigns in the 19th century. In the history of houses in Brixen by Mader and Sparber, reference is made to a coloured pen drawing with coats of arms and sayings, which is exhibited in the Diocesan Museum showing multiple milestones about the history of the Tower.
Interior of the "White Tower".
The tour of the "White Tower" begins from some outside stairs leading to the west side up to an entrance door with iron leads. The first inside staircase is bricked and leads from the center towards north on the first floor. Here, the counterweights of the old clock are located where initially there used to be the ropes used to ring the bells.
Connected through a mezzanine to the rise to the next flight of stairs, on the third floor there is a wooden scaffolding on which, in the past, ropes and counterweights were placed. This is also the place where the watchman controlled the city of Brixen.
The mechanical clock is on the fourth floor, made by a wooden cabinet that is accessible through a short flight of stairs from the east. The rise goes up to five illuminated loopholes to the east, one above the other.
From here begins the climb to the fifth floor, where gears and regulators for the three clocks on the east are located . On the south side, at the height of the clocks double lancet window, a sundial is attached.
The rise to the sixth floor opens towards the bell chair containing six bells. The room is divided into three by an entablature: west, center and east. In the center is located the great one, dedicated to Saint Michael Bell Jar.
The eastern sector contains three bells, the most important is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The western sector houses two bells: one of them is consecrated to Our Lady, the other serves as a death knell.
The passage of time is displayed through two different ringing bells: one of the bells is dedicated to St. Michael, for which the hours struck and the sound of the quarter of an hour is dedicated to Our Lady. The seventh climb leads to the rooms where the tower guards dedicated to the fire watch used to be housed. South of this floor, sirens are visible that indicate the beginning of the holiday period. The Moon Clock is still working today.
The bells.
Except for the death knell, all bells come from Luigi Colbacchini, who cast them in Trento in 1922. The death knell comes from the previous bell and was made by Chiappani in Trento in 1899. In the tower museum there are the rooms of the tower guard, the carillon made in 2007 with 43 bells from Holland as well as information about the tower and the town history. The bell system in the Brixen Cathedral as well as the one in the Parish Church of St. Michael is taken care of by the company Berger Kirchturmtechnik from Virgen (in East Tyrol). Both systems were equipped with new counter pendulum systems.
Guards of the "White Tower".
The "White Tower" embodies the connection between the spiritual and the secular city, more than the cathedral. The adjoining St. Michaels Gate with the typical polygonal bay window was the main access to the city of Brixen, at the junction between Brennerstrasse and , until the 17th century.
Because of its height, the ""White" "Tower" was also the watchtower of the city for a long time. Until 1938, the tower guards kept an eye out for fire and other dangers from there. At about 40 meters of height, 26 wooden steps above the bell house, they had a chamber in a niche in the vaulted room there.
Museum.
The "White Tower"" was opened to the public during the restoration in 2007 thanks to the suggestion of the pastor of Brixen Dean Leo Munter. The museum, which has had more than 6,000 visitors, shows the role and importance of the tower in the contemporary and past religious and civic life of the city. It is also possible to take a tour of the inside of the original globe of the Tower. The 43-bells carillon rings every day at 11.00 a.m. and attracts many tourists as well as locals. The different combinations of bells can play over a hundred tunes. On the top floor, there is a large roof with a table and chairs, where it is possible to observe the surrounding area. The Tower also has a lunar clock.
Parish Church of Saint Michael in Brixen.
The Church is accessible through Piazza Duomo. From the entryway the Statue of the Virgin Mary, the so called Pilgrim Madonna, stands out; in the early 1950s moving the statue from Church to Church during processions became a tradition. On the rear wall of the Church there is the painting depicting Saint Joseph Freinademetz, the Chinese missionary of Badiota origin, who was canonised by the Pope John Paul II on 5 October 2003 in Rome. On the opposite side of the nave there is the crucified Jesus Christ, standing next to the Mother of Sorrow, who is holding Her Son's dead body in Her arms. Here the believers use to collect the memories of the dead: the Virgin Mary is indeed believed to intercede between the relatives and their dead loved ones. On the side walls of the nave the fourteen stations of the Via Crucis are represented: this illustration is intended to be read by the believers as an exhortation to retrace the Christ crucifixion path.
First Parish Church of Saint Michael.
The building prior to today's church of St. Michael the Archangel was consecrated in 1038 by Bishop Hartwig. This first church was a simple, square building with a round apse on the eastern side. It was a sacred architecture in the Ottonian style of the time. The dedication to the archangel Michael, who became the Patron of the Kingdom since the victory obtained in the battle against the Hungarians in Lechfeld in 955, also dates back to the Ottonian dynasty. The troops of Emperor Otto I had in fact fought under the banner of San Michele. The Byzantine princess Theophanu, consort of Otto II and influential mother of Otto III, continued to favor the veneration of the Archangel, a native of Eastern Greece. To her the Treasury of the Cathedral owes the so-called "Chasuble of Alboino", a purple liturgical garment made with a Byzantine silk fabric bearing the image of the imperial eagle, part of Theophane's dowry. The building after this first church was later erected in the Gothic style and today still retains the appearance of the past: a late-Gothic construction built of granite blocks with pointed arched windows. The interior, on the other hand, has radically changed its face: in 1757/58 it was rebuilt in a Baroque style. Joseph Hautzinger, coming from Vienna, who had already worked in the Cathedral, created the frescoes that currently adorn the vaults of the nave.
Renovation works.
The church was built as a late Gothic hall church around 1500 and was consecrated in 1503. It stands on the site of a previous Ottonian building, a Romanesque church from the 16th century, consecrated by Bishop Hartwig in 1038. The polygonal end of the choir faces east. The lower part of the adjoining tower was built around 1300, while the characteristic upper part with small oriels, pointed-arch sound windows and pointed helmet was built in 1459. The interior of the church was redesigned in Baroque style around 1750. The ceiling frescoes were painted by Josef Hauzinger, a pupil of Paul Troger from Vienna, in the year 1757. The high altar painting, which depicts Michael's fight with Lucifer, was created by Andrea Pozzo. The flanking angel sculptures by Johann Perger. The rest of the furnishings, with the high altar and side altars, are baroque, classicist and romantic. The expressive wooden figure of Christ and Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross is from the 15th century. The church has been a listed building since 1984. The church is well known for its bell tower also known as the "White Tower". For example, under the Austrian coat of arms with the year 1459, it says that "Nicholas of Cusa really saw me perfect." In 1677, next to the episcopal coat of arms, the ensign reads "Since Bishop Paulin rules I am renovated again."
Artwork of the church.
The frescoes of the side altars represent Biblical scenes: the Annunciation, the adoration of Magi, the crucifixion and deposition of Jesus. Above the presbytery and the high altar there is the adoration of the Holy Trinity by part of the choir of angels and a group of venerated saints: Cassiano, Sebastiano, Giuseppe, Luigi, Floriano, Giovanni Nepomuceno, Vittorio e Urban. The canvas above the high altar, work of Andrea Pozzo, represent the saint Archangel Michael in his fight against Lucifer and his allies; the contemplation of the imposing representation is usually associated to a prayer, adapted from the hymn of Lauds on the feast of St. Michael; St. Michael, who fought for the glory of God, Angel of peace, annihilated all wars and misfortune, defends the Church and protects the Redeemed from all evils. The two great statutes of the archangel Raphael with Tobias and a Guardian Angel with a child, on the sides of the altar, along with other representations of Angels, illustrate the Christianity of the building. Perpetual light recalls Eucharistic permanence of Jesus in the tabernacle; the adoring angels are an invitation to remain close to Jesus, whose presence represents the divine answer to the supplication of travelers of Emmaus: "Lord, stay with us". Jesus, the Savior risen from the dead, is always present. Not only the ministers of the liturgy, but also the parents with their children and young people will find a place in the renovated presbytery.
Curiosity.
In 1956, during the elections of the City Council, the "SVP", also known in Italian as ""Partito Popolare Sudtirolese", had a major competitor in the movement called "White Tower"", a party that took its name from the Tower, symbol of the city of Brixen. The party summarized the program in two words: "Faith and work". The program of the list, which was distributed on leaflets, spoke of Christian values, but was generally formulated vaguely. In addition, the "White Tower List" turned against the "unchristian nationalism" of the "secret SVP district chairman" Hans Stanek.
Bibliography.
Publications about the White Tower (Brixen) include:


John Philip Du Cane

General Sir John Philip Du Cane, (5 May 1865 – 5 April 1947) was a British Army officer. He held high rank during the First World War, most notably as Major General Royal Artillery at General Headquarters in 1915 when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was expanding rapidly, as General Officer Commanding XV Corps 1916–18, then from April 1918 as liaison officer between Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig and the Allied Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch. After the war he was Master-General of the Ordnance.
Military career.
Du Cane was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in February 1884, promoted to captain on 4 March 1893, and to major on 14 February 1900.
Du Cane served in the Second Boer War, and was appointed a staff officer for lines of communication in South Africa in September 1900. Following the end of hostilities in early June 1902, he left Cape Town on board the SS "Assaye", and arrived at Southampton the next month. He was mentioned in despatches and received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902.
Du Cane became Commander Royal Artillery for 3rd Division in 1911.
Du Cane served in the First World War initially as a brigadier general on the General Staff of III Corps. In 1915, as Major General Royal Artillery, he was Artillery Advisor at General Headquarters; William Robertson, Chief of Staff to the BEF in 1915, later stated that he had laid the organisational groundwork for the massive expansion of BEF artillery during the war. He was posted to the Ministry of Munitions in 1916 and then became General Officer Commanding XV Corps in 1916. In that capacity, he was closely involved in Operation Hush, a planned invasion on the Belgian coast. On 12 April 1918, against the backdrop of the German "Georgette" Offensive and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's demands for French reinforcements, he was appointed liaison officer between Haig and the Allied Generalissimo General Foch.
After the war, Du Cane made his home in London at 4 Upper Brook Street, Mayfair. Du Cane was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in 1920 and then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Western Command in 1923. He was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for British Army of the Rhine from 1924 until 1927 when he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta. He was also Aide-de-Camp General to the King from 1926 to 1930. He retired in 1931.
Books.


Trautenstein

Trautenstein is a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Trautenstein has 493 inhabitants (1-1-2010).
Geography.
The small climatic health resort lies in the valley of the Rappbode and at the southwestern end of the Rappbode Reservoir. South of the village is the "Bärenhöhe" ("Bear Heights"), also known as the "Carlshaushöhe", which is 626 metres high. On the summit is the popular Carlshaus Tower, a telecommunication and observation tower of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway.
Larger towns and villages in the vicinity include Braunlage, Bad Lauterberg, Bad Harzburg (in Lower Saxony) as well as Blankenburg, Wernigerode and Hasselfelde (in Saxony-Anhalt). The most important link road is the B 242 from Hasselfelde to Braunlage which passes through Trautenstein.
South of Trautenstein in the forest is a refuge hut, the "Walzenhütte" (521 m), which is checkpoint 50 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking network. Another nearby checkpoint is the "Oberharzblick am Buchenberg" (Upper Harz view on the Buchenberg hill), which is further south and has good views looking towards the two highest mountains of the Harz: the Wurmberg and the Brocken.


Yuliya Samoylova

Countess Yuliya Pavlovna Samoylova (, "Grafinya Yuliya Pavlovna Samoylova", née Yuliya von der Pahlen; 1803—March 14, 1875) was a granddaughter of Count Martyn Skavronskiy and the last scion of Skavronskiy family. She was born to Pavel von der Pahlen and Mariya Skavronskaya, but grew up in the house of Count Yuliy Litta due to early death of her mother. Samoylova became an owner of Grafskaya Slavyanka manor (now Antropshino), near Tsarskoye Selo and a holder of several masterpieces. On January 25, 1825 she married Count Nikolai Samoylov, but later divorced him as well as several other persons. Samoylova had strong affiliations with Karl Briullov, whose "The Last Day of Pompeii" among others shows the idealized figures of himself and Samoylova. In 1840 Samoylova sold Grafskaya Slavyanka and left Russia for Italy. She was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.


Sanjak of Vize

The Sanjak of Vize (Ottoman Turkish: "Sancak-i/Liva-i Vize") was a second-level Ottoman province ("sanjak" or "liva") encompassing the region of Vize in Eastern Thrace. After 1849 its seat was moved to Tekfürtaği, and until its end ca. 1920 the province was known as the Sanjak of Tekfürtaği.
History.
The town of Vize (Greek Bizye) was part of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire, which fell with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
The town became the seat of a "sanjak" as part of the Rumelia Eyalet in the last third of the 15th century. By the mid-17th century, it had come under the Özü Eyalet, after 1812 to the Silistra Eyalet, and by 1846 to the Edirne Eyalet. It was renamed into Sanjak of Tekfürtaği in 1849, after the new capital, Tekfürtaği (mod. Tekirdağ). Vize itself was detached in 1879 and came under the Sanjak of Kırk Kilise. In 1912, the "sanjak" of Tekfürtaği encompassed the "kazas" (districts) of Tekfürtaği proper, Malkara, Çorlu, and Hayrabolu. In 1920, the area, along with the entirety of Eastern Thrace, was occupied by the Greek Army, who held it until they withdrew in October 1922 following the Armistice of Mudanya. After 1923 the town of Tekirdağ became the capital of the Tekirdağ Province in the Republic of Turkey.


Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven

Alexander Otto Hermann Wolfgang Bernd(t) Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven (6 February 1914 – 27 February 2007), was a Baltic German officer in the German Army during World War II. In 1956, he joined the German Federal Armed Forces, the "Bundeswehr" and rose to the rank of Generalleutnant.
Early life.
The Frydag, including the Freytag-Loringhoven, family was an ancient Baltic German noble family of Westphalian origin, originating in Münster. They were first mentioned in the 12th century (Baron: Livonia, Courland 1198; Master of the Teutonic Order 1485, Gotha Register 1896, 1934 1942). He was born in Arensburg, Governorate of Livonia (now Kuressaare, Estonia) to Baron Burchard Haro Charles Napoleon Freytag von Loringhoven and Leonide Klara Oda von Möller. The family left their ancestorial home after Estonia proclaimed independence in 1918 and the German land titles and assets were confiscated. After one year of law studies at the University of Königsberg, he joined the "Reichswehr" in 1933. He was promoted to "Leutnant" in 1937.
World War II.
In late 1942, the tank battalion under Loringhoven's command was encircled during the Soviet counter-offensive at the Battle of Stalingrad. On 23 January 1943, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold () as "Hauptmann" (captain) in the 2./Panzer-Regiment 2. That same month, he was flown out of the pocket and later transferred to the staff of 111th Infantry Division on 2 March 1943. In November 1943, Loringhoven was promoted to major. From July 1944 to April 1945, he served as an adjutant to the Chief of Army General Staff (first, General Heinz Guderian and then General Hans Krebs).
Berlin 1945.
Loringhoven's last assignment was as a staff officer responsible for the preparation of reports for Adolf Hitler. This work required a constant presence in Hitler's entourage. After 23 April 1945, when Hitler's communications staff began to desert, he had to improvise and he based his intelligence reports on information he was able to gather from the Allied news agencies Reuters and the BBC. Fortunately for him, Hitler was not aware of this.
In the evening of 29 April, he left the "Führerbunker" with Gerhard Boldt and Lieutenant-Colonel Rudolf Weiss. That morning, Loringhoven had approached Krebs and asked if he and Boldt could leave Berlin and "return to the fighting troops". Krebs talked to Burgdorf to get his advice. Burgdorf approved but indicated that they should take his assistant, Weiss. Hitler was approached for his approval at midday. Surprisingly, he asked many questions and offered his advice. Hitler asked, "How are you going to get out of Berlin?" When Loringhoven mentioned finding a boat, Hitler became enthusiastic and advised, "You must get an electric boat, because that does not make any noise and you can get through the Russian lines." When he agreed that an electric boat would be best but added that, if necessary, they might have to use a different craft, Hitler was suddenly exhausted. He shook hands limply with each of them and quickly dismissed the group.
Post-war.
Captured by the British Army on 3 May 1945, Loringhoven spent two and a half years as a prisoner of war. He was not charged with war crimes. After being repatriated in January 1948, he lived in Munich, where he became a publisher. He joined the German Federal Armed Forces ("Bundeswehr") in 1956 after West Germany joined NATO. He served in various army and NATO positions; his highest rank was lieutenant-general. He was later appointed Deputy Inspector General of the Armed Forces and retired from the army in 1973, with full honours.
Late in life, Loringhoven, long a knight of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), actively served the Order as its chancellor and governor. At the time of his death at the age of 93, he was one of the last three known living witnesses (along with bunker telephone operator Rochus Misch and Hitler Youth courier Armin Lehmann) to the events in the "Führerbunker" at the end of World War II.
Notes.
Although he had left the bunker complex before the time of Hitler's suicide, Loringhoven was often called to testify and to co-operate in script writing. For example, he participated in this way in the film "Downfall" ("Der Untergang"). In his memoirs, published as "In the Bunker with Hitler: The Last Witness Speaks", Loringhoven focussed chiefly on the final months of the Nazi regime. Loringhoven was the father of Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, formerly vice president of the "Bundesnachrichtendienst".


Lordship of Parchim-Richenberg

The Lordship (or Principality) of Parchim-Richenberg () was a short-lived state of the Holy Roman Empire which existed during the 13th century. It arose from the first partition of Mecklenburg after the death of Henry Borwin II, Lord of Mecklenburg in 1226. Initially it was named after its capital Parchim. Later, following the transferral of the seat to Richenberg, the name shifted to Richenberg. The Lordship comprised the lands of Parchim (included Brenz and Rosengarten), the rural area of Ture and the later Vogteis of Plau, Goldberg, Sternberg and finally Richenberg (on the Warnow near Langen Brütz). It was the shortest-lived of the four partitioned principalities of Mecklenburg.
Pribislaw I.
The first prince of Parchim-Richenberg was Pribislaw I from the House of Mecklenburg (Obotrites), the youngest son of Henry Borwin II. He grew up at the court of his brother John I, Lord of Mecklenburg. Since Pribislaw was still too young, John managed the lordship for his brother until 1238. Soon after he assumed his full position, border conflicts with the Counts of Schwerin erupted, and he had to cede Brenz and Neustadt-Glewe. After this feud he managed to stabilise the territory economically by founding the towns of Goldberg and Sternberg, and through the settlement of Jews in Parchim. He bestowed the "" (Parchim town privileges) on Lübz, Goldberg and Sternberg. In 1249 Parchim New Town was founded on the western shore of the Elde. In 1248 Pribislaw relocated his residence from Parchim to the newly built castle of Richenberg on the Warnow near the village of Kritzow. Thereafter the lordship was also known as Parchim-Richenberg. The reasons for the move are unknown.
After disputes with Rudolf, Bishop of Schwerin Pribislaw was captured and taken to him. Pribislaw was removed from power in 1255 and the Principality was divided between his brothers and his brother-in-law, the Count of Schwerin. Pribislaw went into exile in Pomerania and received the Lordship of Belgard in Farther Pomerania as compensation.


Aleksei Dressen

Aleksei Dressen (born 1968 in Riga) is a former Estonian Internal Security Service officer being charged with treason. He is being charged with cooperating with Russian intelligence service FSB. He is an ethnic Volga German.
Biography.
During Soviet rule of Estonia, Aleksei Dressen worked as a policeman in the Soviet militia. In 1993 he started working for the reestablished Estonian Security Police. In 1994 he lost his police ID. A year later there was a disciplinary charge for wrongful conduct at work. This happened several times during his career. In 1999 his salary was cut by 30% for two months.
Despite all this Aleksei Dressen managed to become a director of several different units in the Estonian Security Police.
Aleksei Dressen and his wife Viktoria were arrested on the morning of 22 February 2012 at Tallinn Airport. Viktoria was about to board a flight to Moscow. During the arrest a thumb drive full of information was seized. The chief architect behind Dressen's capture is considered to be the deputy chief of the Estonian Security Police Aleksander Toots. He is also considered to be the actual chief of the Estonian Security Police. In 2012 Dressen was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
On 26 September 2015, he was handed over to Russia in exchange for Eston Kohver. The prisoners were exchanged in a manner reminiscent of the Cold War spy exchanges on a bridge over Piusa River.


HMS E32

HMS "E32" was a British E class submarine built by J. Samuel White, Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was launched on 16 August 1916 and commissioned in October 1916. HMS "E32" was sold in Sunderland on 6 September 1922.
Design.
Like all post-"E8" British E-class submarines, "E32" had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of and a beam length of . She was powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of of diesel and ranges of when travelling at . "E32" was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at .
"E32" was armed with a 12-pounder QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.
E-Class submarines had wireless systems with power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below . Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.
Crew.
Her complement was three officers and 28 men.
Service.
"E32" was built by J. Samuel White at their Cowes, Isle of Wight shipyard. She was launched on 16 August 1916 and completed in October 1916.
In November 1916, "E32" was listed as a member of the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, part of the Harwich Force. In February 1917, "E32" was one of for submarines that deployed with the depot ship for anti-U-boat patrols off Eagle Island. Patrols in the Irish Sea continued, with "E32" spotting a German submarine on 8 March, but the German submarine escaped on the surface, outpacing "E32". On 5 April 1917, "E32" was operating with the decoy ship "Q.13" (the sloop ), when the merchant ship "Benheather" was torpedoed by the German submarine , but did not immediately sink. "E32" waited by the still floating wreck of "Benheather" for "U-46" to approach, and when the German submarine closed, fired three torpedoes, which missed.


Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle () is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the River Rhine near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz," this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting.
History.
The keep of this island castle, a pentagonal tower with its point upstream, was erected between 1326 and 1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian. Around the tower, a defensive hexagonal wall was built between 1338 and 1340. In 1477 Pfalzgrafenstein was passed as deposit to the Count of Katzenelnbogen. Later additions were made in 1607 and 1755, consisting of corner turrets, the gun bastion pointing upstream, and the characteristic baroque tower cap.
The castle functioned as a toll-collecting station that was not to be ignored. It worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the right side of the river. Due to a dangerous cataract on the river's left, about a kilometer upstream, every vessel would have to use the fairway nearer to the right bank, thus floating downstream between the mighty fortress on the vessel's left and the town and castle on its right. A chain across the river drawn between those two fortifications forced ships to submit, and uncooperative traders could be kept in the dungeon until a ransom was delivered. The dungeon was a wooden float in the well.
Unlike the vast majority of Rhine castles, "the Pfalz" was never conquered or destroyed, withstanding not only wars, but also the natural onslaughts of ice and floods by the river. Its spartan quarters held about twenty men.
Extensive measures of waterway engineering in the nineteenth century, above all straightening the river for better use as an international waterway and along this particular stretch, clearing it from the old cataract, relocated the regularly used fairway from the river's right arm to its left. Thus the tactical advantage may not be apparent to one unaware of the change in the watercourse.
The island of the castle was used for the Rhine crossing by 60,000 Prussian troops under Blücher in the winter of 1814 in his pursuit of Napoleon.
The castle was acquired by Prussia in 1866, and toll collections ceased in 1867. It continued to be used as a signal station for the river boat traffic for about another century. In 1946, the castle became the property of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Museum.
The State eventually turned "the Pfalz" into a museum and restored the color scheme of the baroque period. The museum reflects the conditions of the 14th century, and the visitor will not find modern amenities such as electricity or a lavatory. It is accessible to the public via a ferry service from nearby Kaub as long as river conditions permit.
The area is part of the Rhine Gorge, a World Heritage site.


Emagines

Emagines is a project, funded since 2006 by the German Research Foundation (DFG), for digitizing the large and partially very old collections of images held by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Research Archive for Ancient Sculpture (FA) are cooperating in the long-term strategic operation of a database "Arachne" which aims at making these digitized images accessible worldwide.
Requirements and aims.
The project began with the glass negatives from the departments of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, Istanbul and Cairo (Emagines1) in 2006. Negatives from Rome, Madrid, the headquarters in Berlin and the Eurasia-Department of the DAI were added during the second project phase in 2008 (Emagines2). These negatives mostly contain historical images of sculpture, topography and architecture, much of which no longer exists in its former condition. Furthermore, the negatives are severely threatened by physical decomposition and destruction due to environmental influences, natural catastrophes like earthquakes and (in the long run) manual use.
The project aims at the permanent digital preservation of the negatives and their content. Until being made available in the Arachne database, widespread use of these negatives has been hindered by the way they have been scattered and by the partially overlapping nature of their images they carry. The digitized image holdings are copyrighted by the DAI and are therefore shown to the Arachne guest with the water mark of the DAI.
The internet presentation of the images also provides a platform for an e-commerce system, still in a test phase. Within the database framework, textual information about the objects depicted in the images will be continually updated by the DAI by citing new bibliographical references.
The database was modified not only with regard to its contents, but also technically in response to the heterogeneous material, which varies greatly in type, chronology and cultural history. a new entry mask has been developed to describe the essential characteristics of the material in many of those object groups, and some of the existing entry masks needed to be extended or customized.
Workflow.
To avoid exposing the fragile contents from the risks of long-distance transport, the images are being scanned in the departments of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in an ongoing process. The scanned images are then sent to the Research Archive for digital processing, entry into a database and long-term storage on the SAN of the University of Cologne for the DAI.
The resulting documentation-complex is a centralised scientific of the DAI which can be accessed by web.
Data.
84,298 (week 51 in 2009) glass negatives are currently available in Arachne. About 44,000 of these belong to the Emagines2 project. A fuzzy meta-search for the character string 'Emagines' results in about 48,000 hits in different categories, including the glass negatives. The glass negatives can be referenced through 84,298 records using image-navigation.


Groenedijk Monument

The Groenedijk Monument also known as the Dukdalf, is a monument in Capelle aan den IJssel which serves as a memorial for the events that took place in 1574 related to the Dutch Tachtigjarige Oorlog; internationally known as the Dutch Revolt. During the conflict, William the Silent ordered the destruction of several dykes in order to stop the Spaniards who were at that time surrounding the Dutch city of Leiden. This tactic proved to be successful as the Spanish troops were greatly affected by the incoming water that took them by surprise. The Spanish troops lost their mobility whereas the troops mustered by William the Silent had prepared for the water using small ships. With the help of the controlled destruction of dykes in 4 strategic locations, the city of Leiden could be freed with the help of the Sea Beggars, better known as the Geuzen. Now, the people in Leiden who had been starving for months could be fed with herring, which became a Dutch tradition in the remembrance of The Siege of Leiden.
History.
During the Dutch Revolt, Spanish troop under the direct supervision of the Duke of Alba, wanted to force the city of Leiden, which was a notable city in The Netherlands at the time, into submission. Spanish troops mostly had military successes up to 1574 leaving the Dutch people in disparity and starvation. The Siege at the city of Leiden was no outlier to this. Even though the besieging circumstances were horrific for the Spanish troops, they managed to surround the city successfully. A long lasting siege started which took lives on both sides of the city walls. The breaking of the dykes was something Spanish forces were not at all prepared for and the Dutch had gained the help of the Sea Beggars. This was a pirate like group of people who had turned to help the Dutch and were very effective in their endeavor of hindering or beating down the Spanish cause. The Sea Beggars were crucial in the Relief of Leiden as the destroying of the dykes had caused much of the land surrounding Leiden to be underwater. The Sea Beggars had boats to sail over this water and attack or scare away the Spanish troops who were, as a result of the water, trapped either in the water or on small hills which were surrounded by water. The Sea Beggars together with the rest of the Dutch rebel force were able to bring food to the starving population of Leiden, which by now has become a tradition. Every year the Relief of Leiden is celebrated in the Netherlands on the third of October. People come together and eat the traditional herring with white bread, the same food the Sea Beggars gave to the starved people in Leiden. Up until now the breaking of the dyke at Capelle aan den IJssel and at several other places is often seen as one of the crucial moments in the creation of the Dutch Republic and the start of freedom.
The Monument.
The monument was designed by J. Nieuwehuis, an employee of the Dutch governmental company Rijkswaterstaat. The monument is meant as an ironic gesture towards the Spanish Duke of Alba who is up until today a hated figure in Dutch History due to his radical approach towards the Dutch population at the time. The name Dukdalf was inspired on the Sea Beggars who had a great part in the relief of the besieging of Leiden. They named it after a commonly referred to method used by water lock managers in their effort to keep ships from sailing into the water lock. This name has little to no relation to the events that are represented by the monument. The monument consists of four pillars and each pillar has an inscription. One of which is a portrayal of William the Silent on a horse. The other three each are textual representations of the breaking of the dykes. one honors the Sea Beggars and the Orange prince (William the Silent), the other describes the date on which the monument was created which was on the third of October 1984 and this opening was celebrated by Mr. S. Patijn; a commissioner for the King operating in the Dutch province of South Holland. The last textual representation describes the breaking of the dykes themselves.


RAF Ventnor

RAF Ventnor is a former Royal Air Force radar station located north east of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, England. It was initially constructed in 1937 as part of a World War II coastal defence programme codenamed Chain Home. The site played an important role during the Second World War, providing early warnings of incoming bomber attacks carried out by the Luftwaffe.
The site was also part of the ROTOR programme in the 1950s as a Centimetric Early Warning (CEM) station, keeping a constant watch for suspicious Soviet bombers. During the time, an extensive bunker complex was also built at the site, which would later be converted for use as a shelter in case of a nuclear strike during the Cold War. Most of the buildings and facilities at the site have since been demolished, with the bunkers now sealed shut following unauthorised access.
History.
World War II.
Following the development and introduction of early-warning radars during the mid 1930s in locations such as RAF Bawdsey and Orford Ness, the Air Ministry set out a programme of building a ring of coastal radar stations around the British coast to provide early warnings of air attacks, codenamed Chain Home (CH). Ventnor was one of 20 original Chain Home stations authorised in 1937 and became operational in October 1938 using experimental transmitters and receivers in temporary hutting. The site, like most Chain Home stations, was powered by the National Grid but had electric generators to cover for interruptions in the supply. The station subsequently went on 24-hour watch from early 1939 and was put on a war footing on 24 August 1939 in preparation for war.
On 12 August 1940, four Chain Home stations were targeted for bombing by the Luftwaffe, including RAF Ventnor. The radar station suffered considerable damage with most of the buildings being damaged or destroyed. However, casualties were light with only one soldier being injured. Following this attack, a mobile installation were set up and remained in operation until the station was repaired.
The site played an important role during Operation Overlord, the codename for D-Day, monitoring both ship and aircraft movements involved in the landings. From June 1944 onwards the station was active in detecting incoming German V-1 flying bombs.
By November 1947, Ventnor was one of 26 radar stations still in use in the UK with the Type 24 long range microwave height finder and Types 52 and 53 radars still operational.
1950s–1960s.
Following the threat from the Soviet atomic bomb project, the British Government set up a plan to introduce an air defence radar system to counter possible attacks by Soviet bombers, codenamed ROTOR. RAF Ventnor was chosen to participate in the programme. In the early 1950s, the site was re-activated as part of Phrase 1 of the ROTOR programme.
The site (codenamed OJC) was operated by the No.23 Signals Unit under the control of the Ground Control Intercept (GCI) station RAF Sopley. In 1952 the site was remodelled as one of seven underground Centimetric Early Warning (CEM) station, designed to provide more accurate information on the height, range and size of an attacking force compared to the World War II Chain Home radar stations. The bunkers, made of ten feet thick reinforced concrete, housed RAF workers who kept a constant watch for any suspicious aircraft up to 300 miles away. Most of the radar operators and technical personnel working at Ventnor at the time were teenagers, serving their period of compulsory National Service.
By the end of 1956, the AMES Type 80 had been added to the site. Ventnor remained operational until 1957 before being placed into care and maintenance.
1960s–1990s.
The Royal Air Force decommissioned the site in 1961 and, from 1962, it was used by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a communications station. In the 1960s, the Linesman radar programme was established with the intention of combining military and civil aviation control, known as Linesman/Mediator. The programme refurbished and improved radar defences at Ventnor.
Until the 1990s, the site was involved in the detection and interception of intruding Warsaw Pact aircraft, using the Marconi Type 264A radar and secondary surveillance radars.
The operations bunker was refurbished as the Isle of Wight Council's Control Centre and remained in operation until 1991 as the Isle of Wight Emergency Command Centre for command and control of the island in-case of a nuclear attack.
Preservation.
The guardhouse, air vents and emergency staircase of the bunker were demolished in 1991 and the bunker itself was eventually sealed shut in 2004 following unauthorised access. Some of the original features of the site are still present, such as mast bases. As of 2014, the central compound still remains and is in used by NATS for air traffic control with telecom masts owned by other companies also present. The surrounding land is in the care of the National Trust.
The surviving components of the original 1938–1939 Chain Home radar station, such as the receiver building, the three receiver tower bases and any remains of the former station defences including a pillbox, is considered a Grade II listed building for their "architectural interest and degree of survival" and for their "historic interest (history of radars)."


Kosara

Kosara or Cossara was a Bulgarian noblewoman, related to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who was married to Prince Jovan Vladimir of Duklja.
Origin and identity.
The 11th-century Byzantine historian John Skylitzes calls her a daughter of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria, but the annotations to Skylitzes of Michael of Duklja correct this by interpolating that her father was called Theodoretos. B. Prokić, the first editor of the manuscript ("Codex Vindobonensis hist. gr." 74) that contains the annotations, mistranslated the note and emended the father's name to Theodora, thereby giving Kosara the name Theodora Kosara by which she is often known in modern scholarly literature. Modern scholarship suggests that the otherwise unattested Theodoretos may have been the son of John Chryselios, magnate of Dyrrhachium and Samuel's father-in-law.
Life.
Kosara was married ca. 1000 with Jovan Vladimir, Prince of Duklja, who had been defeated and taken prisoner of Tsar Samuel. An oral tradition recorded in the 12th-century in the "Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja" turns the marriage into a romantic tale of Kosara visiting Vladimir in his prison cell, eventually falling in love and asking to be married to him.
The story of Vladimir and Kosara is the subject of one of the most romantic tales of early Montenegrin literature; this is the "Chronicle"’s description of how Vladimir and Kosara met:
So Kosara fell in love with the handsome captive, and begged her father for his hand. Samuel, having conquered lands, wanted to bind his new subjects to himself in a more cordial way, not only with the sheer force. He allowed the marriage, returned Duklja to his new son-in-law, and besides gave him the whole territory of Dyrrhachium, to rule them from that point on as his vassal.
Kosara and Jovan Vladimir had a daughter, who married Stefan Vojislav, prince of Zeta.
Tsar Samuel died in 1014 and he was succeeded by his son Gavril Radomir, but his reign was short: his cousin Ivan Vladislav killed him in 1015, and ruled in his stead. Vladislav held that he would make his position stronger if he exterminated the whole family of Samuil, for which reason he plotted the murder of Jovan Vladimir. The new Tsar thus sent messengers to him to demand his attendance in Prespa, but Vladimir did not want to go out his land; not even after many subsequent Vladislav’s promises and pledges that he meant no harm to him. Finally, Vladislav sent him a golden cross with his pledge on it, to which Vladimir replied:
Two bishops and a hermit came to Vladimir, gave him a wooden cross, and confirmed that the Tsar had made the pledge on it. Vladimir kissed the cross, collected a few followers, and set off to Prespa. As soon as he arrived there, he went into a church for a prayer. When he came out of the church, he was struck down by Vladislav’s soldiers and beheaded, all the time holding the cross in his hands; it was May 22, 1016.
Jovan Vladimir was buried in Prespa, in the same church in front of which he was martyred. Shortly after his death, he was recognized as a martyr and saint.
Two or three years after Jovan Vladimir’s burial, Kosara transported his remains to Duklja. She interred him near his court in Krajina, in the church of Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos. Kosara did not marry again; by her will, she was interred in the same church, at the feet of her husband.


Bombing of Hanau in World War II

Hanau, Germany was bombed by British bombers (277 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups) on 19 March 1945 during World War II, a few days before it was taken by the US Army. 85% of the city was destroyed. Hanau lost its old monuments, and the medieval section of the city was levelled. The ancient castle, arsenal, city theater and the birthhouse of the Grimm brothers were destroyed. Only half of the Walloon church still stands today. Hanau became a major garrison town in the late 19th century and was (and is) an important junction on the German railway system.


South Wight

South Wight was a non-metropolitan district with the status of a borough on the Isle of Wight in England from 1974 to 1995.
The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of Sandown-Shanklin and Ventnor urban districts and Isle of Wight Rural District. It was one of two districts on the island formed in 1974 – the other was Medina.
Following a review by the Local Government Commission for England, the borough was abolished on 1 April 1995, when a single Isle of Wight Council replaced the island's county council and two district councils.


J. D. Davies

J. D. (David) Davies (born 1 April 1957, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire) is a British historian, specialising primarily in naval history, and the author of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Life and career.
Davies was educated at Llanelli Boys' Grammar School and Jesus College, Oxford. After teaching for some years in Newquay, Cornwall, he returned to Oxford to undertake doctoral research on the naval history of the Restoration period. He was awarded the degree of DPhil in 1986. He subsequently taught history and politics at Bedford Modern School, also serving as a Sub-Lieutenant RNR (CCF). Ultimately, he served as Deputy Head (Academic) at BMS from 2000 to 2004. He then gave up full-time teaching to develop his writing career.
Published works.
Davies's first book, "Gentlemen and Tarpaulins: The Officers and Men of the Restoration Navy" (1991) was a revised version of his doctoral thesis . His second book, "Pepys's Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649–89", was published in 2008, followed in 2010 by his first non-naval book, "Blood of Kings: the Stuarts, the Ruthvens and the ‘Gowrie Conspiracy’". "Britannia’s Dragon: A Naval History of Wales" followed in 2013. His latest non-fiction book "Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Royal Navy", was published by in 2017. It discusses how the two monarchs developed the navy but also provides new information about Charles II.
Davies has contributed many articles and essays to historical journals and other works, including 67 entries in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" and a chapter in the "Oxford History of the Royal Navy". "H"e is working on a history of the Stepney family, baronets of Llanelli.
Matthew Quinton novels.
Set in the period Davies had been researching for over 30 years, the series of novels centre on the adventures of Captain Matthew Quinton, one of the young "gentlemen captains" promoted by King Charles II of England despite their almost complete lack of experience of the sea. The first book, "Gentleman Captain", published in North America in 2009, was very well received, being described by Booklist as "a splendid book, with terrific characters, a thrilling adventure, and a wonderful sense of time and place" and by Kirkus Reviews as "a delightful tale". The subsequent books in the series (as of June 2018) include "The Mountain of Gold", "The Blast that Tears the Skies", "The Lion of Midnight", "The Battle Of All The Ages", "Death's Bright Angel", "The Rage of Fortune" and "The Devil Upon the Wave".
Not officially one of the series in some lists, another book (2014), "Ensign Royal", also features Matthew Quinton but is a shorter novella.
Jack Stannard novels.
Set in the Tudor period, the Stannard trilogy follows the fortunes of a seafaring family from Dunwich, Suffolk, during the forty year period from the sinking of the "Mary Rose" to the fight against the Spanish Armada. The stories are also set against the backdrops of the switchback religious changes in Tudor England and Dunwich’s relentless battle against the encroaching sea. The trilogy consists of "Destiny’s Tide, Battle’s Flood'' and "Armada’s Wake."
Awards and positions of responsibility.
Davies won the Julian Corbett essay prize for naval history in 1986, and in 2009 "Pepys’s Navy" was awarded the Samuel Pepys prize and Latham medal. "Kings of the Sea" won the Anderson prize for 2017, and also received a certificate of merit for the Mountbatten prize. Davies served as chairman of the Naval Dockyards Society from 2005 to 2013 and as Vice-President of the Navy Records Society from 2008 to 2012, having previously served several terms on the society's council. He was elected Chairman of the Society for Nautical Research in 2020. Davies was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2010 .
Personal life.
Davies lives in Bedfordshire with his partner Wendy Berliner, an award-winning education journalist and author.


Fraternitas Baltica

Fraternitas Baltica was a Baltic-German fraternity founded in Riga. Its motto was "Freundschaft, Frohsinn, Tugend, Wissen - soll man nie bei den Balten missen." (Friendship, Happiness, Virtue and Knowledge, these are the things that none of Balts should miss.) and "In Treuen fest" (Strong in confidence).
History.
Fraternitas Baltica was founded in Rīga Polytechnic Institute, as Fraternitas Polytechnici Baltici. In 1867 Fraternitas Baltica with students founded General Polytechnic Convention (APC), which led the social life in Polytechnic Institute. In 1869 after disagreements, many students left the fraternity and founded , which is still working today. At the time of WWI, when RPI evacuated to Moscow, fraternity suspended activity.
After World War I, in 1918 Fraternitas Baltica restored operations as a part of Baltic Technical College. Later that year, a decision was made that all of the active members have to join Baltic-German military units.
In 1920 F-B was registered as a fraternity of University of Latvia, and it was admitted in Fraternity Presidium Convent (P!K!), which Fraternitas Baltica left in 1932, as a protest for decision to use only Latvian language in their meetings. In 1932 after U.L.'s decision it was closed as a fraternity, but still existed as a society, keeping the name "fraternity". In 1938 Fraternitas Baltica ceased active operations, but in 1939 was closed completely with all of the members going to Germany.
In 1959, Fraternitas Baltica and other Baltic-German fraternity philisters participated in founding of "Curonia Goettingensis", which is later declared as a Baltic fraternity traditions continuation.